The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 536 Renting a House (Seeking a Guaranteed Monthly Ticket)

The early autumn of the third year of Tianfeng came earlier than in previous years.

This was the answer Eugene Hua came to after noticing that the flowers and plants she raised were withering.

early morning.

In the inner courtyard of the Zhao family, Zhao Pan'er and her beloved dog just stepped into the dining room, and saw You Jinhua holding a letter and looking down at it.

"Mom?" Zhao Pan called out in confusion, and the beautiful woman raised her head and said happily, "This is a letter from your eldest brother from the front line. It just arrived this morning."

"A letter from my eldest brother?!"

Zhao Pan, who was becoming more and more beautiful, brightened her eyes, and she trotted over with her feet clacking in cotton slippers, grabbed the letter from home, and her hips rose and fell on the round stool, her eyes sunk into the lines, unable to be pulled out.

The content of the letter was simple, just asking about the recent situation at home, especially mentioning Zhao Pan's academic progress.

As for the great victory on the front line and the thrill of the war, they were only mentioned briefly.

Eugene's eyes were slightly red, and she was smiling:

"Da Lang won a great victory on the front line, and the letter home was sent to the palace by fast horses along with the military information. By now, the officials in the court must have known about it, and later, the news will spread to the capital."

Zhao Pan raised his head. The girl's green jade fingers were still tightly holding the letter paper. She said admiringly:
"Brother can always do things that ordinary people can't do."

Then his eyes dimmed again:
"But the letter said that my eldest brother has to stay in Taicang and can't come back. I won't be able to eat the persimmon cakes made at home."

Eugene, who was of a gentle nature, rarely showed the demeanor of a lady and said seriously:
"Your elder brother is going to do great things. You just need to study hard. When the persimmon cakes are ready, I will ask someone to send them to the front line."

After the empress ascended the throne, a separate girls' school was opened in the Imperial College. For the time being, only the daughters of wealthy families in the capital could attend.

After Zhao Pan gave up learning martial arts, he went to school and his grades were quite excellent.

Zhao Pan said "yeah" and sighed, "What a pity, I don't know when we will meet again."

Suddenly, the Pekingese named "Mantou" under the dining table stood on all fours, bared its teeth at the air, looked ferocious, and started barking.

Eugene Hua frowned and said unhappily, "What's wrong with this dog?"

Zhao Pan bent down and picked up his beloved dog, but was surprised to find that the Pekingese's small body was trembling under its fur, its teeth were chattering, and it looked ferocious, but it was actually trembling.

The mother and daughter could not see that at the place where the Pekingese was staring, Zhao Duan, who was in the "invisible man" state, stood up, smiled at it, and floated out of the house.

After testing, he could still move freely in Zhao's mansion, but the farther he was from the mural, the shorter the time he could exist.

……

In the Imperial Palace, in the Martial Arts Hall, ancient trees stood tall and it was quiet and deserted.

Eunuch Hai was sitting alone on a chair in the patio. He opened his eyes, facing the rising sun, and saw Zhao Duan floating back.

"Why don't you stay at home for a while?" the old eunuch in the bright red dragon robe asked with a smile.

Zhao Duan sighed softly, his expression helpless in the sunshine:

"If they could see me, I might consider it."

Eunuch Hai thought for a moment:

"Perhaps through some methods, you can have a fake body, but it is still unclear whether it can be done. We can only figure it out slowly. Warlocks are better at this kind of thing."

Zhao Duan shook his head and said:

"No rush. It's better to keep my ability secret for now. Anyway, it's enough for your Majesty and you to see it. But I have to take action next, and I won't be coming back frequently."

Eunuch Hai asked curiously, "Have you entered Yongjia City?"

More than ten days had passed since the great victory on the Western Front, and news about the battle had already spread.

As expected, Prince Jing began to attack the eastern front. Xue Shence went to lead the attack, and Mochou accompanied him as the military supervisor.

In name, Zhao Duan will stay in Taicang Prefecture and guard the western front with Sun Xiaozhun, Yuan Feng and others to contain Zhao Shixiong.

However, only a few people know that the real Zhao Duan had already secretly sneaked into the Huai River and the city of Yongjia Prefecture and hid in Zhao Shixiong's territory.

Zhao Duan nodded: "Well, the aftermath of the battle has calmed down, and it's time for me to act. Time waits for no one."

In order to keep the operation top secret, Zhao Duan did not bring anyone with him. Experts such as Lang Shiba and Ji Yue also stayed in Linfeng.

However, there is an elite team of shadow guards who have sneaked into Yongjia City and can be deployed by Zhao Duan when necessary.

"Okay, be careful. You are in the enemy camp. If you are in danger, it will be too late to rush to help." Eunuch Hai took out a document and spread it out in front of him. Pages of paper were suspended in the air:
"This is what you need, the information about Zhao Shixiong and important people in Yongjia City."

Zhao Duan's eyes fell on the paper and he memorized it quickly.

Eunuch Hai said:
"Zhao Shixiong entered the world realm twenty years ago. I'm afraid he has reached the great perfection of the world realm now, and his martial arts are profound. There is also a woman with him. She is Gongsun. She is the new concubine appointed by Zhao Shixiong after his wife died. She was born in Gongsun Villa in the martial arts world and is good at swordsmanship."

"In addition, he is often accompanied by a battalion of personal guards, all of whom are his confidants and have excellent martial arts skills."

"But the city of Yongjia is not completely under the command of Zhao Shixiong. The main force in the city is the former members of the Southwest Border Army, but there is another force, which is the private army of Prince Mu Xu Jingtang. They are not numerous, but they have a high status. They serve as 'military supervisors' and are scattered in various camps of the border army. They do not interfere in combat, but Zhao Shixiong also needs to pay attention to the opinions of this group of people."

Zhao Duan stared at the pictures on the paper, then retracted his gaze and said jokingly:
"It seems that Xu Jingtang's fear and distrust of Zhao Shixiong is greater than expected. He actually let so many 'military supervisors' in. Xu Jingtang knows everything Zhao Shixiong does."

In comparison, the empress only sent two military supervisors to the front line: Zhao Duan and Mo Chou, which shows her trust in Xue Shence.

"Okay, I've got it all down. But information is just information after all. I'll have to see it with my own eyes to know the details."

Zhao Duan took a step forward, his figure passed through Eunuch Hai, passed through the palace walls, and disappeared into the deepest old building.

……

……

The Yongjia Prefecture City is located at the southern end of the Huai River, across the river from Taicang Prefecture in Linfeng.

As one of the two most prosperous and commercially developed prefectures on the Huai River in the Dayu Dynasty, Yongjia has an excellent geographical location.

The water system is well-connected, and the entire city is cut and connected by water flows like the meridians of the human body. The Yongjia River flows eastward, crossing the Grand Canal and reaching the East China Sea.

The buildings here are also very different from those in Linfeng. There are more small buildings in the city, and they are densely packed together. Even the air is more humid.

The most typical architectural feature of Yongjia City is the large number of bridges, both stone and wooden bridges of various sizes, which run through the streets of the city.

Because of the terrain, the area is roughly divided into "Upper City" and "Lower City".

It is similar to the "inner" and "outer" cities of Beijing, but the boundaries are more blurred and there are mixed residential areas.

Zhao Duan woke up in a room in an inn. Feeling exhausted, he fed himself a pill first.

Then I got up and washed.

While washing his face, he looked at the unfamiliar face in the bronze mirror that had been modified with the mask of "Thousand Illusions God" and slowly put on a smile.

"Sure enough, this kind of game that requires using brains to fight others is more suitable for me. Jianghu and the world are also just a bigger temple. Under the emperor, Prince Mu and Prince Jing are treacherous ministers. To overthrow Xu Jingtang, I have to start with you, Zhao Shixiong." After changing into a low-key long gown and jacket and paying the inn's accommodation fee, Zhao Duan, carrying a bag and a gentleman's sword on his waist, left the inn and had become a bookish young man.

Walking on the streets of Yongjia City, looking at the shops lined up on both sides, the pedestrians coming and going, and the vendors.

Zhao Duan seemed a little dazed. Even though they were in a war zone, for ordinary people, life went on just the same.

He walked into a dental clinic on the street and said to an old dentist in his fifties behind the counter:

"We made an appointment yesterday, and we're going to go look at the house today."

The old man, who was in the business of buying, selling and renting houses, similar to the real estate agents of later generations, showed a professional smile, took the deed, and led Zhao Duan towards the market on the edge of the upper city.

Because it was wartime, the inn was often checked and it was inconvenient. So Zhao Duan planned to rent a small courtyard in the city to have a place to stay.

I selected a house with the real estate agent yesterday and went there today to sign the contract and move in.

On the way, the old man smiled and said:
"Don't worry, sir. The house I chose for you is definitely the right one. In such a chaotic time, you should live closer to the inside, so you can live in peace, right?"

Zhao Duan casually asked, "Isn't the city peaceful?"

The old man smiled:
"It's nothing, it's just that there are too many gangsters in the lower city. You have to raise the price a little bit and move in, then it will be really quiet."

Zhao Duan smiled but said nothing.

He had to move around in the city, so he couldn't possibly live too close to the tightly controlled city center. The reason he didn't choose the lower city area was because it was deliberately hidden and therefore conspicuous.

The two of them arrived at an alley called "Hongni Lane" and stopped at the door of the third courtyard. The broker raised his hand and knocked on the door, shouting:
"Mr. Du, I've brought a tenant!"

Zhao Duan stood in the alley. He had extraordinary hearing ability. Through the gate, he heard a woman's angry voice coming from the courtyard:

"Run! You run again! You didn't study hard when I told you to, but you became a bad boy, hanging out with those shady guys outside the school! Du Ruhui! You don't care about your son, but you are good at stopping me!"

Then, a middle-aged man's bitter voice sounded:

"Madam, someone is coming. Don't shout. You'll make a fool of yourself in front of the neighbors."

Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows. Is it possible that this landlord’s family is dominated by his wife?

Although the empress had been on the throne for three years, it was not enough to change the local customs of the Yu State. However, due to the prosperity of the Huai River, many women had the support of their natal families and were particularly confident. Therefore, the proportion of "violent women" was indeed higher.

At this moment, the voices in the courtyard stopped, and the footsteps approached. After a while, the gate of the courtyard opened, and a man in his forties or fifties, wearing a scholar's gown, forced a smile:
"Please come in. This gentleman is the tenant, right?"

As he spoke, he led Zhao Duan and the old man into the two-story house, and soon the scenery in the backyard came into view.

In the rather plain and elegant courtyard, outside the door of the east wing, there was a large wooden basin on the steps with clothes soaked in it.

A woman about forty years old was wearing an apron, with her sleeves rolled up and holding a wooden mallet in her hand to beat clothes.

He looked over with his anger still lingering.

It can be seen that the woman is quite pretty, but due to her old age and the trivial matters at home, she has a bad temper. Her high jaw and thin lips seem to imply that she is not easy to talk to.

Next to the woman, at the bottom of the steps on the other side of the wooden tray, behind a wooden pillar, a boy about ten years old was panicking. He didn't dare to look at his mother, as if he was avoiding being chased. He shrank his neck and looked over here curiously.

At the door of the west wing, a quiet girl was watching everything quietly.

She was about 18 years old, quite a pretty girl from a small family, wearing a fitted silk dress, and looked very much like her mother. She had cold eyes and an attitude that seemed to be none of her business.

"I have made an appointment to rent a house." Zhao Duan introduced himself, but his eyes passed over the man named Du Ruhui and looked at Du's wife who was the real decision maker.

When she heard that it was a tenant, the sharpness in Du's wife's eyes softened a little, and her voice also softened a little:

"Please go sit inside."

Immediately, she threw the wet mallet in her hand into the wooden basin with a clang, splashing out a puff of water, and looked at her daughter with a cold face:
"Take Xiaobao to the room."

The girl said nothing and took the boy into the room indifferently.

Zhao Duan's gaze lingered on the young girl for a moment, and he frowned slightly before stepping into the main room.

As expected, the person who really made the decision was neither Du Ruhui nor the old man.

The fierce wife wiped her hands, stepped over the threshold aggressively, and looked Zhao Duan up and down with unfriendly eyes and tone:
"Outsiders?"

Zhao Duan said calmly:

"I am from Huting. I went to Linfeng to seek refuge with my relatives to avoid disaster. Now I can't get through, so I have to find a place to stay in the city."

The accent problem was easy to solve. He had taken some temporary training, and all the wealthy families in the State of Yu had descendants who spoke Mandarin. He had also been to Hu Ting and was familiar with the local customs and practices, so he was not afraid of being exposed.

Many people went north to avoid the war and the rebels. Now there are a large number of people in the city who are unable to leave the city and go north to Linfeng.

Zhao Shixiong has completely blocked the road to the north. Once someone is found "smuggling", they will be detained at the very least, and treated as a "spy" at the worst.

"Where is the pass?" Du's wife asked in a bad tone.

She didn't want to rent a house to outsiders, but it was obvious that this family was not wealthy. Although they had two courtyards in the capital, they could not afford to support servants...

This Du Ruhui seems to be a scholar, and also from a scholarly family, but now he is "unemployed at home"... The family's food, clothing and daily expenses depend on rent...

Zhao Duan made a quick judgment, and the broker next to him smiled and said:
"I've already checked it, and there's absolutely no problem. Besides, Madam Du, look at this young man's demeanor, he must have a very good upbringing, and if he becomes a tenant, he won't cause any trouble."

Madam Du carefully looked at Zhao Duan and saw that although he looked ordinary, he was calm in his every move. Her expression eased slightly and she nodded.

"It's best not to cause trouble. Now there is chaos and war. Soldiers patrol the streets all the time. Prices are soaring. The room rates at the inn change every day. Our Du family is a good and honest family. If you are not from a good family, we will not allow you to pay more rent."

He said he didn't care about money, but he kept talking about money... It seemed that he really needed rent to make ends meet, but he was also afraid of getting into trouble. This was a common mentality among ordinary people... Zhao Duan smiled and took out a small-denomination banknote from his pocket:

"I understand. This is half a year's rent."

Du's wife's complexion improved visibly, her tone became softer, and she looked at him with much more favorability.

Then, she modestly repeated several requests, including not allowing people of questionable character to be brought home and not allowing animals to be kept.

Only then was the "lease" contract signed under the witness of the broker.

In this way, Zhao Duan had his own residence in the city.

Afterwards, the broker left, and Du's wife personally took Zhao Duan to the fourth courtyard next to Du's house in Hongni Lane, which was much smaller in size.

The courtyard was quite simple and clean, with bedding, brooms, dishes and chopsticks fully furnished. Zhao Duan's residence was separated from the landlord's family by only a wall.

"If you need anything else, go to the shop on the right side of the alley to buy it. By the way, if you don't know how to cook, you can go to the food shop next door on the street. The price is cheaper than other shops and it's cleaner."

Mrs. Du finally said, then gave the key and walked away.

Zhao Duan watched the landlord leave, smiled, went into the house to put down his bag, walked out of the room to go out shopping, but saw the young girl from the Du family standing quietly at the gate of the yard.

"You're being targeted." Du Shishi looked at him calmly and said.

(End of this chapter)