wait for another year

"This is the palace?" Zhao Xu's expression was confused.

Shen Mi folded his hands in his sleeves, bowed and said with a smile, "Exactly."

Zhao Xu turned to look at him, "Master Shen also came from Shenjing, don't you know the regulations of the Prince's Mansion? With all due respect, I'm afraid Master Shen's mansion in Chang'an is a bit more grand than this, right?"

The mansion in front of me covers an area of ​​only forty acres, except for a few girders which are made of golden nanmu, the rest of the wood is ordinary pine.The stone steps at the gate of the mansion are not white marble, but ordinary stone, which makes the two not-so-open Zhumen very shabby.

Shen Mi didn't rush, "If you go back to the princess, it's hard for a smart woman to cook without rice. It's pretty good to be able to cultivate like this just with the money allocated by Shaofu Temple."

Zhao Xu glanced at him, and walked in the door with some displeasure, followed by Shen Mi and the rest of the servants.

Sedan hall, flower hall, inner hall, back garden...

If you don't notify in advance, anyone who sees this house will probably think that it is the other courtyard of a retired squire.

Standing in the courtyard, Zhao Xu put his hand on the door separating the backyard and the front hall, and smiled slowly, "Just now I reprimanded him without entering the mansion, I was a bit arbitrary. This house has its own world, Mr. Shen has a heart."

Bai Su asked Bai Shao in a low voice, "My lord, are you confused by anger? Is this still called intentional?"

While Zhao Xu didn't notice, Bai Shao pointed at the door, "Look, the two sides of this door are made of pine wood, and the other side is made of stone. If someone rushes in later or the water is taken away, is this stone door still alive?" It can resist for a while without attracting attention."

Bai Su suddenly realized, but he heard Zhao Xu say: "You are all guarding outside, no one is allowed to enter without my order."

Everyone retreated, Zhao Xu bowed to Shen Mi, "I don't know how much effort it will take to build such a garden without anyone noticing it, I thank you sir on behalf of the prince."

Shen Mi was not self-effacing, accepted the gift calmly, and said with a smile: "It seems that the princess has understood the mystery?"

Turning his gaze, Zhao Xu raised his sleeves, pointed first to the sky, then to the ground, and finally clasped his hands together and interlocked his fingers.

You can go up to the sky, and you can go down to the ground. If there is an enemy coming, please enter the urn.

"It seems that the princess is as knowledgeable as the prince said." Shen Mi clapped his hands and smiled, "How did the princess think of it?"

Zhao Xu took a cup of tea casually, and dripped water along the cracks of the floor tiles as he walked—the small stream of water flowed slowly, and when it reached between two of the bricks, it actually seeped in instantly.

"When I just entered the door, I noticed those bunches of plantains. Although there is a lack of water in Suzhou, the flowers and plants in the palace must be taken care of every day. The orchids, which are more precious than plantains, are still in good condition. Why is this plantain dying? I asked I looked carefully and found that the soil under the plantain was soft and dry..."

Shen Mi stroked his beard, shook his head, walked to the edge of the clump of plantains, pushed aside the roots of one of them, and found a small secret door made of stone with a keyhole on it.He took three copper keys from his sleeve, inserted one of them and turned it, and with a strong lift, the stone door was opened.

"Princess, please."

Looking down, there was only darkness.

Zhao Xu took the fire bag and bravely followed him down - under the winding stone steps, there are stone rooms, each room can accommodate more than ten people.Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, this place can be used to practice fine work, interrogate prisoners, hoard food and grass, and even be used for refuge...

"As expected of a person who has been a doctor of the Ministry of Industry, but are the craftsmen reliable?" Zhao Xu walked to a mechanism with admiration, and wanted to reach out to touch it.

Shen Mi grabbed his wrist, "The mechanism has no eyes, it's better for the princess not to move around. All the craftsmen are from the south of the Yangtze River, and they all came blindfolded, and now I have let them go home."

Zhao Xu nodded, "It's true that we should accumulate some evil virtues, and these stone chambers will come in handy after my lord and I pay a visit to Lord Zhizhi."

"Honey thorn?" Shen Mi was at a loss.

"The former leader of the Lijingmen, the prince and I recruited him." Zhao Xu looked at the ventilated eyes and nodded approvingly. "He is now sick and blind, all thanks to Deng Dang. Here Could it be inhabited?"

Shen Mi suddenly realized, "You mean to let that Zhizhi and Xiaozuo live here?"

"The underground seems to be bigger than the top. I don't think it's a problem to accommodate 500 people." Zhao Xu pondered, "Before we can control Suzhou, let them live here, which can keep them secret and ensure their safety." Safety."

Shen Mi suddenly said: "I have always felt that the princess is not as trustworthy as the prince, but today she revealed such a confidential matter, does this mean that the princess has finally let go of her guard against me?"

Zhao Xu looked at him, "Wrong, in fact, I let go of my guard against you much earlier than the prince. Even as early as when you met Deng Fanyun in Liangzhou, I decided to use you."

How could a person with a ghost in his heart go to meet his opponent so frankly?

And if he wanted to vote for the Deng party, why didn't he vote earlier, but he was willing to sit for so many years as a humble official?

Shen Mi didn't say any more, just took out the three keys from his sleeve, "Wangfei can decide the affairs of Prince Su's mansion?"

Zhao Xu just smiled lightly.

Shen Mi handed all three keys into his hands, "There are only three keys in this world that can open the stone gate, please keep them safe."

Zhao Xu took the key and gave it back to him, "You keep it, if I accidentally lose it in the future, at least you will still be there, right?"

"Being obedient is worse than being respectful." Shen Mi bowed.

After leaving the tunnel, the two had dinner together in the backyard.Shen Mi was born in Tanhua, and Zhao Xu was also a first-class talented scholar in the Imperial Academy before getting married, drinking and tasting dishes, singing the wind and enjoying the moon, they are very speculative.

Before returning to the mansion, Zhao Xu said to Shen Mi: "Neither the prince nor I have ever been an official. You have been in the officialdom for a long time, and you are also the head of the palace by the imperial court. Now I will hand over all the official affairs of Suzhou to you, and I will give you two years In time, I want the officialdom in Suzhou to be clear and united, and I want Suzhou to really become King Su's Suzhou!"

Shen Mi bowed his hands and sent them off, "For the sake of the country, I dare not say goodbye, but do my best to repay the grace of God."

When I returned to the governor's mansion, the moon was already in the sky.

Thinking that Xuanyuan Hui should have rested, Zhao Xu whispered to Bai Su to clean up the guest room for him.

Unexpectedly, a cool voice came.

"You know how to come back?"

Zhao Xu looked up and saw Xuanyuan standing at the door of the wing with a sullen face, arms folded.

"What, I'm running around for the lord, and the lord is going to blame me? Or... the lord can't sleep alone without me by his side?" Zhao Xu jokingly asked.

Xuanyuan Hui rolled his eyes and looked at him again, "You are also tired today, so you should rest early. Tomorrow, let's go find Zhizhi together."

After saying that, he went back to the room, saw Zhao Xu still standing there in his single clothes, he grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to the room.

Bai Su, who was ordered to fetch the brocade quilt, was stunned on the spot, and said slowly for a long while, "That's how you mix oil with honey..."