Gao Chi of the Ming River

Nanjing, Fang's family.

"Brother Fang, have you met the prince?"

"Ah."

"My son...how?"

"very good."

"...Brother Fang, you should know what I want to ask..."

"So, Brother Zhang, what do you want me to say?"

Fang Xiaoru turned around and looked at the man in his 40s sitting on the chair behind him with deep frown and a sad face.

"You should know that I won't say anything! How is the son? How is the king? Now all I know is that some people are fanning the flames around the emperor's grandson, and some things that might not happen are happening. Brother Zhang, I know you are worried Your daughter, but now that she has entered the Yan Palace, even if she is not yet married, she is already a member of the Yan Palace and the wife of the eldest son! In the future, she will also share prosperity and poverty with the Yan Palace. If you are her Well, just pretend that you have never given birth to this daughter, don't ask her anything, and let her stop asking about your Zhang family!"

The man smiled bitterly when he heard the words, "But it's too late now!"

Fang Xiaoru frowned.

"Hey! That's all!" The man stood up slowly, looked at Fang Xiaoru, and asked, "Brother Fang, the day after tomorrow is my birthday, I want to invite the prince to my birthday banquet, by the way... meet the prince..."

Fang Xiaoru shook his head slowly, "Not right."

The man smiled, "The grandson of the emperor trusts me very much, you don't have to worry." After a pause, he asked again, "Brother Fang, let me ask you one last sentence."

"You said."

"If... one day, King Yan has two hearts, whose side will you be on?"

Fang Xiaoru frowned, and then said seriously, "If you talk about talent and resourcefulness, the king of Yan is number one; if you talk about generosity, the emperor's grandson is number one. ? Therefore, although King Yan is more suitable, Xiaoru will still stand by the emperor's grandson!"

Hearing this, the man breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and nodded, and said goodbye.

After the man left, Fang Xiaoru was silent for a while, then sighed quietly, and murmured, "It's a pity..."

***********

On this day, Zhang Shi, the grandson of the emperor, was born.

Although the country mourned, the emperor's grandson allowed Zhang Taifu to hold this birthday, which shows Zhang Shi's status in the emperor's grandson's mind.

However, although there were many congratulatory guests, there was no festive decorations in front of them, and they were still very low-key and simple.

Zhu Gaochi got out of the carriage, looked at the people coming and going in front of the Zhang residence, and then looked at the carriages of various prefectures parked near the side gate. From a distance, Zhu Gaochi saw one of them bearing the name of Prince Zhou's residence. He couldn't help but frowned and smiled. .

It seems that his Zhou Wangshu also came.

"Brother?" Zhu Gaoxu asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Zhu Gaochi smiled and shook his head, then whispered, "Let's go."

Zhu Gaosui was a little worried, "Brother, is it okay for us to come today?"

"It's okay! Taifu Zhang invited us here, so it's okay." Zhu Gaochi said with a smile.

Immediately, he habitually put his hands behind his back and smiled leisurely, "Let's go in."

After entering Zhang's mansion, he was polite and courteous with everyone.

When he saw Zhou Wang smiling and nodding towards him out of the corner of his eyes, Zhu Gaochi smiled inwardly, planning to find an opportunity to talk to Zhou Wang again later.

Although the king of Zhou agreed this week, there has been no movement in the past few days...

Although Zhu Gaochi trusted Dao Yan very much in his heart, he still felt uneasy in his heart.

Zhu Gaochi was thinking in this way, still smiling with a simple and honest look on his face, but when he saw the middle-aged man walking towards him, Zhu Gaochi's heart skipped a beat.

Zhang Shi?

His nominal... father-in-law?

Busily got up respectfully, bowed his hands, and got entangled in addressing for a while, what should he call him?

Father-in-law?wrong!Not married yet!

Then...Master Zhang?

Is it less respectful?

When Zhu Gaochi was struggling, Zhang Shi said respectfully, "My son is polite."

Zhu Gaochi smiled awkwardly, "Master Zhang..."

Let's call him Mr. Zhang.

Zhang Shi smiled slightly, and said humbly, "My lord, can you show me your face and move to the flower hall to talk?"

Zhu Gaochi was taken aback.

Glancing at the seemingly absent four-dimensional gaze from the corner of his eye, and seeing the magnanimity between Zhang Shi's eyebrows, Zhu Gaochi smiled gently, "Of course! Mr. Zhang, please!"

Zhang Shi was not polite either, he bowed his hands slightly, then bent down to lead the way.

Zhu Gaochi said to Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui beside him, his voice was not too loud, but the people around could hear him clearly, "I just saw Uncle Zhou Wang, Gao Xu, Gao Sui, go and say hello for me."

"Yes!" Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui agreed with each other.

************

After entering the flower hall.

Zhu Gaochi noticed that the flower hall is very quiet, but it is not closed, and there is a corridor on the left and right that can be reached directly. At this time, there are people coming and going in the corridor from time to time, and servant girls and servants pass by.

"I take the liberty to invite the prince here, because I want to ask...how is my Rongyue girl?" Zhang Shi asked softly.

Zhu Gaochi was taken aback for a moment, he only passed Zhang Rongyue that time in the corridor, and the most important thing is that they are not married yet... Is she okay... This... How does he know?

But on the face, he still respectfully cupped his hands and said, "Gao Chi has been taking care of my father. As far as Gao Chi knows, Miss Rong Yue has been living with her mother and concubine. The mother and concubine like Miss Rong Yue very much, and she often mentions it in front of Gao Chi. Miss Rongyue, every time I mention it, I always say that Miss Rongyue is virtuous and virtuous..."

Zhang Shi stared at Zhu Gaochi for a while, then sighed softly, "This old man made things difficult for the son. The son behaved dignifiedly. Now that you are not married, what about the little girl? How does the son know?"

Zhu Gaochi heaved a sigh of relief.

That's right.If he really knew what happened to Miss Rongyue, then it would really be out of etiquette...

Zhang Shi was silent for a while, hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Zhu Gaochi and said, "Yesterday, my friend Fang Xiaoru met the prince."

Zhu Gaochi nodded, and smiled humbly, "Mr. Fang is very knowledgeable, and Gao Chi has always yearned for it."

"Although he didn't say anything, the old man knows that he admires the son very much." Zhang Shi said slowly.

Zhu Gaochi said modestly, "It's Mr. Fang who praised me." He was scratching his head and didn't say anything. How could he know that he was praising me?

"This old man has a feeling of ruthlessness, and I ask my son to accept it." Zhang Shi continued to speak slowly, with a dignified expression.

Zhu Gaochi was startled, then respectfully cupped his hands and said, "Master Zhang, please tell me."

But my heart is very nervous, what kind of unfeeling is this Zhang Shi going to mention?

"Please sir..." Zhang Shi was about to speak, but a sudden voice cut in, "Nephew Gao Chi! So you are here! It's really easy to find! Hahahaha..."

The voice is hearty and very loud.

Zhu Gaochi turned around, saw Zhou Wang standing in the corridor with a smile and turned his head, walking towards him, he said with a smile, "Okay, nephew Gaochi, I just wanted to talk to you, so you came here ?”

Immediately behind King Zhou came Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui.

Zhu Gaochi hurriedly smiled naively, scratched his head, "Keep Uncle Wang waiting for so long, Gao Chi really deserves to die!"

At this moment, Zhang Shi hurriedly said, "It's all because of the lower officials, it's the lower officials who forced the son to talk, that's why..."

"Okay! Okay! Taifu Zhang, don't talk about it, today is your birthday! No one dares to blame you! Have you finished talking to nephew Gao Chi? I want to talk to nephew Gao Chi Let's chat! He's been in Peiping all year round! We, uncle and nephew, don't see each other for a few times a year!" King Zhou waved impatiently.

"It's over! My lord, please!" Zhang Shi hurriedly said.

"Okay! Nephew Gaochi, come with me! Uncle Wang will tell you about the most fun place in Nanjing..." Zhou Wang said, hooking Zhu Gaochi's neck and pulling, Zhu Gaochi's With a faltering step, he was pulled over.

Zhu Gaochi hurriedly said, "Uncle Wang, let go!"

"Hey! What a loose hand! Let's go... Uncle Wang is telling you!" Zhou Wang said, hooking Zhu Gaochi's neck and walking quickly outside.

Zhu Gaosui, who was following behind him, poked Zhu Gaoxu and whispered, "Second brother...you said that if the father sees Zhou Wangshu treating the elder brother like this, what will Zhou Wangshu do?"

Zhu Gaoxu gave Zhu Gaosui a sideways glance, "Like you?"

Zhu Gaosui smiled embarrassingly, he once hooked his elder brother's neck to play with his elder brother, but his father saw it...

Turning around, seeing King Zhou and Zhu Gaochi squatting by the pond, he wanted to go there, but Zhu Gaoxu held Zhu Gaojiu and shook his head, "We'll watch here, if someone comes over, we can deal with it!"

************

When he came to the secluded pond, King Zhou let go of Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi hurriedly rubbed his neck, and said with a bitter face, "Uncle Zhou, I walk slowly, so don't do this next time?"

King Zhou squatted down, pulled Zhu Gaochi to squat down together, and stared, "Praise you for being smart, you did something stupid! Although that stone is said to be the father of your unmarried wife, he is a hard-core grandson." Party! It’s no good for you to join him! Do you know!?”

Grandchildren?

What about his father?Why do people outside call him daddy?

Zhu Gaochi rubbed his neck and said slowly, "Uncle Zhou Wang, is it okay for you to bring me here to talk?"

King Zhou said lazily, "What's the problem? Why are there so many taboos between our uncle and nephew? Don't worry. Your two younger brothers will definitely be able to return to Peiping, but you..." After finishing speaking, he cast a sidelong glance at Zhu Gaochi One glance, "Seek good luck."

Zhu Gaochi smirked, "It's okay, I'm blessed!"

King Zhou looked Zhu Gaochi up and down, and after a while, he patted Zhu Gaochi on the shoulder and got up, "Yes! You have a lot of meat, and you must have a lot of blessings."

Meat... quite a lot?

Zhu Gaochi felt a little bored, what are you talking about?

When the two got up and were about to go to the front hall to say goodbye and go back, King Zhou looked at Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui who were watching the wind, turned his head abruptly, and stared at Zhu Gaochi, "Gao Chi, although I don't know why you are so sure that I will help you... ...But I promised your father that one day, if you have any request, I must agree! Now I have a way to leave Beiping, but I can't take all three of you, I can only leave one person. Now, I Ask you one last time, are you really not going?"

Zhu Gaochi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Well, I won't go! Uncle Zhou Wang, please forgive me. Please take Gao Xu and Gao Sui back to Peiping."

Uncle Zhou stared at Zhu Gaochi for a while, then slowly nodded, "Okay. I see."

Zhu Gaochi said solemnly again, "Please, Uncle Zhou Wang, keep it secret!"

"Understood..." King Zhou sighed suddenly.Patting Zhu Gaochi on the head, he said in a strange tone, "I understand now..."

Um?understand what?Zhu Gaochi was puzzled.