My husband, please respect yourself. The princess is here to grab the bride.

Chapter 168: Farewell to Zhuxi

The rice fields outside Chunman Cottage are already lush green.

The pears hanging on the pear tree outside the cottage are already as big as pigeon eggs.

It was almost dusk when Bai Shaoqiu stepped into Chunman Cottage again. Two months had passed in the blink of an eye since he last left here.

This is how time flies.

Standing in the courtyard of Chunman Cottage, I thought it was overgrown with weeds, but unexpectedly everything was the same as when I used to live here.

It seems that someone has come to clean up this little building.

He walked into the pavilion and touched the stone table. There was no dust on his hand...

Bai Shaoqiu turned his head and looked around, his eyes full of anticipation. Could it be that Lan Lan had returned?

He walked quickly out of the pavilion and into the kitchen.

There was no one.

He went to every house, and every house was clean, but empty.

Dongfang Meng and He Xiaofeng stood in the courtyard and watched Bai Shaoqiu running around like a headless fly. When they saw Bai Shaoqiu return to the courtyard, the expression on his face changed from expectation to disappointment.

"What are you looking for?"

He Xiaofeng asked.

Dongfang Meng grinned, and his voice exploded like spring thunder: "Of course he is looking for my sister!"

He Xiaofeng was stunned: "The princess... lives here?"

Dongfang Meng nodded vigorously, but unfortunately Bai Shaoqiu neither heard nor saw it.

He went to the kitchen.

There is a jar of green plum wine in the kitchen.

It was sealed very well, and the kitchen door was always open, with a faint smell of wine.

After thinking for a moment, he didn't open the jar of wine. He walked out again and waved to Dongfang Meng and He Xiaofeng:

"Let's go!"

"Where?"

Looking at the setting sun, Bai Shaoqiu walked out the door.

"Go to Zhuxi!"

……

……

It was already dark when we arrived at Zhuxi.

Mr. Si was not in Lanting at the moment. He was in a small wooden house deep in Zhuxi.

Bai Shaoqiu and his group came to the residence of Mr. Si, the old scholar, under the leadership of Jiuye, carrying jars of wine and a dozen or so braised chickens from Yu Ji.

Mr. Si was quite surprised.

He put down the pen in his hand and looked up at Bai Shaoqiu, a smile on his face:

"You said you were busy... You should be busy, why did you come to my place?"

Bai Shaoqiu sat down in front of the desk. "Hey... I'm feeling a little down, so I came to you to talk."

Having said this, Bai Shaoqiu turned to He Xiaofeng and Dongfang Meng and ordered:

"You two go to the pavilion outside and drink some wine and eat some chicken. I want to talk to Brother Si."

Dongfang Meng looked at Bai Shaoqiu with resentment and muttered, "You promised to take me to the brothel."

"Do you want to eat chicken?"

"eat!"

"Then go there!"

Jiuye took the two of them away.

There was a young man in blue standing behind Mr. Si.

He is Qi Ye!

Since Mr. Si didn't tell him to, he naturally didn't leave.

He took two wine glasses from the cabinet next to him, broke the mud seal on the wine jar, and poured a glass of wine for Bai Shaoqiu and Si Lao.

He stood aside again, serving respectfully.

Bai Shaoqiu sat cross-legged and picked up his wine glass. "I'm about to leave... So, I think Chang'an is so prosperous and I really want to go and see it."

"But now, I feel that Xiling City is great."

"Although the place is small, I have close friends, fine wine, Yu Ji's braised chicken, and... my beloved girl."

"I'm leaving so suddenly, and I feel so sad."

"Brother, am I getting old?"

Sili Taohua immediately laughed.

Smiling happily, like a child.

"You kid...if you're old, wouldn't I become a demon?"

"Come on, let's have a drink first."

The two drank a glass of wine together, and Qi Ye hurried over to refill it.

Si Lao stroked his long beard and said:

"You're not old, you're just worried and afraid."

"A few days ago, I went to Changning Academy and spent half a day fishing with Old Man Qin. I didn't catch any fish, but I listened to him talk for a long time."

"He's very worried."

"I'm worried too!"

"Originally, I thought you would go to Kyoto next summer, but this guy brought it forward by a full year."

"A lot can be done in a year. At least the palace can make some preparations, and at least Prime Minister Qin can have ample time to make arrangements."

"In fact, some things might have been decided in this year."

"But no one expected the emperor's decree to come now... Even if we have made preparations and arrangements now, it would be hasty."

"Haste means there will be many loopholes. Even if Prime Minister Qin is determined to keep you safe, there will inevitably be mistakes, so..."

Sili Taohua picked up the wine glass again, the smile on her face faded, and her eyes became serious.

"You have to be more careful!"

"Although the Emperor has some past grievances with the Prince of Zhenxi, he does admire your talent greatly. In my opinion, it is extremely important for you to win the Emperor's favor during your trip to Kyoto!"

"He is the Emperor after all!"

"Ye Qionglou is not so arrogant as to dare to openly disrespect the emperor!"

"Come, drink,"

The two drank another glass of wine together, and Qiye filled their glasses again.

Si Li Tao Hua stroked his long beard and sighed, "A scholar is useless. Even though I've been in Kyoto for so many years, when I think about it carefully these days, I find that I can't find anyone who can really help you."

Bai Shaoqiu waved his hand and grinned:

"Brother, please don't blame yourself. The more you blame yourself, the more uneasy I will feel!"

"Actually, there's nothing to be afraid of on this trip to Kyoto. Well... the palace has made some arrangements, and I've also been making some preparations these days."

"Thinking about it the other way around, I'm going next year anyway. It's actually better to get the Emperor's decree this year than next year. I'm more confident now that I can ask the Emperor to take back that decree."

"Doesn't this mean I no longer have the status of a son-in-law?"

"If the emperor gives me another official position...the imperial court appoints me to the foot of the sky, even if those people want to harm me, they must make their plan more thorough."

"You don't need to worry about my trip to Kyoto."

"When you have time, go to Qiuyulu and tell Brother Qin that you need to concentrate on fishing and not let me distract you!"

Bai Shaoqiu's words were naturally meant to comfort Si Li Taohua.

If the current emperor does not care about state affairs but only likes poetry and calligraphy, then his power would have been hollowed out.

Since Ye Qionglou took the initiative to suggest to the emperor that he be summoned to Kyoto, he had enough means to control himself as a chess piece.

Whether life or death!

Even if we take a step back and say that Ye Qionglou killed himself openly, what could the emperor do to him?

What Ye Qionglou was really worried about was the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion. Now that the Zhenxi Prince himself had gone to Dasan Pass, he might have led the western border troops into the Western Wilderness to find Wanyan Bing's army.

The King of Zhenxi had no time to care about himself who was far away in Kyoto.

Of course, he didn't mention the two umbrellas in Kyoto.

In Bai Shaoqiu's plan, if those two umbrellas are unreliable... then just kill a few people!

The fish is about to die, so why worry about the net breaking!

"After I leave, you can go and take a look at Sanwei Bookstore when you have time. It's not that I need you to do anything, but if a great scholar like you shows up at Sanwei Bookstore, the business will be better."

"As for the other child... the one I entrusted to you named Xiaochui, you don't have to worry too much."

"Reading still requires talent."

"The most important thing is that he understands the principles of being a human being."

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's drink."

Bai Shaoqiu raised his glass: "Let's drink tonight... I don't know where or when our next drink will be!"