Not long after, Butler Li from the Princess Mansion came out.
"Sir, Her Royal Highness the Princess has entered the palace to help Her Royal Highness the Queen prepare various matters for the Taishan Conferment. Otherwise, please wait in the lobby for a while, and I will send someone to invite the Princess to come back."
Zhang Gou nodded in agreement, and the two entered the princess mansion through the second door.
In the lobby, Wang Datou squatted in front of the table, stared at the teacup with his eyes, and said with a sure look: "This teacup is worth at least 50,000 yuan!"
Zhang Gouduan sat on the chair and wanted to ask, "Why did you come with me?"
But the other party helped him lead the way after all, so he had no choice but to say: "Don't make a fuss and sit down quickly. Her Royal Highness may be here soon."
Wang Datou sat down as instructed and clasped his hands tightly together.
Thinking of seeing Her Royal Highness up close soon, I felt nervous, excited, and a little scared.
An hour later, Princess Taiping still didn't arrive. Zhang Gou frowned, stood up and asked an attendant maid: "How long will it take for Her Royal Highness to come here?"
The maid shook her head and said, "I don't know."
Zhang Gou asked her to call the housekeeper over.
Butler Li came very quickly, with a wry smile on his face, and said: "Master Zhang, I have already sent someone to the palace. Maybe His Highness is a little busy and will not be back until later."
Zhang Gaozhao thought for a moment and said, "I have other things to do. I'll come back later."
Butler Li did not dare to force him to stay and sent him to the door himself.
As soon as he walked out of the gate, Wang Datou complained: "Master Zhang, why are you leaving? Maybe Her Royal Highness will be back soon."
Zhang Gou didn't answer but asked: "Do you know where the Changping County Prince's Palace is?"
Wang Datou's eyes were as big as a frog in an instant, and he shouted: "You...why do you ask this? His Royal Highness the Prince of Changping County is not in the capital."
"I know." Zhang Gou nodded and said, "The person I want to see is Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Wang Datou took a deep breath and said: "The county prince's palace is in Pingkangfang, which I just passed by. Mr. Zhang, can I ask a question?"
"go ahead."
"Who...are you?"
Zhang Gou turned around and left, and Wang Datou hurriedly followed him, shouting: "Okay, I won't ask, I will show you the way. I just ask you to take me to the prince's palace with you and let me see the world!"
The two of them had just arrived at the Prince's Mansion and were about to step forward when they suddenly saw a luxurious carriage drive out from the second gate.
Wang Datou grabbed Zhang Gou's clothes and shouted: "Mr. Zhang, that's Uncle Yingzhou's carriage!"
Zhang Gou was slightly surprised, stopped, and watched Wu Sansi's carriage leave.
Wang Datou suddenly grinned and said: "Hey, someone must have told Her Royal Highness what happened just now, and Her Royal Highness called Uncle Yingzhou over and scolded him."
Zhang Gou asked strangely: "How do you know?"
Wang Datou smiled and said: "Because Uncle Yingzhou likes to ride horses when he goes out on weekdays. He only rides in a carriage when he is in a bad mood. How could he ride in a carriage unless he was scolded by Her Highness the Princess?"
Zhang Gou nodded and came outside the gate of the Prince's Mansion. The guards of the Prince's Mansion immediately stepped forward, stretched out a hand, palm forward, and said majestically: "Who are you? What do you want to do with your visit to the Prince's Mansion?"
Zhang Gou was about to answer when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from behind. He turned around and saw the woman in white he had just seen riding towards him.
The woman's riding skills were excellent. She dismounted skillfully and came to the gate. She naturally looked at Zhang Gou and asked curiously: "Who are you?"
Zhang Gou said hurriedly: "I, Zhang Gou, are... here to ask to see Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Xue Yujin raised an eyebrow and said, "Do you know Zhiying?"
Zhang Gou was stunned for a moment, and soon realized that Zhiying was the princess's name, and hurriedly said: "I have been ordered by His Highness the Prince to bring a letter to His Highness the Princess."
Xue Yujin's face suddenly bloomed like flowers, her eyes were smiling like crescent moons, and she said with a smile: "It turns out he sent you here, okay, come in with me, and I will take you to see Zhiying."
Zhang Gou immediately followed. Wang Datou on the side saw Xue Yujin and stepped back unknowingly.
When Zhang Gou entered, he was about to follow, but he was a step too late and was blocked by the guard.
Zhang Gou didn't notice Wang Datou's situation and followed Xue Yujin silently.
Not long after, the two came to the backyard and met the mistress of the palace in a stone pavilion next to a small lake.
"Zhiying, guess who I brought here for you?" Xue Yujin said with a smile.
Li Zhiying was sitting on a stone chair. There were many medicinal materials on the stone table next to her, and she seemed to be sorting them.
She glanced at Zhang Gou, slightly confused.
Xue Yujin smiled and said: "He was sent by your husband to deliver a message to you."
Zhang Gou then stepped into the stone pavilion, cupped his hands and said, "I, Zhang Gou, have brought a letter to Her Royal Highness the Princess at the order of His Royal Highness Prince Changping."
Li Zhiying's eyes lit up instantly, she stood up, took two steps forward, and asked: "Thank you for your hard work, where is the letter?"
Zhang Gou took out the envelope, took out a letter from the middle, and handed it over.
Xue Yujin had sharp eyes and said with a smile: "Why did I see there was a letter inside? Could it be for me?"
Zhang Gou hurriedly explained: "The other letter is for Her Royal Highness Princess Taiping."
Xue Yujin said lightly "Oh".
Li Zhiying had already received the letter and started reading it quickly. After reading, she pressed the letter to her chest and closed her eyes. Even Zhang Gou could see the joy on her face.
Xue Yujin smiled and scolded: "You're good, isn't it just a letter? As for making you happy like this?"
Li Zhiying smiled and whispered in her ear: "I'm going to Yangzhou."
Xue Yujin was stunned for a moment, curled his lips and said: "Go, go, hurry up and meet your husband, and leave me, a poor man, alone in Chang'an."
Li Zhiying's face turned slightly red and she asked Zhang Gou: "Master Zhang, does he have anything else to explain?"
Zhang Gou said: "No, I have to give another letter to Her Royal Highness Princess Taiping, so I will take my leave first."
Xue Yujin suddenly said: "If you want to find Princess Taiping, you'd better go to Yongle Houfu, she should be there."
Zhang Gou was surprised and said: "But I just went to the princess's mansion, and the housekeeper said that Her Royal Highness is in the palace."
Xue Yujin had a straight face and said, "I said it was right there. How could I lie to you?"
After saying that, she ignored him and pulled Li Zhiying towards a small building, smiling: "Zhiying, let me tell you, Caiyi and I just now..."
The two women led a group of people away gradually, and Zhang Gou stood there, silently looking at their backs.
At this moment, a voice came from the side: "Master Zhang, please."
The speaker was Wen Rong, the palace steward.
Zhang Gou withdrew his gaze and followed Wen Rong out of the palace.
As soon as he walked out of the gate, Wang Datou rushed over from the corner of the street and complained: "Master Zhang, why did you leave me outside alone!"
Zhang Gou smiled and said, "I thought you didn't want to come in."
Wang Datou was full of resentment and said: "Who wouldn't want to enter the Changping Palace? I heard that Her Royal Highness the Princess was known as the most beautiful woman in Chang'an before she got married. If I can lay eyes on her in this life, it will be worth my life."
.”
Zhang Gou didn't answer, and said expressionlessly: "Do you know where the Yongle Houfu is?"
"Yonglehoufu? Do you even know Yonglehoufu?" Wang Datou seemed to be numb, and his expression was not as surprised as before.
Zhang Goudao: "I heard from Miss Xue that Her Royal Highness the Princess is in Yongle Houfu, so I wanted to go find her."
Wang Datou blinked, then suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Ah, I understand, Her Royal Highness the Princess must have gone to watch the polo match."
"Polo tournament?"
"Yes, every year at this time, there will be a polo match in Chang'an City. In previous years, His Highness King Lu hosted it, but this year I heard that His Highness King Lu was seriously ill, so it was held in Yongle Hou."
Zhang Gou nodded and said, "Then let's go to Yongle Houfu."
Wang Datou walked side by side with him and reminded: "Hey, if you don't know the people in the Houfu, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get in later."
Zhang Goudao: "Don't worry, I have a way."
When he arrived at the gate of Hou Mansion, Wang Datou saw Zhang Gou showing the guard the token again. The originally impatient guard suddenly burst into smiles.
It was the same at the Princess Mansion before. As soon as the token was taken out, the guard's attitude immediately changed. Wang Datou couldn't help but be full of curiosity about the token.
Entering the gate of the Houfu, the two of them followed a servant and walked along the corridor to the horse farm in the backyard.
When passing through a moon gate, Zhang Gou suddenly saw two men under a rockery.
One of the two people was wearing a purple robe, the other was wearing a white robe, with high crowns and jade belts, and they were very wealthy.
The man in purple robe is tall and has a resolute face, while the man in white robe, although wearing men's clothes, has a delicate face, like a woman.
Wang Datou immediately approached Zhang Gou and said in a trembling voice: "Master Zhang, then... the man in the white robe is Uncle Yingzhou, and the man next to him is Wang Wei, the Marquis of Yongle."
Seeing the temperament of Marquis Yongle, Zhang Gou narrowed his eyes and said, "The Marquis Yongle should also be a leader of troops, right?"
As expected, Wang Datou was well-informed and said: "He used to be a soldier, but since he was removed from the post of Yangzhou Navy Commander, he has stayed in Chang'an City for many years and became an idle prince."
Wang Datou wanted to show off his knowledge, glanced around, and said quietly:
"Even though he is a marquis, he has neither position nor power. Over the years, he has been trying to curry favor with others just to regain his military position. Recently, he has been currying favor with Uncle Yingzhou. I heard that he also introduced Miss Yingzi to him.
It belongs to Uncle Yingzhou."
Zhang Gou took a closer look at the two of them and found that although Wu Sansi was shorter and had a straight back, Wang Wei was tall but bowed slightly.
The relationship between the two was clear at a glance, and Wang Datou was indeed right.
At this moment, Wu Sansi suddenly looked over and waved to the two of them.
Wang Datou had a guilty conscience and was afraid that what he said would be heard by them, so his feet instantly became weak.
Seeing Zhang Gou walking over, he hurriedly held Zhang Gou's shoulders and limped over.
Wu Sansi looked at the two of them and said with a smile: "Who are you? How come I haven't seen you before?"
Zhang Gou cupped his hands and said, "I, Zhang Gou, are here to see Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Wu Sansi raised his index finger and put it on his chin, wondering: "Are you from the princess's residence?"
"No." Zhang Gou replied without hesitation.
Wang Wei on the side said coldly: "Then how did you enter the prince's palace?"
Zhang Gou hesitated for a moment and said, "I came to see Her Highness the Princess on her orders."
Wu San thought: "Which princess?"
"The princess of Changping County Prince's Palace."
Wu Sansi nodded, looked at the two of them for a while, and then asked Wang Datou: "Are you from my second brother's house like him?"
Wang Datou suddenly panicked and shook his head repeatedly.
Wu Sansi asked: "Then who are you?"
"Xiao, I live in the south of the city. My name is Wang Datou."
Wu Sansi narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you do for a living?"
Zhang Gou said hurriedly: "Your Highness, we are still in a hurry to find Your Highness the Princess, so we have to leave first." After saying that, he took Wang Datou and left.
"Stop!" Wang Wei shouted coldly: "How dare you not agree to what Uncle Yingzhou is asking you? No one can leave until you make it clear!"
Wang Datou's legs could no longer bear it. He knelt down with a thud and said in a trembling voice: "Uncle, please forgive me, Lord Marquis, please forgive me. I'm just a guide!"
Wu Sansi said calmly: "What path should we take?"
Wang Datou pointed at Zhang Gou and said: "This man has just arrived in Chang'an City and doesn't know the way, so I will show him the way."
Wu Sansi sneered and said: "Very good, I just told you why I didn't see you in the palace. It turns out you were deceiving me!"
Wang Wei even shouted: "Come here!"
Although Zhang Gou was not frightened, he cupped his hands and said, "I am from the Governor's Palace of Yangzhou. I came to Chang'an to pay homage to the Princess on the orders of the Governor. I just went down to the Palace, and Her Royal Highness the Princess asked me to call Her Royal Highness the Princess to come over."
Wu Sansi frowned again.
Wang Wei originally wanted to arrest the two men for torture, but after hearing these words, he immediately did not dare to act rashly and waited silently for Wu Sansi to make up his mind.
"You said he was my second brother's man, but what proof do you have?" Wu San thought.
Zhang Gou put his hands into his sleeves and was about to take out the token. At this moment, a man came over in a hurry and said coldly: "What are you doing here?"
Zhang Gou turned around and saw that a young man with a stern face was coming. Wu Sansi said: "Fifth brother, are you coming to watch the polo match too?"
The person who came was surprisingly Le Shou Bo Wu Youji.
Wu Youji snorted coldly and said, "Third brother, are you bullying people again?"
Wu Sansi smiled and said: "There's no such thing as this. I just asked them to come over and ask questions."
Wu Youji glanced at Wang Datou on the ground and shouted: "Stand up yet!"
Wang Datou was so frightened that he suddenly burst out with powerful potential and stood up from the ground.
"Follow me." Wu Youji said and turned around to leave.
Zhang Gou glanced at Wu Sansi and saw that he didn't say a word, so he followed Wu Youji and left. Wang Datou naturally followed closely.
After passing through a corridor, Wu Youji said without looking back: "Okay, don't follow me anymore. Go and do whatever you need to do."
The two of them stopped immediately. Wang Datou touched his heart, took a long breath, and said: "We are finally lucky. Although Uncle Le Shou always has a cold face, he is a very good person and often fights against injustices."
Zhang Gou nodded and praised: "As expected of a man who has been on the battlefield, he is completely different from ordinary children of powerful people."
The two of them found a famous servant and went all the way to the racecourse.
As soon as I got closer, my ears were filled with noisy sounds. There were the sound of horse hooves, the sound of hitting balls, and the shouts of players on the field.
The polo field is fifty feet long and twenty feet wide. There are two wooden brocade platforms on the left and right, and the people sitting on them are all the princes and princes in rich and colorful clothes.
The sound of hoofbeats on the court was loud, and the players wore protective armor and rode the finest tall horses, mingling with each other.
From time to time, a player would fall off his horse and then quickly climb back on his horse.
This was the first time Zhang Gou saw such a polo match, and he was deeply shocked.
He felt that the intensity of this polo match even exceeded the battle he fought with the officers and soldiers a few months ago.
Wang Datou on the side had watched a similar football match in Liyuan and was much calmer.
He looked more towards Jin Tai and saw the children of wealthy families who were rarely seen sitting together. He exclaimed in his heart: "My mother, there are so many big shots!"
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Wu Youji, who had saved them just now.
Unlike other people watching the stadium, this Le Shoubo was standing in front of a woman in palace attire and saying something.
After seeing the woman's appearance, Wang Datou's mouth opened wide, his eyes protruded outward, and he almost turned to stone.
However, Wang Datou also has an advantage. He has been in the market for many years and understands that he cannot look at such women often.
He quickly looked away, patted Zhang Gou on the back and said, "Hey, I saw Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Zhang Gou also recovered from the shock of polo at this time and asked: "Where is it?"
Wang Datou did not dare to point out his hand and only used his eyes to guide him. Zhang Gou followed Wang Datou's gaze and immediately saw Wu Youji and the woman in palace clothes.
After seeing the woman in palace attire, Zhang Gou's eyes widened and he thought to himself: "This woman is even more beautiful than Princess Changping. She must be Princess Taiping."
He quickly calmed down and immediately noticed Le Shou Bo next to Princess Taiping. The two seemed to be arguing about something.
After a while, Wu You got off the platform and left the racecourse without looking back. Judging from the expression on his face, he seemed to be very angry.
Zhang Gou took a few deep breaths and slowly walked towards the wooden platform.
However, Wang Datou did not follow him. He was not so bold even though he was walking among so many nobles.
There were also guards guarding the entrance to the wooden platform. After Zhang Gou showed his token, the guards respectfully moved out of the way.
Princess Taiping was at the front and had the best view. As soon as Zhang Gou approached, a guard next to Princess Taiping blocked the way and said coldly: "Who are you?"
Princess Taiping heard the movement and turned her head to look over, her eyes as bright and penetrating as black pearls.
Being in such close contact with the princess, Zhang Gou's heartbeat unknowingly accelerated.
"I am Zhang Gou. Under the order of His Royal Highness Prince Changping, I have something to report to Your Highness the Princess."
Princess Taiping was surprised and said: "Are you sent here by your second cousin?"
Zhang Gou nodded.
Princess Taiping stood up suddenly and walked towards the audience. When passing Zhang Gou, she said: "Come here with me."
Zhang Gou felt a faint fragrance blowing, his heart trembled, and he hurriedly chased after Princess Taiping.
Arriving at a corner of the racecourse, Princess Taiping stared at Zhang Gou for a moment without saying a word.
Zhang Gou was a little flustered when she saw him. He hurriedly took out the envelope and said, "Your Highness, Princess, this is a letter from His Highness Prince Changping to you."
Princess Taiping waved her hand and said, "We will discuss this later."
There was an indescribable majesty in her beautiful eyes, and she said coldly: "What did you say your name was just now?"
"I'm... Zhang Gou."
Princess Taiping said coldly: "Zhang Gou, what did you see just now?"
Zhang Gou was stunned for a moment and said: "I'm here...I'm here..."
Princess Taiping said: "Did you see what I was doing just now?"
"You...are you watching the polo match?"
Princess Taiping's eyes instantly became sharper, and she said in a cold voice: "Can you say it again?"
Zhang Gou was stunned. He really didn't know why the princess lost her temper. He muttered: "Your Highness, if you have something to do, just follow your orders. I will never dare to disobey orders."
Princess Taiping snorted coldly: "Luo Zhen, what was I doing just now?"
A guard following Princess Taiping said hurriedly: "His Royal Highness has been helping with matters related to Feng Chan in the Daming Palace."
Zhang Gou understood instantly.
It turned out that the princess was afraid that others would know that she was being lazy, so she hurriedly said: "I also saw that the princess was handling government affairs in the Daming Palace."
Princess Taiping suddenly laughed and said with a smile: "As expected of my second cousin's subordinate, he is indeed very clever. When my second cousin asks me about it in the future, you will also answer like this, do you understand?"
Zhang Gou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said respectfully: "I understand."
Princess Taiping then took the letter and read it slowly. After a while, she put away the letter and said, "Come back home with me."