It is already the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Zhu San and Zhu Si were not allowed to go to the school for many days in a row, and even Lu Bing did not enter the palace at the end of the year. They usually studied in the inner courtyard without being taught by their husbands. Only the palace administrator would occasionally come over to supervise.
The two siblings also wanted to play with Zhu Hao and Jinghong, but they had no chance.
Finally, in the morning, Yuan Zonggao came over to help them with their homework, and the two hurriedly asked about Zhu Hao and Jinghong's situation.
"The two young masters, Jinghong and Zhu Hao, have left the palace and gone home to celebrate the New Year." Yuan Zonggao explained with a smile.
Zhu Sandao: "New Year? Why didn't you tell us in advance? We are all studying hard at the end of the year, don't they need to study?"
Yuan Zonggao smiled and shook his head: "Customs vary from place to place. There is nothing wrong with going back early to celebrate the New Year."
Zhu Si asked: "Then when will they come back after the new year?"
Yuan Zonggao did not answer this question directly.
As a teacher, he understood that the two children had established a deep friendship with Zhu Hao and Jinghong. Regardless of family status, at least in the children's innocent hearts, Zhu San and Zhu Si did not regard themselves as superior royals.
When the middle class was playing around with Zhu Hao and the others, they were just like the classmates outside.
"Let's not talk about Jinghong and Zhu Hao. Is there anything you don't understand about your studies? Your homework is over this morning, and you can play in the afternoon. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month after the new year, there may be a new teacher coming..."
Since Gongsun Yi "left without saying goodbye", the teaching position in the palace has been vacant for some time.
There is no shortage of highly educated people in the palace, but most of them have no teaching experience, so the palace has to hire new teachers from outside.
Zhu Si asked reluctantly: "Mr. Yuan, didn't we originally say that there would be an assessment of Jinghong and Zhu Hao at the end of the year? So who is better in their knowledge? If nothing else happens, Zhu Hao should win, right? Even if it is necessary,
If you drive one away, should Zhu Hao stay?"
What Zhu Si was worried about was that Zhu Hao promised him to call the "white lady" from the troupe to the palace to sing for him alone.
This matter has not yet come to an end, as if it will never happen.
Yuan Zonggao still just smiled and shook his head. For him, it was easy to deal with these two children, as long as he didn't answer.
…
…
Yuan Zonggao stayed not long before leaving, leaving his two children to study on their own.
In fact, it is difficult for the children of the royal family to study hard without anyone to supervise them. The New Year is coming soon, and they cannot calm down.
"It's over, it's over... I can finally see that Zhu Hao and Jinghong will not come back after the next year, and we will have no reading companions from now on." Zhu San said with a frustrated look.
Zhu Si was puzzled: "Sister, Mr. Yuan didn't say they would definitely come back, but he didn't say they wouldn't come back... Didn't he say they would go home for the New Year?"
Zhu San curled his lips: "What do you know, you kid? Mr. Yuan clearly knows that we care about Jinghong and Zhu Hao staying in the palace. If we want to recruit them back after the year, we can just say it. Why should we be secretive? Sir
In the world, this is called worldliness, and you will understand it when you grow up."
Zhu Si pouted and protested dissatisfied: "I am one year older. After this year, I will be nine years old."
"Tch, it seems like you are growing and I am not. Remember, I will always be your sister, and you will never have as much knowledge as I do!"
The two children argued for a while, but soon thought that Zhu Hao and Jinghong would never return to the palace from now on. They had no playmates, no one to accompany them in class, and no one to tell them stories or bring delicious food to them.
Yes, I feel lonely wherever I go, and I feel extremely depressed.
"Zhu Hao also said that he would call the singer Bai Suzhen into the palace and sing to me alone." Zhu Si looked aggrieved.
Zhu Sanze thought of something, raised his head and said: "After Zhu Hao leaves the palace, will he still have a chance to study? Is Mr. Yuan too unreasonable? If there is a chance, it is best to mention it to his father, and then Zhu Hao saves it."
I took your life...twice!"
The two siblings looked at each other.
On the surface, Zhu Hao only saved Zhu Si once, but in fact, Zhu Hao had already risked his life to save the two siblings in a pool outside the city, but this matter could not be told to outsiders.
"If you add that you were poisoned at the banquet for me last time, that means you saved us three times!"
Zhu Si pouted and said: "No, I must tell my father that Zhu Hao must stay in the palace. With him... we can study hard, be exposed to new and interesting things, broaden our horizons, and we can grow up healthily."
...We must not drive him away!"
…
…
On the first day of the first lunar month of the 10th year of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Hao and his party arrived in Dehua, the capital of Jiujiang, by boat and passed through the water gate.
Zhu Hao stood on the bow of the boat and watched the boat owner go ashore to contact the people at Shuiguan. Because there was only a small amount of cargo on the boat, and the boat owner had already opened up the joints, he only needed to pay a small city gate tax to enter the city.
"If there are goods, just unload them at Di's store. In addition, Boss Su sent someone to inform you that there is someone from Jiujiang Prefecture to receive the third lady and your party."
After the captain came back, he explained the situation to Zhu Niang.
Su Xigui reciprocated the favor and arranged it well. Knowing that Zhu Niang was taking her son to Jiangxi for a study tour and was not familiar with the place, she specially asked her friends to come and help.
After passing the Shuiguan gate, the boat docked, and when he saw the person who came to greet him, Zhu Hao was surprised that it was not the greasy middle-aged shopkeeper, but a demure young woman.
"This must be the third lady, right? Mr. Su sent a letter a few days ago to inform him that the third lady will be traveling from other places to Nanchang via Jiujiang Prefecture in the next two days. I have already arranged for someone to wait at Shuiguan. As soon as there is news...
Come and greet..."
The woman is tall, with an oval face and eyebrows. Although she is not stunningly beautiful, her movements are bright and capable, making her look extremely smart.
Zhu Niang came forward to salute and say hello.
After a brief exchange, I found out that this woman's husband's surname was Fei, and he belonged to a wealthy family in Jiujiang. He had done business with Su Xigui in the past. Because her husband was weak and sick, it was Mrs. Sui who often took care of the family business.
Su Xigui was very thoughtful in asking the hostess to come out to receive Zhu Niang.
Zhu Niang called out some workers, which were several long-term workers who had worked for the Zhu family before. Since there was no road, these long-term workers were only responsible for sending Zhu Hao and his party to Jiujiang Prefecture, and would return to Anlu later, while Lifu on the Jiangxi side was
He was hired with the help of Mrs. Sui.
The long-term worker carried down the boxes. Three large wooden boxes, all very heavy, were loaded onto the carriage one by one.
Immediately, another gorgeous carriage drove by, and Mrs. Sui smiled and said: "Third Madam, I have heard of your name for a long time. You can do big business in a small place like Anlu. You must have a wide range of contacts. Why don't you stay in my house for a while?"
Staying for two days... I am going to Nanchang during the Spring Festival. It will take some time to prepare the carriage and horses. It will be inconvenient to live outside... Please get on the train!"
Zhu Niang could see Mrs. Sui's enthusiasm, but it was just their first meeting, and Su Xigui, who had introduced her, was not here. She went to a strange place and lived directly in someone else's home... It was natural to have a lot of inconveniences if they kept in touch with each other for a long time.
Zhu Niang declined: "I can just stay at the inn, so I won't bother you too much. I just hope that we can find all the people as soon as possible so that we can get on the road as soon as possible."
Mrs. Sui saw that Zhu Niang was shying away, so she no longer forced her to ask her steward to come over and arrange it face to face. The steward explained the difficulty. Since it was the beginning of the new year, the clerks were reluctant to go out at the beginning of the year. They had to gather the manpower to go south, even if the purpose was
The land is a provincial capital, so it will take a few days.
Mother Zhu was very anxious, fearing that the Zhu family would catch up.
But time did not permit, so she could only plead with Mrs. Sui to try her best to help, and then the family took the gorgeous carriage to the inn.
…
…
"This Mrs. Sui seems to be very polite. She must be engaged in big business, right?"
On the way to the inn, Aunt Li held Zhu Ting in her arms and looked at Zhu Ting with some questions.
Zhu Niang didn't know how to describe this Mrs. Sui. She had the ability to observe people at their subtleties, but this was their first meeting and she couldn't observe anything useful in a short period of time.
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "Auntie, didn't you see that? This Mrs. Sui was very curious about why we were so valued by the brother-in-law of Huangfantai, so she kindly invited us to live at her house, hoping to turn us upside down."
Zhu Niang frowned slightly: "Xiao Hao, they received you warmly. I showed up at the dock to greet you as soon as I arrived. Our friendship is priceless. We can't make such malicious assumptions about others."
"hey-hey."
Zhu Hao stuck out his tongue, "I don't mean any harm, I'm just telling the truth... When we do business with Dongzhu Su, he will definitely not mention the details to irrelevant people. Besides, now Dongzhu Su's backers have gone to Huguang, Jiangxi
The merchants here are just business partners at most, so why should they give us face? It is precisely because of all kinds of doubts that Mrs. Sui entertained us so warmly. "
After Zhu Hao's analysis, Zhu Niang felt that it made sense, but she couldn't show it, because she didn't want her son to be too sinister. She wanted to persuade her son to be kind, but found it difficult to speak.
Zhu Hao looked out from the transom of the carriage carriage. On New Year's Day, although the streets were decorated with lights and colorful decorations, they were not actually lively.
Most businesses are closed at this time. Generally, local rules do not open the market until the fifth day of the lunar month, but all businesses must resume normal business even after the first lunar month.
"Mom, after we get to the inn and settle down, I want to ask Yu San if he's here and ask him to use Caobang's connections to help us ask about recruiting people locally," Zhu Hao said.
Zhu Niang asked in confusion: "If he doesn't stay in Anlu with his family during the Chinese New Year, will he come with him?"
Zhu Hao said: "Don't you know, mother? Recently, the three gangs were running a bookstore, and I heard that there were opera troupes singing there. This time, King Ning summoned opera troupes from all over the country to gather in Nanchang City to sing in the hall. Naturally, he wanted to join in the fun...
"
Although Zhu Hao's theater troupe is already very popular in Anlu, Zhu Niang and Aunt Li are widows themselves and rarely go out. In addition, they are usually low-key and rarely join in the fun. Naturally, they don't know the reason.
Aunt Li said: "I heard from the third aunt next door that there is a troupe singing a big opera in the city, and many people go to see it..."
"Um."
Zhu Niang also nodded, "I have indeed heard someone say that my mother told Yu San that she wanted to listen, but she didn't have time. She never thought that Yu San was helping to take care of it. He is quite capable, even though
If we don't do business in Anlu in the future, he will have a good future."
Zhu Hao smiled.
I thought to myself, if you knew that the troupe actually belonged to me and that I had earned a lot of money, would it be even more surprising? Even more surprising?