As Zhu Hao finished speaking, even Zhu Youqiu, who had a stern face before, couldn't help but feel moved.
If it were anyone else, he would say "loyalty is commendable" at most, but Zhu Hao could take practical actions. When life and death were at stake in the fire, he would put the only wet blanket on his son instead of himself. …
Yuan Zonggao said with a smile: "King Xing, since ancient times heroes have been born out of heroes. Zhu Hao is worthy of being a loyal and good man. He is the legacy of his father and deserves to be rewarded."
Zhu Youyi nodded, but remained speechless. It seemed that he was letting Yuan Zonggao have full authority to make the decision.
"Let's see, Zhu Hao, the prince appreciates your action of saving people today and rewards you with twenty taels of silver as a reward." Yuan Zonggao said.
"Thank you."
Zhu Hao bowed again, but his expression was calm and unmoved, as if the twenty taels of silver did not matter to him.
That's how the character is.
Orphans and widowed mothers are being held hostage by their families. If you give me 20 taels of silver, won't it end up in the hands of the Zhu family? I risk my life to save people just to win the 20 taels of silver for my family?
Who are you insulting?
Yuan Zonggao had already expected that Zhu Hao was not interested, so he continued to ask: "Zhu Hao, what are your next plans?"
Zhu Hao blurted out: "I want to leave the palace, I... I want to go home."
"Oh? You don't want to stay in the palace to study?"
Yuan Zonggao was a little surprised and asked.
Zhu Hao stared at Yuan Zonggao like he was looking at a monster, and said with lingering fear: "I originally wanted to go to the palace to study hard, but the people in the palace didn't seem to welcome me... I was lucky this time, and I was able to come out of the fire. If it happens again, Go back...please ask the prince and Mr. Yuan to be kind and let me leave the prince's palace, and I will not give up the reward."
Use retreat to advance!
You Yuan Zonggao, stop pretending in front of me and ask me my next plan. Why don't you directly ask me if I still want to stay in the palace to spy on intelligence?
Even if you give me a reward to repay the kindness of saving the world, do you really think that I am a seven-year-old child?
Yuan Zonggao sighed: "You are very talented in reading, but it's a pity that your motives for entering the palace are not pure. The fire may have been caused by the falling of the revolving lantern in your house. Don't think that someone is trying to kill you. But since you have decided to leave, then It is not convenient for the palace to keep you here, so you go back and tidy up. Twenty taels of silver will be prepared here for you to take with you when you leave."
"Um."
Zhu Hao nodded solemnly, showing no regrets at all.
But then a sad look appeared on Zhu Hao's face. Yuan Zonggao saw it and sighed: "The things you brought seemed to have been burned by a fire. Let's do this. The government will give you another five taels of silver to buy some clothes. Okay, you first Go down."
"Students resign!"
Zhu Hao didn't hesitate at all, bowed his hands and left.
…
…
Watching Zhu Hao disappear at the door of the study, Yuan Zonggao turned his head, looked at Zhu Youqi with a smile, and asked: "Prince Xing, what is your impression of him?"
Zhu Youqian frowned slightly, shook his head, and did not answer.
"Prince Xing, I have a suggestion. Why don't you keep this little guy in the palace and study with the prince in the future?" Yuan Zonggao's words surprised Zhu Youqi.
Zhu Youqi stared at him and said: "Yuan Changshi, he comes from the Zhu family of the Jinyi Guards. Before, you proposed to guard against him, but you wanted to keep him just because he saved people from the fire? That's not what you said before."
Yuan Zonggao gently stroked the long beard under his chin: "Previously, I was just trying to test whether he intended to stay in the palace and whether he had any evil intentions. But he took the initiative to leave. I guess he was really afraid of something happening."
"oh."
Zhu Youqiao glanced at Yuan Zonggao in surprise, with a strange expression, as if to say, Yuan Changshi, you actually went to test a child? Is that necessary?
"Perhaps King Xing is confused about keeping him. In fact, thinking about it, it is easy to send him out of the palace, but will the Jinyiwei just stop? Of course not! Send away a child who stands in the open and loves the prince, and he will sneak into more in the future. How should we deal with spies with ulterior motives?" Yuan Zonggao explained his reasons.
Zhu Youqi stood up and paced back and forth, and after a long time he nodded.
Yuan Zonggao continued: "Initially accepting the proposal of the two little princes and selecting companions was to give the Jin Yiwei a chance to send people in. We took precautions in a targeted manner. At the moment, it seems that if we treat Zhu Hao like a plague, the Jin Yiwei will be able to If you don’t get the information you want, sooner or later you will find another way..."
"Given Zhu Hao's bad relationship with the Zhu family and his loyal character, even if he comes into contact with the prince, there will be no harm. On the contrary, he can pass on the information we want to send out..."
Zhu Youqiu interjected: "What Yuan Changshi means... is to let him send some false news from time to time?"
"It may not be false."
Yuan Zonggao smiled and said, "Actually, what the Jin Yiwei want to know most is the situation of the prince. As long as in their opinion, the prince is doing nothing and has no ambition to fight for power and profit, and they find that there are not many secrets in the palace, they can communicate with the superiors and prosper the palace." Then he won’t become the target of public criticism.”
Zhu Youtian admired Yuan Zonggao's resourcefulness and nodded in agreement.
"And I admire Zhu Hao very much. He is talented and caring to his friends. If he stays in the palace and studies with the prince, it may be helpful to the prince's studies."
Yuan Zonggao meant that if Zhu Houcong wants to become a talent, he needs to grow up with people who are both good in character and learning. Those who are close to Zhu will be red and those who are close to Mo will be black. If he always plays chess with bad chess players, then even a genius child will eventually become a bad chess player.
Zhu Youqian was still worried: "He stays with the Crown Prince all the time. What should he do if he does something inappropriate? Many things are beyond his control. What if someone asks him to harm the Crown Prince?"
Yuan Zonggao narrowed his eyes: "If you let him have more contact with the third prince, I think he won't be able to tell the identity of the prince for a while, and then be careful... If he really wants to hurt the prince, he will not take action this time Save. Furthermore, if someone really wants to harm the prince, even if it is not Zhu Hao, it will be difficult to guard against him, right?"
Zhu Youqian's face was filled with sadness.
His eldest son died of illness shortly after his birth. The cause of death is still unknown. Zhu Hao must be more than just a spy in the palace. Jin Yiwei really wants to harm people, and Prince Xing's palace cannot prevent it. The main strategy now is to continue to release the fog to distract people. The true identities of Zhu San and Zhu Si are unknown.
"Which is the lesser of two evils, King Xing, I will meet with Zhu Hao later, instill some ideas of loyalty into him, and let him work for the palace. In this way, we can also know the movements of Jin Yiwei. It will be much better than now when everything is controlled by others. ...What do you think?"
Yuan Zonggao revealed the ultimate plan.
The biggest purpose of keeping Zhu Hao is to let him act as a double agent.
The palace wants to take advantage of Zhu Hao's young age and lack of knowledge to find out all the Jin Yiwei's arrangements for the palace, and change from passive to active.
Zhu Youyi nodded and said nothing more, which meant that the matter was completely left to Yuan Zonggao's disposal.
…
…
Zhu Hao walked out of the door.
Lu Song was a little nervous outside. He was afraid that after Zhu Hao saw Zhu Youji and Yuan Zonggao, he would be unable to withstand repeated questioning and his identity would be leaked.
"Master Zhu, what's wrong?"
Lu Song found that no one was following him, so he hurried over and asked in a low voice.
Zhu Hao spread his hands: "Prince Xing rewarded me with twenty taels of silver... I proposed to leave the palace and go home, and Yuan Changshi agreed."
"Well?"
Lu Song was a little confused.
You offered to leave?
Zhu Hao said: "The palace is too dangerous. I escaped once today, but I may not be so lucky next time. I am just a child. I entered the palace to study... My life is much more important than studying."
Reasonable.
Lu Song nodded.
There's nothing wrong with this.
But if Zhu Hao really offered to leave and left the palace voluntarily, would the matter of arson still have something to do with Zhu Hao?
This kid set a fire just to tell others that he was in danger in the palace and had to leave early?
What Lu Song was most worried about was that Zhu Hao planned everything with the purpose of staying in the palace and getting into the little prince's side.
It doesn't make sense.
But he still breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously. If Zhu Hao really left, no one in the palace would know his identity anymore, and he wouldn't have to worry about being discovered when meeting secretly in the future.
"Lu Dianzhan, what are you doing standing still? Why don't you send me out of the house quickly? Today has scared me. I'm afraid I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life." Zhu Hao looked impatient.
"Um."
Lu Song was eager to send this little plague god out of Prince Xing's Mansion.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the two of them walked out of the backyard, a maid came to deliver a message: "Lu Dianzhan, the prince has sent you a message."
Lu Song looked at Zhu Hao. There were people from the Royal Palace's Yiwei Department outside the door. He immediately called his men to come over and take Zhu Hao to the courtyard where the craftsmen gathered. He then followed the maid to see Zhu Youqi.
…
…
Xingwangfu study room.
"King Xing, Lu Dianzhan is here."
Yuan Zonggao said with a smile, "It can be said that Lu Dianzhan played the most important role in putting out the fire today... Fortunately, because of his presence, the prince is safe and sound."
"Um."
Zhu Youtiao nodded, his eyes full of appreciation.
Lu Song knelt down on one knee and saluted, looking frightened. He thought to himself, hadn't he already praised him just now? He also said that he would receive an additional three months' salary. Compared to Zhu Hao, who was rewarded with twenty taels of silver at a time, it was totally wrong. Wait, that kid is obviously the one responsible...
No, I wasn’t the first to take credit, so why would I want to take credit?
Yuan Zonggao's face suddenly darkened: "Although you have done a good job in putting out the fire, I heard that you were also in the east courtyard today and did not know in advance that someone was setting the fire. You are still responsible for the oversight."
Only then did Lu Song realize that the praise was fake and the beating was real.
"Despicable and incompetent."
Lu Song knelt down from one knee to both knees, kowtowed and apologized.
After all, it was he who invited Jianmao Dao to have a drink. He went out to urinate under his nose, but ended up setting a fire. To say that this incident had nothing to do with him was to make excuses.
Lu Song's character is to admit when he is wrong.
Seeing Lu Song's performance, Yuan Zonggao was very satisfied and nodded in approval: "But I can't blame you for this matter. After all, no one knew that such a thing would happen... let this matter go. Later, you can help Zhu Hao arrange it. He lives there." If the place burns down, we will arrange a residence near the wardroom of the Imperial Guards Department, and we will relocate later."
"ah?"
Lu Song was stunned.
Didn't Zhu Hao say he wanted to leave the palace?
Why did Yuan Zonggao say that the boy was not going to leave, so why did he still need to arrange a place for him?
"Lu Dianzhan, do you have any concerns?"
Yuan Zonggao did not expect that Lu Song would react so strongly to Zhu Hao staying in the palace.
Lu Song immediately realized that he had lost his temper and hurriedly explained: "I believe that although Zhu Hao saved people, the fire was all caused by him. If he continues to stay in the palace... it may cause trouble in the future."
Yuan Zonggao said: "What you said is reasonable, but he has done something good for saving the prince. If he is sent away, it will violate the principle of clear rewards and punishments in the Xingwang Palace... You don't have to have any doubts, just obey the orders!"