Zhou Lezhi did not see the scene where he was given the name. This scene was told to him by his husband when he got the name later. When he told him, his face was stern and seemed to contain some kind of regret. However,
Probably only the husband himself knows what he thinks.
Zhou Lezhi was chatting with Wang Liangxian on the stern deck at this time. When he saw Mr. Zhou coming out of Mr. Wang's cabin, he quickly followed him. When the two returned to the cabin, Mr. Zhou ordered him to pack his belongings and prepare to set off.
"where are we going?"
"Go to Guangzhou!" Mr. Zhou was beaming, "Aren't you from Guangzhou?"
"Really?" Zhou Lezhi had been away for almost a year. Hearing that he was going to Guangzhou, he perked up and said, "Pack it now, little one!" After saying that, he packed his luggage in the cabin. Only then did he realize that he had taken it from Mr. Wang.
The two pairs of powder boxes were still in the cabin, so I quickly wrapped them in silk cloth and prepared to return them.
He walked across the gangplank to Mr. Wang's ship, walked along the ship's side walkway to the middle cabin, and was about to return to the deck. Wang Liang, who had been outside the middle cabin door, was not there, and there was no one on the deck.
"Uncle Wang! Where did he go to be lazy again!" Zhou Lezhi secretly laughed. Wang Liang got a servant a few days ago, and when he had free time, he went to find uninhabited places in the fleet. That was probably the case now.
However, Wang Liang was not here, and he was a little unsure whether to alarm the master with the small matter of returning the powder box. While hesitating, he suddenly heard someone speaking in the cabin, and it was Liu Zhao's voice:
"...Do you have any other instructions, Master?"
"This time when we are escorting the Jin and Wei people south, you should take a detour back to Shaoxing and bring a message to the Second Master. Just say: 'Second Uncle can no longer bear the title. Find a way to shut them up.' You must say this yourself."
Once it is passed on, no second person can know about it, let alone leave any evidence."
"My subordinate understands."
"There is one more thing that you need to arrange properly." Mr. Wang's voice became gloomy, "In a few days, I will send people back to Miss Wei and Mr. Jin in batches to settle down in the new farm in Dongyang. You have to send
They must be protected by reliable personnel and supervised separately, so that they can stay in seclusion and cannot leak any information."
"Yes! I'm going to arrange for Chen Mo to take care of me there. He does things well and speaks tight."
"Hmm..." From the sound of the voice, the master was quite satisfied with this arrangement. There was silence after that, and Liu Zhao was not heard from talking. Zhou Lezhi was nervous for a while. He knew that eavesdropping on the master was a taboo, and he wanted to leave, but the place was cramped.
They are all ship planks and can easily collide and make noise, which would be even more inappropriate if heard.
After weighing the situation, he had no choice but to hold his breath and concentrate, huddled his body in the shadows, and waited for the conversation to end.
"Tell Chen Mo that I will send him a letter around the twelfth lunar month. If the letter says, 'The capital must send thirty hams as a gift during the Chinese New Year,' then everything will be fine; if it says, 'It's freezing cold and the road is difficult,'
There is no need to send ham, but silver. Ask him to give the gold immediately, and Wei and I will die."
When Zhou Lezhi heard this, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Although he was not familiar with Mr. Jin and Miss Wei, he treated them as honored guests these days. Not only did he provide them with gracious services, he was also very polite when they met, and even arranged a place for them to stay during the day.
, prepared to take their lives at night.
"As for that monster, if you find a treasure when you get to Guangfu, you should try to seize it first, and don't hand it over to the rough stuff. You can wait until you bring it back to the capital to discuss it. If this person does anything strange, I think you can also find a way to let it go.
He is obedient." Wang Yehao gave the key instructions in a very low voice. However, it was quiet at night on the river, and the bulkhead was made of wooden boards with no sound insulation. Zhou Lezhi could hear clearly because of the wall.
"Don't worry, sir, we Jin Yiwei are not all nobles who just live for a living." Liu Zhao replied.
"Be careful and don't take his life unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, you can use your secret line to pass the news to my fourth uncle."
After a moment of silence, Wang Yehao asked again: "With your connections in Beijing, can you recognize some Feng Shui strangers? You need to know the basics and don't try to trick people."
Liu Zhao thought for a while and said: "There is a brother from the same clan who is also a servant of the Jinyi Guard. His name is Liu Zhen. He has been helping people look after the tombs since his ancestors. It is said that he has some practical knowledge. I wonder what is the use of him?"
"Okay, you write a note of recommendation." Wang Yehao did not explain his intention. Liu Zhao knew the rules and did not go into details.
Zhou Lezhi was sweating profusely on his back. It seemed that his husband was not in any danger for the time being, but this master acted so ruthlessly. If anything happened to him in the future, he would probably be killed without mercy.
"How about the Madam and Youqing?"
"It's done. The madam presented Miss Youqing, and Magistrate Zhou let her go and closed the case as a robbery." Liu Zhao said with a bit of envy, "My man was in danger, but he got a big advantage!
I got a great beauty for nothing. Miss Youqing’s worth is one or two thousand taels of silver at least!”
"Haha, Mr. Zhou won't keep it for himself. Such an oiran woman is not something that ordinary people can afford..."
"I don't know any gentleman who is so blessed."
"Haha, what does this have to do with you being a bitch!" Mr. Wang smiled, "Don't think about these things, just do your job well. When things are done, your benefits are indispensable!"
"Yes, thank you for your cultivation!"
Liu Zhao resigned, and Zhou Lezhi waited for a long time. When there was no more noise in the cabin or on the deck, he bent down and climbed back to Mr. Zhou's boat using his hands and feet.
Mr. Zhou didn't know anything about this, and he happily packed his belongings as usual.
There are not many things to prepare here. Mr. Zhou's two maids have already been packed. Mr. Zhou does not plan to take two maids with him to Guangzhou this time - it is not convenient and safe to bring women on such a long trip. Mr. Zhou has no choice but to take them with him.
They reluctantly parted ways and asked the people from the palace to take them back to Dongyang Farm. However, when parting, the husband still said to them affectionately: "Zhiling, Yui, if you get pregnant, I will be responsible!"
In the past, Zhou Lezhi would have secretly had fun seeing his husband's wretched appearance, but what he heard today had a great impact on him. He once felt that his bright future life had become bleak.
The next day, Mr. Zhou and his party changed to a westbound boat and headed westward along the Yangtze River. The scenery on both sides of the Yangtze River was magnificent, but Mr. Zhou was no longer in the mood to enjoy it, and he just hated that the waterway moved too slowly. Liu Zhao heard him
He complained and came out to explain: "Although the stagecoach can travel two to three hundred miles a day, it needs to be skilled in riding. I'm afraid it will be too much for you. If you ride in a sedan, you have to stay in a hotel at night, but on the waterway, you only need to take turns with the boatmen."
We travel day and night, and since we have fewer people and a lighter boat, it will be faster than taking a car."
Hearing what Liu Zhao said, the husband had no choice but to sit on the bow of the boat all day long, looking forward to seeing what was going on. Until one day, he suddenly jumped up from the bow of the boat and hurriedly called to Zhou Lezhi: "Get ready quickly.
The Four Treasures of the Study!"
After returning to the cabin, he leaned on the table and wrote and drew for a long time, and then confidently said to Zhou Lezhi: "Look, I'm going to add two paddle wheels to the boat, which can accelerate through human pedaling! In the park
There are many similar pedal boats. I have calculated that the efficiency should be pretty good."
Zhou Lezhi was confused after hearing this. He looked at the patterns on the paper, scratched his head and said, "What park are you talking about, sir? What is a pedal boat..."
"This is the calculation process, and the following pages are three views." Zhou Lezhi explained patiently, "It means front view, top view, and side view. I haven't drawn it for a long time, but the meaning should be unmistakable. How about it, it's very vivid, right?
Why don't you ask a carpenter to come over and I'll explain to him when you dock at night to rest."
Zhou Lezhi thought to himself that this gentleman really wanted to go out once and for all. Where could he find a carpenter during this trip and install wheels on the boat? This boatman couldn't agree. But he had been following the gentleman these days and was already very familiar with his personality.
Now, the three-dimensional drawing was no stranger to him. He looked at the drawing carefully and roughly understood what it meant. He asked, "Is this paddle wheel similar to a water wheel?"
"Yes, yes, you are very perceptive!" The husband was quite excited. "Can the carpenter understand what I draw like this?"
"There's nothing wrong with being a carpenter, but if you're a master of this craft, can you travel thousands of miles in a day?"
"no."
"Baili?"
"That's enough."
"It's useless to install it, not to mention that it takes time to stop the boat and install it. After installation, you need to use the boatman more..."
Liu Zhao laughed after hearing this and said: "Sir, if you are impatient, I will just give the boatmen more money for drinks and let them row faster."
After seeing off the Taoist Hearthstone and his party, Wang Yehao did not rush back to Beijing. Instead, he stayed in Yangzhou for a few more days to look for opportunities to make friends with Tian Hongyu. He intended to win over the future "father of the country" as Mr. Zhou said, and not only quietly
Tian Hongyu gave him a generous gift and hinted to the prefect Zhou to give Youqing to Tian Hongyu.
Tian Hongyu was born as a warrior. Although he was well-known for his sensual pursuits, was a relative of the emperor, and had many friends in the officialdom. However, most civil servants who came from the imperial examination did not actually like to see him, and regarded him as a first-rate guest.
Now this Mr. Wang not only respects him very much, but also gives him heavy gifts. Tian Hongyu feels quite flattered. Although he knows that he intends to win over him, he actually has nothing to repay. Although he is a relative of the emperor, but
The daughter was just the concubine of King Xin - to be honest, she was the father of the concubine Zhou, and even the father of the current Queen Zhang was not a popular figure. This made Tian Hongyu both moved and uneasy.
When Wang Yehao went north, Tian Hong saw him farewell at the dock and said that he had received a lot of favors from Mr. Wang but could not repay him, which really made him feel ashamed. Wang Yehao said with a smile:
"Master Tian has his own destiny. It's just bad luck at the moment, but he will be blessed with good luck in the future. It won't be long before you and I can meet again in the capital."
"Then I'll accept Mr. Wang's auspicious words." Tian Hongyu didn't know what his words meant, but he just thought they contained a Zen message. He didn't dare to ask any more questions, and immediately bowed to the end, "I wish Mr. Wang a safe journey and a good career!"