Chapter 127
"Of course not." Yuan Ke replied hastily, "It's just that I feel that when the emperor used to be the prince, he handled political affairs in an orderly manner, and now he governs a big country like cooking a small fish. It seems... there is no need for me to add chaos .”

Xiao Gang was very satisfied with his low profile, but he still had some concerns that he wanted to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger, so he said half jokingly, half seriously: "This is not like a famous general who killed Hu Lujin ah!"

"What a famous general, Your Majesty really thinks highly of me!" Yuan Ke smiled awkwardly, "Actually... I was completely reckless at the time, so I rushed in. If General Yang Kan hadn't arrived in time, how could I be here today? ?”

"I guess so!" Now, Xiao Gang was completely relieved, and said inwardly, "How can a brat who is just a child have such great abilities!"

He let out a slight cough, and the hundred soldiers hiding behind the palace retreated silently.

Realizing that the crisis had been lifted, Yuan Ke couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and spoke more calmly: "Your Majesty, please allow me to return to Xiangzhou and share the family happiness with my father."

"Hmm..." Xiao Gang nodded in satisfaction, "That's very good, my nephew's filial piety is commendable, I agree!"

After finishing speaking, he waved his hand to signal Yuan Ke to back down.

Yuan Ke felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell clearly for a while, so he had to bid farewell in a hurry and left this horrible place.

It wasn't until his carriage had arrived at the posthouse that he realized that he was supposed to be called to dinner tonight, but until he left, Xiao Gang didn't serve a single dish.

The new emperor, His Majesty, really didn't even bother to put on a full set.

But Yuan Ke set off in the evening, waiting, and going into the hall to ask questions. After several hours of tossing, he was already hungry. If he didn't eat something, he might not be able to sleep all night.

But having said that, he would not dare to eat some side dishes if asked to make some small dishes in the posthouse, because he was afraid that someone with sinister intentions—yes, it was Xiao Gang—poisoned it, so he changed it into a dish. In casual clothes, he quietly slipped out the back door onto the street.

At that time, people usually worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, and naturally no one would open the door for business in the middle of the night.Yuan Ke wandered the street for half a night, and finally smelled a strong fragrance of green onions outside a small alley, so he followed the smell and groped in.

It turned out that it was a family selling scallion oil pancakes. They put unsold pancakes in the pot during the day and took them out for supper.Yuan Ke didn't dislike it, so he opened his mouth and asked, "Shopkeeper, how do you sell this scallion pancake?"

The person who was warming up pancakes was a simple and honest man in his forties. When he saw Yuan Ke suddenly appearing, he was startled at first, and then saw Yuan Ke was dressed luxuriously and had a friendly smile on his face. He didn't look like a bad person, so he laughed. Said: "It's not worth a few dollars, if you want to eat, young master, just take it."

While talking, he took off a lotus leaf, wrapped four or five pieces of cake, and handed it to Yuan Ke.

Yuan Ke felt hot, took the cake, swallowed two pieces, and said emotionally: "This is the best cake I have ever eaten during my visit to the capital!"

"My lord, don't make fun of us!" The man laughed, "Looking at your clothes, I'm afraid this kind of pancake won't catch your eye normally!"

"Brother, what are you talking about!" Yuan Ke also laughed, "The pancakes are so delicious, you should be able to make a lot of money!"

"Hey!" The man sighed, "I'm afraid this day will get harder and harder!"

"Why did big brother say that?" Yuan Ke asked doubtfully.

The man stopped what he was doing, sighed, and said, "Like our husband and wife, the annual tax that needs to be paid is fifteen shi for grain, nine feet six feet for silk cloth, and 28 taels for silk cotton. Even if I have such a bad day Baking pancakes and farming all night, and after paying taxes, there is not much money left."

After hearing what he said, Yuan Ke felt a little sad, because under his rule, the people of Xiangzhou only had to pay less than one-fifth of the tax.

"They are all common people, how come Jiankang City is so prosperous, but the common people are so miserable?" He asked himself silently.

Seeing Yuan Ke lost in thought, the man said again: "I heard that in the Western Wei Dynasty, which we have always regarded as barbarians, a family of two only needs to hand in five stones of grain, two feet of silk cloth and eight taels of silk cotton every year; even the people of the Eastern Wei Dynasty , and only need to hand in two stones and five buckets of rice, four feet of silk cloth and 16 taels of silk cotton, I am so envious of the people there..."

Yuan Ke said with a smile: "If you are envious, you don't have to envy it so far. I heard that Xiao Fangke, the governor of Xiangzhou, lightly pays and pays little money, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. Why don't you move there?"

"Who doesn't know the name of King Pingnan?" The man smiled wryly, "But we don't have that life... we don't have that life!"

"But if you can meet me, it means you have this fate." Yuan Ke secretly smiled.

"We met today because of fate, these gifts are not a respect, please accept it with a smile!" He took out a sling of money from his pocket, put it on the stove, and left without looking back.

"Hey...you wait!" What Yuan Ke didn't expect was that the man who sold sesame seed cakes chased after him, forced the money into his hand, and refused to ask for anything.

"Although we are poor, we still want to support ourselves." The man said cheerfully, "My son ate the cakes that I hadn't sold out, so I can't charge you any more!"

After saying these words, Han Zifei also ran away, for fear that Yuan Ke would return the money to him again.

Yuan Ke looked at his funny back, and secretly made up his mind: when he returns to Xiangzhou this time, he must take this family with him, and let them understand that fate can indeed be changed.

While chewing onion pancakes, he walked slowly towards the posthouse, full of doubts about the future.

It stands to reason that he had already confessed his heart to the emperor tonight, and the emperor should stop embarrassing him, but his right eye kept twitching, which made him feel that things might not go as smoothly as he imagined.

"The emperor's grandfather has only passed away a few days ago, and Xiao Gang has already begun to eradicate dissidents..." Yuan Ke thought to himself, "If things go on like this, what's the point? By that time, even if I have no intention of fighting for the throne, I'm afraid it will be difficult to protect myself , or 36 strategies, go ahead!"

He made up his mind and decided to pack his bags as soon as he returned. It would be best if he could sneak away at night. If he couldn't, he must leave this place of right and wrong tomorrow!

Finally, he crossed the last street, and in front of him was the hotel where he was temporarily staying.After Xiao Yan's burial, the princes from all walks of life returned to their fiefs one after another, and the originally lively posthouse also became deserted, as if it had become a mansion specially prepared for him.

Yuan Ke slipped to the back door in three steps at a time, only to find that the back door was locked.He was about to climb over the wall and enter, but a fire dragon suddenly rose up in the yard in front of him, reflecting half of the sky in the night red.

(End of this chapter)

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