Taohuaxi

Chapter 98 Weaknesses
The white smell of alcohol in Qiu Lu is like a thick fog, a vast white patch, coming and going back and forth on the wine table and in the room, slowly rising, slowly falling, floating here and there, confusing.

Thick fog surrounded Feng Gao into an isolated island.

He grabbed the woman.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

The woman said nothing.

"Sister, where are you going?" he asked again.

The woman is getting further and further away from him.

He staggered and chased after him.

After walking a few steps, he tripped over the threshold. The woman turned around and quickly helped him up.

She has the green aura of grass that he is familiar with, and her palms have the calluses that he is familiar with.

He burst into tears.

"Sister, are you not willing to be close to me anymore? I'm sorry. Sister, I shouldn't always go to you, and I shouldn't always be self-righteous and nice to you. I must have done a lot of things wrong, let me You ignore me. I just want to protect you and the peas. But I know I am not qualified."

He spread his palms and buried his face in them, speaking incoherently.

The woman looked at him. She had heard a few days ago that the palace was hosting a banquet for a big shot in the palace tonight. However, she did not expect that she would encounter such a scene when she accidentally came to the banquet to give Zheng Tai an agate plate.The so-called big shot turned out to be an extremely handsome young man. He cried uncontrollably to her, and the words that came out of his mouth were like the wet smoke in the countryside at dusk in winter.

Who is this big shot? He is clearly a child who has lost the most important thing. He is timid, heartbroken, and self-blame.

When Zheng Tai saw this, he hurriedly scolded: "Ningyue, what are you doing in a daze? You haven't even helped Mr. Factory Master to sit down at the table!"

Ningyue is the ninth concubine of Zheng Tai's previous wife.Originally, the Jiu Yiniang of the Zheng Mansion was supposed to be Zhu Sangyu.After the bride-robbing incident, he was devastated and angry, and ordered his men to look for women similar to Zhu Sangyu.Later, he finally found Ning Yue, a female singer with facial features similar to Zhu Sangyu, in a Nanchuan music troupe.After Ning Yue came to the door, Zheng Tai deliberately dressed her in the same clothes as Zhu Sangyu and wore the same hairpin ring as Zhu Sangyu.The possessiveness that cannot be obtained is compensated with revenge in such truth and falsehood.

However, Zheng Tai did not expect that Feng Gao, who was cold-faced and cold-hearted, and always kept his emotions secret, would lose his composure when he saw Ning Yue.In his mind, it was as if a carriage was driving in, its wheels turning rapidly.

After listening to Zheng Tai's words, Ningyue leaned forward and said humbly: "Mr. Factory Master, please——"

Feng Gao stared at her and shook his head violently.

He was so drunk that he seemed to be awakened by a ladle of cold water.

She is not a sister.

My sister wouldn't talk to him like that.

She is just a person who is very much like a sister.

Feng Gao lowered his head and walked back to the table.He said calmly to Zheng Tai: "The Qiu Lubai in my uncle's house is really good wine."

Zheng Tai smiled and cupped his hands and said, "No matter what item in my house you like, Mr. Factory, it is the blessing of that item."

He waved to Ning Yue and said: "Since Mr. Factory has a fate with you, you can sit next to Mr. Factory and drink with Mr. Factory."

Ning Yue lowered her head and said, "Yes."

She walked to Feng Gao.

Feng Gao frowned and said, "No need."

Zheng Tai was a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and said to Ning Yue: "It's all because of you that disturbed the fun at the wine table. Kneel down under the eaves!"

"Yes." Ningyue nodded calmly, walked to the eaves, and knelt down numbly.

Zheng Tai said: "Let's keep drinking, keep drinking, piano master, keep playing. Ningyue, sing a song."

Everyone raised their glasses together, as if the scene just now had never happened.

In the winter, the night was cold. Kneeling under the eaves, soaked in the cold air, Ning Yue looked at Feng Gao.

She sang a little tune to the music of the violinist.

"Speaking of Dongchang, the city wall is nine and a half miles, with four gates and four gates. Dongchang is a good place. Almonds, sophora rice, and day lilies are shipped to Suzhou and Hangzhou every year. My mother sews clothes for my son and sends him to a distant place. The boy has gained fame. , Mom is happy. Without the fame, I also hope that you will return to your hometown as soon as possible. Return to your hometown as soon as possible. What do you want to return to your hometown with honor, what kind of brocade belt and robes do you want, son-in-law, son-in-law, don’t recognize a foreign country as your hometown, don’t let my mother-in-law be heartbroken. …”

She sang softly and slowly.

Gentle as water.

The music troupe can travel all over the country and the north, and they can all sing the tunes from the south to the north.She heard Zheng Tai say that he was from Dongchang Mansion, so she sang this Dongchang tune.

Feng Gao took a sip of wine.

Zheng Tai said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Factory, is a person whom Your Majesty has the utmost trust. My sister serves His Majesty. We should be our own people. Mr. Factory, you said this, right?"

Feng Gao smiled and remained silent.

Seeing that he did not refute, Zheng Tai tried and said: "Due to the incident involving Princess Pingning, Mr. Chang and my sister had some misunderstandings, and my sister was very upset. My sister has always respected Mr. Chang as he was diligent and loyal, and Mr. Chang seems to have It would be wrong..."

The silent abbot on the side stroked his beard.

Zheng Tai stood up, poured a glass of wine for Feng Gao himself, changed the subject, and said, "The factory master is not on the same path as those rotten literati in the court. Those people shout about loyalty to the country all day long, but the factory master should know that, Loyalty to the king is more important than loyalty to the country. Without a king, there is no world. No one understands the king's intentions better than Mr. Chang Gong. A year ago, what did His Majesty say in Chengqian Palace, Mr. Chang Gong still remembers it? " A year ago , Concubine Zheng was pregnant, and Long Live played with her, causing her body to be injured and her son to be lost.Concubine Zheng was resentful of Long Live. Long Live took pity on the concubine and swore an oath to her in the Chengqiankun Palace that if she gave birth to a child, she would make him the East Palace.

At the beginning of the year, due to the incident of Princess Pingning, the Queen Mother borrowed Feng Gao's help to seize the Zheng family and threatened her to persuade Long Live to make the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo the crown prince.

Although Zheng was forced to agree at the time, she was still unwilling to do so.

After Mrs. Zheng gave birth to a prince, Prince Zhu Changluo became more and more a thorn in her side and a thorn in her flesh, and she wished she could get rid of him as soon as possible.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the prince was assassinated in the East Palace. The queen mother went there overnight and took the prince back to Cining Palace to raise him.This incident shocked the government and the public, and Banzai had to pretend to order Dongchang to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The Queen Mother rarely interfered with government affairs, but she had a very tough attitude when it came to the Crown Prince.The game between her and Zheng continued, and Feng Gao was caught in the middle, making every step difficult and cautious.

Originally, the Queen Mother promised him that during the year-end sacrifices, she would use the late emperor's dream as an excuse to condemn Feng Gao to go to Nanzhili to guard the imperial mausoleum.Feng Gaoke left Dongchang and resigned from office.However, now, things have arisen, and the Queen Mother refuses to let him go.

The queen mother and the noble concubine were wielding swords, lights, and shadows.Feng stayed prepared and was careful day and night, hoping to pass through the muddy water smoothly.

Since the establishment of Dongchang during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, there have always been governors of Dongchang. How many people can end well?
He smiled and said to Zheng Tai, "Of course our family will remember your Majesty's words."

"But I don't know how the factory master's investigation of the Dong Palace case went?" Zheng Tai asked.

Feng Gao drank the last sip of wine, stood up, and said: "We are drunk, it's time to say goodbye. Thank you, father-in-law and uncle, for the good wine and good music."

He went to the eaves.

The woman named Ning Yue is still singing.

He walked past her, paused for a moment, and left in a hurry.

After Feng Gao left, the Zheng family father and son looked at each other.

Zheng Tai said: "This eunuch has secretly defected to the old woman a long time ago. He cheated my sister last time, and we haven't avenged him yet. Why do my father and sister expect him to be recruited?"

"I thought that after your sister gave birth to a prince, he would be able to understand some current affairs, but I didn't expect that he would still be so stubborn. This Feng Gao has a delicate mind, vicious methods, and is quite resourceful. He is not so easy to deal with. That incident in August The bandits caused trouble, and we were tricked by him." Zheng's father said.

Zheng Tai walked under the eaves, stretched out his fingers, and moved back and forth on Ning Yue's face.

"However, tonight's banquet has an unexpected harvest, so it is not a waste of effort. The eunuch..."

He smiled evilly and said: "No matter how smart people are, they all have weaknesses. The eunuch's weakness is Zhu Sangyu. If you make a ruthless move and trap Zhu Sangyu, you won't be able to defeat him. This time, we can't give him a chance to stand up."

Father Zheng nodded.

The two dispersed the crowd and went to the inner room to plot.

Zheng Tai said: "I have a plan and I will tell it to my father."

He said this and that.

Father Zheng said happily: "Avoiding the truth and attacking the fictitious will cause harm to others without harming them. Tai'er, you have gained some brains now. If this is done, I don't have to worry about His Majesty not being easy on the Crown Prince."

The father and son agreed to secretly send a message to the imperial concubine.

The next day, Feng Gao came to Zheng Mansion to announce the reward according to the imperial edict.

The Zheng family and his son happily accepted the order without mentioning anything about last night, nor did they ask Feng Gao any more about the "Donggong Case".

After finishing his errand, Feng Gao rode his horse and took the official road to leave Yangzhou as usual.

Walking to Meihua Ridge outside Yangzhou City, he entered the post station to drink his horse.

There was a man wearing a bamboo hat and a black robe who had been waiting for him for a long time.

"Mr. Factory Master, please take a moment to speak."

Feng Gao heard the voice and knew who the other party was.

"What do you have to say to our family?"

The man walked into a room. Feng Gao thought for a moment and followed him.

"I want to make a deal with the factory owner."

"Our family does not negotiate business with the Zheng family."

"It's not the Zheng Mansion, it's me."

After taking off the bamboo hat, Ning Yue's face that resembled Sang Yu's was pure and peaceful.

"Why should I trust you?" Feng Gao's voice was as cold as the winter plums in Meihua Ridge.

"Based on this—"

She stood in front of Feng Gao and took off her robe.

shocking.

(End of this chapter)