Empress Murong once spent two years personally visiting every inch of land under her skirt. Everywhere she went, especially in those majestic cities and huge towns, there were countless people kneeling in front of her.
After the late Emperor Li Yang unified the Spring and Autumn Period and the new Emperor ascended the throne, did he ever go to the Old Eight Kingdoms? Did he ever come to Beiliang?
Hsu Fengnian put away his luggage in the room. All the important things were on him, so he didn't care if they were stolen or not. On the other hand, the little girl stayed next to the bag full of silver fragments and refused to eat. She had probably worked hard to carry it all the way and had developed feelings for it. If it disappeared, she would probably die of sadness.
Hsu Fengnian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said, "Idiot, if it was stolen, wouldn't it be easier for you? Let's go eat. Your little stomach has been growling for a long time. It's not a ballad, so I don't want to hear it. "
The little girl Tao Manwu had a serious expression on her face that said, "If it's stolen, I won't be responsible." Hsu Fengnian laughed and joked, "Don't worry, if it's really stolen, it's not your fault. However, I will use banknotes to exchange for silver fragments of the same weight for you to continue carrying. "
The little girl, who had always done things methodically, wanted to cry after she confirmed that this person, who wasn't too bad, wasn't joking.
If Hsu Fengnian's heart softened just because of this, he would be underestimating His Royal Highness's coldness and heartlessness. He said two words, "Eat!"
Tao Manwu followed behind him and threatened timidly, "I won't sing ballads for you anymore."
Hsu Fengnian didn't even turn his head. He said, "Okay, I was going to be merciful and give you a bowl of rice, but now I'll deduct half a bowl and you're not allowed to eat vegetables."
Tao Manwu immediately said, "Then I won't sing for you tomorrow."
Hsu Fengnian's mouth held a warm smile and his eyes were gentle, but he didn't say anything.
The little girl suddenly became excited because even though she couldn't see his face, she knew that he was smiling.
After sitting down, Hsu Fengnian ordered two bowls of rice with one meat dish and three vegetables. The little girl, Tao Manwu, had a very good upbringing. She didn't talk when eating or sleeping. At a young age, she had the demeanor of a virtuous lady. However, it was a pity that she wasn't a beauty. When she grew up, she would probably only have an average appearance. It was probably because she looked more like her father, Tao Qianzhi, and didn't inherit her mother's face shape. Even if a woman was graceful and virtuous, being praised for being beautiful on the inside, it was still a kind of helplessness and regret that she didn't have the beauty that would captivate the birds and beasts. The only meat dish on the table was a fish snakehead. The cooking method was simple. After washing off the mud, cut open the fish's belly, put half a tael of pepper and three or four cloves of garlic into the fish's belly, and cook it with soybeans. Just before it was cooked, a few finger-sized radishes were added, and chopped green onions were sprinkled on top. Then, it was served on the table. There was a soup among the vegetarian dishes, a medicinal soup made from five types of tree branches. Hsu Fengnian could only recognize four types: mulberry tree branch, huai branch, willow branch, and peach branch. This table of dishes that nourished the stomach only cost forty wen, which could be considered a bargain. It should be known that a thousand wen was only one tael of silver.
This made Hsu Fengnian, who had seen the prices of all the dishes on the row of bamboo sticks on the counter, fall into deep thought. The Confucian nobles of each dynasty and each generation had been earnestly persuading the emperor to listen to these words. However, how many of them were willing to lower themselves to haggle over a meal and a dish? It was likely that the emperor would not be willing to listen to them. Discussing this with the important ministers was like a vegetable vendor discussing with an old farmer. If this were to spread out from the imperial study in the throne room, wouldn't they be laughed at to death by the scholars of the world? Hsu Fengnian glanced at Tao Manwu, who was eating with his head lowered. She originally wanted to pick up a piece of the fragrant fish with her chopsticks, but after seeing the gaze of the bad guy in front of her, she silently retracted her chopsticks. Hsu Fengnian picked up a piece of white and tender fish for her and calmly said, "In the future, use your chopsticks yourself."
He did not forget to remind her, "Be careful of the fish bones. If you get pricked, I'm not willing to spend money to buy vinegar."
The little girl raised her head and smiled.
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "Peach, can't you have a little backbone? You were bought over by a piece of fish with a chopstick?"
In public, he had agreed to call her by her new nickname, Peach. At first, the little girl resisted by remaining silent. Later, Hsu Fengnian hardened his heart and did not want to ride a horse or walk on foot. He made her carry the money bag for a long time. She agreed by nodding her head after Hsu Fengnian called her Peach again. Only then did Hsu Fengnian carry her onto the horse and move forward. The little girl bit her lips and sobbed for a long time with her shoulder burning with pain.
Hsu Fengnian ate quickly and left some leftovers for Tao Manwu. Then, he patiently waited for her to slowly chew and eat until she was full. He leaned against the window railing and looked at the downtown area, counting the grain stores, cloth stores, and pawnshops. When the little girl finished all the food and said that it was done, Hsu Fengnian came back to his senses. He did not rush to get up and asked for a pot of tea from the waiter. This made the innkeeper, who was sitting behind the counter, beam with joy. A pot of tea was not very profitable, but looking at this young master's attitude, it was obvious that he would spend a lot of money on the inn. This was called "small streams flow long". In small businesses, it was impossible to become rich overnight. What they relied on was these small windfalls. The waiter was familiar with the innkeeper's abacus and understood tacitly. When he served the tea, he smiled warmly.
When Hsu Fengnian drank the tea, he softly said, "Knock on the golden beam."
Tao Manwu obediently closed her mouth and knocked on her teeth 36 times.
"Beat the heavenly drum."
The little girl gently raised her hand and knocked on her temples 18 times.
"Bath noodles."
The little girl, who was sitting upright and still, closed her eyes slightly and rubbed her palms until they were warm. Then, she put her five fingers together and stuck her little finger to the side of her nose. She pushed her palms and fingers up, passing between her eyebrows and moving up to the hairline on her forehead. Then, she rubbed the sides of her temples and slowly moved down to her cheeks until she stopped at her cheeks. She repeated this for a total of six times.
Hsu Fengnian drank up a cup of tea. Tao Manwu also completed three tasks in a well-behaved manner.
Hsu Fengnian was very adept at multitasking. Otherwise, he would never have dared to play with two knives in front of White Fox. After the little girl finished this set of Taoist exercises, she continued to look at the bustling city and ponder.
In the Beiliang Palace, no matter how much bloody news came from the hidden life and death in Beimang, they could only see the cold numbers and words. How many cavalries did Beimang have, the distribution of the cities, and the status of the war horses. As for the most trivial details, Li Yishan, the Beiliang Scholar, said that it was best for His Royal Highness to personally go to these things. This chief strategist of Beiliang who had imprisoned him for 20 years did not have a son. Although he did not say it, he did indeed treat His Royal Highness as his own flesh and blood. However, he still agreed with His Royal Highness to be exiled to Beimang. As elegant as Li Yishan was, he also gritted his teeth and cursed, saying that a gentleman would not stand on a collapsing wall and that Beiliang did not need a gentleman King of Beiliang in the future! It could be seen how serious his wariness towards Beimang was. Hsu Fengnian still clearly remembered that when he handed over the hand-drawn geographical map, Li Yishan, who never admitted to being his master, was silent. He, who was terminally ill and did not have many years left to live, said at the end to go get two jugs of wine. Today, he was going to drink with the scenery of the three thousand miles of mountains and rivers.
This was a man who had once cooked with Zhao Changling using half of the country as food to go with wine.
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