The Beacon of Kyushu

Liu E shook her head and said, "No, not only did he not praise Sister Qingyu at all, but he stopped listening halfway through and turned around and shamelessly asked me to sing! I didn't want to sing for him, but I was afraid of causing trouble for Brother Zhao, so I reluctantly sang a song. Unexpectedly, he has a problem with his ears and insisted that my singing is better than Sister Qingyu. From now on, whenever I run into him when I go out, he will force me to sing, and if I don't sing, he will punish me. It really makes me so angry!"

Zhao Defang laughed when he heard this and said, "Haha, it seems my cousin has fallen in love with you! Maybe, our Anian will not only not have to be a singer in the future, but can also become a princess!"

Liu E said reluctantly, "I don't want it. Even if I am destined to be a princess, I want to be your princess, Brother Zhao, and not that little scoundrel's princess!"

Zhao Defang smiled and was about to say something else when a servant from the palace ran into the hall in a hurry, "Prince...Prince, the emperor has sent Princes Yuan Xi and Yuan Xiu to the palace to watch the play. They will be at the palace gate soon!"

When Liu E heard that Zhao Yuanxiu was coming, she quickly hid in Zhao Defang's arms and begged, "Brother Zhao, I don't want to see Zhao Yuanxiu! Can you please not let him into the palace?"

Zhao Defang said helplessly: "The emperor's decree is like this, and I cannot disobey it. If you really don't want to see him, why don't you hide in your room and don't come out. He is not familiar with the palace, so I'm sure he won't find you."

Liu E thought for a long time and said in great embarrassment: "If I hide, I won't be able to see the opera. What should I do?" As she spoke, an idea suddenly occurred to her: "Oh, I can find a ladder and hide under the eaves. This way, he won't be able to find me, and I can still hear the opera on the stage!"

Zhao Defang smiled and touched her head. "You are such a clever little girl! Go quickly, and be careful on the roof. Don't fall down, or I will be sad."

"Don't worry, Brother Zhao, I'm not that stupid!" Liu E said as she ran out, fearing that she would be late and run into the annoying Zhao Yuanxiu.

Seeing her leave, Zhao Defang hugged the beauties around him again and said to them with a smile: "Si Que, Fu Meng, let's go too and go to the palace gate to welcome the two cousins. Otherwise, if they go back and report me to the emperor, I will have to bear the consequences!"

The three of them didn't wait long at the palace gate when two riders came from the northeast, followed by four or five servants in luxurious clothes. The two horses galloped to the front of the palace, and the riders pulled the reins together, then dismounted and bowed to Zhao Defang, saying, "Cousin, I haven't seen you for a long time. I hope you are well."

Zhao Defang saw that the young man on the left was about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a beige robe, with a long face and relaxed brows, and there was no sense of majesty in his whole body. Instead, there was the unique nobility of a royal family member and the childishness that had not yet completely faded away.

The young man on the right is over 20 years old, wearing a black robe with dark patterns. He has high cheekbones and a nose that curves downward, forming a deep hook. His not very big eyes are particularly deep, as if he can see through people's hearts at a glance.

Zhao Defang bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, my cousin. I have been doing well recently. The troupe has been invited to the palace, and we are just waiting for you two cousins ​​to go and show your support."

The young man smiled and looked at Zhao Defang, and whispered: "Cousin, is your concubine An Nian in the palace? Don't be afraid of your cousin laughing at me, I haven't seen her for a long time, and I really miss her. If she is in the palace now, I would like to see her." Zhao Defang pondered for a moment and said: "Brother Yuan Xiu, you came at an unfortunate time. She went back to her hometown two days ago, and it will take at least half a month for her to come back."

Zhao Yuanxiu said disappointedly, "Alas, the emperor originally only sent my second brother to watch the show, but I thought it would be great if I could take the opportunity to meet Ah Nian, so I secretly came to Nanqing Palace with my second brother without the emperor knowing. Unfortunately, she went back to her hometown, so the golden silk candied dates I brought were wasted."

Zhao Yuanxi always had a gloomy face, and he looked dignified without getting angry. Even when he came to the Nanqing Palace to watch a play, he still kept his emotions to himself. He glanced at Zhao Yuanxiu and said, "Third brother, we are here to watch a play today under the order of the emperor, so I won't say much. But you'd better not just play around and do ridiculous things with those little eunuchs in the palace. You should read more classics and think more about state affairs, so that you can make a difference in the future. Do you understand?"

Zhao Yuanxiu feared nothing but his second brother. Hearing his second brother lecturing him in front of his cousin, he nodded his head and acted obedient, but he didn't agree with it in his heart. "My father is the most wise and powerful in the world. Although my eldest and second brothers are not as good as him, one is good at both civil and military affairs, and the other is calm and wise. Even if my father dies one day, there will still be my eldest and second brothers. It will never be my turn to be the emperor. Why should I care about national affairs and worry about things that will never have anything to do with me?"

As the three were talking, two more fast horses came from the southeast, and the riders were all middle-aged and fat. The two got off the horses in front of the Nanqing Palace, and the fat man in the lead said with a smile: "Defang, you and your uncle have never communicated in the past, why did you think of inviting me to watch a play today?"

"Uncle, I'm sorry for my negligence." Zhao Defang bowed deeply, smiled and looked at the middle-aged man next to Zhao Tingmei, and asked, "Uncle, who is this uncle? Why does he look a little strange to me?"

Zhao Tingmei pointed at the tall fat man and said, "This man is the newly promoted judge of Kaifeng Prefecture, Lü Duan, whose courtesy name is Yizhi. He is both Fourth Uncle's subordinate and Fourth Uncle's good friend. There are many difficult cases in Kaifeng Prefecture every day. Thanks to his advice, otherwise Fourth Uncle would have made a mess of it."

After he finished speaking, he turned to Lü Duan and said, "Yi Zhi, the young man who is speaking to me is the Eighth Prince Zhao Defang. The older one next to him is the Second Prince Zhao Yuanxi, and the younger one is the Third Prince Zhao Yuanxiu. Why don't you pay your respects to the three princes?"

Hearing this, Lu Duan hurriedly bowed to Zhao Defang and the other two, "I am Lu Duan, your humble servant, and I greet the three princes." His voice was simple and naive, as if he was a simple and unsophisticated person, not a master of solving difficult cases. Everyone thought that Zhao Tingmei was trying to flatter him, and no one pointed it out on the spot, but in their hearts, they didn't take it seriously.

Zhao Defang welcomed everyone into the palace and headed straight for the stage in the garden. At this time, tables and chairs had already been set up in the garden, and everyone sat down according to their seniority and position, quietly waiting for the actors to go on stage and start the show. Soon, Lou Mingli brought a few more famous actors and tremblingly came in front of everyone, and greeted the princes according to the play.

In the play and outside the play, they both pay respect to the prince, but the etiquette and manners are completely different. Zhao Tingmei and Zhao Defang are open-minded by nature, so they naturally don't care about these. Zhao Yuanxiu is still young, and seeing their funny appearance, he just enjoys it and doesn't investigate further. Only Zhao Yuanxi sees that they are so unruly, and the gloom on his face becomes even heavier, which scares all the actors.

Lou Mingli pretended to be calm, took out the playlist and handed it to Zhao Defang, saying, "Your Majesty, which play do you think we should order? Let them prepare for the smaller ones."

Zhao Defang handed the playlist to Zhao Tingmei and asked, "Fourth Uncle, which one do you think we should choose?" (End of this chapter)