Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 230
"Well."

Zhang Jinyu was taken aback by a soft shout, this carriage was for his own use, no matter where he was, there were guards who could stay in it, thinking of this, he stood up and looked back.

I saw a petite little girl lying on the car, wearing an emerald green padded jacket, water snake waist, and knife-shaved shoulders, Rui Ran was young, only twelve or thirteen years old, but she had everything she should have.

Seeing this scene, I realized that I brought back a maid from the manor, what's her name, Qingwen.

I'll go, forget about it, the brothers and I haven't eaten yet, because of this, I saw the little girl fell asleep and didn't wake up, so I didn't call her.

opened the curtain and asked;

"How far is it to the inn?"

"Go back to Lord Hou, the street in front is just right."

"understood."

After waiting for a while, I heard the guard driving the car,

:"law"

"Lord Hou, we're here."

"Okay, hitch the horse and go in."

Zhang Jinyu also patted Qingwen's buttocks directly, and shouted;
"Qingwen, we're here, get out of the car and have something to eat."

Qingwen, who was still asleep, got out of the car in a daze. Zhang Jinyu was afraid that she would fall, so she reached out to grab her, and then went into the Youlai Inn with her personal guards, shouting;

"Shopkeeper, prepare the food and drinks and serve them directly, sit on several tables, then prepare thirteen rooms, and stay here tonight."

"Here you are, Master Hou, please sit down quickly, why don't you go back to the house to rest at such a late hour?"

The shopkeeper of the inn saw that the proprietor was coming, so he hurried over to say hello.

"You know it's too late. Brothers haven't eaten yet. When it's time to finish eating, I'm afraid that there will be a curfew outside. I really don't want to meet those people from the imperial army."

"Little one knows, Xiao Er hurry up and serve tea to everyone."

The shopkeeper immediately understood, and then shouted to the back.

"Here we come, shopkeeper."

The waiter brought bowls and put them one by one, and then took the long-spout teapot and poured tea one by one. Qingwen saw the bright hall and the second and third floors. It didn't look like a mansion, how could it look like a restaurant.

Qingwen, who was still a little confused, heard the word Xiaoer, and then confirmed that she came to the restaurant, and suddenly felt a little sleepy. Seeing that the tables around her were starting to serve dishes and meals, she asked suspiciously;
"Master Hou, why don't we go back to the house, what are we doing here?"

"What can I do, eat, I didn't drink a sip of water in Jia's house all day, there are so many dirty things."

"Oh, Qingwen met Lord Hou, Rongguo Mansion was not like that before."

Qingwen stood up, saluted and explained there that she was not one to step on the highs and lows, and she also had her own pursuits. At least in her opinion, leaving the Duke's Mansion and going to the Hou's Mansion may not be a high pursuit.

But it's not okay to speak ill of the former master. However, she is a maid and has no right to be her own master.

I am used to being sent around by the steward.

Seeing that the little girl is still so disciplined, Zhang Jinyu secretly has a crush on her, which is not bad, but she has a vague personality, so she replied;
"Okay, I don't have such a big rule here. Sit down and eat. You have been hungry all day. If you are full, you will rest at the inn tonight."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Qingwen also let it go, picked up the chopsticks and began to take small bites of vegetables. Bai Jiu's thin face is also attractive. I have to say that even a maid in Rongguo Mansion outside is expected to be a daughter of a daughter. Looking back on the absurd things tonight, Zhang Jinyu is also a little regretful. She didn't let go. Such a small place is too depressing.

During this period, the group was also eating, and the waiter in the shop kept bringing good wine and food to the table. At this time, a group of merchants from other places suddenly came from outside.

Entered the inn and shouted there;
"Hurry up, Xiao Er, serve two tables of good food and wine for the masters, and prepare eight rooms for preparation. I will rest here tonight."

"Okay, let's be objective."

Followed by the same tea and water.

It's just that when this group of merchants came, they saw Zhang Jinyu and his party wearing the armor of the army, so they purposely sat down in the innermost corner of the lobby.

Zhang Jinyu also looked over curiously. The merchants were not tall, and the cowhide short boots on their feet were slightly damp. It looked like they were from the south, and they were transported by water.

It looked unfamiliar, a group of people drank tea and waited for the food and wine to eat there without saying a word.

After watching it for a while, it was unremarkable. After finishing the meal, Zhang Jinyu went up to the second floor with his personal guards, and almost booked the guest room on the second floor.

First sent the little girl to the guest room, and then went back to his own room, where the hot water had already been prepared, and after a simple wash, he lay on the bed, but couldn't fall asleep anyway, so he got up and put on his clothes.

He opened the door a little and wanted to go out, but that group of people hadn't finished eating, and they were still talking loudly about the Jinling Zhen's family.

Zhang Jinyu was also curious, so she put on her clothes softly, moved a stool and sat behind the door, and listened carefully. It turned out that this group of people traveled northward with the fleet of the Zhen family in Jinling, Jiangnan.

One of the leaders said;
"Master, who is to say otherwise? The Zhen family is really bold. They even dared to smuggle the grassland, and they are not afraid of being investigated by the court."

"Check, who dares to check, didn't you see that the guards on the entire canal didn't dare to control it? Besides, you didn't see that the fleet steward has a stack of official customs clearance in his hand, all of which have been sealed."

"But the border guards at the border can let them pass."

Someone else asked suspiciously.

"Shhh, keep your voice down, you must know, but what's going on inside and outsiders don't know. It seems that outside the capital, it is said that the fleet has something to give to the big man in the capital. Just turned the bow of the boat from the canal, instead of stopping in Fuling County, it directly made a big circle and stopped at the pier outside the capital."

and also
Then I didn't hear what was said later.

At this time, Zhang Jinyu was completely sleepy, so she just listened to the general idea for a while, carefully recalled the conversation with a group of merchants just now, and knew that the fleet of Zhen's family in Jinling, Jiangnan should be here tonight.

It stands to reason that it should stop in Fuling County in the middle of the canal and then go north. Why go north and west in a big circle and then pass through Anshui in Zhongzhou to reach the capital? Isn't it superfluous.

There is only one wharf in the capital city, not far from the west city gate, north of Anhu Lake, which can be regarded as under the eyes of the Imperial City Secretary.

Probably not, no, the smuggling of grasslands must pass through Beimang Mountain if it doesn't go outside the pass, which is the territory of King Beijing. Could it be that the Zhen family is on the side of King Beijing Shui Rong?

Jinling Zhen's family, this is a huge monster under the water, there is an old concubine Zhen in the palace, and outside it can be regarded as a disciple with many stories, it is also one of the best families in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is also very close to the Jia family.

The Jia family, tsk tsk, they are everywhere. Although they look harmless, who would have thought that such intricate forces would be involved with him.

Zhang Jinyu moved the chair back to the table, came back to lie down, and suddenly thought of the East King Mu Shi above the Chunlou, that is not a lonely master, Jiangnan is the old East King's mansion fiefdom, you will not believe that there is no backup dog.

How about leading an army to explore the capital's wharf tonight? If so many supplies leave the customs, I don't know if Pingyao City can stop them. There are quite a lot of private troops in Beiman Mountain.

The more she thought about it, the more irritable she became, Zhang Jinyu's eyes suddenly froze, she would suffer if she didn't take it, she really couldn't sleep tonight.

In an instant, he got up again, came to the door, opened the door, glanced outside, saw two tables of merchants eating and drinking, and then went up to the third floor. After listening to the movement, he was already in the room on the third floor.

Zhang Jinyu was not in Moji, so she knocked on the doors of the rooms on the second floor one by one. The guard inside the door came out vigilantly, and when she saw Lord Hou at the door, she asked;
"Lord Hou, what happened?"

"Shh, keep your voice down, leave two of you to take care of the little girl, and hurry back to the mansion tomorrow morning, the rest of you will get dressed and go out with me."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

After a while, ten bodyguards put on their armor and came out to assemble, leaving three of them here. When they saw that they were almost done, Zhang Jinyu led them downstairs.

At this time, the shopkeeper finished cleaning up and was about to close. When he saw the proprietor came out again, he didn't know why he was in such a hurry, so he asked;

"Master Hou, you are going out, it's so late."

"Shopkeeper, you close as normal. I have something to do tonight. Don't leave the upstairs room. It will be tidied up tomorrow morning."

Zhang Jinyu handed it over with a look, and the shopkeeper understood it, and agreed again and again;

"Yes, Master Hou, I understand."

"Well, let's go."

Zhang Jinyu left the Youlai Inn after explaining, took out the horse, got on the horse and headed straight to Dongcheng.

And Ning Bian took the vanguard battalion to escort the owed silver to the household department, said goodbye to Eunuch Yang and Shilang Shen, and returned to the Hou's mansion, who knew that he didn't see Lord Hou back, and felt uneasy, and waited for a long time without seeing anyone.

Ning Bian ordered people from Qi, went back along the way he came from, asked at Ning Rong Street and found out that Lord Hou had already left the house, Ning Bian thought that Lord Hou had gone to the camp outside the city, and then went to the camp in the east city.

At the gate of the camp, they arrived one after another, and the two happened to meet each other, Ning Bian asked anxiously;
"Master Hou, where have you been, I will never find you"

Seeing that Ning Bian was so anxious, Zhang Jinyu slapped his forehead, oops, I forgot.

"I'm to blame for this matter. Ben Hou encountered something tonight. I went to Youlai Inn for a meal. I forgot to send you a letter. Let's not make an example."

Seeing that Master Hou was fine, Ning Bian felt relieved, and asked again when he saw Master Hou who was in a hurry;
"Master Hou, why are you here so late?"

"Of course I'm looking for trouble. Let me tell you, the Jinling Zhen family's fleet brought a large amount of supplies here tonight, and it stopped at the west city pier in the capital."

Ningbian doesn't know, so, what does this have to do with us outside the customs and the Hou's Mansion? Could it be that Lord Hou has taken a fancy to the things on the ship, but it doesn't have a good influence in the capital.

"Master Hou, you have taken a fancy to something inside. It is worth dispatching troops to grab it. Will it be bad in the capital? If people find out tomorrow, the emperor has a lot of references for you."

Zhang Jinyu opened his eyes and cursed;

"Where do you think you are, is Ben Hou such a person?"

(End of this chapter)