King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 606: Measuring North Korea’s Material Resources
Baoqin was embarrassed at first, but now after hearing Zhu Jinghong's teasing words, he suddenly lowered his head in shame.

Seeing that Zhu Jinghong's attention was all on Baoqin, Zhen Qin walked to Baoqin, took her hand and asked, "Sister Qin, are you here for something?"

The reason why Zhen Qin asked this was actually to squeeze Bao Qin, and to remind him that he could leave if nothing happened.

"I..." Baoqin didn't know how to answer for a moment. He couldn't say that he was here for Zhu Jinghong.

Nuo Min had always been at odds with Zhen Qin. At this time, she also leaned towards Bao Qin, and after pulling him to her side, Fang looked at Zhen Qin and said, "This is someone else's house. It doesn't matter if you wander around casually. You have to Ask for a reason?"

Zhen Qin looked angry and asked: "I'm talking to her... why are you in a hurry!"

"I can say whatever I want. It doesn't matter to you, Your Majesty... Do you still want to care about me?" Nuo Min didn't give in.

Although the quarrel between the girls was interesting, Zhu Jinghong didn't want to watch the fun. He was still wary of the unrest at home.

"Okay... I came back today and you guys started arguing in front of me. Is this in line with etiquette?" Zhu Jinghong looked dissatisfied.

Zhen Qin and Nuo Min had served him for the past two years, and they basically knew whether they were really angry with him or feigned anger.

"Girl Qin, if you like... you can eat more!"

After dinner, Zhen Qin and Nuo Min got busy, focusing on ogling Zhu Jinghong. It was obvious that they had been looking forward to today for a long time.

After saying that, Zhu Jinghong looked at the door and said, "Baoqin... why don't you sit down? Come and sit here!"

"That's just right. Today, I have specially ordered the kitchen to carefully prepare dishes, all of which are your favorites!"

Zhen Qin has many shortcomings, but she also has many advantages. For example, her ability to liven up the atmosphere is not something that ordinary people can do.

"Yeah, okay!" She agreed.

Before Baoqin could hesitate too much, Nuomin took her and walked forward.

While talking, Zhen Qin had already pulled Zhu Jinghong inside, hoping to have Zhu Jinghong all to herself.

At this time, they felt Zhu Jinghong's dissatisfaction, so they wisely shut up.

But no matter how scary his anger is, he is still my brother-in-law and will never be detrimental to me... Bao Qin thought this way.

Although Zhu Jinghong's food supply was better than that of the generals after arriving in North Korea, it was still much worse than at home.

So when he saw dozens of exquisite dishes, his taste buds were immediately touched, and his stomach growled.

"Your Majesty doesn't like it?"

"What fun can there be on the battlefield? I'm actually hungry... I should eat something!"

"Well!" Baoqin sat here honestly.

"We are all sisters, do you think you still see each other outside?"

Zhu Jinghong was originally in a good mood, but when he heard this, he lost a lot of interest. After all, he had eaten this food a lot in North Korea.

"You'll know after you eat it!" Zhu Jinghong said with a smile.

"I?"

Baoqin was somewhat surprised. She didn't expect Zhu Jinghong to remember such a small thing.

The lunch meal was indeed very sumptuous. In order to welcome Zhu Jinghong to move in, Xue Qi spent more than 5,000 taels of silver just on preparing the ingredients.

Zhu Jinghong had no shortage of women all the way back. Li Hui gave him ten beauties. Now he has doted on four of them, so he is not hungry at all at this time.

"what……"

Even so, he did not disappoint Zhen Qin and Nuo Min. After dinner, he took a walk with them to eat, and soon the three of them rolled together.

Hearing Baoqin complain, the two little suns following her looked at each other with playful smiles.

"This……"

When the two of them were alone, she could chat and laugh with Zhu Jinghong, but she felt particularly restrained when outsiders were around.

"My prince is killing everyone in North Korea, but I can't accompany him. I feel pity every time I think about it!"

Zhen Qin was more courageous, and she was also thick-skinned. She leaned back to Zhu Jinghong, held his arm and said: "Your Majesty...it's late now. I think you are hungry too. The kitchen has prepared meals. In the courtyard... let’s go have a meal!”

One of the girls said: "I'm afraid that the prince is in trouble and won't be able to come!"

"Aren't you taking a walk? You didn't let me follow you just now, and now you don't see anyone anymore!"

Speaking of what happened that day when Zhu Jinghong was angry, Baoqin still has lingering fears.

As soon as he spoke, the maid serving in the room came forward and started adding food to Zhu Jinghong and others.

"Let's eat..." Zhu Jinghong said with a smile.

"Last time we played chess, we couldn't win or lose. I have free time in the afternoon, so let's decide the outcome again!"

"The prince is back today, and he just wants to tell us... interesting things about North Korea!"

Of course Nuo Min was angry, but he couldn't argue with Zhen Qin now, so he pulled Bao Qin and said, "Sister Bao Qin, let's go together!"

But as soon as he sat down, he heard Zhen Qin say as if offering a treasure: "Your Majesty, I have prepared specially for you today... kimchi that is unique to North Korea!"

An hour later, in the garden of Xue's house, Baoqin looked around in surprise.

"Let's go!"

"Aren't you talking about playing chess... What time has it been? If you don't come, it's time for dinner!"

"Who said I can't come?"

The sudden sound made the two girls kneel down as a reflex, and even put their heads into the snow.

Baoqin turned around and saw Zhu Jinghong, dressed in casual clothes, standing under the corridor on the east side of the garden.

The cold wind blew by, and Zhu Jinghong's belt fluttered. In Baoqin's eyes, he felt like a jade tree in the wind.

In fact, Zhu Jinghong is good-looking, but his personality charm is too strong, covering up his outstanding appearance.

"Girl...what are you looking at?"

When Zhu Jinghong came closer and the sound reached his ears, Baoqin suddenly woke up.

Unconsciously taking two steps back, Bao Qin felt embarrassed when she remembered how she had acted like a nympho just now.

Zhu Jinghong's question made her feel confused, but she was not an ordinary woman after all. In a panic, she changed the subject and asked: "Brother-in-law... what did you do just now?"

"I'm going to do... what I love to do!" Zhu Jinghong replied with a smile.

There was a big question mark in Bao Qin's mind, and his hand immediately asked: "What do you love to do? What do you love to do? Don't ask me to join you!"

Feeling sorry for this girl's innocence, Zhu Jinghong replied: "This... it's not time yet, let's talk about it later!"

"Oh...by the way, brother-in-law, didn't you say you want to play chess? I've already got people ready!"

"Now that we're ready, let's get started!"

Seeing Zhu Jinghong's high interest, Bao Qin said with a troubled expression: "It's just that I'm a little worried!"

"worry about what?"

"If I win, my brother-in-law won't be angry!"

Bao Qin looked scared, but in Zhu Jinghong's eyes, he just thought it was cute.

"Of course I will be angry..."

"what?"

"You actually think that I don't even have the tolerance to tolerate others. Shouldn't I be angry?" Zhu Jinghong said with a straight face.

"Oh...brother-in-law taught me that I am a villain!" Bao Qin honestly admitted her mistake.

Unexpectedly, she also pretended to admit her mistake, and the next moment she smiled and said: "Brother-in-law...since you said so, I can let it go!"

"Could it be that...you think I'm afraid?"

Baoqin didn't say much, and directly pointed the way: "Brother-in-law, please, it's over there!" "Walk!"

About ten minutes later, Zhu Jinghong in the attic no longer knew what to do.

"Brother-in-law...it's your turn!" Baoqin couldn't help but remind him.

Bao Qin could have ended a chess game of this level a few minutes ago, but it was still delayed to take care of Zhu Jinghong.

"I know it's my turn!" Zhu Jinghong replied angrily.

Everyone was losing, so he just made a random move, and Baoqin followed up with a move. She could end the game in ten moves at most.

"Baoqin...what are your plans next?"

Facing this sudden question, Bao Qin was suddenly confused. Could this have anything to do with the chess game?
"Plans...what plans can I have!"

Despite what Bao Qin said, she actually had a plan to find a way to stay with Zhu Jinghong. She found that she really liked her brother-in-law.

"Come to the capital with me!"

"what?"

Baoqin suddenly realized that he said "ah" a lot today.

"Your sister Baochai, I have always missed you. I said that after you two sisters separated, I missed you very much..."

"You come with me to the capital, just in time to meet your sister Baochai. Wouldn't it be nice to reminisce about our childhood friendship?"

This was called Doze, and someone sent him a pillow. Bao Qin was worried about how to go to the capital with Zhu Jinghong, but his brother-in-law gave him an invitation.

Although she wanted to agree in her heart, she had to be reserved as a girl, so Bao Qin hesitated and said: "I'm naturally willing to go see Sister Bao, but I'm afraid that my parents..."

"Don't they still believe me if I take you away? You don't have to worry too much about this!"

"Oh..." Baoqin responded.

"Are you willing to go?" Zhu Jinghong asked.

"But... but at my brother-in-law's disposal!" At this sentence, Baoqin was so shy that she lowered her head.

"Hahaha... Then listen to me and go to the capital to see it!"

"Ok!"

Bao Qin acted very shy, but was unceremonious on the chessboard, and soon asked Zhu Jinghong to surrender.

This is a friendly match, and the focus is on the process rather than the result. The purpose is to deepen the relationship. Obviously Zhu Jinghong's goal was achieved.

After the chess game ended, the two of them did not separate, but chatted while drinking tea and admiring the snow.

The day passed quickly, and Zhu Jinghong only rested for two days in Jinzhou, so the next day he sent someone to find Xue Qi and invited Bao Qin to Beijing with him in the name of the princess.

Xue Qi understood the meaning of her daughter always staying with King Xiang.

He originally didn't want his daughter to enter the royal family. After all, there were many rules and high stakes, and he wanted Bao to live a simpler life.

But now, a eunuch took the initiative to invite Baoqin into the palace. Regardless of whether it was the intention of King Xiang or the princess, Xue Qi could not refuse.

So that afternoon, Xue Qi called his daughter over and gave some special instructions.

Of course Xue Qi and his wife were very worried about their daughter traveling far away alone, so they couldn't help but explain more things.

Fortunately, in the current palace, the person in charge of affairs is the princess, who is Baoqin's cousin with whom she has been playing together since childhood, which makes Xue Qi and his wife feel more at ease.

On November 14, Zhu Jinghong embarked on his journey back south again, and Baoqin was also among the team.

On November 22, Zhu Jinghong arrived in Peiping; on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Jinghong arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River.

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, in Prince Xiang’s Mansion.

In the small study on the east side of Tongxin Hall, Baochai opened a letter from afar.

"My wife Cui Xiuqing, I pay my respects to the princess from afar..."

This was the first sentence of the letter, and Baochai showed a smile.

This is the third letter she has received from Cui Xiuqing recently. The first one mainly talked about the details of the draft that year, and it really brought Baochai's thoughts back to the past.

The content of the second copy was somewhat similar, but it was slightly sublimated, emphasizing that the couple was very loyal to Prince Xiang's Mansion.

Therefore, Baochai was very interested in the content of this third letter and wanted to know what else might be revealed in it.

During the short time she spent with Cui Xiuqing, Baochai knew that this girl was very smart, and the time she chose to send the letter confirmed this.

As for what was said in this third letter, it was not beyond Baochai's expectations.

"The princess is virtuous and well known both at home and abroad..."

"The princess has given her a helping hand as she wished and enabled my family to inherit this great success. I and my wife must be extremely grateful..."

"I would like to measure North Korea's material resources to express your gratitude for His Highness's kindness!"

The letter expresses one's feelings directly, and the words are sincere and very persuasive.

Putting down the letter, Baochai glanced at Lin Hongyu and asked, "I heard that they sent a lot of gifts this time? What are they?"

There were also gifts accompanying the letter two days ago, some of which were North Korean specialties, such as silks, utensils, ornaments, etc., and the rest were jewelry, gold and silver.

Each gift was valued at one to twenty thousand taels of silver, which was considered a very generous courtesy.

Normally, Lin Hongyu should have reported it directly, but at this time she took a few steps closer and replied in a low voice: "Your Majesty, it's the same as last time, there are twenty big boxes, but..."

"But what?" Baochai asked curiously.

"It's just that...it's all gold!" Lin Hongyu said more cautiously.

She has never seen so much gold in her life, and the golden gold bars are dazzling to her now.

"About how many?"

"My slave made a rough estimate, it should be about ten thousand taels of gold!"

Ten thousand taels of gold, even at the current most basic exchange ratio, is worth nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver, which is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for Prince Xiang's Mansion.

"How many people know about this?" Baochai asked with a cold look in his eyes.

"According to your Majesty's instructions, every time I check the gifts from North Korea, my slave will take the other two girls there. Only the three of us know about it now!"

Baochai has always been very cautious in his dealings with Koreans, so he made such an arrangement.

"Tell them that if they dare to spread rumors, they will be beaten to death immediately!"

"Don't worry, the empress, the person I choose will understand the pros and cons!" Lin Hongyu said more cautiously.

Baochai liked Lin Hongyu very much and thought she was reliable and capable.

You can't just use someone like this but not win over them, so today Baochai decided to give her a favor.

"how old are you?"

"Reply to the Queen, it's almost twenty!"

Twenty is indeed considered an old girl, which is relatively rare in this day and age.

"The family hasn't considered your life-long events yet?"

Before Lin Hongyu could reply, Baochai continued: "They don't think about it. As the master... I can't let you waste your time, so I plan to help you get a good marriage!"

Although this is a good thing, Lin Hongyu already has someone in her heart, and she is afraid that Baochai will mess up the relationship, so she replied: "Princess... I just want to live a good life and serve you, and have no intention of getting married!"

If she hadn't married Jia Yun, she, Lin Hongyu, would have preferred to die alone.

"Listen to me first...it's not too late to speak!" Baochai said with a smile.

Seeing that Lin Hongyu didn't speak, Baochai said to herself: "Jia Yun, a disciple of the Wangfu, is about the same age as you. He does things well and treats others well..."

(End of this chapter)