Madam, look at the sword!

Chapter 32 The Crown Prince’s Visit
When Emperor Zhou would say to Zhao Chengfeng before, "Take me with you," he felt strange.

It's even stranger now, because there's not only Emperor Zhou in the carriage, but also the Seventh Prince Xian Wang
If he had to find some reason for this strange feeling, Zhao Chengfeng thought it might be that Emperor Zhou, as the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, had to take him to the Huaihe River on his first day in Kyoto anyway. Visiting flower boats is not an appropriate thing to do.

He did not say whether his reputation was good or not, nor did he mention the glorious deeds of Emperor Zhou in the past.

The key is, as an elder, is this a bit disrespectful? As an emperor, is it a bit unbecoming, let alone as a monarch and minister?
All in all, this is a very awkward thing.

It was so awkward that Zhao Chengfeng wanted to run away.

The problem was obviously unavoidable now, so he could only find some more reasons to convince himself.

As a result, Zhao Chengfeng had to look at the father and son in the carriage and have a deep reflection on himself.

Have you been playing too innocently these years?
It's a bit behind the situation in Kyoto.
Or should we say that the royal family is inherently large in scale.

They have long been used to it.
After all, going back a few hundred years, the history of the Zhou Tian Dynasty's heyday can be clearly recorded. The Wei royal family often sent each other's daughters-in-law to play with each other.

It is common and common for me to bring my son's wife to be my concubine, and when I have had enough fun, I give it to my son to continue playing with.

So it seems that it is not uncommon for father and son to go on a flower boat together?
Is this scene in front of me probably coming from the root?

While Zhao Chengfeng was putting aside his random thoughts, the father and son of the Wei royal family were discussing.

"Father, shall we pretend today?"

"I pretend to be the third prince's old slave."

"Then I will play the role of the Third Prince's bodyguard."

After Zhao Chengfeng saw that the two men had finished discussing, the Xian Wang took out a big bag from the bottom of the carriage and took the lead in taking out a stack of exquisite human skin masks.

recidivist!

This is definitely a repeat offender!

At this moment, the notorious third prince of Dangbei Palace unexpectedly found that one day he would worry that he was not good enough and would not be able to play with his companions before looking for flowers and flowers.
But whether we want to play together or not, we have to play together.

After Xian Wang quickly changed his clothes, he not only pretended to be a guard, but also a groom, and said: "Drive"

The two horses pulling the carriage kicked up their legs with inscriptions on them, and followed the dusk and sunset all the way to the front of the Huaihe River.

In the darkening sky, the rows of flower boats on the spacious river fill the entire field of vision, and the sparkling river seems to be swallowing up the afterglow of the setting sun.

The carriage traveled all the way from far to near, arriving at the famous Huaifang in Kyoto.

Half of Huaifang is on land, with restaurants, teahouses, and inns all available.

The other half is the various flower boats on the Huaihe River, which is as wide as a river in front of you.

If you observe carefully, you can see that there are flags on the hundreds of flower boats in front of you. The flags are divided into three colors, namely white, yellow and red.

White represents silver, yellow represents gold, and red represents spiritual crystals.

It can even be clearly seen from these three colors that the flower boats with white flags are obviously of a slightly lower grade, while those with yellow flags are of medium size. The big ships with red flags even have buildings built into them, and there seems to be a bustling town inside.

Lifting the curtain, he saw a huge red-flag ship in the deepest part of the flower boats on the Huaihe River. Zhao Chengfeng was about to ask if that was the Qimo Pavilion?Then he found that the carriage had stopped.

He got off the bus with Emperor Zhou and King Xian, who had become old servants and bodyguards. He saw that it was still early and the pier had not yet ushered in the first light of the lanterns. There was actually a crowded place at the pier.

One of them had a particularly high-pitched voice, shouting: "Twelve of the largest gambling houses in Kyoto are jointly in charge of the gambling, and the children are innocent. Today's betting will be open. Will the prince come~!"

Zhao Chengfeng: "???"

Anyway, it was still early, and Emperor Zhou, who had already known that this would happen, said, "Let's go and have a look."

King Xian, who has become a bodyguard, seems to be very accustomed to this role. He stepped out first and looked left and right, seemingly on guard.
The three of them came to the outskirts of the crowd, chattering into their ears.

"This son has not yet arrived, is there only one out of ten?"

The meaning of [-]% means that if you bet ten ingots of silver, you will win only eleven ingots, which is very little.

"That's right, because didn't everyone say that the Crown Prince secretly came to play by himself last night, so most people believe that he won't come."

"Not only that, it is rumored that the Crown Prince has been waiting for His Majesty in the side hall during the early court. Many ministers saw it. It seems that His Majesty likes the Crown Prince quite a lot."

"I, Lord Zhou Tian, ​​would actually look at such a dandy in a different light, bah!"

Zhao Chengfeng, who was leaning outside, and Emperor Zhou beside him looked at each other after hearing this.
"When did you get the news? Don't you know? It's rumored that His Majesty changed the prince's residence, which was previously located in Dongfang, where the Ministry of Rites was located, to Yuanfang, which has a lot of land. It's not that he looks at me differently at all, it's that he likes him~!"

"I don't know what kind of deception the Third Prince used to make His Majesty. Alas, there is no loyal minister in this dynasty who can tell His Majesty about this person's disrespectful behavior before the palace~!"

"And let me tell you, there is a latest, latest news."

"what news?"

"Didn't the Third Prince come here with the escort of Sanbaidang Northern Frontier Army? Now these people and his entourage are in the Ministry of Rites, and the cook in the Ministry of Rites is the aunt next to my neighbor's friend's good brother's house. She She said she was very busy tonight and had to cook for 300 people."

"What does it mean?"

"Yumutou, everyone from Prince Dangbei's Palace is waiting in the Ministry of Rites, which means that the Crown Prince is still in the palace at this time. This prince seems to be very popular with His Majesty, so naturally he will stay in the palace for the banquet. Why did you come to the Huaihe River today, why did you come to the flower boat?"

"That means that although the winning rate is very small, only [-] out of [-], it is a sure profit?"

The person who just spoke quickly waved his hand: "I didn't say you were guaranteed to make money. Don't rely on me if you lose."

"That's the news..."

"The news must be accurate."

"Don't say anything else. Anyway, I squeezed into the front row this morning to take a look. The third prince is indeed handsome, but his face, let me tell you, is pale~!"

"Yes, yes, I saw it too."

"Didn't you say that he came to Kyoto to play privately last night? Then he probably was squeezed dry by some girl."

"Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. Although the third prince has a bad reputation, if he really wants to sleep with a girl, I don't believe that anyone on this Huaihe River flower boat will hide it. As long as he makes it public, his net worth will not increase tenfold. ?”

"Isn't that right? More than ten times, I think countless literati and prostitutes will come to visit immediately to see what this girl looks like. Not to mention that she is an oiran, she will probably spend a lot of money just to have fun with the third prince. Girl, you might even ask the third prince what position he played last night, I want to experience it again~~!"

Pornography cannot be mentioned among men. As long as it is mentioned, a burst of laughter will come from everyone.

Zhao Chengfeng is also among them, and the funny point is different from them.

Just as he was enjoying himself, he saw King Xian next to him looking at his father with something strange in his eyes.

Emperor Zhou, who had been dressed as an old servant, nodded slightly under his gaze, not knowing what he meant.

At this time, one of the previous young masters who shared the news finally said, "Buy less, it's time to play anyway."

One of them said: "Since I want to buy less, I might as well buy the other way around, so that I can have a visit from my 50-year-old son~!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, the person with the arrogance immediately came forward to dissuade him: "Don't worry, you listened to what I just said with your left ear, right ear?"

"The Third Prince will definitely not come tonight. Wouldn't the 50 taels be wasted?"

"Winning [-]% is less, but winning is sure!"

"But when the prince comes to visit, 50 taels can win 250 taels."

"Wenxuan, listen to me. Although your family is not short of these 50 taels, why don't we order two more bottles of wine for the 50 taels once we get on the flower boat?"

The young master known as Wenxuan thought it right and shouted in compromise: "Change, change, I can buy the crown prince for less than 50 taels!"

Not long after he finished shouting, a boy with a soap hat from the gambling shop came to him. It was the same high-pitched voice that shouted just now. When he opened his mouth, he spoke in a high pitch: "I only recognize the gambling tickets but not the people, Mr. You put it away~!"

Wenxuan took the gambling ticket and stuffed it into his arms. After stuffing the money with him, he and his brothers were about to go to the flower boat.

At this moment, he turned around and saw a middle-aged man dressed as a guard not far away waving to him.

The sharp-eyed boy with a soap hat who had just received the money ran over: "Sir, would you like to place a bet?"

The guard nodded heavily: "Yes."

"Master, get down over there."

The boy was very neat. He took out a piece of wet ink from his sleeve, took out a piece of paper with his left hand, and picked up a small square seal from somewhere in his mouth, and wrote down the gambling ticket.

"Prince Gambler is visiting."

The boy holding the small square seal in his mouth did not raise his head, and while writing, he asked vaguely: "How much?"

"6000 taels of silver."

The soap-hatted boy suddenly paused when he heard this. He stood up, removed the small square seal from his mouth, and asked in a high-pitched voice, "Master, how much?"

"6000 taels of silver."

"Master, say it again."

"6000 taels of silver!"

The guard unknowingly followed the boy and raised his voice. The last voice caused silence around him, and everyone looked at him.

Found something bad
Zhao Chengfeng and Zhou Huang, who were standing next to him, were very loyal and retreated directly into the crowd, blending in with the crowd and looking at him together.
"Master, 6000 taels can be used to suppress it, but I have to make sure again. You want to suppress the Crown Prince's visit, right?"

"Yup."

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people began to mock him as a fool.

The rumors just now were repeated by these people with added fuel and jealousy.
But he's not a real guard, he's King Xian
He will not lose, because the prince is here, hiding in the crowd with his father and watching his prince arrive.

So facing the chattering of these people in front of him, King Xian, who was still thinking about his identity and role, shouted like a rough man: "The money belongs to me, I can spend it however I want, it's not your fault~!"

"You just don't know what is good and what is evil."

"6000 taels is not a small amount, let me tell you."

"Isn't this all for your own good, everyone?"

……

King Xian was upset when he heard this, so he asked the boy: "Can you give me a nice word? Can the twelve largest gambling houses jointly become the banker? Is it possible?"

Hearing this, the soap-hatted boy immediately said: "Sir, I'm from the Huaihe River in Kyoto. Not to mention 6000 taels of silver, I dare to accept 6000 taels of gold. The question is, are you sure you are pressing for the crown prince's visit, not the crown prince's absence?" "

"That's right, it's the Crown Prince's visit."

"okay."

As he said that, the boy in soap hat finished writing with a brush. Finally, he took the small square seal and clicked it, and the gambling ticket was settled.

He handed it over: "Sir, a bank note?"

King Xian nodded and then took off his shoes.
"Pull out from there, this is"

"Oh, no, this banknote has a smell."

……

Looking at this scene, as the third prince of the Dangbei Palace, I felt a little shabby for the seventh prince of the Wei family in Kyoto.
He had no choice but to continue to use the sound transmission method to send the message to Emperor Zhou who was looking to the horizon and pretending not to recognize King Xian.

"Your Majesty, where is Prince Xian making such a fuss?"

"My dear nephew, it's funny. Stupid old Qi's family has a tiger wife. I caught you here today. I want to double my private money several times, so I don't have to worry about not having to spend it in the next few years."

"Your Majesty, I have money in my arms, do you need to support him?"

"That's up to you."...

While the two were talking, Xian Wang had already taken out the 2000 tael banknote from his boot.

When the boy in soap hat took it to verify its authenticity, he only grabbed the upper left corner of the banknote with one hand and pinched his own nose with the other hand.
"Sir, there's nothing wrong with this bank note, but..."

"Just wait, don't worry."

As he said this, King Xian took off his other shoe.

"Oh, I'll go, you guy"

"But it makes me sick. Brother, where did you come from?"

"To be fair, we have to bet on this, right?"

……

"Your Majesty, I have another question."

"My nephew, tell me."

"Do you know that King Xian can't help him like this?"

"My dear nephew, you don't know anything. Stupid Old Seventh still has a bad temper. I told him about other things that he will obey my words, but if I want to give him money, I will lose face on the spot."

"The character of Xianwang."

"And you may not believe what my nephew said, but he probably got these 6000 taels from selling crickets on weekdays."

"The king of leisure"

……

The soap-hatted boy took the 2000 taels of silver notes again in the same way.

He pinched his nose and spoke, causing his voice to become sharper: "Master, there is still two thousand left."

King Xian: "I told you not to be impatient."

As he spoke, his hands went into his arms.

Just when everyone thought that the banknote was generally normal, the bulge in his clothes revealed that his hand was pointing towards his left armpit.
"No matter what, the taste is definitely different this time."

"Is there something wrong with this person? Doesn't he have a normal place to put money in his body?"

"Brother, is there a possibility that you remembered wrongly? The bank note is not under your arm, but in your crotch!"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone burst into laughter.

King Xian seemed indifferent, and finally took out his last 2000-tael banknote and exchanged it with the boy for a gambling ticket.

"I only recognize the gambling tickets but not the people, please keep them away~!"

King Xian took a look at the text description and the seal, and grinned involuntarily.

A group of gamblers saw him smiling and mocking him even more:
"6000 taels is nothing, and you're still laughing!"

"The Crown Prince will definitely not come tonight. Didn't everyone see it in the morning? Everyone is waiting for him. He was the last one to arrive and was still dressing up at the entrance of the palace. With such a stinky attitude, if he really comes, he will definitely show off. The ostentation is known all over the city."

"Dandy kids like this."

"I heard that he is in Beiting, and every time he goes to a brothel, he has to clear it out."

"But I also heard that the third prince was really generous in his actions."

"That's right, let me tell you, the good times are not far away. It's a no-brainer that he won't come today, but the Third Prince will have to come sooner or later. With his temperament, he may have fun every night, and every flower boat will have to go there. , Not to mention other brothers, some prices may be driven up!"

The soap-hatted boy had no time to listen to what they were talking about. Thinking about the huge share of this almost guaranteed win, his face was so happy that he even raised his voice: "Is there anyone who wants to place a bet?"

He echoed forcefully: "I also hope that the Crown Prince will visit!"

The young man with a soap hat took a quick look and saw a handsome young man in the crowd. He felt that he was handsome and evil. He was more than one level better in appearance and temperament than the wax-headed young man with a gun that was common on the Huaihe River.

But it’s not important, you really feel like you have too much money, right?

He took a sip of the dried ink and said, "Young Master, press as much as you want."

"2000 taels."

"okay."

"gold."

"what?"

The soap-hatted boy raised his head and paused again.

The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent and turned their attention to the young master who shouted the word "gold". No one recognized him immediately.
Zhao Chengfeng was also puzzled. Alas, no one recognized me. It was just that I was in the crowd. Now that I have walked out, I still don’t know me. Isn’t this the level of these twelve gambling houses?
Doesn't that mean that you can really suppress it?

So the Third Prince, who originally wanted to conclude the outcome of King Xian's gambling ticket, had no choice but to take out the smallest denomination in his pocket, a 2000 tael gold note. He secretly regretted it. He would have known better to buy the spiritual crystal.

But thinking about it, this guy probably doesn't have the authority to sell spiritual crystal gambling tickets.

The boy thought this man was good-looking and a little familiar, but he was a complete fool.

When I saw the 2000 taels of gold note, I quickly prepared the gambling ticket and handed it over.

Zhao Chengfeng took the gambling ticket and put it into his arms, still feeling a little resentful.
What he cares about is not how much money he can win. After all, Prince Dangbei's wealth is as great as that of everyone in the country. Except for spiritual crystals, gold and silver are just numbers.

What he cared about was that many people on the dock looked at him and frowned, but no one dared to recognize him.

Okay, boring.

withdrew.

Zhao Chengfeng turned around and walked towards the pontoon with his 'old servant' and 'guards'.

The pontoon bridge extends in all directions, leading to various flower boats. In order to facilitate the passage of dignitaries, countless sedan chairs are piled up in front of the bridge.

Zhao Chengfeng and the others were so noble that they couldn't walk to the flower boat. They raised their hands and called for a four-person sedan. Ten people came to carry it. They finally got on it with dignity and went straight to the depths of the pontoon.

But at this time, the soap-hatted boy, who was anxious to collect 2000 taels of gold, still felt something was wrong, scratching his head and still running around in circles.

The next moment, he suddenly remembered something, and quickly grabbed his companion and asked, "I was talking about the portrait of the Third Prince."

The companion pointed to a stack of paper under the corner of the table not far away.
He quickly lay down and took out one, then looked at the portraits painted by top painters hired by major gambling houses under the light of the lanterns.

then
Five thunderstorms hit the top.

The soap-hat boy had quick legs and rushed to the river bank immediately.

At this time, the group of people were still hurting. They said that the guard and the young master were afraid that they were suffering from madness, and they dared to buy the crown prince's visit. Many objective facts showed that it was impossible for the crown prince to come tonight.

Another person said: "Why did I feel that the young man just now was a little bit."

The boy who passed them had no time to worry about this, but he ran up the floating bridge muttering "Third Prince, Third Prince" and headed straight for the ten-person bridge.

The sedan moved slowly, only for a dozen or twenty breaths. The young man rushed up at the fastest speed in his life, and even felt that his low level of perception had broken through.

Because he was running too fast and the sea breeze was strong, he covered his soap hat with a grimace on his face and cried out: "The Crown Prince. Is the Crown Prince really the Crown Prince? The young man has eyes but cannot see Mount Tai."

The warriors carrying the sedan seemed to have seen such scenes many times, and it was not unusual. They did not stop because he was chasing after him, but the word "Crown Prince" aroused their alarm, so they secretly moved towards the sedan.

They saw the young man enjoying himself, and smiled at the young man who was chasing him: "I think I can afford to pay 2000 taels of gold even if I come to Twelve Gambling Houses. Why are you chasing me?"

The young man was a little confused when he saw that the prince was the prince, so he actually said: "You can afford to pay, but it was done by a villain, and you are the party involved. How can the party decide whether you will win or lose?"

Zhao Chengfeng scolded: "Fart, have you ever asked me, the client, if you can open the cross-examination? I can't do it myself?"

The soap-hatted boy was panting as he ran, almost in tears, but he couldn't utter a word to refute.

indeed
In order to attract gamblers, everything is played in Kyoto gambling houses.

It was such a big deal that the third son of Prince Dangbei came to Kyoto to get married. In the morning, at least 10,000+ people witnessed his debut in Kyoto, so it was natural to start this deal.

But have you ever asked the third prince himself?
Isn’t it okay for others to buy it themselves?
And not much.

Just 2000 taels of gold. In the realm of Kyoto, 2000 taels of gold is really a small amount of money for a dignitary. Even if it is considered as odds, it is only meager.

The more the soap-hat boy thought about it, the more it made sense to him. The more he thought about it, the more senseless he felt.

Then it slowed down and became overwhelmed.

However, Zhao Chengfeng, who was high up, saw that he had slowed down and felt that he was speechless. After all, he was also the first person to recognize him, so he was rewarded.

He said: "You little boy, are you giving in now?"

Hearing this, the soap-hatted boy said, "Huh?" and saw the third prince of Dangbei Prince's Palace on the sedan chair, whom he would never see again in his life, take out the gambling ticket he had just made.

Seeing his actions, the soap-hatted boy was still unaware of his intentions, so he immediately took out the 2000 taels of gold notes in his arms.

One high and one low, the two completed the exchange.

The boy stopped crying and shouted: "Thank you, Third Prince."

After thanking him, he felt much more conscious. He was startled when he found that sitting next to the Crown Prince was the middle-aged guard who had spent 6000 taels of silver to pay for the Crown Prince's visit.

Seeing his expression, Zhao Chengfeng said: "Don't take back the 6000 taels of silver gambling tickets."

"Don't, don't"

The soap-hatted boy ran and said, "Actually, I came here mainly to see if the Crown Prince is the Crown Prince. I didn't expect the Crown Prince to be so grand."

"Then why don't you go?"

"Your Highness, I may shout a few times later. It's my duty, so don't scare you."

"Shout."

The boy was very happy when he heard this, so he ran to the nearest flower boat at the corner of the next pontoon.

Blowing in the evening breeze and pressing his soap hat, he didn't know why, but he was in a happy mood. He fulfilled his duties as a boy in the twelve gambling houses, and shouted loudly with his sharp voice that could pierce the sky: " The Crown Prince is visiting!”

"The Crown Prince is here!"

"The Crown Prince is here!"

His voice pierced the sky above the Huaihe River.

Some people started echoing everywhere: "The Crown Prince is here~~!"

As a result, Zhao Chengfeng, his old servants and guards, who were sitting on the sedan chair, saw that the port, which had been a little quiet just before the lights came on, seemed to suddenly wake up.

There are a total of 220 six flower boats of different sizes and colors on the Huaihe River. They are lit up one after another. In an instant, the flowers are blooming in front of you. The scent of rouge lingers on the tip of your nose. The entire river seems to be lit up, and its light is unexpectedly broken. The outline of distant mountains on the other side of the river.

Looking at the scene that appeared because of him, Zhao Chengfeng, the third prince of Dangbei Palace, dug his ears with his little finger and said, "This kid has a really sharp voice."

　Please follow up~
　　Kyoto, get ready~!

　　Thanks for the tip if you like nap~!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)