On the second day, Zhao Xiu prepared half a car of things, followed his brother Zhao Wei out, and went to Guangping Palace.

The brother and sister have come to the palace quite often, and they have long been familiar with the people on the door. The gatehouse of the palace saw that it was the carriage of the Hou Mansion of Jiannan, and before the carriage stopped in front of the gate of the palace, it greeted it early and led the carriage into the mansion through the side door. The mother-in-law who was on an errand in the concierge immediately reported the news to the back.

The guests on the mourning hall in the front yard are still sparse, and there are many monks, Taoists and nuns who knock on the scriptures and chant the Buddha, and the smell of burning incense is so strong that it fills most of the palace. Zhao Xiu and Zhao Wei brothers and sisters went to the mourning hall to put a stick of incense on the princess, and they were so smoked that tears flowed out, and when they walked into the second gate, they kept covering their mouths and coughing lowly.

The head of the palace sent their brother and sister all the way into the second gate, and when he saw this, he hurriedly laughed and said, "Miss Zhao is okay, right?" The weather is hot and humid today, and there is no wind at all, and the smell of incense burned in the mourning hall is so smoky, and it will not be there later. Zhao Xiu smiled at him: "I'm fine, you can go busily, you don't have to accompany each other, I am familiar with the road, and there are people in the second gate to guide the way." ”

The head of the palace smiled on his face, but he didn't dare to slack off, and sent their brothers and sisters all the way to the second gate, and saw Yanxia take the person over, so he was relieved to turn around. Back in the front yard, he had a nephew who was in charge of incense and candles in the mourning hall, and whispered to him: "Just now, the two newly appointed Lang Zhong of the Du Yu Department of the Internal Affairs Department and the Accounting Department came over together, and they didn't make a noise, and they kowtowed and left. You're not here, it's the courtesy of the adults, and the little ones are talking and laughing when they see them, and they don't know what they said. ”

There are also conflicts of personnel interests in the palace. The original long history of the Guangping Palace, one went to the East Palace after the prince abdicated, and the other complained of illness and changed to a new person, so at the beginning of the year, it was removed by the prince and the prince, and it has not been made up. The palace has long been eyeing this position, and on weekdays, while currying favor with the prince, he has a good relationship with the people of the Internal Affairs Office, and sometimes in order to highlight his own merits, he inevitably has to step on the head of the palace. The head of the palace has been on an errand for a long time, how can he be willing to be a stepping stone? Seeing that the prince removed the stewards in the palace one by one, wasn't he worried? Naturally, it is inevitable to fight back. Therefore, as time went on, the people on both sides of the steward and the diner became more and more antagonistic.

Of course, this kind of thing can't be exposed to the above, and they still maintain a harmonious atmosphere in front of others.

In front of many people in the mourning hall, the head of the palace just nodded slightly, indicating that he knew and did not get angry.

His nephew advised him again: "You should stay here all the time, don't go away if you have nothing to do, who knows who will come to the door next?" The Jiannanhou brothers and sisters are often here, and they have long been acquainted, so why do you have to send them into the second gate? Ask a girl to lead the way, and there are people waiting on the two gates. ”

"You know what." The head of the palace glanced at him, "No matter how many people outside there are and how many connections there are, the prince doesn't speak, and the prince doesn't nod, it's all for nothing." Let's just wait for the prince and the prince well, what should others do, why bother with him? ”

Of course, this is true, but his nephew still couldn't help but say: "Could it be that to lead the way for the Jiannan Hou brothers and sisters, even if it is good to wait for the prince and the prince?" ”

The head of the palace glanced at his nephew again, and only thought that this child was quite clever when he was a child, why did he grow up so stupid? Didn't he see how happy the prince and the prince were every time Jiannanhou's sister-in-law came to the palace?

But this kind of thing, the head of the palace will not say it explicitly, even if it is a nephew, stupid is stupid, if you don't understand it, mention it once, next time he still won't understand, it's better to let him continue to be confused.

Zhao Xiu didn't know Xiao Jiujiu in the heart of the palace manager, but she just felt that he was extra kind today, but when she came to the palace every day, she got along well with the palace manager, so she didn't think much about it.

The king of Guangping was idle today, and he had nothing to do, and when he heard that their brother and sister were coming, he immediately sent them to the main courtyard. Zhao Xiu has been here several times since he came to visit the princess. In the middle of this courtyard, there are rockeries, flowers, ponds, stone tables and chairs, which is already a small garden, and it is the only garden in the Quang Binh Palace. King Guangping has always lived here, firstly, because he misses his deceased wife, and secondly, because there are many flowers and trees in this courtyard, and there is water, so it is cooler than other places.

King Guangping asked people to take Zhao Xiu and Zhao Wei brothers and sisters to the big room downstairs in the west, the doors and windows around were wide open, and there were ice basins in the four corners of the house, as well as fans, so the room was very cool. Zhao Xiu Zhao Wei entered the door, first greeted King Guangping, and when he got up, he found that he was sitting on the wooden kang by the window, and there was an open book on the small table at hand.

King Guangping seemed to guess her surprise, and smiled slightly: "This is a special new book just sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs yesterday, even if I am blind, I can understand it, but it is a little slower, but it is much better than not being able to read books at all." The emperor is really careful. ”

Zhao Xiu was a little curious to pick up the book and look at it, and found that the book was not made of ordinary paper, and the words on it were not printed normally, but like a kind of cloth, embroidered with thread, because there were obvious protrusions, and the handwriting was large, so the blind people could rely on the touch of their fingers to "see" and understand the content of the book.

She couldn't help but exclaim, the new emperor was indeed very careful about this brother, but was this method too extravagant and troublesome? Where is the manpower and material resources spent on embroidering such a book comparable to printing a book?

However, when she looked at King Guangping's demeanor, she seemed to be more happy and surprised, and she shouldn't think there was anything wrong with this, so after thinking about it, she shut up and gently put the book back in its place.

King Guangping asked people to bring cold sour plum soup to quench the thirst of the brother and sister, and Zhao Wei whispered to his sister: "Why do you just take the prince's book and turn it over?" I have to say something. Zhao Xiu whispered that he knew, but King Guangping had already heard the movement and said with a smile: "Brother Wei, don't blame your sister, Sister Xiu has long been very familiar with our father and son, I prefer her unrestrained appearance in front of me, in front of outsiders, her etiquette has not gone wrong, just be casual in private." ”

Zhao Wei hurriedly smiled: "The prince spoils his sister, but my sister can't forget the etiquette." If she gets used to it, she is afraid that she will find something that she shouldn't turn over in the future. ”

King Guangping smiled and said, "What can I have here that I shouldn't turn over?" Besides, Sister Xiu'er is very smart, when she should be polite and when she can be casual, she knows it in her heart, and I can trust her. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled a little embarrassedly, and said: "If the prince thinks that reading such a book can also relieve boredom, I also have a way, take a hard pen to write on the paper, if the paper is tough enough, the words written by the hard pen will form a protruding handwriting on the back." As long as it is written in reverse, the protrusion is the orthography. Copying a book in this way is much faster than embroidering a book, and it doesn't take so much effort. ”

"Oh?" King Guangping raised his eyebrows, "This is somewhat interesting, I told them to try to do it, if they can really make it, I will also read the new book I have from time to time tomorrow." ”

Zhao Wei smiled: "My sister just said it casually, and it's not certain whether she can make it." It's better to wait for our own trial to make a book that can be touched, and then let the prince make it happen. ”

King Guangping smiled: "It's okay, I just listened to Sister Xiu'er's words, and I can already imagine what the book looks like, it should be feasible, just what kind of paper I should choose and what kind of pen I should use to write." ”

Zhao Xiu immediately came up with an idea: "I saw Westerners writing with a quill pen, that is, a hard nib, and the words written were thin. The prince might as well ask someone to find a craftsman, learn from the quill of Westerners, and make a few hard pens to try first? Or just sharpen the bamboo skewer and give it a try. ”

King Guangping nodded: "I will instruct the people below to search for Westerners' pens, and make a few expenses to try first, if it is feasible, I can also use it to write, at least after writing, I touch it myself, and I roughly know how well I write." After a pause, he smiled again: "That's it, I'll talk to the Queen Mother and the emperor about this matter, and let them tell the people of the Internal Affairs Office to do it." The Ministry of Internal Affairs has its own good craftsmen, and it only takes three or two days to try to make this kind of thing. It's not that I'm lazy, but the queen mother and the emperor are now extra careful about me, rewarding things every day, I can't use them up by myself, Zhen'er doesn't use them, and things are in vain. I advised them not to give so many things again, but they just didn't listen, because they were worried that I was not in good health and would be sick again one day, so they always offered some medicinal herbs to eat. The Queen Mother also asked me if I was bored at home, if I was bored, she asked the Teaching Department to teach me a small play, and I asked them to sing to me when I was free. I really can't cry or laugh, give them something to do, maybe they can be less concerned. ”

Zhao Xiu was sweating, Zhao Wei listened, but it was serious: "The queen mother and the emperor care about the prince, for fear that the prince will be depressed." ”

King Guangping sighed: "Actually, I am not depressed at all. The princess has been gone for so long, and I can see it too. She is bitter in her heart, but there are some things, she can't put her mind down, she can't throw it away, if she makes people happy, she can't get over it in her heart. Her illness is not so much angry as a heart disease. She used to be a careful person, outsiders only knew that she was gentle and kind, how could they know that she still had a problem with thinking? Wouldn't it be hard to have a few unreliable relatives on the stall? ”

King Guangping actually hated the Zhong family, but now that the Zhong family has fallen, the difference is only that the whole family can save their lives and return to their hometown as commoners, or the difference between Master Zhong being exiled and his family members returning to their hometowns as criminal officials. Either way, it is impossible to bring any more trouble to the Quang Binh Palace. When King Guangping thought of their current misery, his heart calmed down a lot.

Seeing that the topic was about to develop in an unhappy direction, Zhao Xiu hurriedly said: "Lord Wang, do you often reward food in the palace on weekdays?" Can't finish it? So what to do? We also brought half a cart of stuff with us. A brother brought people to Beijing, bringing a lot of local products from the south, as well as our own preserved fruits, tea, and fabrics, and I specially picked some good ones to honor you. ”

King Guangping smiled again when he heard this: "Really? Thank you so much, what's the good stuff? ”

"There are loquats, plums, bayberry, chicken head rice...... There are a lot of fruits, and they are all brought in pots, and they grow on the branches and are fresh. Zhao Xiu counted the same, "Originally, our family's largest orchard was a peach orchard, but unfortunately when they set off, the peaches had not yet reached the picking season, so they didn't catch up, so they could only bring some preserved peaches made last year." Later, this year's fresh peaches will arrive, and I will send them to you right away. ”

King Guangping was very happy to hear this: "That's good, I'm tired of eating those supplements on weekdays, and I want to eat fresh fruit in this hot weather." As he spoke, he instructed the outside to let people clean up the fruits brought by the Zhao family brothers and sisters and send them over. The girl who was guarding the door answered.

As soon as she went, the bamboo curtain on the door was lifted, and Gao Zhen walked in, first looked around the house, and then fixed her eyes on Zhao Xiu's face, showing a smile, but immediately accepted it again, and respectfully walked in front of King Guangping to salute: "Father." ”

King Guangping nodded, and casually pointed to the wooden kang opposite him: "Sit down, Brother Wei and Sister Xiu brought some fresh fruits from the south, and you can taste them later." ”

Gao Zhen sat down in response, his eyes slipped past Zhao Xiu, and then looked at Zhao Wei: "You haven't been here for a few days, what have you been busy with at home lately?" ”

Zhao Wei smiled bitterly: "I was originally studying and reviewing my homework, but I have had too many miscellaneous things recently." First, I want to renovate the old house, second, there are people in the court, I can't help but be a little worried, and third, it is someone from my hometown who wants to entertain one or two. ”

The king of Guangping asked, "Is that the brother you brought the fruit to?" What did he go to Beijing for? ”

Zhao Wei honestly replied that he was here to open a shop, his face was slightly red, and he felt a little embarrassed. King Guangping was unimpressed: "It's good to have a trustworthy person to help you take care of your property." I used to worry that your family was small and weak, and most of your relatives and friends could not be relied on, so it would be too hard to rely on you to support the portal alone in the future. Now that you have reliable people to help you, it is also a blessing for you. You have to get along with your clansmen well, even if they don't have high-ranking officials and can only help you take care of the industry, it's better than you alone. ”

Zhao Wei hurriedly got up and thanked him for his teachings, and King Guangping smiled and waved his hand: "It's not a teaching, it's just a feeling." I have only one son under my knees, Zhen'er, and I am always worried that he is too lonely, he is awkward, always duplicitous, and he does not like to make friends, and his mother and I used to worry about him a lot. But now he has grown a lot, he is more sophisticated, he is kind to people, and he has learned to make friends, which is really gratifying to me. ”

Gao Zhen changed his posture a little uncomfortably: "Father, what are you talking about?" ”

King Guangping smiled slightly: "Why can't you say it?" Are you embarrassed? ”

Gao Zhen was even more uncomfortable, although Zhao Xiu didn't understand why he was uncomfortable, but thinking that young people probably didn't like to listen to his father's preaching in front of outsiders? helped to open the topic: "Lord, how do you feel about the tea from our tea garden?" This time, my brother went to Beijing and brought several kinds of tea, in addition to our own tea, there are also good teas bought from Hangzhou. If you're drinking, just ask, and I'll ask him to bring you some more. He is going to open a tea shop in the capital, and a few catties of tea are nothing to him. ”

King Guangping laughed when he heard this: "Can I eat a few catties of tea?" However, the tea from your tea garden is good, and I drink it very well, but the tea leaves at home are always eaten without eating, and I am often eaten after a few times, and I am very depressed. ”

Zhao Xiuqi was surprised: "How can this be? "Immediately made up a lot of plots of embezzlement of tea in the pockets of many subordinates.

Gao Zhen changed his sitting posture again, and King Guangping moved his ears: "What's wrong with you?" ”

"It's nothing, it's so hot today." Gao Zhen copied a fan depressedly and fanned the wind in embarrassment. RS