The pear snow drifts away and the winter is cold, and the green plum secretly hides the dawn of spring.

The spring snow melts, and all things are vibrant. The ambergris mouth of the imperial capital of Wanhua has been flowing since the beginning of spring, and the water of the waterfall next to the Zhangren Palace of Miaodai Mountain flows into thousands of streams day and night, flowing all over the imperial capital, and there are streams flowing everywhere in the city.

At the beginning of spring, the warm sun is slightly scorching, and the newly sprouting young leaves on the large and small trees exude a fragrance of grass and trees, which are carried by the breeze and scattered to every corner, and the people who pass by are all refreshed.

On Yanbo Street, which is quiet on weekdays, it is bustling today, and the shops on the left and right are almost crowded with people. Speaking of this Yanbo Street, it is the most famous boundary in the entire Wanhua Emperor to sell the four treasures of the study. The ink shop here brings together all the pen and ink tools in the world, such as jade plates of various colors and patterns, or wolves, sheep and rabbits of various thicknesses, which can only be regarded as standing colors, even if it is the pearl goose yellow Chen rice paper produced far away in the blue sea or even the manta stone diamond inkstone of Imuran, as long as you can get your hands on it, you can find it. However, it is only during the first three days of spring that each store sells its own collection of the best and most unique goods.

One of the most famous is a shop called "Shenghuafang", which seals the rosin ink smoked in the previous year until the beginning of spring the next year, attracting countless people from near and far.

It is rumored that this ink did not smell much when it was first studied into the inkstone, and it did not disturb the mind. As soon as it is stained on the paper, the rosin is immediately flourishing, which makes people wake up. When the three masters of the Mu Yun clan studied ink and made a decision, they liked to use this kind of ink the most, so they became famous.

Seeing that the situation was good, the Shenghuafang gave this ink a name called "Heroic and Wise Protector of the Country". The world laughed when they heard it, although the ink was good, but the name was a little vulgar, they were all just called "Taishi Mo", and no one could remember the original name now.

In this crowded shop, a middle-aged man from fifty miles away was crowded. Wearing a scarf with a bamboo pattern and a green shirt on his head, holding a wooden box containing the Taishi ink he had just bought, he was trying hard to break through the crowd and go out of the store, but there were many more people who wanted to enter the store than those who left the store, and no matter how hard he put his feet, he would not obey the call.

The middle-aged man saw that he was about to be pushed back to the counter again, and suddenly a big hand reached over and grabbed his shoulder, and another big hand pushed away the crowd.

The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at it, a big man in front of him was smiling at him, and he was happy, he was really surnamed Cao, and greeted:

"General Cao? Have you come back from the blue sea? ”

"Yes, yes, a few days after the last general Fang came back from the blue sea, I didn't expect to meet Lord Shang Shuye here."

Lao Cao saw Ye Zhiqiu squeezing into sweat, and couldn't help asking, "Lord Ye is also here to buy Taishi Mo?" Why don't you ask the people in the house to buy it? ”

Ye Zhiqiu wiped his sweat and said with a wry smile: "On the day of the beginning of spring, most of the servants took leave to go back to their hometowns to visit relatives, and the rest of the people who accompanied them went to Yudou Temple to make incense. My house is close to here, so I simply came by myself. ”

Yan Bi looked at Lao Cao, a little surprised, and asked: "It is said that the general is excellent in martial arts, but I don't know that there is still a joy of writing and good ink." ”

Lao Cao's face turned red, and he laughed a few times and said, "Occasionally...... Occasionally...... Write a few words. ”

When Ye Zhiqiu saw his expression, he didn't want to tell the truth, and he didn't ask. opened the wooden box containing Taishi ink in his hand, took out the two parties and handed them to Lao Cao Dao: "Thank you General Cao for helping me get out, I don't think you have to squeeze in anymore." It's hot today, why don't you go to my house and drink a cup of herbal tea? ”

When Lao Cao heard this, he hurriedly clasped his fists and saluted: "This ...... How can this be afforded? ”

The Praetorian Guard Battalion and the Ministry of Rites have a lot of interaction on weekdays, but whenever the envoys of small countries come to the meeting, the honor guard and the road guard must be discussed twice. It's just that Ye Zhiqiu has always been cold and rarely made friends, and today he suddenly took the initiative to invite him, which is really a good opportunity to get close. Besides, Lao Cao is just a deputy chief of the protector of the fourth grade, and Ye Zhiqiu is a member of the Shangshu of the first grade, and his identity is very different, so he has no reason to refuse.

"In this case, it is better to be respectful than to obey your fate." Lao Cao was humble on the lips, but he was worried in his heart. This is for no reason, will you invite yourself to tea? I didn't have much friendship with this Ye Zhiqiu before.

Suddenly it flashed in his mind, oh yes. His nephew Su Xiaochen and I traveled with the prince to the blue sea, and now that the prince and his nephew have not yet returned to China, they must be worried about it and want to ask about the latest situation.

Thinking of this, he was a lot more determined, and he didn't take a few steps with Ye Zhiqiu, and his mind began to search for the friendship between him and Su Xiaochen in the past few months. I didn't think about it for a while, and suddenly remembered that the Dragon King Temple saved the wrong person and threw Su Xiaochen to the thief, and I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on my back, thinking hard about how to prevaricate and perfunctory.

After a while, he had arrived at Ye Mansion. Lao Cao saw that there was indeed no one in front of the door, and Ye Zhiqiu also pushed the door in by himself, without the shelf of Lord Shangshu, and his heart was slightly wider.

Unexpectedly, the hall was still empty, Ye Zhiqiu asked Lao Cao to sit for a while, but he screwed into the back hall and personally brought out the tea.

Seeing this, Lao Cao hurriedly went up and took the teacup himself, thinking that this Ye Zhiqiu was really an easy-going person. No wonder Su Xiaochen was also different from ordinary official children on the road, and he had no scruples, because he was raised by his uncle.

Sure enough, after Ye Zhiqiu politely said a few words that it was quite hard to make Bihai, he mentioned Su Xiaochen. Lao Cao was already prepared in his heart, so he naturally piled up a mountain of good words, and praised them in a straight way. Ye Zhiqiu heard it in his ears, just smiled and didn't refute it. In fact, what kind of child is Su Xiaochen, is there anyone in this world who knows better than him?

It's just that Lao Cao said that he was upright, but Ye Zhiqiu didn't want to interrupt him, and listened to him talk nonsense. Lao Cao was also very alert to "forget" to tell the thief in the Dragon King Temple, and put most of the description on the confrontation with Zhu Zhiling in the Jiade Palace. At the end, I added a sentence, I heard that he was very favored by the Ming Emperor, and he also entered Taiye City, lived on Taiying Island, and was very good friends with Zhu Zhitong, the princess of Qingyang.

When Ye Zhiqiu heard Zhu Zhitong's three words, his brows furrowed, and his face showed a trace of displeasure, but it was only fleeting, and he still didn't ask, but he began to secretly think about it in his heart.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound on the roof, as if the tiles were loosening. Lao Cao shouted very vigilantly: "What person! ”

Ye Zhiqiu's face did not change and he took a sip of tea and said: "General, don't blame, my house is next to the back mountain, and sometimes monkeys jump on the roof to forage for food and make trouble." ”

When Lao Cao heard this, his face slowed, and he smiled and said, "It turned out to be a monkey, I thought there was a thief lying on the roof." Speaking of this, he suddenly felt a little stunned, and said with a wry smile on his face: "Today, Lord Mengye called him to come to the house to drink tea, which is really a blessing in his life." Weekend...... Although the last general does not have many opportunities to meet adults on weekdays, he has admired him for a long time in his heart......"

Ye Zhiqiu turned his head when he heard his words, knew his intentions, smiled and said: "General Cao is loyal and brave, this time escorting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on an envoy is thrilling and dangerous, and he will not fail in his mission." In front of him, I will say a few words for the general. ”

When Lao Cao heard this, he was overjoyed, and replied with a smile on his face: "Lord Ye is really discerning, although the last general is not talented, but the things that the court has explained, all of them are going to the soup to break their bones." In the future, if there are still errands in the Ministry of Rites, I hope Lord Ye will mention more, and don't forget the last general. ”

Ye Zhiqiu smiled slightly: "This is nature. Come, please have tea. ”

Lao Cao saw him holding the teacup, very interesting, and also picked it up and took a sip, then got up and said goodbye.

Ye Zhiqiu watched him go out of the hall door, bypassed the shadow wall and couldn't see it, Fang said softly, "You come down." ”

As soon as the words fell, a small figure jumped down from the beam. The man took off his cloak over his head, revealing a girl-like face.

"Huh...... There's no one in the Lord's Mansion today. Silverflower giggled.

"You really asked knowingly, it was you who were in a hurry to see me, so I dismissed the servants to go back to visit relatives, and took away the insiders. Why do you ask me back, it's naughty. Ye Zhiqiu pretended to be angry.

Yinhua laughed: "Just kidding, don't take it seriously. I haven't seen it for more than half a year, but adults still look at it like this. ”

Ye Zhiqiu didn't bother to pay attention to her gags, still sat still, and said, "Say, what's the matter this time?" ”

The chief housekeeper said that last time, thanks to the help of the adults, the shore of Luoying Lake was able to successfully rob Zhu Yuxiao back to the Bihai Kingdom. Zhu Zhiling didn't have any suspicions, and said that she coordinated it properly. In fact, if there is no secret promotion from adults, it will be difficult for us to look at the two thousand royal armor. Therefore, the big butler asked me to bring a message to thank you. ”

Ye Zhiqiu smiled slightly, didn't say anything, and just continued to listen to her.

The chief housekeeper also said that everything was under control, but it was unexpected that the prince of Cangwu suddenly proposed a marriage, but the chief housekeeper had already thought of a clever plan, and he would plan it, and he still needed to talk about it in person with the adults. He also said that in any case, please rest assured that everything he promised him back then will not change, and he has never forgotten it. Yinhua sat down on the chair as she spoke, took out a bag of apricot strips, and ate it with a chirp, her two little short legs still dangling in the air.

Ye Zhiqiu nodded and said: "It's best if he can remember what he said at the beginning, as for the marriage, I have heard about it, although I don't know what he has planned, but he is far away in the blue sea and I am in Cangwu, how can I negotiate?" ”

Yinhua listened, and the little short legs shook more happily. She waved her hand and said, "This adult doesn't have to worry, the big butler said that Emperor Wen will have a will to send someone to Bihai soon, and the adult only needs to take the initiative to ask for help." ”