He did not return to the palace that night, and Zhu Xu stayed overnight in a secret stronghold outside the city, and did not hurry into the palace until early the next morning, when the palace gate opened. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Empress Zhang is now keeping a close eye on Zhu Xu, and before she returned to the palace, she was called to Kunning Palace and reprimanded.

Zhu Xu reluctantly agreed, and was released back after half an hour.

"Your Highness, why do you still have a lantern in your hand?" Huan'er, who was in charge of escorting Zhu Xu back to the palace, looked at him with a lantern in his hand, and asked suspiciously.

Zhu Xu immediately acted like a little fox guarding food, holding the lantern and said, "Sister Huan'er, don't think about beating my lantern, unless you come to my palace." ”

Huan'er snorted, and said angrily: "Niangniang is right, His Highness's abacus is the finest, if I pass the lantern or His Highness, I will put me in!" ”

Zhu Xu smiled and leaned closer and said, "Sister Huan'er, I heard that the imperial sister-in-law has been angry recently, or else, do you really think about it?" ”

Huan'er frowned slightly, stared at Zhu Xu with big eyes, and said, "Your Highness, let's go back quickly, you won't be able to leave the palace for the past three days." ”

Zhu Xu sighed in his heart, and walked towards the palace with his head a little dejected.

In Jinghuan Palace, except for Cao Wenzhao, Cao Huachun, and Yao Qingqing, everyone else was a 'spy' planted by Empress Zhang, and Zhu Xu had nothing else to do except study.

Before the Shangyuan Festival passed, there was a bloody storm in the court, or rather, it has not stopped since last year.

The resurgence of the Donglin Party, the desperate liquidation of the Donglin Party, the fall of Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch party is scattered, where is the opponent of Yang Lian and others, the capable one has to be transferred out, and the fear and incomprehension of the heart as long as he resigns, the inability to panic can not be like a headless fly all day long.

However, although the Donglin Party is recovering, it is not back to the prosperity of the past, and the court is divided and there are many factions.

Gu Bingqian and Wei Guanghui formed a party to wantonly exclude dissidents and appoint cronyism. Sun Chengzong only cared about Liaodong, and the others were silent to form a tacit understanding with the neutral Qingliu. The officials of the Kedao dialect also insisted on their own words, and they did not compromise with each other, and the Jinluan Palace became the most terrifying battlefield.

Zhu Xu didn't have the heart to care about these, except for reading, he was studying the delicate little lanterns brought back from outside the palace.

The lantern is very delicately set up, comparable to a spider's web, each one is accurate, not the slightest difference, and each has its own miraculous skills to form a small 'trap house'.

Zhu Xu tried all kinds of methods, trying to see the riddles inside, but no matter which direction, all he saw was a small half, and there was no way to guess what was written.

Yao Qingqing had been standing not far in front of Zhu Xu, and when he saw that Zhu Xu had nothing to gain, he said softly, "Your Highness, or will it be demolished?" ”

Zhu Xudeng glared and said, "How can such a delicate lantern be dismantled?" Well, dismantle, then dismantle. ”

Zhu Xu's face changed, he found a knife, and directly operated on the lantern.

Yao Qingqing saw that His Royal Highness King Hui finally stopped being entangled, so he quietly retreated.

Zhu Xu cut open the small lantern, only to see that the white candle had been burned, and there was a note on the opposite side, with juanxiu's small characters, writing 'The little lotus has only shown its sharp corners, and there are dragonflies standing on its head'.

Zhu Xu frowned, staring at the poem and muttering. He naturally knows this poem, regardless of the author's background, the environment in which the poem was written, the writing technique, and the feelings expressed, he is very clear, but if it is a lantern riddle to guess, it is not so easy.

"What does that mean?" Zhu Xu held his chin, he couldn't guess it, and couldn't help muttering in his heart, this ancient's thinking is really powerful.

Zhu Xu couldn't guess it, so he simply put it away, and was going to go to the Hanlin Academy to ask when it was convenient in a few days.

As a prince, especially a prince who has nothing to do, his meal time always comes very quickly.

At the door, at a small table, Zhu Xu sat on a small stool, holding a bowl, and looked at the light rain outside.

Yao Qingqing came over with the dishes, and said with a chuckle, "Your Highness, others drink and enjoy the snow, you eat and watch the rain, is it a little unpleasant?" ”

Zhu Xu pulled the rice and said nonchalantly, "Regardless of him, the most important thing is to be full." ”

Before the words fell, Cao Huachun walked towards Zhu Xu with an umbrella and braved the rain. Yao Qingqing picked up a bowl, stood up and walked inside.

Cao Huachun's tone was a little anxious, and he didn't put down the umbrella and said, "Your Highness, there is a person surnamed Fan from the west side of the mountain, clamoring to see Fu Gongzi." ”

"Surname Fan?"

Zhu Xu's eyes narrowed, and he subconsciously reached out to wipe the rice grains off his mouth.

The Eight Great Imperial Merchants were extremely famous in later generations, not only because of their great efforts to bury the Ming Dynasty, but also because their business continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty. But they also left behind various compounds, showing their glorious past.

Among them, the most famous is not the Qi family or the Cao family, but this Fan family!

The history of the Fan family can be traced, it may be that Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, raised troops to fight for the throne, so this family is accustomed to taking risks and making war money. They smuggled and sold everything that the Jin people needed, food, armor, and even military intelligence in the territory of Daming! Moreover, their business scope has also touched the northernmost part of Mongolia, which is unimaginably huge!

Zhu Xu squinted, thinking quickly in his heart.

When he established Huitong Commercial Bank, he had the intention of calculating Jin merchants, especially the eight imperial merchants, and now that the head has been sent, he is embarrassed not to accept it.

However, now the head is still very thin, and he needs to be fattened.

Zhu Xu knocked on the table rhythmically with his chopsticks, and gradually had an idea in his heart, and said, "These people must have inquired a lot of news, so you let Wei Liangqing go to see them first and find out how much they know." Then let Wei Liangqing, He Yunshan, and Zhou Jianyu all go to see him, and try again to see his purpose and bottom line. ”

Cao Huachun wrote them down one by one, and when he saw that Zhu Xu had finished speaking, he carefully reminded: "Your Highness, the business done by Jin Shang is only afraid that it will not last long." ”

Zhu Xu understood what Cao Huachun meant, but shook his head secretly in his heart. The adults in the court are busy supporting the world, driving away evil spirits and using righteousness, where would they think of such a small thing.

"That's right," Zhu Xu didn't explain, but raised his head with a weird smile on his face: "Do you remember that person master yesterday?" Go, arrange two people by his side, one is a woman, and the other is a friend of life and death, and give this king to follow him all the time. ”

Hearing the word 'this king', Cao Huachun's heart sank, and he said more and more cautiously: "Your Highness, is this person very important?" ”

Zhu Xu took a few mouthfuls of food and put it in the bowl, and said, "It's not very important, it's just fun, it will be more fun in the future, don't lose people." ”

Cao Huachun remembered it in his heart, and went straight out of the palace as soon as he said goodbye, which made people inquire, his expression was even more puzzled, and he whispered to himself, "Song Xiance, the word Kangnian, is just a show talent, what is so special that His Royal Highness thinks it is fun...... Count, let's deal with the matter of Jin Shang first. (To be continued.) )