Chapter 336: Ulterior motives

The flower hall of Fan's Mansion is very spacious, and there are three rooms, and the banquet is in the small hall on the east side at this time. Because Fan Tong was in a hurry, he only remembered that since Zhang Yue was in the drunken township building, he must have had dinner, so he couldn't help but feel a little distressed after bringing people back. Invite this great god back, can't you set a table without anyone moving chopsticks, or invite someone to sit and drink tea? When he sat down at the painted mahogany square table, he was about to talk with Xiaoxiao, but Fan Xiyan, who was dressed as a man next to him, suddenly bent down.

"Master, all the snacks in the kitchen have been prepared, but do you want to deliver them now?"

Dim sum? What dim sum? Fan Tong was really confused at this time, but thinking that it was none other than Fan Xiyan's credit to be able to bring people back today, presumably this girl would not play tricks at a critical moment, so she put on the style of being the master of the house and nodded lightly. After this, he saw Fan Xiyan go outside and give an order, and after a while, a few young guys came up with rosewood plates and laid them out on the table.

Zhang Yue had just eaten upstairs in the drunken township, and at this time his mouth was still full of salty and fresh aftertaste, and he really had no appetite for eating. However, when he frowned and watched the dim sum come to the table, the handsome little guy who had just stood beside Fan Tong suddenly turned around and introduced him with a smile.

"Before the lord went out to greet the distinguished guests, he knew that you must have eaten in the drunken country building, so he ordered the kitchen to prepare only snacks. Our Ningbo cuisine has always been salty, and after you eat those greasy, you might as well try these snacks with their own characteristics. There are a total of ten dishes here, and the middle is the glutinous rice lard Lantern Festival, although it is not yet the first month, but this famous spot is a major feature of Ningbo Mansion, and it is necessary to taste it. Others are dragon and phoenix golden balls, bean paste eight treasure rice, lard and foreign crisp feed, fresh meat xiaolong buns, siu mai, crystal oil buns, three fresh banquet noodles, fresh meat steamed wontons, bean paste zygote, and please taste them one by one. ”

Because Fan Xiyan deliberately wore a high-necked jacket to cover her neck, no one could see whether there was an Adam's apple, Zhang Yue originally only thought that this was a favored little guy. At this time, listening to the crisp voice, there was a faint fragrance coming from his body, and then looking at Fan Tong's gaze for a moment, he suddenly realized. Although he had heard that the wealthy families in Jiangnan were dressed up as concubines, he was really not interested in this kind of business, so he tasted a siu mai at the moment, and then put down his chopsticks.

"How did Master Fan know that I came to Ningbo Mansion?"

As soon as he heard Zhang Yue ask this straightforwardly, Fan Tong chuckled in his heart. I was in a hurry just now, but I forgot that people came to Ningbo Mansion in micro-service, and I hadn't seen it before, how could I be so coincidental? At this moment, he heard a soft laugh, but saw Fan Xiyan, who was standing behind Zhang Yue, answering the conversation with a smile.

"Zhang Gongzi, although our master is not as good as Wang's father-in-law's methods, people on the market have always paid attention to it, and extraordinary characters such as Gongzi will naturally not be missed. In fact, the old man is also helpless, although it is the promotion of the city department, but the big and small affairs are all the power of the Wang Gonggong, he can't interfere at all, so naturally he can only pay attention to everything. Take the father-in-law Lu of Xiangge today, for example, he has been here for more than half a month, but the old man can't even see each other. At this time, everyone knows that this sea ban started from Ningbo City, and they all want to get a piece of the pie from this bowl, and the life of the master is even more difficult. ”

Listening to Fan Xiyan's words and mouths to shape herself into a pitiful worm, Fan Tong hated it so much, but he knew that it was better to pretend to be low than to be high. Seeing Zhang Yue's gaze, he hurriedly and cautiously said: "Zhang Gongzi, if it is said that the city department has ten points of power, I, the city department of the city, can hold three points at most, and the rest are in the hands of Wang Gonggong." Over the years, Gonggong Wang didn't know how many benefits he had received from the tributary envoys, nor did he know how many smuggling merchants he had sheltered, so it was okay to just do it, and he was still ......."

Seeing that Zhang Yue's face did not move at all, he suddenly gritted his teeth, and he didn't care that there were two outsiders in the seat, so he let out a long sigh: "I won't tell you that in the past few years, the deputy promotion of the city department has also changed several times, as long as it is not in harmony with him, this official will not only not last long, but will be shelved after leaving office, so my promotion is just a step." Every year, he had to buy silk, wood, jewelry, women, etc. from Jiangnan, all of which were forcibly taken at low prices, and he didn't know who to give them to. In order to sit firmly in the position of the admiral eunuch, all that the Jiangnan officials can feed has already fed him, and I heard that he also suggested that the emperor supervise taxes in the inner court. ”

Zhang Yue frowned deeply at this time - this is just a ban on the sea, not only to resist the vicious widows, but also to deal with the insatiable officials and eunuchs, the entanglement of interests here is enough to make people a headache, and there are even countless open guns and hidden arrows in the DPRK and China, so it is so difficult to do things sincerely?

Although he already believed most of it in his heart, he was unwilling to be a gunman for nothing. Seeing that Lu Feng and Wang Darong were walking very closely, he naturally would not let go of Fan Tong's line easily, so he thoughtfully tapped the armrest of the chair with his hand.

"How many years has Master Fan been in the city?"

Seeing that Zhang Yue did not question his words, Fan Tong couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed his head and said: "Xia Guan has been elected to the city as a supervisor since the early years of Yongle, and after many years of training, he was gradually promoted to promotion, and now it has been sixteen years. In contrast, that Wang Gonggong was Yongle 12 years old, and now he has only been in office for five years. ”

"So, Lord Fan is more familiar with the affairs of the City Division?"

"That's nature, that's nature!"

Fan Xiyan on the side saw Zhang Yue nodding slightly thoughtfully, his expression was extremely focused, and he said while the iron was hot: "The master suffers a loss, and he is not from the right path, so he can only rely on his real ability." Take a few days ago, if it weren't for the old man who calmed down the two tributary missions in Manchu Jia, I am afraid that this tribute turmoil would be big. Everyone knows that those small Western countries are greedy for the rewards of the Celestial Empire, but they can't drive people out, right?

Father-in-law Wang only knows how to collect money, and all the things he really deals with the tributary envoys are done by our master. Don't look at this mansion, if you want to talk about it, the old man's Yulu can't afford to build this mansion at all, this is the industry of a wealthy people who was originally going to move to Beijing. The lord took pity on him for being old, so he interceded and asked his son to move to Beijing for him, and the people were grateful to give him this house, but the lord was only willing to borrow it for ten years. In fact, this is completely to fill the façade of the court, after all, there are many people who come and go, and if you want to lose it, you will lose the face of the court! ”

Fan Tong was extremely comfortable listening to the words in front of him, but when he heard the deeds of this house, he suddenly felt a storm in his heart, and even covered up the past with a wry smile. This house is a move he prepared many years ago, not only to show that he is not greedy, but also for a deeper reason, even his favorite concubine does not know, how does this girl know?

Although the table full of dim sum was full of beautiful and fragrant colors, Fang Qing and Ma Qinjiu only followed Zhang Yue to move their chopsticks, and they didn't have time to taste the delicious taste even if they ate it in their mouths. Fang Qing came this time not only for the Yang family, but also to see if the Fang clan could benefit from this sea ban. And Ma Qinjiu was completely to make money, and he gradually guessed Zhang Yue's identity, in addition to being happy, he was also shocked. Therefore, hearing these officialdom secrets, the two of them pricked up their ears and closed their mouths at the same time.

After a long conversation, Zhang Yue agreed to Fan Tong's temporary stay at Fan's house - after all, Fan Tong had already gone to pick him up with great fanfare, and he couldn't stay well in the inn - naturally, he asked Hu Qi to pick up Lingxi Amber and Autumn Mark and the three guards who were there to protect them. And in order to ensure that Zhang Yue lived comfortably, Fan Tong didn't care about the female dependents in the second gate, so he vacated the entire east courtyard for the group to live in, and personally worked on the front and back. It's just that when he saw that Zhang Yue was still carrying three girls when he went out, he muttered a little in his heart, and it was not easy to make a move on a stunning girl who had been ready to be sent out.

It wasn't until the moontop treetops that he arranged everything, went out of the east courtyard with a sigh of relief, and went back to his room to rest along the road. However, he walked on the front foot, but a group of people came in on the back foot, walking in front of two little girls carrying food boxes, behind was Fan Xiyan, the master and servant actually went straight to the upper room. It happened that Qiu Zhen came out of it with a basin of water, and was about to raise his hand to splash water, when he looked up and found someone in front of him, and hurriedly put the basin aside.

"You ...... this"

"This is the Autumn Scar Girl? My dad asked me to deliver supper. ”

Although I felt that this reason was a little strange, Autumn Mark was not good at stopping people outside, so he had to report to the inside, and then opened the curtain and invited people in. Even if Du Juan didn't give some additional instructions when she came out, she was extremely concerned about it, and when she saw Zhang Yue was slightly stunned when she saw the comer, she naturally didn't dare to move her steps easily.

Rao was Zhang Yue who guessed first, but when he heard Qiu Zhen say the identity of the person who came, and then saw the person in front of him, he was still surprised. After all, which official eunuch needs a young lady to come forward when entertaining male guests, not to mention that a woman disguises herself as a man to be a servant in the flower hall? When Fan Xiyan opened her mouth to speak, the sweetness mixed with a hint of charm in her voice reminded him of when he was in the flower hall, Fan Tong seemed to have to look at her face, and he was a little more vigilant in his heart.

"I have to bother Miss Fan to send her off for supper, Lord Fan is really polite."

"I just heard that the three girls from Childe's side have just arrived, so I asked the kitchen to prepare some supper." Just now in front of people, Fan Xiyan still had to rely on the duty of the little guy to bow his head and hang his hands, at this time, his eyes glanced at Zhang Yue unscrupulously, and when he found that the other party was just looking at him coldly, he restrained a little, "Childe, isn't it planning to let Xiyan stand all the time?" ”

"Miss Fan, it's late tonight, if you have anything to say, you might as well talk about it tomorrow."

"Childe is really a righteous man. Anyway, I specially sent these supper dishes today, and I also ask my son to taste them. ”

It wasn't until Fan Xiyan Yingying went out with the two girls that Qiu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Zhang Yue sitting there frowning, she was still not at ease, so she hurriedly came to the Huanghuali desk and carefully opened the lid of a food box. After just one glance, she couldn't help but exclaim.