On the official road outside the Sanqing Hall of the Imperial Palace, three or four Janissaries dressed in armor rode fast horses galloping from a distance, and when they reached the door, they grabbed the reins neatly, turned over and dismounted, and the leader was carrying a chicken like a chicken to carry a person from the horse.

Throwing the horses to the guards outside the gate, several people simply straightened their clothes and hurried towards the palace gate in the northwest corner.

They walked in a hurry, and when they crossed the corridor, they almost collided with Zhao Yongnian who walked out of the palace gate, and the leading sergeant raised his eyes and glanced at Zhao Yongnian, seeing that the official uniform was just a petty official from the fourth grade, he nodded symbolically and threw down a sentence: "Offended!" And he led them all away.

Faced with the contempt of the Praetorian Guards, Zhao Yongnian was not very angry. It's not that he's so angry, it's that his attention is all focused on the man who was being dragged by the Praetorian Guards.

"Alas, another!"

The little eunuch who sent Zhao Yongnian out also saw the unlucky egg bundled like a dumpling, and sighed inaudibly.

Zhao Yongnian shook his head secretly, these days are in a bad mood, there are often soldiers in the palace to escort the eunuchs who make mistakes to execute, but they are all driving people out of the palace, like today, it is a little strange to catch a person from the outside into the palace.

"Lord Zhao, the slave maid will send you here, go slowly!"

The little eunuch stopped at a position about a hundred meters in front of the gate and said goodbye to Zhao Yongnian in a soft voice.

Speaking of which, this Lord Zhao is also an unlucky guy. Today is the fourth time that he has been summoned to the palace, although the little eunuch is not serving in the inner court, but he has not returned to send people, he does not dare to inquire with Lord Zhao indiscriminately, but he can also see some clues from Lord Zhao's disgraced face - there must be no good thing, it is estimated that he was scolded enough.

Thinking of this, the little eunuch looked at Zhao Yongnian with a little more pity, and his tone was much softer.

"Thank you, little father-in-law." Zhao Yongnian was still thinking about the scene just now, and didn't see the expression on the little eunuch's face, but he understood the rules of the palace, and the little eunuch specially pointed out that he was here to give it away, so he had to say something, and hurriedly took out a purse from his sleeve and stuffed it to him, and saw that the little eunuch really had a satisfied smile on his face, so he slowly walked out of the palace gate.

"Sir!"

The little guy who was guarding the path in front of him saw his old man coming over with a face, and hurriedly moved the stool sitting under the fart to the carriage, and bent down to wait for Zhao Yongnian to get into the carriage.

"Go to Cui's house!"

Zhao Yongnian climbed into the carriage weakly, leaned his head on the carriage, and shouted in frustration.

"Master, which Cui family?"

The coachman didn't dare to touch the old man's moldy head, but there were so many nobles surnamed Cui in the capital, he really didn't know which Cui's house the master was going to, so he had to turn his head cautiously and asked softly.

"......" Zhao Yongnian no longer had the strength to get angry, he gritted his teeth and said word by word, "Jishitang Cui family, Pingle Fang Cui Changgui family." ”

"Yes, sir!"

The coachman heard the hidden anger in the old man's words, subconsciously shrunk his neck, turned the horse's head, shook the whip flower neatly, and drove the carriage towards Pingle Fang.

"Alas, today is the fourth time I have entered the palace, and my patience has reached the limit, and I'm afraid next time—"

Sitting in the rickety carriage, Zhao Yongnian closed his eyes tiredly, but his heart kept thinking about Emperor Longqing's distorted face and the inner eunuchs around him who were different every time. Although Zhao Yongnian tried his best to persuade his eunuchs that they might be transferred to other palaces on errands, the facts he knew were not the case.

Today's temper is getting worse and worse, he is paranoid in his actions, and he is strict in his governance, and the inner shì and palace maids around him have been killed by several canes.

For today's changes, Zhao Yongnian can guess somewhat.

Emperor Longqing believed in the gods and monsters, and was bent on seeking the art of immortality, so he specially invited a monk who had attained the Tao to refine the elixir in the Sanqing Palace. That Fang Shi did have some skills, and in the past few years, after Emperor Longqing took his pill, he was much younger. But since last year, Emperor Longqing has begun to gradually age.

If a person has never really gotten a treasure, then when he loses it, he will not be too heartbroken; But if he has already reached the corner of the baby, and when he is about to embrace it, the baby suddenly flies away in front of his eyes, and this feeling is the most unwilling and angry.

The current Emperor Longqing is in such a state. Especially when he knew that the reason why he missed the elixir was that the medicinal materials were fake, which made him on the verge of rage.

This directly led to Zhao Yongnian's frequent visits to the court.

“…… I do look much older, but after only ten days of hard work, I look more than ten years older. ”

Seeing the changes in Emperor Longqing with his own eyes, and clearly guessing the reasons for all this, Zhao Yongnian was even more anxious.

At first, Emperor Longqing gave him a month to find a few medicinal materials, and he did send all the capable people of the Zhao family to find them, but these medicinal materials were originally rare things that could not be found, and Rao was the tentacles of his Zhao family could reach every place in the Great Zhou, and it was impossible to gather these herbs in a short period of time.

Things have developed to this point, Zhao Yongnian knew that he had no way out, and for the sake of today's plan, he had to temporarily put down his subordinates and ask for help from several major Confucian merchants in the capital.

The first stop is naturally the Cui family, which started with medicinal materials.

"Master, it's here!"

The coachman slowly stopped the carriage and turned back to the road.

"Hmm!"

Zhao Yong's young voice responded, Liáo opened the curtain and got out of the carriage, helped the head on his head, and dusted off the folds on his official uniform, and then walked up the steps.

An hour later, Zhao Yongnian walked out with a solemn expression, followed by Cui Changgui, the head of the Cui family.

“…… That incident will get rid of Brother Cui, and the foolish brother will say goodbye! ”

"Brother Zhao rest assured, the younger brother will definitely do his best to help. Brother Zhao walked slowly. ”

Different from Zhao Yongnian's coffin face, Cui Changgui's eyebrows and eyes were full of smiles, and he spoke with a little more confidence.

"Sir?"

After the coachman helped Zhao Yongnian get into the carriage, he stood on the ground and waited for a long time, but he didn't see the master's instructions, so he had to take the initiative to remind him again.

"Go home!"

As soon as Zhao Yongnian remembered that he had been squeezed by Cui Changgui for a long time just now, Xiōng's mouth was like a pile of big stones, which made him breathless. What's even more annoying is that he was so squeezed and ridiculed, but he didn't even dare to say a word of complaint-no way, he also pointed to the Cui family to help him find medicinal materials, so he could only endure this breath.

I think he Zhao Yongnian has lived most of his life, when did he suffer from this kind of wretchedness?

With the lesson of the Cui family, Zhao Yongnian didn't have the heart to visit several other Tianzi Confucian merchants, so he stomped his feet hard and went home.

After a while, the carriage drove into Ping'an Fang, but he didn't want to be blocked at the street entrance.

"What's wrong? Who is so blind to park the carriage here? ”

Zhao Yongnian is so angry, his heart speaks, this person is unlucky, how can he choke to death by drinking cold water?

"Yo, it turned out to be President Zhao, rude." On the carriage in front, a man dressed in a tight beard suit, after hearing Zhao Yongnian's angry muttering, raised his eyebrows, and said coolly: "Here are the chivalrous guests on the mansion of the Li League of Chivalry, today escort the three little masters back to the Zhao Mansion to ask for peace, I didn't expect to meet President Zhao here, I am really fortunate to meet you." ”

He said kind words in his mouth, but he didn't have a trace of politeness, he didn't get up to salute at all, but just swept his eyes slightly.

"Li Mengzhu?" Zhao Yongnian fell, the kind of awe for the Li family in his bones suddenly made his anger disappear by half, he swallowed his saliva uncomfortably, and asked: "Li Mengzhu and, with that, they entered the capital together?" ”

can make the chivalrous man call the little master, except for the three grandchildren of his Zhao family, there is no one else.

The knight nodded, turned his head, and continued to sit in the front seat of the carriage and pretend to sleep, not caring that he was still in the way of others.

The coachman of the Zhao family learned well this time, and stood beside the carriage with his head bowed, silent, waiting for the master's orders.

Zhao Yongnian jumped out of the carriage and asked the coachman to return home from the back street, while he walked around the Li family's carriage and took a shortcut home. Damn, those losers in the family won't really say those words, right?

"Xiaoya is also ten years old this year, right?"

Mrs. Zhao sat upright in the main hall, holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hand, twisting and turning as she spoke.

"Back to Mrs. Zhao's words, Yuan Niang is nine years old." Mama Sun stood behind Yuan Niang, and without waiting for Yuan Niang to speak, she replied first.

"That's not small, according to the rules, it's time to talk about kissing." Although Mrs. Zhao was dissatisfied with Grandma Sun's arrogance, she was not easy to reprimand considering Grandma Sun's identity, she paused a little and continued: "Yuan Niang's parents are here, and it stands to reason that her parents should be in charge of her family affairs. But she was brought up by me, and I have always loved Yuan Niang the most...... Second young grandmother, I will put this here first, Yuan Niang's family affairs must be discussed with me before it can be decided. ”

Su Shi hurriedly stood up, bowed and smiled: "Look at what Mrs. said? Hehe, our eldest lady's marriage is decided by you, who is a grandmother, and I, who is a mother, will not rob you of errands. ”

A touch of ridicule flashed in Mama Sun's eyes, she protected Yuan Niang behind her, and motioned to the breeze that came with her to take Yuan Niang out.

Yuan Niang pretended not to understand their words, and saluted Mrs. Zhao and Su in a proper manner, and then turned around and exited the main hall with Qingfeng.

Grandma Sun bent her knees slightly and gave a blessing, "Thank you Mrs. Zhao and Grandma Su Eryan for bothering, but the master of Lingyan Temple said that it is not easy for our Yuan Niang to marry early, and we must be fifteen years old before we can leave the cabinet." ”

"That's nothing," a hint of yīn flashed on Su's face, and he said in a hoarse voice: "We all marry daughters, and we have always been married, and then prepare all kinds of wedding things, and when the ancient ceremony is over, it will take three or four years." Leaving the cabinet at the age of fifteen, let's start Zhang Luo now. If it's late, Xiao Langjun with good conditions will also be robbed. ”

A sneer tugged at the corner of Grandma Sun's mouth, and she said secretly, 'Good Langjun'? Hey, the good Langjun you are talking about can't be a useless man from your Su family or a down-and-out household, right?

"That's it," Before Grandma Sun could open her mouth to refute, Mrs. Zhao hurriedly took over the topic and nodded: "Well, Second Young Grandma, in this way, you inquire a little first, if there is a suitable person, we can look at each other first." ”

"Oh, ma'am, don't worry."

Su and Mrs. Zhao sang and harmonized, and seeing what they meant, they couldn't wait to help Yuan Niang set up a marriage immediately.

"Mrs. Zhao and the second young grandmother treat our mother so well, and the slave and maid thank you on behalf of our wife." Grandma Sun didn't move silently, and continued: "It's just that one of the two aunts and grandmothers in the house is sixteen years old this year, and the other is fourteen years old, and they haven't decided yet, and our Yuan Niang is not yet nine years old, how can we get married before my aunt?" Besides, now that I am engaged, there are still several years before I leave the cabinet, and after such a long time, it is inevitable that there will be some 'accidents'. ”

Mama Sun deliberately accentuated the word 'accident', and a strange smile appeared on her face.

When Zhao Yongnian entered the door, he happened to hear this sentence, and somehow, when he heard the word 'accident', the back of his neck was cold, and he couldn't help but think of the second son who was framed and put in prison and the raging fire of the Zhao family.

"Sir, are you back?"

Mrs. Zhao stood up and welcomed Zhao Yongnian to the upper seat, while she sat on the other side in a regular manner.

"This is Grandma Sun, did you come with the eldest lady?" Zhao Yongnian ignored Mrs. Zhao, but greeted Grandma Sun with a smile, "...... Oh, so the three children entered the capital with Li Mengzhu? Are they well-behaved along the way? Is there any trouble with Li Mengzhu? ”

Although he knew that the family had already become a family, Zhao Yongnian still pretended not to know anything for the sake of face. When the little new brother has already set up his own door, this time he entered Beijing by chance and met Li Meng's husband, and then rushed together.

"Back to Master Zhao's words, Miss Sun and Young Master Sun are very good, and they have never troubled Master Li." People come together with relatives and affection, where can it be called trouble.

"Hmm, that's good, little new brother, have they said hello to their father?" Zhao Yongnian endured the xìngzi and chatted with Grandma Sun for a while, and then sent them down.

"Master, it's easy for them to come to the mansion, why did you just let them go?"

Mrs. Zhao also wanted to take the opportunity to leave the three children in the house, but she didn't want to, and the master generously sent people away.

"Hmph, don't let them go, do you still keep them for lunch? No mistake" Zhao Yongnian didn't forget the chivalrous man blocking the road at the door, he snorted disdainfully, and said: "Or do you all want to have an 'accident'?" ”

Wang Qiniang is a fù person, maybe she will be soft-hearted. But Li Jingtian is not a vegetarian, if he really annoys him...... Their Zhao family is already troublesome enough, how can they have the heart to toss this?

"I think he dares? Lang Lang Qiankun, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, I don't believe that Wang Qiniang still dares to kill? ”

Su's facial features were a little distorted, and he said resentfully.

Zhao Yongnian glanced at Su, and did not speak to her directly, but turned his head to Mrs. Zhao and instructed, "There have been a lot of things at home recently, give me some peace, if anyone doesn't listen to me, then leave this house!" ”

After speaking, Zhao Yongnian flicked his sleeves and got up and went to the study.

After lunch, Zhao Yongnian went to visit several other Confucian businessmen in Beijing one after another, and after some bargaining, they finally reached an agreement, that is, everyone helped the Zhao family find herbs, and Zhao Yongnian promised the president of the Confucian Chamber of Commerce to re-elect, of course, as for who is elected in the end, it depends on the ability of each family.

It's just that I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, Zhao Yongnian only missed the Tianzi No. 9 Confucian merchant Wang Qiniang.

……

Wang Qiniang sat on the big kang by the window and counted something, opposite Xiaoxin Ge'er and Xiao Maruko were chattering on the big kang playing with puppets, and Xiaoya was obediently guarding the side, taking care of her younger brothers and sisters while playing with her sisters.

Grandma Sun walked in, she swept the house, and when she saw that Yuanniang's sisters and brothers were there, she quietly whispered in Wang Qifang's ear twice. Wang Qifang nodded, got up and came to the outer room: "What? Do they still want to marry Yuan Niang? ”

Mama Sun's jaw said yes.

Wang Qifang secretly scolded the two women who were always trying to find fault, but her face remained calm, "Well, Mama did a good job, fortunately you went with me today, so they didn't succeed, it's really hard Mama." ”

Grandma Sun hurriedly smiled and waved her hand, and said, "The old slave didn't discuss with Madame, so he casually made a cover for the master of the Lingyan Temple——"

"Mama rest assured, things are exactly what you said, even if someone goes to Lingyan Temple to ask, the master will say so." Wang Qifang understood the meaning of Grandma Sun's words, and hurriedly took over the conversation and promised.

Wang Qifang was very satisfied with Grandma Sun's performance in the Zhao family today, whether it was for a reward or to continue to envelop, she asked with a smile: "By the way, Mama, didn't I promise to give you a stepdaughter before?" I don't know who Mama has ever fallen into? ”

Mama Sun pondered for a long time and said, "Thank you Madame, the old slave has already taken a fancy to one, but I still want to observe, and when the old slave is confirmed, he will definitely come to ask for the grace of Madame." ”

Wang Qifang hurriedly said that there was no problem, and after Grandma Sun went out, the smile on her face suddenly dispersed, "Come on, call Li Gui to me!" ”

Li Gui is the only child of the Guogong Mansion who followed Li Jingtian out, because Mei Jian in the mansion learned some kung fu for his teacher, and he can barely be regarded as a member of the Chivalrous League. Therefore, when Grandpa Guo asked Li Jingtian to take a few people out of the house, Li Jingtian chose Li Gui's family.

Li Gui's father is a steward in the outer courtyard of the Guogong Mansion, and his grandfather also used to be a second housekeeper, and Li Gui has a lot of experience with his father and ancestors. After Li Jingtian entered Beijing, he made Li Gui the chief housekeeper of the new house.

"Grandma, what do you command?"

Li Gui stood under the porch, half-bowed his head, and asked in a deep voice.

"In this way, you send someone to the Shiji Tobacco Store in Dongshi and invite their proprietor, Shi Wensong, to say that I am in a hurry."

The Zhao family is restless, so she is welcome, the president of the Confucian Chamber of Commerce, I want to decide!

……

Time flies quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it is the day of the Confucian Merchant Conference.

At the meeting, Zhao Yongnian first selected several new Confucian businessmen in accordance with the process, and then announced that the president of the Confucian Chamber of Commerce would be re-elected three days later, and at that time, all Confucian businessmen in Tianzi could sign up to participate.

"What to choose? One by one is so useless, so many big men are not as good as Mrs. Wang, "Emperor Longqing finally got the coveted herbs, and after listening to Zhao Yongnian's reply, he directly spoke: "According to me, don't toss around, just let Mrs. Wang be the president...... @."