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No one in the world hates money. Even Qiu Yizi, who had never had any friendship with Brother Kong Fang, was overjoyed when he heard that his monthly allowance had increased tenfold. He stuck out his tongue and said, "Foster father, you are so generous. It really helped me out of my urgent need. I wanted to kneel down and kowtow, but I was afraid that you would scold me for being greedy, so I'll just bow to express my gratitude!"
Zheng Rong said with a sullen look on his face, "When will you, Qiu Yizi, change your frivolous habits? Your adoptive father will laugh at you even in his dreams. Let me ask you, do you have an idea about going to Luoyang?"
Yizhi said solemnly, "It's not that I'm being modest. I've been following my father and master for the past few years, and I've learned a little bit about dispatching troops and handling government affairs. But I just don't have any idea what to do after this trip to Luoyang. I was planning to visit Master Zhongli tomorrow to ask for advice!"
Zhongli Kuang held the folding fan that he carried with him all year round, and while shooing away mosquitoes, he said, "This task itself is very difficult, and it's no wonder you don't have a plan. Do you know why your father and I chose to come to your mansion in the middle of the night?"
Yizhi said: "Of course I have something confidential to entrust to Yizhi, and it cannot be leaked at all."
"Well! You are indeed smart. It is worth it that I chose you among my four sons. No one can reveal a word of what your foster father and your master are going to say next. Your foster father's life's fame depends on you. If you fail in this task, I still say the same thing - just use the sword in your hand to kill yourself."
"Even...even my third brother Zheng Miao can't be told?" Qiu Yizi asked.
"Of course not. My other three sons cannot know about it. It's not that I'm afraid that they won't keep it secret, but I'm afraid that too many people will gossip and cause trouble." Zheng Rong said coldly.
A gust of cold wind blew in from the entrance of the lobby, making Qiu Yizhi shiver. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "It's all thanks to the guidance of my foster father and master!"
So Zheng Rong and Zhongli Kuang talked to Yizhi about this and that for about half an hour before they told him the strategy they had agreed upon.
Qiu Yizhi listened very attentively, and only let out a long sigh of relief after Zheng Rong and Zhong Likuang had finished speaking for a long time, "If this plan succeeds, not only will the disaster in front of us be eliminated, but the lineage of King Youyan will also be safe from now on. My foster father and master are indeed far-sighted. I am impressed by them."
Zheng Rong nodded and said, "This matter is neither difficult nor easy. The key lies in the word 'secret'. As the ancients said, 'If a ruler does not keep secrets, he will lose his country; if a minister does not keep secrets, he will lose his life.' If this matter is leaked in advance and the enemy is prepared, then if I want to protect myself, I will have to go to war with the court."
Qiu Yizhi frowned and said, "Yizhi has made a note of it. But I don't have a name for this trip, so it's really inconvenient to do it..."
Zhongli Kuang said, "You are right. You must not use the name of the King of Youyan to make a big fuss about this matter. Tomorrow I will write a letter and ask Dali Khan, the King of Bohai, to send Princess Yiran to the capital to pay tribute. You can pretend to be a tribute envoy at that time. With this identity, it will be convenient."
Qiu Yizhi pondered for a while and said, "I'm not afraid of Master's blame, but I think this is inappropriate. First, if we allow foreign countries to interfere in the affairs of the Han Dynasty, it would be a loss of dignity. Second, I don't want to be involved in this storm. I hope that my foster father and Master will understand."
Zhongli Kuang raised his eyes to look at Qiu Yi and said, "But there is no other good plan!"
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "As long as my foster father agrees to my request, there is a way to deal with this matter."
"What's the matter? Tell me!" Zheng Rong asked.
"As long as my adoptive father grants me the title of Juren, then..."
After Qiu Yizhi finished speaking, Zhongli Kuang closed his eyes and pondered for a while before saying to Zheng Rong, "In my opinion, this strategy seems to be appropriate." He turned his head and looked at Qiu Yizhi and said, "But is this person reliable?"
Qiu Yizhi nodded and said, "My third brother and I have the evidence that this man is supporting the Tianzun Sect. Besides, Yizhi is just using his name on this trip. If we talk about confidential matters, he will be asked to avoid it. This should be fine... By the way, this matter involves my third brother, so Yizhi should be careful when speaking."
After hearing this, Zheng Rong nodded with relief. He glanced at Zhongli Kuang again, and seeing that he had nothing to say, he turned to Yizhi and said, "Then your godfather will not disturb your sweet dreams anymore. You should make preparations early. You don't have to pay your respects to me these few days. You only need to come to the palace early in the morning on the day of your departure." After that, he drank the cold water in the cup in one gulp, stood up and walked out the door.
Upon seeing this, Qiu Yizi immediately stood up and escorted the two commanders to the door.
Zheng Rong suddenly thought of something and turned to Qiu Yizhi, saying, "The affairs of the court are complicated right now. Except for the old Prime Minister Yang Yuanzhi, the Left Secretary Cao Kang, and the Minister of War Fu Kui, the other ministers should not be trusted. Yizhi, you must always remember the word 'secret'!"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizhi hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Yizhi and my adoptive father are of one mind and will do our best to complete this task!"
Qiu Yizi tossed and turned all night and fell asleep at daybreak. As he had an important task on his shoulders, he could not fall asleep again after 9:00 p.m. So he simply got up, washed, dressed, strapped on his Western sword, mounted his Ferghana horse, and headed to his third brother Zheng Miao's house.
After Zheng Miao was conferred the title of Marquis, the plaque of his mansion was changed to "Dingzhou Marquis Mansion". However, the mansion was still the same mansion. Qiu Yizi was very familiar with the people in the mansion, so he dismounted and walked into the mansion without notifying anyone.
The mansion of the Third Prince is a rather large place in Guangyang City, more than ten times larger than Qiu Yi's humble room. The owner, Zheng Miao, is also very kind-hearted. Whenever he sees a poor person on the road, he will accept his gifts and give him food. There are more than 40 or 50 servants in the mansion. Thanks to his good way of making money, he runs a business of selling local products, not only does he support dozens of people in and outside the mansion, but he is also the richest among the brothers.
There were few servants in Zheng Miao's house who didn't know Qiu Yizi. When they saw His Highness Yi coming to play, they all stopped to greet him. Qiu Yizi was preoccupied with things and didn't have the mood to joke with them as usual. He just walked towards Zheng Miao's study with big strides.
Qiu Yizhi had just seen Zheng Miao's elegant study room with the inscription "Liuping Xiangxie" from afar, when a very gentle voice came from the side: "Uncle is here again? My husband is in the study room."
Qiu Yizhi knew from the voice that this was Zheng Miao's original wife, Madam Xiao Qin. Madam Xiao Qin and Zheng Xin's wife were biological sisters, and their father was Qin Guangyuan, a very famous hermit in the literati circle. Since she married Zheng Miao, the couple treated each other with respect and treated each other with equal respect, which was a well-known story. And because her husband and his brother-in-law were best friends, Qiu Yizhi also got along well with him on weekdays.
Qiu Yizhi also respected her very much, so when he saw Madam Xiao Qin talking to him, he bowed deeply and said, "Please tell my third brother about this, Madam."
Mrs. Xiao Qin smiled and said, "Uncle always opens the door and walks in. Why is he being so polite today? My husband just said that he wants to discuss important matters with uncle. Uncle, please go ahead."
Yizhi nodded and said "Excuse me", then pushed the door and walked into Liupingxiangxie. Zheng Miaoguo was drinking tea and reading in the study. The two brothers were very casual. Qiu Yizhi didn't say hello when he entered the study. He poured a cup of tea by himself and picked up what he could say, telling Zheng Miaoguo about the plan of his adoptive father and master last night and his own plan.
Zheng Miao thought for a moment and said, "Since my father and Master Zhongli have agreed, it must be correct. I will of course fully cooperate with them. There is no time to lose. Come, let's do it now." After that, he loudly ordered the servants to prepare the horses, and he and Qiu Yizi left the marquis' mansion one after the other.
The two men rode all the way out of the inner city of Guangyang, and dismounted in front of a magnificent three-story building in the outer city. They handed over their name cards and said to the gatekeeper, "Please let them know that the third prince of King Youyan, Zheng Miao, and his adopted son Qiu Yizhi, wish to see Zhou Cijing and Mr. Zhou."
The man took the name card and looked down to see the words "Hou Miao of Dingzhou, the Great Han" written in tiny regular script on the newly made name card made of fine mutton-fat jade. He knew that the identities of the two people who came were very important, so he turned around and ran into the building.
After a while, the door of the pavilion opened, and the owner Zhou Cijing came out to greet them. Qiu Yizi saw that Zhou Cijing was wearing a finely crafted sky-blue robe, a pair of brand-new thousand-layer cloth boots, and a very simple Confucian cap on his head, followed by five or six wealthy businessmen dressed in gorgeous clothes.
When Zhou Cijing saw Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizi standing at the entrance of the pavilion, he sternly rebuked the doorman who had just come to report, "You ignorant servant! What are the statuses of the Third Prince and the Yi Prince? Do you need a dog like you to come and report to me?"
As he said this, he walked out of the door quickly, returned the name card to Zheng Miao respectfully, bowed deeply again, and said, "Your Highnesses have condescended to come to my humble home, which is really an honor. Especially since the Third Prince was promoted to Marquis today, I have not yet come to congratulate him on such a happy event, so I really don't deserve the word 'seeking an audience'. In the future, if you have anything to say, just send someone to tell me, and I will come to you to seek advice."
Zhou Cijing was forced by Tianzun Sect to donate a huge amount of money because he accidentally forced a maid to death. Since the Tianzun Sect's headquarters in Guangyang City was exposed in April this year, the "aiding the enemy" handle fell into Zheng Miao's hands. In response, Zheng Miao not only did not punish him severely, but made him the vice president of Guangyang Chamber of Commerce. Therefore, Zhou Cijing was extremely grateful to Zheng Miao and Qiu Yizhi, and he felt inferior to them as soon as they met.
Zheng Miao hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "Why must you do this, Mr. Zhou?" After that, he greeted the other wealthy businessmen behind him one by one.
Qiu Yizhi was afraid that the flattery would go on forever, so he interrupted everyone's conversation and said to Zhou Cijing: "Although my third brother has come here with great presumption, I have a small matter to ask Mr. Zhou for help. However, there are so many people here, so it is inconvenient, so I dare to invite you to my humble abode for a chat, okay?"
This group of people, including Zhou Cijing, were limited to the status of merchants, but they were extremely wealthy after all, so they had close ties with the government. They had seen many unpromising dandies in the royal family and government, and they just thought that Zheng Miao or Qiu Yi were extravagant and wanted to "borrow" some money to spend, but they were afraid of being embarrassed, so they couldn't help but sneer in their hearts.
Zhou Cijing was known as a Confucian businessman. He was proud of his status and declined, "How dare I. I know it's getting late. If you two princes don't mind my simple house, please have a meal here and we can talk while we eat."
Qiu Yizi's eyes turned and he said, "I dare not trouble you, sir. I have already prepared a banquet in my humble abode, so I would like to invite you, my third brother, to have a drink with me. Would you be so kind as to honor me?"
Qiu Yizhi said this, Zhou Cijing could no longer refuse, so he said "Excuse me" to the wealthy businessmen around him, and asked the servants to prepare the horses and brought two bottles of "Junshan Chunlu" wine, and went to the inner city with the two princes. (To be continued)