It was natural that he was frightened now, and he was also a little worried that Xie Ke would greatly interfere with his original plan.
Fu Zhiyu sat on the bed for a long time after getting up in the morning, and decided to have Liuli Palace strengthen its defenses from tomorrow, at least to prevent Xie Ke from coming in so easily.
Before, he didn’t understand why Xie Ke would make such a big deal and had to restart the world. He also didn’t know why he suddenly paid so much attention to him. It turned out to be because of this.
Fu Zhiyu was certainly not emotionally dull, he just couldn't understand why Xie Ke had such a sudden change, and he didn't want to understand.
It's quite interesting. In my previous life, I was the one chasing Xie Ke, but he was always distant and never responded. But in this life, it's the other way around. If I had heard these words in the past, I would have been very happy. But now, I'm only worried about whether he will affect my life.
Fu Zhiyu took some time to calm himself down. He had not forgotten that he had to leave the palace today and still had important things to do.
He also had to go to Xie's house, after all, he had promised to do so before, and he couldn't avoid it this time. It was nothing before last night, but now thinking about it, he felt uneasy.
Fu Zhiyu sighed and rubbed his eyebrows tiredly.
All in all, Xie Ke was really an enemy to him. In these two lifetimes, he had never followed his wishes and always wanted to make him uncomfortable.
After he left the palace, he did not go to Yuan Mansion or Xie Mansion immediately. Instead, he took two guards to the largest restaurant in the capital, ordered a few plates of snacks and a pot of sake, and sat in a private room on the second floor of the hotel facing the street, eating and drinking slowly.
It was already late, and the streets were very busy with shouts and conversations. Fu Zhiyu also saw a vendor selling candied haws walking by downstairs, so he asked his guard to buy two for him.
"Do you want to eat?" Fu Zhiyu was in a better mood now, having come out of Xie Ke's haze. A smile appeared on his face, and he asked the two guards standing behind him, "It's good to try it occasionally."
The two guards shook their heads solemnly, and he didn't force them. He took a bite of one, frowned with sourness, but still lowered his head to take a second bite. He wrapped the other one in yellow paper and put it next to him.
As the imperial examination was approaching, the first floor of Fengyue Tower was particularly lively. Fu Zhiyu could hear many students talking and discussing each other. Whether they were discussing poetry or philosophy, they always attracted a crowd of people to watch, and the noise was even louder than that of the street outside.
In his previous life, he and Xu Daxueshi were in charge of this year's imperial examinations together. He had attended such occasions many times. At that time, he was still a young man full of vigor and vitality, and he had a sweetheart. He was determined to show how excellent he was, like a proud peacock. But when he looked at these now, he felt like he was looking at people from another world.
It is naturally good for young people to have this spirit, but as my mother said, what he wants is different, so he looks at these things differently.
Opposite Fengyue Tower is the most famous red-light district in the capital, so the building was named Fengyue Tower, and “sitting and watching the red-light district” is indeed true.
It's just that it's broad daylight now, and the fireworks street is not open to customers. But not accepting customers doesn't mean that they are not working, and the street is still very busy.
Fu Zhiyu knew that today, the largest brothel in the street, Meige, had bought in a group of new people, all boys and girls around ten years old. Among them was a child, and he had to rescue him.
This child probably doesn't have a name yet. He named him Yuan Mingdao using the name of the Yuan family.
In his previous life, after Yuan Mingdao was sold to a brothel, the madam wanted to train him to be a prostitute, but he refused to obey and was beaten countless times. One day, he managed to escape from the pimp, ran along the Red Light Street to Fengyue Tower, and ran headfirst into Fu Zhiyu's arms.
Whether in the book or in reality, Fu Zhiyu took the child away. The Fu Zhiyu in the book thought that the child was so ruthless at such a young age and would be a good knife in the future. However, in the previous life, the real Fu Zhiyu only thought that he was covered with wounds and looked too pitiful.
In his previous life, Yuan Mingdao was raised in the Yuan Mansion by Fu Zhiyu. The Yuan Mansion treated him very well and taught him martial arts. His most proficient weapon was a crescent-shaped scimitar. He had to hold the knife in his arms to fall asleep at night. It was true that he had an excellent talent for martial arts.
Fu Zhiyu would go and see him whenever he had time, but Yuan Mingdao seemed to have set his eyes on him and refused to stay in the Yuan Mansion, insisting on following him.
Fu Zhiyu's life had been saved by him twice, and he had blocked swords for him countless times. Every time he went to the battlefield, he followed him closely.
The last time was when Xie Ke rebelled. He took the lead in a counterattack, but failed and was beheaded by the rebel army. At that time, he was only in his early twenties.
No matter what I do in this life, I will never let Ming Dao repeat the same mistake and end up like that.
In fact, this child doesn't like war at all, nor does he want to indulge in the intrigues of the court. He only cares about himself. In this life, Fu Zhiyu believes that it is his responsibility to give him a complete life.
But as for Ming Dao, the earliest that Fu Zhiyu could trace back was to the present. He didn't know where this child was before that.
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a simple carriage swaying towards him from the other end of the road, heading towards the Fireworks Street.
That's about it.
Fu Zhiyu was shocked and hurriedly walked downstairs with his guards. When he walked up to the carriage, the carriage was parked at the intersection of the backyard of Mei Pavilion.
Fu Zhiyu didn't need to do it himself, the two guards were enough. After a while, the madam of Mei Pavilion came out trembling, and a row of people knelt in the backyard.
"If the King of Zhao likes someone in the palace, just tell him," the madam wiped the sweat from her forehead with a flattering smile on her face, "there is no need to mobilize so many troops."
Fu Zhiyu pointed at the carriage and said, "I don't want the rest. I only want this one."
The guard understood and reached out to lift the curtain of the carriage. Fu Zhiyu looked inside and saw a child curled up in the innermost part of the carriage. When he heard the sound, he raised his head to take a look.
The child had a pair of green eyes with obvious exotic features. He was probably from an ancient country in the Western Regions and was sold here after traveling thousands of miles. It was dark inside the carriage, and he squinted his eyes to look outside. It took him a while to clearly see the appearance of the person who came.
After he saw Fu Zhiyu's face clearly, he was stunned for a moment, then a look of obvious surprise appeared in his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his face, revealing two cute fangs.
"Come here," Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand towards him, his tone very gentle.
He didn't know whether Ming Dao was willing to go with him at this time. He was a little nervous at first, but what happened next proved that he was overthinking.
The child was very obedient. He crawled over quickly and snuggled into his arms.
He was obviously ten years old, but due to malnutrition, he was very thin and looked younger than an ordinary seven-year-old child. Fu Zhiyu picked him up easily, wrapped him in his cloak, then stretched out his hand and gave him the candied haws that he had just wrapped.
"I remember you like to eat these little things," Fu Zhiyu patted his back and asked softly, "Come with me, I'll take you to the inn to eat and take a bath, and buy some clothes, okay?"
The child nodded, staring at him with his green eyes unblinking, looking very obedient.
"Why is he the only one left?" The madam looked at the empty carriage after the curtain was lifted. She was too anxious to care about anything else and nudged the man next to her with her elbow. "I bought more than ten!"
"Don't mention it!" The old turtle replied in a low voice with a gloomy face, "Three days ago, when we passed by the City of Tears, they all ran away in one night. I think someone destroyed it maliciously. I don't know what happened to this child. He didn't follow them and was very obedient along the way. I sent him back, but I didn't expect that there would be no one left in the end."
Fu Zhiyu didn't care what was going on in the brothel, he just took the person he wanted away.
In the room he had booked in Fengyue Tower, the waiter had already prepared hot water and heated the stove. He wanted to wash the dirty child first.