Perhaps it was because Mingyue and his group were not people to be trifled with at first glance, and they took the official road all the way from Wangnan City to Kyoto, which took more than ten days, and they did not encounter any accidents at all.
After the group arrived in Kyoto exhausted, Mingyue followed the address given by Prince Chen and found the closed shop located in the best location on the main street.
It is said that this shop used to sell jewelry, but unfortunately the styles of the jewelry were too old-fashioned, so the business was naturally very average and it was losing money every month. Finally, the owner closed the business and transferred the shop.
Prince Chen, who was wealthy, bought the shop and originally wanted to open a restaurant, but he met a talented person like Mingyue and finally decided to do the jade business.
Of course, all business is done in the open, and the most important purpose of this shop is to gather intelligence.
This business of welcoming and seeing off guests is like a jade worth a thousand gold pieces, and is most suitable for making those dignitaries linger.
Since the previous emperors took charge of government affairs, the imperial court introduced the chieftain system.
Tusi, also known as native officials, were local officials appointed and enfeoffed by the dynasty. Their important characteristics were “hereditary officialdom, hereditary land, and hereditary people”, that is, hereditary political rule, hereditary ownership of the land in their jurisdiction, and hereditary rule over the peasants attached to the land. [1]
However, the drawbacks of this chieftain system were too great. The power of the princes was growing, and they could do whatever they wanted to the people in their fiefdoms. Over the years, there were many princes who exploited the people.
Over time, the people living in the fiefdoms of princes and nobles even came to know only the princes and nobles but not the emperor.
Therefore, since the previous emperor came to power, he has been thinking about implementing the policy of changing the natives to officials, which means abolishing the hereditary system and returning power to the hands of the emperor.
How could those kings and princes be willing to hand over their power to others
Therefore, there was an open and covert struggle between the late emperor and the princes, and the court became increasingly chaotic.
Until the death of the previous emperor, the throne fell into the hands of the current emperor, who took the initiative to give in a little, and only then was he able to appease those princes.
Of course, this was only a superficial concession. In reality, the emperor had never given up the idea of reducing the power of the princes. This was why Prince Chen gave up his position as a prince and instead became the emperor's purse.
Everyone knows that Prince Chen and the Emperor are brothers from the same mother. They were both brought up personally by the late emperor. The brothers work together to take back the dynasty that belongs to their Murong family.
Now that Mingyue has boarded Prince Chen's ship, she has also been connected with the most powerful person in this dynasty.
Therefore, Mingyue felt that it was imperative to reduce the power of the feudal lords.
After all, wasn't it just for this title that Marquis Dingyuan abandoned his own daughter
She wanted him to end up with nothing, and she also wanted him to discover that this daughter he had abandoned was in a higher position than him and won his heart.
Of course, we have just arrived in Beijing, so everything needs to be done slowly.
Mingyue first asked everyone to go down and rest for a few days, and then moved into the courtyard arranged by Prince Chen. She asked a human trafficker to buy a few servants and asked them to take good care of Mingmei. Then she went to find the craftsmen in the capital.
The decoration of this shop is still the same as when it sold jewelry. Now it has been changed into a jade business, so naturally it needs to be changed.
Moreover, Mingyue did not plan to change the decoration to that of Ziqidonglai in Wangnan City. Instead, she had some ideas of her own, so she needed to discuss it with the craftsmen in person.
Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
Marquis Dingyuan waited for more than half a month and finally received the news that Wen Pengfei was coming to Beijing.
Over the past few days, with the consolation from his staff, the anger in his heart had long dissipated.
After all, he was the son he had raised for so many years, and he was his only child. Marquis Dingyuan handed the prepared silver notes to his staff.
"Go and bring the prince back. It's not appropriate for me to show up in public. I'll leave this matter to you."
The aide nodded: "Yes." After the aide left, Marquis Dingyuan thought of his wife again and his brows frowned instantly.
If something had happened to Wen Pengfei in the past, his wife would have come to him to plead for mercy. But now she acted as if she knew nothing, which made him feel uncomfortable.
She had raised her son for such a long time, but now she just ignored him. Could she really be so cruel
Marquis Dingyuan thought so and decided to go to the west courtyard to see his wife.
No matter what, Wen Pengfei will be their only son in the future, and they must not let the Marquis's wife reveal any clues in public and let others notice that something is wrong.
At this time, the Marquis's wife was lying on a soft chair, allowing Steward Du to press her forehead.
"The master passed on a message saying that he only heard that the eldest lady and her daughter disappeared in Wangnan City, but..." Steward Du opened his mouth hesitantly, and for a moment he couldn't decide whether he should say the following things.
The Marquis's wife had been listening with her eyes closed. "But what? Is there anything you can't say? Just tell me. I can bear it."
Manager Du pursed his lips and said, "But the master said that his people also found out that the prince appeared in Hanchang County. And the prince also took people to Wangnan City. It seems that he is looking for someone?"
Madam Hou's eyes opened sharply, her eyes were full of sharpness: "Wen Pengfei has been to Hanchang County?"
Manager Du nodded and said, "Some villagers from Zhoujia Village saw him living in the yard next to Chen Xiucai. Seeing that they looked alike, they thought he was a relative of Chen Xiucai."
The Marquis’s wife smiled, but it was a smile so cold that it made people scared.
"Great job! How come he found out about this when we kept it a secret? He said he was going out to play with his classmates, but it turns out he went to look for Mingyue."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Hou remembered Wen Pengfei's temper again.
In the past, when she thought Wen Pengfei was her biological son, she was often very puzzled. She felt that she was not a stupid person, and Dingyuan Hou was even more cunning. Why did they give birth to such a stupid and bad son
Yes, even though she used to look at her son through the filter of a biological mother, she was often disappointed with her son. She knew that he had never been a good person, and she had to apologize and clean up for all the bad things he did since he was a child.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Hou's face changed instantly.
No wonder her daughter was still doing well even after suffering so many years and having such a rough life. But when she was about to take her daughter to Beijing, her daughter suddenly encountered such a bad thing.
So, that's how it is.
Madam Hou gritted her teeth and said angrily: "Wen Pengfei, what a Wen Pengfei!"
At this time, Marquis Dingyuan walked in. When the marquis's wife's eyes fell on him, she suddenly realized something.
Why did Wen Pengfei know this? This is the root of the problem.
That was his own daughter, yet he was so heartless and heartless.
Just for this broken title, just for this broken title.
She once thought of being a good wife and mother, but he ruined everything.
The Marquis's wife closed her eyes. He forced her to do so.
[1] From Baidu Encyclopedia
(End of this chapter)