Changyi went to the front yard to see Lord Yu. The old man had been resting all night and his face looked much rosier. "Lord Yu, why didn't you rest?"
Yu Yin put down the teacup in his hand and said, "I want to visit the capital, but I don't want to trouble the officials of the Ministry of Rites. After thinking it over, I realized that I have a good personal relationship with Lord Zhou, so I shamelessly came to visit and asked Lord Zhou to take me around the capital."
As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed the gift box on the table.
Chang Yi didn't think much about it, "Okay, but wait a moment, I need to go change my clothes."
Yu Yin didn't expect it to be so smooth, and nodded with a smile, "I would like to thank Mr. Zhou."
Changyi gestured to Lord Yu to have some tea first, then asked Steward Ding to tell his mother, and then went back to the yard to change his clothes.
After Zhulan heard what the housekeeper said, she said she understood. The children became unhappy as they were listening attentively!
Zhulan said to her grandson and granddaughter, "You all should go back, I want to rest."
Mingyun stood up with his brothers and sisters, "Grandma, we're leaving first."
"Um."
Snowflakes were floating in the sky today. In the carriage of the Zhou Mansion, Lord Yu was smelling the fragrance of tea and was a little distracted. Chang Yi called out twice but no one responded, so he stopped talking.
Yu Yin came back to his senses, lifted the carriage curtain, and said with a smile: "When I went to Zhou's house, I saw a mansion under construction. It seemed to be divided into several parts."
Chang Yi understood, "Originally it was the residence of the Zhang family. Later a fire burned down the residence, and the local government controlled waste so they divided it up and sold it. This year there was a drought, so the construction was stopped, but it started again in the fall."
Yu Yin was surprised, "A lot of people must have died in the fire."
Chang Yi was stunned. That was right. Overseas merchants would not pay attention to these things. It was normal for merchants from Lord Yu’s country not to know the news when they went back. “It turned out that the mansion was vacant. No one was dead.”
Chang Yi paused and asked, "Where would you like to start your journey, sir?"
Yu Yin thought for a while, "Master Zhou also knows that the architecture of our two countries is different, so I want to see more of the buildings in the capital. Master Zhou, please take me around."
Chang Yi smiled, but his eyes were thoughtful, "Okay, let's go around."
In Xuzhou, Chang Lian rubbed his shoulders after finishing his work. The Maritime Affairs Bureau was very busy at the end of the year, and he felt very regretful that he could not return to Beijing to celebrate the New Year this year.
Compared with Chang Lian who was highly valued, Zhao Ji was a marginalized official who only did some odd jobs which were tedious and produced no political achievements.
Zhao Ji heard the sound and raised his head. "Will you return to the capital for the New Year this year?"
Chang Lian and Zhao Ji were just friends for the sake of face, "No reply."
Zhao Ji was used to Chang Lian's tone, and said with a smile: "I heard from my wife that you have been married for seven or eight years."
Chang Lian frowned. He had indeed been married to Chu Chu for some years, but they had not consummated their marriage before. He did not like talking about family matters with Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ji said to himself again: "My wife is pregnant, I hope it's a son."
The officials in the room congratulated him upon hearing this, and one envious official said, "It's good to have many children and more blessings."
Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Come to think of it, Lord Zhou only has two daughters."
The officials in the room were stunned. After thinking carefully, it was true. Lord Zhou had been married for many years and only had two daughters.
Chang Lian's face turned cold, "I just like girls."
He had heard these words more than once, but this was the first time they were mentioned to him. Thinking of his wife coming to Xuzhou to attend the banquet and being humiliated, his face became even colder. His parents had never asked him whether he had a son or not.
At home, Chuchu and the others left, and she stopped pretending, her face turned blue with anger, "The Zhou family doesn't take concubines, so why do they need to worry about whether I have a son or not? They even smashed the teacup I just used."
She used to be more restrained, but lately she has become more and more arrogant. She even dared to come to her house and imply that she didn't give birth to a son. Just thinking about it makes her explode.
The old woman said carefully: "Madam, don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry over these people. Don't get yourself hurt by being angry."
Chu Chu felt aggrieved. In the past, when she was in the capital, no one would talk about these things behind her back, let alone say it to her face. In Xuzhou, she didn't care at first, but later she explained. Now, some old ladies, who didn't know who gave them the guts to act like an elder in front of her, kept saying they were thinking about her and wanted to help her.
Chu Chu was so angry that her stomach hurt. Pah, don't be so shameless. The manager has taken care of things at Zhou Mansion. "I want to write a letter to my mother."
She wanted to complain to her mother-in-law, but as for her own mother, she would definitely urge her to give birth to a son.
In the capital, the emperor strolled out of the palace and went to the Ministry of Revenue first. Zhou Shuren was speechless. The emperor liked to go out of the palace and felt uncomfortable if he didn't go out for a few days. "Your Majesty, I see you."
The emperor smiled and said, "I brought some clothes, Shuren went to change."
Zhou Shuren was used to it, "Yes."
After leaving the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren asked, "Where does the emperor want to go today?"
The emperor held up a fan and said, "We will go to the opera this year."
Zhou Shuren, "Hmm?"
The emperor narrowed his eyes. He was used to going out. It was better to be outside the palace. "I have thought carefully these few days. I have missed too much in my life. I was trapped in the back house when I was young. When I was older, I was sent back to the frontier but was still trapped in the house. I will not play dumb anymore. I am always scheming. When the war breaks out, there will be swords and swords every day. When I become the emperor, I am even more trapped in the government hall."
After a pause, he continued, "Now that the government affairs have been handed over to the Crown Prince, I have a lot more free time. It's fun to go out of the palace and take a walk."
Zhou Shuren smiled. He would not sympathize with the emperor. What was there to sympathize with? He just felt that he had had too many contacts with emperors. He didn't know what the emperors recorded in history books were really like. The emperors he had contacted were also flesh and blood.
The carriage arrived at the theater. In winter, the most people come to listen to opera. Zhou Shuren doesn't like to go to the theater. Compared with the people in the capital who like to invite opera troupes to celebrate birthdays, the Zhou family doesn't like it very much, and they only invite a limited number of opera troupes.
Zhou Shuren got off the carriage first. Changyi's carriage happened to pass by and saw his father. Changyi signaled the carriage to stop, "Dad, why are you here?"
Shouldn't we be in the Ministry of Revenue at this time
Zhou Shuren was still surprised, "Why didn't you rest at home today?"
Chang Yi had already gotten off the carriage, "My son will show Master Yu around the capital."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Yin also got off the carriage.
On Zhou Shuren's side, the emperor was the last to get off the carriage. Changyi was dumbfounded when he saw it. He said why his father was not in the Ministry of Revenue, it turned out that he was with the emperor.
The emperor looked at the old man beside Chang Yi, Lord Yu. He knew who he was. "Would you like to listen to the opera together?"
Chang Yi was naturally willing. He turned his head to look at Lord Yu and introduced him in a low voice, "My father in front, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and the other one."
The emperor did not want to expose himself, so he answered, "Friend."
Chang Yi almost bit his tongue, but luckily he managed to keep his composure, "Well, this one is my father's friend."
Yu Yin raised his eyebrows and smiled, "I hope I won't disturb you two!"
The emperor said, "Don't disturb me. It's better to listen to opera with more people."