In a blink of an eye, the prince and his entourage finally returned to the capital. The return journey was smooth and saved them a few days of travel compared to the trip there.
Zhou Shuren looked at the city gate and said, "I'm finally back."
We spent some time in Zhangzhou on the way, more than half a month on the round trip, and the New Year's Eve was just around the corner.
The carriages entered the city. The streets of the capital were very lively. Everywhere was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns in preparation for the New Year, and the streets were bustling with people.
Zhou Shuren wanted to go home first, but unfortunately it was impossible because the emperor was still waiting in the palace. He could only follow the prince's carriage into the palace.
When he arrived at the palace, the retired emperor was also there. The emperor looked at his eldest son who had grown a lot, and his eyes were full of relief. He said that if he didn't want to be a king in the city, he had to use his own eyes to see and ears to hear the real sounds.
The emperor hugged his son and patted his back, "Okay, okay."
The prince couldn't help but blush. His father praised him. Well, his father missed him too.
The Emperor waved his hand, signaling the Crown Prince to come over, "Well, you've become much stronger after going out."
The prince smiled, "My grandson has indeed grown stronger."
The emperor withdrew his gaze from the prince and said, "You two adults have worked hard on the journey."
Zhou Shuren wanted to ask if I should be paid for my hard work, but he said, "I am not tired."
Lord Yan was more cautious when facing the emperor. He just accepted the beating and said, "It's not hard for me."
The emperor had a smile on his face. When he saw Master Yan, his smile did not change. He continued, "The end of the year is approaching, and many tributes have been sent from various places. Fruits in the capital are precious. I have already arranged for them. You two masters can take them back to the palace when you leave."
Zhou Shuren was happy this time. Tributes, the tributes of this dynasty were not a lot of leftovers picked from various places to fool people. Because they didn't dare to, they were all the best. Although the insurance technology in ancient times could not compare with the modern ones, don't underestimate the ancients. Ordinary people did not have the money to support it.
The tribute fruits sent to the palace in winter are all hard to find on the market!
Zhou Shuren thought to himself, the emperor wouldn't be so stingy as to only give one box.
The emperor didn't have much to talk about today. He really missed his sons. He had always had his eldest son by his side. He hadn't been around for these days, and even though his other sons came over from time to time, the feeling was different. He wanted his sons to go and have dinner with the queen.
The emperor said: "You two adults have been away from home for many days, so I will not keep you for long."
Lord Yan, "I will take my leave."
Just as Zhou Shuren was about to speak, the emperor spoke up, "I haven't seen Shuren for a long time. It's still early now. It won't be too late for Shuren to play a few games of chess with me before returning home."
Zhou Shuren, “… .”
Bah, he just wants to go home now. Who wants to play chess with an old man
Lord Yan felt emotional. At this moment, he could feel more deeply the difference in the royal family's attitude towards the Zhou family. They were indeed blood relatives. Thinking of this, Lord Yan discovered that the only families in the entire capital that were truly related to the royal family seemed to be the Rong family and the Zhou family. The Ning family was also considered as such, but her maternal family was an outsider, while the Rong family was a closer relative to the emperor.
Lord Yan felt that he had to be more careful when facing Lord Zhou in the future. He nodded to Lord Zhou and followed his father-in-law out.
The emperor and the crown prince also left, leaving only the emperor emeritus and Zhou Shuren in the hall.
The emperor motioned Zhou Shuren to sit down, and waited until the chessboard was set up before he spoke: "Are there any interesting things to do in Zhangzhou this time?"
Zhou Shuren held the chess piece and said, "You know better than me."
There are people following him every day, so there is nothing that the emperor doesn't know.
The emperor choked and then his face darkened. He did know a lot, but the emperor didn't tell him what he wanted to know the most. "I miss you every time I go out."
Zhou Shuren smiled, "I am also thinking about the emperor."
"I bring you gifts wherever I go."
How straightforward it is. Now you understand what I mean.
Zhou Shuren had a subtle expression. He suddenly regretted buying the gift. It turned out that the emperor wanted his gift. He would not have spent any money if he had known this.
The emperor observed Zhou Shuren and understood. "I knew you were thinking about me. Where is the gift?"
Look at Zhou Shuren's painful expression. Haha, he actually regretted buying it!
Zhou Shuren took a deep breath and said, "I didn't bring it into the palace."
"I'll send someone to get it."
Zhou Shuren, "Yeah."
The emperor didn't have much energy to play chess anymore. "What did you buy?"
Zhou Shuren replied dryly, "Specialty."
The emperor has liked to travel to the south in recent years, but he has never been to Zhangzhou. Struck his beard, he thought he would be able to see it soon.
The emperor was no longer bothered about the gift. He was in a very good mood. "After you left, the grassland tribes came to Beijing."
Zhou Shuren became alert. The retired emperor had completely let go and never interfered with the emperor's decision-making over the years. Why was he saying this to him today
The emperor seemed not to notice Zhou Shuren's nervousness. "I won't discuss this with you. I'm talking to you about Linxi. These tribes have become more ambitious in recent years and even want to marry Linxi."
Zhou Shuren squeezed the chess piece tightly, "Heh."
The emperor smiled. This old man was very protective of his son. After he abdicated, it was difficult for him to interact with the ministers of the previous dynasty, let alone meet with ministers alone. The only person he could meet was Zhou Shuren. "Your son has taught him a lesson."
Zhou Shuren glanced sideways, "Has he been taught a lesson?"
The Emperor nodded, "It's not easy for Rongchuan to arrange it himself. If it's too obvious, it will seem like we are stingy, so we found your second son. He's a good guy."
What is an embassy? Poisoning and so on are not allowed. How many countries are watching it? And there are many countries visiting us now.
Zhou Shuren was curious, "What did Changyi do?"
The emperor raised his lip, "On the first day, he replaced all the supplies of the various tribes on the grassland. The styles were luxurious and in line with the preferences of each tribe. On the second day, he replaced some of the embassy's servants. On the third day, he replaced the antiques."
Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows, "He is hinting step by step that the precious antiques of the grassland tribes can be found everywhere in the capital, and exquisite supplies are also common? As for the replacement of the errand boy, he must have been trained."
The emperor nodded, "Yes, for this, the embassy has turned out all its hidden treasures, and of course Rongchuan is behind it."
Zhou Shuren was amused, "The tribes must have lost a lot of money these days!"
The emperor raised his lips and said, "Yes, let them suffer so much that they can only pay the money obediently."
He had been watching Zhou Changyi's actions for seven days. The grassland tribes were unruly, so don't expect them to have a good temper. Of course, there were good ones too, and Zhou Changyi specifically picked those with bad tempers.
It's normal for him to throw things when he gets angry. He likes to throw things. It's normal for him to accidentally knock over the antique shelves or damage something.
The Ministry of Rites wrote a memorial to complain that the antiques that had been stored away in the bottom of the box were gone, which was a huge loss. They wrote a lot of memorials, and in the end the emperor contacted various tribes.
The emperor acted well, "I treated you as honored guests and used the best of everything, but you didn't respect my intentions. I don't want you to pay for all of this batch of antiques, just half of it."
The emperor confronted the princes of various departments several times and wanted to interrupt, but finally they agreed on compensation. By the time the compensation was paid, they didn't even know about it, as the real antiques had already been replaced by trained servants.