The Prince of Zhenguo was placed by Gao Fengtian in a remote village in Luo County. Originally, the Prince of Zhenguo thought that Murong Jie would arrange for him to go to the Great Zhou, but he did not expect that he had not yet left the emperor's feet. Although he had some resentment, it had been peaceful these days and there were no pursuers.
There are only a few hundred people in the small village. More than a hundred people died during the earthquake and epidemic. Now, there are only about three hundred people left.
Gao Fengtian was kind to the people in this village. When he brought the Prince of Zhenguo here, he said that he was a cousin from the countryside who came here to escape disaster and wanted to find a quiet place to live. The villagers were kind and took good care of him.
The prince of Zhenguo knew that his life was in the hands of others, so he did not dare to put on airs. However, he could not do anything like washing clothes or cooking. After he was infected with the epidemic, he was always coughing and his health was much worse. Over time, he was called a lazy man in the village.
Because he was Gao Fengtian's cousin, everyone treated him with respect and occasionally helped him cook, but as for housework like washing clothes, he had to do it himself.
This prince, who had been rich and noble for half his life, tasted for the first time the hardship of being a commoner.
This really cost him half his life.
"Lazy man, aren't you going to the fields again today?" Villager Chen Sange walked past his door and said jokingly.
Prince Zhenguo leaned against the door and said lazily, "I have a headache today."
"Didn't you say you had a stomachache yesterday? Why did you have a headache today?" Brother Chen San knew that he was a pretender and couldn't help laughing at him.
"I was hungry yesterday, so I had a stomachache. Maybe the medicine I took was not right, so today I have a headache."
Gao Fengtian made very good arrangements and gave him one and a half mu of land. As long as he worked hard, he would have food and drink.
However, this guy can’t even cook, so how can he work in the fields
Brother Chen shook his head, "You are so lazy that you will have nothing when the harvest comes."
"I will go to the fields tomorrow." Prince Zhenguo said aggrievedly.
Brother Chen San left with his hoe on his shoulder, saying, "Come to my house for dinner. The old hen died, and my wife said she wanted to make some soup."
"Okay, okay!" Prince Zhenguo's eyes lit up. As long as there was meat to eat, anything was fine.
Since coming here, he only had meat once when Gao Fengtian was still here, and after that he had either sweet potatoes or taro, which made his stomach bloated and he farted all day long.
When Murong Jie and others arrived, Prince Zhenguo had just returned from dinner at Brother Chen San's house. He was biting a branch of grass in his mouth and shaking his head in satisfaction.
"Back then, abalone, shark's fin, and bird's nest were not this delicious."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw three people standing at the door of his house. He walked closer and saw that it was Murong Jie. He sneered, "Oh, we have distinguished guests today!"
"I came here specially to visit Brother Chu. I hope you are living a good life!" Murong Jie said with a smile.
Prince Zhenguo pushed open the wooden door, entered the room and lit the oil lamp. "My humble abode is simple, I hope I will not be disrespectful to you, my dear guest!"
He sat on a chair, a low-legged chair moved from the village chief's house. He was tall and felt out of place sitting on a low chair. However, he put on the demeanor of a prince and raised his head, completely eliminating his laziness during the day.
In the room, besides this chair, there was only a long bench.
He pointed and said, "Prince Regent, please take a seat!"
Murong Jie didn't hesitate and sat down with his sleeves raised.
"Brother Chu is indeed a man who can accomplish great things. He is flexible and adaptable!" Murong Jie tried his best to sound more sincere. He knew that he could be flexible and adaptable when he first proposed the deal in prison.
In order to survive, he is quite shameless.
But if you can't live, what's the point of having a face? I think he is a man who knows the times.
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west. Who can predict what will happen in the future?" Prince Zhenguo sneered.
Xiao Tuo and Su Qing had nowhere to sit, so they wandered around the room bored, walked to the table, took a look, and asked, "Sweet potato?"
"That's my snack!" Prince Zhenguo glanced at him and said slowly, "I've eaten too much meat. Eat some sweet potatoes to relieve the stagnation."
It seemed as if he was still the prince who had countless fiefdoms.
"Good stuff. I'm hungry. Can I have a piece?" Xiao Tuo liked to eat these whole grains the most, and his appetite immediately came.
"Eat, eat, look at how greedy you are!" Prince Zhenguo said contemptuously. He was full of meat and naturally didn't take those pieces of sweet potatoes seriously.
Xiao Tuo held the bowl and walked to the broken threshold to eat heartily.
Murong Jie looked at his useless appearance, shook his head, and then looked at Prince Zhenguo, "I came here today to ask Brother Chu something."
Prince Zhenguo waved his hand and said, "If you want to talk about anything, I welcome it. If it involves the affairs of the court, I'm sorry I can't tell you."
"Brother Chu, this is a matter of great importance." Murong Jie took out a piece of gold from his sleeve pocket and played with it intentionally or unintentionally. "I hope Brother Chu can tell me something."
The prince's eyes suddenly widened, with dreamy and lovely bubbles in them. Gold? With gold, he could eat meat every day without having to go to the fields.
He had countless gold in the past, but now he is no better than a chicken after falling from grace!
He coughed, tried hard to retract his gaze, swallowed, and thought about changing his posture to be more comfortable, but his body was sunk in the chair, so changing posture was impossible, he could only move a little.
"These two people you brought are your servants, right? Let's put it this way. You don't have to say that I am too ruthless. There are two sets of clothes outside. Let them wash them and scrub the pots and pans in the kitchen. Whatever you want to ask, I will answer it."
Xiao Tuo was eating sweet potatoes. He almost choked to death after hearing his words. He stretched his neck to swallow and said with difficulty: "We are not slaves."
"Since you ate someone else's sweet potatoes, you have to wash the dishes. While washing the dishes, wash the pots and pans as well." Murong Jie instructed calmly, then looked at Su Qing. Before he could say anything, Su Qing automatically said, "I'll go wash the clothes."
Xiao Tuo was very reluctant, "This is a woman's job, and I'm not a woman."
"Okay, go ahead. Washing dishes won't kill you." Su Qing pulled his arm and dragged him out. He could hear Xiao Tuo's angry curses from a distance.
When Prince Zhenguo saw the two of them going out to get busy, he looked at Murong Jie with satisfaction... He held the gold in his hand, pondered for a moment, and said doubtfully: "The thing in your hand looks familiar. I have had it before. Can you show it to me?"
Murong Jie threw it over, and Prince Zhenguo caught it with one hand. Without even looking at it, he put it in his sleeve pocket and coughed, "Tell me, what's the matter?"
Murong Jie looked at his smooth movements and couldn't help but marvel. If this man really gained power in the future, he might become a big shot.
Murong Jie looked at him and asked, "It's like this. I want to know, what did the old lady of the Qin family say to you when she came to you? Or what did she promise you? Why did you believe her so easily and bring people into the palace without any doubt? Logically speaking, this old lady is no longer in charge of things, and I heard that she was not a pro-war person before, so you shouldn't believe her."
(End of this chapter)