Seeing a prince, even if he was once a prince, treat Zhou Xian like this, Mrs. Chen felt like she was in a state of mixed emotions. The couple was so close that they would secretly do little things under the table in front of relatives, as if they wanted to be affectionate with each other every moment.
Especially when Li Yu personally let Zhou Xian taste the cold and warm, Chen Jiali was deeply hurt because Chen Jiali had just been burned and was still in pain, but no one really cared about her.
Chen Jiali could no longer bear it. She recalled the grief of her late husband who had treated her so well and the envy of her cousin.
She said silently: How sad I am! Even if others have fallen into the current situation of being like a stray dog, they can still snuggle up to each other for comfort, but what about me? What fun do I have in living in this world
Chen Jiali was overwhelmed by all kinds of emotions. She just wanted to ask the two of them to calm down, so she couldn't help but said: Cousin, have you decided what to do
Li Yu asked: "Mrs. Chen, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to expel us?"
Zhou Xian smiled and said: My cousin is a little stingy, but not to this extent.
They each have their own thoughts. In Li Yu's opinion, Chen Jiali is just Zhou Xian's distant cousin, who is somewhat related to him; but Zhou Xian mainly regards Chen Jiali as a close friend who shares the same interests as him. Their friendship is more important than their kinship, so he wants to be closer to her.
Chen Jiali shook her head with a worried look on her face: What are you thinking about? What I mean is that you have to think of a place to hide quickly. The Great Zhou court wants to send you back to the Southern Tang Kingdom to make friends with the new king of the Southern Tang Kingdom.
What? Li Yu was so frightened that his face turned pale and he retracted his hand.
Zhou Xian's pretty face immediately turned pale, and he was in no mood for love at all.
Chen Jiali felt happy when she saw this, but after a moment she felt that she had gone too far in her joke and regretted it a little. But she soon thought of a solution: just scare them, which was not too much. In two days, she could say that she had found the most powerful general in the Zhou Dynasty to help them solve the problem, and then she could say hello to Guo Shao and even ask her cousin for a favor.
My cousin and his wife really don't have the ability to run a business, but they are very knowledgeable and intelligent in poetry, singing, dancing, chess, calligraphy and painting. It's really not easy for them to be so innocent in such a chaotic world. Such a casual remark could scare them so much that they were almost shaking with fear.
The joke had already been made, so Chen Jiali could only bite the bullet and continue to make it up, otherwise Li Yu and this distant cousin would really bear a grudge; it was not right to say such things to scare others when they were down and out.
Of course, in Chen Jiali's opinion, it was also Zhou Xian's fault that they did not act like they were fleeing. If they were fleeing, they should have acted like they were fleeing instead of coming in front of Chen Jiali to anger her.
Li Yu was stunned and asked: How did you know
Chen Jiali remained calm and spoke without hesitation: Why? Doesn't the Sixth Prince, who is in an important position, care about what happened in the Zhou Dynasty? The emperor has passed away, and the royal family has left behind orphans and widows. It is self-evident how dangerous it is in today's world. Without a strong leader, the Zhou Dynasty's imperial guards are fighting among factions, which is very unstable. Now, as long as there is a slightly stronger force outside, not to mention a joint attack and retaliation by various countries, it will be a fatal blow to the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zhou Dynasty is no longer the original Great Zhou, and they are afraid of war now. The change of ownership of the Southern Tang Kingdom is a fact, and the Zhou Dynasty has no spare energy to interfere in the south. If we capture you and send you back to the king Li Hongji, we can befriend the Southern Tang and temporarily stabilize the situation.
Chen Jiali's words made perfect sense, and it really sounded like the truth.
She then said softly: I have made friends with General Guo. Didn’t he just come here today? I remembered your matter and decided to ask him about the court’s attitude and listen to what he said.
What should he do? Zhou Xian turned to look at Li Yu in panic, hoping that he could give him some advice.
Li Yu looked confused and said hurriedly: "Cousin, can you help us?"
I'm just a businessman. I'm living under the protection of others and making friends in Tokyo to protect myself. I don't have that much ability. How can I help? Chen Jiali said, if the Sixth Young Master was not in a hurry to write a letter for help, but just fled to Tokyo without alarming the court, I could still keep it a secret for you; now you have brought so many guards and followers to the Zhou Dynasty Liguan, and everyone in the court knows about it. Who would have the courage to hide it? For now, it is better to return to the country voluntarily. After all, the king is the Sixth Young Master's brother, he should show some mercy.
Li Hongji even dared to poison his own uncle. Li Yu shook his head vigorously. I won't go back, even if I die.
Zhou Xian also said: Li Hongji is a madman. He threatened my husband. Think about it, there is no reason to rape someone like me. Rather than dying in humiliation, I would rather die with my husband with a clear conscience. We can no longer sleep in the same bed in life, and we can be buried in the same grave in death, as long as I can be with my husband.
Chen Jiali was stunned when she heard that she was still in the mood to talk about her affection.
Li Yu hurriedly said: Guo Shao is Fu Yanqing's son-in-law, and his wife is the current empress dowager's sister, so he must be able to speak to the empress dowager. Since my cousin has a friendship with General Guo, I ask my cousin to plead with General Guo. Now the Southern Tang is very afraid of the Zhou Dynasty and will never dare to mobilize troops easily. Even if they don't send us back, Li Hongji doesn't have the courage to start a war.
I'll give it a try, but my relationship with General Guo is not that close yet, and he is willing to listen to me in everything, Chen Jiali said.
Li Yu said: I have a lot of money with me. It is rumored that General Guo is greedy for money.
General Guo is greedy for money, but he doesn't value money. Chen Jiali thought of him giving her expensive treasures with a wave of his hand, and said affirmatively. Chen Jiali is a businessman who values profit, but she also doesn't put money first. She can't ask Li Yu for money, so she quickly said that money can't solve the problem, it's better to rely on friendship, I'll persuade him to give it a try.
Li Yu was worried and asked: "Besides money, what else is General Guo greedy for?"
This sentence immediately reminded Chen Jiali, and she couldn't help but secretly glance at Zhou Xian. An evil thought emerged in her mind, but she thought it was too much. If Li Yu had any treasures, Zhou Xian was obviously the most rare and precious thing; even Li Yu's brother completely ignored ethics and morality and wanted to occupy it, and he almost forgot his last name because of his greed.
Gradually, Li Yu and Zhou Xian both fell silent with heavy hearts, as if they were facing misfortune.
Chen Jiali immediately felt relieved. She thought that she was indeed a bad person and it was only because she was sad that she thought it would be good to see others sad too.
At this time, Aunt Sun followed Chen Jiali's instructions and selected a few items for her to appreciate. Chen Jiali's mood gradually improved. She took out one and opened it with great interest. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and her face changed: this was an authentic work of Wang Xizhi.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy Chen Jiali completely forgot her feelings just now and hurriedly took it to Zhou Xian. Look, how come this thing still exists in the world
Zhou Xian was in no mood at all, and just glanced at it: If it is real, congratulations to my cousin, it is priceless. However, this kind of calligraphy with the greatest reputation has the most fakes, and it is difficult to tell at a glance, so let's find someone to check it first.
Aunt Sun said softly: I have just checked carefully, there is no problem with the paper and ink, especially the age of the paper. If it is a fake, it must be a fake from hundreds of years ago.
Besides, Zhao Pu is a scholar. Wouldn't it be a joke for him to collect fakes at home? Chen Jiali said in a daze.
It seems a little easier to forge a handwriting. Madam, please take a look at this one. Aunt Sun's eyes sparkled and she carefully held it over with both hands.
Chen Jiali gently unfolded it a little, and immediately exclaimed: "Oh, Yan Liben's Procession of Buddhist Monk Xuanzang is so beautiful!"
Zhou Xian couldn't help it, he leaned over to take a look, and said in surprise: Cousin, where did you get this thing? You can't show it to others easily.
Hey, Li Yu couldn't help but become interested in the Boudoir of Emperors painting. They were facing a life-and-death crisis. If this thing wasn't so rare, who would be interested in calligraphy and painting in this mood? Wang Xizhi's things should be even rarer, but there are too many fakes of that kind of thing. Zhou Xian didn't believe it just now; but this Boudoir of Emperors painting is very difficult to forge to this level.
Li Yu said: The paint and brushwork here are indeed incomparable to the copied pictures.
Chen Jiali was stunned, and she and Aunt Sun looked at each other in bewilderment. These calligraphy and paintings were extremely valuable, perhaps they could not be measured by money at all, and they were impossible to buy even if you wanted to.
Even if it is a fake, someone will buy it at any price. It would take hundreds of years for the paper to be in such a state, Aunt Sun said softly.
Who could believe that Guo Shao used a cart to load such things like this like scrap copper and iron.
Chen Jiali glanced at Aunt Sun and whispered: The gift is too heavy.
Aunt Sun asked: Do you want to return it
Chen Jiali was reluctant to part with them, and pondered: But he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would take things back after giving them away. It would be inappropriate to give them back, and he probably doesn't have the mood to collect these things. If he accidentally destroys them or gives them away to others, wouldn't it be a pity
What should we do then? Aunt Sun asked in a deep voice.
Chen Jiali was undecided for a moment. What should she do? If Guo Shao gave her 10,000 strings of cash, she wouldn't be under so much pressure, but these things were too valuable.
I'll take my leave first. Please don't be so formal with the Sixth Young Master and my cousin. If you need anything, just tell me. Chen Jiali stood up and said.
She hurriedly put away the two paintings and asked Aunt Sun to take them to see the carts of things.
Aunt Sun said: It is indeed possible that it is a fake made many years ago, but such fakes are also very valuable and look too similar. We cannot tell the authenticity by ourselves, so we need to find someone to do it.
An innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure. Chen Jiali said coldly, it is better not to tell anyone, find another place to hide it first and then sell one. As long as someone is willing to pay a very high price, we will know whether it is real or not.
12. Don’t be afraid of lice biting you if you have too many lice