Chapter 45

Zhao Yelan handed over the remaining things to Butler Tan to arrange, took Xiao Gao to the bedroom, took out a house deed, and handed it to him: “You have been with me for so many years, you should start a family. You take Use this deed to see how the house is, see if it needs to be repaired, buy some new things, and find a girl you like.”

Xiao Gao looked at the house deed, then at him, and hurriedly took two steps back: “My lord, what I want are candied haws, not the house deed.”

“I know.” Zhao Yelan tucked it directly into his belt, and whispered in his ear, “When you grow up, you should have your own place to go. If you really can’t find a good place to go, then go to your uncle to arrange it. Will reschedule you to a good job.”

“I don’t want my uncle.” Xiao Gao’s mouth narrowed, “My lord, what’s wrong with you? Do you want me?”

Zhao Yelan sighed, and persuaded him kindly: “Don’t you want to marry a wife and have children?”

“I don’t want to.” Xiao Gao said without hesitation.

“…”

“If you marry a wife and have children, you will become a bad old man like Butler Tan, so I will follow your lord.” Xiao Gao asked suddenly, “My lord, are you going to die?”

“…”

“When my father passed away, you were like this! You don’t want to die, I don’t want you to die…” Xiao Gao said, his eyes were red.

“Okay, okay, I’m not dead yet, I won’t die.” Zhao Yelan coaxed, “Since you don’t want to marry a wife, then stay.”

“Yeah!” Xiao Gao wiped away his tears, nodded violently, suddenly paused, and quickly wiped again: “The general is here.”

Zhao Yelan looked outside, and Yan Mingting came over, he whispered: “Don’t let the third person know what we said today.”

“Understood.” Before Xiao Gao left, he carefully pointed to the candied haws in his hand, “Can you give this to me?”

As soon as Yan Mingting entered the room, he saw Zhao Yelan gave Xiao Gao the last piece of candied haws, and was about to speak, but Xiao Gao turned around with tears in his eyes, and ran out with the candied haws.

He opened his mouth several times, and only after a while did he ask, “What’s wrong with Xiao Gao?”

“I’m homesick.” Zhao Yelan sat down unhurriedly, then remembered that he had bought some food, and got up to look for something to eat.

“I saw it. You just gave him the candied haws.” Yan Mingting followed him, walking around beside him, noticing that he had bought a lot of delicacies, and said in his heart that there are still a few days before his birthday, so he is not afraid Is it broken?

“What? You want it too?” Zhao Yelan took out the drunken shrimp from Huichunlou, opened the paper bag, and immediately the fragrance wafted out.

“Well, I’m homesick too.” Yan Mingting blurted out.

Zhao Yelan gave him a strange look: “Whose house are you in now?”

“Oh…I mean, I miss my parents and my brother.”

“Then do you want to eat these?” Zhao Yelan asked, pointing at the big fish and meat he brought back.

“No, I want candied haws.”

“What’s wrong?” Zhao Yelan opened a paper bag next to him, which happened to be a few candied haws, and gave them all to him, “Take it.”

Satisfied, Yan Mingting walked aside with candied haws, and heard Zhao Yelan summon all the servants to divide up the big fish and meat.

Yan Mingting: “?”

In the end, while eating candied haws, Yan Mingting watched the servants happily eating fish and shredded chicken, regretting it endlessly.

“What happened to you today?” Yan Mingting couldn’t help asking.

“If you accidentally buy too much, it will stink after a long time. Why don’t you tell everyone to taste it?” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting reluctantly accepted this explanation, but in the next few days, Zhao Yelan felt a little abnormal.

First, I spent a lot of money to add a lot of things to the house. The tables and chairs were replaced with high-quality rosewood, the wooden screens were replaced with glazed ones, the weeds in the yard were pulled out, the fence of the chicken coop was repaired, and the fish pond was repaired. There are also some koi in the house, and even the “Braised Sauce” has its own extra-large cage. It seems that I can’t wait to renovate the entire General’s Mansion.

“It’s not right, it’s not right.” Yan Mingting stood in the lobby, looked at Zhao Yelan who was out shopping again, narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked Butler Tan beside him, “What exactly is he trying to do? ”

“Don’t you understand?” Butler Tan smiled joyfully, “Your Excellency is obviously preparing for your birthday. Isn’t it just to make you live comfortably by repairing the mansion generously?”

“Then why did he buy so many things?”

“Here’s a congratulatory gift for you. After all, it’s the first time celebrating your birthday. If you’re not sure, buy more.”

Yan Mingting suddenly realized and nodded, giving a thumbs up: “It’s still Uncle Tan who can see clearly.”

Butler Tan stroked his beard with a smile. After a moment of air, he picked up the broom and went to clean the mansion.

“That’s right, Uncle Tan, you go to the west and tidy up a wing.” Yan Mingting remembered another thing.

“Who will use it?”

“I don’t know if it’s useful or not, so prepare it first.”

Yesterday he received Zhong Yuehong’s letter. According to the distance, it would take only two days to reach the border, so this letter was written at the post station on the way. The letter briefly said a few things about the road, and then mentioned that she met Zuo Ran at the post station.

Zuo Ran came to the capital alone, saying that he wanted to find the general, but he was in a hurry, without even taking a sip of water, he hurried on his way.

Zhong Yuehong couldn’t find out the reason, but knew that something had happened, so he hurriedly wrote a letter and sent it to Jingzhong to let him know in advance.

If he was traveling day and night, Zuo Ran should arrive at about the same time as the letter. No matter what happened, you will know it when you see it.

When it was time for dinner, Zhao Yelan hadn’t come back yet. Yan Mingting walked outside the gate and looked around for a while, a man ran up to him and asked, “Excuse me, is General Yan at the residence?”

“I am.”

“Someone asked me to hand this to you.” The man handed him a letter and ran away.

Yan Mingting opened it, and there was an address written on it. He packed the letter, walked along a secluded path, and came to a small farmyard. According to the instructions in the letter, he knocked on the door five times in succession, and the door opened. Open.

Yan Mingting looked at Xiao Gao who opened the door, and said, “What’s the matter?”

“Inside, please.” Xiao Gao signaled him to go in quickly, and then guarded the door.

Yan Mingting took out the letter, walked towards the person at the table, and put it in front of him: “What’s wrong with asking me to come here after so much trouble?”

“Can’t I call you out if nothing happens?” Zhao Yelan asked back.

“Of course it’s possible.” Yan Mingting smiled, sat down beside him and looked around. There was only one candle lit in the room, and the environment was a bit dark, so he had to move the chair a little to the side so that he could see Zhao Yelan’s face clearly.

Zhao Yelan turned his head to the side, he looked back impartially, and grinned: “I came here specially to meet you, what is the matter?”

“Introduce a friend to you.”

“Friend? Who is it?”

As soon as the words were finished, there were five knocks on the door, not light or heavy, and Xiao Gao glanced out through the window before opening the door.

Yan Mingting looked at the gate suspiciously, but didn’t see it clearly for a while, and only after the other party walked in, he pointed at the person who came, dumbfounded, and was speechless for a long time.

The person who came didn’t seem to expect that there were other people there, and he was stunned for a moment before looking at Zhao Yelan suspiciously: “Why is the general here?”

“It’s okay, come in.” Zhao Yelan said.

“Yes.” The visitor restrained his surprised expression, walked over calmly, and sat down on the other side of him, who happened to be face to face with Yan Mingting.

Now that he could see his appearance clearly, Yan Mingting couldn’t hide his surprise, and said in shock, “Kan Chuan?!”

“General Yan, long time ago, I have wanted to visit you for a long time, but I have never found an opportunity, but I don’t want to meet you here.” Kan Chuan smiled slightly, and his speech and demeanor were somewhat similar to Zhao Yelan. , or people of the same kind.

“You, you… Aren’t you **** for tat?” Yan Mingting was so shocked that he couldn’t recover for a long time.

No wonder he didn’t think about it at all. After returning to Beijing, he went to the court with Zhao Yelan for the first time. He witnessed Kan Chuan’s request to abolish Zhao Yelan’s official position, and learned from the mouth of the officials that the two men went to court together. Verbal arguments often occurred. Even if Zhao Yelan went to the Imperial Academy, he was repeatedly mentioned and whipped by Kan Chuan from time to time.

Originally, he admired Kan Chuan’s temperament. If he hadn’t always insulted Zhao Yelan openly, he might still be able to make friends with him. I really didn’t expect it…

“It seems that General Yan has been fooled by this trick. Does it mean that my acting skills are not bad, Mr. Zhao?” Kan Chuan looked at Zhao Yelan with a smile, and Zhao Yelan also smiled.

“Then you asked to abolish him in the court that day, but it was actually…”

Kan Chuan took a look at Zhao Yelan, and seeing that he didn’t object, he knew that he had come here tonight to tell General Yan his hole card. It seemed that their relationship was closer than he had imagined.

“Master Zhao’s idea.” Kan Chuan said.

Yan Mingting understood everything, presumably it was Zhao Yelan who saw the emperor’s intentions behind the imperial decree, so he simply retreated and let Kan Chuan be the first to bear the brunt, so he was appreciated by the emperor and became the support of Qingliu. There is no objection to the extraordinary promotion. Now that he has become a new celebrity in front of the palace, but no one insults him like he insulted Zhao Yelan, but he has gained a lot of support.

And Zhao Yelan seems to have withdrawn from the court, but in fact he still holds the greatest power. Moreover, you don’t have to go to court all day, face the enemy, hide in the Hanlin Academy, and deal with a group of Jinshi, but you are relaxed and happy.

At first Yan Mingting saw that he didn’t look decadent after being demoted, he only thought that he was optimistically accepting the fate arrangement, but he didn’t think that the arrangement had been made long ago, he still underestimated Zhao Yelan.

“The last time we learned about Yue Hong’s entry into the palace in advance, you also revealed it?”

“That’s right, the emperor asked me to discuss this matter. I thought this matter was extraordinary, so I passed the news to Mr. Zhao.” Kan Chuan said.

It turned out that this was Zhao Yelan’s person in the court. At that time, he was warned that if he couldn’t bear it, he would cause chaos and great conspiracy. If the court’s eyeliner was exposed, there would indeed be endless troubles.

No wonder the two were flirting with each other during the Enrong Banquet.

“My lord, recently the right minister asked the emperor to invite you to return to the court several times on the grounds of numerous government affairs, but I temporarily stopped you. How do you think about this matter?” Kan Chuan asked.

“Stop it, I don’t want to go back yet.”

Zhao Yelan knew that Li Jinyu did this to repay his son’s gambling debts, or for Yan Mingting. But Li Jinyu didn’t know that he was stepping down on purpose. Fortunately, Kan Chuan was alert and opposed Li Jinyu’s suggestion in time before he got his instructions, which made Qingliu’s group look forward to him even more.

“Okay.” Kan Chuan said again, “Yesterday, the Mongolian royal family sent a letter and wanted to make peace with the princess. Do you think this matter is harmonious or not?”

“There is only one princess in my court, and I haven’t reached Ji, so it’s natural to be at odds.”

“The emperor also meant the same thing, but the old prince insisted on getting married. He wanted his daughter to marry in the name of the princess.”

The old prince is the younger brother of the former emperor, an idle prince, with only a few daughters in his family, worried that no one will inherit the family property, while taking concubines and having children, he used his daughters to win over the powerful, and now he actually turned his idea to the Mongolian prince .

Zhao Yelan said firmly: “It can’t be done firmly. The Mongolian people surrendered. We will send the princess and princess to get married. What prestige is there? The Mongolian people are just testing. Once they see us backing down, they will only ask for more in the future. Besides, have they forgotten how to surrender? Although the Yan family army has returned to the court, they are not dead yet, so what is there to fear?”

Yan Mingting was shocked, and looked at him with burning eyes: “That’s right.”

“Okay, then tomorrow I will have a good fight with that old prince.” Kan Chuan said with a smile.

Zhao Yelan nodded, and there is another thing to ask: “The water report letter in the Huainan area said that there may be a risk of flooding, and the imperial court has distributed the disaster relief money, but I heard people from the south of the Yangtze River say that it has been sunny for ten days. Let’s send people to check to see if it was a mistake in the population of Jiangnan, or the water reporter lied about the disaster situation.”

“Yes.” Kan Chuan said worriedly, “Natural disasters are the most difficult. The imperial court prepared silver taels as soon as they received the notice, lest it would delay the rescue of the disaster. The water reporter is an official position that has just been established, and he is afraid that someone will take advantage of this and the changeable weather.” For reasons of false concealment.”

Listening to the two of them discussing the court affairs, Yan Mingting gradually accepted the fact. He didn’t expect that the thick-eyed Kan Chuan was also with Zhao Yelan. How many surprises did he not know?

Zhao Yelan talked too much, coughed twice, and Kan Chuan asked concerned: “How is your health, my lord?”

“Still the same.”

“You should pay more attention at ordinary times. I’m still waiting for you to come back and work with you.”

Why do these words sound so familiar?

Yan Mingting thought about it carefully, recalling the day when Zhao Yelan was dismissed, Kan Chuan once said in front of all the officials after the court dismissed: “Master Zhao, I look forward to seeing you again in the court hall.”

What did Zhao Yelan say? Oh, he said, “You’d better be alive when I come back.”

Everyone present at the time, including Yan Mingting, thought they were being sarcastic, but they didn’t know that there was a truth in the play.

The candle was about to burn out, and the night was already dark. Zhao Yelan told Yan Mingting to leave first, then opened the box that had been on the table, inside was a pair of jade ruyis and golden locks, and said, “Is your child about to be born? I may not be able to drink a glass of full moon wine in person at this time, so I will give you the meeting gift in private.”

“My lord, what are you doing? The child won’t be born until autumn, so it’s too early to send a gift now,” Kan Chuan said.

“I just happened to see it when passing by, so I bought it. If you don’t like it, I’ll exchange it for another gift.”

Kan Chuan hurriedly put it away with a smile: “Enough is enough, then I would like to thank Mr. Zhao. Now that the child is mentioned, I have a heartfelt request. Would you be willing to be my child’s adoptive father?”

Zhao Yelan blinked and said, “No…”

“My lord, don’t be in a hurry to reject me. Anyway, Li Niang and I only recognize you. We can be together thanks to you, my lord. I won’t repeat the other words of gratitude. I owe it all to today.” My lord, the only person I admire is you, after all, not everyone is willing to bear so much infamy.” Kan Chuan said loudly.

Zhao Yelan felt that he was not as great as he said, anyway, these bad things were done by Zhao Yelan, so what did he have to do with Zhao Mengting?

“Let’s talk about this matter after your child is born. It’s too early to mention these things now.”

At that time, he will have disappeared from the eyes of the world, and the name Zhao Yelan, regardless of its stigma or power, will be completely buried in the tombstone of history over time.

And the living one is Zhao Mengting, free for a lifetime.

After the conversation, the two left. Zhao Yelan walked out of the courtyard for a while, and heard unhurried footsteps behind him. He said without looking back, “Didn’t I tell you to go back first?”

“I want to wait for you, can’t I?” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk forward, but this person did not follow and kept a short distance from him.

He stopped and looked back at the other side.

Yan Mingting smiled and said, “I just want to see how many people are behind you?”

Zhao Yelan frowned: “Then how many people did you see?”

“I’ll look forward and backward horizontally and vertically, behind you…” Yan Mingting twirled his finger around, and finally pointed to himself, “It’s just me.”

The corner of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched.

After lying down at night, Yan Mingting asked curiously: “Kan Chuan has become much more powerful now, are you not afraid that one day he won’t listen to you and will bite you back?”

“I dare to give him the power to go up, so naturally there is a way to pull him down.” Zhao Yelan said, “Besides, he is born with a strong love and righteousness, so he won’t turn back easily. If you need him in the future, just go find him.”

“You asked me to meet him today, what do you mean by saying that now? You want him to help me investigate my father’s case?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, and said: “I also have my own affairs, and it is impossible to help you all the time. Kan Chuan is a good candidate. You can observe it for a while before making a decision.”

This was the reason why he organized this meeting today, if there was anything else he could do for Yan Mingting before leaving, it would be this matter.

“Aren’t you planning to put down the pick?” Yan Mingting said, “That’s why you found someone to take over the offer?”

The words are rough and the rationale is not rough.

Zhao Yelan counterattacked: “I just want to find a few more trustworthy people for you, whether you like it or not.”

Yan Mingting did not say anything more.

The next day, when Zhao Yelan came back from the Imperial Academy, he heard bustling noises from afar, and then the sedan chair stopped, and he went out to have a look. It turned out that someone had taken in two beautiful concubines at one time. Blocked.

He had no choice but to order the sedan chair to go back, and he took Xiao Gao to walk through this distance. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the red-faced master standing at the door. He was very young, and he kept showing off how amazing his concubine’s room was.

concubine room…

After he left, Yan Mingting would marry a wife and take concubines again, right? The Yan family itself is sparsely populated, if he, the man whom the emperor forced into him, dies, it would be normal for him to have a son.

He was lost in thought when he suddenly heard a sarcastic remark in his ears: “What are you looking at? Do you also want to see other people’s beautiful concubines?”

Zhao Yelan was startled, turned his head, and brushed Yan Mingting’s cheek with his nostrils: “Why are you here?” How busy is it to be haunted every day?

Yan Mingting blinked nonchalantly, then pretended to be angry and said: “I just happened to pass by, and I saw you standing here staring at the beauties in other people’s houses in a daze.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t want to argue with him, so he continued to move forward, followed closely by Yan Mingting. Going around a few alleys and entering the main road, seeing that he was about to reach the General’s Mansion, suddenly someone not far away called Yan Mingting: “General!”

The two turned their heads together, and saw a horse stop abruptly, with its hooves raised high, almost stepping on Zhao Yelan, Yan Mingting pulled him away in time and stood aside.

Sitting on the horseback was a young woman with a fair face and heroic features, but still elegant, with bright eyes and good looks, but her clothes were dirty and smelly, her hair was messy, her lips were dry, and her appearance was indeed a bit of a vicissitudes.

“Zuo Ran.” Yan Mingting saw who was coming, and called out her name.

“You know me?” As soon as Zhao Yelan finished speaking, she saw the woman get off the horse neatly, but her knees seemed to have no strength. When she bent her knees, Yan Mingting just stretched out her hands to help her, but the woman immediately fell on Yan Mingting’s shoulders. Ming Ting’s body.

Zhao Yelan: “…”

“General, something happened.” Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes, she grabbed his arm and begged, “Can you help us?”

Seeing this, Yan Mingting knew that something was wrong, and quickly supported her: “Go back and explain in detail, the wing room has been prepared for you.”

Zhao Yelan stood on the spot, looking at their backs, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a stern look flashed in his eyes.

— It’s okay to hug and hug in the public, but even the wing room is ready without saying a word?

He winked at Xiao Gao, and said in a cold voice, “Let Gu Youyou check, who is this woman of unknown origin?”