Chapter 244 Queen Mother, please do not interfere in government affairs
The slightly plump young man hugged seven bottles of honey to his chest, as if he had found a treasure.
Others were happily singing brothel tunes and walking with vigor.
Lu Sen was walking side by side with him. Seeing him so proud, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you so happy?"
"Of course I am happy." Su Shi's eyes were almost closed with laughter. "This is the legendary Immortal Jade Honey. Even the government didn't get a few bottles of it, but I got seven bottles. Isn't this a big win?"
“That’s because you write well.”
"Not good enough." Su Shi chuckled and said, "It's a pity that my talent is limited, otherwise I would have to take more than ten or twenty bottles from you, Lu Zhen."
He didn't brag about it now.
Su Shi did not just write poems and lyrics casually to make up the number, but he really pondered and thought hard about seven of them on the spot.
Although they are all travel poems, they are not as heart-wrenching as the sentences he wrote later, such as "There is no place to talk about the desolation" and "The moon waxes and wanes", but the level is much higher than that of ordinary literati.
So Lu Sen generously gave him seven bottles of honey.
This number may seem large to outsiders, but to Lu Sen himself, it is a small number.
Not to mention that there are at least three hundred bottles stored at home, there are still more than forty bottles in his own system backpack.
Since we no longer have to deliver honey to people everywhere like we did in the capital, we now have more and more honey in stock.
Seeing him struggling to hold seven bottles of honey, Lu Sen asked, "Do you need help?"
"No, no." Su Shi quickly refused. He smiled and said, "Master Lu has reluctantly given me seven bottles. It would be inhumane to ask you to help carry them."
Su Shi thought that he was extremely talented, and Lu Sen had to give him seven bottles of honey. He must have lost a lot, and he felt heartbroken and regretted it. If he let the other party take the honey, what if he took it back?
I have to say that foodies’ thought processes are somewhat different from those of ordinary people.
The two men walked to the government office. Lu Sen was about to leave him when Su Shi said, "Master Lu, come in and sit down. I'm going to make a honey chicken stuffed with chicken. It's a dish I improved on myself. It's the only one of its kind in the world."
Lu Sen thought about it and agreed.
This was the first time Lu Sen had seen the Hangzhou government office. In fact, it was essentially similar to the Kaifeng government office, both being standard buildings.
When Su Shi entered the government office, several constables came to greet him. One of them bowed and said with a smile, "Prefect Su, we are just about to go on patrol. Are you going to entertain... Master Lu?"
This person had worked with Lu Huiqing before and had met Lu Sen.
Lu Sen also remembered him, and asked, "Any progress on the poisoning case at Fuguilou some time ago?"
"Not yet." The man clasped his fists and said, "But County Magistrate instructed that this matter has been handed over to the new County Magistrate Su, and if Master Lu asks, a copy of the case can be given to you."
It seems that this matter is not simple. Lu Huiqing is indeed not as good as Bao Zheng in solving cases, but he is still a more capable person. If he can't find out something, it is estimated that ordinary officials can't find it out either.
Lu Sen waved his hand and said, "Don't look at it anymore. There shouldn't be any useful clues."
If there was, Lu Huiqing would definitely make progress in investigating the case.
After all, Lu Huiqing was also facing a life threat at the time, so there was absolutely no reason for him not to investigate the matter carefully.
Su Shi looked at Lu Sen, then at the head constable, and asked, "Why don't I know about this?"
Even Su Shi, who didn't care much about the status of officials, knew that Master Lu's affairs must be given top priority.
Now someone wants to poison Master Lu. Why don’t these people tell me about such a big thing?
The head constable said with some grievance: "Su County Magistrate, I have told you this three times, and each time you said that the cases should be handled in order from the first to the last, and that the people in the world are not related to their status."
Su Shi recalled it and it seemed to be true.
He said to Lu Sen somewhat awkwardly: "Master Lu, please don't laugh at me. I really think so."
"Aren't you going to treat me to honey-stuffed chicken?" Lu Sen pointed inside with his fan: "I want to go in and sit down and rest for a while."
"no problem."
The two entered the house, and an old servant came out to arrange the reception. Su Shi changed into a coarse linen shirt and said with a smile, "Master Lu, please wait a moment. We will be able to eat in less than half an hour."
Lu Sen sat in the house and waited calmly.
This is the backyard of the government office. To put it bluntly, it is the "staff dormitory" provided by the government for officials. The Zhao Song Dynasty was quite wealthy. We can't say there are dragon carvings and phoenix paintings here, but at least it is decorated magnificently.
But Lu Sen felt very awkward.
He liked the environment in his cave.
A pavilion surrounded by beautiful flowers, plants and trees.
More natural and casual.
After waiting for a while, Su Shi brought out his proud improved dish, which was actually a whole chicken stuffed with spices and other ingredients and then steamed.
It smelled really good, and with the honey juice that Lu Sen gave him, it naturally tasted good.
Then Su Shi took out a jar of rice wine, poured it into an iron basin, added some longan and wolfberry, and put it on the charcoal stove next to it to cook.
Soon the aroma of wine filled the air.
The two of them drank wine and ate stuffed chicken.
Just chatting about anything and everything.
Lu Sen himself was extremely knowledgeable, and Su Shi was also a boaster, so he could always follow up on whatever Lu Sen said.
For example, Lu Sen said that there is a kind of glass made of carbon and is as hard as diamond.
Su Shi nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, I have heard of it. It is the coldest thing in the world. Hundreds of years ago, Yue Shu's crown was inlaid with a piece of it."
Lu Sen said: Although the eels in the Qiantang River usually live in fresh water, when they reach adulthood, they will swim back to the seabed thousands of meters deep to lay eggs. The muddier the water, the fatter the eel meat.
Su Shi: Yes, yes, yes. My family once caught a two-meter-long eel in the West Lake. The whole village ate it for three days and still couldn’t finish it.
Lu Sen: In the sky of the Far North, there are colorful clouds that stretch for hundreds of miles, which is very beautiful.
Su Shi: Yes, yes, yes, I have heard of it too. It seems to be the colorful clothes of the Queen Mother of the West.
Lu Sen looked at Su Shi's red face and hazy eyes, and was speechless.
After drinking two cups of rice wine, this guy lost consciousness.
After drinking for a while, Su Shi became more and more drunk, staggering and about to fall.
Lu Sen had to ask the old servant of the Su family to take care of him, while he went back to the Yang family to take Jinhua back to the cave.
After returning home, a few days later, Bilian and Pang Meir also came back.
There are only two of them, one is cheerful, and the other is full of worries.
Lu Sen had no choice but to find Bilian, who had always been very happy, and asked, "What happened to Mei'er?"
"The Pang family is in turmoil because of the peaches."
Lu Sen was stunned: "Master Pang didn't eat?"
Lu Sen thought that Pang Meir would definitely give the peaches to Master Pang after she returned.
Besides, Master Pang is the head of the family and has lived a very old age. Although he has a spiritual beast to protect him, he won't be able to enjoy it for many more years. It is reasonable to give the peaches to Master Pang.
Bilian snuggled in Lu Sen's arms and said, "Mei'er did give it to Master Pang at first, but Master Pang didn't want to eat it, so he gave it to the eldest son, and that's why there was a fuss."
Lu Sen understood that it must be that Master Pang’s sons were jealous and caused trouble.
Who doesn’t want the peaches that can increase one’s lifespan?
Bilian sighed and said, "Then Mei'er was also involved. Her parents said that it was their daughter who brought it back, and they had the right to decide how to deal with the peaches."
Lu Sen was surprised and asked, "Didn't Master Pang stop this?"
Lu Sen thought that with the prestige of Master Pang, it should not be difficult for him to suppress the entire family's descendants.
Bilian sighed, "If only it were that simple."
After thinking about it, Lu Sen had to let Bilian go and go find Pang Meir.
At this time, Pang Meir was in her room with red eyes.
Lu Sen walked over, hugged her in his arms, and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't think it through. I should have given you two or three more peaches."
Pang Mei'er shook her head vigorously: "It's none of your business. I know how rare the peaches are. It's already very doting for my husband to give me one more. It's just that my family is not good, so we made a fuss over this little thing."
After all, Pang Meir was a well-educated and well-mannered woman, and she knew very well that Lu Sen was not to blame.
All I can say is... the Pang family is no longer the warm Pang family she had imagined.
Seeing Pang Meir who was extremely lost, Lu Sen had to spend the whole night comforting her.
Others were also tactful enough not to disturb them.
The next day, Pang Meir got up first and made delicious food for Lu Sen to nourish his body.
Her feeling of loss at this moment had almost disappeared.
In fact, she also understood that if she married Lu Sen, she would be a member of the Lu family. If her parents could help, they would help. If they couldn't, then forget it. There was no need to worry too much about it.
But she was a sentimental person, and thought she was bringing back the peaches with good intentions, but ended up causing great unrest to Pang and his entire family.
Good intentions lead to bad consequences.
Moreover, Pang Meir was quite envious of Bilian. She also brought back a peach, but gave it only to the Prince of Runan.
As for other relatives who came to ask Bilian, she just said: The master only gave me one, if you want one, go and ask. I am just a concubine, I have no right to speak, what if I anger the master and give me away!
Just shut up everyone in the family.
At that time, it was a custom to give concubines away as gifts.
But generally speaking, even if the daughter of a rich and powerful family becomes a concubine, her husband's family would not dare to do anything improper with her.
But no one can guarantee whether Master Lu would dare to do so.
Lu Sen also knew that the birth of the peaches would definitely cause some disturbances, so he did not take it to heart. But in fact, the disturbance caused by the peaches in the court was far greater than he had imagined.
At this time in the court, Empress Cao was still ruling from behind the curtain.
The new emperor, who was less than ten years old, sat steadily on the dragon throne... in a daze.
After several ministers reported on the latest important political affairs, Ouyang Xiu wanted to step forward and talk about some political affairs, but Empress Dowager Cao spoke behind the pearl curtain.
"My lords, I heard in the palace that Master Lu has grown the fairy peaches in the Heavenly Palace, and that the Prince of Runan and Master Pang have each obtained one. Eating them can restore youth. Is that true or not?"
Everyone's eyes first fell on the Prince of Runan, and then on Grand Tutor Pang.
At this time, the Prince of Runan had no expression on his face, but he was cursing in his heart.
Originally, after he ate the peaches, he issued a gag order, and no one outside the Zhao family was allowed to know about it.
Even if it is accidentally spread, others will regard it as groundless rumors.
After all, there are too many rumors about Lu Sen.
But he never expected that something went wrong on the part of Grand Tutor Pang.
The entire Pang family started a fuss over a peach, and even Grand Tutor Pang couldn't calm them down.
The drama at Pang Mansion these days is very exciting.
The second and third brothers knelt in front of the hall and said in front of the ancestors that Master Pang was partial to one brother and always thought about the eldest brother in everything, and that their lives were very difficult.
After being scolded by Master Pang, the two ran outside to cry.
The wives that the second and third sons married were both daughters of prominent families.
After all, it's a match made in heaven.
As they cried like this outside, all the relatives of the Pang family came running, as if they wanted to see the peaches that could prolong people's life.
Although it is said that rainbow silk can also prolong one's life, it can only be eaten once and it simply prolongs one , unlike the peaches that can restore one's youth.
For example, the current Prince of Runan is already fifty-three years old, but after eating the peaches, he looks like a young man in his early forties.
This is much better than rainbow silk.
As a woman, Empress Dowager Cao is now old and ugly. When she heard this, how could she not be troubled?
Originally, the Prince of Runan had no intention of attending court, but the Empress Dowager Cao sent someone to the Prince of Runan's mansion the day before, insisting that he attend court today.
In the past, the Prince of Runan would not have been willing to attend the court and would have ignored it. But now that he had the intention of sending his son to the throne, he was more thoughtful about what he did.
Fearing that he was too domineering and would arouse Empress Dowager Cao's suspicion, he pretended to be unhappy and went to court.
Seeing that almost everyone's eyes were wandering between him and Grand Tutor Pang, the Prince of Runan knew in his heart that although the Queen Mother Cao said "all the nobles", she was actually referring to him and Grand Tutor Pang.
With no other options, he could only stand up and say, "Her Majesty, this is indeed true."
Although they already knew the answer, when they heard the Prince of Runan admit it, the officials still couldn't help but talk about it.
Soon, at the Queen Mother's signal, the eunuch next to her picked up the gong and banged it, and the court soon quieted down.
Queen Mother Cao smiled and asked, "How many peaches did the Prince of Runan receive?"
"There is only one, and it has been eaten."
"I guess it's very precious." asked Queen Mother Cao.
"According to my Bilian, it is true."
Empress Cao hid behind the pearl curtain, but her voice suddenly trembled, a mixture of extreme anticipation and extreme excitement: "Prince of Runan, can you contact Master Lu?"
"Difficult." The Prince of Runan shook his head and said, "He always takes the initiative to contact me."
In fact, it is very easy for the Prince of Runan to pass some information to Lu Sen.
"My lords, do you have any ideas for getting Master Lu back to the court?" Queen Mother Cao's voice was filled with urgency. "How can a man of his talent be away from the court? If he doesn't contribute to the country, he'll be like a pearl covered in dust."
All the officials knew what Queen Mother Cao was planning. She just wanted to give Master Lu a huge reward in exchange for a few peaches.
They have no objection because they want it too.
Ouyang Xiu frowned and was about to step forward to voice his objection.
And at this moment, someone stepped forward, it was Wang Anshi.
He stood very straight, cupped his hands and said, "Queen Dowager, please do not interfere in government affairs. Whether to summon Master Lu or not is a matter for the Secretariat to discuss."
