Chapter 43: Meeting an Old Friend
Zhu Hao knew that it was not easy to gain Lu Song's complete trust.
Now the two are in the same boat. Lu Song was forcibly dragged on board by Captain Lin, while he was given a mission by his family. Neither of them wanted to work for the court - to be more specific, for the royal family. They were completely unanimous in supporting the Xingwang Mansion.
"Lu Dianzhang, please go back and inform your son, and tell the prince and princess that I am here." Zhu Hao made the request again.
Lu Song looked questioning: "If you ask me to pass on the message, they will come...?"
Zhu Hao smiled and said, "I came to the palace to be their companion. As a good friend, will they turn a blind eye when they know I am here? In addition, I need to be able to enter and exit Prince Xing's palace freely. I hope Lu Dianzhang can help me with this."
Lu Song thought for a moment and nodded.
The East Courtyard does not belong to the inner quarters of the palace, so the security is looser. He only needs to say hello, but Lu Song will never let Zhu Hao enter the inner quarters of the palace easily.
"Okay, Lu Dianzhang, although we all want to get rid of the control of the Jinyiwei, we must try our best to protect ourselves. Our relationship cannot be known to others. We need a secret way to communicate... How about this, if there is anything urgent, we can draw a cross on the wall under the lantern at the entrance of the alley with charcoal... What do you think?"
Zhu Hao had an idea long ago. He wanted to cooperate with Lu Song, but they couldn't meet often, so they could only agree on an emergency contact method in advance.
Lu Song was even more confused.
How could Zhu Hao, at such a young age, have so many thoughts? How could he even think of such a strange way of contacting others?
This can only mean that there is indeed an expert behind Zhu Hao, and if that is true... then silencing Zhu Hao is completely impossible, because there are still people who know his identity, and once he overreacts, his actions will be more easily exposed.
…
…
After the two had a secret conversation late at night, Lu Song left quietly.
Zhu Hao was not sure whether Lu Song would convey the message to Zhu San and Zhu Si through Lu Bing, but this was the best solution he could think of.
The next two days.
With the help of Lu Song, Zhu Hao was finally able to enter and exit the Prince Xing's Mansion, but he had to enter and exit through a small door reserved for the cook in the east courtyard of the Prince Xing's Mansion at noon.
There have always been guards guarding this place, but since Lu Song had greeted them in advance, they ignored Zhu Hao.
At the same time, Zhu Hao noticed that there was a dog hole in the corner on one side. If a child was not afraid of being embarrassed, he could easily crawl in and out.
Perhaps this is the "secret passage" that Zhu San and Zhu Si used to leave the palace.
Although the people in the palace were deeply wary of Zhu Hao, after getting along with him for a long time, the people in the East Courtyard pretended not to see him when they saw him. They had no problem eating or leaving the palace. But as long as he walked slightly towards the inner courtyard, someone would immediately block his way and quickly drive him away.
Finally, at noon on the third day after Zhu Hao met Lu Song, just when he stopped chopping wood in the yard and was about to go out of the palace to buy some small items, Zhu San appeared at the door of the warehouse with Lu Bing.
"Hey, you're really here."
Seeing that the door was open, Zhu San poked his head inside and couldn't help grinning when he saw Zhu Hao standing next to a pile of firewood wiping his sweat.
This was the first time the two had met in ten days since they parted at the Flower and Bird Market.
Zhu San still looked carefree.
She was originally pretending to be her brother, and the palace's management of her was relatively loose, so she could bring Lu Bing to visit at noon.
Zhu Hao called people into the yard.
Zhu San and Lu Bing looked around, and Lu Bing asked stupidly, "What is this place?"
Zhu Hao said, "It's a warehouse... I've lived here since I entered the palace. I usually chop wood when I have nothing to do, just as a form of exercise."
Zhu San curled his lips and said, "How can this be a royal palace? At best, it's just the firewood room of the royal palace... Isn't your goal to study in the royal palace? Why are you willing to be a servant chopping wood here? You are quite ambitious!"
As soon as he heard it, he knew that the person in front of him was a sharp-tongued person who liked to mock others. Perhaps it was because he had been threatened by Zhu Hao before, so he wanted to get back at him as soon as they met.
Zhu Hao looked very satisfied and shook his head, saying, "It's actually better to work here than to be taken back home to be an apprentice... Besides, didn't I come to the palace to be your companion in study? Maybe after I live here for a while, the people here will be kind enough to allow me to study?"
Originally Zhu San wanted to continue teasing Zhu Hao, but after hearing these words, a look of shame appeared on his face.
Just like she had asked Lu Bing to pass a message to the rabbit seller before, she was well aware that the palace did not welcome Zhu Hao and had tried to issue a warning.
But now that Zhu Hao has entered the palace, everything needs to be prepared again.
"Why didn't I see your brother?" Zhu Hao asked.
"He had a serious illness before, but now he's feeling better. His family doesn't let him go out freely, so I wanted to bring him here for a walk... Oh, by the way, what fun things do you have here? Do you have any rabbits?"
Zhu San was at the age of being innocent and playful, and she regarded Zhu Hao as a playmate, so she was a little outspoken.
Zhu Hao said: "No one told me you were coming, otherwise I could have made preparations in advance... The weather has been very hot recently. Usually when I'm outside, I would try to get some ice and make iced sour plum soup or something. You can try it if you have a chance, but I really don't have any today."
Zhu San laughed heartily and said, "Zhu Hao, why do you like to brag so much? You can get ice? The palace has an ice cellar, which stores ice bricks specially shipped from the north in the previous winter. Every year, ice is released during the Qingming Festival and is basically used up before the beginning of autumn... If it is already halfway through the summer, there is not much stock left, and it takes several days to release a block of ice... Where do you go to get ice?"
Zhu Hao spread his hands and said, "If you don't believe me, forget it. How about you come back tomorrow and I'll give you some iced sour plum soup?"
Meeting Zhu San again is not the purpose. The most important thing is to attract her attention. Zhu Hao has to take out all the delicious and fun things one by one and show them to her, so that she and her brother will come often .
Otherwise, if the brother and sister only come occasionally and the people in the palace cannot know about it, how can they help him to successfully join the palace as a companion?
"Okay, if you want to brag, I won't stop you."
Zhu San didn't take it seriously. He looked at Zhu Hao with sparkling eyes and said, "Actually, I came here to tell you that even if you enter the palace, it is unlikely that you will be able to study with me and my younger brother, let alone you stay here... you may only be able to chop wood for the rest of your life."
Children are simple-minded. This may not be pleasant to hear, but it is absolutely the truth.
Just like Lu Song’s advice to Zhu Hao.
The palace is on guard against you, there is no point in you staying here.
"I have a carousel here, do you want to see it?" Zhu Hao asked.
"What is a revolving lantern?"
Not only Zhu San was interested, but Lu Bing was also very interested.
Zhu Hao said, "I can tell at a glance that your palace doesn't have anything fun. You don't even know about the revolving lantern. There are many people playing with it outside, but my revolving lantern is more interesting than theirs. Let's go in and take a look and you'll know."
…
…
In the room.
Zhu Hao took out the gadgets he had prepared.
Good things cannot be taken all at once; they need to be introduced gradually like treasures.
This time he only took out a zoetrope, which is a small lantern. He first lit the candle inside and then rotated the outer shell of the lantern. Just like a shadow play, the candle projected the shadow of the paper-cut inside onto the outer shell of the lantern. The outer shell of the lantern rotated rapidly, just like a horse-drawn tour, and was extremely agile.
It immediately attracted the attention of Zhu San and Lu Bing.
"It's daytime now, and even if the door is closed, it's still not too dazzling. If you come at night, you can see it more clearly." Zhu Hao said as he demonstrated.
Zhu San looked like someone who was bored and had nothing to do. He asked with a smile, "Then can you give me this revolving lantern? I helped you get into the palace. It's not too much to thank me by giving me a lantern, right?"
Zhu Hao said, "You just said that I would be chopping wood for the rest of my life after entering the palace. Why are you saying that this is your contribution and asking me to repay you?"
"Hey, you stingy guy, I knew you wouldn't give it to me." Zhu San pouted.
Maybe because she was familiar with Zhu Hao, her true nature was revealed.
Zhu Hao sighed and said, "It's not that I'm stingy. It's really because after I came here, I couldn't reunite with my family. I was very bored at night. How could I spend the long night without using this thing to kill time? When I get back, I'll ask my mother to make a few more and you can take them back."
Zhu San smiled and said, "You have a conscience. OK, I'll come back and get it."
Zhu Hao asked, "Why are you here today?"
Zhu San casually replied: "A Bing told me you were here... Hey, A Bing, where did you get the news?"
Ah Bing...
Zhu Hao felt awkward after hearing this.
Lu Bing looked aggrieved and said, "I listened to what my father said."
Zhu San said, "I wanted to come here yesterday, but it's not easy to leave the palace. I finally got the chance today... There are several ways to leave the palace. If you feel that the time is unbearable and you want to go back at night, I have a way to fulfill your wish."
Otherwise, how can we say that children will do anything for the sake of playing?
Zhu Hao sighed.
Born and raised here, Zhu San was extremely familiar with the environment of the palace, and sneaking out of the palace was as easy as eating and drinking.
But after listening to Zhu San's several ways of getting out of the door, Zhu Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You don't mean to say that every time you sneak out from the main gate you follow someone else?" Zhu Hao felt that this method of sneaking away did not involve any skill at all.
"Tsk, what else? The gate of the palace will open someday. Is it difficult to sneak out?" Zhu San felt that Zhu Hao was making a fuss out of nothing.
Zhu Hao was speechless for a while.
But think about it.
When Zhu San was discovered sneaking out of the palace, he was at most brought back, but before Zhu Hao had Lu Song's help, he would be kicked out if he was discovered...
The severity of the punishment is different, so the methods used are naturally different.
Zhu Hao asked, "Then how do I enter the inner courtyard of the palace?"
Zhu San said, "I can't possibly tell you this. What if you sneak into the inner house and watch the maids bathe? The inner court of the palace is very strictly controlled. I'm doing this for your own good. If you are discovered, breaking your legs would be the least of your problems."
She was an innocent child just now, but the moment she turned around, she started to act like a princess.
"Zhu San...is that your name? I want to raise a few rabbits here...unfortunately the rabbits in my house have no one to take care of them and they all died. How about you give me two of the ones I sold you before?" Zhu Hao said.
Zhu San glared at Zhu Hao, "You said you could raise it yourself... You killed it, how can I possibly raise it?"
Zhu Hao said, "Oh, I see. You didn't come to see me to reminisce about the past... You were thinking about catching some rabbits together again, right?"
Zhu San smiled until his eyes were curved, his eyelashes were long and looked like two crescent moons, and he opened his mouth to reveal a row of pure white teeth: "How come you are so smart? But I can't go out to catch rabbits now, how about this, you catch the rabbits and I'll come and get them, I won't use you for nothing, I'll give you money... three cents a rabbit, what do you think?"
