Chapter 51 Home Visit
Lu Song had a look of loss on his face, and his mental state was not very good when he came out of the study in the palace.
He was surprised at the final result.
If all this was planned by Zhu Hao long ago, and he said he wanted to leave only because he knew the palace wanted to keep him, then how scheming must this kid be?
wrong.
He's just a seven-year-old kid, it's impossible for him to be so cunning!
If you really think about it, was the whole fire his plan? Then how could he be sure that he would be fine even if he came out of the fire covered in flames? Did he not expect that the door would be blocked by Jiang Maosun and others? But the fire did not spread to the door at that time. Did he set himself on fire in the house...
Lu Song unknowingly came to the courtyard near Chunhui Gate in the inner courtyard.
But Zhu Hao was sitting in the corner, and the argument in the yard had not yet ended.
A group of craftsmen were having a heated debate about whether Li Shun and others knew about it and who the accomplices of the sharp-haired hoe were. Zhang Zuozheng, the official in charge of the royal palace, was asking people to take notes.
Lu Song thought to himself, "A bunch of fools, they insist on arguing endlessly. If the palace records it, wouldn't it become ironclad evidence? It's like a dog biting a dog, are they going to end up in a fight to the point of mutual destruction?"
"Lu Dianzhang? Why did you come out just now? Take me out of the palace..."
When Zhu Hao saw Lu Song, he came over and made a request.
Lu Song said with a straight face: "Yuan Changshi ordered that you must continue to stay in the palace... I will arrange a new residence for you next."
"ah!?"
After a brief moment of surprise, Zhu Hao's eyes revealed endless fear.
Lu Song frowned and asked, "Didn't you say that you asked the prince to leave the palace, and the prince and Yuan Changshi agreed ?"
Zhu Hao did not answer this question. Instead, he asked in horror, "Lu Dianzhang, your palace doesn't want to leave anyone alive, right?"
Lu Song was stunned.
What do you mean, kid?
Does that mean that our palace is going to "close the door and beat the dog"?
"You haven't answered my question yet!"
Lu Song's attitude was indifferent. The current result was developing in the direction he was most worried about. Regardless of whether it was designed by Zhu Hao or not, he was very alert.
Zhu Hao was so anxious that he almost cried.
"I was afraid of dying in the fire when I saved people. I don't want any reward. I want to go home. You actually went back on your word... I want to find Yuan Changshi. He promised me to leave..."
As he said this, Zhu Hao was about to rush into the inner courtyard, as if he was going to find Yuan Zonggao to argue with him.
Lu Song stopped him and shouted, "No matter what, you must stay in the palace now. Your bedding has been burned. I will arrange it for you now... Follow me!"
…
…
Lu Song's heart was full of doubts, but he did not dare to disobey Yuan Zonggao's orders.
Zhu Hao stayed, and Lu Song was worried. He now had to guard against Zhu Hao's further actions, and at the same time think about how to report today's events to Captain Lin.
Should we tell Captain Lin that Zhu Houcong was caught in a fire, and Zhu Hao would have burned to death without having to do anything, and it was the little spy sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard who risked his life to rescue him?
The duty room of the Palace Guard Department is located on the west side of the palace.
"Old Map of Xing Mansion" marked it as "Ceremony Warehouse", with three rooms in the main house and three rooms in the east and west wing rooms, which is the same as the record of the royal palace in the eighth year of Hongzhi in the Wanli Huidian. The building on the east side is the "Imperial Stable" recorded in the mansion annals, but it was still just called a stable at that time.
"You can use my bedding first. It's what I use when I'm on duty... Don't walk around here casually. I'll arrange a room for you later."
Lu Song's face was gloomy. He took Zhu Hao to the duty room and asked Zhu Hao to use the bedding he usually used when he was on duty at the palace or resting during the day, while he went to deal with matters such as the palace's security and post-disaster disposal.
It cannot be completely confirmed that the fire was caused by the sharp-bristled hoe. Even if it was really set by the sharp-bristled hoe, we must prevent a bigger conspiracy behind it. The palace has increased its vigilance. As the chief of the ceremonial guard, Lu Song is very busy at the moment and it is impossible for him to do such a small matter as settling Zhu Hao personally.
After Lu Song gave brief instructions to his two subordinates, he went to the East Courtyard.
More than an hour later, when Lu Song came back from his work, he wanted to see how Zhu Hao was settled. He went to the duty room but didn't see anyone. He asked his subordinates, who were surprised: "Boss, didn't he say he was going to look for you? You didn't see him?"
Lu Song's heart skipped a beat.
Does this kid have any new conspiracy?
He originally wanted to teach his men a lesson for not keeping an eye on the man, but then he thought about how Zhu Hao was now commended by the palace as a little hero for putting out the fire, and that Zhu Hao had always been following Lu Song in and out, and Yuan Zonggao had asked him to arrange a place for Zhu Hao to stay. When Zhu Hao said he wanted to go find him, the guards from the palace's ceremonial guard department did not doubt him.
"Let's go and find that person!"
…
…
Lu Song was in a nervous mood. He was afraid that Zhu Hao would break into the inner courtyard and offend the palace's family members.
But when he asked the guards at the gate, he found out that Zhu Hao had taken advantage of the time when people were moving things and said he was going home to get new bedding and had gone out of the house.
Running away now?
Lu Song was really surprised.
"Lu Dianzhang, didn't you let him out?" The guard guarding the west gate of the palace was very curious.
Would Zhu Hao lie about something like this?
Didn't you, Lu Song, say before that if Zhu Hao went out of the east gate of the palace, there was no need to stop him and it was best not to come back after he went out? Now even if Zhu Hao goes to the west courtyard, your instructions should still be effective, right?
Only then did Lu Song realize that before Zhu Hao asked him to help him enter and exit the palace, he did indeed greet a few of his confidants. But now he was being used by Zhu Hao to sneak out of the palace?
Lu Song thought: "With this opportunity to save people, this kid can finally gain a foothold in the palace and study with the prince. It can be said that he has taken a big step towards completing the mission. Why would he run away? No, he will definitely come back!"
But after he asked, he found out that Zhu Hao found an excuse to slip away as soon as he left the West Courtyard, and it was clear that he didn't want to stay in the palace for a moment.
Lu Song had no choice but to report to Yuan Zonggao.
…
…
Zhu Hao did go home.
If you want to act, you have to play it full-time. There are so many old foxes in Prince Xing's Mansion. If I don't wipe out all the enemies, will they believe that the fire had nothing to do with me?
If they have any doubts, their future may be doomed, so...
"Xiaohao, why are you back? What's on you..."
Zhu Niang had been running the shop. Her son had been away recently, and she had been without a strong helper in her business. She was overwhelmed handling things on her own, and then she saw her son suddenly return home on a non-holiday.
Zhu Hao said: "The palace caught fire, I almost... Forget it, mother, I won't say any more, go change your clothes now, I won't go back today!"
Zhu Hao had another purpose for leaving the palace.
Although he was wearing a set of pitch-black clothes with many holes burned by the fire, the clothes underneath were actually fine. There was still some residual phosphorus powder on the outer clothes, and if someone examined it carefully, they would probably notice something.
If he stayed in the palace without even a change of clothes, and someone brought him changing clothes, the chances of his secret being discovered would greatly increase.
He had to go home and destroy the evidence.
He quickly went to the backyard, changed his torn clothes, put them in the brazier and burned them. When they finally turned into ashes, all the flaws disappeared.
"Brother, what are you doing? Mom is calling you."
Zhu Ting's voice came from outside the room.
Zhu Hao said: "I'm changing my clothes. Tell mom I'll be out in a minute!"
…
…
After finishing everything, Zhu Hao came to the shop in front.
He didn't take a shower because it was too troublesome and inconvenient to get ready, but after washing his face and changing into new clothes, he felt refreshed.
Aunt Li and Aunt Zhu were both waiting outside.
"Xiao Hao, you said the palace was on fire? What happened? Did you go to put out the fire?"
Originally, whether the palace caught fire or not had nothing to do with this small courtyard, and it was not thought that Zhu Hao would be involved. However, out of concern, Zhu Niang still asked about the situation.
Zhu Hao sighed: "Maybe someone wants to burn me to death."
Zhu Niang was horrified and asked , "How could this happen?"
At this moment, footsteps were heard outside, and several sedan bearers came over carrying a sedan, accompanied by guards from the palace's ceremonial guard department, led by Lu Song.
After the sedan chair landed, a man got down from it. He had fair skin, a three-foot long beard under his chin, gray hair tied in a bun, and a square scarf tied on the top. He was wearing a green Taoist robe. It was Yuan Zonggao.
"What a magnificent official sedan, they..."
Aunt Li exclaimed in admiration and was just wondering why this group of people stopped outside the shop when she saw the old man with an official air actually walking towards the shop, followed by a group of guards with swords. She immediately hid inside.
Zhu Hao followed his mother out of the door and asked first, "Mr. Yuan, why... are you here?"
Seeing that Zhu Hao knew her, Zhu Niang hurriedly asked, "Are you the master of the palace? Sir, are you all right? My son is in the palace. I hope he didn't cause you any trouble? He..."
Yuan Zonggao smiled as he looked up at the door of the shop. He then said, "As expected of a loyal general, Zhu Hao is brave and fearless. He has performed well in the palace and is highly praised by everyone... I came here specially to take a look and bring him the reward for his selfless rescue!"
As he said this, he waved his hand and asked Lu Song to hand over a bulging small bag.
Zhu Niang looked puzzled. She took the bundle, opened it and took a look. She felt sick.
Inside were five official ingots weighing five taels each.
“Ah? This… this…”
Although Zhu Niang was used to communicating with people when doing business, she became unarticulate when she suddenly communicated with high-ranking officials in the palace.
More importantly, she had no idea what was going on.
Yuan Zonggao smiled and said, "Why don't you invite me in for a cup of tea?"
Zhu Niang finally reacted and quickly made a gesture of invitation: "Mr. Yuan, please."
Yuan Zonggao was not shy. He came to the shop on his own initiative this time for a home visit... Even though he knew some things about Zhu Hao before, he could never believe what he heard. He might as well come and see for himself whether it was really as Zhu Hao said, that the orphan and his widowed mother had many conflicts with their family...
"Xiao Hao, is this Mr. Yuan a tutor in the palace? Is he a successful candidate in the imperial examination?" Zhu Niang took the opportunity to ask her son in a low voice.
In Zhu Niang's view, the Juren was like the Star of Literature, and she should respect him to the utmost.
Zhu Hao calmly replied, "He is the chief secretary of the royal palace, a third-rank official, and a Jinshi. If there is a real vacancy, he can at least be a fourth-rank prefect."
"Jinshi?"
Zhu Niang was even more shocked.
At this time, Yuan Changshi had entered the shop and said with a smile: "It is indeed difficult for a virtuous woman to run a business and teach a child. It is better to let Zhu Hao enter the palace and let the palace help teach him carefully, so that the spirit of the loyal and righteous general will not be in vain."
