Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 172 Chaos in the middle of the play
At night, there were still many people on Chongwenmen Street in Beijing. As the most prosperous main road, there were many shops and merchants. Even at night, many shops were still open all night. Therefore, it was the focus of Shuntian Prefecture. Especially after Wang Jie, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, took office, he cleaned up the yamen runners and patrolled continuously, and the order of this street was immediately restored.
So at night, people who were busy working during the day would brave the cold wind to visit some shops. However, in places like silk shops and jewelry shops where valuable things were sold, the shopkeepers and clerks would send off the last batch of customers and prepare to close the doors. Otherwise, if a theft lawsuit was encountered in the middle of the night and the government could not solve it, a year's salary would not be enough to compensate.
At this moment, a woman wearing a veil came out of a jewelry store, accompanied by two maids and three or five followers. The shopkeeper personally escorted her to the door, turned his head and winked at the clerk to pack up and prepare to close the store, then said with a smile on his face: "Fourth Miss, take care, don't worry, even if it takes a long time, I will definitely get you out, and I will definitely not miss the big day!"
"Well. Thank you very much, Manager Qi!" The girl in the veiled hat opened her mouth and thanked him in a soft voice. The manager was so happy that he even said he didn't dare to say anything. He bowed and watched her walk towards the exquisite but not luxurious carriage.
At this time, the fat boy Lu Sanlang swaggered out of a nearby bookstore, holding two books in his hands and mumbling something. If you get close to him, you can hear that he is reciting poems without making any sense. He seemed to glance at the girl in the veiled hat inadvertently, and when he saw that she seemed to be looking at him as well, he looked away guiltily.
But in an instant, Lu Sanlang regretted it. What was he afraid of? Zhu Ying had already told him that this was a matter of mutual consent, and that people were happy to meet him, so why should he be so timid? He mustered up the courage to look over, but at this moment, a gust of wind blew from nowhere, first blowing up the corner of his robe, and when he looked up, it blew up his veil.
Seeing the , especially when she reached out to grab the veil blowing in the wind, with a look of anger and frustration, Lu Sanlang found it so vivid and moving that he stared at that face for a long time unconsciously, until the other party took back the veil and suddenly glared at him with some embarrassment and anger, he quickly looked away, but he had already agreed in his heart.
Well, as for personality and character, that was introduced by Zhu Ying, so it should, probably, possibly, maybe...it shouldn't be bad, right?
Lu Sanlang comforted himself in his heart, but unexpectedly, at this moment, the sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from the other side of the street, which was particularly harsh in the relatively quiet atmosphere of the night. He subconsciously looked in the direction of the horse hooves, but saw that it was a group of people. Although he couldn't see their heads, faces and clothes clearly because of the dim light, he still shrank in his heart.
Why did he feel that this person seemed to have bad intentions?
Bad premonitions always become reality. Sure enough, he saw a team of more than 20 people rushing towards him.
Lu Sanlang had never seen such a murderous scene before, and subconsciously wanted to hide in the bookstore. But when he thought that this was the first time he met a girl... maybe in front of his future wife, he felt it was shameful to show his weakness, so he pretended to be calm and stood under the eaves without moving.
Liu Qing, who was about to put on her veil, was also surprised. Seeing that a large group of people were coming towards her, the girl turned pale, but at this moment, whether she got off the carriage or went to the jewelry store, she couldn't escape anyway, so she simply made up her mind and didn't wear the veil, and just stood there proudly.
Zhu Ying, who was hiding in a small teahouse watching the excitement, suddenly changed color. What was going on in the middle of the night? However, before she could get out, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. At the same time, she heard Zhang Shou's voice: "A Liu said that they were reining in their horses to stop, so they wouldn't hit them directly. Don't move yet, wait and see what they are up to before you make any plans!"
Almost as Zhang Shou began to speak, the sound of horses neighing could be heard from outside. The leading horse stopped just three or four steps away from the Liu family's carriage, and the twenty or so riders behind also reined in their horses and stopped abruptly, without any collisions. They were clearly well-trained.
With the help of the lanterns hanging outside, Zhu Ying finally saw who was coming, and her face suddenly turned dark.
That turned out to be the second prince!
Zhang Shou also saw the person clearly. Thinking of what Zhu Ying had told him, that the young lady from Minister Liu's family seemed to be a popular candidate for the prince's consort, he could not help but raise his eyebrows slightly. Comparing the two princes' completely different words and deeds when he met the empress dowager in Qingning Palace before, he could not help but have some expectations about the second prince's intentions.
Lu Sanlang had also seen the Second Prince from afar, and was immediately surprised. The Second Prince came to cause trouble for Miss Liu? Why? She was not Zhu Ying, the domineering and trouble-making Zhu Ying, otherwise he would have heard of her!
The second prince rode on his horse, looking down at the Liu family's carriage with contempt, and his eyes immediately fell on Liu Qing. Unlike Lu Sanlang, who was very satisfied with Liu Qing the first time he saw her, he felt that she did not meet his aesthetic standards at all after just one glance.
She was too petite, her demeanor wasn't dignified enough, her appearance wasn't pretty enough... and her eyes weren't dignified and gentle at all, they even reminded him of Zhu Ying!
The Second Prince, who was already in a bad mood, immediately frowned and said stiffly, "Are you the daughter of Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works?"
Liu Qing had never seen the Second Prince, but the group was so arrogant and the young man at the head was so arrogant that she didn't even have to guess, she thought of the Second Prince who was said to be arrogant and wanted to compete with the First Prince in everything. But since he didn't introduce himself, she simply assumed that she knew nothing and didn't want to answer his questions.
"Your Excellency, you led your entourage on horseback at night, don't you know that according to the court law, unless it is an emergency, horses are not allowed to ride in the streets of the capital?"
The Second Prince had never expected that the daughter of a mere minister would dare to retort. He was so angry that he raised his whip and scolded her, "You are so rude and sharp-tongued! You know it's night time, but you are still wandering around outside?"
As he spoke, he glanced at the jewelry store next to him, his face revealing deep sneer: "Come to buy jewelry at this time? Are you crazy about getting married? Do you really think that your marriage is a sure thing? Your father is just an assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, how can you be so confident!"
Knowing that Lu Sanlang was watching, Liu Qing was almost mad at the Second Prince's blatant sarcasm. She had a good relationship with Zhu Ying, and of course her personality was not only naive, but she also absolutely refused to be bullied, so she laughed.
"I came to a jewelry store I'm familiar with to make a gold pendant with five blessings for my father's birthday. What does it have to do with you? My parents ordered it and the matchmaker said it. How come I haven't heard that I'm already engaged? Come on, go to the Shuntian government office and beat the drum. Say that there's a lunatic running wild in the street, speaking rudely, and slandering my family's reputation!"
When the second prince saw that one of Liu Qing's followers turned around and ran away, his face changed drastically. Today, he met the first prince, and they started arguing over a disagreement. As a result, the first prince sneered and said that his future wife was the young daughter of Liu Shilang, a minister of the Ministry of Works, whose career had come to an end. He was furious.
He was planning to stay in a villa outside the palace today, so he asked someone to inquire about Liu Qing. Unexpectedly, he found out that she went to a famous jewelry store on Chongwenmennei Street at night. He thought that she was eager to get married, but he was immediately furious.
If the matter really came to the Shuntian government office, he would be completely disgraced!
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and chase him back!" The second prince shouted. He felt relieved when he saw his followers and guards rushing out and chasing the Liu family servant. He glared at Liu Qing and said, "You are such a shameless bitch. Don't blame me for being rude!"
Before the Second Prince could figure out how to deal with this daring daughter of the Minister of the Court, Lu Sanlang, who had been watching from the side with a dazed look on his face, finally came to his senses. Although Liu Qing's response just now seemed far from the gentleness and cuteness he had originally desired, after listening to her words, he felt that this girl was quite courageous.
If he marries her, she will definitely not be his father's yes-man, and she should not be a virtuous and kind wife!
The little fat boy, who never liked to fight people head-on, didn't know where he got the courage from. He rushed out and directly blocked Liu Qing. Then he raised his head and said, "It's late at night. First, the second prince led his men to ride on horses in the street, and now he is bullying a weak woman in the street. Don't you think it's too much?"
Zhu Ying, who had been unable to hold back her desire to show up, was stunned. She glanced at Zhang Shou, who was smiling, with some surprise, and whispered, "Lu Sanlang is OK? I thought he must have run away..."
"Then you are wrong." Zhang Shou looked at Lu Sanlang who stood in front of the Liu family girl like a hero, and smiled and said, "Lu Sanlang is a person who is easily underestimated, but as long as he is serious, even the emperor will be afraid of him."
Zhu Ying's eyes widened immediately: "So, we don't have to jump out to save him later?"
Zhang Shou looked at the head of Jiuzhang Hall, whose face was fearless but whose legs were trembling slightly, and said nonchalantly: "What kind of hero is he if he needs others to save him after saving the beauty? He might be able to drive the second prince away. Yingying, if you don't believe me, why don't we make a bet?"
Zhu Ying looked at the chubby Lu Sanlang, then at Liu Qing, who had a complicated expression, and then at the Second Prince. Finally, she said unhappily, "The Second Prince is the most unreasonable guy. I don't believe that Lu Sanlang has three heads and six arms and can drive people back. I'm going to bet with you!"
