Chapter 22 Colorful

The ancients lived a slow pace and did things slowly, but Zhu Gaoxu was different, he could not tolerate low efficiency.

Wang Gui's work made no progress. Just one day later, Zhu Gaoxu called him over and handed him an hourglass he had found in the study cabinet. He asked him to use the drum sounds at noon and evening on the tower and the hourglass to accurately record the activities of Zhang Xin and his family.

He also allocated a sum of Ming Dynasty treasure notes and ordered Wang Gui to rent a house near Zhang Xin's residence so that he could observe him day and night.

Zhu Gaoxu had already made very detailed arrangements and thought: If it were Hou Hai, I probably wouldn't have to worry so much.

He walked out of the study and looked up at the sky. He saw that the sun was already overhead, and it was noon. Just as he thought of this, the sound of drums came from afar. The sound came from the city wall, and it was loud enough to reach here.

Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and saw Du Qianrui coming over. She was wearing an apron, with her bare white arms, wiping her hands back and forth on the apron. Suddenly she saw Zhu Gaoxu, and hurriedly stepped forward, holding her hands on her abdomen, and knelt down, saying, "This servant is polite."

Her gesture of saluting was perfectly executed, but it did not match her outfit at all. Zhu Gaoxu saw it and thought it was playful and funny.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at her and asked, "Miss Du, are you cooking?"

Du Qianrui said, "I have already prepared it. Your Majesty, please go to the dining room next door and take a seat. I will serve it right away."

Since everything was ready, Zhu Gaoxu said nothing more and walked into the dining room as he was told, ready to fill his stomach first.

Zhu Gaoxu sat there waiting, and soon the dishes were served.

Purple onion skin, white onion slices, green fish skin, colorful, pleasing to the eye. Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts of "filling his stomach" just now suddenly drifted away, and he stared at the dishes in front of him.

Next came the fried fish fillets, neatly arranged in a golden circle on the plate, dotted with bright red candied cherries. A large bowl of fish soup, pickled cabbage, fish head, and dough dumplings were cooked together. The soup was thick but not sticky, and exuded bursts of fragrance.

"Eunuch Wang took good care of me. He knew that I left the capital in a hurry and didn't bring anything with me. He gave me some money as soon as I arrived at the mansion, and also gave me my monthly allowance in advance. I met Aunt Wang this morning and gave her a string of money so that she could buy some fresh vegetables."

Du Qianrui's voice was clear, her words were brisk, and her rhythm was pleasant to listen to. She no longer talked about music, chess, calligraphy, and paintings, or anecdotes, but when she talked about family matters, it was still interesting. Zhu Gaoxu was no longer impetuous and listened with great interest.

She continued, "A farmer caught a mullet from a nearby river, and carried it in a basket to sell on the street. He sold it for a very low price, and Aunt Wang saw it and bought some. I made a few dishes with the mullet. They are not delicacies from the mountains or the sea, so please don't despise them, Your Majesty."

Two dishes and one soup, all made with one mullet.

Zhu Gaoxu listened to her while looking at the dishes on the table. The well-proportioned cuts, neat arrangement, and exquisite dishes instantly made this old house look grand and gave Zhu Gaoxu the illusion that he was dining in a high-end retro-style restaurant. These old household items also became antique and were carefully made to look old, creating a retro cultural atmosphere.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish skin and put it in his mouth to chew.

Du Qianrui stood by and asked in an expectant tone, "My Lord, how is my craftsmanship?"

Zhu Gaoxu chewed it for a long time and couldn't help feeling warm in his heart.

If a woman has other purposes, she will not serve others so attentively! Because all kinds of desires will inevitably make people impetuous and difficult to be willing.

He suddenly regretted asking Hou Hai to check Du Qianrui's background. Wasn't that a sign of not trusting her? He always felt that Du Qianrui's background was a bit shady and he was not very reassured. Now it seems that he was too cautious.

In Zhu Gaoxu's opinion, Du Qianrui was still trustworthy. The basis for his judgment was: a person who came with a purpose, no matter how clever the means, always took the initiative to come up to meet; not passively. Zhu Gaoxu met Du Qianrui by chance. He just wanted to find a place to reminisce with Wang Zhenliang, the son of the emperor's son-in-law. He accidentally chose Fuleyuan from dozens of large official brothels in the capital, and randomly selected Du Qianrui from a large group of singing girls.

From a chance acquaintance to an accidental change, and taking Du Qianrui back to Peking for good reasons, Zhu Gaoxu unknowingly felt that he seemed to like her a little.

If it were in the future, Zhu Gaoxu would definitely want to marry this girl. In his previous life, he was poor. Moreover, although this girl played the piano and sang in a brothel, her experience was not very impressive, but she was not a lady. The Jiaofangsi spent the national treasury money to train such musicians, not to sell themselves. In the future, the good girl chosen from the selection may also come from Dongguan and retire, and may not be cleaner than Du Qianrui.

However, now as a prince, Zhu Gaoxu was very sensible and put aside this childish idea: first his father Zhu Di would kill him, and the already ill Princess Xu would probably be angered to death on the spot, just like Zhu Gaoxu's father in his previous life.

So Zhu Gaoxu used the skill he was best at, just like he did every time he made money from gambling: making excuses for himself and forgiving himself.

He thought to himself: If I were as loser as I was in my previous life, would Du Qianrui still be "willing"?

Thinking this way, I feel much better.

"Your Highness, what I cooked was not good. Is it not to your liking?" Du Qianrui said again. Perhaps because Zhu Gaoxu had been silent for a long time, she could not help it.

Zhu Gaoxu then calmly said, "Let's not talk about the craftsmanship. Just the meticulous preparation, the time and patience spent, I can taste the overflowing love."

"This is what I should do..." Du Qianrui said softly, "I am happy to hear what Your Majesty said. My heart is just like the weather today."

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head slightly and looked at the sunlight on the ground outside the door, as if savoring her mood.

Perhaps her mood should not be compared to the weather, but to these three dishes, delicate and exquisite.

"Miss Du, please bring a pair of chopsticks over and eat with me." Zhu Gaoxu sighed slightly and invited kindly.

Du Qianrui was surprised and said, "Your Majesty is the master and I am the servant, how dare I?"

"In that case, you should listen to me," said Zhu Gaoxu.

Du Qianrui's eyes rolled around, her expression showing a bit of liveliness, she stuck out her tongue and said, "I can't argue with the prince."

So the two of them sat opposite each other and ate, as close as a family.

Only at this time could Zhu Gaoxu get a little comfort.