Chapter 30 Cooked Duck

The first few soldiers were holding horse spears, followed by Captain Wang Bin who rode ahead, and Zhu Gaoxu also rode out of the corner gate.

He had a gloomy face. He never expected that he would come to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince, and experience the feeling of losing everything and having to confess helplessly in his previous life.

At this moment, a horseman came galloping down the street, and passers-by were frightened and gave way. Zhu Gaochi glanced sideways and saw that the person riding on the horse was the eunuch Wang Gui.

Zhu Gaoxu reined in his horse and stood there waiting. After a while, Wang Gui ran closer, got off the horse, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty!"

Zhu Gaoxu saw that he looked strange and his eyes were shining, so he grabbed the reins, stepped on the stirrups, and leaned his body to the side. Wang Gui walked up , stood on tiptoe, covered his mouth with both hands, leaned close to Zhu Gaoxu's ear and whispered something.

"Let's go!" Zhu Gaoxu replied immediately, and then shouted, "Wang Bin, take your people back to the palace. I won't go to the Prince of Yan's Palace for the time being."

Wang Bin clasped his fists and said, "I obey your command."

Zhu Gaoxu then took Wang Gui with him and rode straight to the poor city. When they turned from the main street to the entrance of an alley, they immediately saw a wine shop with a banner with the word "Bin" on it.

The door of the wine shop was closed. Zhu Gaoxu got off the horse, handed the reins to Wang Gui, and walked quickly to the door. He first reached out and grabbed the collar of his clothes and pulled it down to make it straight. Unfortunately, the light gray underwear inside was made of sesame. This material is breathable and sweat-absorbent, but it is impossible to iron it flat, so it is always wrinkled. Zhu Gaoxu reached out and stroked his hair. His worried expression disappeared and he looked very calm.

Pushing open the door of the tavern, the man standing inside in a green robe and a big hat turned around and looked up at the door. Zhu Gaoxu took a look at the face under the big hat. Who else could it be but Zhang Xin?

Zhang Xin clasped his fists and said, "Prince Gaoyang, nice to meet you."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and replied, "General Zhang, I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar."

The two looked at each other for a moment, as if they were friends who had known each other for a long time.

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his arm and pointed to the stairs, "General Zhang, please go upstairs."

"Please." Zhang Xin also said.

This meeting was neither formal nor grand, but it was still much more polite than meeting in a prostitute's bed with his bare chest and shorts.

Zhu Gaoxu walked in front, followed by Zhang Xin, and they turned back up the wooden stairs. Zhu Gaoxu's mood also rose with his steps, gradually rising from his depressed mood. When he reached the top of the stairs, his sight suddenly opened up through a window, and his heart became open.

The two sat down opposite each other at a square wooden table, and Zhang Xin finally took off the big hat on his head and put it on the table. This kind of big hat has a wide brim, so it is called a big hat. It can cover half of the face by pressing it forward... In Zhu Gaoxu's previous life, he watched Korean costume dramas, and the hats worn by ancient Korean officials in them looked a bit like this.

After a while, Wang Gui came up with two cups of tea and carefully placed them on the table. He had been staying in the tavern for the past two days, so he should have boiled water before.

Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "Go prepare a felt carriage."

"I'll do it right away." Wang Gui said.

When Zhang Xin heard this, his expression changed slightly. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu quickly calmed down, feeling like he was afraid that the cooked duck would fly away.

"This is clearly a tavern, King Gaoyang. How come there hasn't been a single customer for several days?" Zhang Xin asked.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu concluded that it was not Zhang Xin's first visit here, but just his first time coming in. He pretended to be calm and replied, "The two cups of tea you and I are drinking now cost 500 coins."

"Oh?" Zhang Xin picked up the teacup, opened the lid, fanned it gently, and sniffed it. "What's so special about it?"

Zhu Gaoxu said, "I bought it from a random shop on the roadside."

Zhang Xin replied, "Why is it worth 500 coins?"

"So General Zhang also saw it. There wasn't even a single guest." Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile.

The two of them looked at each other and both gave a forced smile.

Zhang Xin put down his teacup, pondered for a moment, and said, "Today I encountered something, so I went to ask my mother. My mother said that our family had offended the king's aura from the north, and she tried her best to persuade me... Actually, I was very hesitant before that."

"Oh..." Zhu Gaoxu pretended to be confused. After answering, he deliberately remained silent for a while before asking, "What happened to General Zhang?"

There was another silence. On a cloudy afternoon, everything was dull and boring. The gray old wine shop in the old alley was even more colorless. The short moment seemed very long.

At this time, Zhang Xin leaned forward and leaned his upper body over, and Zhu Gaoxu quickly leaned forward to cooperate with him. Zhang Xin whispered , "The court has issued an urgent order from the Minister of War Qi Tai, and a secret decree, asking me to arrest the King of Yan tomorrow!"

"Ah?!" Zhu Gaoxu was also shocked. He wanted to win over Zhang Xin, but he didn't expect such a big thing to happen all of a sudden!

After Zhang Xin finished speaking, he let out a long breath and sat back on the bench. After a while, he spoke again, "Why did Qi Tai choose me?"

Zhu Gaoxu said hurriedly, "I asked General Zhang last time if he had offended Qi Tai recently, but you didn't tell me. Isn't it obvious that you are setting a trap for General Zhang this time? If you think about it carefully, it's really scary. There are more than one trap!"

"Forget it!" Zhang Xin frowned. "Now that things have come to this, there is no point in worrying about those trivial matters!"

Zhu Gaoxu immediately asked, "Did General Zhang bring the secret decree?"

Zhang Xin said nothing.

At this point, Zhu Gaoxu really began to get anxious, "General Zhang, come with me to the Prince of Yan's Mansion immediately!"

Zhang Xin still sat there without moving, lowering his head and frowning, and asked again, "Prince Gaoyang came to see me, was it Prince Yan's intention?"

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth and said, "Of course it was my father's intention, he just didn't make any specific arrangements... General Zhang, don't worry, I am my father's biological son. We share the same fate, life and death, what else can there be?"

"Okay!" Zhang Xin clapped his hands on the table and stood up.

Zhu Gaoxu secretly heaved a sigh of relief, walked to the window, stuck his head out, looked down, and turned back to say, "General Zhang, wait a moment, wait until Wang Gui brings the felt carriage over before leaving. It's true that we won't run into any officials in Qionghan City, but it's better to take a carriage when we get to Prince Yan's Mansion."

Zhang Xin nodded and said, "Prince Gaoyang is very thoughtful and meticulous in his work."

After the two finished talking, Zhu Gaoxu took Zhang Xin downstairs first. When Wang Gui drove a felt carriage to the door, the two went out. Zhang Xin stretched out his hand to press down the big hat, and got into the carriage flexibly and neatly.

"Scold!" Wang Gui shouted and cracked his whip.

The carriage shook for a long time. Zhu Gaoxu lifted a corner of the straw curtain and looked out. He turned his head and said, "We are almost there... General Zhang, you and Wang Gui stay in the carriage for a while. I will go in to see my father first."

Zhang Xin replied, "Okay."

Zhu Gaoxu hesitated for a moment and asked again, "Did you bring the secret decree?"

Zhang Xin was stunned for a moment, and finally reached into his arms. He heard a few "snaps" of needle and thread breaking. He finally took out a small bamboo tube, but held it tightly in his hand and said in a deep voice, "It can only be given to the King of Yan himself!"

Zhu Gaoxu took a look at his hand and had to give up.

When the carriage entered the gatehouse of Prince Yan's Mansion and stopped, Zhu Gaoxu first clasped his fists to Zhang Xin, and then saw Zhang Xin staring at him with a sharp gaze and nodded. The two of them said nothing, and Zhu Gaoxu lifted the curtain and went out.

There was a eunuch waiting outside the carriage. When he saw Zhu Gaoxu, he immediately took him inside.

When Zhu Gaoxu and the eunuchs arrived, they saw Ma He guarding the gate outside the courtyard. Ma He said, "Prince Gaoyang, you are finally here. Why are you so late? Come in quickly."

Zhu Gaoxu bowed gently to Ma He and strode into the yard.

He heard voices and followed the sound into the room. He saw Prince Yan sitting on a chair in dishevel, probably because he was pretending to be crazy and had no time to tidy up. Standing next to him was the fat prince and monk Yao Guangxiao.

The prince turned to look at Zhu Gaoxu, and his eyes were indeed very unfriendly!

Zhu Gaoxu stepped forward and bowed, "Greetings to father and elder brother."

The prince asked, "Do you still recognize me as your elder brother?"

Zhu Gaoxu said calmly, "You are my elder brother, and that will never change in this life."

Prince Yan asked, "Gao Xu, did you use Junying grass to poison the prince in the capital?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, several people turned their attention. Zhu Gaoxu then swept his eyes over Yao Guangxiao and clasped his fists, saying, "Father, elder brother, who told you that?"

King Yan said in a deep and steady voice , "Just answer."

Zhu Gaoxu said, "To answer my father's question, no."

The prince raised his arm and pointed at Zhu Gaoxu, "At first I didn't think much of the signs, but later I understood. Do you still want to quibble? Someone saw you pulling out the Junying grass!"

Zhu Gaoxu felt a little guilty when he heard the first half of the sentence, thinking that the prince had grasped a lot of clues, and instantly had the idea of "confessing", just like countless times in his previous life, he confessed to his family and gambled!

However, when he heard the second half of the sentence, he immediately gave up the idea...

There was no way anyone could see him pulling out the Junyingcao! Zhu Gaoxu was very sure that no one saw it. Just as Zhang Xin said, "Everything is done very meticulously." Especially for such important matters, Zhu Gaoxu could not be careless. He was very patient when doing things and waited for a long time.

"The King's Shadow Grass is poisonous? Brother, are you saying that there is a King's Shadow Grass in Nanjing?" Zhu Gaoxu was shameless and confused, "Brother, please don't listen to some people's slanders. Why should I pull out the King's Shadow Grass if I have nothing to do?" ?”

At this moment, King Yan snorted in his nose. The prince and Zhu Gaoxu both looked at each other cautiously, neither of them seemed to understand who King Yan was targeting with his tone.

The prince said angrily, "You lied! If I couldn't be sure, why would I ask you to come to my father? Gao Xu, you only said one sentence, why do you treat me like this?"

Zhu Gaoxu had already determined that the prince was cheating, and he refused to admit it even if he was beaten to death.

The prince said, "I just recently found out that it is poisonous..."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he thought: Du Qianrui has not betrayed herself in the slightest, at least until now... otherwise the prince would not have spoken like this, he could have just told Du Qianrui what she saw and heard.

However, if Zhu Gaoxu allowed the prince to continue to make such inferences, he felt that the situation was becoming increasingly disadvantageous to him.

He immediately interrupted the prince, "Wait a minute, elder brother. Father, I came here today because I have other urgent matters to attend to!"