Chapter 207 How Much Is the Right Amount to Pay Back
Who else could the one be? Wasn't it obvious?
Today, the only people he had met with Zongyuan together were Zhuang and his daughter as well as Princess Royal. Zhuang and his daughter were only loyal to the Emperor and didn't have any clear motive, so it couldn't be them.
Then he could reasonably guess that it was Princess Royal Huiyin who had poisoned him and his brother.
But even though he made a judgement in his mind, he felt a vague sense of unexplained strangeness.
Princess Royal had adopted a somewhat simplistic and brutal approach.
He kept his eyes open and planned to see what would happen.
The news that Zongyuan had fainted today had been blocked by him. Since the other party did not know that the first level of the poison had been discovered, they would surely make other moves afterward.
All they need to do is to be prepared and wait...
-
In Niutou Town
Maogong woke up from his sleep and changed into a new robe served by his maid. Then he rinsed his mouth with good snowy mountain water.
Only then did servants come into the room one after another with basins and paddles to wash his face and a crown to wear his hair in a bun.
After he tidied himself up, he went to feed his two yellow finches under the eaves with bird food in his hand.
Zhong trotted down the corridor to him, "Master, should we bring the breakfast now or later?"
Maogong threw the last piece of the bird food into the bird cage before clapping his hands and saying leisurely, "Set the table now. After breakfast, let's go to Yongzhou City to meet that little brat."
He only dared to call Zongyuan like that in front of his fellows so that he could feel much better.
When he first joined the palace as an official, these royals always looked down upon him, but so what? Now he stood above them and could defy them, or even manipulate them.
He smiled smugly, but Zhong felt a little unsettled.
Zhong knew what his master was planning, but lately, he always felt that his master was a little conceited.
It was true that the East Chamber was powerful and was feared by several emperors, who all wanted to draw the East Chamber into their camp.
His master had always been thoughtful. It was just that he had been a little too flamboyant recently.
The news of the emperor's death hadn't come yet, and there was no telling if there had been any changes in the capital. Now His master deliberately delayed meeting Prince Mu. If he made Prince Mu angry and made Prince Yan and Princess Royal Huiyin feel that the East Chamber had offended the imperial power, they would join forces against the East Chamber, which would be serious!
"My lord..." he opened his mouth and said.
Maogong looked at him, "What? Do you have anything else to report?"
Zhong lowered his head and frowned, "My lord, I just want to ask if I need to prepare a small gift to see Prince Mu?"
Maogong grunted, "No! I don't need to please a beardless boy!"
"But we're already late. If Prince Mu gets angry ......"
Maogong immediately interrupted him and glared at him, "How dare he!"
It was not appropriate for Zhong to persuade him further after seeing this. In the end, he just responded "yes" and went to let someone serve the food.
Maogong was very particular about his breakfast, which had to be fresh buttermilk, buns wrapped with flowering cabbage and tofu, and steamed eggs that were half-cooked so that the yolk would come out when poked with chopsticks.
Luckily, these things were quite common. Otherwise, it would have been a real challenge during the calamity for the servants.
Only after breakfast did Maogong got on the carriage to Yongzhou City with the help of Yazhong.
He took his time on the carriage and was in no hurry. By the time he reached Yongzhou City, it was already midday.
There were still many refugees outside Yongzhou City who had left their homes. General Su and many of the city's wealthy families set up soup kitchens outside the city during the day. It gave them a ray of hope and people were hesitant to leave.
Maogong's coachman showed the pass of the East Chamber, and the guards at the gate immediately let them go.
At the same time, someone rushed towards the Su Mansion one step ahead of Maogong.
"Is Eunuch Wei here?" Zhuang put down the military book in his hand and looked up at the man who came to report the message.
"Yes, I was absolutely right. That pass is from the East Chamber!"
Zhuang frowned when he thought of Zongyuan, who was still bedridden, "Fine, I know. Go back and guard first. Don't let anyone sneak into the city easily!"
He hurriedly went to the courtyard where Zongyuan was resting. Prince Mu had woken up last night. But the residual poison in his body had not yet been cleared, so he had been lying in bed resting.
When Zhuang entered, he first asked Zongyuan about his condition with concern. Hearing that his voice was not as weak as yesterday, Zhuang gradually relaxed a little.
Only then did Zongyuan tell him the purpose of his visit, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei is here. Do you want to meet him?"
Zongyuan was angry, of course. He was at least a prince, but even a eunuch didn't take him seriously and dared to disobey his orders? Then why did he need to see him?
"No!" Zongyuan said with a serious face. But in Zhuang's eyes, he looked like a sulky child.
Of course, Zhuang would not sway Zongyuan's mind, so he answered "yes". Then he told Zongyuan to rest well, and if there was anything Zongyuan needed, Zongyuan could just ask the servants to tell him.
Just as he was about to leave, he was suddenly stopped by Zongyuan, "Wait. I do have another matter that I need your help with."
Zhuang stopped and turned back to look at him, "Sure."
"When I was in trouble earlier, a scholar gave me eighty tales. Could you pay him back for me first? When I return to the capital later, I will definitely pay back twice as much."
Zhuang didn't expect that he would have such an experience. He was wondering how on earth did Prince Mu manage to evade the guards he had sent to the city gates and sneak into the city.
Now it seemed that this scholar should really be credited with this, right?
"Do you know what his name is? Where does he live?" Zhuang asked.
"He is from Xia Yang Village in NiutouTown,. His name is Wu Xiyuan. Now he happens to be studying at the Hao Yuan Academy."
Zhuang was flabbergasted. What a coincidence! This Wu Xiyuan could not be the same Wu Xiyuan, right?
He only had one precious daughter. Of course, he wanted to find out everything about the one who his daughter wanted to be with.
Xiyuan was Jiuyue's partner. These two could not be the same person, could they?
He answered in one breath, "Okay, I'll let someone do it later. I wonder how much you want to pay him back?"
The prince couldn't just pay him back 80 taels, could he? He would be a little too petty.
Zongyuan pondered for a moment and felt that Xiyuan had indeed done him a great favor.
But after all, Xiyuan came from a farming family. If he was given too much money, it might not be a good thing for him.
But if he paid back too little, wouldn't that make his life seem worthless?
He was torn for a long time before he said, "Then I'll pay him back eight hundred taels."
[Author noted: Eight hundred taels was the four or five years' annual salary of a first-rank officer in the Qing Dynasty. Hahahaha, Zongyuan was so generous.]