A group of bodyguards and maids stood outside the study at Listening Wind Pavilion, but none of them dared to enter.
"Do you think trading with foreign countries is good for Dachen?" Emperor Hong Zheng sat behind the desk, playing with the crystal glass in his hand.
"Chen feels that the people overseas definitely desire Dachen's products, but they have no direct access to them," Mu Hanzhang said in a gentle voice as he stood in front of the desk with lowered eyes. "Chen read the account books of tributes in foreign countries, and asked an overseas merchant about prices in the southeast. It is said that one chi of silk can be exchanged for ten gold coins, that is, two taels of gold."
"Hanzhang, why do you still refer to yourself as Chen even now?" Emperor Hong Zheng laughed, not replying to Mu Hanzhang's words. Instead, he said, "From the day you married into the imperial family, you should refer to yourself as Erchen."
Mu Hanzhang pressed his lips together and said with embarrassment, "Erchen will remember with reverence."
It was this scene that Jing Shao saw when he came in. Instead of the tension he had been imagining, it was a harmonious scene. He couldn't help being a little dumbstruck.
"Where have you been?" When Emperor Hong Zheng saw Jing Shao come in, he immediately put away his smile.
"Erchen went to see off a friend," Jing Shao replied honestly, muttering to himself about how he was the biological son of imperial father, but why didn't he ever show a good expression when he saw him?
Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him deeply for a long time. He looked down, picked up a book on the art of war and flipped through it as he said, "The Huainan King appeared in the capital recently. You knew, right?"
"Huainan King?" Jing Shao secretly glanced at his Wang Fei. "Erchen didn't know."
"You didn't know?" Emperor Hong Zheng closed the densely annotated book, got up and walked in front of Jing Shao. "Who did you send off today?"
Jing Shao's heart thumped, but it was not obvious on his face. His father interrogating him like this must mean that he knew Gu Huaiqing had already left the capital, but he wasn't sure whether Jing Shao was the one who had sent him out. He presumed that Jing Yu, that idiot, wouldn't dare talk drivel to his father about this before he was able to capture him. "A friend from Jianghu."
"A Jianghu friend you met at Intoxicated Immortal restaurant?" Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him coldly.
Intoxicated Immortal restaurant! Jing Shao felt a buzzing in his head. Speaking of Intoxicated Immortal restaurant, imperial father had to know that the person was Gu Huaiqing! After his mind was blank for a moment, he suddenly remembered the words Duo Fu had passed on to him. Jun Qing had said that no matter what, Jing Shao had to deny knowing Huaiqing; he was just a friend from Jianghu. Also, his imperial father clearly didn't send anyone to stop them when he knew that Gu Huaiqing was going to run away. That was to say, his imperial father wanted Gu Huaiqing to run away. He came here today to test whether Jing Shao was in collusion with the Huainan King.
In that electrifying moment, Jing Shao thought quickly, looked up at his imperial father and said calmly, "I met him in Jiangnan. He came to the capital to play. Today, he learned that his mother was seriously ill, and he was in a hurry to get out of the city, so he asked me for help."
"Pa!" Just as he finished speaking, a solid slap fell on Jing Shao's face, and Jing Shao staggered.
"You are quite empathetic, aren't you? Did you know that that person is Gu Huaiqing, the Huainan King?!" Emperor Hong Zheng looked at him bitterly. This son was capable, but he had been raised wild, and was completely unlike a prince. Instead, he was like a Jianghu swordsman with a short temper, who paid too much attention to those codes of brotherhood; it truly induced anger.
