Chapter 1 Is it Strange?

"Is it strange why I agreed to go to the Fan residence?"

"It is a bit, because it doesn't seem to fit Your Majesty's usual style," A Ming said.

"There are three reasons. The first time I met him, Fan Zhengwen said he wanted to help me kidnap the princess. The second time, he brought his strategist to help us plan how to do it, when to do it, and how to retreat. They thought of everything for us.

"You can say we're birds of a feather, or partners in crime, but the moment I agreed to kidnap the princess of Chu, we and the Fan family became allies.

"Next, the Fan family's people will move. San'er, Si Niang, Jin Shuke, Ke Yan, and Dong Ge, along with our people, will also move according to plan.

"Whether to infiltrate the royal villa to blend in, or to leave a reserve force on the retreat route, or the clamor and response on the periphery on the day of the princess's abduction, all require extremely detailed planning. What the Fan family needs to do is actually more than us, and the risks they take are much higher than ours.

"So, since Si Niang and the others are responsible for the operations, what I can do is enter the Fan residence. Firstly, to show a relationship of mutual trust, and secondly, only when I am in the Fan residence can the Fan family truly feel at ease.

"Because the Fan family must stay in Xia Yong, must stay in Chu. They are not like us, who can pat our butts and run."

Zheng Fan looked at A Ming and continued:

"The second point is because Fan Zhengwen is a very good person, even better than a blind man, because the blind man can't get rid of that arrogance, but Fan Zhengwen can.

"So, if it were from Fan Zhengwen's perspective, according to his habits, he would not have made such a reluctantly inviting invitation to me.

"Therefore, I speculate that someone in the Fan residence wants to see me. I don't know who it is, but their status should be higher than Fan Zhengwen's."

"Your Majesty, then why didn't that person tell you directly?"

"Maybe to that person, I belong to the category of someone they can see or not see. There is actually someone in the Fan residence who can be so indifferent to me. Do you think I should go see them?"

"What about the third reason, Your Majesty?"

"That is, I really want to see what the real wealthy families in this world live like."

Heaven have mercy,

It wasn't that Zheng Boye was talking nonsense,

But he really hadn't seen how the real rich people in this world lived.

When he first woke up, in the small tavern run by his devils, it was considered a well-off family in the local area.

Later, he went to the Zhenbei Marquis's residence. The Zhenbei Marquis's residence was big, but as long as you remember that the Zhenbei Marquis himself ate several roast ducks as soon as he entered Beijing and then ran to the Royal Garden to grill lamb legs, you would know that the Zhenbei Marquis's residence was noble, but not really extravagant.

Zheng Fan had also been to the Yan Kingdom's imperial palace, but the Yan Emperor's life was too simple. Zheng Fan once wondered why the princes still lived in the princes' residences, which were collective dormitories?

Saving money.

You should know that if they opened their own residences a few years later, the court could save several years of money, food, and royal family stipends.

Zheng Fan originally had the honor of seeing the extravagance of the Tian family, but I'm sorry, that night, Zheng Boye only had time to mix in a good meal among the Jingnan Marquis's personal soldiers, and even before he could eat a few bites of the food, he experienced a real "bloody romance" under the order of the Jingnan Marquis, and that night became a nightmare lingering in Zheng Boye's heart.

Later, when he went south to Qian, he was busy fighting and didn't have time to taste it. Even when he entered the Qian imperial palace, the imperial palace was in a state of panic because the Yan army was approaching the city. As an envoy, he was also panicked. He only ate a few snacks at the Qian Emperor's place, and he couldn't taste whether they were sweet or salty.

The capital of Jin had long been dilapidated. After the war broke into the Jin imperial palace, Zheng Fan only cared about searching for wealth. The Situ Yi brothers' "imperial palace" in Fengxin City was just a bandit's den.

A truly extravagant atmosphere and the life of the upper class need to be slowly savored in a quiet and peaceful environment.

There are still more than ten days before the New Year and more than ten days before the Lantern Festival, almost a month, enough time for him to spend an authentic luxurious life in this world in the Fan residence.

A Ming heard these three reasons and said:

"This subordinate feels that the third reason seems more convincing."

Zheng Fan nodded and said:

"That's for sure, because the first two were added by myself to make up three for the third."

"………" A Ming.

A Ming habitually looked at the wine bag, which was already empty. He collected the blood of the assassin last time, but because the storage conditions were not good, he only took one wine bag.

Blood, when it's not fresh, is even harder to swallow than pork.

However, A Ming suddenly felt that what His Majesty said was right. Zhang Gonggong, who was by Xiao Liuzi's side, could play with wine cellars storing red wine in his private residence outside the imperial palace, so the Fan family must not lack it, right?

The blood of ordinary people, no matter how fresh, is just better than nothing, but high-quality red wine and the like are the real enjoyment.

But,

A Ming pointed again to He Chunlai and Chen Daole, who were also disguised but were following behind instead of riding in the ox cart,

And said:

"Then why did Your Majesty bring them?"

Chen Daole and He Chunlai both looked embarrassed when they heard this.

They had only entered Xuehai Pass with Fan Li for a few days and hadn't even gotten familiar with the place before they were dispatched into this team and entered Chu in a daze.

Then, after everyone else was assigned, they were actually singled out and followed the Count of Pingye in disguise to the Fan residence.

Zheng Fan pointed his finger at He Chunlai and then at Chen Daole,

And said:

"I definitely have to keep an eye on 'No Brains' and 'Unhappy'."

A Ming then said:

"What about me?"

Immediately,

A Ming immediately added:

"Your Majesty, you don't need to answer that."

Zheng Fan smiled and didn't answer.

The team entered Xia Yong County.

There has always been a folk song circulating in Xia Yong County:

The Mengshan Goddess's family is short of grain, so they ran to Xia Yong to beg from Fan.

The Mengshan Goddess is a deity in the mythology and customs of Mengshan. "Begging from Fan" is also called "begging for food," which is enough to show the wealth of the Fan family in the Xia Yong area.

In fact, more than 70% of the shops in Xia Yong County are owned by the Fan residence, and more than 60% of the farmers outside the city rent the Fan family's fields. More than 90% of the people in Xia Yong County find it difficult to leave the Fan family's industry from birth, old age, sickness, and death.

And this is actually just a small microcosm of the Fan family's wealth. The real profitable industry is smuggling.

The Fan residence is located in the east of Xia Yong County, covering a very large area. Even the back door for transportation teams to enter and exit has a memorial archway.

After entering the residence, Fan Zhengwen did not come over. He had to do what he had to do, show the face he had to show. With big things coming, he needed to pay more attention to the details outside.

Zheng Fan and the other four were led into the backyard by a steward.

The front yard, the middle yard, and the back yard. Along the way, Zheng Fan clearly noticed several hidden guards. The Fan residence's defense can be described as extremely strict.

But beyond the strictness, as soon as you enter the residence, you immediately get a completely different feeling.

The servants and maids walking inside, their clothes, the things they held in their hands, the plants and trees inside, you can't actually see much obvious luxury, but luxury seems to be shattered and kneaded into the wind, blowing on your face.

After entering the backyard, the steward led Zheng Fan and the others into a small courtyard called "Qingfang Studio."

The small courtyard is not large, but the layout is very strong. There are small bridges and flowing water, pavilions and terraces. It is dense but not cramped at all. Most importantly, the location of this small courtyard is very convenient.

From a military point of view, in this small courtyard, you can get depth in all directions. The general idea is that if someone comes to catch you, you can escape in all directions.

"The feeling is really different." Zheng Fan said with emotion as he walked to the pavilion.

In fact, the decoration of the Earl's residence is also very good, but how should I put it? The Fan residence has a different style and almost takes that style to the extreme, which can give people an unusual feeling.

A Ming hit the nail on the head and said: "The main reason is that there are few people in our Earl's residence."

Zheng Fan nodded when he heard this.

Because Zheng Fan himself likes quiet, and secondly, for safety reasons, there are very few servants in the Earl's residence. No matter how good the house is, if no one lives in it and there is not enough popularity, it will not have that taste.

Of course, there is also an extremely important reason: in the Pingye Earl's residence, there are more non-humans than humans!

After the steward led Zheng Fan and others in, he withdrew. Immediately, a group of maids came in and served dishes and snacks.

They were all extremely exquisite foods. Like the decoration here, Zheng Fan might not be very accustomed to the cooking habits of this era. He still preferred the dishes made by Si Niang, but if the ingredients were refined to the extreme, the quality of the dishes could still be highlighted.

However, Zheng Fan was not very hungry. After eating a few snacks, he went into the house. There was a hot spring pool in the house, and there was a tiger's mouth by the hot spring pool. Zheng Fan tried to pull the ring, and after a while, hot water with white smoke actually spurted out from the tiger's mouth.

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Zheng Boye thought this design was really amazing.

This is naturally not a water heater, but like the bathhouse in *Spirited Away*. There should be a special room in the Fan residence where people will always pay attention to the inlet. When a sign moves, they will input the constantly boiling hot water into that opening.

Just for the people in the mansion to take a bath, a large group of people have to be specially raised, comparable to hiring a whole team to raise a dog in later generations.

Zheng Fan took off his clothes and sat in.

Some medicinal herbs should have been added to the hot water, and it smelled a bit fragrant.

A Ming walked in, saw Zheng Fan taking a bath, and smiled: "It looks pretty high-end."

"Yeah, want to come down and soak together?"

"No, Your Majesty, I'm going to find the wine cellar."

Zheng Fan nodded. After A Ming left, he continued to close his eyes and soak for a while. He even dozed off in the hot spring pool.

After waking up, he climbed out and lay on the bed. He didn't know what material the bedding was made of, but it was very comfortable, with a touch of a woman's smooth skin.

Zheng Boye subconsciously reached out and touched around to make sure that Fan Zhengwen wasn't foolish enough to arrange a sleeping girl for him before falling asleep.

This sleep was too comfortable, really too comfortable.

When he woke up, it was already late morning.

Zheng Fan himself felt a little strange. After all, this was not in the Earl's residence. Generally speaking, when he was outside, he rarely slept soundly because he didn't have a full sense of security.

After all, he was a person who had been "through many battles." Who could really be carefree and sleep like a dead pig every day?

It seems that there is some special ingredient in this room, or even in this bed, that can help you sleep.

Zheng Fan shook his head and smiled;

You can't underestimate the ancients. If the ancients wanted to pay attention to "extreme luxury and desire," they might not be worse than people in later generations.

After waking up and opening the window, Zheng Fan heard a group of women laughing outside.

Because the window was hidden in the flowers, he could see the pavilion there, but the outside couldn't see the scene here at the window.

In the small pavilion there, a group of young women were sitting together as if they were holding a poetry meeting, composing poems, writing lyrics, teasing each other, all dressed exquisitely, each with their own characteristics, fat and thin, beautiful and intelligent, and they were not very old. Looking at their hairstyles, they should not have left the cabinet.

This is probably the Fan family's Twelve Beauties that Fan Zhengwen mentioned earlier?

Don't tell me, it really has a bit of the flavor of *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

After all, they are flower buds nurtured by the rich and noble atmosphere of a wealthy family, which is a completely different style from the folk women Zheng Fan saw in Yan and Jin.

And their poetry meeting here today should obviously be designed behind the scenes.

It is impossible for these beauties to gather in Qingfang Studio so coincidentally to hold a "beauty contest" just as he moved into this courtyard.

At this time, Chen Daole pushed the door open and entered, holding breakfast in his hand.

As usual, they were all extremely exquisite foods.

To Zheng Fan's stomach, eating this kind of food for a long time would definitely be easy to get tired of, but when you start enjoying it, it is definitely so beautiful that you don't want anything else.

"Is there a poetry meeting outside?" Zheng Fan asked with a smile.

Chen Daole nodded and said, "They are the girls from the Fan residence, from various houses, and from relatives' families."

"Have you chatted?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Yes, they said a few words when they first came in."

"Why didn't you join the poetry meeting?" Zheng Fan reached out and picked up a piece of cake and put it in his mouth. "You are also a talent from the Chen family."

"In front of the Earl, this humble one dares not call himself a talent."

Chen Daole had read Zheng Fan's *Zheng Zi's Art of War*.

Zheng Fan nodded without blushing at all and said, "Indeed."

Chen Daole also showed a smile.

"Earl, there is something I have always wanted to say, I wonder if the Earl………"

"Well, don't worry, don't worry. Will what you want to say affect our actions this time?"

"No."

"Then don't rush to say it, wait until we go back."

"But, Earl……"

"Let's just leave it at that."

Zheng Fan stood by the window, watching the orioles and swallows holding a poetry meeting on the other side while eating breakfast. This is probably what is called…… a feast for the eyes.

In fact, Zheng Boye could completely walk over, copy a few poems, and show off a few times in front of the girls.

He had always imagined it in his dreams,

But when he really got to this point, he felt that there was no need to do it. It was good enough to just look at it. There was no need to force himself to intervene and affect the atmosphere.

……

"Are they beautiful?" On the roof, A Ming asked He Chunlai, who was sitting next to him and drinking old yellow wine in the morning, while drinking grape wine.

"Beautiful."

He Chunlai answered very honestly.

The girls in the small pavilion were more distinctive and more temperamental than the other.

In this era, when men marry wives, they don't pay so much attention to age. It is common to see old men marrying young women.

Although everyone is an adult, they don't think that marrying an unmarried girl now is inappropriate or evil.

"But Your Majesty probably won't like them," A Ming said.

Those who know me are my devils.

"Why?" He Chunlai was a little puzzled. He wasn't stupid. He knew that today's beauty poetry meeting was definitely not that simple. Maybe these beauties didn't know that they had been put on the shelves, but Fan Zhengwen's meaning was obvious: may you pick more.

Picking them one by one is fine, sending them in pairs is also fine.

The Fan residence can't wait to build a few more connections besides the Sixth Prince's line, especially the Count of Pingye, who is obviously on the Sixth Prince's boat.

"His Majesty's taste is not this."

"Taste?"

"His Majesty's literary talent is very high. If he is willing, he can go up now and copy…… no,

It is to make a few peerless good lyrics.

But His Majesty didn't, proving that His Majesty didn't like them."

"Oh."

He Chunlai nodded.

A Ming took another sip of grape wine. There was also a bottle next to him filled with ice cubes, and the ice cubes were divided into various flavors, which shows how exquisite the Fan family's life is.

"There are so many kinds of wine. The Fan family is really too rich."

"I heard that the Sixth Prince's wedding in Yanjing showed that it was……"

"That's different. The Sixth Prince's money is not his own. That's his life-saving money."

"Oh, it sounds complicated."

"Yeah, eh?"

"What?"

"Look below. Chen Daole should go out now if he has any sense."

……

Chen Daole did go out after he saw her coming.

The person who came was wearing a white cloak and a red jacket, but she couldn't hide her beautiful figure.

Her movements were bright and charming; her eyebrows were full of graceful charm.

This is a beauty who combines beauty, figure, and temperament, and the three are very harmonious.

In A Ming's opinion, this woman is the first person he has ever seen in this world who can compare with Si Niang.

You can't say who is better-looking, because Si Niang doesn't have the tenderness and sadness between her eyebrows. You can only say that the two flowers bloom, each with its own charm.

Most importantly,

This woman should have been a wife.

"Sister Liu, won't you come and write poems with us?"

"Yes, Sister Liu, come here, let's play together."

"Pin'er has written a good poem. We'll read it to my sister."

The one called Sister Liu smiled and said:

"Girls, play by yourselves first. I am here to ask the master for advice on my illness on behalf of my grandmother."

"Then Sister Liu, go quickly. Grandmother's matter is important."

"Let's play together later."

The woman bowed slightly, motioned for a maid and a nanny behind her to stand still and wait, and pushed the door open and walked in.

Before entering, her eyes glanced over Chen Daole, who had just come out. After seeing Chen Daole lowering his head slightly and taking half a step back, she confirmed that this young man was not the master.

The woman walked in,

And at this time,

Zheng Boye, who was still standing by the window watching a group of young girls having fun and eating food, had already sat back in his chair, holding a book in his hand.

The book was not held upside down.

At the same time,

A red stone was placed on the ground by Zheng Boye and stepped on with his boots.

The woman walked in,

Saw Zheng Fan,

At the same time,

Zheng Boye slowly raised his head and looked at her.

The woman immediately took two steps back in fright. This was not pretending.

The woman had a good life and a hard life. She had a good life because she married into the Fan residence early. She originally had a harmonious relationship with her husband, but her husband died of illness not long after the marriage. Although she would be gossiped about by some people in the mansion, she was loved by her mother-in-law, loved by her sister-in-law, and respected by the girls, so she lived a comfortable life.

Her hard life was that she was destined to guard the end of the bed and spend her whole life alone. At the same time, she also had a cousin by her side. She could live a good life, but with her status, it was somewhat difficult to promote her cousin, because women are like spilled water when they get married. Whether it is in the folk or in the houses of dignitaries, it is against the rules to use the Fan family's money to subsidize her family.

And the woman's fear

Was really not pretending.

In the final analysis,

When she was young, she was in her parents' home, and then she married into the Fan family. It has always been a gentle village, rich and pleasant, and even a fallen leaf can cause sorrow;

Where had she ever seen a man like Zheng Fan?

Yes,

The Count of Pingye,

The general of Xuehai Pass,

After years of training, growing step by step,

Zheng Boye now really has the imposing manner of being majestic without anger.

This is shouted out by thousands of troops and horses, and piled up by the corpses of countless enemies.

Although it is not as good as when Zheng Fan first saw the Jingnan Marquis, Tian Wujing's demeanor at that time, but it is really not far away.

The most important thing is that the Jingnan Marquis is unintentional and natural, and Zheng Boye has more or less added some deliberate effort to it.

The woman was a little scared,

Biting her lip with her teeth.

Zheng Boye restrained his urge to lick his lips,

This woman really has a charm that can stir people's hearts with every move, as if she was born with charm.

The Ke Shi at home is also good-looking, but she really doesn't have this kind of posture and expression like the woman in front of him.

When you see her, you can immediately imagine the meaning of a gentle grave, which can melt thousands of strengths.

You should know that even A Ming, who was sitting on the roof and was ridiculed by the devils as not interested in women, admitted the beauty of this woman.

It is normal for Zheng Boye to be slightly moved.

Finally,

The woman stabilized her mind and bowed slightly to Zheng Fan,

But her voice was still a little trembling,

And said:

"Liu Ruqing of the fourth house of the Fan residence has met Uncle~"

Zheng Boye subconsciously moved his body,

And said:

"What did you call me?"

"Uncle~~~~"

"His……" Zheng Fan.

The red stone under Zheng Fan's feet began to feel restless because he discovered that this old woman was very threatening!

But Zheng Fan exerted force on his feet and forcibly pressed it down.

At the same time,

Pretending to be indifferent, he said:

"I didn't hear clearly."

Liu Ruqing believed it was true, but under Zheng Fan's gaze, she still couldn't help but tremble slightly,

And shouted again:

"Uncle~~~~"

————

Starting tomorrow, I will resume updating twice a day.

Good night.