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Chapter 160
4. The haggard green silk Zen guest, only a little lamp is still alive
Pei Nianyu never expected that this quiet courtyard was the residence of his elder brother Pei Nianzhen.
Or... a place of confinement.
He looked at this man who was only in his thirties but already had two mottled temples, how high-spirited he was when he was crowned prince, and how embarrassed he was now.
Pei Nianyu's thoughts turned,
And when Pei Nianzhen saw his fourth brother here, it seemed even more unbelievable:
"you……"
He originally came out to meet this "chef", thinking that it might have something to do with his hometown, but unexpectedly he met this familiar yet unfamiliar brother.
Familiarity is because of getting along with each other in youth and secretly fighting in youth, unfamiliar because since Pei Nianzhen was put under house arrest by the first emperor, he has not seen him for several years.
However, the person standing in front of him at this time was Prince Yu who was beneath one person, above ten-thousand others, and thinking of the relationship between this prince and the current sage, the ultimate victor, Pei Nianzhen felt mixed feelingsList.
Pei Nianzhen seemed to sigh clearly and said:
"Aren't you here to see me off for the last time? It's a pity that the bowl of soup just now...I don't have much time, so why should your Majesty do this?"
Pei Nianyu was still slightly embarrassed by the fact that the two of them met face to face, but now that he heard the words, he was stunned for a while before he understood what the elder brother meant.After all, with the passage of time, he almost lost all his awareness of political struggle.
He couldn't help laughing out loud:
"Of course I came here to make you that magnolia cattail soup. Didn't the steward of your house invite me here?"
Pei Nianzhen didn't know why, so he turned to look at his steward, and only after listening to his explanation did he understand what was going on.
"It's hard for you to be so loyal as a steward. In order to let you eat something good before you die, it's not easy to find a way to get past the shadow guard's search and interrogation when you go shopping these days?"
These words seemed to have poked him in some sore spot, Pei Nianzhen suddenly covered his mouth with his sleeve, bent over and coughed.
"...The person who is about to die, please trouble the prince...cough cough...you are bothering."
Pei Nianyu was silent for a while, the middle-aged man in front of him was thin and thin, not a few years older than Lou Yefeng, but his hair was already mixed with white.
He closed his eyes, turned around and wanted to leave.
"...Brother is sick, so let's take a good rest. Don't worry, His Majesty has never had any intention of harming you. He is very busy, and he really won't be distracted by a poor man who just lives in seclusion in Capital City."Literati."
"Otherwise, your steward can't run around again and again, and his shadow guards just turn a blind eye."
Pei Nianzhen lowered his eyes and remained silent.
The implication of these words is obviously that—no matter how powerful you, the prince, are, you are no longer a threat to him now.It's not your turn to be his nail in the eyes and thorn in the flesh.
He laughed twice:
"I wouldn't have survived for a few days anyway."
Pei Nianyu also felt that his heart was complicated, and he had nothing to say:
"See you again, goodbye."
………
He left the small courtyard in silence.
Out of the alley, he suddenly remembered something, turned around and asked Lou Yefeng:
"You asked me just now that I wanted the jade token to drive away the shadow guards guarding here, right, so you already knew that the elder brother lived here?"
Lou Yefeng sighed:
"I came over to check the location when his father put him under house arrest. This is always important information."
Pei Nianyu, who was originally in a dull mood, laughed a little lighter when Lou Yefeng said "his father".
Isn't that right, their common father allowed and even intentionally induced other princes to develop their power, taking pleasure in playing with the so-called balance of power, but messed up the government.
This is the common people of Limin who are not in this dynasty until they are dead.
Lou Yefeng himself was also a bold person, seeing that Pei Nianyu was becoming more and more lazy to hide his boredom with "Xiandi", he lost respect for the title of "Xiandi", who was not his master anyway.
"I come to Pei Nianzhen every now and then to investigate for fear of any changes. The shadow guards His Majesty assigned to his mansion are of course for surveillance purposes, and they were stricter in the past few years. In the past year or two, they have been replaced by new shadow guards.There are even many who have not left the camp yet, so their martial arts and vigilance are inevitably lacking."
"There are not many good shadow guards on Xiaosheng's side. He doesn't have enough hands to investigate the intelligence of the whole country. How can there be extra shadow guards sent to this place where there is no splash."
"Brother's matter... I'll go to the palace and talk to Xiao Sheng. If you're with me, you can let those shadow guards go back first."
"it is good."
Pei Nianyu stopped suddenly:
"Wait a minute, let's come over to see the eldest brother today... Let them not report to He Qi."
Lou Yefeng was stunned for a moment. He had investigated the relationship between the abandoned prince Pei Nianzhen and the He family before, and knew more about it than his master.But of course don't know about the more distant things. The master is afraid that Old He will be angry when he hears about Pei Nianzhen, or...?
"Yes, I see."
The two rushed all the way to the palace with lightness kung fu, Lou Yefeng didn't want to enter the palace ostentatiously to apply eye drops to the shadow guards in the palace, so he found a place to hide, leaving only Pei Nianyu in the inner study.
Pei Nianyu relayed the story of "I just went out of a sudden to deliver a takeaway to others out of kindness, but ran into their elder brother who was about to die", but Pei Niancheng frowned.
"How can it be such a coincidence, I just received the news of his illness, and you have... Li Han!"
"The subordinates are here."
A black figure fell.
"Go and check again to see if he has played tricks."
"yes."
"I don't think it's enough to be a ghost, but, Xiao Sheng, if he just disappears like this..."
Pei Niancheng sighed, with a slightly worried expression on his face:
"It's too early, I'm only in my fourth year on the throne."
——Pei Niancheng didn't want to make people worry about the disappearance of his elder brother who had been the prince for many years not long ago.
"Brother, have you used your system to help find out what kind of disease he is, and is there any cure? The shadow guard I sent only said that he was stagnant in his heart, and he was losing both energy and blood. Why did he reach the point of dying?gone."
Pei Nianyu spread his hands: "Of course I checked, I scanned it with the system, and the result is heart disease."
"Although it's not completely unprepared, it's always better for him to be alive... You say that this guy is doing well, and you can't think about it!"
Pei Nianyu sighed softly.Xiao Sheng said it easily, not because he was the one who got to be a great treasure in the end.It's normal for their eldest brother to be in this situation after being a prince for many years. Pei Nianzhen is not from later generations like the two of them.
"Xiao Sheng, do you want me to save him?"
"For some political convenience... yes. Brother, do you have any medicinal recipes that you can use?"
"No. Even if there is, if he himself does not want to live, he will definitely refuse to eat. What can I do?"
Pei Niancheng was silent for a moment.
"Actually, I went to him once the year before last. I told him that our cheap father is dead anyway. It was your father who ordered you to be placed under house arrest, not me. I asked him if he still wanted to be free.It’s not like we can’t let him out after a bit of work.”
"I didn't just do it for the courtiers and the elders of the clan, to show respect to my brothers and friends. Although he is a bit old-fashioned in terms of governance concepts, and his way of being an imperial servant is also sloppy. But he is still a good person, and he has studied classics.He has a strong foundation, I wanted him to work as a errand in the Ministry of Etiquette, but if it doesn't work, Imperial Academy, it's better than raising someone to eat..."
Pei Nianyu understood:
"But he refused? He thought you were uneasy and kind, and you could just catch him and deal with him by putting him back in the court? Or...do you not want to feel humiliated for your servant?"
Pei Niancheng snorted coldly:
"It's all there. He is willing to hang around in that small courtyard, looking at me like a weasel. How could I beg him to come out and work?"
"Forget it, brother, just try it casually, save it if you can, I can't do this job, and he won't believe me if I tell him anything. But if he is really awkward, it's fine if he can't be saved, he will dieIt's not that I don't have a plan. Those old officials back then couldn't make any waves."
Pei Nianyu nodded: "Got it, I know."
……………
Xiaosheng's reaction was completely within Pei Nianyu's expectations. From Xiaosheng's point of view, there would be a bit of public opinion disturbance if their elder brother died too early.And Xiao Sheng has been focusing on development and construction these years, and has no intention of dealing with these problems left over from the history of the previous dynasty's palace struggles, or he is tired of dealing with them for so many years.
For Pei Nianyu himself... The main reason is that the relationship between their elder brother and the two brothers is not very rigid.Pei Nianzhen was the prince back then, and he wanted to set an example for all the princes.Caring for relatives and friends, respecting the virtuous and the corporal, is always decent in terms of face.
Although the ex-prince and them had conflicts of interest, they didn't fight each other hard.
Back then, it was the second prince who was born as a favorite concubine who caused most of the trouble for the two brothers. In other words, the second prince was very arrogant and domineering because of the power of his mother's family, and he was unhappy with anyone - but he was dead.
Whether it's public or private, Pei Nianyu wants to save this elder brother.After all, the royal family has been fighting for many years, and there are not many relatives left, and Pei Nianzhen is one of the few "relationships are okay".
"Are you sick... I'm just idly thinking about things in that yard every day. It's no wonder I don't have a heart attack."
He had some ideas in his mind.
Early the next morning, Pei Nianyu called his two apprentices to have a meeting in the mansion.
He Yanjun looked reluctant: "Master, my snacks are waiting to be put into the stove. Today's order is endless!"
"That's why I called you two here today. The people in Capital City are really rich, and your shop is not expensive. If it keeps going so hot every day, you two will be exhausted."
Xiang Ping'en said: "My lord is right. It's been more than half a month since the opening, and the senior sister has lost weight twice."
Pei Nianyu bent his fingers and knocked on the table:
"Do you two have any idea?"
Xiang Ping'en's goal was to make more money, but he didn't feel tired. He only said that he would continue to expand the scale and recruit people to open branches after he had accumulated enough costs.When the branch opens, it is not afraid that everyone will come to this place to queue up.
"How about you, Yanjun?"
He Yanjun obviously didn't have much success yet, she didn't rely on this shop for her livelihood, she just made dim sum for fun.
Pei Nianyu said:
"I have a suggestion. Among the dim sum you make every day, why do you have to do the basic styles yourself. And the dim sum is different from Xiang Ping's red case. Your dim sum just looks novel and has a novel taste."
"The basic ones, such as jujube paste walnut crisps, cookies, egg yolk rolls, etc., it's better to sell the recipe directly. Those dim sum shops in Capital City have been robbed of a lot of business by you. You don't need money, so why bother?"Compete with the people and sell the prescription, they don’t have to come to your shop to queue up, and you will save trouble.”
"At that time, you can just make some high-end fancy snacks every day, and what you want to do is not up to your heart."
He Yanjun agreed with both hands, she just wanted to inherit his brother's dim sum shop and find something for herself to do, and she didn't want to exhaust herself to death.
"Then it's settled. As for the person who will help you negotiate business...Yanjun, just wait, I may be able to find you a helper in two days."
…………
By the afternoon of this day, the sky was just right, clear and bright.
Pei Nianzhen was reclining on the bed, feeling the loss of life in his body, and thinking about how many days he could live.
But for no reason, he remembered the bowl of magnolia and cattail soup yesterday.
He has been ill in bed for a long time, and has been unable to eat for a long time. This magnolia and cattail soup is the best dish his mother has ever cooked for him.
His mother, the late emperor's empress, was from Jiangnan.
When the late emperor sent several of their princes out to the state capital, and each of them governed by their own abilities for three years, the fourth child went to the bitter cold land of Cloud Province in the north, and the fifth child, Pei Niancheng, was not favored by the late emperor, so he went to a barren land in the southwestern border.
And he went to the rich and prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River, and got the protection of his mother's power.
In the three years in Jiangnan, he has eaten this dish a lot.However, in the short few years after returning to Beijing, the court has changed one after another, since the queen passed away...
But how could his fourth brother know how to cook this dish, and his fourth brother's skill is so good, could it be that he has been studying these cooking skills in the past few years since he was a prince?
Pei Nianzhen was thinking about it when the fourth brother he was talking about suddenly appeared in front of him.
Pei Nianzhen was taken aback for a moment:
"My lord is here, what can I do?"
Pei Nianyu took a long list on him:
"You invited me to cook for you yesterday, and the bill hasn't been settled yet?"
"..."
Pei Nianzhen glanced at it, and saw that all kinds of material costs were expensive. At the bottom, it was written impressively:
The door-to-door fee is 10,000 taels of silver.
Pei Nianzhen was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood:
"It costs 10,000 taels to make a dish, why don't you grab it!"
Pei Nianyu wondered:
"His Royal Highness personally cooks for you, ten thousand taels will be less. Why, you are a brother, are you going to renege on your debt?"
Pei Nianzhen's face was ashen. Since he was placed under house arrest, all his family properties have been confiscated. The former party ministers don't know his whereabouts.Therefore, he only lived on the allocated materials and silver every month, and some of the privately hidden silver he brought over was used less and less.
No, he is a prince, Pei Nianyu, is he short of this little money? What kind of account do you want from him?
"Could it be that you saw that I was dying, so you came here to humiliate me!"
Pei Nianzhen made him so angry that it was much harder to say a few complete words.
"Of course not, but you can't just let it go. It's not easy to do business in a small shop, please be considerate, brother."
Pei Nianzhen: "..."
"Without money, how are you doing?"
Pei Nianyu narrowed his eyes and smiled like a fox:
"If you don't have the money to pay the bill, sell yourself to pay the bill. Come and work for me in my pastry shop. It just so happens that my shop lacks an accountant."
Pei Nianzhen subconsciously wanted to refute.He thought to himself that you asked my prince to do something for you as an accountant, and you said that you didn't mean to humiliate me?But he thought about it again, his fourth younger brother also became a cook as a prince, so who can ask for an argument.
He choked on his chest, unable to speak.
Pei Nianyu continued:
"The guys in this store provide three meals for free, I did it."
"..."
Pei Nianzhen was silent for a moment.
The majestic prince personally cooks for him... Doesn't it seem unacceptable?
Not to mention if he made that magnolia cattail soup again...
It has to be said that it was rare for Pei Nianzhen, who had long had the will to die, to have such a slight emotion.
Pei Nianyu added the last fire:
"Besides, there is someone in mine that you might want to meet."
"……who is it?"
Pei Nianyu raised his eyes and looked straight into his eyes:
"A man you might have thought you had killed."
"—he's still alive."
Years of dusty memories gradually came to life, and those past events that he intentionally kept himself from recalling came rushing forward.
A crack finally appeared in Pei Nianzhen's eyes.