The carriage left the residential area and stopped on a bustling downtown street. Before Lu Yinxi could lift the carriage curtain, the various hawking sounds had already drifted into the carriage. It sounded even livelier than the last time she entered the city.
"Xier, later I'll first take you to Jiang's Cloth Store to pick out a few bolts of satin and have a few sets of clothes tailored. Then we'll go to Wanbao Tower to choose a few sets of headdresses. There's also Furong Pavilion. I heard they've just got some new lipsticks. I'll take you there to pick some later..."
In just a few words, Mrs. Su had already arranged all their next activities without a moment's pause.
Supported by Hongrui, Lu Yinxi got out of the carriage. The bustling street, which she had only heard of before, finally presented its complete appearance in front of her eyes.
She had heard from her aunt in the carriage that this street was called Ning'an Street. It ran from east to west and extended all the way to the two city gates.
On both sides of the street were teahouses and taverns. Judging from the attire of the people going in and out, most of them were literati and scholars, and there were also some ordinary people with a bit of spare money who came here to relax.
Opposite the teahouses and taverns was a restaurant. Even though it wasn't mealtime, there were still quite a few customers coming and going.
Noticing her niece's gaze, Mrs. Su kindly explained, "That's the most popular restaurant in Longxi. Their dim sum is simply excellent. Later I'll have someone send a box to our mansion."
"No, aunt, that's not what I meant..."
Lu Yinxi waved her hands repeatedly. She was just looking and really didn't want to eat. Besides, Hongrui in her family was also quite good at making dim sum!
Speaking of Hongrui, originally she wasn't in the plan for this outing. But somehow Shang Luoshu found out that the future princess was going out to play, so he asked Hongrui to come along.
As for Mrs. Su, she simply ignored her niece's refusal. Then she took her hand and walked towards the cloth store not far away.
Jiang's Cloth Store was the first stop in Mrs. Su's plan.
The clerk inside obviously knew her. As soon as he saw them come in, he immediately greeted them and at the same time told someone to go inside and find the shopkeeper.
Seeing the clerk flattering her aunt so much that she was beaming with joy and trying to sell all the cloth and ready - made clothes in the store, Lu Yinxi unconsciously swallowed her saliva. She was a bit regretful that she had come out with her aunt today.
The Lu family and Shang Luoze received the news sent by Chen Guang in the evening. Both sides learned that Shang Luoshu and Lu Yinxi had safely arrived in Longxi. However, His Highness the Prince of Jing was seriously injured and needed to rest well, so he couldn't return to the capital immediately.
By now, the news of the great victory in Yangxian had spread to every corner of the capital. The excited and happy common people had completely forgotten about His Highness the Prince of Jing who had been trapped in Yangxian.
Was he missing? Or had he been rescued by General Zheng? If he had been rescued, was he injured?
Apart from his close relatives, no one else remembered these things. But anyway, the long - standing worries could finally be put to rest.
However, fate never let a person off easily, just as Shang Mozheng would never let Shang Luoze off easily.
At the morning court the next day, after Shang Luoze announced the imperial edict to reward Zheng Dai, Shang Mozheng stood up again to plead for Zhu Jie and the 80,000 troops.
The reasons he used were nothing more than that these people were all for the sake of the common people and were forced to take this step.
Why were they forced? Because Xia Shouzheng, the magistrate of Yangxian, was afraid of being dismissed from office, so he concealed the disaster situation. Later, he increased taxes in the name of the court, forcing the common people to rebel.
Guangling, which was adjacent to Yangxian, had also suffered from disasters that year. After hearing about what happened in Yangxian, the people there felt empathy. They mistakenly thought that the court was going to abandon Yangxian and were worried that they would end up in the same situation in the future. So led by Zhu Jie, they organized 30,000 troops and marched towards Yangxian.
As for the 50,000 people brought by His Highness the Prince of Jing, they must have also known the truth, so they sympathized with the people of Yangxian and finally chose to oppose the court.
But now they had been defeated and were subdued by Zheng Dai. Moreover, the truth had already come to light. Why didn't Your Majesty be more lenient and incorporate them into General Zheng Dai's camp to win back the hearts of the people?
Prime Minister Lu had said in the imperial study room yesterday that the Regent might have more tricks up his sleeve. From the news sent back by Shang Luoshu, they could roughly infer Shang Mozheng's scheme.
Shang Luoze had also mentally prepared himself. He thought he could endure it, but now, the fingers digging into the armrest showed that his anger had reached its peak.
Shang Mozheng's words sounded good and reasonable on the surface, but in fact, there were many loopholes and they couldn't stand any scrutiny!
Take Xia Shouzheng for example. He was clearly working for the Regent, but now all the blame was put on him!
And talking about winning back the hearts of the people, wasn't it just to win back the hearts of the people for you, Shang Mozheng!
When a subject's prestige among the people exceeded that of the emperor, there would surely be one death or one injury between the two. This had been the case since ancient times.
Forcing himself not to look at Shang Mozheng, Shang Luoze gritted his teeth and said, "Prime Minister Lu, what do you think?"
"I think what the Regent said is reasonable!"
This was the moment!
Seeing Mrs. Su chatting with another acquaintance, Lu Yinxi greeted the maid of the Su family and then secretly slipped out of Furong Pavilion with Hongrui.
"It's really terrifying!"
After running for a while, Lu Yinxi patted her chest with a lingering fear and gasped for breath. "I never want to go out again!"
From Jiang's Cloth Store to Furong Pavilion, whenever Mrs. Su thought something looked good, she wanted her niece to try it on and then waved her hand to buy it!
Take Jiang's Cloth Store for example. They originally agreed to just pick out satin, but under the persuasion of the shopkeeper and the clerk, Mrs. Su not only picked out satin for her niece, had clothes tailored there, but also bought several sets of ready - made clothes.
Throughout the whole process, she only needed to talk, and the only one who was tired was Lu Yinxi.
She changed clothes on and off. By the time it was time to pay the bill, the young girl was completely numb!
So seeing her aunt meet an acquaintance, she made a prompt decision and escaped.
"Miss, where shall we go next?"
The continuous hawking sounds came back to her ears. Looking at the peddlers with big umbrellas on both sides of the street, Lu Yinxi regained her energy.
"How about over there?"
She pointed to a small stall. "I'm a bit hungry. I'd like a bowl of noodles with gravy first."
Touching the small silver coins on her waist, Hongrui readily agreed.
"Boss, two bowls of noodles with gravy."
When the shopkeeper saw the two female customers coming, he immediately judged from their clothes that they were not from ordinary families, so he became more dexterous in his movements.
Before long, Lu Yinxi saw the freshly made noodles with gravy. The boss had given very generous portions. Just looking at them made her mouth water. She was already thinking about bringing a portion back for Shang Luoshu later.
Thinking like this, she started to eat. One mouthful later, the taste was really as good as she had imagined. The taste was rich and fragrant. It was really a delicacy on earth!
Just as she was eating happily, Lu Yinxi suddenly felt a shadow fall from above. She squinted her eyes and found that a man was standing beside her at some point.
He was wearing a brocade robe, and his long hair was tied up with a golden crown. She couldn't see his specific appearance clearly because of the backlight. She only saw that his mouth was slanted and he was holding an open folding fan in his hand. Then he opened his mouth, thinking he looked very handsome.
"Miss, I feel a deep connection with you at first sight. How about coming to my place for a gathering?"