The Imperial City in June is the season when the heat is hard to bear.
In the Southern Qi Imperial City, since the founding of the empire, the emperors of the past have advocated a civil ruling of the empire, and they liked poetries, elegant hobbies of pen and ink. Therefore, both inside and outside of the Imperial City are planted to be full of flowers. All kinds of flowers bloom all year round, with the scent of flower fragrance present throughout the Imperial City. It has always been known as the Flower Capital.
Although there was the Northern Zhou invasion this year, trampling up to the border, it did not affect the flowering of the Southern Qi"s Imperial City.
Su Feng Nuan has not yet entered the city and could already smell the scent of flowers from the Imperial City. She inhaled and takes her horse into the city.
Behind her, besides the commoners pa.s.sing by, her third brother Su Qing"s sight could not be seen.
Since General Su"s defeat of the Northern Zhou invasion, the atmosphere of Imperial City has changed, people talked louder and it was very lively.
She took the horse and went to a teahouse, asked for a pot of high-grade tea, not in a hurry to return home. Then she sat down and leisurely listened to the storyteller tell his story.
The teahouse and wine cellars in the Imperial City have always been the most lively places where people gather after various major events.
Today, the storyteller was telling of a major event that has happened recently.
General Su defeated the Northern Zhou army, the Emperor was greatly pleased, gave words of heavy rewards: After General Su had handled the border issues and returned to the Imperial City, he will be bestowed the Wu-hou 1Marquess, but of the military rather than of a ‘town." Wu means military. Comparable to the Duke t.i.tle for Royalties. t.i.tle, and the Su Manor would become the Wu-hou Manor .
In addition to this incident, the Emperor and Empress also let out the message, to bestow a marriage for Lady Su.
Currently, there are two candidates that are brought up the most.
One is the Duke of Rong-an w.a.n.g-fu"2Duke"s Manors Shi-zi3t.i.tle bestowed to the son of a Duke Ye Xiang; the other is the Emperor"s Xiao Guo-jiu 4Emperor"s Little Brother In Law, Xu Yun Chu from the Guo-zhang 5Queen"s Father Manor
One is the royal family, and the other is an aristocratic family. Both"s background are prominent.
The Su Manor is the General"s Manor, and it is about to become the Wu-hou Manor, so it is also very prominent, making Lady Su and the two candidates a naturally compatible match.
It is said that the Empress Dowager proposed her own grand-nephew, Xu Yun Chu, and the Emperor proposed his nephew, Ye Xiang, the son of the Rong-an w.a.n.g-fu6Duke"s Manor].
The court"s officials also were taking sides, this subject is an even hotter topic than General Su"s defeat of the Northern Zhou.
The marriages of children have always been a popular topic, and also have been commonly talked about by people when they have nothing to do.
In particular, an engagement that both the Empress Dowager and Emperor view with high importance upon; the marriage of the young daughter of the now famed General Su, really is a reason for the Imperial City commoners to become raged about it.
Su Feng Nuan drank three cups of tea; and listened to the cause and effect of the matter. Just when she was going to take out some coins to pay and leave, she hears a clear voice from the upper floor saying with a regretful tone, “I didn"t expect that I slept for three months and missed so many good shows.”
She looked upstairs, only to see the voice coming from a grandeur room. Although the door of the room was open, the curtain covered it, vaguely can see a few figures, sitting around the table, the facial features were unclear, unable to clearly see the person speaking.
Laughingly, someone continued the conversation, “Si-zhi6Bestowed t.i.tle for a Duke"s son, these three months that you"ve slept over, you hadn"t just missed a good show, if you hadn"t been drunk and unconscious, you almost went with General Su to the battlefield!”
The person earlier, who expressed their regret, upon hearing that said, took a change of tone and said joyfully, “That said, it"s fortunate that I drank the Sanyuezui7Name of the 3 month drunk wine, otherwise the swords on the battlefield have no eyes. I heard that even General Su was seriously injured and he is still nursing at the border. If I go, eight out of ten I"d be like my father and mother and can"t come back. How could I still sit here and drink tea?"
"Exactly, exactly." Someone answered.
“Shi-zi is a lucky person and will have a blessed life.” Someone chimed in.
Su Feng Nuan took her eyes off of them and took out some silver, putting them on the table and got up.
At this time, the person smiled and said joyfully, “I really am a lucky person with a blessed life. In this case, the tea of everyone in this tea house will be paid by me!”
His moment his words fell, instantly a wave of cheers followed.
Su Feng Nuan steps paused and looked upstairs again. Seeing that grandeur room filled with laughter, about seven or eight people seated.
Someone downstairs asked, “Shi-zi, do you really mean it?”
“Of course whatever I say is true. When had I ever said anything that I didn"t mean?” The person upstairs said with a smile, “Shopkeeper, listened well, today in the tea house. All the tea from the visitors is counted on my bill.”
“Alright!” The shopkeeper immediately smiled and answered.
Su Feng Nuan retracted her glance and returned to her seat. She waved over a young a.s.sistant and whispered to him.
The young a.s.sistant looked at her with a stunned expression after hearing her words.
Su Feng Nuan had on a bamboo hat, wearing a white dress that was not old or too new and carried a sword at her waist. A jianghu people look.
The young a.s.sistant looked at her for a long while, and still could not clearly see her features. He could only stutter and say, “This…miss, this…is not too appropriate?”
“What"s not appropriate? Didn"t he clearly say it? That today"s tea for all visitors in the teahouse, he will pay for? ” Through the veil, Su Feng Nuan"s pair of clear and innocent eyes stared at the young a.s.sistant, “Do the dignified Rong-an w.a.n.g-fu"s8Duke"s Manor Ye Shi-zi say things that do not hold up? ”
The young a.s.sistant hesitated, and said quietly, “But… Ye Shi-zi is saying for those drinking here, he didn"t say… those for taking out are counted…”
Su Feng Nuan extended her hand and knocked the table twice, laughing and saying, “This teahouse, is it that there is money that you don"t want to earn? You go ask your shopkeeper to see if he will or not.”
The young a.s.sistant sighed and looked upstairs and saw the laughter from upstairs. He immediately ran to find the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper listened to what the young a.s.sistant said, looking towards Su Feng Nuan, was stunned, but after a moment, nodded to the young a.s.sistant.
The young a.s.sistant having the approval of the shopkeeper, ran to the back, and brought out ten boxes of good quality new tea.
Su Feng Nuan took off the bag behind her, opened it, wrapped up the ten boxes of good quality new tea, and leisurely walked out of the teahouse.
The young a.s.sistant watched Su Feng Nuan leave the teahouse and took the horse away. Again, he turned and ran back to the shopkeeper. He whispered, “Shopkeeper, 10 boxes of good quality new teas, a box is like a thousand gold, these ten boxes are 10 thousand gold.” You even agree to that, Ye Shi-zi made a big loss today.”
The shopkeeper was making noises with his abacus and shook his head, not talking.
The young a.s.sistant said, “Shopkeeper, should we tell Ye Shi-zi?”
The shopkeeper shook his head.
The young a.s.sistant saw that the shopkeeper didn"t say anything, so naturally, he said nothing, but his heart pained for Ye Xiang. 10 thousand gold was not a small amount. Ye Shi-zi"s ancestorial properties must have been spent by him in these years already. What can he live off of in the future?
The news that Ye Shi-zi was paying for tea in the teahouse soon spread. After one pa.s.s, ten pa.s.ses, and many people heard it, they all flocked to Yipin Xiang 9First Cla.s.s Fragrant Teahouse.
The young a.s.sistant was bringing out tea back and forth, his legs were numb, and he couldn"t help feel sorry for Ye Xiang"s money anymore, he now felt for his legs.
Ye Xiang did not stay in the teahouse for a long time. After drinking two pots of tea with a group of people, he went out of the teahouse and went to find a place to have fun.
He slept for three months, and did not sleep himself limp, but instead, he was very full of energy. On a hot day, he took a group of people to the hunting ground.
Su Feng Nuan led the horse back to the Su Manor.
Madam Su heard that she had returned to Capital, and came out to greet her with joy. She looked at left and right and was relieved to see that she was not injured.
Su Feng Nuan took off the bag and handed it to Madam Su, laughing and saying, “There are ten boxes of good Tianxiangjin 10Heavenly Fragrant Well Tea that your daughter robbed, Mother loves to drink tea so accept it.”