Chapter Thirty-Four: The Noble Orchid

  The side hall is elegant and quiet, on the high desk there is a pot of begonia that has already produced small flower buds, which are just about to bloom.

  Ye Zhaopin drank tea and had a warm conversation with Zhao Xiang, laughing and chatting happily.

  Rong'er came to her mother's house for a month, and Ye Zhao suddenly felt that it was not very interesting. However, he didn't care about the rules, and ran to Rong'er's house in a hurry. Now, every day without this little guy teasing him, it seems like something is missing.

  Recently, Ye Zhao had another sum of idle money in his hands, a thick pen from Tianjin Shi Jia. Although Ye Zhao said he wanted to divide the remaining silver among his subordinates, who would dare to accept it?

  In the end, Rui Si and others discussed it and left 500 taels of silver as a reward. The remaining 4,000 or so taels were still presented to Master Ye, who reluctantly accepted them despite his reservations.

  Ye Zhaoyang was thinking of buying something fun, but after chatting with Zhao Xiang for a few sentences, he couldn't help but think of Shanghai again, where there were more new and interesting things, and he had the money and place to spend.

  "Brother Jing, is Shanghai really this much fun?" Zhao Xiang's face was full of longing.

  Ye Zhao had not yet responded when a young servant in green clothing suddenly rushed into the room, almost getting stuck in the doorway. He stuttered excitedly: "Master, great joy, great joy!"

  "Get out! No discipline at all!"

  The young servant hastily said: "Noble lady, noble lady return to the mansion, return to the mansion to visit relatives!" He barely finished speaking and almost fainted.

  "Ah!" A startled voice, Zhaoshang jumped up, "This, this is not a good omen, how, how did he come back? Did something go wrong?" Then hurriedly said to Ye Shao: "Jing brother, you sit down for a moment, I'll go take a look at what's going on."

  Ye Zhaowu nodded slightly, but he didn't think that Lan Guiren would make trouble in the palace and suddenly ask to leave. It was probably another impulsive move by Xianfeng.

  Looking out of the window, after all, it's just a noble person, not as exaggerated as on TV, but after all, it's royal style, and eunuchs and palace maids are coming and going, and old ladies, and Rong'er and others have come out to greet them.

  After a while, the sound of music gradually rose, and then saw pairs of eunuchs carrying feather dusters, rosary beads, embroidered handkerchiefs and other things walking in. There were also several palace maids in front, followed by Old Lady and others who received a golden sedan chair with eight eunuchs carrying it, embroidered with golden phoenix patterns, and walked in. Then there were eunuchs and palace maids holding something unknown at the back, only then was it considered entering the house.

  Ye Zhaowas unable to continue looking and avoided losing his composure.

  He sat down to drink tea, but none of the servants were around, and Ye Zhao couldn't help but feel a bit bored. He thought about leaving, but that seemed impolite too. Just as he was hesitating, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and Zhaoshang burst in with a joyful expression, "Brother Jing, quick, come with me, sister wants to see you."

  Ye Zhaowu slightly stunned, thinking that Rong'er was up to something again. Zhao Xiang lightly slapped his own mouth and added: "Not sister, it's... Lan Guiren."

  Ye Zhaoyi was stunned, what was she doing?

  At this time, he could only grit his teeth and follow Zhao Xiang through the hall and into the backyard. However, in front of the main house, Old Lady and Rong'er had just come out. Ye Zhao secretly stuck out his tongue at Rong'er, but she ignored him.

  Inside, the eunuch shouted in a loud voice: "The First-Class General of the Nation, Jing Xiang, requests an audience!"

  Ye Zhao reluctantly, bowed his head and entered the house, flapping his sleeves to greet: "Slave Jingshang wishes Your Ladyship peace! May Your Ladyship be auspicious!" Actually, according to etiquette, only those of rank above imperial concubine could be addressed as "Your Ladyship", but since Lan Guiren was visiting relatives, it was acceptable to use this title in a familial setting.

  Ye Zhao said: "Jing Xiang is pretending to be Meng Lang, please Your Majesty see his crime!"

  In front of a yellow curtain, unable to see the situation inside, only able to see vague human shadows.

  Ye Zhaos current mood seems to be nothing out of the ordinary, Ye Zhao had thought that this person who would become Chinas most important figure in fifty years, their first meeting would be something special, but he had never imagined it would be a chance encounter.

  At this moment, however, his mood was very calm, without any of the excitement that came with colliding with a historical giant.

  "General Town Guo, please take a seat." The voice was so gentle and pleasant that it sounded like the chirping of an oriole.

  "General Town Calming doesn't have to be too formal, today's encounter is a coincidence, I also want to see my sister's husband, let's just chat like family."

  "Yes", Ye Zhao sat down on the soft cushion brought by the eunuch, but in his heart he was thinking that this little public servant didn't know whether it was An Dehai or not. He secretly admired Lan Guiren, who was indeed a noble person, and if it were someone else, they might not have seen him, this so-called brother-in-law, to avoid rumors and gossip.

  "Is General Quan Guo well-versed in Western studies?"

  Ye Zhao's eyes scanned from nose to heart, and he sat with an air of composure, replying: "I've heard a bit about it, but I wouldn't say I have any real skill."

  "The General who Guards the Country is very humble."

  Ye Zhaoforwarded several diaries of Qing officials, which recorded the questions and answers of Empress Dowager Cixi. It is known that this Empress Dowager Cixi was quite knowledgeable about external affairs, unlike Empress Dowager Ci'an, who could only ask a few household questions.

  "The Western barbarians will surely be a calamity for our great Qing dynasty, General of the Pacifying Nation has already grasped their nature, very good."

  Yue Zhao hastily said he didn't dare, and then said: "When handling barbarian affairs, one fears rumors and slander the most. I often worry about this."

  The Lan noble seemed to have thought for a moment, and said: "Few people understand this principle. You do things like this for the country, and in the future these people will inevitably scold you, but you should bear the labor and the blame." After finishing speaking, he seemed to feel that as a noble, he was always discussing government affairs with others, even though it was just private conversation with his brother-in-law at home, it wasn't quite right. So he changed the subject and asked: "How is Rong'er?"

  Mentioning the little guy Ye Zhaoye smiled: "She, except for not listening to anything else is good." However, she forgot where she was and who was in front of her, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she started talking nonsense. After finishing speaking, she felt something was off, but the words had already been spoken and couldn't be taken back. Ye Zhaoye sighed inwardly, although Lan Guiren is a woman, you can't be so relaxed, this woman's wrist is very ruthless, others don't know, you, a crosser, don't know either?

  The lady behind the yellow curtain was silent for a long time, seemingly lost in thought. She hadn't expected Ye Zhaung to respond like that and didn't know how to proceed with her questioning.

  It was a long time before Langui finally asked: "What's wrong with not listening? Are you competing with me for the telescope?"

  This time it was Ye Zhao's turn to be stunned, but unexpectedly Rong'er told her sister everything, and it seemed that the sisters' feelings were actually quite good.

  Ye Zhaodao was stunned for a moment, "Needlework girl Hong, Rong'er took it away and did it herself. I don't know what to say, she wouldn't listen." She quickly changed the subject, not knowing what Rong'er had said to her sister, but it seemed that her image as a second-generation ancestor was deeply rooted in the eyes of Empress Dowager Xi.

  Obviously not expecting Ye Zhao's response, Lan Guiren fell silent for a moment before saying, "You're really doting on her."

  "It's only natural to spoil one's wife!" Ye Zhaohad a bitter smile in his heart. The person in front of him, wasn't exactly a friend, and who knows when she would want his head on a platter next. But for some reason, perhaps because he knew how terrifying the woman in front of him could be in the future, Ye Zhao didn't feel intimidated at all. Instead, he subconsciously wanted to exchange a few playful jabs with her, maybe this was another kind of emotional turmoil.

  The palace maid Tai listened to this conversation and was somewhat stunned, but being able to stand in this house, she must be a trusted confidant of Lan Guiren.

  After a while, Lan Guiren said: "You can get up now." After a pause, he added another sentence: "General Zhen Guo is not an ordinary person, there's no need to hide your true heart and pretend to be crazy."

  Ye Zhaoyi was stunned, and his forehead began to sweat. For a moment, he felt as if Huang Pinniang had seen through him, and it was the first time since coming to this world that he instinctively sensed danger.

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