Chapter 409

Zhu Di suddenly let out a sinister chuckle that made Su Qiao's hair stand on end.

It seems there really is such a possibility; I was careless!

Su Qiao's attitude changed immediately, shifting from his original "unyielding steel" to outright flattery.

"Your Majesty Taizong, are you thirsty? I'll have someone bring tea. Are you hungry? Would you like some fruit..."

Zhu Di: "..."

He suddenly felt he might have underestimated Su Qiao.

With this attitude, he was even more shameless than himself!

"Alright, stop moving the horse; you're making a mess. From now on, I'll follow you. As for where to go next, you decide!"

Su Qiao: "..."

Tsk!

I miscalculated!

Su Qiao had originally intended to annoy Zhu Di on purpose so that Zhu Di would leave on his own.

Who knew that Zhu Di wouldn't play by the rules and simply blocked the path entirely.

He had gone south intending to have some fun, clear his mind, and experience the southern scenery.

But now he has to take Zhu Di along; what the hell is this?

Su Qiao wanted to refuse. "Your Majesty, look how important the Great Ming's rivers and mountains are. You should support the current Your Majesty more. Wouldn't it be better to guide him while you have time? Following me could easily lead to danger..."

"No need. I have spent my life on horseback, basically always on the road to war. When the Great Ming was passed to me, I was always trembling with caution and never properly saw the Great Ming's rivers and mountains in my hands. This time, following you is fine; I can see everything."

"What about guiding Your Majesty?"

"Zhu Youjian has my father to educate him. Besides, education can happen anytime and anywhere; it doesn't have to be face-to-face."

"But the danger..."

"You don't think I am powerless, do you?"

690 Great!

It seems Zhu Di is set in his ways; no amount of persuasion will change his mind.

He has even switched back to using "Zhen" as his self-reference.

Su Qiao finally decisively shut his mouth.

Zhang Xueceng's intelligence network was extremely well-connected.

Upon learning that another envoy sent by Your Majesty had arrived at Suzhou Prefecture, he immediately put down his work, rushed personally to the guesthouse, and wanted to meet them.

Zhu Di had no interest in him, and besides, after running for so long, he was already exhausted.

He waved his hand, telling Su Qiao to dismiss him, and then lay down to rest.

Zhu Di's identity was too important, and his safety was equally important.

It could not be exposed.

Su Qiao thought for a moment, called Ma Kui and the others over, and directly ordered Ma Kui to personally protect Zhu Di.

Zhao Xifang followed to help coordinate, while Sun Youxu was responsible for protecting Su Qiao.

The security level of the guesthouse was raised by several tiers.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Su Qiao had stayed in Suzhou Prefecture without moving an inch.

Su Qiao was not in a hurry, but Zhu Di was actually quite anxious.

"When are you moving, boy? Don't tell me you plan to stay in Suzhou and never leave?"

Zhu Di found Su Qiao and asked directly with a displeased expression.

Although Su Qiao had that thought, he had already been out for nearly a month and a half, and Sun Chuanting had already urged him for the third time.

Even if he delayed further, Su Qiao needed to continue heading south.

262, Ambush! Birds startled into flight!

So Su Qiao explained, "The matters here are almost fully handled. I will pack up tomorrow and head south to Fujian the day after tomorrow. Grand Secretary Sun has already urged me many times."

"Good, I understand!"

Having obtained the information he wanted, Zhu Di turned and left.

As planned, after finishing some trivial matters in Suzhou and writing the process into a memorial to be sent directly to Jingcheng by a messenger, Su Qiao boarded a southbound ship with Liu Rushi and the accompanying Zhu Di.

The distance from Suzhou Prefecture to Fuzhou was much shorter, requiring only four or five days.

Moreover, knowing that Su Qiao was in a hurry to head south for official business,

Zhang Xueceng, while feeling relieved after Su Qiao's departure, specifically dispatched a large official ship.

This time, Su Qiao traveled via the Grand Canal, not by sea to Fuzhou.

They were riding a large official ship, so basically no one dared to intercept them.

In just a day and a half, they crossed the border of Zhejiang and entered Fujian.

Seemingly visiting Fujian for the first time, Zhu Di was in high spirits.

Every day on the ship, he was either fishing or playing mahjong with Ma Kui and the others.

Yes, playing mahjong!

Ever since Su Qiao introduced playing cards and mahjong on the sea ship,

whether it was Liu Rushi or Ma Kui and the others, whenever they had free time with nothing to do, they would always play a few rounds.

Especially Liu Rushi; when Su Qiao went to Suzhou, she was left alone in Nanjing, bored and worried.

She directly summoned Dong Xiaowan, Bian Yujing, and the others, and then they all started playing mahjong in the backyard together.

What about Ma Kui and the others? If Su Qiao doesn't go out,

they don't need to go out to guard Su Qiao's safety either, so they gather together to play Dou Dizhu or Mahjong.

Once Zhu Di saw them playing and curiously asked about it.

Afterwards, he joined in and became addicted!

To speak of it, Zhu Di has great talent for war, but when it comes to Mahjong, whether it's truly bad luck or his intelligence drops on this matter,

he really loses very fast!

Truly bad at it yet loves to play, having a wonderful time.

When he loses money, he ends up asking Su Qiao for it.

Following Su Qiao for two or three days, he discovered that Su Qiao earns money quickly.

Corrupt officials near Nanjing and the like all like to give Su Qiao gifts.

Each gift is several thousand taels or tens of thousands of taels in silver notes.

At the very least, he saw it three times!

Moreover, Su Qiao did not accept them behind his back; every time in front of him, he would deliberately count them.

Then he patted the silver notes and said in a show-off manner: "Sigh, making money is hard!"

Su Qiao already has money, so what else is there to say.

Play, gamble!

At first, Ma Kui thought about deliberately losing a bit to make Zhu Di happy.

But afterwards, they discovered they simply could not afford to lose!

The stakes Zhu Di played were simply too high for them.

Winning a single hand almost required ten-plus taels of silver, or dozens of taels of silver.

How much is their own monthly salary? They are all Company Commanders, earning only ten-plus taels or dozens of taels of silver a month.

It is equivalent to losing one game of Mahjong and having their entire month's salary gone.

Even so, Zhu Di still felt the stakes were too low!

How is this playing with money? This is playing with life!

Even if Ma Kui and the others kept thinking about deliberately letting some money slip, after a few times, they dared not continue to let it slip.

After Ma Kui and the others stopped letting money slip, it became troublesome for Zhu Di to win.

The more he lost, the less willing he was to give up; typical of being bad yet loving to play more!

After losing all the money he had won, he set his sights on Su Qiao.

He directly took tens of thousands of taels in silver notes from Su Qiao, then continued to gamble with Ma Kui and the others.