Chapter 676: Fishing? Pfft! I don't care at all! [Many thanks! Bow again! Debt 38k]

During the banquet,

Gu Tingye's tone was full of surprise, "The horse trade between the Northwest and the various Mongol tribes hasn't stopped yet?"

Huang Qingyue nodded with a smile.

Seeing this,

Gu Tingye looked at Xu Zaijing to the side, "Fifth Brother, you knew about this?"

Xu Zaijing, whose mouth was full of grease, put down the roasted lamb in his hand, "I knew!"

"No! Northern Liao and we are fighting! And the Mongols are still selling horses?"

Xu Zaijing took the handkerchief handed over by Qingcao and wiped his mouth, "Northern Liao is fighting with our dynasty, what does it have to do with the various Mongol tribes? If the Mongol tribes don't sell horses, can they turn into tea, silk, lacquerware, and other items out of thin air?"

"Besides, if the Mongols don't sell horses, it's not like our Northwest pastures don't have a supply of horses."

Gu Tingye nodded, his eyes turned, and he said, "Then if there are good horses from the Northwest pastures, wouldn't selling Mongol horses to our dynasty allow us to suppress the price?"

Xu Zaijing raised an eyebrow with a smile.

Looking at Xu Zaijing's appearance, everyone at the banquet laughed.

Suppressing the price of horses from the Mongol tribes was aimed at cutting the price in half.

But when horses were sold within the Great Zhou territory, the price of horses dropped, but... it didn't drop much.

Between the back and forth, the court's revenue increased a lot, and the Marquis Yongyi's residence, which handled it, just followed along to eat some soup, which was extremely profitable.

After drinking a sip of tea, Xu Zaijing turned his head and said, "Brother Yue, you have been training cavalry in the north for these days, what differences do you think there are between the horses in the Northwest pastures and the Mongol horses?"

Everyone at the banquet looked at Huang Qingyue.

After looking at everyone, Huang Qingyue said, "The horses in the Northwest pastures are tall and robust, extremely good at short-distance impact running, suitable for armored cavalry. Mongol horses have persistent endurance and run far, are cold-resistant, and are extremely easy to raise, they are also good horses!"

Gu Tingye said, "Then, if both sides' mounts are these two types of horses, which side has a greater chance of winning?"

After glancing at Gu Tingye, Huang Qingyue shook his head, "Yuan Erlang, this depends on what kind of battlefield it is. If it's a frontal charge with armored cavalry, Northwest horses are naturally good at it, but if it's a chase, Mongol horses have an advantage."

"Oh!" Gu Tingye nodded noncommittally.

Xu Zaijing put down the chopsticks in his hand, looked at Gu Tingye, and said, "Brother Ye, Brother Da charged through the Northern Liao army formation outside Keyi Gate, and now he is training cavalry, he is knowledgeable and experienced, what he said makes a lot of sense."

"I know," Gu Tingye said, raising the wine cup in front of him.

After Huang Qingyue toasted him from afar, everyone continued to talk about other topics.

Liang Han, not knowing whether it was intentional or unintentional, actually asked about the situation when Huang Qingyue led the palace guard cavalry out of the city earlier today.

Huang Qingyue looked at the expression of his future brother-in-law and very wisely didn't elaborate, skipping the topic in one sentence.

Subsequently,

Huang Qingyue, who was not often in Bianjing, asked Liang Han a few questions about the Jinming Pool competition with curiosity.

He was very concerned about whether the competition the day after tomorrow was stable.

"Brother Yue, don't worry, the sailors on the small dragon boat are all elite selected carefully. It's not inappropriate for several brothers to be on the boat. Especially Brother Jing, he can also give the small dragon boat quite a bit of help."

"Since Sixth Brother said so, I can rest assured."

After finishing, everyone continued to drink and eat.

Although there was no sound of silk and bamboo music, the atmosphere was still lively.

"Brother Huang, you are a hero in the army with the merit of being the first to ascend, I have a question in my heart, I don't know if I should say it."

"Jiulang, just ask."

"Between you and Brother Jing, who is more powerful?"

Hearing this, Huang Qingyue smiled and looked at Xu Zaijing, nodded, and said, "Naturally, Fifth Brother is more powerful."

Just as everyone was about to nod, Xu Zaijing raised his cup with a smile and shook his head, "Brother Yue, you are wrong."

Looking at everyone's slightly surprised expressions, Xu Zaijing said, "Brother Yue, Jiulang didn't say whether it was one-on-one, or each leading cavalry to fight."

Qiao Jiulang was stunned and hurriedly nodded, "Right, right, right, that's what I meant."

Huang Qingyue smiled, "Fifth Brother, even if it's leading troops to fight, I wouldn't dare to say I am more powerful."

Hearing this, Gu Tingye to the side drank a cup of wine with a look of approval.

Just as he was about to continue picking up food, Gu Tingye didn't know what he thought of, his chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and after a pause, Gu Tingye continued to pick up food.

When everyone was full of wine and food, and Liang Han and Qiao Jiulang left the table to 'compete' in martial arts to the side, Gu Tingye stood beside his future brother-in-law.

"Before..."

Just as Gu Tingye made a sound, Huang Qingyue looked over and said sternly, "Yuan Erlang, what's wrong?"

"The person I asked you to take care of in Beizhou before, is she okay now?"

"Naturally very good, when I and Brother Zheng Er left Beizhou, I greeted the newly arrived officials. On the way back to Bianjing this year, I also stopped by to take a look, that lady reopened a medical shop."

"Oh!" Gu Tingye nodded happily and looked at Huang Qingyue, "You have a heart."

"Yuan Erlang is too polite."

After some liveliness, everyone packed up and prepared to disperse.

At the gate of the Huang family garden,

the Huang family attendant who went to Nanxun Gate to explore returned on horseback, looked at the crowd saying goodbye at the gate, cupped his hands and said, "Young Master, the little one went to look outside Nanxun Gate, the commoners are queuing to return to the city at this time, and the city gate is blocked tightly."

Liang Han looked to the west and said, "I don't know how the situation at Guangli Gate is?"

Before the words were finished,

the sound of horse hooves came from the west. Looking at the rider's clothing, Xu Zaijing smiled, "Brother Yue is thoughtful."

Huang Qingyue at the gate smiled, "It's a habit in the army."

After listening to the attendant's report, everyone got on their carriages and horses and walked toward Guangli Gate in the west.

Arriving outside Guangli Gate.

Xu Zaijing looked out and saw a slightly dense flow of people and carriages walking toward the city.

Although it was bustling with carriages and horses, it was far from being congested.

Subsequently,

everyone's carriages and horses moved slowly, preparing to merge into it.

Xu Zaijing rode his horse, and in the gaps of talking to several people, he looked around at the situation.

Suddenly,

Xu Zaijing's gaze froze.

"Fifth Brother, let's go too!" Gu Tingye said to the side.

Xu Zaijing didn't look back and replied, "Yuan Erlang, you go first, I'll wait a bit."

Gu Tingye leaned out and looked in the direction Xu Zaijing was looking, "Fifth Brother, what did you see?"

"Nothing, maybe my eyes were dazzled."

"Alright! Let's go!"

As he spoke, Gu Tingye waved his hand and led people toward the city.

Half a quarter of an hour later,

watching an ox cart walk over, Xu Zaijing tapped the horse's belly lightly and walked up.

The ox pulling the cart had oily and smooth fur, obviously well cared for.

Mama Cui, sitting on the carriage shaft outside the carriage, looked at Xu Zaijing who was approaching, and hurriedly turned her head to say a few words to the carriage.

After Xu Zaijing arrived at the side of the carriage, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Old Madam Sheng's face was revealed, with Minglan sitting beside her looking out.

"Grand-aunt, Minglan," Xu Zaijing smiled.

"I have met Jing Jing Biao Ge Jing," Minglan nodded in the carriage to show respect.

After Xu Zaijing nodded, he looked at the smiling Old Madam and said, "Grand-aunt, where are you going today?"

The Old Madam smiled kindly and said, "Today is Qingming, I went to the temple south of the city to burn a few sticks of incense and other things."

"Oh!" Xu Zaijing nodded.

"Jing'er, what about you, what did you go to do?"

"Grand-aunt, today the eldest son of the Earl of Shoushan hosted a banquet, my nephew and several good friends came to the banquet and are just about to go home."

"Oh! No wonder."

While talking,

Qingyun and the Xu family's carriage followed behind the ox cart, walking slowly toward the city.

After entering the city,

on the way to accompany the Sheng family's ox cart back to Jiying Lane, Xu Zaijing talked to the Old Madam a few more times.

"It was actually Mama Kong's entrustment?" Xu Zaijing realized.

The Old Madam looked at Xu Zaijing outside the carriage and asked curiously, "Jing'er, looking at your appearance, you know Mama Kong?"

Xu Zaijing smiled and said, "Great-Aunt, Kong Mama once served as a governess for several young ladies at the home of the Imperial Son-in-Law Lu. My sworn younger brother, Zezong, has mentioned it a few times."

"Oh! So that's how it is." The Old Madam nodded, her eyes full of nostalgic sadness, "Back then in the palace, Mama Kong and I had a good private friendship. There were several palace maids who were close to Mama Kong, and after so many years, several have already entered the soil."

"Mama Kong is now a bit far from Bianjing and cannot sweep the graves, so she found me."

Xu Zaijing nodded repeatedly to the side.

Minglan in the carriage looked at Xu Zaijing from time to time as the Old Madam spoke.

Sensing Minglan's gaze, Xu Zaijing looked back with a smile, "Minglan, why do you keep looking at me?"

Minglan smiled embarrassedly, "Jing Jing Biao Ge Jing, the young master of the Earl of Shoushan, was it because he wanted to win the prize for Sister Tingyi that he hosted you?"

Xu Zaijing thought for a moment, shook his head and smiled, "I also have a good private friendship with him, it's not just because of this matter."

"Oh!" Minglan nodded.

While talking,

the group arrived at the entrance of Jiying Lane, the Old Madam didn't say polite words, just smiled, "Jing'er, walk slowly on the way back."

"Yes, Grand-aunt."

Xu Zaijing nodded with a smile, and after watching the Sheng family's ox cart turn into Jiying Lane, he rode away.

The first day of the third lunar month,

Jinming Pool Garden was wide open,

as soon as the sky brightened,

many high-ranking families in Bianjing city took carriages and horses, bringing maids and servants to rush to the west of the city.

Although the wind was a bit strong today, there were still many commoners and wealthy families waiting on the side of the road early to wait for the Emperor's imperial carriage along the way from the inner city to outside the city.

During this period, the wealthy commoners could also appreciate the precious horses and carved carriages of the high-ranking families.

When the sun had just risen,

a palace guard commander rode a horse and brought a hundred palace guard infantry to a street not far from the city wall, going to Xinzheng Gate.

After some arrangements, the palace guard infantry wearing bright armor, holding spears and carrying knives, stood scattered along the street.

When there were prominent figures on the side of the road who recognized the palace guard martial officer and cupped their hands to respectfully call him "Commander Tu," the martial officer would also cup his hands to return the salute.

The sun rose,

the atmosphere of guard and vigilance on the street became more and more intense.

Soon,

hundreds of majestic palace guard cavalry appeared in the commoners' field of vision,

and the tips of the cavalry's long horse spears mostly had flags made of precious materials, fluttering ostentatiously in the spring breeze.

The Emperor's imperial carriage, protected in the middle, was blocked by screens held by tall and strong eunuchs on both sides. If the commoners along the street were standing, they would only see this thing.

Following the imperial carriage ridden by the Emperor was a group of sons of nobles and officials wearing bright armor.

Xu Zaijing was among them, and he was in the position closest to the imperial carriage.

Looking up, Xu Zaijing could see Zhao Fang and the two little princesses sitting side by side behind the light gauze on the imperial carriage in front, the three of them turning their heads together to wave and greet those behind.

From time to time, the silver-bell-like laughter of the little princesses came.

After leaving the city gate,

crossing the Dragon Protection River,

without the obstruction of the city wall,

the wind outside the city seemed to be stronger, making the flags on the cavalry's horse spears sway even more violently.

Soon,

the Emperor's imperial carriage entered Jinming Pool.

When the imperial carriage went to Linshui Hall, many people stood in front of the tents by the pool, looking toward the imperial carriage.

At this time, there was still some time before the performance in the pool began, and behind the tents of each family by the pool, there was a lot of smoke and steam drifting before being blown away by the south wind.

The water surface in the pool was also blown by the south wind, and looking at it, it was sparkling, and standing by the pool, one could hear the sound of pool water hitting the shore.

There were also many colorful sheds built around Jinming Pool, and performances from various entertainment venues could be seen under these colorful sheds outside the city at this time.

Among them, there were also many gambling stalls, attracting onlookers in three layers inside and three layers outside.

In short, outside Jinming Pool Garden was also a scene of liveliness and noise, and from time to time, the cheers and applause of the commoners were vaguely transmitted to the side of Jinming Pool.

Standing outside the tents by the pool were the sons and daughters of high-ranking families in the capital.

Before everyone returned to the tents, they would mostly take a look at the tent of the Marquis of Ningyuan.

One reason was that the third daughter of the Gu family of the Marquis of Ningyuan was betrothed to the eldest son of the Earl of Shoushan, and the jade carving for the competition today would nine times out of ten be sent to this noble young lady.

The second was that the several noble young ladies standing in front of the Gu family's tent had extraordinary status, and they were all legitimate daughters of noble and official families whose names could be counted in the capital.

Feeling the gazes looking over from around,

Hai Chaoyun, who was already used to it, had no ripples in her heart. She just leaned toward the Shen family's young lady with a look of surprise and said in surprise, "Sister Hezhen, have you also heard about that brother who passed the county examination at such a young age?"

Shen Hezhen nodded with a smile, "Yes, Sister Chaoyun."

Gu Tingyi, walking in front, turned his head with a smile and said, "Two sisters, do you know what that little brother's surname is?"

Looking at Gu Tingyi's appearance, Chai Zhengzheng and Rong Feiyan to the side both laughed.

Hai Chaoyun smiled and said, "Naturally I know, Mother told me, it's Sheng, and he is also a classmate in the schoolroom of the Gu family brother."

Shen Hezhen to the side nodded non-stop, "Right."

The Zhang family's fifth young lady, walking in front, first bowed to Madam Bai, Pingmei, and Yanran in the tent with a smile, then turned and smiled, "Then do you know that brother has another identity?"

The noble young ladies who entered the tent bowed to Madam Bai and the others one after another, and then sat down.

"That little brother has another identity?" Shen Hezhen asked in confusion.

Tingyi waved her hand with a smile, "Sister Hezhen, you naturally don't know."

Looking at the confused appearance of several people, the fifth young lady proudly looked at Rong Feiyan and said, "Feiyan girl, do you know?"

Rong Feiyan shook her head thoughtfully.

The fifth young lady waved her hand at Gu Tingyi, who wanted to speak, and said, "I'll come, I'll come, this little brother has another identity, which is Minglan's younger brother."

Hearing this,

the expressions of the noble young ladies in the tent were all different.

Chai Zhengzheng, Rong Feiyan, and several others who had met Minglan had expressions of realization.

Shen Hezhen had a blank face.

After Rong Feiyan explained a few words to the side, Shen Hezhen smiled, "That is to say, this younger sister is very good at pitch-pot? Several sisters can't beat her either?"

Everyone in the tent nodded one after another.

"This girl Minglan has a very good relationship with my second sister-in-law, right Second Sister-in-law?" Tingyi said with a smile.

Yu Yanran, sitting to the side, nodded with a smile, "Actually, listening to my grandmother, Sixth Sister's horse polo is also not bad!"

"Oh?! Then we must find an opportunity to exchange pointers!"

At this moment, a maid passed a message outside the tent, "The second young lady of the Earl of Shoushan's residence is here."

Upon hearing this,

the young ladies in the tent laughed again as they looked at Gu Tingyi.

"Please come in."

Madam Bai, who was sitting at the top, smiled.

The liveliness and joy in the tent went without saying.

As the sun rose,

after a cannon shot,

in Jinming Pool, the performance of the Huyi Water Army began.

The content of the performance was a bit different from last year, but the process was generally the same.

After the Emperor returned to Linshui Hall, the various small dragon boats stopped near the Five-Room Hall, and the dragon boat competition that everyone was paying attention to was ready, just waiting for the flag waving of Lord Tian, the commander of the Huyi Water Army.

Actually,

Huang Qingyue himself was the right-hand man of the Duke of England's heir, with a bright future.

The one he was betrothed to was the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Ningyuan, with a noble status.

The in-law of the Marquis of Ningyuan was the Marquis Yongyi's residence, which was currently in use, and he had also greeted the Marquis of Yongchang's residence. There was no one in the capital who dared to provoke so many dukes and marquises at once.

Therefore,

the result of the dragon boat competition was also within expectations.

The peony jade carving, which was more exquisite and precious than in previous years, was sent to Gu Tingyi's hands amidst an atmosphere of envy and blessings.

Then,

in the afternoon,

near the Aowu of Jinming Pool,

Xu Zaijing, sitting on a folding chair, looked at the fishing rod in front of him and covered his mouth to yawn.

Whether he caught a fish or not, he actually didn't care at all in his heart!

Just like that big fish upstream of the water inlet of Jinming Pool before, he had already pulled it out of the water, but the fishing line was shot and broken, did he care?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 677 =====