Walking up to the Wangqin Building in the northeast of the Han Palace, Zhu Gaoxu looked at the direction of the Northeast and the capital, but it was impossible to see the capital.

His eyes crossed the Kunming city wall in the distance and looked into the clear horizon, and could only faintly see the distant mountain shadow. The mountain shadow may be Phoenix Mountain.

The horizon was blocked by the shadow of the mountains, and only then could he feel the obstruction of the southwestern border.

According to the Ming Dynasty's ritual system, the Prince's Mansion built this Honoured Kid Building to make the Zhu family miss the emperor and clans far away in the capital.

However, Zhu Gaoxu stood here, neither missing his parents nor his brothers and sisters. He only thought of Miaojin. Most of the people he cared about from the bottom of his heart in the Ming Dynasty had followed him to Yunnan Prefecture, except Miaojin.

Wang Gui and others have left Yunnan for nearly a month, so they should be at the capital at this time, right? The speed of the small team of people is much faster than that of tens of thousands of people; as long as they pass through the mountainous areas of Guizhou, most post roads can ride horses and travel hundreds of miles a day.

...The yellow dog and several eunuchs stood silently behind Zhu Gaoxu, because Zhu Gaoxu was holding the railing and was stunned there, and no one dared to disturb him.

Standing alone on a high place, he thought a lot.

A long time ago, he was an angry young man. The anger hidden in his heart could not be resolved. He blamed the whole society for being cynical all day long. Then he was impatient in doing anything, careless and irritable, and felt that everyone was sorry for him; all kinds of desires could not be satisfied, and he hoped to do something big and get rich overnight. Fortunately, people always grow up.

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu decided not to disturb Shen Xu for the time being, and to patiently first, figure out the matter clearly and then weigh the pros and cons.

He "looked for the kiss" for a long time, sighed in front of several eunuchs, "I don't know that my father and mother are in good health", and then went downstairs.

Looking downstairs, two rows of eunuch palace maids stood, and Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "You are all scattered, the yellow dog and go to the front hall with me."

"Yes, Prince." Everyone bent down and replied.

The yellow dog held the whisk and said, "Does the prince want me to prepare a chariot?"

"Go over." Zhu Gaoxu ordered. After the war, he was a little lacking in exercise, and if he didn't exercise his muscles, he would be more likely to gain weight.

This royal palace was only built according to the specifications of the ordinary prince's mansion. It is indeed large, with a circumference of more than three miles. Zhu Gaoxu was sweating when he walked to Duanli Gate.

When they arrived at the ward office on the west side of Duanli Gate, there were more than a dozen soldiers left behind. They all came up to see the tribute. Zhu Gaoxu sat down at the throne inside and asked people to bring up all the reports from the past few days.

Soon, Wang Bin and Hou Hai also came in to pay their respects. One of them was the commander and the other was the warrior. In addition to the responsibilities of the defensive office, they all had their own offices.

Zhu Gaoxu angrily asked them to find a place to sit, and continued to look at the files on the table.

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly raised his head and said, "Why did no one report this report from the Mu Mansion West Staff to me?"

Hou Hai and others immediately stood up and walked up. Hou Hai couldn't wait to take a piece of paper first and then handed it to Wang Bin next to him.

It was a report from the Rongshu Street stronghold on the west side of the Mu Mansion. There was a middle-aged woman who entered and exited a mansion on the east side of the street twice within three days.

"The prince forgives his crime. The official thought that the woman was just a slave. The traitors in the garrison had nothing to report to him, so he wrote to hand over the job. He dared not bother the prince with such trivial matters..." Hou Hai said hurriedly.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him and said, "No matter what, it is composed of such trivial matters. We cannot just guess or let others say anything."

Hou Hai and Wang Bin worshiped each other: "The lower official (the last general) was neglected."

Zhu Gaoxu said quietly: "Usually, those who go out of the palace purchase are men. Will the women in our Han Palace often come in and out of the palace?"

The two of them suddenly realized, and then they looked at Zhu Gaoxu with admiration.

Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the paper and said, "Send the Quan Yong team to find out the details of this woman, whether she is a slave in Mu's house."

They hurriedly said, "Secretary, please obey the order!"

Zhu Gaoxu said with great concern again: "When asking brothers to follow me, don't just follow her carelessly. You can use the method of following her in batches... Forget it, I'll go there in person. You two, call Liu Ying and other generals from the defense station follow me. I'll demonstrate it first, and you will learn how to use it next time."

Hou Hai said with a bitter face: "The emperor is incompetent, and he still needs the prince to take action personally for such a trivial matter."

"How can you wipe out the world if you don't sweep a house?" Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "This is not a trivial matter. I'm teaching everyone tactics."

At this time, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of the "unknown force" again, which was the person who followed the Mu family's little girl.

...

Yang Sheng, the groom of Mu Mansion, lives in the row of houses on the west side of Mu Mansion.

Yang Sheng is almost fifty years old this year and has no name. After joining the army, he was named by hundreds of households. There are many people like him, so the names of the Ming soldiers are mostly Sheng, Yong, Jun, Wu, Zhong, etc.

I think he was still very young when he followed Mr. Mu to Yunnan twenty years ago; now he is getting older and the old wounds on his legs are not healed. He is a lame person. Fortunately, the Mu family is nostalgic, so he is left to take care of the horses for his old age.

Go out from the back door to the east of the yard, there is a street, opposite the high wall of Mu Mansion. There is no one walking on this street, and the door has been built at the intersection and it is blocked, so outsiders cannot enter.

Outside the west gate of the yard, there is also a wider street with banyan trees planted on both sides; the street is a little damp and the sky is covered by lush branches. If it is early in the morning or at night, the road on this street is not clear.

Before joining the army, Yang Sheng's family was barely barred and could not marry a wife. After the war, he was already middle-aged, his legs were lame, and his face was a little crooked. The brothers in the army had found him a few women, most of whom were widows with a few children, all kinds of widows, blind, lame, and crazy, so Yang Sheng had not married yet. But he didn't think there was anything. Many familiar brothers were dead, and he was at least still alive.

...Two months ago, Yang Sheng met a woman in the city. She was probably in her thirties and forties. The woman was dressed in a torn manner, but she still had charm. The woman cried and said that her daughter was sick and had no money to get medicine, so she came up to ask for money. Yang Sheng gave her a copper coin, but she said she was not enough and wanted to do short-term work for him and ask for more money.

Yang Sheng was arranged by Mu's house to live in a yard, neither having to farm nor doing business. He usually only took care of horses, and was about to refuse... the woman said that her husband died, whose husband's surname was Wang, and he was a widow, so pitiful. So Yang Sheng brought her back.

The woman cleaned his yard spotlessly and the dishes she cooked were delicious.

...More than a month ago, the woman brought her daughter, saying that the owner of the house drove them away, begged Yang Sheng to take them in for a while before leaving. Yang Sheng was very surprised when he saw Wang Xiaoniang, because the girl looked like a fairy, but her face was very pale. Such a white girl was rare in Yunnan.

Wang Xiaoniang is a little older. She may be twenty years old and she has not married. The woman said that her daughter is sick and often takes medicine to keep it in the house and does not go out. At first, Wang Xiaoniang almost didn't speak like a mute, with a cold face.

Yang Sheng felt very strange and asked their husbands where they were and where their parents' home were, but they didn't explain it clearly.

But the mother and daughter disappeared without long staying, as if they had never been there.

Yang Sheng looked around at the door every day, but never saw them again. It was not until recently that the woman appeared, saying that she had gone back to her hometown, returned to Kunming and had a house again, and then put on an apron and went to cook.

Yang Sheng quickly bought a silver bracelet and wanted to explain what he said, but he couldn't say it the day before yesterday.

When she comes again, she must take out the silver bracelet! Yang Sheng mutters in his heart every day.

...After waiting for a few days, the woman finally came again.

She looked at the unwashed thick bowls on the table and threw them on the bench with dirty clothes stained with horse manure. She frowned slightly, walked into the kitchen first to pick up the apron and put it on, and then began to pack up her things.

"Oh..." Yang Sheng's face felt very hot, and his tongue seemed to be knotted.

"What's wrong with Brother Yang?" The woman turned to look at him.

Yang Sheng didn't let out a single fart. He stretched out his hand from his arms and held a silver bracelet. Only then did he realize that the bracelet had been pinched a little bit by him.

The woman looked at the bracelet and seemed to understand something immediately. She shook her head and said, "Brother Yang, my husband passed away not long ago, and it's not good now."

"When will it be?" Yang Sheng finally said something.

The woman said, "Wait for a while, I'll go back and talk to the little girl."

Yang Sheng nodded quickly and said, "I have to say something."

The woman whispered again: "Is there a lack of slaves in the Mu family? If I could ask my little girl to find something to do in the Mu family, there would be some way out in the future."

Yang Sheng kept his head down and stuffed the silver bracelet into the woman's hand, "Please take it first, I'll buy it."

The woman received it and asked again: "Can Brother Yang say hello to the manager?"

"It's good to get married. I'll save some money and get her a dowry." Yang Sheng glanced at the woman, "I'll ask the manager."

The woman immediately smiled and said kindly: "If the little girl could settle in the Mu Mansion, I would often live with Brother Yang from now on, so I can take care of her."

Yang Sheng thought for a while and said, "The manager needs to ask the details."

The woman finally said: "We are all from Dali, and so are our parents' homes. Brother Yang said, a friend of the business gang will help you with the media."

Yang Sheng said again: "I'll ask."

The woman cleaned up the house and started cooking lunch again. After Yang Sheng finished lunch, he was about to go to the stable. He did not forget to leave a bowl of rice and asked the woman to take it back for Wang Xiaoniang, and asked the woman to close the yard gate himself before leaving.

She stood by the back window in the bedroom she lived in for a long time before she put the cold food into a food box.

Walking out of the Yang family courtyard, there was a street with many banyan trees planted on both sides. The woman walked quickly along the street with food boxes. When she walked to the largest banyan tree, she saw a woman burning incense and candles under the tree.
Chapter completed!