In the morning of the court day, the Minister of War announced the good news to the emperor in the court hall in front of all civil and military officials.
"Today at Mao hour, the Ministry of War received news of the victory in Yecheng. Prince Che captured the traitor Qin Weihu alive and recaptured the six lost cities. He will return in triumph soon."
Li Zhilin's expression changed when he heard the report from the Minister of War.
Shouldn't Li Junche be the one who died in battle?
How could he capture Yecheng and capture Qin Weihu alive?
Emperor Longyan was delighted.
Immediately ordered Shangshu Ling to greet Li Junche at the city gate on his behalf when the army returned.
Li Zhilin felt uneasy when he returned to the palace. If he really asked Li Junche to bring Qin Weihu back and could not withstand the torture, he would not be able to hide what he had done.
Man Qiu opened the door and walked briskly to the bed, "Princess, Princess."
Wen Jinhe was woken up and opened his eyes drowsily, "Is it time?"
Did you oversleep?
Man Qiu quickly shook his head, "We just arrived at Si Shi."
"Let me sleep for two-quarters of an hour." Wen Jinhe turned around and faced the bed, closing her eyes.
Man Qiu said hurriedly: "Princess, the prince has sent news that Yecheng has been victorious and the prince will be back soon."
Wen Jinhe instantly sat up from the bed, opened his eyes and stared at Man Qiu, "What?"
Man Qiu handed over the letter.
Wen Jinhe opened his eyes wide and wrote to Li Junche that he would return to the capital before the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
And now it is the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Now she was completely sleepless.
The first one got up from the bed and said, "Tell Butler Li that the time for reporting the accounts at the beginning of the month will be advanced to the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and we will start patrolling the store tomorrow."
Get everything done before Li Junche comes back so that you can rest during the Chinese New Year.
While Wen Jinhe was having breakfast, the servant came to the backyard and said, "Princess, Princess Qinbao is here again and is waiting in the front yard."
Since Wen Jinhe and Princess Qinbao had two big meals at Yunxi Restaurant that day, Princess Qinbao has been visiting Prince Che's Mansion frequently.
Basically once every three days.
Every time she came, she always ate and drank, because she found that the food at Prince Che's Mansion was better than that at Yunxi Restaurant.
Wen Jinhe put down the spoon, turned to Man Dong and said, "Let the kitchen serve another identical dish, and take the princess to the backyard."
Princess Qinbao jumped towards Wen Jinhe's yard and stared at the breakfast on the table with satisfaction, "Second sister-in-law, the food in your house is better. It is not only beautiful but also delicious."
Wen Jinhe finished the last small wonton and said, "If you eat five times a day, you won't be afraid of getting fat."
Princess Qinbao picked up the chopsticks and started eating the scallion noodles, "It's better to eat fat, and the queen mother won't let me get married."
Wen Jinhe raised his eyebrows. Princess Qinbao had a lively personality and he subconsciously ignored her age.
The other party was the same age as Wen Jinhe, only born more than two months later.
At this age, it’s time to get engaged.
However, Princess Qinbao was deeply loved, and the emperor and queen were reluctant to let her get married early.
"What's wrong, the queen wants to choose a consort for you?"
Man Dong put away the finished dishes on the table.
Princess Qinbao swallowed the shrimp shaomai in her mouth, "Well, they gave me a thick stack of portraits to choose from. I felt annoyed, so I ran out."
Wen Jinhe stared at her unscrupulous eating posture. The person in the portrait must have been carefully selected by the queen.
I just don’t know if the Queen will use Princess Qinbao to win over courtiers to build momentum for Li Yuheng.
So she asked curiously: "Who are the people in the portrait?"
Princess Qinbao thought while eating, "The son of the prime minister, the son of the Lord Attendant, the son of the Protector, and last year's top scholar in the new subject, I can't remember the others."
Wen Jinhe knew from his expression that she didn't like anyone, "What are your requirements for selecting a consort?"
Princess Qinbao's pure and unfocused eyes were stunned for a moment, she put down her chopsticks and rolled her eyes upwards.
Then he told Wen Jinhe in a low voice: "Second sister-in-law, actually I have someone I like."
Wen Jinhe couldn't help but smile and pursed her lips, "Since you have someone you like, tell the Queen or the Emperor first and ask them to grant you a marriage."
With Princess Qinbao's status and favor, it should be easy to marry anyone she wants.
As long as the status is not particularly low.
Who would have thought that Princess Qinbao's expression immediately dropped after hearing these words, "I don't know his name yet. He and I met by chance at the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival."
Wen Jinhe was stunned, not expecting it to be like this, "Um...then have you seen him again after the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
Wen Jinhe reasonably suspected that this little girl was playing with unrequited love.
Princess Qinbao shook her head, "No, I wanted to meet him again every time I left the palace, but I never met him once."
After breakfast, Princess Qinbao told Wen Jinhe in detail the encounter between the two.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Festival, Princess Qinbao escaped from the palace and fell from the balcony of the highest restaurant in the capital. She was rescued by a masked man in black. She fell in love at first sight and has never forgotten her. She often left the palace and sat there waiting to meet again. It was a pity that she never met again. Never seen it either.
Wen Jinhe's brows twitched fiercely and he muttered, "That means you not only don't know the name, but you don't even see his appearance."
This is a bit troublesome.
Princess Qinbao held her face in her hands and nodded, "Well, he is wearing half a mask, and the golden phoenix is particularly beautiful."
Wen Jinhe was speechless. It was not easy to find someone in this situation, let alone in ancient times, even in modern times.
"Have you ever thought about what you would do if you never meet each other in your life?" He wears a mask when he goes out, so he probably won't be able to see anyone.
Princess Qinbao lowered her face, "I just wanted to see him again, but he put me down and left without even having time to say hello."
Wen Jinhe rolled his eyes, "Which one is better looking, that man or your second brother?"
Princess Qinbao was stunned for a moment, and then said with great certainty: "He is prettier than the second brother."
Wen Jinhe curled his lips and didn't believe it.
Princess Qinbao's beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What can you tell from just half of her face?
Maybe the half of the face wearing the mask even has a birthmark!
"Second sister-in-law, my eldest brother is marrying his concubine tomorrow. Are you going to Prince Heng's Mansion?" Princess Qinbao lay on the window sill and looked at the blooming red plums in the yard.
Wen Jinhe looked at the little girl and couldn't help but feel a little distressed. As a princess, she had no right to pursue free marriage.
What's more, we still don't know who the other party is.
"No, it's too cold." In fact, Wen Jinhe is going to inspect various shops and workshops in the capital tomorrow.
And even if nothing happened, she wasn't going to attend the wedding.
Prince Heng's Mansion and Prince Lin's Mansion are not good places.
She couldn't bear another frame-up.
Princess Qinbao's eyes were in a daze, "He looks about the same age as my eldest brother. Is he married yet?"
Wen Jinhe stood without replying and reached out to pat Princess Qinbao on the shoulder.
Marrying two concubines at the same time in one day is not a low status.
The common people were standing on the roadside to join in the fun. It was said that General Ningyuan planned to act as a money-spreading boy and give out copper coins to passers-by.
Wen Jinhe and his team wore curtain hats and inspected each house.
There are more than fifty shops alone.
At noon, we had lunch at Yunxi Restaurant. Before leaving, Wen Jinhe suddenly stopped and looked at the man in black sitting in the corner of the lobby on the first floor.
Is the half golden phoenix mask the person Princess Qinbao was talking about?
Wen Jinhe quickly walked down the stairs, but only saw a departing figure.
After chasing him out of Yunxi Restaurant, he was gone.
"Princess?" Man Qiu and Man Dong were a little confused as to who they saw.
Wen Jinhe shook his head, "I seemed to have seen the person Qin Bao was talking about just now."
"Ah." Man Qiu and Man Dong quickly looked around, but saw nothing.
Wen Jinhe looked at the street, maybe the two of them could meet again, "Let's go to the workshop."
In the streets, Lu Yebai, who was wearing a mask, turned around and stared at Prince Che's carriage.
It is the first time for many new shopkeepers to meet Wen Jinhe. "The orders from the palace can be completed the day after tomorrow at the latest, and the partners can issue them before the year before."
Wen Jinhe asked the merchants to prepare the goods in advance before the results of the merchant selection came out.
Otherwise, orders outside the capital will have to wait until after the year.
Wen Jinhe lowered his head and opened the cover of the tools. Although they were not as good as modern ones, these were already very good.
"There are seven days of paid leave from the first to the seventh day of the first lunar month. Workers' annual gifts will be sent to them on the ninth day of the first lunar month and distributed in advance."
The New Year gifts prepared by Wen Jinhe were all things from his own shop.
Each person has a bushel of rice, a bushel of sweet potatoes, a bushel of cornmeal, two bolts of cloth, a pound of meat, and one tael of silver.
