The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Gong Jianzhou was taken directly into the palace from Zuiyue Tower.

He has been busy these days, training the new recruits, and he is so busy that he can be described as having no time to rest.

So at this time, he had a scruffy beard and hadn't changed his clothes for several days, and his image was very bad.

Sitting in the carriage, Gong Jianzhou looked at his current slovenly appearance and thought about the meeting with the emperor soon, his heart was pounding.

When ministers entered the palace to meet the emperor, there were strict regulations on their clothing and appearance. In addition to having to dress neatly, they also had to wash their faces and bathe to appear in the best possible manner before the emperor.

His current behavior is really unsightly and will offend the Queen's eyes.

Looking at Xia He, who was sitting opposite him without saying a word and with a very serious expression, Gong Jianzhou finally plucked up the courage and spoke.

"Madam, your appearance is not good at the moment. If I enter the palace to see the emperor, I am afraid it will offend the emperor. Could you please allow me to go back and change my clothes, and then I can go with you to the palace to see the emperor."

"I'm just changing clothes. It'll be quick and won't take up too much time."

Xia He then looked up and examined Gong Jianzhou. He looked really disgusting. She couldn't even bear to look at him, let alone go in front of her master.

After just a blink of an eye, Xia He agreed to Gong Jianzhou's proposal.

"Okay, then please ask Lord Changyuan to go back home and change his clothes and adjust his appearance before we go into the palace."

"But you must be quick. It would be a sin to make the masters wait too long."

"Yes, yes, yes, don't worry, maid. It will only take me a quarter of an hour to clean up."

Gong Jianzhou was really relieved to hear that Xia He agreed to his request, otherwise he would not be able to enter the palace to meet the emperor in his current state.

Even if the Queen Mother didn't blame him, he would have to find a hole in the ground to hide in.

The carriage changed direction and headed straight for the Changyuan Earl's Mansion.

Fortunately, the Changyuan Earl’s Mansion was not far away, and we arrived there in no time.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Gong Jianzhou stood up and said, "Please wait here for a moment, my lady. I will be right back."

After saying this, Gong Jianzhou jumped off the carriage and ran towards the mansion without waiting for Xia He's response.

When the doorman saw his master, he hurriedly got off the carriage and ran all the way home.

Thinking something big had happened, he stood there in shock.

Fortunately, the current Changyuan Marquis' Mansion is very small, unlike the former Tang Guogong Mansion, and Gong Jianzhou quickly ran to the inner courtyard.

Liu had already received the report from the maid and was now hurriedly coming out to welcome Gong Jianzhou.

After hearing what the maid said just now, Liu's heart was as nervous as a beating drum and she couldn't calm down. Ever since the incident at the Duke Tang's Mansion, she couldn't stand seeing such scenes.

Now their family lives a stable life, without the intrigues and conflicts they had in the Duke Tang’s Mansion, where they had nothing to worry about all day long.

Liu didn't hope for anything. She didn't hope for Gong Jianzhou to get promoted or get rich, nor did she hope for the prosperity of Changyuanbo's mansion. She just hoped that her family could be safe and sound.

Just when Liu was feeling anxious and having all sorts of wild thoughts, Gong Jianzhou, who had not been seen for many days, rushed in from outside.

"Jianzhou, what's wrong with you? What happened outside?"

Liu looked at Gong Jianzhou who suddenly broke in, clenched her hands nervously and swallowed her saliva.

Gong Jianzhou, who was hurriedly going back to his room to pack up, stopped because of Liu's question.

"Ah!" Gong Jianzhou looked at Liu's nervous expression and realized that he had run back in such a panic, which must have scared Liu and made her think too much.

"Second Mother, it's nothing. Don't panic. I came back in such a hurry because I need to tidy up my appearance and go to the palace to meet the Queen."

"The Empress sent a maid to summon me to the palace to discuss matters. I haven't been back for a few days. Now that I look like a wretch, it would be offensive to the Empress if I went into the palace."

"That's why I ran back in a panic."

The misunderstanding was explained, and Liu was completely relieved. However, she felt weak all over and had no strength left.

Fortunately, there was a maid supporting her, otherwise she would have fallen down.

"It's good that nothing happened, it's good that nothing happened, it's good that nothing happened." Liu calmed down and said, "Then go change your clothes and tidy up your appearance."

"Okay." Gong Jianzhou didn't have time to say anything else and ran back to his yard.

After finally recovering from her shock, Liu quickly instructed the maid beside her, saying, "Hurry up and prepare some snacks for the uncle."

"Looking at how hurried he came back, he definitely hasn't had dinner yet."

"He's going to the palace to see the emperor. I don't know how long it will take for him to come back. Let him eat something to fill his stomach first."

"And hurry up and pay one hundred taels of silver from the accounting office. Wrap it in a red envelope and have Master Bo give it to the maid who came to deliver the letter. I'll thank the maid for coming out of the palace specially. Give her some silver so she can buy some refreshments."

"Yes, slave, go right away."

The little girl beside her left in a hurry to do what Liu had asked her to do.

Gong Jianzhou rushed back to his yard and quickly ordered the servant beside him to prepare water for bathing.

I haven't taken a shower for several days and my body smells. If I don't take a shower and just change my clothes, that won't work.

However, because they didn't know Gong Jianzhou would come back, the family didn't prepare bath water for him at this time. If he wanted bath water, he could only ask the kitchen to boil it temporarily.

But Gong Jianzhou didn't have the time to wait, so he asked someone to bring cold water and took a cold shower directly.

The weather is different after all. The temperature outside is very low now. This cold shower almost froze Gong Jianzhou to death.

But he couldn't care less now. After taking a quick shower, he quickly changed his clothes and washed his face, then ran out in a hurry.

Xia He was still waiting outside, and Gong Jianzhou didn't dare to waste time.

Gong Jianzhou had just walked out of his yard when he ran into Liu, who came to bring him food and a red envelope.

"You finished it so quickly?"

Liu looked at Gong Jianzhou in surprise. It was just a blink of an eye, and Gong Jianzhou seemed like a different person. This movement was too fast.

"Well, I can't wait any longer. The Queen is still waiting."

Gong Jianzhou was so anxious that he was furious and wanted to step into the palace as soon as possible.

Seeing this, Liu didn't dare to say anything more. She just handed over the snacks and red envelope in her hand.

"You haven't known when you'll be back since you went to the palace to see the emperor. Take these snacks with you and eat some to fill your stomach on the way."

"And this red envelope contains one hundred taels of silver. Give it to the maid who delivered the letter. It's not much, but it's a token of our appreciation. She's come all this way, so consider it a treat for tea."

Gong Jianzhou looked at the snacks and red envelope that Liu stuffed into his hand, but he couldn't say the word of refusal.

It is customary to give a red envelope to people coming to the palace, but this is a maid sent by the Queen. For some reason, Gong Jianzhou didn't dare to give the red envelope to Xia He.

He felt that if he gave Xia He this red envelope, he would be beaten to death.

However, he couldn't bring himself to refuse Liu's words. After all, this was the custom in the palace. If he didn't take it, he would inevitably be nagged.

I don't have the time to sit here and listen to your nagging.

So Gong Jianzhou stuffed the red envelope into his sleeve and returned the snacks to Liu.

"Second Mother, I'm going to the palace on business, so I won't bring these snacks with me."

After saying this, Gong Jianzhou ran away in a hurry again, fearing that if he was a step late, he would be caught by Liu again.

"Hey, you kid."

Looking at Gong Jianzhou who had already run away, Liu could only stand there and stare.

Like a gust of wind, Gong Jianzhou ran out of Changyuan Earl's Mansion and jumped into the carriage.

Xia He looked at Gong Jianzhou. It didn't take him long to transform himself.

"Let's go."

Seeing that Gong Jianzhou was seated, Xia He told the driver to start driving.

"You're in such a hurry, asking someone to withdraw a hundred taels of silver. What happened?"

Hui Shi, who had just finished reconciling the accounts in the accounting office, returned to the courtyard where she and Liu Shi lived.

That's right, since moving from the Duke of Tang's Mansion to the Marquis of Changyuan's Mansion, Liu and Hui prepared a small courtyard for Gong Chenghai, and they both moved into the courtyard with their daughter.

The two of them now don't care about Gong Chenghai, and their lives are much more comfortable and obedient than when they were in Duke Tang's Mansion.

"Oh, it's the Empress who sent a maid to ask Jianzhou to come into the palace to discuss matters."

"So I sent someone to get a hundred taels of silver and had Jianzhou give it to the maid. This is the traditional custom."

When she was in the Duke of Tang's Mansion, Liu was the one who handled such matters, while Hui was the one who managed the household accounts.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Isn't one hundred taels a little too little? In the past, when I encountered something like this, wasn't the minimum three hundred taels?"

The little maid who went to the accounting office to withdraw the silver did not say what it was for, but only said that Liu needed to spend 100 taels of silver urgently.

So Hui gave her one hundred taels directly and asked her to take it back to Liu. If she had known it was such a thing, Hui would have given her another hundred taels.

Liu looked at Hui and smiled, saying, "No problem, one hundred taels will be enough. Our Changyuan Marquis's Mansion cannot compare to the Tang Guogong Mansion."

"If we continue to be as lavish as before and pretend to be rich, it will not only arouse suspicion from others, but also make them think that we are doing something shameful to be so lavish."

"This will have an impact on Jianzhou's career. We don't have that much power anymore, so we need to learn to be humble."

"Besides owning a few shops, our family has no other income."

"The income from those shops is enough to support our family, so there's no extra money left for show."

"Jianzhou is already quite old. People his age would have children running around, but he's still single."

"We should save some money and find him a good marriage, so that he can start a family and have children."

Gong Jianzhou's biological mother passed away early. Liu and Hui didn't worry about such things, so who could worry about Gong Jianzhou?

"That's right. We in Jianzhou have both good character and good looks. If it weren't for those dirty things that happened to him, he would have had a wife and children by now."

"How can it be like this now, without anyone around who understands him and loves him?"

When talking about this matter, Huishi sighed. If there was no man who could support the family, the whole family would be in trouble.

If Gong Chenghai had been a little tougher and stood up for his son, Gong Jianzhou would not have ended up in such a miserable situation.

"So, just listen to me. We have to make money."

"I'll go out tomorrow and see if there's any business to do in Shangjing City."

"We must work together to make a lot of money."

"On the day Jianzhou gets married, I want everyone in Shangjing City to see the strength of our family."

"Shut up the mouths of those who like to gossip, talk nonsense, and laugh at others."

"None of our children should be bullied."

This resentment has been buried in Hui's heart for almost ten years. If she doesn't let it out, she will probably never be satisfied until her death.

Liu looked at Hui and smiled. She was also holding back her anger, so how could she not understand Hui's feelings?

"Okay, starting from tomorrow, we will work hard to make money, and when Jianzhou gets married, we will roll out the red carpet outside the city."

"Yeah, that's what I mean. Not only do I want to shut those people up, I also want to make them mad to death."

"Oh, by the way, tell me, the Queen asked Jianzhou to come into the palace so late at night. Did something serious happen?"

"I heard that the whole city was under martial law today in order to catch the spies who poisoned Nan Chu."

"Your Majesty, please don't let Jianzhou take care of such a dangerous matter."

"Jianzhou is quite smart, but his Kung Fu is not that good."

"Back then, he was a civil servant. The little martial arts he had were learned out of necessity for self-defense. They were just three-legged, weak skills."

"What if something happens?"

Wyeth was a man who loved to worry. Every day, after worrying about one thing, he would start worrying about another. His mind was never idle.

"Yeah, who knows? I hope this kind of thing won't happen to Jiaozhou."

After hearing what Hui said, Liu also began to worry, fearing that Gong Jianzhou would be assigned some dangerous task when he came to the palace to meet the emperor this time.

Liu and Hui supported each other as they walked and talked. They could never imagine what kind of surprise Shen Tianjiao had arranged for them.

But this surprise may still be a big shock to them.