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Chapter 139: Stir-Fried Pork with Chili 2/4
He had read the simplified version of the script, which was really good!
Lu Qingxi was in a good mood, and someone came to report, “Sir, the person you were looking for is here.”
Lu Qingxi went out of the room and saw a man in his thirties, holding a little baby in his arms.
This man was from a branch of the Daqi royal family.
His relationship with the Emperor was distant. Although he received a small amount of money every year, life was still difficult.
Unfortunately, he had many children, and he had recently had another son… He could hardly support these children anymore!
“This child is so adorable!” Lu Qingxi approached the baby, carefully examining it. “Look at those eyebrows and eyes; they’re just like the Emperor’s!”
The man was overjoyed at the remark.
The baby had just been born, so there was no resemblance to the Emperor at all.
But Lu Qingxi intended to say so.
He planned to bring the child into the palace and let the noble consort raise him.
Years ago, the Emperor still wanted his own children. Plus, considering that the Emperor’s blood relation was closer to King Jin and Prince Yan, he had never thought of selecting an heir from the royal family.
These years… because King Jin’s power was great, and many officials in the court supported him, the Emperor even had the idea of letting King Jin succeed the throne.
But Lu Qingxi and Concubine Liu, they didn’t want King Jin to succeed the throne.
They also disliked Prince Yan.
In that case, why not choose a child from the royal family?
This child would be raised by them and would listen to them!
Lu Qingxi carried the child into the palace.
The Emperor was talking to Concubine Liu when he saw Lu Qingxi carrying a child in. He sighed, “You, you really brought the child.”
“Your Majesty, look at this child, how adorable! If you don’t like this one, we can change to another!” Lu Qingxi presented the child to the Emperor.
How could the Emperor not like it? He loved children!
Usually, he always wanted his two daughters to bring his grandchildren into the palace for him to see, but unfortunately, one princess enjoyed indulgence and forgot about him while having fun outside, and the other was too traditional, staying at home all day and neglecting to enter the palace. He could only see her during major festivals.
The Emperor picked up the child and sighed, “This child must be well protected well.”
“Your Majesty, rest assured, this old servant will definitely protect the young master,” Lu Qingxi said.
Concubine Liu also said, “Your Majesty, I will never leave his side!”
Concubine Liu also loved children.
For a long time, she actually regarded the Emperor as her own child.
Now that she was older… she loved children even more.
Speaking of which, she had a child before.
Unfortunately, the child died shortly after birth.
At that time, the Emperor had not yet ascended to the throne but had already been designated as the crown prince. She was pregnant with a child again… everything was going well.
Unfortunately, just before she was about to give birth, the Emperor received a task and left the city for official business.
Later… her daughter was born, and the midwife twisted her daughter to death and then committed suicide.
She almost went crazy.
When the Emperor returned and learned of this, he almost killed the then Imperial Consort.
Unfortunately, the late Emperor always favored the Imperial Consort and she couldn’t seek justice for her daughter.
Fortunately, before the late Emperor died, he insisted on having the Imperial Consort buried with him.
Lu Qingxi carrying a child into the palace was a big deal. Before long, everyone in the capital knew about it.
King Jin was once again furious and threw many things in anger.
In Prince Yan’s Mansion, Prince Yan’s expression was also very unpleasant—these days he had been helping Brother Zhou suppress King Jin, who would have thought that in the end, he would end up making bridal clothes for someone else.
But that was just a child… what would happen afterward, nobody knew!
In Hexing Mansion, in the city.
Li Qingzhi spent the whole afternoon writing two articles. By evening, he had personally cooked a dish of stir-fried pork belly.
The garlic was fragrant as it burst in the pan, then the thinly sliced pork belly was added and stir-fried with seasoning and a bit of chili powder… just the smell made Li Qingzhi’s mouth water.
Unfortunately, others didn’t feel the same way.
They only smelled the chili and found it choking, so when Li Qingzhi put the chili pork on the table… they were hesitant to eat it.
“Try it.” Li Qingzhi smiled, taking a slice first.
He didn’t put much chili, so the spiciness was just right, and it tasted especially delicious!
Seeing Li Qingzhi eat, Chang Zhan also took a slice of pork belly to eat.
The pork belly was a bit overcooked, but as for the taste… it was quite unique, and he didn’t dislike it.
Chang Zhan really liked Li Qingzhi’s chili pork, but Jin Xiaoshu, Fang Xiuniang, and the aunt who helped with the cooking, all took a slice and refused to eat more.
They couldn’t bear the taste!
After tasting the dish, the aunt who helped with cooking kept drinking water and said, “I really can’t eat this, it’s too strong.”
“Clearly, it’s delicious.” Fang Xiuniang took another slice. She really liked the taste.
“It’s indeed not bad, the more you eat, the more you want…” Chang Zhan nodded in agreement.
As for Li Qingzhi, he was eating quickly.
There wasn’t much chili, so he wanted to eat more.
But judging from the situation… most people couldn’t accept chili at this time. Next time he cooked, he would add less chili powder.
This wasn’t surprising, even in modern society, many people in Jiangnan coastal areas couldn’t eat spicy food.
Early the next morning, Li Qingzhi took the tea leaves he had prepared and the articles he had just written, and went to Chongwen Academy to find Brother Zhou.
Brother Zhou valued Li Qingzhi very much and once again proposed that Li Qingzhi come to Chongwen Academy to study.
Li Qingzhi also wanted to come, but he still had a lot to do in Chongcheng County, so he could only discuss with Brother Zhou to come over every once in a while and study for a few days each time.
“Okay!” Brother Zhou readily agreed. Knowing that Li Qingzhi wanted to bring Zhu Xunmiao with him, he also said that Zhu Xunmiao could come directly to Chongwen Academy to study.
Chongwen Academy also had to make money, and Zhu Xunmiao’s knowledge was acceptable, plus his family was wealthy, so there was no need to reject him.
Li Qingzhi borrowed several books he had never read from Brother Zhou, and in the afternoon, he returned to Chongcheng County.
Shortly after he left the capital, Magistrate Zhang received a letter from his friend in the capital, in which his friend asked him in a tone of anguish why he had joined forces with Lu Qingxi.
Of course, what puzzled and angered him the most was that such a thing had been concealed from him, without telling his friend…
Magistrate Zhang was perplexed when he read the letter.
And then, over the next few days, Magistrate Zhang received several more letters, all questioning him: “Brother Zhang, why did you conceal such an important matter from me?”
“Zhang Zhiru, do you not regard me as a friend?”
“Zhang Zhiru, if you don’t give me ten paintings, I won’t forgive you!”
…
Magistrate Zhang: “…” When did he become associated with Lu Qingxi?
Magistrate Zhang quickly figured out what was going on and felt a bit amused and annoyed.
He had nothing to do with Lu Qingxi, and those books weren’t printed by Lu Qingxi but by Li Qingzhi and them!
He had already learned from Chang Zhan what was going on and had a rough idea.
After Chang Duan and the others arrived in Beijing, they might have sought help from Lu Qingxi.
Magistrate Zhang indeed didn’t like Lu Qingxi, but he wasn’t too angry with those who were mistaken for Lu Qingxi either.
He didn’t look down on Lu Qingxi just because he was an eunuch, nor was he ashamed to associate with him.
His dislike for Lu Qingxi stemmed from finding his actions somewhat extreme.
Also… Lu Qingxi assisting the emperor in handling memorials was something he couldn’t accept.
Now that they had narrowly escaped death… being mistaken for Lu Qingxi didn’t really matter?
Anyway, he wouldn’t do anything for Lu Qingxi!
When Li Qingzhi brought them back to Chongcheng County, it was still early in the morning.
Li Qingzhi let Jin Xiaoshu down on this side of the dock—he planned to buy some things here and then walk home with Chang Zhan.
But as soon as they got off the boat, Li Qingzhi saw Zhu Qian.
Zhu Qian stood in the shadows, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan while watching the porters unload cargo.
Li Qingzhi remembered that last summer when he first met Zhu Qian, it was almost the same situation.
At that time, he came to the county town wanting to be a shopkeeper for someone, but ended up taking on a job to write an autobiography.
“Uncle Zhu,” Li Qingzhi greeted Zhu Qian with a smile as he approached.
“Nephew, you’re back from the provincial capital?” Zhu Qian was very happy.
He was very close to Magistrate Gou, and when Magistrate Zhang got into trouble, Magistrate Gou was naturally implicated as well.
He had been quite worried until Li Qingzhi brought back the good news of Magistrate Zhang’s promotion.
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