Episode 80: The Complete Return of Zhao

The Fourteenth Princess is a night owl and always gets up late. Tonight is no exception. Although it is past ten o'clock, she has not slept yet when Yonggui asked for a meeting and is still reading a book.

She now looked at Yonggui, who was kneeling on the ground and crying, stared at him for a few seconds, and smiled faintly:

"Okay, okay, just say anything."

Then she turned to sit down in front of the sofa.

A black cat jumped onto the sofa, then jumped onto the fourteenth princess' leg, lay down comfortably, and stretched out. The fourteenth princess held the cat in his arms and scratched it gently. The black cat squinted his eyes and raised his chin, making a very coquettish "purr".

Yonggui quietly raised his head on the ground, looked at the fourteenth princess and said something, and was stroking her cat, which was very embarrassed for a moment.

He smiled awkwardly, slowly got up, and stood in front of the fourteenth princess.

"Huh," the fourteenth princess pointed to the sofa in front of her, "Sit down."

Yonggui smiled and said "Yao", while sitting carefully opposite the fourteenth princess.

"You said that even if I don't think about the Qing Dynasty, I have to think about myself," said the Fourteenth Princess while stroking the cat, "What does it mean? Tell me to listen."

Yonggui smiled "hehe" and looked around carefully.

The fourteenth princess frowned and said:

"Do you say it or not?"

Yonggui smiled awkwardly and said:

"Prince, slaves are afraid...I'm afraid...I'm afraid there is...I'm in your room...I have that..."

The fourteenth princess said impatiently:

"There is a wiretap microphone? This is my room! Do you think it is your room?"

Yonggui made his face flushed, but he still smiled:

"Grandma... You have seen the world and held great power. When you were still in the Qing Dynasty, you could have said that it was 'below tens of thousands of people'... But think about it, when you first came to Nanming, although Nanming granted you a princess and provided you with rich clothes and food, did you really give you some power?... Oh, Princess, you may want to say that when you first came, Nanming and you didn't understand and didn't trust them, wouldn't you gradually get better now? You are gradually participating in military and national affairs...

"But Princess, you are a smart person, you should be able to understand why, why, what is the real reason for them to reuse you? Do they really trust you?... Princess, think about it, no matter what, you are all authentic Manchus, and your surname is Aisin Gioro, who is a descendant of the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty... They have an eternal motto for the Han people, "If you are not my race, your heart will be different." What's more, we Manchus and their Han people, Aisin Gioro family and Zhu Ming family, have deep hatreds. Princess, how much do you think the title of a mere "Princess Liaoyang" in the face of all this is worth?

"Grandpa, when you first arrived in Nanming, they generously appointed you as a princess, and provided you with rich clothes and luxury houses, and respected you very much... Later, they let you enter the People's Guard, which really gave you some real power, allowing you to regain some of the feelings you had in the past... But Genius, I believe you don't need to say that, you have a clear mind in your heart, you know what this is, right?"

The fourteenth princess looked at him with a slight smile and said slowly:

"What? Tell me."

Yonggui licked his lips and said with a smile:

"Grandpa, you are the one who came to the test slave. Hahaha... Well, then let me tell you for you... When you first came, they needed to raise you up as a banner, so that you naturally have to take care of you in a comfortable and glorious manner. They want the whole world to see: How about it, the princess of Beiqing can't stay in Beiqing anymore, and they have all been exiled to our Ming Dynasty. How did our Ming Dynasty treat her? The whole world has seen it? Our Ming Dynasty is so kind and righteous, and it is so popular!

"If this effect is to be done, then you can be given a princess and raised it. But later they brought you into the People's Guard and put you in power. To be honest, the slaves really couldn't understand it at that time. I thought to myself that Nanming was intentionally making trouble for themselves? Later, Nanming suddenly attacked the Qing Dynasty, and everyone's hearts were open. Oh, it's obvious that they had been planning how to attack the Qing Dynasty at that time. It would be a pity to keep you, the highest officer in front of the stick. We don't have so many secrets in our Qing Dynasty, but we don't have to keep all the secrets in your mind. At that time, Nanming attacked so smoothly, and there must be no less contributions from the princess... Haha, this slave is not wrong, right?"

The fourteenth princess had no reaction. She still squinted her eyes, stroked the cat, and said with a smile:

"Well... continue."

Yonggui observed his expression and based on his understanding of this old superior, he judged that she had listened.

He was greatly encouraged, and he smiled and continued:

"Grandpa, I believe you understand what I mean. Nanming is so good to you now, giving you high officials and generous salaries, and treating you, the Qing prince, as a treasure. What is the reason?... There is only one reason - that is, there is the Qing Dynasty in the north now! A Qing Dynasty that is evenly matched with the Southern Ming Dynasty!... As the saying goes, birds are hidden all over the bow, and rabbits are dead and dogs are cooked. Princess, you must have thought, if one day, the Qing halal will be destroyed by the Southern Ming Dynasty, or the Nanming will be defeated and surrender, and it will no longer be a threat. Will Nanming let you, the Qing prince, be "below one person, and above ten thousand people"?

"At that time, even if the Southern Ming Dynasty was more civilized than the Qing Dynasty, even if Zhu Yourong was softer than our emperor, he would not 'cook' you, at least he would have to 'hide' you. Princess, you would not need to talk too much, and you could still think of what situation you were in at that time... I made excuses one after another, took away your power and position, and finally locked you back to the princess's mansion and raised you in a captive manner... Oh, maybe Zhu Yourong would still treat you as a prize and give it to a mourning minister as a wife... Princess, is it that your generation of heroines, is it that she is jealous of a lot of women in the backyard of an old and fat official, and she will be jealous of a lot of women for the rest of her life?... Princess, don't tell the slave, you have never thought about these..."

Yonggui said while carefully observing the reaction of the fourteenth princess.

The fourteenth princess frowned slightly, with a cool face. She slowly stroked the black cat in her arms without saying a word.

Yonggui was overjoyed and learned that his words did work.

"But Princess," he continued, "what if I think about it the other way around? What if the power of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is so balanced? Princess, you must also understand... The Qing Dynasty hung over the head of Nanming for one day, then Nanming would have to treat you as a treasure for one day, and you will be in a high position and in a day, under one person and above ten thousand people. The Qing Dynasty is the mortal enemy of the Southern Ming, but it is also your amulet for Princess!"

Yonggui was careful about the expression of the fourteenth princess of the observer, and then said carefully after a moment:

"Prince, don't think that slaves are here to be lobbyists... Even if slaves are suspected of lobbyists, they are all thoughtful and considerate for your sake!... Think about it, is this true of slaves? In addition to slaves, has someone from Nanming ever told you? Have Xiang Xiaoqiang told you?"

The fourteenth princess sat on the sofa, continued to say nothing, but continued to slowly caress the cat.

Yonggui felt that the time was ripe, so he fell to the feet of the fourteenth princess again, and cried with tears in his face:

"Prince... I'm sorry to you from the Qing Dynasty, but you are a bannerman, this cannot be changed. The blood between our bannerman is thicker than water!...Prince, you are our princess for one day and our princess for the rest of your life!"

The fourteenth princess shrank his feet back and frowned:

"Hey, what are you doing? After all, what are you doing with a big man?"

Yonggui knelt down and said with tears in his face:

"Grandpa, you don't know yet. I've brought you something for you this time..."

As he said that, he pulled it into his arms.

The fourteenth princess' eyes flashed, and her hand immediately inserted into her pajama pocket, held the small pistol, and pointed it at Yonggui in her pocket.

She said coldly:

"Okay, just say it, don't give me anything. I won't accept your things. Now we are each for their own masters, and I can't explain clearly after receiving things."

But what Yonggui took out from his arms was just a small silk cloth bag, holding it in one hand and spreading it out layer by layer with careful hands.

The fourteenth princess did not take his right hand out of his pocket, but still held the small pistol and stared at the small bag on Yonggui's hand.

The last layer of silk cloth was uncovered, and what Yonggui held in his hand was like a white and gentle mutton fat jade seal.

The seal is short cylindrical, with a layer of yellow jade leather on the top, and is carved with exquisite and complex bas-reliefs in clever colors. The entire white jade seal exudes nobility, subtle and amazing beauty in soft light.

The fourteenth princess' heart trembled, her eyes fixed, staring at the thing she knew most well in front of her.

…The seal of “Princess Heshuo Dongzhen”…Own “Princess Heshuo Dongzhen” personal seal…

At that time, I was arrested in the train car, and everything I had with me was searched, including this close-fitting seal... Now, my own thing appeared in front of me again...

...

"You..." The fourteenth princess blurted out, "Yonggui, what do you... mean? Who asked you to bring it?"

Yonggui did not answer, but was careful and respectfully placed the seal of the fourteenth princess on the coffee table, and then took it into his arms.

Although the fourteenth princess was still in her pocket this time, her index finger, which was pulling the trigger, was loose. She just stared at Yonggui blankly, guessing what he was going to take out again.

Yonggui took out another smaller thing. It was a black shark-skin long box as wide as a matchbox. He held it in one hand and opened it in the other hand, and held it in front of the fourteenth princess.

This is a metal key.

This is larger than the usual key, and the shape is more complex, with several rotating joints. But the fourteenth princess and others could see at a glance what key this is.

This should be the bank safe key.

Yonggui said:

"Prince, you came to Nanming in a hurry. Your property is still in the Qing Dynasty and you didn't have time to take it away... The emperor said that no matter what grudges we have between us, after leaving our own door, the fourteenth princes are still the princes of the Qing Dynasty, which means our Qing Dynasty... We cannot let the princes lack the cost in Nanming, and slowed down the majesty of the Qing Dynasty princess in front of Nanming... This time, the emperor asked the servant to bring the princess' title seal and property together and handed it to the princess... The emperor asked the servant to tell the princess that he would be a man in Nanming, and he should not always feel that the short surname Zhu...

"Grandpa, the emperor has opened a small property trust vault for you at the Swiss United Bank. Gege's main property, bills, fines, jewelry, gold, cash, etc. The emperor has sent people to transport it. It now exists in a small vault in Zurich, Switzerland. It is very secret, no one knows... However, the emperor said that there is only Gege's movable property... Gege's real estate, real estate, minerals, and business in the Qing Dynasty, it is not that the emperor wants to occupy it, but it is really a war between the two sides. Gege is determined to be in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and there is nothing we can do...

"By the way, Princess, the emperor said that Princess has three safe keys in her property. She must have opened a safe from the bank in which country. Princess should remember the password. Princess will put it together in the trust vault so that Princess can use it himself... Princess, I'll give you this one, this is the password..."

The fourteenth princess was stunned and subconsciously took the key and password, holding it tightly in her hand, her heart pounding, and her heart seemed to be knocked over by a bottle of Wuwei, and she couldn't say anything for a moment.
Chapter completed!