Chapter 117: A Chance Encounter of a Thousand Miles

  In Fengyang, Anhui Province, by the Huai River, Guanhuai Pavilion.

  This is the most high-end restaurant in Zhongdu Fengyang, with impeccable dishes and service, but its biggest feature is that it's expensive! A banquet that costs a commoner's annual income? That's just for mid-range dishes.

  Such expensive food has also become a symbol of status. The phoenix and dragon, the nobles and the wealthy merchants would not come here to show off unless they need to entertain guests. But when they really need to meet important guests, they must come here. Being able to host guests here is a symbol of status, wealth, and power.

  It is said that this large wine house was the property of Xu Yingxu, the third son of Xu Da, the first meritorious general of the Ming Dynasty. Xu Da was a prominent military leader who played a crucial role in the founding of the Ming Dynasty and was posthumously honored as the King of Zhongshan. His son's business ventures in Fengyang were so influential that even the local officials and nobles dared not to offend him, let alone this wine house.

  Zhao Zikai is entertaining guests on the Huai Tower, he is a big businessman in Fengyang, Zhongdu, to be more accurate, a big construction businessman. At first, Zhu Yuanzhang had intended to make Fengyang the capital, and had moved 100,000 wealthy families there, carrying out large-scale construction projects. Later, however, because Fengyang truly did not have the conditions to serve as the capital of a country, on the advice of Liu Bowen and others, he abandoned Fengyang and established Jinling instead.

  The Zhao family prospered during that period. Zhao Zikai's father, Zhao Zhengkui, was originally a steward in the mansion of Shen Wansan, the richest man in the Ming dynasty. He was clever and learned many business skills. When the emperor built the central capital, ten thousand wealthy households had to build houses, he seized this opportunity, resigned from his job at Shen's mansion, and settled down in Fengyang, earning a fortune, with money overflowing like oil. Now Fengyang is the central capital, the place where the Ming dynasty was revived, and its status remains extraordinary, with all the sons and grandsons of the emperor gathered here, and the Zhao family still has many business opportunities. However, his father is old now, and most of the business matters have been handed over to his son.

  Zhao Zikai had been paying attention to a pair of young women sitting by the window, because it was rare for people not to entertain guests, but just to satisfy their hunger, to come to such an expensive hotel to eat. And that pair of young women happened to be like this. They didn't enter the private room, ordered a few dishes there, ate while looking at the scenery outside the window by the Huai River, and were as leisurely as if they were in their own home.

  Two girls, neither of whom was very old, the older one fifteen or sixteen years old, with bright eyes and white teeth, shining like the moon. She wore a dress made of extremely simple yet luxurious material, but judging from the style of the dress and her hairstyle, she seemed to be just a personal maid. From the maid's appearance, it could be inferred that her mistress was even more impressive. The mistress was another girl who was even younger, looking only eleven or twelve years old, with eyebrows and eyes like a painting, a face full of charm, perhaps because of her good family background and good food, so her body had developed more maturely than girls of the same age, her dress was also that simple yet elegant pear-blossom white, her crystal-like complexion radiating an innocent smile.

  Zhao Zikai knew that this style of not wearing accessories and dressing in simple elegance was the air of the Ming imperial family members, which later spread to only families with close ties to the imperial family and extremely high status. Such families didn't need to rely on luxury cars, precious horses, or being covered in pearls and jade to show off their status.

  What caught Zhao Zikai's attention was not the beauty of these two girls, but that they could sit here and eat, dressed in such finery, which meant they were not women he could afford to offend. They were all phoenixes and dragons, nobles and aristocrats, with privileges galore. Although they didn't hold power, they had special rights, and it would be as easy for them to crush him, Zhao Zikai, as it would be to squash a stinking bug.

  What caught his attention was that the young lady happened to mention that the manor house was old and needed renovation, which immediately caught Zhao Zikai's attention. Zhao Zikai was in this line of work, and he knew that the villas of those royal nobles were not many, but the materials used for construction were extremely particular, and they were also very generous with their spending. Once he took over the business, just renovating and repairing would be a huge income, plus selling the valuable materials from the old house that were no longer in use would be an unexpected fortune, so he immediately became interested.

  "Miss, although this is the capital, with the Imperial Guard and eight battalions of soldiers surrounding us, nothing unexpected should happen. However, this place is still a mix of good and bad people, and as a noble lady, you're running around alone without a carriage or family members, which isn't quite right. If Master, Third Master, or Fourth Master find out, I'll definitely be scolded."

  The older beauty was quietly complaining to the young girl who had just grown into a beautiful maiden. The girl was enthusiastically eating and impatiently said: "Alright, alright! Originally, I wanted to go play in Beiping, but my sister and brother-in-law were watching me all day, it's so boring. Now that we're in the capital, I want to be more carefree, but you're nagging again. If you keep this up, I'll send you back, and I'll go out alone!"

  The little beauty said, looking at the personal maid's resentful expression, a pair of big, black and bright eyes smiled into curved crescent moons: "Okay, okay, just you pester me. How about this, after we finish lunch, we'll go to Bao Yue Lou for a stroll, when shopping in Beijing, it's all sister's money, I'm going out on a trip, can't not have any meaning, right? Let's pick out some accessories and bring them back to the sisters-in-law. Then we'll head back to the manor."

  "Right, speaking of our family's Zhuangzi."

  The little girl slammed down her chopsticks and angrily told the maid, "Tell Liu to find someone to renovate immediately. It's only been a few years since I came here, and the houses in 'Returning to the Garden' are already so old. How can people live here? I'm the one who decides on this matter. This summer, I'll come over to play, and the garden must be renovated for me. If not, he won't need to work here anymore, humph!"

  "Returning home? Is this young lady the mistress of the house?"

  "Guiyuan is the estate of Xu Guogong's family, and this young lady is the owner of Guiyuan? Hmm, I've heard that Xu Guogong has a youngest daughter, born in the year Xu Laogong passed away. Calculating her age, it should be around this age... Could it be that this young lady is the young mistress of Xu Guogong's manor? Ah, yes! Earlier, that clever maid said 'First Master, Third Master, Fourth Master', but didn't mention Second Master. Xu Guogong had four sons, and his second son died young... This must be..."

  No wonder the two of them were dining here at will, even a maid's demeanor was elegant and refined like a noble lady, it turned out that they were nobles from the Xu Guogong Mansion, Zhao Zikai's heart was filled with joy, and he immediately thought of recommending himself.

  After the guests left, Zhao Zikai didn't leave immediately. He saw the young lady finish her meal and get up to leave with her maid. Zhao Zikai followed closely behind them and saw that the shopkeeper treated the young lady with great respect, not even charging her for the meal. The shopkeeper only bowed his head and said, "Miss, slow down." The mistress and maid left in a grand manner, and Zhao Zikai was even more convinced: Ah! Of course they don't need to pay, this is her third brother's restaurant after all.

  Zhao Zikai hastily paid the bill, didn't even bother to ask for change, and rushed out in a hurry. He saw that the mischievous and lively little girl was walking onto the street with great enthusiasm, looking around curiously, with an expression of being unable to get enough. Zhao Zikai quickly gestured to his attendants to stay back, and hurriedly chased after her, holding up his robes and bowing deeply: "Ah, miss, please wait."

  "Oh?" The little girl stopped in her tracks, her shiny eyes turning around curiously as she looked at them. The beautiful maid took a step forward, blocking the young lady's path, and with an expressionless face said: "Who are you? Picking up someone on the street, aren't you being rude?"

  Zhao Zikai hastily accompanied a smile and said: "Forgive me, forgive me. I am Zhao Zikai, a merchant from Zhongdu. Many princes and nobles' mansions have been built by me. Just now, I unintentionally heard the young lady say that she wants to rebuild the Return Garden. As it happens, I am in this line of work, so I took the liberty of recommending myself..."

  That little girl pushed away the maid who was blocking her way, looked him up and down, and asked innocently: "Are you good at building? I want to build a red five-pagoda pavilion, and also build a big fish pond, with many fish in it. And I want to tear down the original house and rebuild it, especially build a bathroom made of the best stone materials, with some flowers and grasses inside, and make the skylight bigger and brighter, I don't like the feeling of being stuffy..."

  Zhao Zikai smiled with a nod, saying: "Alright, alright, as long as the young lady uses me to do it, I will definitely do my best to satisfy the young lady."

  "Oh, that's the case, then it's convenient. Follow me." The young lady said, and skipped away with a bounce, Zhao Zikai followed closely behind her, and behind him were his servants and a luxurious horse-drawn carriage. After walking for a while, they arrived at Bao Yue Lou, a store specializing in precious jewelry. The young lady secretly glanced at the maid, and a sly smile appeared in her eyes. The maid's expression didn't change, she gently supported her and whispered: "Feifei, calm down!"

  The young lady quickly collected her smile and, supported by him, entered the Treasure Moon Building with a dignified air...

  A spacious and flat official road leading to Fengyang, a line of vehicles is coming slowly.

  "Master, is it almost time to arrive at Fengyang?"

  Xiao Ding crouched in the carriage, poking his head out of the window and asked.

  Xia Liu rode on horseback, smiling and saying: "Yes, we just passed through Gouzhen, and soon we will arrive in Fengyang. In Fengyang, let's stop for a while, take a look around, and then continue southward. However, that place is full of royal relatives and nobles, and we must be careful not to provoke any trouble."

  "Alright, sit down quickly. Your young master said he's taking you out to have some fun, so there's no rush this time."

  A hand stretched out from behind Xiao Qi, and patted her plump little buttocks with a crisp slap. Then, Peng Ziqi's face, which was as delicate as if it had just been washed by the morning dew and was about to drip with beauty, appeared from behind Xiao Qi's shoulder, giving Xia Xun a sweet smile. The two lovely faces of Peng Ziqi and Xiao Qi leaned against each other, like a pair of intertwined lotus flowers.

  Peng Ziqi is Xia Xian's woman, and Xiao Ding already knows. Her young master had many women before, and she was used to it long ago. The environment and education since childhood can shape a person's thoughts. Born in this era, Xiao Ding has always thought that such things are natural and will not be resistant. Relatively speaking, Peng Ziqi is straightforward and gets along well with her. If Xia Xian must have a woman, she would rather it be someone like Sister Peng who is easy to get along with.

  All the way, two girls with similar personalities got along extremely well, inseparable in their daily activities. However, Xiaodi later discovered that Peng Jie, who would always urge her to rest early at night, would sneak out after she fell asleep, using her stealthy skills to disappear into thin air. Xiaodi wasn't stupid and could guess that Peng Jie was going to meet up with the young master.

  "Hmph, taking advantage of me sleeping to sneak out, and coming back before dawn, aren't you tired? We'll die if we don't see each other for a few days!"

  Xiao Qi secretly pouted, although she was still uncertain about her feelings for the young master, a sour and vinegar-like feeling had already begun to ferment in her heart. Vinegar can cultivate the bacteria of love, and the small mushroom began to take root and sprout in the little girl's heart. One day, it will grow into a big mushroom that can pick the girl...