Zhu Xu walked forward a few steps and saw a little girl in green clothes sitting on a stone, squatting by the river and sobbing.

After pinching his chin, he waved Cao Huachun, Cao Bianjiao and others, and Zhu Xu walked straight towards the little girl.

Cao Huachun stopped, but Cao Bianjiao browed and made a few gestures quietly. He immediately stepped forward quietly, and pointed the short bow in his hand at the little girl.

Zhu Xu quietly came to the little girl's side, sat down, and laughed softly, "Why, have you been bullied?"

The little girl trembled and quickly wiped her tears with her sleeves, then straightened her waist, pursed her mouth, turned her head to look at Zhu Xu as if she was a lady, blinked in tears, and then said crisply: "Who are you?"

Zhu Xu looked at her. She was about seven or eight years old. She looked very good. Her little face was pink and tender, and her every move was quite etiquette. She couldn't help but smile and said, "I passed by. I wanted a hero to save the beauty. After waiting for a long time, you didn't jump, so I had to come and ask."

Puff

The little girl was immediately happy, her big eyes bent into crescent moons, and more tears fell. Then she quickly touched her little hands and looked at Zhu Xu with innocent smile and said, "Are you here to ask me when I danced?"

Zhu Xu nodded very 'righteously' and said, "When will you jump?"

“Geeh…”

The little girl smiled more, then turned her head in a depressed manner, pursed her lips, and stared at the riverside in a daze.

‘Do you really want to jump?’

Zhu Xu followed the little girl's gaze and saw a row of Jiaofang brothels opposite her. She moved her heart and took out a handkerchief from her arms and handed it to the little girl. At the same time, she said, "I heard that the government has banned the Qinhuai River. Are you crying for this?"

The little girl looked at Zhu Xu's handkerchief, and her little face was a little timid. Perhaps the little joke just now made her think that Zhu Xu was a good person, so she took it without any scruples, wiped her face, pursed her mouth and said, "No, my aunt wants to sell me to an old man."

When Zhu Xu heard this, he remembered that Liu Rushi was just about ten years old and was sold to an old man in his seventies as a concubine. When he looked at the little girl in front of him, she was about the same size as Xiao Yongning in the palace, but wanted to marry an old man who could die at any time.

Looking at the little girl's expression, she was so worried at such a young age. I guess she didn't know what "marriage" is, but she was still scared when she followed a strange old man?

Zhu Xu couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable. After pondering for a while, he suddenly said, "Uncle... My brother has a little niece who is about the same age as you. He is very naughty. If you are willing to go to our house, you can go and be a companion with her."

The little girl's eyes suddenly opened and she said happily: "Really?" Then she said timidly: "Then, can my mother go together?"

Zhu Xu smiled and said, "Brother's family is very big, it's okay for your mother."

The little girl was quite happy and was about to stand up, but in a flash, she sat there, lowered her head, and cried in a low voice: "But... I'm very expensive and I have to spend a lot of money..."

Zhu Xu stood up, held his hands behind his back, looked at the brothel opposite, and said proudly, "Don't mention you a little girl, even all the brothels opposite, I... can buy them without blinking!"

The little girl looked a little better, but she still didn't believe that Zhu Xu, a passerby, would spend so much money to buy her, and chuckled and said, "Brave!"

Zhu Xu turned to Cao Huachun and said, "Go and call Bumu Butai over, buy this little girl back, and be a companion for Xiao Yongning."

Cao Huachun glanced at the little girl and replied, "Yes."

The little girl was a little surprised and stood up and looked at Zhu Xu, and said disbelief: "Do you really want to buy me? It's very expensive. My aunt said she wouldn't let me go if she didn't have sixty taels."

Zhu Xu looked at her and smiled and said, "Do you think I'm joking?"

The little girl looked at Zhu Xu and blinked. Although she was young and didn't understand many things, she could buy a house for 60 taels of silver, so she was willing to buy her?

At the same time, she also knew very well that she was a young apprentice raised by Meixianglou and would always have to sell it, and everything was unavailable for her.

The big brother is always better than the old man.

The little girl thought so, twisted her dress lightly and said with a crisp voice: "Your Xiang thanked the young master."

"Xiangjun?" Zhu Xu was stunned and immediately said, "Your surname is Li?"

The little girl blinked and said, "My surname is Wu."

"Oh," Zhu Xu breathed a sigh of relief and a little disappointed, and said with a smile: "Let's go, I'll let your sister-in-law take you to redeem yourself."

The little girl looked at Zhu Xu with a serious face and said with a crisp voice: "Today, Xiangjun will never forget the kindness of the young master, and she will definitely be a carved carving ring in the future."

Zhu Xu was the emperor, so he could repay a little girl with something. He smiled and turned to the shore.

Bumubutai came soon and understood what Zhu Xu meant, so he took her across the bridge and walked towards the other side.

Cao Huachun looked at the backs of Bumubutai and the group of people, walked up and whispered: "Emperor, King Shangfeng is asking for a meeting again."

Zhu Xu glanced at him, and gently patted the folding fan behind his right hand, looking thoughtful.

King Shangfeng asked for a meeting yesterday, but was rejected by Zhu Xu on the grounds of "fatigue". This is the third time he asked for a meeting today.

Zhu Xu deliberately suppressed King Shangfeng to make him anxious to facilitate the subsequent negotiations.

After thinking for a while, he looked at the sky and said, "Let me do this, let him have a meal with me later, and the dishes are simpler."

Cao Huachun said: "Abide by the order."

Cao Huachun left, Zhu Xu squinted his eyes, and the folding fan behind him was still patting gently.

Ryukyu in the first island chain is a very critical link. He will never allow Japan to annex, but it is not easy to annex Ryukyu in a "natural way". After all, the face of the Celestial Kingdom is always needed. Now it is shameless, and many things will be difficult to deal with later.

Zhu Xu pondered the words of negotiations with King Shangfeng and walked slowly back along the Qinhuai River.

After a while, he let out a light breath, had an outline in his heart, and said, "Where is the fleet now?"

Cao Bianjiao stepped forward and said, "It's already past Shangqiu, and it's probably going to take half a month to come."

Zhu Xu shook the folding fan and said, "You can't wait anymore. Take a carriage and walk on the official road. Get ready as soon as possible. I will leave within two days. By the way, Zhejiang will keep moving quickly and secretly."

Cao Bianjiao clasped his fists and said, "Abide by the order!"

Zhu Xu opened the folding fan and continued to walk forward. The matter in Nanzhili came to an end. He wanted to put aside these and arrive in Fujian as soon as possible.

Before Zhu Xu could return to the small building next to the military camp, Bumubutai brought the little girl back. After she saluted, she said, "Young Master, I will bring it back with me. It costs a total of 100 taels."

The little girl looked at Zhu Xu, opened her eyes wide, and pursed her mouth, saying, "My aunt suddenly raised the price."

A middle-aged woman next to her suddenly came over and knelt on the ground, crying and said, "Thank you for your help. The old woman is willing to be a cow and horse for your son and repay her great kindness!"

Obviously this is the little girl's mother, and she knows the good or bad.

Zhu Xu waved his folding fan and said, "Silver is not a big deal. You can follow your wife first and then make arrangements when you return to Beijing later."

The woman kowtowed repeatedly, got up gratefully, held the little girl's hand, and said complimentingly: "It's really a blessing for Li Xiang to meet the young master in her previous life."

Zhu Xu was about to leave, but when he heard this, he was stunned and said, "Li Xiang? Isn't her surname Wu?"

The woman looked a little embarrassed and immediately said, "I dare not hide it from the young master. The old woman was originally a maid from the Wu family. Her wife was jealous and drove us mother and daughter out. She had to wander in Qinhuai. Li Xiang was raised by the seventh sister of Meixianglou. I think it's very good, so I used it."

Zhu Xu understood that this "Li Xiang" is the stage name, which means that the little girl in front of her is Li Xiangjun, one of the eight beauties of Qinhuai. She is still a little luoli now?

‘Accident…’

Zhu Xu smiled in his heart, and then said, "Well, it's okay, you can stay there." Then he looked at Bumubutai and said, "Take good care of them, Li Xiang is the companion I found for Xiao Yongning."

Bumubutai naturally knew who "Xiao Yongning" was, so he nodded gently and brought the two of them into the door.

The little girl opened her eyes wide and kept looking at Zhu Xu until she couldn't see her.

Zhu Xu did not deliberately look for the legendary Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, but unexpectedly encountered one by so coincidental.

Zhu Xu didn't care, so he stepped into the building, learned about the matter in the East Sea in detail, and waited for King Shangfeng to come to him.

King Shangfeng came earlier than Zhu Xu expected, but he did not get close to him. He took the people and waited anxiously for publicity not far away.

"Wang, will the Ming Dynasty really send troops? Japan is also a vassal of the Ming Dynasty..." In the crowd, the bearded old man in purple clothes asked worriedly to the middle-aged man wearing royal clothes in the middle.
Chapter completed!