Chapter 2676 - 2609: Sending Away

Gao You stepped forward with a smile and said, "Young Master Bai Er, it’s been a while since we last met."

Bai Erlang stared at him blankly and asked, "And you are?"

Gao You: ...

He gave a slight smile and said, "I am Gao You, from Goguryeo. Previously, we studied together at the Imperial Academy. I wonder if Young Master Bai Er remembers me?"

"Oh, oh, so it’s Prince Gao."

Bai Erlang hurriedly returned the courtesy, thinking that returning a courtesy on the carriage might be impolite. As he hesitated whether to jump off the carriage or not, Manbao, who had already heard of their return but hadn’t seen the carriage enter, poked her head out to look. Seeing Gao You standing in front of the carriage, she sighed and retracted her head.

Bai Erlang, facing the door, clearly saw her poking her head in and out.

He widened his eyes, unsure of how to continue the conversation.

Yet, Gao You was already reminiscing and then laughed, "I remember Lord Zhou was very interested in the local products of Goguryeo. This time coming to the capital, I brought some with me, thinking of giving some to Lord Zhou and Lord Bai for the Mid-Autumn Festival gifts, but..."

He looked bitterly at the porter and said, "Today seems unfortunate, or perhaps Lord Zhou and Lord Bai don’t wish to be involved with a fallen prince like me, so..."

Bai Erlang wasn’t foolish; he could tell from the tone that this was not a good conversation, and he frowned. Princess Mingda, sitting in the carriage, suddenly knocked on the carriage wall and said softly, "Husband, aren’t we going inside?"

Bai Erlang immediately laughed and said, "Soon."

He turned to Gao You and said, "It truly is unfortunate today, as it happens to be the fourteenth of August. If Prince Gao had come two days earlier, even yesterday without prior notice, I believe the family would have hosted you formally."

He smiled and said, "Because tomorrow night there is a palace banquet, many families are hosting their reunion banquets today and are busy attending to their relatives, so..."

Just as he was speaking, Zhou Man finally found Bai Shan, and the two came over arm in arm.

Bai Shan smiled and said, "Prince Gao..."

Bai Shan nodded slightly to Bai Erlang and turned to Gao You, "Prince Gao, please sit in the main hall for a moment. I’ll come after I have arranged for the princess and her husband."

Evidently, he was no longer intending to refuse the guest outside anymore; otherwise, having Gao You remain outside and unwilling to leave would be a hassle.

Gao You said shamefully, "It’s my oversight not considering that Lord Bai would be hosting friends today."

"Prince Gao is unfamiliar with our Central Plains customs, which is understandable, and it is our fault for not hosting properly. Please come in."

Bai Shan nodded to Manbao, first escorting Gao You to sit in the main hall, then after providing tea, excused himself temporarily.

Once inside, as the front carriage and people moved aside, Manbao had Bai Erlang’s carriage drive in through the side gate.

Entering the familiar large courtyard where they usually got off the carriage, Princess Mingda came out, and Manbao reached out to stabilize her. The two held hands and chatted, "What is Gao You here for?"

Manbao said, "Probably to gather information. It’s unlikely he’s asking us to intercede; after all, we are neither influential nor high-ranking."

Mingda couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing this, walking with her into the inner courtyard, "Even if he just wanted to gather information initially, I fear now he has other ideas."

Mingda thought correctly; upon seeing the princess’s carriage, Gao You indeed had other thoughts.

Originally, he just wanted to ask Bai Shan and Zhou Man about Great Jin’s stance, wondering if he could find a way through them to attend the palace banquet.

But today, unexpectedly he met the legitimate princess...

Gao You felt this was destiny.

Bai Shan also thought it was destiny and said to Manbao, "Destiny has given us much trouble today."

He got pinched by a crab in the morning, and then today Gao You paid a visit.

Manbao laughed heartily, pushing him forward, "You’re sharp; go deceive him away quickly."

Bai Shan said, "You should come with me."

Manbao shook her head, "Forget it, I don’t like Gao You. I want to go to the garden with Mingda to look at chrysanthemums. Hmm, you take Bai Er instead."

Bai Shan thought it was appropriate, as Gao You had seen the princess’s carriage. Surely his true interest lay elsewhere; better to take the one interested in drinking.

Hmm, although the drink was watered-down, it was still genuine drink, right?

So Bai Shan took the somewhat confused Bai Erlang along.

No matter how ambitious or with great desire, he could not compare in knowledge to Bai Shan, in eloquence to Bai Shan, in feigning ignorance to Bai Erlang. Besides, there stood a national grievance between them; even if he thickened his face to stick close, Bai Shan had plenty of reasons to reject him righteously.

Gao You brought quite a few things; besides precious medicinal materials from Goguryeo, there were also pearls and treasures of gold and silver, meant to build relationships. As long as Bai Shan would help speak well before the princess, they might have the chance to enter the palace banquet...

Bai Shan returned the gifts, smiling, "No merit, no reward. Prince Gao’s visit during the festival has moved me greatly; how dare I accept such heavy gifts."

He waved to someone outside the hall, and two gift boxes were immediately brought up. He smiled, "These are homemade mooncakes and some crabs raised in the village. They are not anything good, but they are seasonal. I hope Prince Gao won’t mind."

Gao You’s face almost couldn’t maintain his expression; after deeply looking at Bai Shan, he stood to leave, not even taking the two gift boxes.

The servant looked at Bai Shan, "Young Master, what about these..."

"It seems Prince Gao looked down on these humble gifts; let it be then. Take the items out for later use with guests." Bai Shan said, "Since the kitchen hasn’t started yet, take the crabs to be cleaned and cooked."

Bai Erlang asked, "How many did you bring back, so few?"

He was surprised they had to use the crabs from the gifts.

Bai Shan said, "How many can a single lotus pond rear?"

He said, "Sent some to Senior Brother Tang, and also to my older sister’s family, oh, yes, I also prepared some for you and the Princess Changyu’s mansion, there’s not much left."

Despite Bai Shan saying there’s not much, the kitchen still steamed several baskets, as Mr. Zhuang was also going out to meet guests today, and heading outdoors, where it’s hard to bring raw food. He had it steamed so it could be kept warm and eaten hot upon reaching the destination.

Bai Erlang was very excited, remembering, "Princess Changyu said she and her husband had lunch at the Wei Family, and they’re coming here next."

"Let them come, there’s enough crabs,"

After all, they’re home-raised; despite sending quite a few away, Bai Shan wasn’t at all worried.

Bai Erlang said, "Such a pity the imperial estate lands given by the emperor are too good; otherwise, we could dig a pond and raise some crabs."

Bai Shan said, "Whether crabs are raised well not only depends on the land, but also on the water. Your water is pretty good. Otherwise, find a piece of land, dig, and add sand and stones to the bottom?"

Bai Erlang’s eyes brightened, nudging his shoulder, "You have so many ideas."

"I don’t know about crab farming. It’s just a suggestion, so if it doesn’t work, and they die or something, don’t blame me."

"Alright, I won’t blame you. Just remember to leave some for me every year."

"Speaking of crabs, the ones from Taihu are always delicious," Bai Shan asked, "Didn’t the palace have any tribute this year?"

"The emperor had the empress issue a prohibition," employing the palace’s edict, hence Bai Erlang knew, "Said this year people’s lives are difficult, for those two bites of crab roe, wasting resources was unwarranted."