Chapter 1086: Going South by Boat and Staying at Zhou Mansion
The twenty-eighth year of Jianwu.

Su Mingzhe finally boarded the dragon boat bound for Hangzhou.

Dozens of naval warships accompanied the escort.

On both sides of the canal, there were more than ten thousand veteran soldiers of the Yi Nu Army accompanying them.

Watching the dragon boat going farther and farther away, the new Han emperor Su Shaoan, who was seeing him off on the shore, finally relaxed his frown.

"Your Majesty, let's go back."

As the new queen, He Zhenniang accompanied the emperor to see off the retired emperor.

Seeing her man's expression change, she was afraid that he would show a happy expression and be criticized, so she quickly pulled him to remind him.

Su Shaoan reacted immediately and nodded silently:
"Zi Tong, take the prince back to the palace first, I will be back later!"

Today is the happiest day for Su Shaoan since he was crowned the crown prince.

Since he married He Zhenniang at the age of twenty, Su Changan began to learn how to be a regent.

Originally, Su Mingzhe and Su Shaoan had already agreed on it.

The prince served as regent for half a year, and the emperor went south to Hangzhou to enjoy a wonderful life.

As a result, Su Shaoan received instructions from the Crown Princess and when the Emperor was about to go south, he rushed over, hugged his parents' thighs, and cried loudly, refusing to let Su Mingzhe and Cui Yingying leave no matter what.

This tactic is still an old trick of Cao Pi.

Although it is an old wisdom, it is very useful.

Cui Yingying couldn't bear to leave. Besides, Crown Princess He Zhenniang was also pregnant, so Cui Yingying suggested to the Emperor of Han that she wait until she saw her grandson before heading south.

As a result, Su Mingzhe's plan to go south was postponed for four years.

As the prince becomes more and more adept at handling government affairs, his grandson has reached the age where he is hated by dogs and disliked by cats.

Only then did Su Mingzhe abdicate the throne and start his plan to move south.

Thanks to Emperor Yang of Sui.

He dug the Grand Canal.

Su Mingzhe could then take a dragon boat south, saving himself the hassle of traveling by carriage.

We set off in March, stopping along the way.

During this period, he also accompanied Xiao Ai, Qing Ping and other women back to Peidi.

The former King of Pei, now Lord Peiliang, was naturally very happy to see his sister Qingping coming.

We had no choice but to choose to surrender as a country.

Fortunately, after the surrender, Su Mingzhe kept his promise. He not only conferred the title of Pei Liang as Duke of Pei, but also rewarded him with a red book and iron scroll that could save his life, thus ensuring the prosperity and wealth of the Pei family for generations to come.

When Qingping saw that her brother was living a healthy and peaceful life, she put aside her years of worries.

Before leaving, Qingping gave most of her savings to her nephew.

By June, the fleet arrived in Yangzhou.

At the dock of Yangzhou City, an old man in a crimson official robe came to greet the emperor with a group of local officials and gentry.

"Your old minister Zhou Zong, kowtows to our emperor. Long live the emperor!"

"Grandmaster, please stand up, I am sorry to trouble you this time!"

In order not to disturb the locals, Su Mingzhe tried not to get off the boat whenever he passed by a place.

However, Yangzhou has many scenic spots and historical sites.

After sitting on the boat for a long time, the women all wanted to get off the boat and walk around.

Su Mingzhe then contacted the minister Zhou Zong who had retired and returned to his hometown, and planned to stay at Zhou's house for a few days.

Before Zhou Zong retired, he was the Minister of Personnel. After his retirement, Su Mingzhe awarded him the title of "Grand Tutor".

Seeing that Su Mingzhe was as kind and tolerant as always, Zhou Zong's worries were relieved. He bowed and said politely:
"It is an honor for me to have your Majesty come to visit. How dare I say 'trouble'?"

The dock is not a place for chatting.

After the formalities were over, Su Mingzhe and the concubines took a carriage to Zhou Mansion.

As soon as they entered Zhou Mansion, the women couldn't help but be surprised.

Empress Wan, who was serving the man, could not help but exclaimed: "Your Majesty, the courtyard of the Zhou Mansion is not inferior to the palace of Shangyang Palace!"

Su Mingzhe was also surprised at first, but he only had to think about it for a moment before he knew what was going on:

"Teacher Zhou was an honest official. When he retired and returned to his hometown, all his luggage could be loaded into a single carriage. I saw that he had nothing and was afraid that he would have nowhere to stay when he returned to Yangzhou, so I rewarded him with a garden in the south of the Yangtze River and a thousand acres of fertile land!"

After hearing this, Empress Wan could only admire respectfully:
"Your Majesty is merciful!"

Su Mingzhe brought the women into Zhou's mansion and asked them to go to the backyard to wash up and rest, while he began to meet with local officials and gentry.

The meeting is over.

Su Mingzhe began to wander around Zhou's mansion.

After looking for a while, Su Mingzhe discovered a problem.

This Zhou Mansion was indeed a reward given to Zhou Zong by Su Mingzhe.

However, many of the landscapes in the garden are newly added.

Looking at the newly built Jiangnan garden courtyard, Su Mingzhe thought of Cao Xueqin, who wrote "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Historically, the reason why the Cao family borrowed hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the national treasury was to host Emperor Kangxi, who visited the south of the Yangtze River six times.

Now, in order to welcome the retired emperor, the Zhou family actually redecorated the Jiangnan garden, which was already unique in scenery.

Thinking of the prices in Jiangnan, Su Mingzhe couldn't help but guess that the Zhou family must be like the Cao family now, having spent all their wealth accumulated over the years?

Su Mingzhe is not a mean and ungrateful person, and he will not bear to see his loyal ministers suffer.

After the welcoming banquet, Su Mingzhe called the guard commander Zhang Kui:
"Zhang Kui, I have a task for you. Be careful to do it and don't let anyone notice!"

Zhang Kui is considered Su Mingzhe's close confidant.

He was originally the commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Bureau, and was later sent by Su Mingzhe to find Iwami Silver Mine.

When the Han treasury was full, Su Mingzhe sent him to serve the prince.

Su Mingzhe waited until the prince ascended the throne and became emperor before he recruited Zhang Kui back to his side.

"Please give me your Majesty's orders!"

Zhang Kui knelt on one knee and saluted.

Su Mingzhe said seriously:

"Go and investigate how much money Grand Tutor Zhou spent on building this new garden, and then find out how much the Zhou family is losing now... I am the Son of Heaven, and I cannot let my subjects suffer injustice..."

Zhang Kui couldn't help but flatter him after hearing this:
"Your Majesty is so merciful. If the Grand Tutor knew that Your Majesty cared so much about him, he would surely be filled with gratitude!"

Faced with this kind of flattery, Su Mingzhe accepted it directly.

Back in the backyard, Su Mingzhe was preparing to call a few concubines to sleep with him.

Hu An came to report that Queen Mother Cui Yingying wanted to see her.

Not long after, Cui Yingying came in in plain clothes, walking with lotus steps:

"His Majesty!"

"Why haven't you rested yet, my dear?"

As soon as Cui Yingying came in, Su Mingzhe's eyes lit up when he saw her makeup.

Cui Yingying has lived in the palace for a long time and has taken good care of herself. Although she is already middle-aged, her face is round, her facial features are soft, her skin is delicate, and her temperament is refined, not much different from a beautiful young woman in her twenties.

Even Queen Wan is slightly inferior to Cui Yingying in terms of appearance.

In addition to her extraordinary skin color and appearance, Cui Yingying's dress style is also becoming more and more youthful.

Now she was wearing a thin, transparent stone blue corseted long skirt.

Through the thin gauze skirt, Su Mingzhe could clearly see Cui Yingying's snow-white skin.

The vague feeling aroused Su Mingzhe's interest.

"His Majesty……"

Cui Yingying was also in a hurry. After washing and bathing, she asked the palace maid to find a palace skirt for her and put it on. She didn't pay attention to the style at all. When she saw the man was about to pounce on her, she hurriedly pushed the man away:

"I have something to report!"

(End of this chapter)