Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1125: Chapter 143: Arrival in the Capital (2)

The batch of Hidden Guards under Lu Guang’s command were sent to train in Lingnan from a young age. They don’t know where their hometown is.

"At our current pace, we’ll arrive in two days." Zhao Yao raised a hand and patted Lu Guang on the shoulder, smiling, "By then, I’ll take you around the capital."

"Thank you, Young Master."

The men dispatched by Prince Chu to Qiantang were already waiting at the port for Zhao Yao’s ship to arrive.

On the evening two days later, Zhao Yao arrived in the capital with Lu Guang.

"Young Master, where are we going now?" Lu Guang, without a disguise, carried a long wooden box on his back; inside the box was a firearm.

"First, I’ll take you to have some good food." Zhao Yao originally thought he didn’t miss the capital at all, but when he set foot on the capital’s land and smelled its air, a nostalgic expression unwittingly appeared on his face.

"Young Master, aren’t you going to see your brother?"

"There’s no rush, we’ll go after dinner." Nothing is more important than eating, "I’ll take you to Zhenxiu Building."

"Yes, Young Master."

Zhao Yao hailed a carriage and took both himself and Lu Guang to Zhenxiu Building. On the way there, Zhao Yao continually introduced the buildings along the road to Lu Guang.

Lu Guang was curious about the capital, but upon arriving, he found it was just so-so, not as good as Swamp Prefecture.

He lowered his voice and told Zhao Yao, "Young Master, I still think Swamp Prefecture is better."

His words made Zhao Yao pause briefly, then he smiled and said, "I think so too." However, the current Swamp Prefecture is still far behind the capital. In a few years, the capital will be less than Swamp Prefecture.

The two arrived at Zhenxiu Building. They were in luck, as there was just an empty seat available.

Zhao Yao didn’t rush to order, but first asked the waiter if there were any new dishes.

After the waiter gave a detailed introduction, Zhao Yao generously ordered several new dishes.

The flavors of capital dishes are quite strong, while those from Swamp Prefecture are much milder.

Swamp Prefecture also has restaurants run by people from the capital, even a branch of Zhenxiu Building, but the taste compared to the capital’s Zhenxiu Building is still lacking.

Zhao Yao originally thought he wouldn’t miss the capital’s cuisine, but after the first bite, he found that deep down he still did.

Lu Guang didn’t care if the food was delicious or not, as long as he could fill his stomach.

The two hadn’t been eating for long when they heard customers at nearby tables talking about Prince Han returning to the capital at the end of the year.

"Prince Han is finally coming back to the capital; it’ll be lively by then."

"The shopkeeper of Zhenxiu Building is just waiting for Prince Han to return to the capital; he’s planning to invite him to taste the new dishes."

"It’s not just Zhenxiu Building; the other restaurant owners are waiting for Prince Han’s return too."

"I heard Prince Han created a lot of delicacies in Swamp Prefecture."

"I wonder what good things Prince Han will bring back this time?"

"Oh, by the way, the teahouses are also waiting for Prince Han’s return. They plan to host a tea-tasting competition when he comes back."

"That’ll be quite a spectacle."

"You may not know this, but I’ve heard that news of Prince Han’s return by year’s end has drawn tea merchants from all over to the capital to pay respects to Prince Han as if he were an ancestor."

"To the tea merchants, isn’t that what Prince Han is?"

"He’s like the God of Wealth."

"It feels like once Prince Han returns, the capital will become lively."

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Hearing the people in the restaurant praising Zhao Yao, Lu Guang felt proud.

"Young Master, everyone is praising you."

Zhao Yao said smugly, "It’s not like there are that few people praising me."

"Not at all." Even the common folks in Swamp Prefecture often praise the Young Master. "Young Master, in everyone’s eyes, you’re a good person."

Slightly stunned by being complimented as a good person, Zhao Yao then raised a corner of his mouth, smiling, "I’ll accept this being called a good person."

Lu Guang didn’t quite understand what Zhao Yao meant, "Young Master, what does being called a ’good person’ mean?"

"It just means I’m a good person."

"You are a good person already."

"Good person, huh..." Zhao Yao smiled enigmatically. He didn’t consider himself a good person. The things he’d done for the common people weren’t out of the desire to be a good person. He just felt it was what he should do.

After drinking tea, the two left Zhenxiu Building.

"Young Master, should we head to your brother’s place now?"

"Honestly, I don’t really want to go." He didn’t want anyone to know about his arrival in the capital just yet. However, if his fourth and eighth brothers later found out he returned to the capital without visiting them, it would only add to his troubles.

"Then where should we go?"

Zhao Yao thought for a moment and said, "Let’s go to Fourth Brother’s place then."

They didn’t take a carriage to Prince Chu Mansion; instead, they walked there.

Zhao Yao and Lu Guang walked slowly, and as they went, Zhao Yao continued to introduce the capital to Lu Guang.

Despite not having been back in over a year, Zhao Yao felt everything about the capital remained as familiar to him as before. This sense of familiarity made it seem as if he had never left.