I am a prince in Zhutian Films

Chapter 372 Tangled
Instead of despising the brothel girl's origin, he would be secretly happy about it.

This was an answer Zhao Pan'er didn't expect, and she didn't believe it.

Although from her interactions with Zhao Wei's subordinates, she knew that they didn't care much about their background.

But note that they just don't care much, not that they don't care at all.

Of course, Zhao Huai'en is a special one. Zhao Pan'er can feel that Zhao Huai'en really doesn't care at all.

But Zhao Huai'en is just an example and cannot represent others.

Zhao Pan'er paused and looked at Zhao Wei: "Are they women of low status?"

Zhao Wei shook his head to express his objection: "You don't say much. If they lose their status, they are no longer slaves. Besides, they became slaves because they had no choice. Why should we despise them? We are all human beings. Who is nobler than who?"

Zhao Pan'er was startled, a faint smile appeared on her face, and then she sighed: "That's true, but after all, they have been classified as lowly. Even if they are no longer lowly, they will still be despised by others. Even if they don't despise them, what about their families?"

"How can I care about the marriage of soldiers who have families? Do you really think I have nothing to do?" Zhao Wei smiled and said seriously, "The people I'm talking about are all alone. I am their family, and I don't mind."

"If you don't mind, then your family members won't mind either?"

Zhao Pan'er didn't dare to ask. She sighed silently and changed the subject, "By the way, why are you alone today? Where are Manager Zhao and your followers?"

"They all have things to do, but why are you asking them?"

"You have no one to protect you, what if..."

Zhao Wei understood: "Tokyo is a bit chaotic, but not that chaotic. Even if someone sends assassins to kill me, we still don't know who will kill whom. You know my kung fu."

Thinking of the skills Zhao Wei had shown in Qiantang Yang's residence, Zhao Pan'er felt relieved: "How come you have time to come here today?"

"I came to see you because I missed you."

"You..." Zhao Pan'er blushed: "If you do this again, I won't talk to you."

Zhao Wei smiled and said, "Okay, let's change the subject. I heard that you had a chat with Zhang Haohao. What do you think of her?"

"Very good, Manager Zhao has good taste, but Madam Zhang doesn't seem to know Manager Zhao."

Zhao Wei nodded: "In this Tokyo city, many people have heard of Huai En's name, but there are not many people who can recognize Huai En."

Zhao Pan'er hummed, "Looking at how Madam Zhang feels about Chi Pan, Manager Zhao has no chance unless he snatches her away by force."

"That's not necessarily true." Zhao Wei said with a smile, "Want to make a bet?"

"What are you gambling?"

"If you win, I will unconditionally promise you one thing. If I win, you will have to promise me one thing. But don't worry, if you feel that the conditions I propose go against your personal wishes, you don't have to fulfill them."

Zhao Pan'er thought about it and said with a smile: "You said it as if you can definitely win. I'll make a bet with you."

Zhao Wei smiled when he heard this, and the two chatted and laughed all the way until they arrived at the teahouse unknowingly.

It turned out that the teahouse was closed, so they had to go to Anyefang instead.

For the first time, Zhao Pan'er wished that this road could be longer, so that she could follow Zhao Wei without any worries.

However, the road must eventually come to an end.

In Anyefang, in front of the courtyard gate, a peach blossom fell and stuck to Zhao Pan'er's hair. Zhao Wei picked it off for her casually, as if they had been a loving couple who had been together for many years.

Zhao Pan'er was so amazed at Zhao Wei's smooth movements that her whole body stiffened.

Thinking that Zhao Pan'er was suddenly feeling unwell, Zhao Wei quickly asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Looking at Zhao Wei's perfect face against the backdrop of the sunset and peach blossoms, Zhao Pan'er blurted out: "Your Highness, why do you like me?"

"Why?" Zhao Wei smiled and looked at Zhao Pan'er: "Maybe it's because I don't know where the love comes from, but it's deep and lasting. Or maybe it starts with the appearance and falls into the character."

Zhao Pan'er's heart began to beat wildly and uncontrollably. She was excited but also nervous that Zhao Wei could say such words.

The gap in their status was too great. Every time Zhao Wei said such sweet words to her, she felt it was unreal. Even though she was clearly moved, she dared not show it.

"Your Highness..."

She had just started to speak when the courtyard door suddenly opened, and Zhao Pan'er swallowed the rest of her words.

"Silver bottle?" Zhao Pan'er was a little surprised.

"Madam Zhao, you're back." Yin Ping smiled and bowed to Zhao Wei, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Song Yinzhang, who was delivering the silver bottle, saw Zhao Wei there and was immediately surprised and said, "Your Highness, you are here. Please come in."

Zhao Wei nodded but did not move. He asked Yin Ping, "Have you moved to Anyefang?"

Yin Ping nodded: "Your Highness, we moved in today."

"Well, Li Wu has already told you, everyone in Anyefang is from our palace, so if you encounter any difficulties, just give us a shout."

"I have already explained everything to you, thank you, Your Highness."

Zhao Wei waved his hand, and suddenly thought of something. He reached out and took out a music score and handed it to Song Yinzhang: "I see that you like music very much. There happened to be a banquet in the palace yesterday. I thought this pipa music was good, so I brought it to you from the palace."

Song Yinzhang was flattered to take the music score. She was already very grateful to Zhao Wei, and after seeing the four words on the cover of the music score, she became even more excited and grateful.

"Is it Liangzhou Dabian?!"

As a pipa enthusiast, Song Yinzhang naturally knew that this was a famous pipa piece from the previous dynasty.

At the same time, she also knew that the song Liangzhou Dabian had been lost due to the war, and nowadays, there were probably only a few musicians in the world who understood this pipa music.

Song Yinzhang never imagined that Zhao Wei not only helped her escape from the Jiaofangsi register and become a good citizen, but also helped her find the long-lost Liangzhou Dabian.

What does this mean?
This shows that His Highness has me in his heart.

Song Yinzhang was deeply moved and very happy.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I..."

Zhao Wei waved his hand and interrupted, "It's nothing. You are a pipa master and now you are very famous. Even the court musicians have heard of your name. I believe it will not be buried in your hands."

Song Yinzhang nodded vigorously: "I will definitely work hard to learn and practice Liangzhou Dabian well, and then I will ask for your comments, Your Highness."

Zhao Wei hummed, turned to look at Zhao Pan'er: "Then I'll leave."

"Farewell to Your Highness."

Zhao Wei: “…”

No, I said to leave, but you really didn't stay. Zhao Wei was speechless and turned to look at Yin Ping: "Yin Ping, you're not leaving?"

"Ah, go, go, go."

Zhao Wei and Yin Ping left, and Zhao Pan'er also entered the courtyard with Song Yinzhang, who looked very happy.

As soon as she entered the door, Zhao Paner forced herself to get busy and not let her mind wander.

She was calculating rapidly on the abacus at the table, while Sun Sanniang and Song Yinzhang stood behind Zhao Pan'er like door gods, one tapping her shoulder and the other holding the music score, looking forward to the payment.

After a long while, Zhao Pan'er finally stopped: "I wasted some time today, so I made less than yesterday, but I made a net profit of 927 coins."

"That's great!" Sun Sanniang and Song Yinzhang couldn't help but clap their hands.

Zhao Paner smiled and said, "Don't be too happy too soon. It's only the second day, and if we add in the cost of our previous renovation, we're still losing a lot. Anyway, within the first month of opening, we should try not to rest and make back our capital first."

Song Yinzhang nodded, glanced at the music score in his arms, and smiled foolishly: "Then I will go back to my room to practice pipa first."

"I also have to prepare things for tomorrow." Sun Sanniang had originally felt a little tired, but now she felt full of energy.

Zhao Pan'er smiled and nodded, then waved to Song Yinzhang and Sun Sanniang: "Go quickly, see you tomorrow."

After walking for a distance, Sun Sanniang suddenly remembered something. Zhao Pan'er had a smile on her face since she came back. How to describe that smile? It looked very fake and made people feel a little bitter.

She instinctively felt something was wrong, so she sent Song Yinzhang away and walked back. She carefully observed Zhao Pan'er's expression and came to the conclusion: "Pan'er, something is wrong with you. Ever since you came back from Zhang Haohao, this smile on your face has been like a permanent feature of your face."

Zhao Pan'er, who was still calculating the accounts, raised her head, raised her eyebrows, and asked without comment: "Really?"

Sun Sanniang took a mirror and placed it in front of her: "Take a good look at yourself."

Zhao Paner looked at herself in the mirror, who looked like she was wearing a mask, and was stunned for a moment: "Oh, I smiled all day today, and my face is stiff. This is not uncommon in business."

Sun Sanniang sat next to Zhao Pan'er, staring at her face with concern: "Nonsense, I have never seen you like this before, did something happen between you and His Royal Highness the King of Han?"

When Zhao Paner was hit on the point, her first reaction was to refute.

"No, he and I are just..."

She didn't say anything else because she was too confident and there was no way she could deceive herself into saying that she had no feelings for Zhao Wei.

Sun Sanniang moved the mirror in front of her again. Although she was still smiling in the mirror, her eyes had turned red at some point.

Looking at herself in the mirror, the smile on Zhao Paner's face disappeared little by little, and finally, a line of tears rolled down.

Sun Sanniang said nothing, but handed her the handkerchief.

Zhao Pan'er wiped her tears, and the next words seemed a little difficult for her to say.

"I just...maybe I'm in love with him."

"Oh, there's no need to cry." Sun Sanniang was not surprised at all. It was normal for Zhao Pan'er to like a man as outstanding and considerate as Zhao Wei, who had helped them so much.

Zhao Paner shook her head: "But I don't think this is right. After all, I came to Tokyo for Ouyang Xu."

Sun Sanniang had long seen that Zhao Wei treated Zhao Pan'er differently, and she also supported Zhao Pan'er and Zhao Wei to be together, and retorted: "Why is it wrong? Ouyang Xu has given you the letter of annulment, so the matter between you and him is over. His Highness the King of Han and you are unmarried, and you are a perfect match made in heaven."

Zhao Pan'er shook her head again: "But I can't see through him. I always feel that he is very far away, too far away from me. I can't be sure if he is sincere to me."

Sun Sanniang thought about it and said with certainty, "His Royal Highness the King of Han must be sincere, otherwise he wouldn't have done so much for us. The capital of the teahouse, this house, and the matter of Yinzhang, this is not what the book says: love the house and love the dog, what else can it be?"

"But I'm not sure, Sanniang. When I was in Qiantang, there were quite a few men who were interested in me. I can feel that he is different from those men. If he was just talking, I could ignore it, but he..."

Zhao Pan'er wiped away her tears, and at the same time, she felt inferior and proud at the same time. "I kept telling myself that people should know themselves. Ouyang Xu just became a Jinshi, and he looked down on me for being a lowly person who had turned good. He is a prince, a young general with a great reputation throughout the world, how could he not know the huge difference between him and me?

Sanniang, I am actually very scared. I am scared that I will gradually get used to his care that I won’t be able to refuse. I am scared that my heart will keep getting closer to him, so that one day, he only needs to wave his hand and I will walk over involuntarily.

In the end, she ended up like countless other sisters in Leying who had become good women, with their beauty fading and their love fading, but he just said indifferently, "At the beginning, I just felt sorry for you."

Sun Sanniang wanted to give examples to persuade them, but none of the three of them had not been hurt by men, and she was the worst off one, with even her children not wanting her.

Without any evidence, Sun Sanniang could only comfort him softly, "No, Your Highness the King of Han will not do that."

Zhao Pan'er shook her head, feeling so heartbroken that it felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

"At first I also thought Ouyang Xu wouldn't do that, but what happened? I always told Yin Zhang that women should be independent. Once they start to rely on others, they will become weak. That's why I was sad and insisted on opening this teahouse, paying off his debts, and... I, I don't know what I'm saying."

Thinking of her own experience, Sun Sanniang's eyes turned red without her knowing when. She held Zhan Pan'er's hand and said softly, "I understand, I understand everything, but I still believe that His Royal Highness the King of Han is not the kind of person that Ouyang Xu is."

Zhao Pan'er leaned on Sun Sanniang's shoulder, tears streaming down her face again: "I actually know that he won't look down on me because of my status, but he is a prince, and may even be the emperor in the future. He doesn't care. What about the emperor and the queen? And what about the officials in the court?"

Sun Sanniang was stunned: "So what did he tell you?"

"He said he was going to marry me."

"Marry?"

Sun Sanniang was stunned: "Madam Zhengtou?"

Zhao Pan'er let her go, tears still hanging on her cheeks: "Sanniang, you also think I am unworthy, right?"

In Sun Sanniang's opinion, Zhao Pan'er was undoubtedly very outstanding, and it was no exaggeration to say that she was one in a million.

But who is Zhao Wei?
He was a prince, a genius who passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen, a young general famous throughout the world, and a man of both civil and military talents.

In the words of Tokyo locals, His Royal Highness the King of Han is a rare and powerful ruler who appears only once in a thousand years and will surely lead the Song Dynasty to create an unprecedented era of prosperity.

Compared with him, there is indeed some gap between Zhao Pan'er and him.

But, you can't say that.

Sun Sanniang wiped Zhao Pan'er's tears and said, "Of course I don't think so. In my opinion, Pan'er, you are worthy of any man, even His Royal Highness the King of Han. If he really wants to marry you, I believe he will solve the problems you mentioned. I have confidence in him."

"Sanniang, this is also one of the things I am struggling with."

"What do you mean?"

"My identity is destined to be unacceptable. Once he rebels for me, it will inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction among the emperor, the queen, and the court. It will drag him down, and there will be no result between us."

Sun Sanniang was silent.

Because she also absolutely believed that what Zhao Pan'er said was right, the gap between the two of them was really too big.

"Sanniang, you must remind me in the future that I must be sober at all times. I can't let her look down on me, and I can't let myself look down on me."

In the light of candlelight, Zhao Pan'er's face was full of fragility and sadness, but there was a light of strength in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)