"Don't you think it's a little scary for the young master to come back after a trip away from home?" Canglan, the eldest girl of Qingcang Courtyard, asked Cangxi in the same room while checking the silver in the past few months.

"Scary or not, aren't they all to serve?" Cangxi said disapprovingly.

For her, as long as she is a good errand and serves this master well, when she is older, she asks for a grace to restore her free body, and she will be able to survive it.

"Of course it's different. We are first-class girls who serve closely, and now we can't even get close, what else is it called! That day, I saw that the corners of the young master's robe were not properly done, and as soon as I stretched out my hand to prepare for the whole thing, the young master clamped my wrist...... "Cang Lan stretched out her arm from her sleeve.

"Look, it's still green!" Cang Lan said with some annoyance: "Why is his strength so great!" ”

Cangxi glanced at it casually, and saw that there was a circle of cyan marks on Canglan's wrist, her skin was naturally white, and this circle of bruises looked like she had a dark bracelet.

"It's really green, have you pushed it with medicinal oil?" Cangxi took out the medicinal oil from the cabinet. "I'll give you a push."

"No, it's scary to watch, I'm the easiest to hit the blue, and it will disappear in a few days." Cang Lan waved his hand indifferently. "I always feel that the young master seems to have experienced something bad and is so guarded against people. Ay. ”

Cang Xi looked at Cang Lan's arm thoughtfully and put away the medicinal oil.

Not only has the mansion been discussing what the eldest young master has experienced when he went out this time, but because Li Rui saved his uncle thousands of miles away and really rescued people, he has also received great praise in Beijing.

Li Rui's friends from Ziguo Zijian all came to visit him, wanting to see if this "Li family man" had three more heads and six arms after he came back.

If it weren't for the imminent spring season, these students would also be busy, and I was afraid that they would have to pull him out of the city to drink.

However, there is still a student in Guozi Prison who is not only not busy, but also really pulls Li Rui out of Lu to drink.

That is Qi Shao, the head of the Guozijian.

Drunken Tower.

Li Rui didn't order wine, but ordered a pot of tea and drank it with Qi Shao.

"How do you see that your face is full of gloom, I will come back from nine deaths, and you will show me this face?" Li Rui sipped his tea, looked at Qi Shao with a helpless expression, and said angrily.

"You have returned from the calamity, although you are praised by everyone, but you are also the first of the most hated sons of the juniors in the capital, in fact, you should have the same face as me." Qi Shao threw the empty wine glass on the table and played with a chopstick.

"I don't care what other people think, and I don't live for them." Li Rui disagreed.

"What a spirit! If only I had an open-mindedness like you. Qi Shao's hand knocked on the cup, and there was a clear sound of "oh".

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to my family, and I must participate in this year's imperial examination."

Li Rui raised his eyes.

"Although you are the concubine of the Qi family, you can enter the court in the shadow, but the imperial examination can show your ability, why don't you like it?"

"My ambition is not in the career." Qi Shao sighed, "I have watched my father teach and educate people since I was a child, and I have been respected by the clans, nobles and children of the poor family, and I envy this life in my heart. The court and the people, the dispute between the three factions has never stopped, but in Guozijian, although everyone is also divided, after all, they still go in and out together, and they can get along well, just like a pure land. ”

"I hope to be in the shadow of the country in the future, and I don't expect to be able to become a sacrificial wine, even if I am a doctor or a scripture teacher, it is also good. Guozijian is the starting place for students to step into the Great Chu court, if there are more people who are upright and peaceful, the voices of all parties in Great Chu can be much cleaner. ”

"But Your Majesty issued an edict this time, and I had to enter the imperial court."

Li Rui looked at this friend, so he could only silently pour out the tea, pour a glass of wine into the teacup, and drink it with him.

It is difficult for children like them to choose what the future holds for themselves. Qi Shao is indeed talented, and he is very pragmatic, among the clan of Da Chu, in this generation, there are few such capable children.

It is precisely because of his talent that all parties will not let him hide in the prison of the country. If he is willing to hide his clumsiness, he is a person who is not willing to pretend to be stupid.

"In the past ten years, only two imperial examinations have been held, all because the family is reluctant to enter the court in large numbers, and often obstructs them. As a big family, my family should have stood on the side of the family, and in order to balance, the emperor put my father in the position of the son of the country to supervise the wine and teach all the beings, even for the sake of these students, it was necessary to promote the imperial examination. Qi Shao put down his chopsticks, "The head of the Hanlin Academy was originally your father, and later Lu Zhangyuan, who was born in the Wuzhong clan, took over, also because of this matter. ”

"My family has to stand firm among the world, but also not to offend the saints, for so many years, it has been very cramped. My father's push for the imperial examination, while I entered the imperial court, was also a weighed move. My father was diligent in the king's affairs because he was a sacrificial wine and had to perform his duties, and I was a priest in the shadows to show the position of the family. ”

And now, the Holy Edict has upset this balance. I had to be an official in the imperial examination, and I definitely had to set an example. As the eldest son of the country's priest wine, as the country's supervisor, as long as I reach the first, I am afraid that I will be hit by the saint. Qi Shao lay on the table in frustration, "I've been clean for so many years, I'm afraid it will be ruined." ”

Li Rui touched his chin.

"Sounds pathetic. But what are you talking to me for? ”

"I'm saying it so obviously, you can't hear it?" Qi Shao's eyes widened exaggeratedly. "I'm surrendering!"

"You're kidding, what kind of sincerity do you have with me!" Li Rui also turned his eyes sideways and said incredulously.

"Huh? You're thinking too much. Qi Shao glanced at Li Rui a few times and deliberately sneered.

"Master Li, in many years, I will probably surrender to you one day, but for now, I can only treat you as my younger brother. There are not many people in this world who can make me Qi Shao surrender. ”

"Then you have to surrender to Cheng...... "Could it be his uncle?"

Qi Shao lay on the table, and Hang Erlang arched his hand above Li Rui. "If I become an official in the court, I am afraid that he will not be tolerated by the family, and he will not be treated by the lonely ministers. With my character, it is impossible for me to be willing to die of old age in the Hanlin Academy, only by asking your uncle to raise his noble hand and not to make things difficult for me, in this way, I can fight for a way to live. ”

Li Rui was happy in his heart, is this to be on their side?

Unexpectedly, before the joy in his heart passed, Qi Shao said again: "It's just that with my background, it is impossible for me to join the Xungui faction, so I can only be cheeky, rely on friendship with you, and beg Li Guogong to skip me." ”

"It is useless for me to do whatever I want to do, I still have countless children in my family, and if I stand in line, my brothers and sisters, the old and the young in my people, will be affected by this. When I think about my uncertain future, I can't help but sigh all night. ”

"Everyone hates the grass on the wall, and the left and right sources are more like walking on the tip of a knife. I still want to make some achievements, and it's even more difficult. Your Majesty issued an edict and forced me to kill Qi Shaoye! ”

"You said such a big thing, can you stand up and talk about it again? Obviously, he said that he was honest, but he didn't even have a positive color......" Li Rui rolled his eyes, "Say, what do you want me to do!" ”

Qi Shao took out a letter from his arms.

"Well, if I can win the championship, I'll give this to your uncle. It's my letter of surrender. Qi Shao stood up and handed the letter to Li Rui's hand. If I don't win the championship, you can ruin this letter as if it is not there. ”

Li Rui nodded solemnly and put the letter in his arms.

"I, Qi Shao, have been in the Guozijian for seven or eight years, and there are 300 students in the Guozijian, 240 of whom are the children of officials and nobles, and only 60 are the children of poor families recommended from all over the country. I have seen how countless poor students study hard, and they have stayed up for six years to wait for the imperial examination to be held again, and many of these students are talented, but if some are not recommended, even if they are promoted to the rank and the first, they will not get an official position after the selection of the officials......" Qi Shao looked at Li Rui and said, "This is still the Guozijian, the highest institution at the feet of the Son of Heaven." It is even more difficult for students from other colleges and universities in other places to get a half-official position. ”

"The key is not in the imperial examination, but in the official examination. However, the imperial examination exists in name only, and it is just to fool the people of the world. Qi Shao changed his demeanor and sighed:

"I and my friends have sighed countless times about the shortcomings of Da Chu, and they have all made up their minds that if they can take the position in the future, they will work together to change this unfair pattern. However, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, and it may take tens, decades, or even hundreds of years to change......"

"But in any case, His Majesty has the idea of opening a regular department, which is always a blessing for the community and an opportunity for everyone. Although I can't start to change from the Guozijian, I still have the ability to jump into this pool of muddy water and stir it up. It's just that it is unknown whether it will be able to jump out in the future. ”

Qi Shao poured a glass of wine and raised it to Li Rui.

"Most of the noble friends of the clan around me were influenced by me, so I slowly let go of my opinions. You and Li Ming are two brothers with pure nature, outstanding talents, and more sympathetic to the suffering of the people, and will become great in the future. Qi Shao took the first step into this court, hoping that the two of them would follow up as soon as possible and join hands with me, just like in the past when we were in disaster relief, we could walk side by side together. ”

Li Rui raised his wine glass, pondered for a while, and finally nodded.

"I'm not as good as you. My house was walking on thin ice, forcing my brother and I to move forward. It was my grandmother, not my brother, who was able to empathize with the suffering of the people. I don't know how far I can go or how far I can go, but I remember what you said to me today. If there is a day when I can help you, I will help you. ”

Li Rui raised his head and drank it all.

Qi Shao saw that Li Rui simply agreed, and praised in surprise.

"Good! Foolish brother will take the first step and wait for you in front! ”

Li Rui saw that Qi Shao was in a much better mood, and he was sincerely happy for him.

The elders always feel that the dreams and persistence of these young people are all juvenile spirit, just like a stone, after years of tempering, it will always grind off the edges and corners and become a round stone.

But they forgot that no matter how hard they worked, the stone was always a stone, not a brick of clay, and it still remained hard.

As long as the "original heart" of the original beauty remains unchanged, even if the environment changes and the personality changes, everything in this world is still moving towards the good side.

He believes that Qi Shao has the heart to stick to his heart, and he also believes that he has the talent to display his ambitions. Although his future is uncertain and he doesn't know where he can go, he will indeed keep in mind Qi Shao's current ideals, and he is willing to help him realize his original intention when he has the ability in the future.

Li Rui didn't sigh for long, Qi Shao drank two glasses, and then came from sadness, and made a bitter face.

"What's the matter......" Li Rui wailed, "Next time you come to sell bitter gourd, don't call me out!" ”

"Li Rui, let me ask you, how old am I this year?"

"Hey, you should be crowned this year, right?"

"That's what I'm worried about......"

"My mother has shown me the ladies since I was ten years old......" Qi Shao's face wrinkled together. I have always been white, and my family is not a powerful position, there are many choices for the ladies, and the harem under His Majesty is still empty, so my mother has been showing it to me, and I have been watching it, and my father and I have not thought about what road I should take in the future, so I dare not make a marriage. That's how it dragged on until the age of sixteen......"

"I happened to meet Guoxiao."

"Now that I have reached the age of the weak crown, I am about to participate in the imperial examination again, His Majesty has no intention of accepting concubines, several princes are still young, aren't the ladies all staring wide-eyed, wanting to marry a fast son-in-law who rides the dragon? Look at Zhao Dan's like, who is pursued and doesn't dare to go out, but it's a pity that I'm a beautiful material, I don't know who is going to be ruined......"

Li Rui was really speechless. I didn't find him so narcissistic before.

"You...... Are you thinking too much? Marriage events, parents' orders, matchmakers' words, this is human. What's more, my aunt won't pick a lady for you. ”

"My wife Qi has to be as uncommon as me. Looks are secondary. My mother will only look at whether other girls are good-looking and virtuous, and how can she know what I think......"

Qi Shao hugged his head gloomily.

"This time, I'm afraid it's going to be a catastrophe!"

Li Rui blinked his eyes, he really couldn't understand what Qi Shao was worried about.

Let's say that Li Rui came back from the appointment, and with the letter from Qi Shao in his arms, he hurriedly entered the Qingcang Courtyard and put the letter away in the bedroom.

There are also several hidden compartments in the bedroom, as his uncle Li Mao said, there are surprises everywhere in this royal mansion, and he and his younger brother have only been looking for a few days, and they have found several places. And the few hidden compartments in his room were not found by them, but by the fact that he recalled the behavior of his parents back then, and explored them little by little.

He even found a knife, the size of a palm, in the dark compartment at the head of the bed.

At that time, he was holding the knife, and he was sad and happy for a while.

Glad that this knife must be a relic of his mother, he was quite surprised when he saw things and thought about people. This secret grid of sorrow must have been told by the father to the mother, and after the father left, I don't know who and why the mother used this knife to prevent and why.

He called this knife "South Wind", which was taken from "Triumph from the South", and carried it with him.

When he placed the letter, there was a knock at the door, Li Rui walked to the door, opened the door and saw that it was Canglan, one of his big girls.

When he was in Qingcang Courtyard, the inner room was not allowed to enter the girl and the subordinates at will. Since that day's conversation, he has also begun to be wary of the people sent by his uncle's family.

As grandma said, it's not easy to start guarding against everyone, but fortunately, he still has companions such as Qingshuang Qinglei who can be trusted, otherwise he can't even go out at ease, which is really difficult.

"Canglan, what are you looking for me?" Li Rui looked down at this girl.

The older he gets, the more he grows taller, and the more he loses weight. Now Li Rui's face is becoming more and more handsome. In addition, he is quite tall, which often makes Cang Lan and others forget that he is only a fourteen-year-old boy.

Cang Lan blushed slightly, and said in a low voice:

"I went home a few days ago, my uncle is very worried about the young master, you haven't been to your uncle's house since you returned to the capital, and my uncle hopes that you can go to Zhang's mansion."

Her father is an old family member of Zhangfu and came back from Tongzhou together. Her identity had been told to her master on the first day she was assigned to Li Rui's room, and Li Rui also knew about it. Not only that, Cangxi is an orphan who was bought back by Zhang's mansion, and he hasn't been used for many years □□, and the other little guys also have their own identities, and Li Rui also knows about it.

His uncle really cared for him very much.

This is also the reason why he has always trusted his uncle's family and doesn't want his uncle's family to be really wrong.

Cang Lan conveyed this, and Li Rui nodded to her.

"I know the truth, in a few days my uncle will take a break, and I will go to my uncle's house."

Cang Lan blessed her body slightly and retreated.

Li Rui stood in the room, touched the "south wind" on his waist, and sighed.

Jikumo-in.

Since Lu Mo replaced Tana to learn to knit sweaters from Gu Qing, Gu Qing suddenly became much more relaxed.

The child was born thin, but his fingers were very nimble and his memory was excellent. Although he rarely took the initiative to say anything, he was not dull, and he had to answer all questions, and he did not have the Han people's idea that "weaving clothes is what women do", and he studied very hard.

Gu Qing likes him very much, and often teaches him to weave clothes while chatting with him.

"Are you Han Chinese, do you look more like your father, or more like your mother?" Gu Qing asked curiously.

In fact, what she wants to ask is, is your father Han or your mother Han Chinese?

"Like my dad." Lu Mo replied while dividing the left sleeve under Gu Qing's teaching, and then took out a few needles to weave the sleeve. "My father used to be a stealing person for a living, but then he stole something that should not be stolen in a Han place, and was imprisoned, and he had to chop his hands, so he had to escape from the Han place."

Lummer was neither sad nor happy when he talked about this.

"No wonder your fingers are so nimble." Gu Qing looked at Lu Mo's movements. Few beginners are as dexterous as he is.

She didn't ask what it was that shouldn't be stolen, maybe it was someone else's scar, so she didn't want to reveal it.

It should not be easy for a mixed-race child to grow up in a tribe of the Karma people.

Gu Qing's sympathy rose, and he couldn't help but change the topic.

"You have plenty of sheep there, and you can weave this sweater with wool and trade it with the common people. But for the wealthy, it's better to sell cashmere clothes. The higher the price, the better. Otherwise, the Han people will think that the clothes made by the Qi people can only be worn by the common people, and the good things will become cheaper. ”

In later generations, pure wool sweaters were not cheap either, and those were still woven. These are handmade from spinning to production, there are not many people, the output is limited, and this thing is only easy to sell in autumn and winter, spring and summer is the time to collect wool, the cycle is too long, and it is really a waste of things to sell cheaply.

She even helped them think of ways to spread the word.

"When you sell these, you will say that you learned them from our house, and that they are not a secret, because you saved my son, so I passed them on to you." Gu Qing thought about it for a while, and took another object with the seal of the Xinguo Mansion. "Take this back, and if anyone doesn't believe it, show it to them."

"Old lady Xie Luxie." Lu Mo took the small bronze vessel and stroked his chest and saluted Gu Qing.

"In fact, this dress is also woven in a special way, if you really want to weave, cotton thread and silk thread are actually woven. I won't let its weaving spread in the capital, we Han people have many ways to make clothes, and there are more types of fabrics, but you people don't have much production, and you can only rely on manual work to trade. Gu Qing liked these straightforward people very much, and wanted to help them, "You go back to the grassland, if you are really in trouble, you can find a way to send a letter to our house." If I can help, I'll do my best. ”

Lumo could only nod gratefully.

Tana and Lu Mo spent five days in the Xinguo Mansion, where Lu Mo learned the skills of knitting sweaters, and Tana and the girls learned how to spin wool and wool from the Zhuang Tou that Gu Qing had found.

They bought a lot of beautiful buttons, needles and threads in the capital, and these things were difficult to buy in the grassland, so they had to prepare a little more.

The emperor rewarded the Hu people with a lot of gold, silver, and silk. They would exchange silk and gold and silver for cattle and sheep in the places of the Han people, and the Fenzhou Horse Farm Rebellion had been pacified, and the pastures would be redivided in the future, and the people would have a place to graze horses and sheep, and life would only get better and better in the future.

Suluk's tribe was grateful for the generosity of the Han Chinese, and would assist the Han officials in establishing a Hu city in Fenzhou, and their envoys would travel to the grasslands to deliver the news to the Han people, and once the news spread, horses, cattle and sheep could enter the Guannei, and the Hu people could exchange them for the necessary salt and iron tools for their lives.

Hu Shi originally wanted to open the farm tools, but was rejected by Chu Rui. Iron pots and other things are fine, and farm tools can be turned into weapons with a slight transformation. If the Hu people wanted to cultivate, he could allocate land in the Guannei and let them return to Shun Dachu and become the new Chu people.

On the day Tana and Lu Mo left the city, Li Mao, Gu Qing and the three juniors in the family all came out to see each other. Each of them gave so many gifts to these friends of the Prairie that Tana and the others came on horseback to pull the cart back.

Tana and the other girls were already crying, they wiped their tears and kissed Gu Qing's cheeks one by one, causing Gu Qing's eyes to turn red.

Loomer walked out of the group and said goodbye to his benefactors.

He walked up to Li Rui and said to him in a deep voice:

"I haven't won against you, when I return to the grassland, I will continue to practice, and if I have the opportunity to meet next time, I hope to win you."

Li Rui shook his head with a smile, "If you continue to practice, will I not be able to stand still?" Next time you come to the capital, watch me throw you another 300 rounds! ”

Lu Mo couldn't beat him, and his tongue couldn't fight him, so he could only smile, walked up to Li Jun again, and praised:

"You're a big drinker."

Li Jun's biggest strength is that he can drink, and he hurriedly said modestly: "Where, where, it's false!" ”

"But it's useless to just be able to drink, a man has to be able to fight to protect his family. You are such a big man, you can't even punch and kick, you should practice more with Master Li, otherwise you won't find a wife. Loomer earnestly persuaded.

Li Jun's smile froze on his face.

For the first time, he felt how those people felt when he choked on them.

Lu Mo glanced at Li Ming next to Li Jun, and at this moment, the little son of the Li family was looking at him with wide eyes.

It was he who gave him a lot of books, all kinds of books, and gave him a set of four treasures of the study. Lu Mo was very grateful to him, bent down, and said softly, "Thank you." Li Xiaogongzi, we will keep those books well. ”

Li Ming smiled brightly. "Look! The text carries the Tao, and the essence of the Han people is in the book! ”

Loomer nodded, pulling out a broken bowl from the package behind him.

"This is the bowl you Han people gave me, and they asked me to lift it in a crowded place, so that the Han people would give me money and give me something to eat. You Han people are very generous, and I am grateful to you. I was going to keep this bowl as a souvenir, but when I return to the grassland, I don't have to raise any more bowls, and we will start trading with the Han people in exchange for what we need. So this bowl, I gave it to you. Lu Mo reluctantly stuffed the dilapidated porcelain bowl into Li Ming's hand.

"Also, both of your brothers are so tall, you ...... You better drink more milk and eat more. ”

Li Mingmu held the broken bowl blankly, not knowing what to say.

Li Mao looked at his son, and he really had the urge to laugh.

He lived with the Karma people for a while, and he was laughed at by them almost every day. Someone finally got a taste of what he was like!

Schadenfreude or something, don't be too pleasant!

Lu Mo slowly walked in front of Li Mao.

The smile on the corner of Li Mao's mouth froze.

This...... I won't give him any shocking parting words.

Lu Mo pulled a copper coin from his neck and handed it to Li Mao.

Li Mao took the money inexplicably.

The money is engraved with "Zhenyuan Tongbao", which is the coin of Da Chu.

"My father was imprisoned for stealing the money, and he was chased all the way out of the grassland. Master Li, my father is from Qi'an, Fenzhou, he stole many of these coins from a wealthy merchant named Wang Lin in Qi'an County, and they were all searched back, only this one was hidden by my father and brought out of Lingyuan. ”

"I don't know why my father almost died with all this money, or why my father never told me why. But I think it should be a big deal. I'll leave this copper coin to my lords. If you can find the reason, I hope you can tell me the answer the next time we see you. ”

Lu Mo gave Li Mao a heavy salute and turned back to Tana and the others.

Li Mao pinched the copper coin in his hand and cautiously put it into his sleeve pocket.

Suluk and the other Hu people saluted the family of the Xinguo Mansion one by one, and Li Mao and his party said goodbye to them one by one with a smile on their faces.

At the gate of the city, there were many farewell officials and people watching the excitement, and all the people of Dachu watched these visitors on the grassland in this late spring March, and gradually returned to the north.

I think that in the future, the capital will leave a good story about "the world returns to the heart".

The author has something to say: Little Theater:

Hello everyone, I'm Rumer's Bowl.

I won't be playing again from now on, and when I think about it, it's really sad, so I begged the author to show me a face. As a prop, my mission is over, but I believe that there will be thousands of prop brothers who will come out and show their faces.

Woo woo woo, see you again!