That night, Zhao Gao and Gao Mu and others left after dinner in Loei Mansion, Zhao Gao said to Li Jiang when he left: "Lao Meng asked me to do something, I have already finished explaining, but I still have a sentence to say to you, in terms of power and status, I am not as good as Lao Meng, but Lao Meng is in the court, many times will be involuntarily, if you have any difficulties one day, I hope that the first person you think of will be me." ”

Looking at Zhao Gao's profound eyes and his firm gaze, Li Jiang smiled and said: "Ah Gao, thank you, we don't fight for fame and fortune, we don't rely on the powerful, we just want to live this life carefully." ”

"Jiang'er, remember my words, no matter when and where, I, Zhao Gao, will definitely do everything to protect you." Zhao Gao looked at Li Jiang and said with a look that Li Jiang had never seen before, as if he was swearing with his life.

"Jiang Er remembered." Li Jiang knew that Zhao Gao was for his own good, and he also knew that Zhao Gao was a good person, and he knew that Zhao Gao was a gentleman who did what he said.

"I'm leaving." Zhao Gao looked at Li Jiang and smiled, and suddenly returned to his usual appearance.

"Be careful on the road." Li Jiang saw that Zhao Gao suddenly became a hanger again, but he didn't care, just said softly.

"Don't worry, go back, I'll watch you enter the house." Zhao Gao's tone was infinitely gentle, and he said to Li Jiang.

"Okay." Li Jiang didn't say much, turned around and walked into the gate of the Li Mansion, then glanced at Zhao Gao, and then slowly closed the door.

Zhao Gao stood at the gate of the Loei Mansion like this, watching Li Jiang slowly close the door, and the next moment Li Jiang closed the door, the smile on Zhao Gao's face gradually faded, and after looking at the gate of the Loei Mansion for a while, Zhao Gao turned around and left.

Zhao Gao came to the horses, and the horseman respectfully saluted Zhao Gao: "Son, the old lady is waiting for the son in the house." ”

"Got it, let's go home." Zhao Gao listened to the groom's words, frowned and said, then climbed into the carriage and slowly returned home.

Zhao Mansion.

"You're back?" As soon as Zhao Gao returned home, he saw the old lady sitting on the main seat of the lobby waiting for him, and when he saw Zhao Gao walk in, he said, "Where have you been?" Why don't you eat in the house? ”

Zhao Gao obviously didn't want to answer his mother's question, so he just sat down on the side and said lightly: "Mother, what's the matter with me today?" ”

The old lady was a little annoyed when she saw that Zhao Gao didn't answer her question and asked herself, and the old lady looked at Zhao Gao and said, "What did you say, does the mother need anything to see her son?" ”

"If the mother doesn't want to say it, the son will retreat first." Zhao Gao saw that his mother did not answer the positive question, so he knew in his heart, and then stood up and prepared to leave as he spoke.

"Stop me." Seeing Zhao Gao say this, the old lady stood up and prepared to leave, slapped the table, and yelled angrily.

Sure enough, Zhao Gao heard his mother's angry roar, stopped, and just looked at his mother quietly, and the old lady also stared at Zhao Gao with her eyes open, the two looked at each other, and after being silent for a while, the old lady suddenly sighed, and then said to Zhao Gao: "You sit down, I have something to tell you." ”

Zhao Gao didn't contradict his mother much, sat down slowly, and then didn't look at his mother, but asked lightly, "Mother, what's the matter?" ”

"Tomorrow, I will attend the banquet at the invitation of Prime Minister Li Si, and there will be a lot of high-ranking officials and nobles present, so you can dress decently tomorrow and go with me." The old lady looked down at Zhao Gao, who was looking down at the fan in her hand, and said slowly.

"Lees? When did my mother get involved with Leese? Zhao Gao heard that the person on the mother's tower this time was Li Si, so he looked up at the old lady and asked.

"You don't care about this, you can go with me tomorrow." The old lady didn't answer Zhao Gao's words, but continued with her own words: "When the time comes, you will be more clever, and you may be able to get the appreciation of the prime minister and get an official position." ”

"I'm not going." Zhao Gao directly rejected the old lady, and then said: "Mother, Li Si is not a good person when he sees it, the methods of forming a party for personal gain, and eradicating dissidents are appalling, don't have more to do with her in such a life, otherwise we will be ruined in the future, and we don't know how we are in different places." ”

"Presumptuous, rebel, how dare you say such a thing, don't you want to live?" The old lady listened to Zhao Gao's words, pointed at the whole person angrily and said: "If these words are heard by others and reach the ears of the prime minister, our whole house will suffer." ”

"Since my mother knows that Li Si is a villain, why do you want to cling to him, aren't we living in a white cloth now? Why did my mother cling to the powerful? Zhao Gao said, there was also some unhappiness in his heart, Zhao Gao felt that he had seen his mother since he could remember, and he flattered the high-ranking officials and nobles, so he only thought about clinging to the powerful, and never considered his feelings, Zhao Gao felt that he didn't understand, is it so important to have rights and status? Why can it be compared to the family affection connected by blood.

"Shut up." The old lady trembled angrily when she saw Zhao Gao refute herself, and the old lady pointed at Zhao Gao and said: "The prime minister's invitation must be for you to go, if you don't go, won't it hurt our Zhao family to offend the prime minister, if there is any trouble at that time, how can your conscience go, not to mention, if you get the prime minister's appreciation and seek an official and a half position, then you will not re-glorify my Zhao lintel and revitalize my Zhao foundation." ”

"If you want to be embarrassed to glorify my Zhao family's lintel and revive my Zhao family's foundation, I would rather be poor for the rest of my life." Zhao Gao listened to the old lady's words and said with an unscrupulous expression.

"How can you say such a thing, my Zhao family has been an official for three generations, and it was only early in our generation that your father died early, which led to the decline of our Zhao family, how can you be so ambitious, how can you be right about the ancestors of the Zhao family, how can you be right about your father's expectations for you." The old lady listened to Zhao Gao's words, stood up angrily and threw the tea set on her table, pointing at Zhao Gao and roaring.

"The glorious lintel does not necessarily need to be attached to the powerful, over the years, the business I have operated, the silver taels I have earned, are not the richest people in Xianyang City, but they are also one of the best, and they are ranked on the top every time, why is my mother still not satisfied? Is it rare that the court is so important? Isn't it good for us to live an ordinary life? Why do you want to get involved in the deceitful place? Zhao Gao also stood up, Zhao Gao didn't understand why his mother was bent on stepping into the court, although he said that the Zhao family had been officials for three generations, but it has always been a generation that is not as good as a generation, and now, although he is a common person, but after his own hard work over the years, his life is several times better than when his father was still alive, but Zhao Gao doesn't understand, why his mother is not satisfied, and only thinks about power.

"What if you have money?" The old lady listened to Zhao Gao's words, and still said very angrily: "The people don't fight with the officials, the poor don't fight with the rich, what if you have money?" As long as the powerful people say a word, they will not end up with nothing. ”

"Mother......" Zhao Gao saw that his mother had gotten into the tip of the horns and couldn't get out, since he had nothing to say for a while, because Zhao Gao understood that no matter what he said, his mother would not listen, from childhood to adulthood, for this issue, his mother and himself quarreled countless times, so over time, he and his mother became estranged, Zhao Gao still remembered that his mother was not like this when his father passed away, his mother was very gentle at that time, Zhao Gao still remembers the warm hands, combing his hair and tidying up his clothes, will also call herself gently, but I don't know when my mother has changed, she is no longer gentle, and she only wants to flatter and cling to the powerful.

The old lady was very angry and pointed at Zhao Gao and roared, but seeing that Zhao Gao suddenly quieted down, looking at the complicated expression on her son's face, the old lady was also complicated in her heart, the old lady looked at Zhao Gao who was standing aside for a while, and then turned around and said: "If you don't go tomorrow, just wait to collect the body for me......" After speaking, the old lady left slowly.

Zhao Gao listened to the old lady's words, his body shook, even though he had quarreled before, but his mother had never said such a thing, Zhao Gao looked at his mother who was slowly leaving, his back was no longer as straight as when he was a child, and his back had begun to bend slowly for a year.

Knowing that the old lady left, Zhao Gao sat down slowly, expressionless, but from his eyes, he could see Zhao Gao's pain and struggle, his mother had always hoped that he would cling to the powerful, seek an official position, and shine on the lintel of the Zhao family from the new, but he was indeed bent on living a dull life, Zhao Gao didn't know if what his mother said when she left was true, things had developed to the way they were now, and he had to go, thinking that if he went to Li Si's appointment tomorrow, he would have a lot of trouble when he thought about it, thinking about this, Zhao Gao felt that he had a headache for a while, and suddenly wanted to see Jiang Er, Zhao Gao felt that he and Jiang Er were together, and there was a kind of relaxation that he had never felt before.

On the second day, at the gate of Zhao's mansion.

Zhao Gao was still dressed in white, holding a fan, and slowly walked out of the house, but his face was not the usual smile, Zhao Gao looked at his mother standing in the carriage, stepped forward and saluted: "Mother." ”

"Get in the car, don't be late." After the old lady finished speaking, she was helped by the maidservant girl to get into the carriage.

Zhao Gao watched his mother get into the carriage, Zhao Gao was in front of the carriage for a while, or got into the carriage together, Zhao Gao did a good job in the carriage, and the groom outside the carriage drove the carriage slowly, walking towards the prime minister's mansion, and Zhao Gao and his mother sat in the carriage, no one spoke, the carriage was quiet, Zhao Gao sat in the carriage, listening to the people coming and going on the street, noisy and noisy, but for some reason Zhao Gao felt extremely deserted, and he seemed to be isolated from them at this moment.