On July 16 of the first year of Shenwu, the weather has become much cooler, Jiangning is in the south, but you can also see a bit of withering scene, the green willows by the Qinhuai River have lost their leaves, and the dead branches are gradually rotting in the wind.

The chess stall by the river did not come over a few days earlier, and Wang Ning rarely came over, coming here for a few days, occasionally passing by, when the old man was in a daze in the courtyard, he was also outside and yelled a few jokes inside, and then swayed away under the helpless eyes of Qin Lao.

I came back this day, but I didn't have such good luck.

Qin Lao thought that he had heard about what had happened recently, so when he stopped him, he didn't shy away from asking it, and his tone sounded a little joking, presumably he really took it as a sarcastic remark against Wang Ning.

"Old Qin, this is not right." Wang Ning smiled and glanced at the old man unscrupulously, "When a man gets married, a woman gets married, this is a matter of mutual affection, when it comes to your old mouth, why doesn't it sound right?" Your old man has read the books of the sages. ”

Qin Lao nodded noncommittally: "It is true that there are more books than you, and it is precisely because of this that the old man really can't figure out how someone like you who is uneducated and unskilled can still be willing to marry."

Wang Ning said hesitantly: "Eighty percent of the eyes are not good."

The two laughed as they spoke.

"Old Qin seems to have something on his mind today?" Wang Ning asked. The expression on the old man's face was very strange from the beginning, the two were familiar with each other, and the old man's mood and anger were not so obvious on weekdays, although he was smiling modestly at any time, he also looked a little deliberate.

With such a sad face as today, and even his brows were locked, Wang Ning was the first time he had seen it, and it was extremely difficult to see Qin Lao frowning before.

Qin Lao sighed softly, feeling a little surprised that his mood was seen. People of their status have their own majesty in their gestures, and few people usually dare to face him, let alone figure out his thoughts.

At the moment, he was seen by a kid, thinking that probably his qi cultivation skills had declined.

However, he didn't mean to hide it, and said slowly: "Do you think that Jiang Ning made such a big fuss this time, but the reaction of the imperial court was a little slow?" Qin Lao looked over.

Wang Ning thought for a while, nodded and said, "It seems to be a little slow......"

Old Qin bowed: "It's not just slow ......" He breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the sky slightly, "Something happened in the north."

The old man's tone gave people an extremely depressed feeling, and Wang Ning even heard a trace of twilight from it, as if the sunset was about to end.

"The Daimyo's Mansion is fighting with Beirong, and it is a matter of Jiangning's side, and no matter how chaotic it is, it can't reach the 100,000 people over there...... If it is not handled properly, the consequences are unimaginable, and now in autumn, the water and grass in the north are withering, and the Rong people have intended to go south, if they make excuses, they will cause trouble. ”

"Jiangning is located in the south, and the power of the Shi clan is deep-rooted, and chaos cannot arise."

Wang Ning listened gradually, and could probably still understand that just such a difference was not enough to make the old man in front of him, who had been in the officialdom for a long time and had seen the vicissitudes of the world, sad to this point.

Qin Lao paused for a moment, and then said: "Duke Du has been sick since the autumn, and he mentioned it in the private letter to me, thinking it is a bit serious......

Wang Ning suddenly came over when he heard this, knowing that something had happened to Du Gong in the court, which could be described as a bolt from the blue for Qin Lao's gang of people who were trying to reform, but it was not easy to break it, so he turned around and said: "Du Gong's body is tough, Qin Lao doesn't have to worry."

Qin Lao smiled at Wang Ning, ignoring his innocuous "relief", and said: "The old man believes in him, but he has to plan for the worst in everything.

The old man said worriedly, with a trace of tiredness in his eyes, a person like him would not have shown these emotions in front of an outsider like him, but presumably the old man really regarded him as a close person, and what he had done recently was probably to change him in a subtle state.

The old man did waste some thoughts because of him.

It's just that he's going to be that uninteresting bastard kid to the end.

As a beneficiary of the new law, he actually doesn't see it very clearly. The Duke Du in the court, the old Qin in front of him, the things they are doing, the original intention is indeed good, and some rules and regulations are also very good, but it is still difficult to implement it.

For the people at the bottom, they complained about the weakness of the court in the year of the catastrophe, but in the era of peace, there were also some good things to do.

Qin Lao's so-called effectiveness is actually only that most places have begun to adopt coercive measures to implement the new law, and from the level of the people, there is actually no effect. In the south, on the contrary, small outrages have already occurred.

These Qin Lao and the others naturally knew it, but under this general trend, it was difficult to attract attention.

In other words, they hold a kind of "small for big" philosophy, and they also use coercive measures against some of them, because many people are imprisoned under the new law.

Those in Jiangning Prison, after Huang Xiao's death, have not been released yet.

Wang Ning thought that being an official was really tiring, so he didn't think about it anymore.

Instead, he said, "My manor outside the city is almost outlined, do you want to go over and stay for a few days?"

Qin Lao smiled: "I won't go."

Wang Ning was a little disappointed: "I still want people to see the backers behind me."

Qin Lao scolded with a smile: "Compared to this, how are you preparing for your marriage?"

Wang Ning looked at Old Qin and said for a while: "Didn't the old man want to give some advice?"

Qin Lao smiled and shook his head helplessly: "But he is an indecent boy."

"Ha, it's obviously the old man, you want to do it."

Qin Lao didn't dwell on it any longer, he probably saw Wang Ning's cheekiness, and knew that if he continued to talk about it, he would definitely suffer a loss, so he decisively didn't say anything more.

But he also reminded: "You don't have an elder in your family, getting married is a big deal, and you can't be sloppy...... If you don't understand, come here and talk to your aunt, in terms of etiquette, you can't be sorry for the woman. ”

Wang Ning was stunned for a moment, didn't hide it, and said with a smile: "I won't know, it's because many things are actually still pressing......"

Qin Lao glanced at him helplessly: "Go in, the old man still needs to prune here, don't bother."

Wang Ning nodded and turned around.

Qin Lao waved the scissors a few times, stopped, and glanced back.

Smiled wryly.