Zhou Gu thought that his grandfather sent Cui Xingzhi to Nanchu to help him at the most critical moment when Su Rong's seizure of power, when the civil strife in Southern Chu was the most unfavorable to them, was gambling to give him this grandson and gamble on a way for the Cui family.

Now that he has won the bet, will he only let his two little cousins gain a foothold in Nanchu? Is it really not coming?

I can't tell.

So, Zhou Gu pondered, wrote a letter, and early the next morning, he specially sent someone to send it to Qinghe Cui Shi to Cui Gong in an urgent manner.

Cui Xingzhi and Ning Ze didn't dare to delay along the way, day and night, although Cui Xingzhi was also tired, but he could still hold on, Ning Ze couldn't stand it, he was not as good as Cui Xingzhi's foundation, he had excellent martial arts, his three-legged cat's kung fu, he couldn't look down on himself, and now he was on the road day and night, and when he was about to arrive at the royal capital, the whole person was about to be abolished.

Cui Xingzhi saw that there were still 100 miles, and he felt that it was okay to take a rest, otherwise even if they went back a day earlier, they would be tired and couldn't afford to get out of bed, so it was better to rest overnight on the road.

So, he said to Ning Ze: "Brother Ning Ze, let's find an inn to stay in today!" Have a good night's rest and set off early tomorrow morning. ”

Ning Zebai had a miserable face and said weakly: "I can still go." ”

"Forget it, just rest for the night." Cui Xingzhi turned over and dismounted, "We have arrived three days earlier than expected, do you want us to fall down after returning to the royal capital?" ”

Ning Ze didn't want to either, and got off the horse weakly, "Okay, listen to you." ”

The two stayed at the inn.

The inn is very lively, there are several tables of people sitting in the lobby, talking about the regent of the eunuch country, and dealing with a few tricky things in a row, the young man who ran the hall saw that there were guests again, and hurriedly welcomed people in, asked about accommodation, and quickly arranged two guest rooms.

Cui Xingzhi stretched out his hand to help Ning Ze, who was in prostration, went up the stairs, and told the young man to send hot water for bathing, and then bring the food to the room, so they didn't go down to eat.

The young man agreed again and again, and went neatly.

The rooms in the inn are not soundproofed, and the chatter downstairs faintly comes in.

Ning Ze sat weakly on the table and drank tea, "Brother Xingzhi, don't you dislike me?" Asked for two rooms? For the two of us, one room is enough, it's too wasteful. ”

Cui Xingzhi shook his head, "Brother Ning is too worried, I have been in a hurry for so long, I want you to have a good rest, a big bed for one person, and sleep open, after all, it is not bad for these two taels of silver." ”

Ning Ze said "oh", "I almost forgot, you are the son of the Qinghe Cui clan, it is said that your clan is very particular about cultivating children and grandchildren since childhood, talking about a piano is to burn incense and bathe, appreciate the moon, but also to bathe in incense, hey......", he sighed, "I used to be exquisite, although not so delicate or even harsh, but it is also to drink morning dew, evening dinner and evening breeze, now give me a haystack, I can sleep for one night." ”

Cui Xingzhi smiled.

The young man quickly brought a bath bucket and a bucket of water in one room.

Cui Xingzhi went back to his room to take a bath, remembered what Ning Ze said, smiled again, then put away his smile and sighed, he was a little homesick, I don't know if my grandfather received his letter, my cousin got married, I don't know if my grandfather sent someone to watch the ceremony.

After bathing, the young man delivered the meal to Ning Ze's room, and Cui Xingzhi ate with him in his room.

After Ning Ze finished bathing, he regained some strength, and listened to the sound of discussion downstairs, as if he was mentioning spring planting, saying that the people are now worried about the seeds ploughed this spring, and I don't know if the court will have a way, so I can't watch the people have no seeds to plant and starve to death, right?

Ning Ze was puzzled, "Do the people lack seeds?" ”

"Lacking, there was a month, there were two large quantities of military salaries sent to the front line, Brother Qin Ruo said that it was the seeds raised, and he borrowed them from the people of many counties and counties, because there was no reserve of food, there was no way."

Ning Ze was also a little worried when he heard this, "A month's worth of soldiers and horses is a lot." ”

Cui Xingzhi nodded, "Spring planting and farming are also within the scope of the responsibility of the household department, and my cousin must be very worried when he goes to the household department." ”

Ning Ze immediately sped up the speed of eating, "Let's hurry up and eat, rest quickly after eating, and go back early tomorrow morning, so that Hou'er can get up and go to the household department normally." ”

He knew that when he and Cui Xingzhi came back, they wanted to help Zhou Gu in the household department first, and first take care of a lot of things in the household department, and then whether to stay in the household department or go to another department.

Cui Xingzhi nodded.

The two had a good night's sleep, early the next morning, Ning Ze had recovered a little bit of spirit, the two of them rode all the way, the road did not stop, at ten o'clock in the afternoon, they had come to the capital of the king of Southern Chu.

Ning Ze looked at the city wall of the Southern Chu royal capital and almost cried, "We are finally here, and this will be our home in the future." Who would have thought before, I would come to Nanchu to be an official. ”

Cui Xingzhi never thought about it before, although he left the family, but it is not without relatives here, there is a cousin, and a little cousin, although he came to Nanchu because his grandfather asked him for his opinion, but it was also a decision he made himself, and he has not regretted it so far.

In the future, he took root here, and the four words of Qinghe Cui were rooted into this land.

After entering the royal capital, Ning Ze asked, "We seem to have a house given by the king?" ”

"Yes. There is Ningfu and Cui Mansion, it seems to be in Xicheng. Cui Xingzhi received a letter from his little cousin, saying that the mansions of the two of them were adjacent to each other, which was very good, and he had moved in it, and let people help him repair and change it according to his previous house.

Since ancient times, the mansions and courtyards where the royal capital is located have the saying that the east is rich and the west is rich and the south is poor and the north is cheap, and Xicheng is a noble land, and the mansions of officials above the fifth grade are all in Xicheng. Dongcheng is home to a small number of mansions of officials below the fifth rank, and most of them are rich and armored.

"Let's go, let's go back to the house first, and then go to the household department to make a fuss?" Ning Ze felt that he was not tired, so he could go to the household department in the afternoon, show up, meet Zhou Gu, and explore the situation.

"Okay." Cui Xingzhi is even less tired.

The two agreed and went back to their homes first. Sure enough, the two houses are not far away, separated by half a street.

After the two entered the house, they bathed and changed their clothes, and simply used some meals in various places, and according to the agreed time, they went out of the house, met on the street, and went to the household department together.

At this time, the officials of the household department were busy with their feet not touching the ground. Some people didn't lift their heads when they got into the files, some people walked hurriedly with a big stack of files, Zhou Gu'er didn't get into the files, but was dispatching people to deal with things.

After the two arrived, they saw such a situation in the household, there was really no idler, even the gatekeeper, who was doing things. Seeing that the two of them were coming, he took the time to ask for their identities, so he hurriedly put down the matter at hand and brought the two to Zhou Gu.

Ning Ze whispered: "Brother Xing, is it not the right time for us to come." ”

Cui Xingzhi replied to him in a low voice, "Not necessarily, I'm afraid that Ming'er will come, and it will be the same." ”