Song Lian patted Chen Chao on the shoulder, smiled and said: "Before leaving Beijing, come to my house for a meal."
Chen Chao asked: "My sister-in-law lives at your place now?"
Song Lian shook his head with a grimace, "She said my yard was too big and she was not used to it, so I spent money to renovate her yard, and now I live there too."
Chen Chao nodded and said seriously: "Good man."
Song Lian smiled and scolded: "If you want to make fun of me, just laugh boldly. Anyway, after you finish laughing, I will ask you to practice boxing to see if you can withstand a few of my punches in this miserable state."
Chen Chao raised his eyebrows and said: "So confident? Sir, don't you know that I just killed a person from the other side?"
"Virtue can only be achieved by joining forces with that little girl of yours?" Song Lian narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Whenever you can really kill a monk from the other side by yourself, I will congratulate you."
Chen Chao asked: "Set a table?"
"How can one table be enough?" Song Lian said with a smile: "When the time comes, I will ask all the officials from the Zuowei Yamen to go."
Chen Chao sighed, finally feeling better.
Song Lian then became serious and said: "No matter what His Majesty wants you to do, I still say that the most important thing is to protect your life. If you can't do it, you can't do it. Don't risk your life. If you really die, the guard will come back."
On that day in Shendu, I had no shame to see him."
Chen Chao said: "You are resisting the decree."
Song Lian lowered his voice and said: "Since it is a secret decree, it is not an open one. You can even understand that it is His Majesty's private matter. Since it is a private matter, I ask you for help. If you are able, I will help. If you are not able, then who is to blame?"
?”
Chen Chao looked suspicious, hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, are you really just a martial artist?"
Song Lian smiled strangely, "As an official in the court, do you think you can just deal with some things? This guy who can stand in the capital of God, who is not an old man?"
Chen Chao said sincerely: "From now on, I have to ask the adults for advice on how to be an official."
Song Lian laughed and scolded, "Go away, I still have a lot of official business to deal with. Do you think it's like you, taking the salary from the court and hanging around all day long?"
Speaking of salary, Chen Chao was suddenly startled and asked strangely: "I have never received salary, where is my money?!"
It has been a year since Song Lian took him as Zuowei's deputy commander at first, but in this year, he has never received Zuowei's salary. Originally, he thought
Since he had a casual position, he had never received any salary or anything like that. Now that Song Lian said this, it meant that he had received all his salary before.
Song Lian glanced at him, and suddenly there was a strange light in his eyes, "You were not in the capital before, and all your salary was sent to the academy for you."
You don’t need to finish the words, but the meaning is clear.
Chen Chao looked at Song Lian blankly.
Song Lian smiled and said: "The law of Daliang states that the monthly salary must be paid to the officials in office. If the officials are not in the capital due to official duties, they must be paid to their families. You are a lonely person, who can I give it to?"
Before Chen Chao could speak, Song Lian asked thoughtfully: "Isn't it because I didn't tell you?"
"How is that possible?" Chen Chao looked serious, "I just forgot."
Song Lian snorted, full of ridicule.
…
…
After walking out of the Zuowei Yamen, Chen Chao took the oil-paper umbrella handed over by the two Yamen servants at the door. He thanked the two Yamen servants as usual. The two of them still smiled and sent Chen Chao off. Looking at Chen Chao's back, they naturally said something
discuss.
Before returning to the academy, Chen Chao took the time to visit his house, which Song Lian had arranged for him. He hadn't been back in the past few days, and the courtyard was still spotless. However, on the way, Chen Chao clearly noticed that there were many pairs of eyes looking at him.
Chen Chao frowned slightly. As the white mist continued to circulate in his body these days, he did notice many different places. Now his perception is much more sensitive than before. He can sense the surrounding aura very well.
Sensitively aware, he even felt that as long as the other party was not a great monk in the Forgetful Realm, there would be no way he could come within a few dozen feet of him quietly.
Pushing open the door, although there was no change inside compared to before, Chen Chao knew clearly that people must have been here before, but he didn't have anything, and he kept all the important things on him, so that's not the case.
Nothing important.
After wandering around the house, Chen Chao slowly walked out, but before he left the yard, there was a knock on the door.
Chen Chao frowned slightly, but quickly walked to the door and opened the wooden door.
A face he had seen before now appeared in front of Chen Chao.
Chen Chao knew him as the steward of the Xie family. It was the first time he went to the Xie family before, and it was this man who came to invite him.
Without waiting for Chen Chao to speak, the steward quickly explained his intention, "Commander Chen, Mr. Xie has invited you."
Chen Chao looked at him and did not speak immediately.
It is indeed not difficult for Xie to know some things in Shendu. Chen Chao knew that they must have known about his departure from Shendu, but they suddenly invited him at this time, and it seemed that they had deliberately avoided Xie Nandu, and it seemed that they had not
Give yourself the chance to say no.
Besides, these days, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Mrs. Xie has been of great help to Chen Chao. If Chen Chao refuses, I am afraid that no matter what, he will not be able to justify it.
Looking at the carriage, Chen Chao didn't speak for a long time.
The steward was not in a hurry and just said softly: "The ancestors said that if Commander Chen doesn't want to, he doesn't have to go."
Chen Chao was a little surprised, "Ancestor?"
The steward nodded, the Xie family in the capital of the gods only had one ancestor.
Without waiting for Chen Chao to speak, the steward smiled and said: "When Commander Chen came to Shendu for the first time, what Xie did was also decided by our ancestors."
Chen Chao smiled bitterly and said, "That's true, can I still refuse?"
The manager smiled and said nothing.
I followed the steward into the carriage, and the steward quickly jumped on the carriage and drove away.
Listening to the sound of horse hooves, Chen Chao gradually fell into deep thought.
…
…
I don't know how long it took, but the sound of horse hooves gradually slowed down until the carriage slowly stopped.
Chen Chao got out of the carriage and looked at the two ordinary lanterns hanging on both sides of Xie's middle door. He had some feelings. Some people suddenly become wealthy and want to tell everyone around them that they have changed. But in fact, such people are still the same in essence.
As before, there is no difference. On the contrary, a wealthy family like the Xie family has already been famous for a long time, but they do not deliberately show it. This is the true heritage of the family. Although the Xie family in the capital of the gods only has a history of more than two hundred years,
But if you really think about it, the Bailu Xie family has been based on this land for many years.
After coming back to his senses, Chen Chao followed the steward and entered through the side door. Naturally, he would not expect that Xie would open the middle door and welcome him in. Even though his reputation in the capital was getting bigger and bigger, he wanted to let Xie
Such a behemoth is opening the door. Until you become the guardian of Daliang, it is all delusion. Even if you become the guardian of Daliang one day, you may not have this honor.
Walking into the Xie family, the surrounding eyes suddenly disappeared. Many forces in the capital were paying attention to the Chen Dynasty, but no one could be so unscrupulous within the Xie family.
After just a few steps, Chen Chao felt the gazes of many people hidden in the dark. These should be those of the Xie clan. They were also looking at Chen Chao in the dark. This time, they were even closer.
The feeling of staring at him made him feel a little uncomfortable.
But after walking a few steps, an old voice came from far away, "What's there to see?"
As this voice sounded, all the eyes around him turned away, except for a few scattered ones at the end, which seemed to be unwilling, but in the end they all moved away.
Chen Chao breathed a sigh of relief.
The steward suddenly stopped in front of a long corridor and said with a smile: "Commander Chen, this is at the end of the long corridor. I have a humble status, so I can only send you here."
Chen Chao nodded slowly. He understood some of the rules of these aristocratic families and did not embarrass the steward.
The steward turned and left, leaving Chen Chao facing a long corridor alone.
Looking at an ordinary long corridor, Chen Chao remained silent for a long time without taking a step forward.
I don't know how long it took before Chen Chao took a step forward.
As soon as I stepped out, there was no violent storm as expected, only a tranquility, as clean and ordinary as the sky after the rain.
Chen Chao frowned slightly, but quickly walked forward. After walking through the long corridor safely, he came to an ancestral hall. In front of the ancestral hall, there was an old man sitting with his eyes closed and taking a nap. Next to the ancestral hall,
There was an ordinary wooden house with a tree in front of the house and an old man standing under the tree, looking at Chen Chao.
That is the ancestor of the Xie family.
Chen Chao also looked at him. After just one glance, he felt a little strange. The old man in front of him was not as majestic as he thought. Instead, he was extremely ordinary, just like the farmers who could be seen everywhere in the fields in the countryside.
Smoking a dry cigarette, he looked at the field in front of him with a kind face.
Now we are no longer in the countryside, and there is no so-called land. There is only the Chen Dynasty in front of us.
Chen Chao quickly came to his senses, slightly bowed his hands and said softly: "I have met senior."
The old man did not speak in a hurry, but looked at Chen Chao with a pair of weathered eyes. The ancestor of the Xie family, one of the two giants in the city of God, looked at Chen Chao as if he was looking at the crops in the field to see how they were growing.
How about, see if it can survive the wind, frost, rain and snow, and if it can have a good harvest in the autumn.
I don't know how long it took, but the old man said slowly: "That girl from Nandu seems to have a pretty good eye."
Chen Chao thought about everything the ancestor of the Xie family had to say, but he never thought he would say this.
For a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
However, the next sentence made Chen Chao feel shocked.
"I have rarely seen outsiders in these years. The last one I saw was that boy from Ningping."
The old man paused and then said: "It seems that at that time, that boy was about the same height and age as you."