When Zhao Hongrun and the Zongwei left the headquarters of the Ministry of Punishment, they unexpectedly saw Wen Qi and Zongwei Zhou Pu beside the stone lions outside the palace gate.
Seeing His Highness, Zhou Pu cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Just now, I saw He Mei, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and the old man's face was not very good-looking. Your Highness, have you offended him again?"
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun was so depressed that he almost vomited blood, and retorted angrily: "Do you think this king will offend whomever he sees?"
However, after saying this, he felt a little guilty. After all, He Mei, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was indeed angered by his straightforward question.
So he immediately changed the subject: "Ahem, why are you two here?"
While speaking, he glanced at Wen Qi.
Not to mention that Wei Jiao and others behind Zhao Hongrun were all snickering. Just by his Highness's deliberate change of topic, Zhou Pu could guess that He Mei, the Minister of Civil Service, left angrily just now, which must have something to do with His Highness.
However, he did not dig deeper. After all, he, Zhou Pu, was not a death-seeker like Mu Qing or Lu Mu who "didn't know how to advance or retreat". He insisted on His Highness resorting to such cruel killing moves as "transferring to the Youma Army to pick up horse dung".
, only then are they willing to wake up.
"Then you have to ask Mr. Wen..." Zhou Pu pursed his lips toward Wen Qi and smiled maliciously: "Mr. Wen is finally willing to serve His Highness today, and can't wait to ask me to take him to find His Highness. No, I
The two of them ran to the Smelting Bureau and Dali Temple, and finally learned that His Highness was at the Ministry of Punishment headquarters... He came in a hurry and did not bring the palace token with him, so he was stopped by the military guard, so he simply waited here.
Your Highness."
"Oh?" Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wen Qi with some surprise, feeling a little surprised.
You must know that Wen Qi has been temporarily living in Prince Su's Mansion since he rescued him from Dali Temple two days ago. During this period, Zhao Hongrun also recruited Wen Qi many times, but Wen Qi had a stubborn temper and refused to serve as Zhao Hongrun.
As a staff member, perhaps he still had some grudges in his heart - after all, Wenqi always felt that meeting a certain Prince Su was the unfortunate beginning of his descent to this point.
And because he valued Wen Qi's talent, Zhao Hongrun didn't want to use the debt to force him, so he decided to provide delicious food and drinks in the house. Anyway, in his opinion, as long as Wen Qi didn't leave, sooner or later he would relent.
, after all, eating people has a short mouth.
However, Zhao Hongrun was a little surprised that Mr. Wen "came to his senses" so quickly.
Maybe it was Zhao Hongrun's gaze that was a little burning, or maybe he was feeling guilty for some other reason. Wen Qi's expression didn't look very good, and he raised his neck and corrected: "Wen has not agreed to serve as His Highness's staff, but...
…I just want to find a job with His Highness…”
"Is there any difference?"
Zhao Hongrun looked at Wen Qi in confusion.
Seeing his expression, Wen Qi may have guessed something, and explained: "Serving as His Highness's staff means that Wen regards His Highness as his loyal lord, and from then on, the master and the servant share the good fortune...and Wen
What I mean is that Your Highness please allow Wen to be your retainer for the time being."
"Oh." Zhao Hongrun suddenly realized after hearing this.
Indeed, compared to the close confidants of the staff, the retainers have relatively more freedom. To put it bluntly, if they like the retainers, they can continue to live there and make suggestions for the master's family. If they don't like the retainers, they can leave and find another place.
It's easy to get together and part ways, and there's no such thing as betrayal.
The staff is different. Once they serve as a staff, they must do their best for the master. Unless the object of allegiance betrays them, they will never leave. It was for this reason that Luo Yao always refused to abandon the East Palace Prince Hongli and defect to Zhao Hong.
Run, because Hongli, the crown prince of the East Palace, was Luo Yao's chosen assistant. Even if he couldn't get on the wall, Luo Yao's self-esteem also prompted him to go through this period and the path he chose, regardless of whether he had any complaints in his heart.
.
This is the stubbornness of contemporary scholars - they would rather break their heads and bleed, but also move forward straight on the path they have chosen.
"Businessmen..."
Zhao Hongrun pondered for a while, then smiled and said: "Just be a customer."
He didn't care. Thinking about it, since Wen Qi was willing to become a retainer, was he still far away from being a staff member?
But at this moment, Wen Qi's words surprised Zhao Hongrun.
"Since His Highness agreed, let's talk about remuneration first."
"Salary?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wen Qi in surprise. In his opinion, Wen Qi didn't look like a money-grubbing person. Why did he ask about his salary when he came up?
He glanced at Zhou Pu doubtfully and found that Zhou Pu's smile was a little weird, so he knew that there must be something inside that he didn't know.
"Okay, what kind of salary does Mr. Wen want?" Zhao Hongrun asked with a smile.
Wen Qi thought for a while and said seriously: "Don't worry, Your Highness Prince Su, Wen has already inquired about the wages of the Smelting Bureau and will not ask for excessive prices... Just follow the monthly salary of an ordinary craftsman, which is two hundred taels of silver a month.
how?"
To be honest, this price is not high or low: if you say it is high, this price is equivalent to the salary of the "chief executive level" among the six departments of the imperial court; if you say it is low, the official craftsman of the Smelting Bureau is now this
wages, and even various allowances in addition to that.
In general, exchanging a monthly salary of two hundred taels of silver for the advice of a think tank like Wenqi is a sure-fire deal.
"Okay...are there any other conditions?" Zhao Hongrun asked.
At this time, a look of embarrassment flashed across Wen Qi's face, and his tone was slightly guilty: "Besides, His Highness has to take care of my food and accommodation... My requirements are not high, I just hope that every day
Can there be two jugs of wine... no, one jug of wine..."
"...??"
Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth and became more and more confused as he listened.
He originally thought Wen Qi would make some other request, but he didn't expect it to be such a trivial matter.
"Zhou Pu, didn't I ask you to treat Mr. Wen well?"
After hearing this, the strange smile on Zhou Pu's face became even thicker. He waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, I am here to serve Mr. Wen with good wine and delicious food every day according to your instructions. If you don't believe me, why don't you ask Mr. Wen?"
Zhao Hongrun then turned to look at Wen Qi, and saw that Wen Qi said with an unnatural expression: "Uh, yes, Your Highness, Zhou Zongwei's stay with me is impeccable. It's just that I have been living and eating in Prince Su's Mansion for the past few days, and I feel uneasy, so...
…Uh… Anyway, it’s better to make it clear.”
"..." Looking at Zhou Pu and then at Wen Qi, Zhao Hongrun instinctively felt that there must be some hidden secret that he didn't know.
But he didn't delve into it. Anyway, as long as Wenqi was willing to give him advice.
"Okay, I agree."
Reaching out and patting Wen Qi's shoulder, Zhao Hongrun said with a smile: "Let's go back to the mansion first to celebrate Mr. Wen, the new guest of our palace."
Since it was a celebration, there must be wine. Seeing this, all the sect guards agreed.
When Wen Qi saw Zhao Hongrun treating him with such courtesy, he was also happy.
This happiness only lasted until he followed Zhao Hongrun back to Prince Su's Mansion and met the chief steward of Prince Su's Mansion again.
At that time, even Zhao Hongrun was a little dumbfounded, because he had just wanted to ask the chief steward Lu'er, who was in charge of all the chores in the house, to ask the chef to prepare a table of good food and wine to celebrate Wenqi becoming a guest in his house, but he didn't want to
, Lu'er jumped up as soon as he saw Wen Qi, pointed at the latter's nose and cursed: "What? You want to celebrate this guy?... This guy has been eating and drinking in the house for a few days, and today he broke it.
A precious piece of Dingtao Song porcelain. If Zhou Zongwei hadn't stopped me, my aunt...cough, Lu'er, I would have asked someone to take you to the front yard to do hard labor..."
After saying that, before Zhao Hongrun could react, Lu'er rushed to Wen Qi in a few steps, grabbed the latter's shirt, and cursed: "You bastard, if my aunt says a few words to you today, you can ask His Highness to do it for you."
support?"
"I'm...I'm not..." It was probably the first time that a woman grabbed the skirt of his clothes. Wen Qi was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly, and his face turned a little pale.
"No? Then why did His Highness prepare a banquet for you when he came back? And he said he wasn't going to support you?!... You despicable and shameless villain! Humph, you said a lot of bad things about my aunt in front of Your Highness today, right?"
"No, no, absolutely not." Wen Qi tried his best to hide behind Zhao Hongrun, but was unfortunately grabbed by Lu'er, so he said with an earthy face: "How dare you slander Miss Lu'er behind your back..."
"Who is your girl Lu'er?!... My aunt is the chief steward of the house!" After scolding, Lu'er snorted coldly and relaxed her hands, walked up to Zhao Hongrun and said: "Your Highness, you can't be deceived by this.
The drunk boy was deceived. I have seen this kind of people a lot in the past. They don’t have enough to eat and can’t do anything. The money earned by the young lady’s hard work is used to maintain the livelihood of our palace. How can I be deceived by such a person?
Where did the guy who cheated me out of food and drinks spent his money?"
"Uh...oh..."
Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth and looked at Lu'er and Wen Qi with some amazement. He was amused to find that the proud Wen Qi looked like a weak chicken in front of Lu'er, as if he was being targeted by an eagle.
What's even more funny is that looking at Wen Qi's submissive look in front of Lu'er, it's completely impossible to tell that Mr. Wen is two heads taller than Lu'er.
Glancing at Zhou Pu who was snickering beside him, Zhao Hongrun immediately guessed the reason why Wen Qi suddenly changed his mind today.
"This is really..."
Shaking his head secretly, Zhao Hongrun coughed and interrupted Lu'er's words, and said in a deep voice: "Lu'er, please don't be rude. Mr. Wen has real talent and knowledge. Besides, I have invited him as a guest..." As he said this,
, he told Lu'er exactly what Wen Qi asked for.
He now understands why Wen Qi must clearly explain the root cause of the treatment problem.
"Businessman? Just him?"
Lu'er glanced at Wen Qi with disdain.
At this time, Wen Qi wanted to hold his head high and show that he was no longer the freeloader, but when he saw Lu'er glaring at him, his momentum immediately weakened.
It's no wonder, after all, he was scolded by Lu'er this morning. He was speechless, ashamed and angry, and he didn't have any confidence.
In the end, because of Zhao Hongrun's forced request, Lu'er left angrily, probably ordering the chef to prepare the dishes.
Seeing her leave, Wen Qi showed an expression of relief.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun smiled and comforted Wen Qi and said: "Mr. Wen, don't be offended. Lu'er is my wife's maid. She grew up in the market, so it is inevitable that she has some influence. I remember that I was also attracted by him."
She has been scolded... However, this girl has a hard mouth but a soft heart. She seems to have a vicious mouth, but she actually has a good heart. Mr. Wen will understand in the future."
"Heh, heh..." Wenqi forced a smile twice, and the four words "I don't believe it" seemed to be clearly written on his face that seemed to be twitching faintly.
That night, Zhao Hongrun introduced several female family members in the mansion to Wen Qi one by one.
After that, under Lu'er's constant ridicule and criticism, he spent his banquet as a guest of Prince Su's Mansion on pins and needles.