Lin Bojian poured wine into a bowl, and Bai Zikui put fried vegetables and steamed duck on a small plate.
"Qian Cheng doesn't want to drink? Then eat more food!"
"Oh, thank you..."
"...Qian Cheng, tell me what's going on."
Xu Gongchun, who was drinking before eating the food, took the bowl and leaned out.
"I heard that the queen was originally a palace concubine. The emperor fell in love with her at first sight and married her and became the queen..."
"……Seems to be."
"It's amazing! I heard that the emperor loves her very much."
Bai Zikui narrowed his eyes, and Lin Bojian drank the wine in the bowl without hesitation and nodded.
"...Yes! I heard that the emperor said that the queen only had one wife, so he abolished the harem."
"Abolish the harem? Does abolition mean there is no harem?"
"That's right! All the beauties in the harem have left, not a single one is left."
"No way... As a man, how could it be possible..."
I really don’t understand what those big shots are thinking...Xu Gongchun muttered and rubbed his head.
"This shows that the emperor loves the queen deeply!"
"Even so……"
"Maybe he's a little too weak, which means he can only control one woman."
Even though he was an emperor, Shui Qiancheng felt furious when he heard the topic about him.
Although he wanted to talk about his sister, everyone would mention his annoying brother-in-law every time, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
While others were discussing Lu Fusu, Shui Qiancheng stuffed duck meat, rice dumplings and braised lotus root into his mouth.
"... Qian Cheng, your sister has flown onto a branch and turned into a phoenix. It's so wonderful."
Hearing Bai Zikui's leisurely tone, Xu Gongchun, who was lying on the table, immediately raised his head.
"That's right! You don't need to go to a private school. No, you don't need to take the examination at all. You can directly become an official like the lord."
"Uh, this..."
...Impossible! Shui Qiancheng wanted to answer this, but there was too much food in his mouth, so he had to shake his head desperately.
"Aren't you an uncle? You can be any official you want..."
"But I still have to study!"
"That's right. However, Qian Cheng and his family are all good at reading and writing. As long as they start studying now, they will definitely become excellent officials. If you want to get ahead, you still need to rely on your family background! The empress and Qian Cheng are the same."
"Family background?"
Before Shui Qiancheng could swallow the duck meat, Bai Zikui told him everything about the Shui family being descendants of the Prince of Xia.
At this time, Shui Qiancheng remembered that Bai Zikui loved to stir up trouble.
"This... Qian Cheng, I didn't expect you to be so powerful."
"This is the first time I have heard of it. Although we are both from Liuzhou, we live in different places. I have no idea."
Xu Gongchun and Lin Bojian were both good drinkers, and they emptied their bowls one after another.
"It's great. Becoming an uncle is already enviable. If the Xia Kingdom were still here, Shui Qiancheng, you could get promoted and make a fortune even with your feet crossed."
"There is no need to get promoted and make a fortune, he is a noble like a prince himself!"
"That's right! If the fifth generation emperor is more ambitious, Liuzhou will be more prosperous!"
Bai Zikui didn't seem to have a good drinking tolerance, his face turned red, and he slowly drank the wine in the bowl.
"Yes, yes! Yongfeng should not be inferior to Beijing."
"I really want to see Yongfeng at that time..."
"I want to see it too." Xu Gongchun complained.
Yongfeng is the capital of Liuzhou, so it is more lively than other places, but it cannot compare with the prosperity of the capital.
Shui Qiancheng finally swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at Xu Gongchun and Lin Bojian.
"...I have never been to Yongfeng."
"Although Yongfeng has more big houses, it is still a rural area. The population is small and material supplies are also very scarce."
“Before coming to the capital, I thought Yongfeng was quite lively, but after I came here, I realized there was a huge difference.”
Shui Qiancheng had never been to the capital of the state, but he suddenly came to the most prosperous city in the Yuan Kingdom.
He ate the food and listened to Xu Gongchun and Lin Bojian chatting about the differences between Yongfeng and Jingcheng.
"Qian Cheng, do you want to eat more? Just order whatever you want!"
"ah?"
The other three people were already a bit drunk and had almost finished the food. After hearing what Xu Gongchun said, Shui Qiancheng realized that he didn't have any money with him, so he followed him in a daze.
"Uh, um...I didn't bring any money..."
Although this place doesn't look like a very high-end place, it's probably not cheap either. I don't know how much it costs...
"Don't worry, my servant has helped me."
"Yes, that's right! Lin Bojian's treat, you're welcome, just order whatever you want!"
"Your servant...?"
"Zhao Shizhong from Menxia Province, I'm currently staying at their house."
Shui Qiancheng thought to himself that the official family where Lin Bojian stayed must be very generous in allowing Lin Bojian to enter and leave such a place.
"Qian Cheng, you should be living in some adult's house, right?"
"Oh, yes! I live in Zhongshu Ling's house...but the one who takes care of me is his son...Zhuge Qing, the doctor of the household department."
"Zhongshu Ling? That's a high official!"
"Ah, I remembered. Doctor Zhuge's wife seems to be a good friend of the queen?"
"Oh, it turns out that's the case, no wonder!"
Xu Gongchun's face also started to turn red. Lin Bojian's face and tone of voice did not change at all, which showed that he had a really good drinking capacity.
He looked very rough and masculine. Shui Qiancheng felt that his sister should at least marry this kind of man.
"Shizhong Zhao is really nice, Shui Qiancheng. You can go and see him some other time."
"Oh that's fine!"
"Okay, let's order more food and some wine."
When Shui Qiancheng and his party left the store, it was almost dark.
……what to do?
When returning home, after parting ways with Xu Gongchun and others, Shui Qiancheng quickly got lost.
He originally thought that Xu Gongchun would give him a ride, but Xu Gongchun, Lin Bojian, and Bai Zikui, who were drunk, walked in the opposite direction. In desperation, Shui Qiancheng could only walk back based on his memory... He thought he was walking back.
...Huh? It doesn’t seem like it’s here.
Shui Qiancheng has never known how to find his way around. When he was in his hometown village, his family sent him to buy things. He often got lost when he returned home, and Shui Xinyuan came to find him every time.
Shui Xinyuan is different from his younger brother. He will remember it as long as he walks through it once, so he is very confused about why his younger brother got lost when it is obviously the same road.
...Sister, because walking forward and walking backward are different, so I can’t figure it out...
Have you passed this store just now? He felt as if he had passed by, but also as if he hadn't. He really hoped to at least find the location of the private school first, but it was getting darker and darker, and a woman's high-pitched laughter could be heard from the store that was open.
……elder sister……
Shui Qiancheng couldn't help but be afraid and couldn't help but run.
He couldn't figure out the north, south, east, west, and kept running. He accidentally bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
"Yes, I'm sorry..."
"Are you OK?"
The man helped Shui Qiancheng stand up.
He looked eighteen or nineteen years old, about the same age as Xu Gongchun. Shui Qiancheng breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's too dangerous. If you run with your eyes closed, how could you not fall?"
"Uh, that..."
"What's wrong?"
"Here...where is this?"
"Are you lost?" The young man squinted his slender eyes and muttered, "Where are you going?"
"I want to go to Zhongshu Ling's house...ah, no, I can also go to Teacher Wei's private school."
"...Master Zhuge?"
The young man who bent down to look at Shui Qiancheng nodded in realization.
"Are you Shui Qiancheng?"
"Huh? How did you know that I..."
"Mr. Hubu told me that I just want to go to Zhuge's house to pay his respects. I will take you there."
"...!"
……Very good.
Thanks to my sister for her usual care and arrangements...
Shui Qiancheng looked up at the young man with a smile on his face, "Thank you very much, then I'll leave it to you!"
The young man narrowed his eyes again and frowned slightly, but immediately took steps forward.
"It's getting dark, let's go!"
"well."
Shui Qiancheng hurriedly followed him.
"Why are you in that kind of place? At your age, you shouldn't go to that kind of place, right?"
"Someone from the same private school came to see me..."
"So that's it... It's not a big problem during the day. But at night, there's a lot of people here. Even if you go out to play in the future, you have to go home as soon as possible."
"good……"
Shui Qiancheng was a little downcast.
The strangers he just met gave him a scolding, and after returning home, he might even be scolded by the young master and his wife of the Zhuge family.
"Uh... Excuse me, dear brother?"
"My name is Li Yuezhen. I am an official in the imperial court. I used to stay at Zhuge's house."
Li Yuezhen looked ahead and answered succinctly without slowing down at all.
After a while, they finally came to a small road, which still felt familiar in the dim light. Shui Qiancheng couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.
As soon as they entered Zhuge's house, the servants and maids were busy going in and out. Qing'er, who received the notice, rushed out.
"Shui Qiancheng! Where have you been!"
"Yes...I'm sorry..."
"Hurry up and inform the young master that Shui Qiancheng is back!...Shui Qiancheng! Didn't I remind you repeatedly before that if you want to go out, go home and say..."
Qing'er scolded Shui Qiancheng with a sad face.
Shui Qiancheng remembered that when he was in his hometown, he ran out to play when he came back from shopping and got lost. When the neighbor's aunt found him, she cried and scolded him for a long time...
The auntie and Qing'er lectured in exactly the same way...
After scolding Qing'er for a long time, she finally found the young man standing silently next to Shui Qiancheng.
"Huh?"
"haven't seen you for a long time."
"Li Yuezhen? How many years have we not seen each other? Have you returned to the capital?"
Li Yuezhen greeted Qing'er expressionlessly.
Only then did Shui Qiancheng realize that he was not angry just now, but that his tone of voice was so cold and there was not much expression on his face.
Zhuge Qing also gave Shui Qiancheng a lesson and told him to go back to his room.
Shui Qiancheng only said that Xu Gongchun came to eat with him, but because he talked so much about his sister during the meal that it became a taboo topic, he felt guilty, so he did not mention the matter of Lin Bojian and Bai Zikui.
…As long as I don’t tell them, they won’t know.
Although he made an appointment with Lin Bojian and the others to meet another day, and just tell the Zhuge family before going out next time, he forgot to instruct several fellow villagers in Liuzhou not to mention his sister's affairs in front of others...
But...it's all true anyway, and there's nothing to be afraid of even if others find out.