Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

Beijing, Li Chang's home

It is now June and the weather is hot. Even though there is a basin of ice in the study, people in the room are still sweating.

Li Chang stood beside the desk, fanning himself, looking at the two brothers who were lying on the desk.

A piece of paper was placed in front of each of the brothers, with a few chess pieces in front of the paper.

There are five or six white pieces in front of Qin Zheng, and there are three black pieces in front of Qin Ci.

Qin Ci was twisting and turning at this moment, looking very anxious.

Li Chang used his fan to knock Qin Ci lightly: "Behave yourself, don't you want to eat Sushan?"

Qin Ci then sat down helplessly: "Uncle San, when can we eat Sushan?"

"When? Didn't I tell you that whoever gathers ten chess pieces first gets to eat Su Shan? If not, neither of you gets to eat anything."

Qin Ci looked at his three black pieces, then at his brother's five or six white pieces, and his face suddenly fell.

"Uncle San, can you take the big chess piece if you have ten chess pieces, and the small one if you don't? Or can you take one more if you have ten chess pieces, and one less if you don't?"

Li Chang was amused: "You little brat, why do I need to test you? I might as well just give it to you to eat."

Li Chang no longer paid attention to him and said, "Xiang Jiuling..."

Qin Zheng looked at his brother, and seeing that he was frowning and thinking hard, he obviously couldn't say anything, so he said, "Xiang Jiuling, you can warm the bed. Filial piety to parents is what we should adhere to."

Li Chang picked up a white piece and put it in the white piece in front of Qin Zheng. Qin Ci immediately became anxious: "I can do it too, I haven't said it yet."

Li Chang naturally knew his trick, so he said, "Don't worry, it's not over yet. Whoever of you can write nine will also get a chess piece."

This time, Qin Ci did not hesitate and immediately lowered his head, picked up the brush and wrote the number "nine" crookedly.

Li Chang took a black piece and put it into the black piece in front of Qin Ci.

Qin Zheng also wrote a "nine" on the paper.

Li Chang gave Qin Zheng another white piece. Now Qin Zheng's words were no different from before. He immediately became restless and moved around on the stool, saying, "I wrote it first!"

"You wrote it first, but your brother also wrote it."

"Then why didn't my brother let me carry it after he finished carrying it?"

"Recite it, Xiang Jiuling. What's behind it? Recite it and I'll give you one."

"Xiang Jiuling, can warm the bed!"

Li Chang waited for a while and asked, "What's next?"

"......It can warm the bed..."

Li Chang pressed Qin Ci's little head and said, "You didn't memorize a single extra word. It doesn't count, you have no chess piece."

Qin Ci sat back dejectedly.

Li Chang smiled and said, "But who knows the story behind this sentence? There are two chess pieces for those who answered correctly."

Qin Ci's eyes lit up, and he raised his hand high: "Uncle San, I know!"

"Tell me something."

"When Huang Xiang was nine years old, he was very filial. When winter came, he would go to his parents' bed and warm up the quilt so that his parents would not feel cold when they slept."

After saying this, he suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "Huang Xiang was from the Han Dynasty!"

"That's right." Li Chang closed his fan, took out two black pieces and put them on Qin Ci's chess pieces, so that Qin Ci had six chess pieces.

Qin Ci was originally very happy, but when he saw that his brother had more chess pieces, he became anxious again and urged Li Chang to continue asking questions.

Li Chang smiled and continued to ask questions to the two children.

One, two, and soon, there were ten chess pieces in front of Qin Zheng. Coincidentally, the servant came to report that Su Shan had bought it back.

Li Chang immediately asked his servants to put a plate of crispy noodles in front of Qin Zheng.

When Qin Ci saw that his name was not on the list, he immediately looked aggrieved and cried.

Li Chang just wanted to teach and entertain, so he would not really give Qin Ci only one chess piece. So he planned to give Qin Ci two more questions to make up ten chess pieces.

Who knew that Qin Ci felt more and more aggrieved when looking at her brother's plate of pastry noodles. She immediately threw down her brush, slid off the stool, sat on the ground, then lay down and started crying.

Li Chang had only heard Qin Yunhe say that Qin Ci was lying on the ground crying. This was the first time he had seen it. His eyes twitched and he said in a deep voice, "Qin Ci."

After all, it was not her own home, so Qin Ci cried a little softer, but she still lay there sobbing and didn't get up.

Li Chang walked over, picked him up and said sternly: "Just tell me what you want. How can others know what you want if you lie down and cry?"

"I want...I want to eat Su Shan...Wuwuwu, I want to eat Su Shan too..."

"If you want to eat Sushan, just say it nicely. Your parents taught you how to speak, and your teacher taught you etiquette. Isn't it to teach you to tell others what you want nicely?"

Qin Ci sobbed twice more, and realized that crying on the ground would not solve the problem at all. She raised her hand to wipe away the remaining tears and said, "Uncle San, I want to eat Sushan, too."

Li Chang asked again: "Why does my brother have Sushan to eat but you don't?"

"Because I didn't have enough chess pieces."

"Then why did my brother gather enough chess pieces but you didn't?"

Qin Ci clasped her fingers together and said with a guilty conscience, "Because my brother answered more questions correctly and I answered fewer."

Then he complained, "But my brother already knows more than me. He already knows those things."

"Then why can my brother do it but you can't?"

"My brother learned this from my sister and brother Kang."

"Didn't my sister and Brother Kang teach you?"

"...I taught you," Qin Ci said after a pause, "I didn't remember it..."

Then he said, "Uncle San, I want to eat Sushan..."

Li Chang was so angry that he laughed. It turned out that he should remember to tell others what he wants.

Qin Zheng was also shocked by his brother crying on the ground, and did not dare to touch the mountain of pastry. Now seeing Li Chang finished scolding his brother, he said: "Uncle Li, you and your brother, come eat with me..."

Li Chang said, "Be good, Zheng'er, eat first, there's more."

When Qin Ci heard that there was more, he immediately became energetic and looked at Li Chang with sparkling eyes.

Li Chang smiled and said to Qin Ci, "Let me test you again. If you can answer correctly and collect ten chess pieces, you can also eat Su Shan, okay?"

Qin Ci nodded hurriedly: "Yes! Uncle San, please give the questions."

"What's the story behind Rong being able to give away pears when he was four years old?"

Li Chang knew that Qin Ci would be remembered for those with allusions, after all, the masters would mostly tell the allusions as stories.

Sure enough, Qin Ci was immediately full of confidence when he heard it, and said: "When Kong Rong was four years old, his parents brought a plate of pears for him and his brother to eat. Kong Rong gave the biggest pear on the plate to his brother..."

As he said that, Qin Ci glanced at his brother beside him and found that his brother was not eating the Sushan, but was watching him answer the questions.

Li Chang smiled and threw two black pieces into Qin Ci's pile of chess pieces: "Okay, you got it right. Qiu Sui, bring all the Su Shan over here."