Early in the morning, Han Jiao went to the market to buy pancakes and fritters. On the way back, he was rubbed on the arm by a trolley transporting grain.

A tall man dressed as an ordinary person suddenly jumped out from behind Han Jiao, with a hasty look on his face, and knocked down the cart driver who was rubbing against Han Jiao.

Han Jiao looked around vigilantly, making sure that he had not become the target of other vehicles and horses, and then hurried home.

The man who hit the cart master was the shadow guard arranged by King Yan for Han Jiao.

As long as there are strangers staying near Han Jiao's house for a long time, or when Han Jiao is jostled by someone when he goes out, the shadow guards on shift will suddenly appear in different ways, instantly suppressing those who may hurt Han Jiao.

These days are really exciting, everyone looks like a killer.

The reason for being so cautious is because I haven't figured out what the secret enemy wants to do next.

Fortunately, the working place is safe. Walking into Zhilu next to the main hall of the Imperial Academy, Han Jiao relaxed and started a new day of work.

At noon, the editing officials called the Shuji scholars to rest for half an hour.

As a errand in the palace, there is no working meal treatment. For lunch, I can only prepare dry food in advance to satisfy my hunger.

Han Jiao unwrapped the oil-paper package as usual, took out the pancakes he had prepared early in the morning and began to eat them.

"Brother Xiaobai, are you eating leek pancakes again?" A concubine in the front row turned his head and handed a small package of lotus leaves to Han Jiao: "Try this, it's pickles from Xianxiangju."

"I have red bean cakes here, do you want to try them?" Zhou Hao also handed over a package.

Seeing this, the colleagues around him "donated generously" one after another to save the prodigy Xiaobai who ate pancakes every day.

"No, no, I have a small appetite..." Han Jiao looked at the dazzling array of delicacies, swallowed a mouthful, and refused firmly.

Except for the three good friends who were already on good terms, the other colleagues in the Imperial Academy showed affection to him in order to get close to the Ninth Prince through him.

Since the last time they brought their colleagues to practice the game rules for the big boss, this group of people believed that the Ninth Prince had favored Han Jiao very much.

It may be because the big boss deliberately moved the ball in front of Han Jiao, which caused Han Jiao to make a balancing act, which in turn caused the big boss to be overjoyed...

Everyone thought that the big boss was a special kindness to Han Jiao.

Han Jiao was speechless.

The big boss did this just because he thought it was funny.

Han Jiao didn't want to give false hope to others, so he resolutely ate his leek pancakes and turned a blind eye to the delicacies provided by colleagues who asked for them.

But his colleagues refused to let him go easily, and kept persuading him to practice Cuju together after work.

"Forget it for today, I have an appointment with Xiaobai, we have to go to Hemingzhuang together after work." At the critical moment, he was still a reliable buddy, Zhou Hao stepped forward with a suitable excuse.

"You mean the Heming Village of the Qin family?" A knowledgeable person said in surprise, "You can't enter that place without an invitation from the owner of the Qin family."

Zhou Hao smiled and said: "That's natural, Xiaobai Xiandi and I have received invitations, we can't miss the appointment today, everyone forgive me."

Only then did everyone give up knowingly.

Han Jiao silently praised Zhou Hao, and then continued to eat pancakes.

Zhou Hao handed the cakes to Han Jiao again, and said in a low voice, "You always eat pancakes and never get tired of them? Try my home's red bean crisps."

Seeing that no one was looking at him, Han Jiao immediately took the bag of red bean crisps, and then made a movement of tearing the pancakes, threatening Zhou Hao: "Tear half of your pancakes, do you want it?"

Zhou Hao was amused by him: "You'd better keep it for yourself."

In a blink of an eye, it was time for the end of shifts, Han Jiao slowly packed up the documents and sent them back to the secretary's room.

When going out, Zhou Hao also followed, urging: "Hurry up, Hemingzhuang is quite far from here."

Han Jiao was surprised and said: "Are you really going? I haven't received any invitation from the owner of Qin Zhuang. You don't need to take me with you. After they are all gone, I will go out of the palace again, and I won't be discovered."

"Of course I'm going!" Zhou Hao told Han Jiao in a low voice: "I really received an invitation from the owner of Qin Zhuang. The owner said that he appreciated the poem I wrote in the Zuixiang building last year, and specially invited me to taste his village. Serve the newly arrived tea, and let me take a few literati and refined scholars there, I wanted to ask you to go with me."

Han Jiao thought for a while, then asked him: "Who is the owner of Qin Zhuang? Does he have a great background?"

"You don't even know the owner of Qin Zhuang? He is the eldest grandson of Qin Ninghe, the Minister Gu Ming of the late emperor. He is a wealthy businessman in the capital. Although he has not entered an official position, his family has power all over the court and the public." Zhou Hao leaned into Han Jiao's ear and whispered: "If you can get acquainted with this important person, your official career will be much easier."

With the king of Yan sitting behind him, Han Jiao has no shortage of big men to back him, and he doesn't plan to woo other forces for the time being, so he intends to find an excuse to reject Zhou Hao's kindness.

Zhou Hao snatched the documents in his hand, walked quickly to the secretary's room, and urged: "Hurry up, my little white brother! I don't know if the owner of Qin Zhuang will test his knowledge in a while, I'm pointing at you!" A child prodigy gave me support."

When Han Jiao heard the words, he couldn't say the words of refusal.

Before his father was wrongly imprisoned, Zhou Hao was the only one who didn't avoid suspicion. He told Han Jiao everything he knew, and he hasn't repaid him yet.

Since this is an important opportunity for Zhou Hao to make friends with powerful people, Han Jiao is obliged to help him.

At the first moment of applying for the license plate, the two of them drove together and came to the outside of Hemingzhuang.

Being led by the servant into the manor, the two were shocked by the beautiful scenery in front of them.

The rich and powerful in ancient times would really enjoy it. Just like this, they built a fairyland-like land in the mountains and fields, and built a manor. The flowers, plants and flowing water are all naturally carved, which has more natural beauty than the palace house.

Introduced by the servants to the garden where the banquet was held, there were already thirty or forty guests sitting behind short tables, drinking tea and talking and laughing.

Han Jiao followed Zhou Hao to his seat. On the short table in front of him, apart from the constantly changing single-serve food, there was also a special tea doctor showing his skills on the spot.

It's a pity that Han Jiao didn't know how to taste tea at all, so he could only nod and praise along with the literati around him.

After Dr. Tea left the venue, some literati went to the center of the banquet and told about the origin of the precious flowers and plants in various parts of the manor. Afterwards, guests left in groups to enjoy the scenery around the manor according to the guidance.

Zhou Hao was also greeted to leave, while Han Jiao was still not full, so he lowered his head and refused to accept anyone's accosting gaze, and finally he was able to stay alone in the garden and continue to taste delicious food.

As the sky was getting darker, the servants poured into the garden, quickly lighting up the deathly wind lamps everywhere in the garden.

Attracted by the light of the lamp, Han Jiao raised his head and realized that he was the only one still eating at the next table, and the servants seemed to be looking at him from the corner of their eyes.

Han Jiao was not thick-skinned enough, so he could only put down his chopsticks to wipe his mouth, reluctantly bid farewell to the delicacies, and got up to enjoy the scenery.

He was not such a greedy person in the past, he lived in Yanwang Mansion Biezhai for a while, and his taste was so good. When he came home these two days, he ate a few meals of cabbage and steamed buns, and his eyes almost turned green when he smelled the smell of meat.

On the road, I met a few waves of literati who were reciting poems and opposing each other. This is not Han Jiao's field of expertise.

Han Jiao hurried past the crowd with his head down, and walked around the labyrinth-like garden paths. Finally, Han Jiao found a place where no one was there.

Under the rosy sunset, clusters of bright and famous flowers of various colors in the emerald green bushes are swaying in the breeze.

Standing outside the wooden fence, Han Jiao took a deep breath, closed his eyes gently, and felt the fragrance of flowers.

"The fragrance of this flower will make me dizzy if I smell it for a long time."

The sudden deep voice startled Han Jiao to open his eyes, and following the sound, he saw rustling grass not far away.

A man straightened up from among the flowers at half a person's height, holding a hoe in one hand, and looked at Han Jiao from afar with a peaceful expression.

The man was about fifty years old, tall, thin and straight, wearing plain working clothes, probably an old gardener in the manor.

Being watched by this man's sharp eyes, Han Jiao felt uneasy for unknown reasons.

Seeing that he hadn't left yet, the man picked up his hoe and walked out of the bushes. He came to Han Jiao without haste and said, "Since you are a guest, why don't you discuss the Tao with everyone?"

His voice is extremely magnetic, with an inexplicable deterrent force.

Standing close to each other, this old man's trousers and sleeves are rolled up. He is dressed like a villager, but he is tall and tall, with a clear face, especially a pair of clear eyes, which are extremely energetic, and his temperament does not match his clothes.

Han Jiao came back to his senses and replied lightly: "Among the guests, there is no acquaintance with this servant."

The man turned around and put the hoe beside the fence, patted the dust off his body in a leisurely manner, and said in a low voice: "You have to work hard to get acquainted before you can become an acquaintance of the rich and powerful."

Hearing the sarcasm in the words, Han Jiao replied indifferently: "I'm just accompanying my friends to the appointment, and I'm not here for the banquet to get acquainted with the dignitaries."

"I see." The man straightened his sleeves and looked back at Han Jiao: "At your age, you still have a bit of a scholarly spirit, and it's common to miss good opportunities."

Han Jiao frowned slightly, not knowing why this person spoke with thorns, and retorted displeasedly: "If you don't want to cling to the rich and powerful, you are considered a scholarly spirit. I am afraid that no matter how many years I grow up, I will not be able to wash away this scholarly spirit."

The man smiled slightly, and looked at Han Jiao with sharp eyes: "Associating with powerful people is to cling to? In this way, you have already divided people into different classes in your heart, and you are only willing to compromise the corporal. This is considered a literati, or is it Pretentious?"

sophistry!

Han Jiao was surprised, this old man has two brushes.

Han Jiao calmly retorted: "It's not that I don't want to befriend high-ranking people, but the forces behind the guests here are complicated. If I make friends with one person, I have to cater to a group of people. I wait and see cautiously. Am I also pretending to be high?"

"That's really not pretentious, it's just that you don't have enough courage to achieve great things." The man was still calm and composed, with a deep and powerful voice: "Everything in the world can last for a long time, mostly because it is beneficial to the majority of creatures. In this way, having enough courage to deal with various forces and become what people want is the way for those with ambitions to survive forever."

Han Jiao couldn't understand the old man, but he couldn't find any words to refute.

Before Han Jiao could speak, he heard the footsteps behind him become hurried.

The two servants of the manor walked quickly to Han Jiao, bowed to the old man, and said anxiously: "Old Li Ge, His Royal Highness Duan Wang is looking for you."

Han Jiao's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at the person in front of him in disbelief.

The old man nodded, and ordered his servants to present the basket of flowers and plants he had just picked to King Duan, then turned his head and smiled slightly at Han Jiao: "Your Highness cannot be kept waiting, if you are not satisfied, you can go to the flower hall next door to argue with the old man. "

Han Jiao came back to his senses, and hurriedly nodded his head in salute: "Please refer to Mr. Li for humble posts!"

The author has something to say: Xiaobai's third husband, King Duan, will finally make an official appearance (no

----

Note: Yesterday, many readers asked Xie Duo why he called Eunuch Xu "companion", because Eunuch Xu is his big companion.

When you talked about it, you realized that the big boss used this kind of redundancies to refer to the guild, which does not seem to be a particularly manly son, but you have already yelled, and you will be your companion for a day, and you will be your companion for life, anyway, everyone has heard it.

Xie Duo: Who do you think is not manly enough?

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like