There is a tea room in the inn, incense is lit by the clerk, and a faint scent of sandalwood floats out from the hollow copper stove.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zheng sat opposite each other on the soft couch, with a chessboard in front of them. The chess game had come to an end.

Surrounded by green smoke, Chen Ji dropped a white stone. Zhang Zheng, who was opposite him, thought hard for a long time, and finally dropped a white stone. Chen Ji casually dropped another white stone, and then Zhang Zheng fell into long thinking again...

Zhang Xia sat aside and cracked melon seeds, watching his own brother being killed without leaving any trace of his body, without any intention of helping.

Zhang Zheng was so anxious that he kept winking at his sister. Zhang Xia asked curiously: "Brother, what's wrong with your eyes? There's sand in them?"

Zhang Zheng was immediately discouraged: "How about you give me some advice on what to do? You can't just watch your brother being bullied like this, right?"

Zhang Xia's white teeth closed up and down, and she lightly cracked open a melon seed: "A true gentleman watching chess without speaking, I will not do that kind of thing."

Chen Ji raised his head and looked at Zhang Zheng: "Brother Zhang, aren't you here to play chess with me? Your chess skills... don't seem like someone who likes playing chess."

Zhang Zheng was speechless: "I..."

Zhang Xia asked Chen Ji: "What are your plans when you arrive in the capital? Will you live in the Chen family's mansion or buy a yard of your own?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "She should live in the Chen family's mansion."

When Bai Long asked him to return to the Chen family, he would not let him stay out of the matter. He would be as close to the core as possible.

Zhang Xia asked again: "Will Mr. Chen go to the Imperial College to donate a prison student to you? I will definitely do it, but you don't want to learn the classics. What should I do?"

Chen Ji smiled and joked: "Didn't Miss Zhang Er scold me for being ignorant and unskilled earlier?"

Zhang Zheng hurriedly explained: "You misunderstood. My sister just looks down on those who are incompetent, but this ability does not necessarily mean Jingyi. You will know when you arrive in the capital. She is very famous in the capital. She is the supervisor of the Imperial College."

They are all afraid of her."

"Oh?" Chen Ji was curious: "Why is this?"

Zhang Zheng took advantage of Chen Ji's eyes not looking at the chessboard, and secretly dropped a few black stones on the chessboard while explaining: "You don't know something. The Imperial College not only teaches the Four Books and the Five Classics, but also studies numbers and laws. Our little uncle

Xu Shu is not only the deputy supervisor of Qin Tian Jian, but also a doctor of calligraphy and mathematics in Guozijian."

Zhang Zheng continued: "My uncle was lazy and didn't want to get up at midnight to teach, so he called my sister every now and then to teach instead. At first, the students of the Imperial College saw that she was a woman and were reluctant in every possible way. They even sat down to protest to the Lord Jijiu. Later I

My sister asked a question, and it took half an hour for one of them to answer it, so they were honest."

Chen Ji lowered his head and glanced at the extra chess pieces on the chessboard, but he didn't reveal it. He just dropped a white piece and swallowed the extra black pieces, and then asked: "What kind of question did it take them half an hour?"

Zhang Xia smiled and said: "Looking at the seventh floor of the towering tower from a distance, the red lights are doubling in number. There are 381 lights in total. How many lights are there on the top of the tower?"

Chen Ji didn't even raise his head: "Three lamps."

Zhang Xia's eyes widened: "Hey, have you heard of this question?"

Chen Ji smiled: "Yeah, I've heard it before."

Zhang Xia held a melon seed in his mouth and looked at Chen Ji suspiciously: "Have you really heard of it? Then let me ask you again, there are beasts today, with six heads and four legs; birds, four heads and two legs. There are seventy-six poems on it.

, there are forty-six legs underneath. Question: How many birds and beasts are there?”

Chen Ji casually said: "Eight beasts and seven birds."

Zhang Xia was startled: "Have you ever heard of this?"

Chen Ji laughed: "I've heard of it too."

He changed the subject: "Back then, Miss Zhang Er was invincible in the Imperial College based on her 'book number'?"

Zhang Zhengle laughed and said: "It's because of her sharp tongue. Those supervisors have failed to pass the examination for many years. They are depressed and frustrated. After drinking some horse urine, they like to spit excrement and curse others. One of them went to my sister to pick a fight when he was drunk.

He made trouble by saying that the reason why he failed to pass the examination was because there was a woman in the Imperial College, and he yelled at my sister's school building."

Chen Ji said calmly: "What then?"

Zhang Zheng said: "Then my sister gave him a question."

Chen Ji was confused: "What question?"

Zhang Zheng picked up the teacup at hand and drank the tea in one gulp: "My sister asked him: 'Your mother is in a cage with ten rabbits, why do you only have forty legs?'" The supervisor was puzzled and said ten.

Rabbits have forty legs, so why do they only have forty legs after adding my mother?"

Zhang Zheng put down the teacup: "My sister answered him, because you don't have a mother."

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia in shock, what a powerful attack.

Zhang Xia coughed slightly, lowered his head in embarrassment and drank tea to cover up.

At this time, there was a burst of noise in the hall not far away, where officials were changing cups and drinking happily.

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia: "Over there?"

Zhang Xia poured the melon seed peels from the palm of his left hand onto the plate and clapped his palms: "The noble squires from Mengjin County came together to pay homage to my father. My father is drinking with them."

Chen Ji asked curiously: "Master Zhang is about to be promoted to Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Do you still need to socialize with the squires in the small county?"

Zhang Xia explained on the side: "The so-called imperial power does not extend to the counties. The human relations in the nine counties of Luocheng are complicated. If he does not get close to these squires, my father will not even be able to collect autumn grain. The squires in this large county have a comparable life."

The members of the capital and Jinling should be more nourished, they are the real emperors of the country."

The mother was weak and became a merchant, the father was strong and became a minister, the ancestor was strong and stayed in his place of origin, and the family was poor and traveled to other places. According to the concept of the people of the Ning Dynasty, unless they go out to become officials, otherwise, those who have no future need to go to other places to endure hardships.

While he was talking, the sound of rapid horse hooves was heard outside the inn.

When I got closer, I saw a soldier on horseback shouting: "Hurry up for five hundred miles!"

Chen Ji and others got up and walked out. Zhang Zhuo and others who were drinking wine also put down their wine glasses and hurriedly went out to greet them.

The express levels within the inn are divided into four hundred mile express, five hundred mile express, and six hundred mile express. These three levels are strictly prohibited unless military matters are important.

The soldier came closer with a bamboo tube sealed with fire paint on his back, jumped off his horse and asked, "Where is Mengjin Postmaster?"

A middle-aged man with a beard stepped forward and said, "That's it!"

The soldier untied the bamboo tube on his back and took out an envelope from his arms: "Inside is the fire ticket from the Ministry of War. Prepare a meal for me and mount a horse. I will go back and resume my life after eating!"

The Yi Cheng took the bamboo tube and saw black characters on it with a soldering iron: Chen Li, the co-president of Luocheng, opened the door. Anyone who opened it privately will be punished according to the law!

Zhang Zhuo was surprised and said: "It's actually for Mr. Chen... Little brother, who sent this five-hundred-mile express?"

The soldier glanced at him and said arrogantly: "Prince!"

No wonder this soldier is so arrogant and arrogant, even Yi Cheng doesn't look down on him. He came here on the order of the prince.

Zhang Zhuo handed the bamboo tube to Chen Liqin: "Take it apart and take a look."

Chen Liqin breathed out the smell of alcohol, removed the wax paint, and poured out a letter stamped with a red seal. After reading it, he frowned and remained silent for a long time.

Zhang Zhuo said doubtfully: "What did the prince say? It makes you sad."

Chen Liqin looked at him: "The prince ordered me to go directly to Guyuan to join him without returning to the capital."

Zhang Zhuo said subconsciously: "No!"

"Huh?" Chen Liqin was puzzled: "What does Mr. Zhang mean by this?"

Zhang Zhuo pulled Chen Liqin aside and said under the influence of alcohol: "Master Chen, I only tell you this because we have been partners for three years. If you feel wrong, just think that what I said is all drunken nonsense." Guyuan Naijiu

There is a mixed bag of good and bad people on this side.

In recent years, the Jin party's border troops have been disobedient to the imperial court. They have deducted food and pay, and killed good people and taken merit. However, they have all been suppressed by the cabinet. It will not be easy for the prince to go to Guyuan at this time. Don't go into this muddy water.

, be careful of losing your wealth and life!”

Chen Liqin hesitated: "But I am the official of the East Palace, and James is the youngest member of James's residence. How can I refuse?"

Zhang Zhuo cursed and said: "You haven't gone to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to attend the ceremony, and according to the regulations and ancestral system, you have to fast for three days at the Chenghuang Temple to worship the gods before taking office, so you use this excuse to shirk it!"

Chen Liqin shook his head: "Since I am the official of the East Palace, I should do my best to assist the prince. If the prince doesn't even go for five hundred miles, how will I live in the East Palace in the future? How can the prince trust me?"

Zhang Zhuo's eyes widened: "Do you have to be the minister of Conglong? Don't be knocked unconscious by the pie falling from the sky. He doesn't trust you. At worst, he will replace you. Then you will just be replaced.

If you become an official, you won't lose your life!"

Chen Liqin's face was stern: "Master Zhang, there is no need to say anything. Unlike you, I don't have so many thoughts of protecting myself. The king, the king, the minister, the father, the son, the son. If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die. Now is the time for the prince to employ people, how can I

Can you not go? I, Chen Liqin, am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death!"

Zhang Zhuo laughed angrily: "Okay, okay, go and die. Your wife, children, and children will come with me. I will escort them to the capital."

Chen Liqin's face became darker and darker: "Master Zhang, don't be alarmist. The prince is in Guyuan, which is under the jurisdiction of our Ning Dynasty. There are more than 200,000 soldiers. What danger can we say?"

Zhang Zhuo thought for a moment: "I don't care about others. Chen Ji has to follow me."

Chen Liqin was so angry that he threw up his sleeves and walked away: "Absurd!"

Zhang Zhuo looked at Chen Liqin's back, sighed, and he and the squire cupped their hands: "It seems that we can't continue drinking. Everyone, please go back."

Everyone said goodbye, and he looked at Chen Ji again: "You don't have to pay attention to Mr. Chen. He's going to his Guyuan. Let's go to our capital. You will spend the New Year in Zhang's Mansion. On the Lantern Festival, each of you will be given six hundred taels."

With the New Year's money, you can visit the City God's Temple, enjoy the lantern festival, drink flowers and wine, and have fun as you like. Young people, just have fun and have fun, don't worry about those important matters of family and country."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then took out his Secret Agent badge from his sleeve: "Sir Zhang, with this badge, you can travel without any hindrance."

Zhang Zhuo wanted to persuade, but was stopped by Chen Ji: "I know your good intentions, please help bring Xiao Man, and take her to the capital to stay in Zhang Mansion temporarily... I have to go to Guyuan with the Chen family."
Chapter completed!