Painting Doctor Jinhua

Xiao Xian came with Yuan Rujing and his daughter Ayuan.

Early this morning, Xiao Xian received an imperial edict from Chen Xu and went to Taiji Hall in Taicheng to meet the emperor. Also going with him was Xu Ling, the Minister of the Left.

Originally, Chen Xu was still hesitating whether to recruit Xiao Xian into the government and what kind of official position he should be assigned to. Later, he had a long talk with Xiao Xian. When they talked about the current shortcomings of the State of Chen, Xiao Xian's answers shocked him several times.

Among the drawbacks he pointed out, the most important one was the household registration system. Originally, wealthy nobles owned a large number of slaves and fields and did not pay taxes, which meant they hid some farmers. But what was more serious was that there were nearly hundreds of thousands of hidden farmers among Buddhists. The data found by the Ministry of Household Registration was the biggest threat to Buddhism.

Although Chen Xu believed in Buddhism, the State of Chen also needed to fill the treasury to prepare for future military needs. Making monks return to secular life and having people pay taxes naturally fit what he had in mind. Therefore, when Xiao Xian gave several suggestions on how to "clean up" Buddhism, Chen Xu was naturally moved and began to value Xiao Xian's talent even more.

When Emperor Wen of Chen was alive, he suppressed the descendants of the Xiao family and did not use them because he was afraid that several branches of the Xiao family would join forces to make a comeback. However, more than ten years have passed, and the reputation of the Lanling Xiao family is far less than it used to be.

He is just a Xiao Xian, and has become a member of a side branch. Even now Xiao Xian is alone and weak. His family has no slaves, private soldiers, or even private property. Except for a noble surname, he is no different from a poor family.

How could Chen Xu be afraid of a newly graduated scholar in white?

Therefore, under Xu Ling's repeated recommendations, Chen Xu finally ordered the Ministry of Personnel to recruit Xiao Xian as the Assistant Censor to assist the Chief Censor Wang Zheng in supervising all officials.

At the same time, he also granted Xiao Xian a house and a piece of land, and approved his own power to establish a government in Jiankang.

Having land and the power to establish a government office meant that he, as a member of the Xiao family, had roots and a home that truly belonged to him.

Everything was developing in a good direction just as Xiao Jinyu had expected, but just as he left Taicheng at 3:30 in the afternoon, he saw Yuan Rujing and her daughter waiting for him anxiously at the palace gate.

Yuan Rujing told the whole story of how her husband's family framed her and sent her to Prince Shixing's mansion, and how Prince Shixing used her and his daughter to lure Xiao Jinyu.

After hearing this, Xiao Xian was naturally worried, and rushed to the Prince of Shixing's Palace with Yuan Rujing. However, he met the Zhou envoy Dugu Shan on the way, and learned that Xiao Jinyu was taken into the embassy by Prince Lanling.

When we arrived at the embassy, ​​it was already midnight.

After submitting the visiting card and waiting for a moment, Lanling Wang's guard finally conveyed:

"Xiao Xianlang, our prince invites you!"

After Xiao Xian returned the greeting, he hurriedly entered the embassy with Yuan Rujing and A Yuan. As soon as they arrived at the hall, they saw Xiao Jinyu, who had revealed her true appearance, standing side by side with Lanling King.

Even Xiao Xian was so shocked that he was stunned for a moment.

Yuan Rujing was even more surprised and asked, "Are you Ah Yu?"

Xiao Jinyu did not answer, so Xiao Shiniang answered for her: "Yes, Aunt Rujing, she is A-Yu."

"So this is your true appearance. You...you look like him! No, you look even more beautiful than your father, just like..."

"Just like a fairy in the sky..."

After Ah Yuan answered, she quickly ran to Xiao Jinyu and said in a crisp voice: "Sister, I'm sorry, it was Ah Yuan who caused you trouble today. If it wasn't for saving Ah Yuan, sister would definitely not go to that bad guy..."

"It's not your fault, Ayuan. Don't impose other people's mistakes on yourself. Whoever's fault it is, it's his fault!"

"Yes, sister, you are right!"

The little girl nodded innocently, then looked at Xiao Jinyu and Lanling King beside her with a silly look on her face, and sighed:

"Sister, you are so beautiful, and the brother next to you is also very handsome. You two look very good together!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Lu Yu's eyes sparkled, and he smiled and said, "Little girl is really good at talking, say more!"

Yuan Rujing hurriedly pulled her daughter into her arms, nodded to Lanling Wang and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, children speak without restraint, I hope you won't blame me!"

"No need, he's just a kid, and he didn't say anything bad!"

Seeing that Lanling Wang's expression had calmed down a bit, and that he looked at Xiao Jinyu with a softer look, Xiao Xian felt a little worried, so he raised his hand and asked Lanling Wang, "Would you mind if I could have a word with you?"

Gao Changgong nodded.

The two of them came to a side room in the hall. Facing the moonlight outside the window, Lanling Wang's face looked even brighter and more lonely, with a kind of clear and yet cold temperament that hinted at his unwillingness to admit defeat.

Although Xiao Xian could not read faces, he had heard of Lanling King's deeds, including his life experience.

"I have always heard that His Royal Highness Lanling King is kind and benevolent. Xiao Mo also respects His Royal Highness as a person. Today, I am even more grateful to His Royal Highness Lanling King for saving Ah Yu. However, I still have a request. I hope His Royal Highness Lanling King can agree to it."

"Please say!"

"Your Highness has also heard about Ah Yu's life story, and you should be able to empathize with her. So I really don't want her to repeat her mother's mistakes. Even if she doesn't marry in this life, I, Xiao Xian, can take care of her for the rest of her life, as long as she lives a safe and happy life and never suffers any harm again."

At this point, he looked at Lanling Wang and pleaded very seriously, "So, I hope that Your Highness can keep today's events a secret, or forget about them. No matter what happened between you, I, Xiao Xian, will definitely repay you in the future!"

"Xiao Xianlang means that you don't want me to have any contact with her anymore? Even though we have had physical contact?"

Lanling Wang's question made Xiao Xian look suddenly sad.

"Don't get me wrong. I didn't touch her today. She is still chaste. I know you southerners value chastity very much, but do you really think that your niece needs to rely on a man for protection?"

"She said that even if I didn't go to Prince Shixing's mansion today, she could still escape from Chen Shuling's clutches, but she would have to pay a price. But the price could be big or small. To put it in a big way, it would affect you, or even all her relatives around her. So I guess, if I didn't go today, she would not escape, but die together with Prince Shixing."

"She doesn't need your protection, but if you really want to protect her, why don't you make yourself stronger first?"

Xiao Xian was even more shocked when he heard this, and he looked at Gao Changgong in astonishment.

Gao Changgong added: "I know that Xiao Xianlang's concerns are nothing more than those rumors in my Gao royal family, but if I care about her, I will never let her go no matter what."

As Xiao Xian was once again shocked and stunned, Prince Lanling said seriously:

"As long as she is willing, I will marry her!"

Xiao Xian couldn't believe that these words actually came from the mouth of King Lanling. With Gao Changgong's identity and background, if he wanted to gain a foothold in Northern Qi, he would have to marry a girl from a northern aristocratic family for the sake of his future. The Zhaojun Li family, Qinghe Cui family, Boling Cui family, and Xingyang Zheng family in Qi all had marriage alliances with the Northern Qi royal family. If nothing unexpected happened, Gao Changgong's future wife would most likely come from the five noble families in the north.

If he had such ambition...

"Prince, are you serious?"

"Of course I am serious, but it is useless for us to just say it here. Xiao Xianlang, even you can't influence her decision, right?"

What does she want to do? What path does she want to take? What kind of life does she want to live?

That is her business, and she has to decide for herself. No one can influence her thoughts, and no one is qualified to make the decision for her.

"It turns out that the prince understands her better than I do. I was a little out of my depth."

He couldn't help but laugh and sigh: I originally thought that the worst outcome would be that she would lose her virginity, and even if she did, he could protect her from following in her mother's footsteps, even if she would never marry in this life...

As long as she is alive and well!

But if love is born, if love is born...

Seeing Xiao Xian's obviously disappointed and frightened expression, Gao Changgong felt a little uncomfortable:

Xiao Xianlang, it’s not that you don’t understand, it’s just that you also feel reluctant and greedy.

While the two were silent, they suddenly heard footsteps passing on the roof and running towards the hall.

So, the two of them hurried back to the hall, and saw that it was the boy named Fenghuang who had jumped down from the roof by lifting the tiles.

"Hey, who are you?"

Lu Yu shouted in shock.

Fenghuang came to Xiao Jinyu with a guilty look on her face and said, "Brother Qing, I seem to have caused trouble for you."

"What trouble have you gotten into?" Lu Yu asked immediately.

Phoenix seemed a little embarrassed and paused for a long time before replying, "That beast Chen Shuling actually wanted to rape me, so I was so angry... I crippled his third leg!"

"puff--"