Adoption brings disaster

It is said that since Chen Jiu made up his mind to get this good job of Na Qing, he no longer slacked around. Every day, apart from taking medicine to recuperate, he also learned various etiquettes and took time out to read books. He was really busy, even three times busier than the week before the university final exams.

Chen Jiu worked so hard that half a month passed in the blink of an eye. No need to mention it.

It is said that a few days before the selection of the ministers, the master would come to Chen Jiu's courtyard every day to ask about my well-being, and the lady would send all kinds of delicious food to me like a stream of water every day. If an outsider saw it, it really looked like they were having a lot of fun.

Selecting a minister is a major event, and this matter concerns the Seventh Prince. Who among the relevant people in the Beishang capital dares to slack off? The master is even more nervous and has arranged everything early.

On the day of the selection of ministers, Chen Jiu was woken up as soon as the third watch drum sounded. Although the housekeeper had reminded him the day before, Chen Jiu was still very sleepy at this time.

Fortunately, the maids and servants serving in the mansion were all very capable, and Chen Jiu didn't need to do anything. He just had to act like a puppet, allowing the servants to dress Chen Jiu in the gorgeous clothes that had been prepared long ago.

This person really is like the saying goes, "clothes make the man." The servant helped Chen Jiu dress and tie his hair, and the lady's personal maid put on a specially designed jade pendant and crown for Chen Jiu.

After everything was ready, when Chen Jiu was about to go out, he took a quick glance at the bronze mirror. The handsome look of the person in the mirror made Chen Jiu very happy.

For the ancients, dressing, washing, and dressing up were very troublesome. It was not until the fourth watch that they were done. Then the lady hurriedly stuffed a purse into Chen Jiu's hand and watched him crying as he got on the carriage and headed for the imperial city.

The horse was running fast on the road, and it was a little bumpy, but the carriage was covered with thick fur mats early on, so Chen Jiu didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

He hadn't eaten anything in the morning and hadn't taken a drop of water. He was extremely hungry. Looking at the old housekeeper who was holding his hands tightly, Chen Jiu said, "Grandpa Housekeeper, is there anything to eat or drink? I'm extremely thirsty and hungry."

The housekeeper felt distressed after hearing this. He quickly asked someone outside to bring in a teapot, poured a little water into it, and handed it to Chen Jiu, saying, "The master specifically instructed that you must not lose etiquette when meeting the emperor. Therefore, you cannot drink water or eat. If you are very thirsty, you can only moisten your mouth with a little water. If you are very hungry, you can put a piece of ginseng in your mouth to refresh yourself."

Chen Jiu understood what he heard, but he felt uncomfortable and his eyes were a little unhappy. The housekeeper looked at him and whispered, "I know that the young master is not feeling well, but the young master should be patient."

Chen Jiu knew that this was not something the master did on purpose. He had read a lot of books recently, and one of them mentioned such a thing. It was said that some people who had been officials for a long time had developed the ability to go without food or drink for one day or three days and still be eloquent and energetic.

Thinking of this, Chen Jiu could only hold the cup and slowly lick the water in the cup to make his mouth feel better. Then he put a piece of ginseng in his mouth. Although he was still very hungry, the ginseng slice did make him feel much better and not so uncomfortable.

The mansion was far away from the palace. Although he got up early, it was already dawn when he arrived at the palace gate. Chen Jiu saw several luxurious carriages parked in front of the palace gate, and thought that someone had already entered.

As soon as the carriage stopped, the butler got off and ran to the palace gate to talk to a eunuch. From a distance, it seemed that there was some pulling and tugging, which must be some arrangements.

As expected, the housekeeper came back not long after. As he helped Chen Jiu down from the carriage, he said, "Don't worry, Master. I've already made arrangements. However, since this is your first time in the palace, I'd like to advise you to stay out of things and just follow others."

Chen Jiu felt disdainful when he heard this, and silently wondered how he could have gotten such a good job if he hadn't taken the lead in everything. However, he still said respectfully, "Thank you, butler. I know."

After entering the palace gate and walking inside, Chen Jiu followed the young eunuch quietly. The two of them were like mutes, neither of them spoke.

After walking for a while and seeing that there was no one around, the young eunuch approached Chen Jiu and said in a very low voice: "Let's go to Baishun Hall now and wait for His Majesty's summons. His Majesty is still discussing state affairs with the princes and ministers, so I'm afraid it will take some time."

After saying that, he looked around again, and after confirming that no one was around, he said in a mosquito-like voice: "Young Master, when you arrive at Baishun Palace, find a place sheltered from the wind and stay quietly. Don't make any noise and upset the nobles."

After saying this, the eunuch led Chen Jiu forward quickly without saying another word.

Chen Jiu naturally wanted to find out more information, so he tried to take the initiative to talk to the young eunuch.

When the young eunuch heard this, he was extremely polite and said some things that made people feel happy, but there was no useful information at all. It seemed that his care for Chen Jiu was to just stay quietly.

Seeing this, Chen Jiu knew that it was useless to say more, and his mouth was dry, so he stopped talking and just followed the eunuch forward.

The two of them walked from dawn to full dawn. Chen Jiu's body, lacking water and food, had long been unable to walk, and now he was relying on his willpower to persevere.

Chen Jiu was lucky. Just when he couldn't hold on any longer, he finally arrived at Baishun Hall.

Baishun Hall is extremely large, at least dozens or even hundreds of times larger than the house that Chen Jiu shared.

Chen Jiu looked around the Baishun Palace. It was so cold, but there were still several windows open. No wonder the eunuch asked me to find a place sheltered from the wind.

The window was cleverly opened, allowing the wind to blow through the hall. There were very few places to block the wind, and the few good places were occupied. Chen Jiu said nothing, but thought to himself and chose a place facing east that was sheltered from the wind, hoping that it would be warmer when the sun came out later.

Chen Jiu had nothing to do, so he could only look around. He saw people gathered in groups of three or four to chat, and they were holding heaters in their hands. Only Chen Jiu had nothing, so he could only endure it.

However, Chen Jiu has long been accustomed to it. People are born different. The more you manage and the stronger your background, the more these servants will take care of you. There is nothing wrong with that.

Chen Jiu was so cold that he could only rub his hands vigorously and stuff them into his sleeves to warm himself up a little. He also took out a piece of ginseng and ate it to make himself feel a little more energetic.

Standing in a windproof place, I walked for a while at first. I didn't feel cold because the heat in my body had not dissipated. As time went by, my body became colder and colder. Although I was wearing very thick and warm clothes, my stomach was empty and I couldn't withstand the cold.

The longer he stayed, the colder it became. Finally, Chen Jiu was so cold that he could only pace back and forth to feel better.

Just as I, Chen Jiu, was walking around to warm myself up, I saw an old man sitting in a corner. The old man was also interesting. There was a chessboard in front of him, and he was holding a chess piece in his hand and muttering to himself.

Chen Jiu glanced at the chessboard from a distance and knew it was an endgame. He also saw the thinly dressed old man with a frown on his face, as if he was trying hard to think of a way to crack the game.

Watching from afar, the endgame was intricate but not difficult to solve. Chen Jiu had seen too many endgames, but after all, it was still far from the knowledge accumulated by modern people with the help of modern science for thousands of years. Chen Jiu only thought about it for a short while and already had a way to crack it.

In order to see the endgame clearly, Chen Jiu walked out from the sheltered place. He felt even colder now. The endgame was broken, and he lost interest. He hurried to the corner where the wind was blocked.

Perhaps the old man had spotted Chen Jiu. The old man in the distance looked at Chen Jiu and asked, "Can you play chess?"

"I know a little, but I'm not proficient in it." Chen Jiu said modestly when he saw the man asking.

The old man ignored Chen Jiu's words and continued, "You can break this situation." His tone sounded very confident.

Chen Jiu didn't dare to be arrogant, and said: "I have some ideas, but they may not be able to be broken."

After hearing this, the old man moved to the side, made room for him and said, "Come and try."

Chen Jiu happened to have nothing to do, so he walked to the old man, saw a cushion on the ground, picked it up and sat down.

Chen Jiu's behavior displeased the old man. He looked at Chen Jiu with disgust and said, "Whose child are you? You are so unruly and you are not afraid that I will kill you."

"You won't kill me." Chen Jiu said as he placed a chess piece.

It feels really good when you are pretending, but you are really panicked when you are really nervous. Chen Jiu kept regretting that he had acted and said something wrong. He was afraid that his life would be in danger this time.

Although he felt this way in his heart, he still pretended to be confident on the surface.

"Why wouldn't I kill you? I don't even look down on a mere Third Rank Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Even your father would be killed if I wanted to, let alone you."

The old man's tone was calm, but full of murderous intent, which made Chen Jiu, who was already shivering with cold, feel cold to the heart.

"A soldier, a soldier, a general would never kill an unarmed innocent civilian, much less a child."

Seeing that the old man was too murderous, Chen Jiu didn't dare to look at him. He could only lower his head and give the old man a compliment.

This made the old man look a little surprised. He looked at Chen Jiu and said, "What you said is true, but how can you be sure that I am a general? What if you are wrong?"

"The solemn and weathered aura about you is not possessed by the high officials in the capital. It can only be possessed by veterans who have experienced the baptism of war." It's always right to flatter people. Chen Jiu suppressed his fear, raised his head and said with a smile.

The old man didn't say anything after hearing this, but just put down the chess piece and urged Chen Jiu to move quickly.

The old man's chess skills were not very high, and this endgame was not too difficult to crack with a method. The game didn't take long and ended quickly.

When playing chess, one needs to concentrate fully. Chen Jiu didn't feel cold at all, but as soon as the game was over, he felt the chill eroding his body from all directions.

Chen Jiu shivered, stood up shakily, put a piece of ginseng in his mouth, and then moved his body around, and he felt much better.

Chen Jiu looked at the old man who was still staring at the chessboard and thinking seriously, bowed politely and said, "It is my honor to play chess with you. I hope I can receive your guidance in the future." After that, he prepared to return to the sheltered corner.

"It's better to play another game today than today." After saying that, he waved his hand, and the eunuch next to him immediately brought over a new chessboard.

Chen Jiu looked at the eunuch's agility and couldn't help wondering who this eunuch was that could act so recklessly in the palace. Unfortunately, Chen Jiu didn't know much about this world and really couldn't guess.

The old man made a move and urged, "One more game."

Seeing the old man's posture, Chen Jiu knew he couldn't escape this round today. He could only smile bitterly and said, "Playing against a master like you requires all my strength, but I accidentally fell into the water earlier and haven't recovered yet. I'm freezing all over now. Playing against you in my current condition is really not in line with my chess philosophy. I'll play against you another day when I'm better. What do you think?"

The old man looked at Chen Jiu's trembling body, chattering teeth and purple lips, grabbed Chen Jiu's hand, and felt a strange thing flowing into Chen Jiu's body. All of a sudden, his whole body was no longer cold, and even a little hot.

Seeing that Chen Jiu was no longer cold, the old man asked someone to bring some food and charcoal over.

Chen Jiu kept swallowing his saliva as he looked at the hot food in front of him, but thinking of the instructions from his master and the housekeeper, he could only watch and not dare to eat.

Seeing Chen Jiu didn't move, the old man said speechlessly: "You are here to select ministers, not to attend court. You don't need to follow their court rules."

"I dare not refuse the gift from the elder. I would like to thank you, old man." Then he took the food and ate it in an elegant but extremely fast manner.

Just as I was enjoying my meal, a voice, neither too loud nor too soft, came from a corner: "He's quite clever, actually dragging others to play chess."

Chen Jiu didn't get angry after hearing this. He just smiled at the old man and said, "Grandpa, do you blame me?"

"I won't blame you if you win this game, but you probably can't win this one." The old man said and placed a piece.

"Grandpa, have you ever heard the saying, 'He who laughs last laughs best'? Grandpa, don't be complacent too soon." After saying that, Chen Jiu placed a piece slowly.

After a fierce battle for a while, Chen Jiu placed his last piece and said, "Grandpa is so generous that he can't bear to punish me. I thank you."

The old man looked at the chessboard where Chen Jiu had won half a piece and said excitedly, "Let's play another game."

After playing several games with the old man, Chen Jiu controlled the game very well. The two won and lost sometimes, and each time the difference was only one and a half pieces.

The old man was very satisfied with the rain. He looked at the sun high in the sky and said, "I have something to do today. I will find you tomorrow."

After saying that, it disappeared. It really disappeared, literally.

Chen Jiu was genuinely shocked to see a living person disappear from his sight. Just as he was about to ask the people around him if they had seen anything, a eunuch came running over with a plate in his hand and said, "Congratulations, young lady! This is your jade token, used when entering and leaving the palace."

Hearing this, those in the corners first sighed with regret, and then came over to congratulate with a sense of relief. Looking at their sincere looks, it felt that the future days might not be easy, but for such a good job, Chen Jiu would not be afraid even if it meant going through mountains of swords and seas of fire.

After becoming a noble, he no longer took the original carriage back. Chen Jiu took the carriage arranged by the palace. Someone went to the front early to clear the way. Although it was noon and there were many people outside the palace, it did not take more time to go back than when he came in the middle of the night.

Predict what will happen in the future, and listen to the next decomposition.