Adoption brings disaster

For a teacher, a promotion and a raise in salary are not good news. However, my current promotion and raise in salary does not mean adding more work or salary, adding more responsibilities or benefits, or adding more status or grievances. It is naturally great news.

I was so happy to receive such good news that I naturally wanted to share it with others. The final listener must be one of the protagonists of this good news, His Highness Liushui.

I was so happy that I couldn't wait any longer. When I got back to the palace, I went straight to Baidai Pavilion.

But I didn't find Liushui. The palace servants of Baidai Pavilion told me that Liushui Qing had gone out early and never came back.

I originally wanted to wait for Liu Shuiqing to come back at Baidai Pavilion, but because I had to do something, I got up early today, and I stayed up too late yesterday to arrange things. Now I am really sleepy, so I thought about going back to Qianqiu Pavilion to catch up on some sleep, and then tell Liu Shuiqing the good news handsomely.

As soon as I returned to Qianqiu Pavilion, the manager came up to me and told me that Liu Shuiqing had been waiting for me for a long time.

After the steward finished his report, he noticed that I looked a little tired, so he asked tentatively, "I have asked, and Liu Shuiqing didn't have anything to ask Your Highness. He just said that he and Your Highness had an appointment to play chess. Your Highness looked a little tired. Should Liu Shuiqing go back first and wait for Your Highness to rest, and then play another day?"

"A man without integrity cannot stand. Since we've already made an appointment, we can't break it." I said, "Besides, even if I'm not in good shape, I'm not afraid."

After meeting Liu Shuiqing, I had the chessboard set up and everyone was dismissed. Liu Shuiqing and I then played chess intermittently.

I was very sleepy and didn't really feel like playing chess. Liu Shuiqing's suggestion of playing chess was just an excuse, so I had no intention of playing either.

Seeing him like this, I immediately lost the desire to share. I just casually played two games with Liu Shui in a row without saying a word. Finally, Liu Shui Qing couldn't hold it in any longer and asked, "How is the matter we talked about before going?"

Seeing that he didn't care about me at all, my heart ached. I scolded him with a smile, "You don't care about me at all, you only care about what you ask me to do. You use people forward and don't use them backward. When black-hearted capitalists see you, they have to call you Big Brother."

"The Crown Prince hasn't let me leave the palace these past few days. I don't know anything about what's going on outside the palace. I'm so worried." Liu Shuiqing said, "My dear Qianqiu, please tell me."

"The one who has something wrong is my dear Qianqiu. I don't see you being so affectionate to me on ordinary days." I said with pretended resentment.

Seeing that Liu Shui couldn't speak, Qianxi also hurriedly said: "Your Highness Qianqiu, my prince is just tongue-tied and doesn't know how to say it. He likes Your Highness Qianqiu the most in his heart."

After Qianxi finished speaking, he saw Liushui scratching his head anxiously. Fearing that Liushui might get hurt, he added, "His Highness Qianqiu is willing to do such a difficult task as resettling the refugees for my prince. His Highness Qianqiu also likes my prince very much. His Highness Qianqiu, please stop keeping us in suspense and tell us quickly."

I found Qianxi's protective look quite interesting, and wanted to tease him, so I said, "Qianxi, your Highness is about to leave the palace. What are your plans?"

Qianxi had never thought about this before, and was a little confused when I asked her this question. She subconsciously said, "What plans do I have? Regardless of the rules or anything else, it's my responsibility to follow His Highness out of the palace."

"Why don't you stay at the palace? I'll go talk to the Seventh Prince and ask him to leave you to me. You all know the Seventh Prince's methods. This little thing shouldn't be a piece of cake."

I'm trying to poach someone, so naturally I have to offer some benefits. I added, "Following me is definitely better than following Liu Shuiqing. Among other things, I'll give you ten times your monthly salary. I've recently acquired a farm with two hundred acres of beautiful paddy fields. If you just follow me, I'll give you all of this."

"Qianqiu, how could you do this? I only have Qianxi, and you want to snatch her from me." It seemed that Liu Shuiqing was so angry that he was about to cry.

"I've already done something as difficult as resettling refugees, and you're the only one who wants me to be your slave. How could I be asking for more?" I continued with a malicious tone, "Besides, ask yourself, isn't it better for Qianxi to follow me than you? At least she won't have to suffer any injustice."

These words were so heartbreaking that Liu Shuiqing shed tears and said, "I know it's difficult to resettle the refugees, and only Qianqiu can do it, but Qianxi is different. If Qianqiu wants something else, as long as I have it, I'm willing to give it to you."

"Why don't you sleep with me? I haven't slept well these past few days."

My tongue slipped and as soon as the words came out, I wanted to slap myself twice. If Liu Shuiqing admitted it, I would see how I would end up. I am a straight man, and the most I would do is sleep with him literally.

"Ah." Liu Shuiqing was stunned and tangled for a long time, and finally said with a resigned expression, "Your Highness Qianqiu has deep feelings for me. If, if..."

Qianxi saw that I was a little flustered after hearing Liushui's answer, and naturally knew that I was teasing Liushui, so he quickly said to Liushui: "Your Highness, His Highness Qianqiu was just joking."

Liu Shuiqing looked at me and immediately understood. He blushed and said, "Qianqiu, how could you do this?"

I was also extremely embarrassed, so I quickly changed the subject and said, "I have some extremely good news, would you like to hear it?"

Liu Shuiqing was also a little embarrassed and naturally wanted to change the subject, so he quickly agreed: "Okay, what good news? I want to hear it too."

"I met His Majesty at the city gate today. I asked His Majesty to promote Liu Shuiqing to the title of Qingfu, and His Majesty approved it."

"Your Majesty, have you really agreed?" Qianxi was a little excited.

Liu Shuiqing was also very happy, but he didn't care much about fame and fortune. He continued to ask, "Thank you for your hard work, Qianqiu. How are the refugees being resettled? If they haven't been resettled, I really can't bear to celebrate so loudly at this time."

"Your Highness." Qianxi was a little anxious. "Of course, only after this matter is accomplished, Your Highness Qianqiu can ask His Majesty for a reward."

"Is it done?" Liu Shuiqing looked at me excitedly.

"According to my original plan, it would have taken at least half a month to complete this task. However, His Majesty happened to see my plan yesterday and took advantage of it, so it has already been accomplished."

"It's done, it's done." Liu Shuiqing repeated these two words over and over again with shining eyes, looking like he was bewildered, just like Fan Jin who passed the imperial examination.

I was afraid that he was really bewitched, so I took Liu Shuiqing's hand and said with a lecherous look, "I'm very sleepy now. Liu Shuiqing, please go to bed with me."

Liu Shuiqing subconsciously stepped back, then followed me obediently.

Seeing that this didn't seem to scare him, I gently stroked Liu Shuiqing's face with my fingers, and said like a pervert, "Liu Shuiqing's skin is really as smooth as cream, so smooth that it can be blown away. I really like it."

Liu Shuiqing was a little scared, and his eyes gradually regained some spirit. I was just about to tell him something shocking to scare Liu Shuiqing and make him spit out the phlegm, and he would be fine naturally.

Just as I was about to put my hand down from Liu Shuiqing's collar, Qianxi rushed up, knocked my hand away, pulled Liu Shuiqing up and was about to walk out.

Liu Shuiqing was not fully conscious at the moment, and when he was pulled like this, he fell straight to the ground. However, Qianxi was cushioning him when he fell, so he was not injured.

This fall also woke Liu Shuiqing up. He looked at Qianxi, who was wailing under him, and me, who was standing beside him at a loss, and asked, "What happened?"

"You were too excited just now, and the phlegm made you lose your mind." I said, "I just wanted to scare you to help you get rid of the phlegm. Your Qianxi was eager to protect her master and tried to pull you away, but you fell, and then this happened."

When Qianxi saw Liushui conscious, he cried miserably, "Your Highness, please get up quickly! You're going to crush me to death."

Liu Shuiqing quickly got up, pulled Qianxi up and looked at him carefully. He was relieved when he found that he was not hurt.

"You two are not master and servant, you are clearly brothers," I said.

"As far as I can remember, Qianxi has always been by my side. After entering the palace, other servants were afraid of being implicated by me, so they all stayed away from me. Only Qianxi has always been with me. We have been brothers for a long time, so Qianxi cannot be given to you. Your Highness Qianqiu hopes you will forgive me."

"You were born into a noble family and are a minister of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How could you be so miserable that the word 'implicated' is used?" I said with some confusion.

Liu Shuiqing only smiled bitterly, while Qianxi said indignantly, "Not everyone lives as comfortably as His Highness Qianqiu. Not to mention my Highness, even the princes and princesses in the palace have miserable lives. It's just that His Highness Qianqiu doesn't know it."

I thought about what A Da said when I first met the Seventh Prince, that princes and princesses fought a lot, and then I read some books and watched TV dramas in my previous life, so I understood it instantly.

I was also somewhat disgusted by this kind of thing, so I said bitterly: "These rootless slaves are the best at looking at people and treating them as they please. If they don't have a backer and are not strong enough, these slaves will bully their masters at will."

After saying this, he felt that I was hinting at Liu Shui, so he quickly added, "Besides, these slaves are barefoot and have no fear of wearing shoes. After all, their lives are worthless and the worst that can happen is death. However, those masters who are not favored and have no backing often have concerns and will naturally endure it if they can. The more they endure, the more daring these slaves will be to bully them."

"Qianqiu is a sensible person. No wonder you can live so well in this cannibalistic imperial city."

I'm not a smart person, but as a teacher for so many years, I understand the evil and cowardice in people's hearts best. You have to be nice to him, but you can't just be nice to him. You have to hit him from time to time so that the affection can last long.

But I didn't want to talk about this topic either, so I added, "The past cannot be retrieved. It's enough that no one bullies you now."

"Qianqiu." Liu Shuiqing said hesitantly.

"What's wrong?" I was a little confused by Liu Shuiqing's sudden behavior.

"No, nothing." Liu Shuiqing's ears turned red with embarrassment.

"If you have anything to say, just tell me. Why don't you two have anything to do with each other?" I looked at Qianxi and said smartly, "Is it inconvenient for Qianxi to be here? Qianxi, please go out. I want to talk to Liu Shuiqing about something."

"No." Liu Shuiqing blushed. "It's really nothing. I just called you. Thank you for resettling the refugees and for helping me get my father back."

"Your Highness, please just say it directly. Your Highness Qianqiu will agree."

"Get out." Liu Shuiqing was a little annoyed. "The master is talking, who told you to interrupt? Get out."

Liu Shuiqing's attempt to hide something made me even more curious. I looked at Qianxi and said, "Qianxi, tell me."

Qianxi naturally wanted to tell me when I asked, but Liu Shuiqing was furious. He stood up and pointed outside, shouting, "Get out."

Liu Shui's roar was so loud that the servants in the distance heard the sound, stopped what they were doing, and looked over here.

Qianxi's eyes turned red after being yelled at, and she cried, "Your Highness, now, besides asking His Highness Qianqiu for the money, where else can you go?"

Liu Shuiqing glanced at me and then shrank back like a little rabbit.

"There's no shortage of food and drink in this palace. If I remember correctly, Liu Shuiqing doesn't have much demand for material things, so why would he need money?"

"Your Highness has reached adulthood and will soon be leaving the palace to build his own residence. According to custom, Your Highness will reward these servants. There are also several maids who followed Your Highness into the palace, and Your Highness will also need to prepare dowries for them. Originally, Your Highness had enough money, but with the refugee issue, Your Highness now has no money at all."

Although I'm not a generous person, I'm not stingy with Liu Shuiqing either. Besides, this is an inevitable expense, so I said generously, "How much silver do you need?"

"If it is convenient for Your Highness, three to five thousand taels would be best. If it is not convenient, one to two thousand would also be fine."

"Your Highness Qianqiu has spent so much money on resettling the refugees, how could he have any money left to help us?" Liu Shuiqing scolded, "Qianxi, your behavior is truly unkind and unjust."

"Is the house you will live in after leaving the palace ready?" I ignored what Liu Shuiqing said and continued to ask.

"It's ready. It's not far from the Poor Clinic. I can go and help out if I have nothing to do on weekdays."

"How can you live near a poor medical clinic?" I said angrily. "The Crown Prince is really unbearable. If you live there, he will lose all face. He didn't even arrange accommodation for you."

"It was arranged on West Street, but I sold it to buy food to help the disaster victims." Liu Shuiqing didn't dare to look at me, and spoke in a mosquito-like voice with his head down.

"Alright, even if I don't have any money, I can always come up with this little bit of silver." I said, "You guys go back today, and I'll have someone send the silver to you tomorrow."

After saying this, I was afraid that Liu Shuiqing would use the silver to help the disaster victims, so I said, "Let me tell you first, what this silver is for you, you know it yourself, don't use it to buy food again."

To be honest, I still have some silver in my hand, but it is the wages of the escorts and craftsmen. I can't embezzle it, so I have to ask the Seventh Prince for it. But for some reason, the Seventh Prince refused to agree after knowing that it was for Liu Shuiqing. In the end, I got the silver after begging for a long time. It was really strange.

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