The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Lu Song countered with a question.

Upon hearing this, Yang's eyes lit up immediately.

"Master, it's all thanks to you for coming up with so many clever ideas."

After Lu Wei was released from prison, he began to prepare for the county examination with all his heart. With Lu Wei's current talent, he was more than capable of passing the preliminary examination, and even passing the county examination would not be a problem.

However, the chances of passing the imperial examinations are slim if one wants to continue pursuing higher levels of study.

After all, Lu Wei is only about fourteen years old at most.

However, the imperial examination system was like this: one had to study and take the exam at the same time.

Zhou Chu originally intended to place Lin Zhi in the Lu family's household, alongside Lu Wei, so that Lu Wei could supervise his studies.

Lin Zhi's fighting skills are very poor; he can't beat anyone who knows a little bit of martial arts.

During his years in prison, Lu Wei did nothing but study and practice martial arts.

Because he couldn't use the herbal medicine, his martial arts skills were far inferior to Zhou Chu's, but he was more than capable of dealing with Lin Zhi.

However, seeing that the boy was about to take the county exam, Zhou Chu didn't disturb him.

The main problem is that Lin Zhi is used to being lawless. If he were placed in the Lu family, the Lu family would know his identity and naturally wouldn't dare to discipline him.

Not everyone dares to hit someone like Zhou Chu does.

So Zhou Chu arranged for Lin Zhi to stay in another courtyard, and asked Xiao Dao to keep an eye on him to prevent him from sneaking out.

Of course, it's impossible to monitor him day and night. If this kid runs out in the middle of the night, Zhou Chu has plenty of ways to deal with him.

Moreover, keeping Lin Zhi locked up all this time is not Zhou Chu's style. If he wants this kid to turn over a new leaf, he naturally has to make him completely convinced of his worth.

Right now, they're only outwardly convinced but inwardly dissatisfied; they can't beat themselves.

He felt the same way about himself, the princess, and Lin Yao. If anyone could truly convince him, they would have already taught him a lesson.

Simply locking this kid up won't make him truly submit.

Sure enough, the kid didn't disappoint Zhou Chu's expectations. He didn't even wait until the next day; he sneaked out the very night he moved in.

However, with gold and wealth at her disposal, how could Lin Zhi possibly escape Zhou Chu's sight?

Every few days, Zhou Chu would take Chu Liu to gamble with Wang Cai.

Wang Cai was generous and magnanimous, and Zhou Chu got along very well with him, never asking him for money on his own initiative.

So he waved his hand and gave Zhou Chu a lot of money, so that Zhou Chu could buy a house.

Zhao Hu is a gambler who has been away from the capital for a long time and has already sold his house there.

After acquiring this house, Zhou Chu became more cautious and instructed Jin Youcai's men to keep an eye on Wang Cai. If Wang Cai wanted to go find Zhao Hu and Ma Hong, the two of them would immediately disguise themselves and go there.

Wang Cai rarely visited in person. Instead, he would send a servant to the gatehouse to deliver a message to Zhou Chu, informing him that a gambling game had been arranged and the date was set. The person in charge of guarding the gatehouse was another apprentice of Jin Youcai, and Zhou Chu had given him and Jin Youcai a considerable amount of silver.

Although Jin Youcai was willing to do things for me, he couldn't accept less money than he was owed.

Otherwise, if this continues, Jin Youcai might not complain, but his subordinates would probably be unhappy.

Things are different now. Not only Jin Youcai, but all the other Rongmen people in the capital are sincerely working for Zhou Chu.

Working for Zhou Chu really brings benefits, and quite a lot at that. Who wouldn't want to follow someone like that?

These江湖 (jianghu) people are extremely loyal; once they've chosen you, they'll never easily betray you.

Of course, only Jin Youcai knew the specific details of Wang Cai's affair, and only the gatekeeper knew a little about it; no one else knew.

On the day Lin Zhi ran away, Zhou Chu had just come down from a gambling game when Jin Youcai told him that Lin Zhi had run away.

Zhou Chu wasn't in a hurry. He took Chu Liu and the other two and removed their makeup.

"Where did that kid go?"

Zhou Chu asked.

"The Imperial Music Bureau".

Upon hearing Jin Youcai's words, Zhou Chu immediately shook his head.