Zhenguan: I, Dou Fengjie, will not be the first cuckold.

After acquiring another camel and a figurine of a foreign man leading it, Dou Fengjie tried his best not to directly exchange valuable items, aside from the grain given to the Zhen official's office.

Who knows if the system will malfunction again and produce some weird stuff?

A donkey is indeed very good, but it is ultimately not a horse.

To be honest, Dou Fengjie had some doubts about whether A-Lu was really a live donkey. He was a little too clever for his own good.

Li Dejian, the Crown Prince's Attendant, led an old servant into Longzheng Ward to express his gratitude to Dou Fengjie for his achievements.

"I have successfully suppressed the news."

Li Dejian picked up a piece of dark red duck with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed.

With just one bite, Li Dejian's eyes widened, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, yet he couldn't bear to spit out the duck piece in his mouth.

Is this what Dou Fengjie meant by "mildly spicy"?

Li Dejian felt that he could faintly hear his great-grandmother calling him.

But this tastes really good!

The skin and flesh are crispy and fragrant, with a perfect balance of aroma, spiciness, sweetness, numbing sensation, and saltiness. It's dry but not tough, and even though it's so spicy that he sticks out his tongue, Li Dejian doesn't stop eating.

Fortunately, Dou Fengjie had prepared a bucket of cooled boiled water and thoughtfully squeezed some lemon juice into it. Drinking a bowl of it was refreshing and relieved the spiciness.

This is Tanzhou's specialty braised duck. It's only mildly spicy for locals, but it's incredibly spicy for outsiders.

I don't know why the braised duck wasn't slightly spicy.

What Dou Fengjie wanted was the savory, savory, and tender roasted duck with fruitwood flavor from Youzhou, but the delivery system unexpectedly produced a braised duck instead.

Dou happy, with her cravings, had lips that were burning from the spiciness, but she still insisted on eating the duck leg.

"Amitabha! That is Buddha!"

Among the monks of Fahai Temple, separated by only a wall, inevitably one or two would smell the aroma and their mouths would water.

After years of arduous spiritual practice, one still harbors desires for food and drink. Hasn't one's Buddhist practice been in vain?

"The monk next door smelled the aroma of duck, and even the Bodhisattva would jump over the wall."

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but Buddha sits in the heart."

"Besides, in our Great Tang Dynasty, duck is not considered meat."

Dou Fengjie patiently and skillfully guided him.

Because singing and dancing are forbidden during the mourning period, the thought of "Come on, let's have fun! We have plenty of time!" was ultimately not uttered.

Li Dejian laughed: "Luckily you haven't taken your mourning leave yet, otherwise, the whole mansion would be full of wine and meat."

They're all restless people; of course they know how to disgust others.

The temple abbot Daozhen's angry shouts could be faintly heard: "You dare to listen to the temptations of Moro?"

"To attain Stream-entry, one must sever the eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, body, and mind."

Dou Fengjie smiled, thinking that Daozhen's Buddhist knowledge was nothing more than this.

"If you see me as Buddha, then you are Buddha."

"If you see me as Mara, then you are Mara."

Dou Fengjie casually composed a couple of lines and then ignored Daozhen.

"My dear brother, you are truly talented. Your casual remark is a profound truth of Buddhism, putting to shame those who sit in meditation in vain and gain nothing."

Li Dejian smiled.

However, his visit today is secondary; his future is the most important thing.

Of course, Miao'er's placement is also a problem.

"Brother must leave the Eastern Palace as soon as possible to avoid being implicated in any unforeseen circumstances."

"As for Miao'er, I suggest she become a female Taoist priest and wait a few years before returning to secular life and getting married."

Dou Fengjie bluntly pointed out Li Dejian's predicament.

Given his father Li Jing's achievements, Li Dejian didn't need to earn any merits, nor should he have any deep connection with the Crown Prince.

As for Miao'er, she should just lay low for a couple of years.

Perhaps the fact that she is a female Taoist priest will make her even more sought after.

The old snakeskin men of the Tang Dynasty had all sorts of strange and wonderful tastes.

Li Dejian's eyes flickered; he knew that once the Eastern Palace of the Tang Dynasty was deposed, it was likely to happen again.

Fine traditions are memories etched into our very bones; they are difficult to erase.

Li Dejian drank a bowl of lemon juice and cooled boiled water, stopped eating the braised duck, and gave Dou Fengjie a deep look: "Is there any way to cure my father's leg ailment?"

Li Jing, when leading troops, always shared weal and woe with his comrades. During the battle against the Turks, he was further affected by the severe cold, and his legs swelled up quite badly.

Otherwise, even if he begged to retire, Li Shimin would still have to release him!

Dou Fengjie remained silent for a while before slowly speaking: "It may not be incurable, the key is whether the Duke of Dai himself is willing to receive treatment."

"As for painkillers, I can provide some each month."

The system also provided ibuprofen, which could alleviate some of Li Jing's pain.

All the medicines in the Weihuo system have been repackaged, using the now-common porcelain bottles as containers, making it impossible to find fault with them.

Li Dejian sighed deeply: "Painkillers will do."

The problem that Dou Fengjie pointed out is the most frustrating.

If Li Jing hadn't had a leg ailment, given his abilities and prestige, he would inevitably have been suspected of overshadowing his lord with his achievements.

Even more critically, although Li Jing was not included in the clan genealogy of the Imperial Clan Court, the Sanyuan Li clan was indeed descended from the Longxi Li clan, and thus shared the same origin as the imperial family.

This made people even more wary; a narrow-minded ruler would have already sacrificed Li Jing to the heavens.

"Every medicine has some degree of toxicity. Brother, you must remember that there should be at least a two-quarters interval between taking painkillers and regular decoctions to avoid any adverse interactions between the drugs."

Dou Fengjie gave a serious account.

Li Dejian nodded and noted down all the taboos.

If side effects occur, stop taking the medication immediately.

In particular, you should be especially careful if it produces strange or unusual side effects.

Otherwise, even if you recover from the illness, you might lose your family fortune.

"Although we are of different surnames, we are as close as brothers."

"There's no need to go through the sworn brotherhood ceremony, but if needed, just send someone to Pingkangfang to find me."

Li Dejian said earnestly.

The biggest drawback of Wagang was that it tarnished the sworn brotherhood.

Throughout the Tang Dynasty, the Wagang people were scattered in different groups, ignoring each other completely.

Qin Shubao, Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, and Wu Heita are in cahoots;

Li Shiji, Guo Xiaoke, and Zhang Liang are in cahoots;

Liu Dewei and the others kept to their own business and rarely got involved in other matters.

Li Shiji's original name was Xu Shiji. During the Wude era, he was granted the surname Li and included in the clan genealogy of the Imperial Clan Court. After Li Shimin's death, the character "Shi" was omitted to avoid taboo, and he became Li Ji.

Li Dejian's inquiry to Dou Fengjie was actually a decision he was making about his own wavering direction.

After Li Jing returned to Pingkangfang to live out his days in retirement, he also considered leaving the Eastern Palace and going to the Imperial Workshop, which had many affairs, to seek a position as a sixth-rank assistant in charge of the Imperial Workshop.

-----------------

Inside the Liangyi Hall, the foot warmer was steaming, and Li Shimin, dressed in casual clothes, sat opposite Yu Shinan, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, enjoying tea.

"Young Master, please try this. It's a top-quality compressed tea from Huzhou in western Zhejiang. It's mild and delicious."

Li Shimin smiled.

"As we get older, the flavors on our palates become less appealing, and only strong salt and spice can stimulate our appetite."

"But if the flavor is too strong, my stomach can't handle it. It's a dilemma."

Yu Shinan sighed.

"It's rare to see the Junior Supervisor voluntarily enter the Liangyi Hall. Is there some difficulty? Could you perhaps slightly adjust Yu Chang's rank?"

Li Shimin took a sip of tea with relish.

Yu Shinan slowly took a sip of tea: "My son is not very talented, so it is better for him to slowly gain experience and hone his character."

"Recently, while I was strolling around the various districts, I happened to see a young man whose calligraphy was quite unique. It was vigorous and slender, and each character had a strong and resolute quality."

"Of course, his calligraphy is not yet fully developed and still needs further refinement. Therefore, I would like to take him as my last disciple."

Li Shimin immediately became interested.

As a master of the Feibai style, Li Shimin also had a profound understanding of calligraphy, but he was not as good as Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun and a few others.