Placid Chang'an

On the day of departure, Su Lan hosted a banquet to see Prince Ning off. All the officials in Yangzhou came to say goodbye, but Lin Zongqing did not show up on the grounds that the new official was familiar with government affairs.

Although he didn't come, Prince Ning didn't forget him, and immediately sent someone to send a plaque with "diligent government for the people" with a sentence "Master Lin is strict with self-discipline, and he is really an example for all officials".

This shows that he is suddenly magnanimous and not as knowledgeable as that old man.

This is the second thing... Li Shi looked at the trembling row of small officials below, and he probably scolded him in his heart. It's fine if Lin Zongqing doesn't come by himself, and drags them all into the water. Lin Zongqing is diligent in serving the people, and they don't Is it all AWOL?

Su Cen couldn't help helping his forehead. Prince Ning plucked his hair and took away 3000 taels of gold from Yangzhou City. Before he left, he made old man Lin sick. He could imagine the teacher looking at this plaque with a beard so angry look.

After drinking for three rounds, Prince Ning had been eating and drinking at Su's house for so long, so he naturally wanted to express something by directly asking Su Lan what favor he wanted.

Su Lan got up and took two steps back, and saluted Li Shi.

"The lord doesn't dislike the humble house, and he is willing to come here, which really makes the humble house flourish. The grassroots dare not ask for any extravagant rewards," the conversation changed, "but the grassroots do have something to ask for. My younger brother never went to school in order to study in the early years. Regarding the matter of children, now we have reached the age of marriage, and my younger brother is stupid, Caomin wants to ask the prince to make the decision, and assign a marriage to my younger brother."

Su Cen raised his head abruptly.

The eldest brother never worried about his marriage, and told him again and again, don't pay attention to the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers, if you want to find someone who is truly devoted to you, family background and the like are not important.

So and so... I'm afraid the eldest brother saw something and wanted to force Li Shi to give an explanation in public?

The officials below joked one after another, Mr. Su is young and talented, and he is young and promising. I am afraid that all the matchmakers who come to the door have broken through the threshold. Do you still worry about not being able to find a girl's house?

But seeing Prince Ning in the main hall put away his chopsticks, took a piece of handkerchief and wiped his mouth, his face was obviously unhappy.

Seeing this, everyone at the table put down their chopsticks one after another, and there was no sound for a while.

Su Cen coughed lightly, and took the lead in smoothing things over, "I've only been in Beijing for less than a year, and a lot of miscellaneous things have disturbed me. I haven't settled down yet, so there's no rush."

"There are three ways to be unfilial, and the greatest thing is to have no offspring." Su Lan glared at her younger brother, "Now that your parents are old, if you don't think about yourself, you should also think about them."

Su Cen sneaked a glance at Li Shi, suddenly felt that the situation was really not good, and hurriedly persuaded him, "Brother, I..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Shi opened his mouth, "You are old, do you have someone you like?"

Su Cen looked over suddenly.

Li Shi didn't hide from those eyes, and even smiled a little, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and asked, "What do you think of the youngest daughter of He Zhongqing's family, the servant of the Ministry of Rites?"

"Your official..." Su Cen bit her lip, "Your official doesn't like it."

"Oh?" Li Shi raised his eyebrows, and said again: "What about the granddaughter of Mr. Sun's family?"

"No, my subordinate."

"Zixu..." Su Lan called out.

"You have a big tone," Li Shi couldn't help laughing, "Could it be possible that you still want a princess?"

"Don't bother your lord and elder brother." Su Cen let out a sigh of relief, "I really have my own heart."

Everyone: "..."

"It's just that person, a relative of the emperor, has a high status, and I can't afford it." Su Cen stared at the person in the hall without squinting, "I don't care about him now, when I give up, I can think about other things. "

Su Cen gave a deep bow to him: "I've finished eating, I'll take my leave first."

Everyone stared dumbfounded at this Mr. Su straightened his waist and got up to leave, unexpectedly leaving the seat boldly before the lord left.

Seeing that there was no anger on Prince Ning's face, there was an indescribably deep meaning in the eyes of the figure who was chasing the man away.

Su Cen had nowhere to go out of the hall, so he walked casually, and came to the pond where Li Shi often fished before, asked someone to ask for some fish food, and squatted by the pond to feed the fish.

After entering the winter water, the number of daphnia and duckweed decreased a lot. As soon as they saw something to eat on the water, the fish scrambled to get out. For a while, the water surface was like a pot exploded, colorful and noisy.

Su Cen was in the middle of feeding, when he noticed someone coming behind him, he looked back and couldn't help but be taken aback, "The banquet is over?"

"It's gone." Li Shi came over with his hands behind his back, "I sent them back to work hard for the people."

Su Cen smiled.

Li Shidao: "Why, are you in trouble?"

Su Cen lowered his head and continued to feed the fish, "It's not difficult."

"Then how did you go?"

Su Cen thought for a while, spilled all the fish food in his hand into the pond, stood up and clapped his hands, looked at the red carp and white crucian carp that was full of the pond, and said, "Look, my thoughts are just like these fish, Sinking to the bottom of the water, I will never see the light of day. Suddenly one day you want me to be exposed to the public, and I will inevitably feel a little bit uneasy."

Su Cen watched the fish return to the bottom of the pond after eating the fish food, smiled and said: "Don't worry, I know my identity, I will hide those things that I shouldn't think about, and sink to the bottom of the water again , don't show up anymore. I don't want to prove anything by not getting married, I just... just..."

At the end of the words, she was almost choked up, and Su Cen realized that she was tense to the extreme, and her whole body was trembling slightly.

He knows in his heart that no matter how much he pays, he will not get an equal return from Li Shi. Maybe he will be promoted to a higher position, maybe he will get a high salary, or even give you a good marriage, but it will never be justifiable. stand behind him.

You take a deal seriously, and someone stays awake.

Li Shi sighed, and took him into his arms, "Okay, I understand."

Su Cen shook his head and insisted on finishing that sentence.

"I just... I can't hold other people in my heart."

Early the next morning, a group of people boarded a boat at the ferry outside Yangzhou City and set off for Beijing.

Different from the ship they came on, the return trip was an official ship.Although with the lessons learned from the previous dynasties, there have been many restrictions on the specifications of official ships since the founding of the country, but the ship they are on is undoubtedly the highest specification.

The ship is three stories high, and the bedrooms are as comfortable as the most prosperous inn in Yangzhou City. There is a study room, a tea room, and an observation deck on the top floor. When you climb to the top of the ship, you can have a panoramic view of the Tangtang River. The long river meets the sunset, and the waves are magnificent.

In addition to the main ship, there are four buildings on the front, back, left, and right sides, which are heavily guarded, mainly to protect the safety of the main ship and prevent other merchant ships from approaching.

Su Cen couldn't help sighing, it's no wonder that the previous dynasty would perish because of a canal. They were on the boat, and everything they did was worth money. This trip will cost countless money, and it's hard to imagine the scene of thousands of dragon boats sailing together.

It was getting late and the wind was blowing on the river. When Su Cen came down from the watchtower, he saw a little eunuch passing by with a tray, and he didn't even say hello.

Su Cen clicked tut twice, where did he recruit his servants, he didn't understand the etiquette, but fortunately he had a lot of adults, so he didn't care about these servants.Just as he was about to turn around, he stopped abruptly.

After thinking carefully, Su Cen turned around and caught up.

The little eunuch probably thought he had escaped, and wandered towards the back kitchen. He took a piece of hibiscus cake from the tray and before stuffing it into the corner of his mouth, he heard a sudden voice from behind: "Stop!"

The little eunuch was taken aback, threw the plate and ran away, only to hear the person behind him say unhurriedly: "You run, and after running away, I will tell Qi Lin that there is an assassin on board, and let him come and catch him himself."

The little eunuch struggled a bit, but could only turn around and grinned at Su Cen: "Brother Su..."

It was Qu Linger.

Su Cen frowned, "Come with me!"

After returning to the room and closing the door, Su Cen sat down at the table, and asked Qu Ling'er as if he was opening a case, "What about recuperating in Yangzhou? What are you doing here?"

Qu Ling'er turned her peachy eyes: "Brother Su, I don't worry about you. Beijing is dangerous, and you don't know kung fu. I can't protect you. And Ah Fu, I haven't seen him for a long time. I miss him."

Su Cen watched coldly, and tapped the table with his index finger, with an expression of "you continue to make up, I'll see if I can make a flower".

Qu Ling'er sighed, it was as if he was playing tricks in front of his brother Su with his brains.

"Speaking of which, it's your fault," Qu Ling'er sat down across from Su Cen, "I planned to live in Yangzhou, but I accidentally found out that you deducted two months' salary from Brother Qi!"

Su Cen: "..."

Qu Ling'er's face was filled with righteous indignation: "You said I won't go back, what will brother Qi eat? He looks like he doesn't have any savings. This incident happened because of me. I can't watch him go hungry for two months, can I? And Brother Qi is so simple and honest, if I don't go back, what will you do if you bully him behind your back?"

Honest, you good mother, Su Cen rolled his eyes, Qi Lin's appearance, from the strands of hair to the toenails, does it have any meaning to be compatible with honest and honest?

Qu Ling'er unconsciously continued: "Brother Su is really wrong this time, you can't always bully us honest people just because of your intelligence. I think you have to apologize to Brother Qi for this matter, you If you’re really embarrassed, I’ll go and talk for you, but it’s better to give him another two months’ salary.”

Dare to feel that he has no benefits at all, and he has to pay two months' salary. What is good intentions like a donkey's liver and lungs? Su Cen was hurt by the liver of this little white-eyed wolf, wondering if it would be too late to pack him up and sink him in the river ?

Qu Ling'er laughed and leaned forward, "Brother Su, you see that you have found me now, can I change this clothes?"

Su Cen glanced at Qu Ling'er's eunuch's uniform she got from somewhere, and sneered, "It's pretty good, let's wear it."

"I don't, this kind of clothes is unlucky, it's easy to lose things when you wear them," Qu Ling'er said as she began to take them off, "Brother Su, help me find some clothes to change."

Su Cen turned over a robe and handed it to Qu Linger, "Where did you get this outfit?"

"I got it from a little eunuch." Qu Ling'er said while wearing it, "I was looking for a bodyguard or something, but the four boats around here and there were all Huainan troops transferred from Huainan Road. We are all together, eating, drinking, and messing around together, and there is brother Qi patrolling every day, I am afraid that I will be found out and thrown away as an assassin."

Su Cen squinted at him: "Then no one will notice if you pretend to be a eunuch?"

Qu Ling'er looked embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "They all said that I have an oily hair and pink face, and I look like an eunuch's embryo at first glance, and I will be favored in the future. Remember them. Young master, I am masculine and upright, and I look like an eunuch , Are those eunuchs blind?"

No wonder Qu Ling'er hated this outfit so much, Su Cen laughed for a while before stopping, and said to Qu Ling'er: "Then have you ever thought about why you can't even get on the buildings of the guards around you, but Can you come to the main ship where Li Shi is?"

Qu Ling'er was taken aback for a moment, and then she jumped up, "You mean, Brother Qi knows I'm on the boat?!"