Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 426 He is Orthodox
He Kun talked to the two about the salary and left.

Li An and Sheng Changbai took the model essay and started reading it.

Officials in ancient times had really little time to spare. In the entire morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs only sent over two orders that required drafting imperial edicts. He Kun randomly assigned two people to do the work, and it was completed in less than half an hour.

The rest of the time, some people drank tea, some read books, and some even gathered together to discuss the oiran in a low voice.

However, the lunch at the Hanlin Academy is very good. Since it is in the palace, the meals are prepared and delivered by the imperial kitchen in the palace.

This is something that other government offices cannot enjoy.

After reading the model essays for the whole morning, Li An and Sheng Changbai felt a little dizzy. After lunch, they went to the library to borrow some books to read.

As soon as the Shen time arrived, He Kun informed everyone that it was time to get off duty, and the officials of the Hanlin Academy packed up their things and left work.

The Shen time is roughly between 3:00 and 5:00 in later times.

The reason why they got off work so early was not only because the officials of the Song Dynasty got off work early, but also because the palace gates were about to be closed.

The gates of the imperial palace must be locked before dark every day, at 3:30 pm in spring and at the end of pm in autumn and winter.

That is to say, the palace gates were closed at 4 pm in spring and winter, and at 5 pm in summer and autumn.

The Hanlin Academy is located inside the palace, so naturally they have to leave before the palace gates are locked.

Except for the morning court, you can arrive at the Hanlin Academy before 9:00 p.m. at other times.

That means I go to work at 9 am and get off work at 5 pm at the latest.

There is another hour for lunch and rest at noon, not counting the morning court. Normally, the working hours are more than three hours a day, which is six hours.

The gates of Chundong Palace were locked early, only for five hours.

It has to be said that officials in ancient times were much more comfortable than those in later generations.

……

"Being an official is really demoralizing." Li An couldn't help but sigh as he came out of the palace that day.

At this time, more than a month had passed since they took office.

My daily work is either reading model essays or drinking tea and reading.

In addition, he would go to the court with his seniors during the morning court session.

However, they did not have the opportunity to hold the pen and could only help grind the ink.

There were indeed many opportunities to learn. Every morning at the court, I could hear the ministers and the emperor discussing and handling state affairs.

Just no right to speak.

In just over a month, Li An had gotten used to this leisurely life and even felt that it would be nice to continue living like this.

"Don't say such things casually. In fact, the position of Shujishi is for us to learn. During this period of time, haven't we also clarified the power and responsibility relationships of various yamen?" Sheng Changbai said.

"That's something you have figured out. I haven't. I don't know why the court has set up so many departments. Many departments have overlapping powers." Li An shook his head.

The more he learned, the more shortcomings of the court Li An discovered.

Perhaps it’s because there are too many officials and they want to accommodate them.

Things that can be handled by one department are divided into several departments, and the powers and responsibilities of each department overlap.

For more than a month, Li An didn't even fully understand the responsibilities and powers of various departments in the court.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Tomorrow is a day off. Zhong Huai asked me to go to his place for a drink. Do you want to go?" Li An asked.

"In a few days, the Earl of Yongchang will come to my house to propose marriage. I don't have time to go. Please apologize to Zhong Huai for me." Sheng Changbai said.

"Yeah." Li An nodded.

Li An and Sheng Changbai each got on a carriage and went home.

After entering the house, before reaching the main living room, Li An heard his parents' laughter.

"Mom and Dad, what are you so happy about?" Li An asked as he walked into the hall.

"Cai'er is pregnant!" Liu said with a smile.

"Ok?"

Li An was surprised: "So fast?"

"What's so fast about that? Zhuzi and his wife have been married for two months. Is it abnormal to be pregnant? But you, the marriage has been arranged for so long, but you haven't married her yet." Liu said with a look of disgust.

Li An was speechless and said, "Mom, didn't I tell you that Minglan and her grandmother have returned to their hometown in Youyang? The wedding date is confirmed and she doesn't need to be there, but Old Madam Sheng has to be there."

"He's been gone for more than a month, why hasn't he come back yet?" Liu muttered.

"It should be soon."

Li An did not tell his mother that Mrs. Sheng had gone out to relax and would not come back until Molan got married. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Mom, Master is a father-in-law and it is not convenient for him to do many things. Zhuzi doesn't know anything. You should go and help take care of him more often and send some supplements to him."

"Do you need to tell me that? Your father and I were free today, so we went over to take a look and found out. We came back and bought some supplements and plan to send them over tomorrow." Liu said.

"I have a day off tomorrow and don't have anything to do, so I'll go with you guys." Li An said.

Go drink with Gu Tingye. You can go in the morning. There is no rush.

Afraid that Liu would bring up the matter of getting married again, Li An said, "I'm going back to my room to change clothes" and slipped away.

"Haitang, you are not a child this year, right?"

Li An asked as he looked at Haitang who was tidying up his clothes.

"My lord, I am already eighteen years old." Haitang said.

"Eighteen is not young anymore, and it's time for her to get married. What do you think of Desheng?" Li An asked.

Desheng was given to him by his teacher Liu Xuewen, and has been accompanying him as his permanent attendant for several years.

Actually, Desheng is older than him. Li An is already eighteen years old now.

Haitang naturally understood what Li An meant. She lowered her head shyly and said, "It's all up to you, sir."

As Li An's personal maid, she also gave birth to a child and was made Li An's concubine. Later, when she had a child, she was regarded as a concubine.

But Li An didn't need her to help him with bathing, and after a long time, he gave up the idea.

She was not from Bian Jing, but was sold by her parents when her family suffered a disaster when she was a child.

After so many years, she no longer remembered where her home was. Even if Li An wanted to let her go home, she didn't know where to go.

But she only knew how to do some servant work, had no land and no family, and had no way to survive after her indenture was returned.

Desheng is Li An's long-term attendant. Marrying him allows her to stay in the Li family forever. What is there for her to be dissatisfied about?

"Okay, I'll talk to mother later and have you transferred to serve her, and then choose a date for you and Desheng to get married." Li An said.

If Haitang marries Desheng, it will be inconvenient for her to stay by his side and serve him.

"Thank you, sir." Haitang said gratefully.

"You have worked hard over the years, and this is what you deserve," said Li An.

After asking Haitang to wash the official uniform, Li An called Desheng over and talked to him.

Desheng was overjoyed when he found out. Haitang was not pretty, but she was very good-looking, so he naturally liked her.

"Don't be silly, I will return the birth contract to you after you get married." Li An said.

"Master, please don't chase me away!" Desheng became anxious when he heard this and knelt down with a plop.

"You get up first." Li An frowned and said, "Who said I was going to chase you away? You don't want your child to be born a slave, do you? You have been with me for these years, I am used to it. As long as you don't want to leave, I will naturally not chase you away."

"Sir, you scared me to death. I thought you were going to chase me away." Desheng scratched his head and smiled.

"Okay, go down." Li An waved his hand.

"Yes."

Desheng bowed and left happily.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Taxue jumped out of the doghouse and kept barking at Li Ang.

"What are you doing walking on the snow?"

Li An touched its head and said, "You don't want to get married, do you?"

"No, you are a female and want to get married?" Li An muttered.

Taxue is almost three years old now, and it seems that dogs are considered adults when they are over one year old.

By this calculation, Taxue is indeed an old maid.

However, although it has not been tied up over the years, it has always been locked up in the house and has never been let out.

"Woof!" Taxue barked at Li An again.

"Okay, I get it. I'll find you a live-in husband later." Li An said unhappily.

Every day, not only do I have to be a matchmaker for people, I also have to be a matchmaker for dogs.

……

The next morning, after breakfast, Li An and his parents took a carriage to the martial arts school opened in Shilin outside the city.

Perhaps because his daughter-in-law was pregnant, Shi Lin smiled happily and looked a lot younger.

Shizhu, on the other hand, was not happy about becoming a father. Instead, he kept complaining to Li An that his father did not allow him to sleep with his wife at night.

This made Ang Lee laugh.

Shi Lin didn't let Zhuzi sleep with Cai'er because he was afraid that he might hurt the child.

Zhuzi is a little bit stupid, and his daughter-in-law just got pregnant, so it's not wrong for him to make such an arrangement.

Ang Lee even laughed at him for saying that sleeping with two people was too crowded.

As a result, Zhuzi said that the two of them slept warmly and that his wife's body was soft.

Li An: "..."

……

After staying with his master until almost noon, Li An left and took a car back to Bian Jing and came to Gu Tingye's house.

As soon as I entered the door, Gu Tingye, who had received the news, came out to greet me.

"Ziqian, I thought you wouldn't come." Gu Tingye said with a smile.

"Something delayed him, but Zecheng definitely can't come. His fourth sister is going to propose marriage soon and is busy." Li An said with a smile.

"Just come here, I have something to tell you." Gu Tingye said.

"What's the matter?" Li An asked puzzledly.

"I'll tell you later."

Gu Tingye pulled Li An into the main hall. Yu Yanran was taking care of the two children while they were eating. When she saw Li An come in, she stood up and bowed.

"Sister-in-law, Zhong Huai and I are like brothers, so you don't have to be polite." Li An quickly returned the greeting.

"Madam, take Chang'er and Rong'er to the backyard to eat, and Ziqian and I will have a drink. Someone, take away these dishes and make a new table and send it over." Gu Tingye said.

"Don't bother, I see many dishes are untouched, so let's just leave it like that." Li An stopped Gu Tingye.

"That won't do. Don't worry about it. My wife and children also need to eat." Gu Tingye said.

Li An didn't say anything after hearing this.

The maid cleared the dishes from the table, and Yu Yanran took the two children away.

"Ziqian, sit down and have some tea first." Gu Tingye said.

"It seems that my sister-in-law gets along well with the two children?" Li An said with a smile.

"Haha, my wife has a good temper and the children like him too." Gu Tingye said happily.

Before, he just thought that Yu Yanran had a good temper, and they both had a bit of sympathy for each other, so it couldn’t be considered true love.

The two have been married for nearly two months now, and after spending this time together, he has truly fallen in love with Yu Yanran.

After the maid brought the tea, Gu Tingye sent the maid away and said seriously, "Ziqian, I didn't quite believe what you said before, but now it seems that it is likely to happen."

"Are you referring to Prince Yan?" Li An asked.

"That's right." Gu Tingye nodded, lowered his voice, and said, "Shitou's brother and sister-in-law are from the Cao Gang, you already knew that. Not long ago, they told me a piece of news that a ship recently transported a group of young women from Jiangnan to Bianjing. On the way, they stopped at the same pier, and accidentally saw that the guards on the ship actually had crossbows."

Swords and knives were not banned among the people in the Song Dynasty, but bows and crossbows were different. Carrying them was prohibited and strictly controlled.

Some hunters among the people can make bows.

But the crossbow is different. Ordinary people are absolutely not allowed to have it.

"Where were these women sent?" Li An guessed a little after hearing this.

"When I first heard the news, I was curious and sent people to follow them, but I found that these women were sent to a farm outside the city, and this farm belonged to the Rong family." Gu Tingye said.

"Why did the Rong family buy so many young women? If they were just buying maids, there would be no need to go to such great lengths and go all the way to Jiangnan to buy them, right?" Li An pretended to be puzzled and asked.

"If they were maids, there would be no need to go through so much trouble, but these women were given to the officers under Rong Xian through various means." Gu Tingye said solemnly.

"Are you saying that the Rong family is trying to win over the officers of the Palace Guards?" Li An asked in surprise.

"That's right, so I said what you are worried about might happen." Gu Tingye said solemnly.

"Even if the Rong family wins over the officers of the imperial guards, they dare not commit treasonous acts. Prince Yan should be behind this, right? Have you found evidence?" Li An asked.

"No, after I learned the news, I sent people to monitor the Rong family and the Prince of Yan's Mansion, but found no signs of any contact between the two families." Gu Tingye said.

"What are your plans now?" Li An asked after a moment of silence.

"Continue to monitor, but it is useless for the Rong family to win over the imperial guards. Even if it is not Prince Yan, it will be another member of the royal family behind it. As long as we keep monitoring, we will definitely find clues. Once we find any, report it to the authorities." Gu Tingye said.

Li An was silent for a long time, and then said, "Zhong Huai, don't be silly. Treason is a capital crime. If you can't get solid evidence, you will be convicted of the same crime. Rong Fei is a noble concubine, and there must be spies in the palace. If they find out and destroy the evidence, what should we do?"

"That's why I'm looking for you. As long as I find evidence, you hand it over to Lord Hai, and Lord Hai will inform the emperor. It will definitely not be discovered." Gu Tingye said.

"Zhong Huai, let's not talk about whether we can find conclusive evidence. Even if you expose Prince Yan, what can happen? Do you think Prince Yong can be a good emperor?" Li An said.

"Ziqian, do you want to rebel?" Gu Tingye's face turned cold.

"Don't be anxious. I'm not stupid. How could I rebel? Let me ask you, do you think Prince Yong will be a good emperor?" Li An looked straight at Gu Tingye.

Gu Tingye and Li An looked at each other for a long time and said, "He is orthodox!"

(End of this chapter)