Happy Little Scholar

"I think it's okay."

Zeng Shichun shook his head and said, "Although Mr. Chen has some old grudges with Mr. Li, how could he use such means to retaliate against you for such a person?"

"I think so." Chen Chong nodded and swallowed the whole dumpling.

Zeng Shichun smiled and picked up a dumpling with a smile on his face. After putting it in his mouth, the smile on his face froze.

After swallowing the mouthful of dumplings with difficulty, Zeng Shichun put down his chopsticks, looked at Chen Chong, and said, "Mr. Chen, these dumplings------ seem to be really raw."

A quarter of an hour later, the two returned to their original positions again.

Who would have thought that two high-ranking officials would actually light a fire and boil water for a few half-cooked dumplings.

"Master Chen, your face..."

"Haha, Minister Zeng is not much better."

"Let him be, let's talk about it after eating."

…

Zeng Shichun picked up a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, and then asked: "If I remember correctly, today should be the birthday of the third lady. Master Chen is not doing anything in the house, why are you here?"

Chen Chong ate dumplings and said expressionlessly: "Master Zeng didn't go home after he was released from office. Is it because he was aware of the public sentiment, or..."

He glanced into the room and said in surprise: "Could it be that the girl surnamed Zeng is the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Zeng who was left among the people? Let alone, thinking about it this way, why do I feel that between the eyebrows of Mr. Zeng and her... …”

"Master Chen, if nothing happens in the future, it's better not to come here."

Zeng Shichun interrupted him, glanced at him, and said: "If something happens... Mr. Chen is in charge of the affairs of the court and is busy with political affairs. If there is anything, I need to come to this little Yangliu Lane, don't you think so?" "

Chen Chong put down his chopsticks and narrowed his eyes, "Shilang Zeng, what do you mean by this?"

Zeng Shichun put down his chopsticks and looked into his eyes, "Zeng...

, and had some personal relations with Zhao Guangyuan, the former minister of the Ministry of Justice. "

"Zhao Guangyuan, the former minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, is still being detained in the sky jail for taking bribes and practicing favoritism..." Chen Chong's eyes flashed dangerously and he whispered: "What is the connection between this and what Mr. Zeng said?"

"It's normal for Master Chen not to admit this matter, because even Zhao Shilang of the Ministry of Justice was the one who fell. He didn't know that the person behind it was actually you, Master Chen." Zeng Shichun shook his head and said, "Zeng said this I have no other meaning, I just want to tell Mr. Chen..."

He looked into the room, a warm color flashed across his face, and when he looked back, there was already a bit of coldness in his eyes.

"Stay away from Zui Mo!"

…

Chen Chong's eyes narrowed and he said word by word: "Zeng Shichun, are you threatening me?"

"Don't dare."

Zeng Shichun's face had returned to calmness, he cupped his hands and said, "Behind Mr. Chen is the Duke's Mansion. How dare Zeng threaten Mr. Chen? However, Zui Mo is the only flesh and blood of my eldest brother left in the world. I can't let her If something happens again, although the Zeng family's fortune is small, if Mr. Chen insists, the Duke's Mansion will not be happy..."

"Your eldest brother, Zeng Shijie?" Chen Chong glanced at him and murmured: "I see..."

He picked up the chopsticks again, shook his head, and said: "Back then, I felt that you were more suitable to be an official than your eldest brother. Back then, the Zeng family was suppressed and ostracized by the former Minister of Household Affairs, and was later framed to steal their salary. Zeng The direct line of the family suffered... No wonder, no wonder, the former Minister of Household Affairs was later found out by the Yushitai for accepting a large amount of bribes and sentenced to five hundred miles of exile. I am afraid that this road to hell will be more than five hundred miles..."

Zeng Shichun shook his head and said, "Only Shilang Fang knows this clearly."

Chen Chong ate another dumpling and said casually: "The Secret Service has not found out about that matter yet. How did you know about it?"

Zeng Shichun smiled but said nothing.

"I thought that Mr. Zeng's step-by-step progress from being the head of the household department to his current position was due to the support of the Cui family and the King of Shu... It seems that I underestimated Mr. Zeng." Chen Chong He shook his head, picked up his chopsticks and said, "To express my apology, here I give you a dumpling!"

Zeng Shichun also picked up his chopsticks, nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Chen."

The invisible confrontation between the two people just now was resolved because of these two dumplings.

For them, some things need not be stated explicitly, and they have already reached a consensus on that dumpling.

Chen Chong was eating dumplings, but his eyes glanced into the house from time to time. From here, he could vaguely see the situation inside the house. Although he couldn't hear clearly the content of the conversation, the woman's chuckle from time to time was still very clear.

Chen Chong's eyes stopped on the white-haired woman's face. She was smiling and saying something to the woman next to her. This kind of smile--how long had he not seen it on her face? pass.

Even though he held a birthday banquet for her every year that caused a sensation in Kyoto, in terms of grandness and luxury, even Concubine Cui's birthday banquet could not compare, and she had never seen such a smile on her face.

Of course, she also smiled often, but that smile made him look more sad.

The next moment, his eyes fell on the only young man in the room.

Zeng Shichun's eyes were also in the room, but they fell on another woman.

The little girl who only followed behind him and called "Second Uncle" and "Second Uncle" has become like this.

The eldest brother used to often complain about him, complaining that he was too spoiled to her, which caused his daughter to be closer to him, the second uncle, than to him, the father...

It's just that he hasn't heard that "Second Uncle" sound again for thirteen years.

Zeng Shichun sighed in his heart and looked at the young man.

The eyes of both of them were extremely complicated.

At a certain moment, when their eyes returned, they met in the air.

"Some things are hard to say when there are many people." Zeng Shichun finished the last dumpling and put down his chopsticks.

Chen Chong picked up another dumpling and said, "Shilang Zeng said it doesn't matter."

"Master Chen, how much chance do you think King Shu has of succeeding?"

Chen Chong's chopsticks were almost in his mouth. Hearing this, his body trembled and he put the dumpling back into the bowl.

As the core figures of the King of Shu's family, it is normal for two people to analyze the current situation and seek advice for the King of Shu. However, they all know that this time, it is completely different from the past.

Chen Chong whispered: "What the King of Shu did when he was in Beijing has chilled countless supporters in the court. Those who are wavering may not have that kind of mentality."

Zeng Shichun introduced: "The College of Calculation will definitely be relied upon by the imperial court in the future. Qin Shangshu has bluntly stated many times that the Ministry of Household Affairs will recruit more talents from the College of Calculation in the future. But in the College of Calculation, there is no one from the King of Shu's family. The person who calls the shots is King Jin..."

"After checking the accounts, the power of the King of Shu and the Cui clan in the court was almost completely wiped out, and decades of arrangements were destroyed..."

"The Cui family was almost destroyed by foreign merchants. They can't intervene in the academy, and they have lost the support of the people. Prime Minister Qin's attitude has been ambiguous recently..."

"The most terrifying thing is His Majesty's attitude. The eldest princess is temporarily in charge of the government affairs. It is the birthday of Concubine Cui, but the King of Shu is not allowed to return to the capital..."

"But if the King of Shu is defeated and the new emperor succeeds to the throne, how will the Chen family deal with themselves in the future, and how will the Zeng family deal with themselves..."

…

The voices of the two people talking became lower and lower, and their expressions became darker and darker.

In the hall, Li Yi brought over a bowl of longevity noodles cooked by himself and said with a smile: "Happy birthday to you."

Such birthday greetings were extremely hasty, but Miss Chen San smiled brightly, took the small bowl from his hand, held his hand, nodded and said: "Okay, okay..."