After the divorce, the four big guys became my servants

At noon, the sky was covered with dark clouds, as if a block of ink had been spilled, making the whole city gloomy.

It won't be long before it rains.

After visiting Mr. Guo, Yuan Jinglie returned to the Jingwang Mansion. When passing by the garden, he saw Ah Sheng digging flower roots in the mud of the pond with several servants.

Since Lady Liu died, Yunmiao Court was disbanded, so the steward could only arrange for Ah Sheng to move to the outer courtyard.

Ah Sheng saw him coming and waved at him: "Yuan Er!"

As he said this, he spoke to another servant, then ran to him with a smile on his face, "Where have you been?"

"I'm going out to do some things at the order of the Queen Mother." Yuan Jinglie said.

"You are more comfortable, staying in Meiyuan to work, and you can often see the queen." Ah Sheng was envious at first, and then complained: "Unlike me, I have to go down to this pond to dig flower roots in the middle of winter."

Yuan Jinglie patted his shoulder and said, "Do your best. I will go back and report to the Queen first."

Then he walked away.

A Sheng didn't move and just watched his figure disappear.

Yuan Jinglie returned to the room, closed the door, and took out the small jade bottle containing calming incense from his sleeve.

Then, he walked to the table and, expressionlessly, poured the dark brown powder into the cup.

The transparent water gradually blended with the powder and looked like a cup of tea, nothing strange.

But before returning home today, he took the bottle and went to Huichun Hall first.

He showed it to the old doctor.

The old doctor smelled it and frowned, saying to him, "This powder contains a lot of agarwood and angelica, so I think it should be used to calm the nerves. But, for some reason, a small amount of cinnabar was added. If used for a long time, it may harm the body and cause poisoning symptoms such as chest tightness and drowsiness."

Thinking of this, he picked up the glass of water, opened the door, and poured it out.

Not long after, it started to drizzle outside, and all the water stains on the ground were washed away.

Today, Meng Changning finally couldn't hold back and revealed his purpose.

If possible, Yuan Jinglie also wanted Meng Changning and Yuwen Qi to be together. One of them is a jackal and the other is a tiger and leopard, so they are quite a match.

But Meng Changning wanted to achieve his goal by hurting his elder sister.

He won't allow it.

Even though Meng Changning had done him a favor, he was repaying her favor by informing the Meng family of the news of Meng Changning's imprisonment.

Yuan Jinglie didn't feel that he owed her anything.

But he really wanted to see what this woman was up to.

In the evening, Mo Huan came to call him to have dinner.

The young man had been bored in the room for the whole afternoon, not knowing what he was doing. Upon hearing this, he opened the door.

Mo Huan heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that he looked normal and didn't look sick.

Today, Meng Zhaoge prepared antique soup.

When the boy pushed the door open, he saw the soup in the pot bubbling with peppercorns, ginger slices, and dogwood floating in it. The table was filled with vegetables, various meat slices, and fresh shrimps.

"Sister."

"You're here." Meng Zhaoge asked him to sit down: "I have prepared this meal for a long time, come and try it."

Yuan Jinglie then sat down, watched her busying about in the pot, and silently started peeling the shrimps on the plate.

Meng Zhaoge used a serving chopstick to blanch the beef slices in the pot. After it was done, he placed it on a silver plate and handed it to Yuan Jinglie: "Ah Lie..."

But what she didn't expect was that Yuan Jinglie had also blanched the shrimp and was about to hand it to her: "Sister..."

The two pairs of eyes met, and after a moment of silence, they curved into crescents at the same time.

"Sister, eat." Yuan Jinglie's ears turned red.

Meng Zhaoge smiled: "Alie eats too."

The two men exchanged the silver plates in their hands and dipped the meat in the prepared sauce. The degree of hotness was just right, and the meat was tender, not too cooked, nor undercooked.

The taste of the spicy soup is just right. When you put it in your mouth, it seems to open up all your taste buds and make your scalp tingle.

It was already pitch black outside, the air was damp, and the wind was blowing, making people feel extremely cold.

Inside the house, the stove was burning, there was delicious food on the table, the two of them were eating fresh meat and chatting tenderly.

Yuan Jinglie is most relaxed when he is with Meng Zhaoge.

He told Meng Zhaoge about his visit to Mr. Guo today.

"Although the Guo family is not completely destitute, I think they are not far from it. I didn't expect you to be so poor."

The young man was puzzled: "Sir, you are quite famous, how could this happen?"

Since there were no outsiders around, Meng Zhaoge explained to him in a low voice: "You don't know that this Mr. Guo once taught the former Prince Ning."

"Are you talking about the Prince of Ning who was expelled from the clan by the previous emperor because of his love for prostitutes and excessive debauchery?"

Yuan Jinglie's eyes widened slightly. The teacher is a very wise man, how could he teach such a ridiculous King Ning?

"It's him." Meng Zhaoge ate a piece of mutton and continued, "After Prince Ning was rejected by the late emperor, Mr. Guo, who was his teacher, was also angered by the late emperor, who ordered him to be expelled from Chai'an and not allowed to return for twenty years."

"When he came back, he was already very old, and Chai'an had already moved on. It was too late."

Speaking of this, Meng Zhaoge couldn't help but feel regretful: "He was also a top scholar in the past, but in the end he fell to this point. It's really sad."

After hearing this, Yuan Jinglie was indignant: "Master, you can't control whether he goes to the brothel or pampers prostitutes."

"Everyone knows this, but it is His Majesty who decides his fate, and no one can do anything about it."

Meng Zhaoge said: "Son of Heaven, this is the way it is."

The young man remained silent for a moment, then asked thoughtfully, "Those whom the emperor cares about will receive supreme honor, while those whom the emperor hates will be ruined, right?"

"You really can draw inferences from one example." Meng Zhaoge smiled: "That's right."

Yuan Jinglie said no more. He lowered his eyes, and his feathery eyelashes blocked his deep and calm gaze.

...

In the next few days, Mr. Guo was afraid that Yuan Jinglie would be disturbed from studying, so he asked him to bring books to the Guo Mansion every day.

The carriage from General Mingxi's mansion was waiting on the road that had to be taken to Juanyun Lane.

Sometimes, Meng Changning would ask him to give snacks to Meng Zhaoge. Sometimes, he would ask him to give the sachets he made to Meng Zhaoge.

As for the 'calming incense', he had to be given a bottle every two days.

"I'm worried about Zhaoge. Has she felt better these days after smelling this fragrance?" Meng Changning asked with concern.

Yuan Jinglie replied: "It seems to be better. Yesterday I heard Mo Huan say that the queen has been taking naps recently."

Meng Changning breathed a sigh of relief, secretly delighted without showing any emotion, and said with relief: "It seems that the calming incense is working."

The boy just smiled and said nothing.

Naturally, all the things Meng Changning gave him were locked up and placed under his bed.

After destroying the calming incense that day, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

These harmful things should probably not be destroyed. If they are kept, they may come in handy in the future.

It’s just that the snacks had been in the box for too long, and had grown white hair and a bad smell.

Yuan Jinglie had no choice but to go out and find a secret place to throw it away.

That day, he was going to Juanyun Lane as usual.

But what I didn't expect was that there was a group of people gathered at the street corner, pointing at something.

He didn't care at first, but when he passed by, he heard someone say: "This beggar is really crazy. He dared to eat the stinky snacks. He must be poisoned."