[Red Mansion] The third master of jade-like stone treasures

Bao Cong was taken aback, he was just Xiao Fenghan taking the opportunity to pretend to be sick, unexpectedly even Emperor Zhao was alarmed, and specially sent Feng Tang to visit.

But soon, he knew that was not the case.

Zijuan led Feng Tang into the room, and Qiu'er was raising the bed curtain.Lin Daiyu was holding half a bowl of medicine, and fed Baocong from time to time.But Bao Cong was lying on the head of the bed halfway, his eyes were blue and black, his complexion was blue and yellow, he wore a forehead on his head, his eyes were dull, his limbs were weak, and he looked very haggard.

I don't know what I put on my face, but it changed so much all of a sudden, as if I had a serious illness.

Zicuckoo was taken aback, but she still forced herself to stay calm and didn't show her feet.

Qiu'er moved a chair and asked Feng Tang to sit down, and Zijuan served tea again.

Bao Cong pretended to be seriously ill, and panted three times: "cough cough cough, Shibo came to the humble house, cough cough cough I should have greeted him at the door, cough cough...but my body is really weak. Weak, I hope Shibo will not laugh at you."

Thanks to various viewings of TV dramas in later generations, he looks quite good in acting, at least not very familiar people will think that he is really sick when they see it.

But Feng Tang was an exception. When Emperor Zhao asked him to come, he had already found out that Bao Cong was pretending to be sick.

Looking up and down carefully, Feng Tang couldn't help nodding, and secretly admired: Over the years, there have been dozens if not hundreds of civil and military ministers who have pretended to be sick. Bao Cong is the first one to pretend to be so similar!On the surface, he really thought that this child was dying!

But even though he knew that Bao Cong was pretending to be sick, Feng Tang didn't intend to expose it. He came with a mission.Therefore, Feng Tang expressed his condolences to Bao Cong with great concern, but in a blink of an eye he said, "Nephew, the Holy Majesty is very worried about your sudden illness! After all, the drawing of the map cannot be delayed, so the Holy Majesty sent me to understand you." Case."

"???" Bao Cong was a little confused.

Why is he so ill, Emperor Zhao only cares about drawing maps?When can't the map be drawn, and what is there to delay?Hadn't he stood up and said that he wanted to draw detailed maps before, wouldn't the court run well?

Of course, Feng Tang said this not because the court was waiting for the map to be used, but because he wanted to talk to Bao Cong about something else.

He looked at Lin Daiyu: "I wonder if Madam can let me and Bao Cong have a few words alone?"

Although Lin Daiyu was worried that Baocong would reveal his secrets, she saluted and took Zijuan and Qiu'er out.But he didn't go far, and was still waiting at the door of the house.

Feng Tang didn't speak loudly in the room, Bao Cong was pretending to be sick again, and Lin Daiyu couldn't hear anything, so she could only guess wildly in her heart.

"Bao Cong, if you deliberately pretend to be sick and ask for leave, if people find out and then tell the Holy Majesty, it will be a crime of dereliction of duty and deception!" Mingming had a kind face, but he said something fatal.

Of course Bao Cong didn't admit it, so he quickly coughed desperately, looking like he was about to die: "I'm coughing, coughing, coughing, coughing, coughing..."

Feng Tang nodded and said: "I know, I'm sick, but it's just a little cold that can be cured by drinking a bowl of soup."

Did you even know that what he had was a small wind-cold, and he was cured after drinking a bowl of medicine?

Bao Cong half covered his mouth, still looking sickly, but stopped coughing and looked at Feng Tang.Although it was known that he was pretending to be sick, he was determined to do the whole trick.

As an actor, you have to be dedicated, and you have to complete a whole scene when you act hard!

Bao Cong continued to play, Feng Tang didn't care about him, he just said, "Your majesty told me about you pretending to be sick, and he has already checked it out."

Hearing that Emperor Zhao already knew that he was pretending to be sick, Bao Cong subconsciously froze, but soon recovered, still looking sickly.

Feng Tang didn't notice this small movement, he just stroked his beard and said, "The Holy Majesty didn't say you were dereliction of duty, and he wouldn't convict you of deceiving the emperor, but he had something else to tell you, so he sent me to visit you." .”

Something else?Could it be that he got too close to Minister of War and the others recently, so Emperor Zhao wants to warn him?

Speaking of this, Bao Cong was also mentally prepared, he sighed, and asked, "I don't know what is the order from the Holy One?"

Feng Tang smiled and said: "My Majesty heard that you have been very active in participating in the gatherings among colleagues recently. I hope that you are young and don't follow those who form cliques for personal gain. It is better to put more effort into official affairs."

Sure enough!

The Empress and Concubine Chen were facing each other in the harem, but Emperor Zhao obviously liked Concubine Chen and her son more, so the Empress couldn't hold back, so she secretly instructed her subordinates to win people's hearts everywhere, which became more and more obvious and less and less scruples.So arrogant, how could Emperor Zhao not notice?

I don't know how this empress became, so I don't know Emperor Zhao?It's too rash!

However, the queen did not act rashly, nor did she not understand Emperor Zhao, but because she knew too well.

Emperor Zhao loves Concubine Chen Gui and the little prince so much, maybe he will raise the child himself in the future, if the child grows up and is smart, and Emperor Zhao raises it himself, then it is self-evident who Emperor Zhao will favor in the position of prince!

According to the queen's plan, she had to let Emperor Zhao make the eldest prince the crown prince before Concubine Chen's son was educated. If you miss this period, the risk in the future will be too great!

Feng Tang was also aware of the relationship in his heart, because he had also received favors from the queen.

Uncle Guo once sent him a private message, saying that the empress intends for the eldest prince to marry Yingchun's daughter as his concubine.It is said that the mother is beautiful, and the child must be gentle and dignified when he grows up, and now that he is raised under Yuan Chun's knees, he will be virtuous, virtuous, virtuous, and smart...I can praise all the nice words!

Feng Tang was delighted to hear it, he is still a baby, now he can see that he is virtuous and virtuous and smart?

The queen's calculations are right, if the eldest prince marries Yingchun's daughter, it means that both the Feng family and the Jia family will be on the eldest prince team.If the eldest prince ascends the throne, Yingchun's daughter will be the empress, which is even more honorable than being concubine in Yuanchun!

Feng Tang was almost moved by the painting of this big cake.It's just that he has been immersed in the officialdom for many years, and he knows how cruel it is to seize the heir. If he loses, the entire army will be wiped out and the family will perish.

Emperor Zhao is still young, and the children are still young, so they don't know what the future holds.The situation in the imperial court and the harem is changing rapidly, and no one can say for sure what will happen next year.

It's too early to tie up with the empress and eldest prince now.His Feng family doesn't have any royal grandchildren, so there's no use in worrying!

As for the Jia family, there is a niece from the royal family, and it would be great if she could marry into the Feng family in the future.Of course, the premise is that the Jia family should not get involved in the messy things too early, and it will not work if you bet on the wrong treasure and sink the ship...

Feng Tang turned around in his heart, and said earnestly to Bao Cong: "Actually, I transferred you to the household department on purpose at the beginning. Although the household department personnel are a bit complicated, but with me watching, others dare not come to you casually." Trouble, just now..."

He shook his head, stopped, and persuaded: "Your Majesty is only fifty years old, and there are still many days to come. If you go heresy, you will end up hurting yourself. In the past, His Majesty decided to keep your branch, and both of your brothers took the imperial examination. In high school, you have finally lived up to the grace of the Holy One, and the Holy Majesty even specially selected Baoyu as the number one scholar, just to promote you, don't be fooled for a while, and let the Holy Majesty's painstaking efforts be disappointed!"

Wait, what did he hear?

Bao Cong was surprised and asked: "Did the Holy One specially choose Baoyu as the number one scholar? Why did I hear..."

"Oh, you've heard that too?" Feng Tang explained the ins and outs of the incident without waiting for Bao Cong to ask in detail: "At the beginning, someone wanted to replace Bao Yu's examination paper with a blank paper. This incident was originally used to clean up the courtiers. But later, someone changed the examination papers back. For the reputation of this year's candidates, the Holy One decided to hide this matter after careful consideration."

"After all, in the Jiangxi incident before, a large number of officials in the court were dismissed and their homes were searched, and the court was also short of people."

"Later, the Holy Majesty kept this matter in mind, so during the palace examination, he specially looked at Baoyu's examination paper. He admired it very much, and Baoyu answered the questions very well in the palace examination, so the Holy Majesty named him the number one scholar."

Feng Tang said this on the face, but he knew in his heart that things were not like this!

Baoyu's grades at the beginning were only around the top ten in the second class, but among the three in the first class, two were related to the queen, and the other was an aide of King Zhongshun.

In order to squeeze out the queen's people and balance the power of the queen's party and King Zhongshun, Emperor Zhao promoted Baoyu to be the champion!

These are all figured out by Feng Tang himself, and he only keeps them in his heart, and will never tell others.

Bao Cong didn't expect it to be so complicated, but he just thought that the emperor can do whatever he wants, whoever he likes, and if he praises a few more words, that person can become the number one scholar.

What Shangshu of the Ministry of War said to him before seemed to be very watery, as if to exaggerate the credit of that Wang Jin in order to win him over.

Feng Tang said this, one is to warn, and the other is to win.In any case, both he and Baoyu were noticed by Emperor Zhao.

If he really got too close to the Shangshu of the Ministry of War and the others, Emperor Zhao misunderstood that they were seeking refuge with the queen, and might secretly plan to copy Jia's house again!

Companion to a king is like companion to a tiger, and stalking a tiger is like risking death. He should show his loyalty first, and wait a few years to wait and see how it turns out to be better.After all, his first task now is not who to rely on to support which prince, but to quickly carve out the map in the illusion!

If the reincarnated jade becomes enlightened and becomes a monk, when the calamity is completed, the whole world will collapse and disappear. At that time, Emperor Zhao, the imperial court, and the Jia family will all be nothing!

Speaking of which, the child now lives in the temple with Yuan Chun, chanting scriptures and copying scriptures every day, and he has been influenced by his ears and eyes, right?

Bao Cong was more worried about this.

But in front of Feng Tang, Bao Cong had to show his loyalty first: "Shibo, actually, I don't like drinking parties at all, I only like working and drawing maps! Those colleagues' gatherings, the Shangguan asked me to go, I couldn't shirk it, so I attended a few In the future, I will definitely focus on teaching and never attend colorful receptions again!"

"Okay, okay, you really know everything!" Feng Tang was very satisfied, and said happily: "In the future, if someone makes things difficult for you, you just say that you are busy with official duties and have no time to socialize. If they dare to blame you, the Holy Majesty will watch!"

Bao Cong was grateful, but he was muttering in his heart: What's the use of just watching?Could it be that someone put on small shoes for me to embarrass me, and Emperor Zhao will help solve these trivial matters?

Who cares who suffers!How can the emperor care about the daily work and daily life of the little courtiers?Say all the beautiful words on the scene!

But complaints are complaints, Bao Cong understands very well that no one is a suckling baby.Everyone in the imperial court and officialdom is in charge of their own life and death, and everyone is looking for good luck for themselves, so he can only adapt to solve it by himself.

After a few more words of encouragement to Bao Cong, Feng Tang left contentedly.

After that, Bao Cong "rested" at home for a day, and on the third day he finally returned to the Ministry of War in good spirits.

For two or three months in a row, I was immersed in official duties, leaving early and returning late, and immersed in work.He used his official duties to refuse anyone who invited him to party, drink, and participate in poetry, wedding, birthday, and funeral banquets.No matter how stupid people are, they also understand that Bao Cong "pretends to be lofty" and disdains to associate with others.

Lin Daiyu almost no longer attends gatherings of the women's relatives.She didn't like to drink tea with a bunch of unfamiliar female relatives and talk about forced topics.Now that I have Baocong's instructions, I am more happy and at ease.

But Mrs. Wang's place still welcomes and sees them off.She is not for Baocong but also for Baoyu. She continues Jia Zheng's official style, and believes that it is the right way for family members to be good at dancing in the social arena.

Instead, she persuaded Bao Cong: "Shangguan colleagues also like you when they invite you. Even if you don't like it, you have to attend the necessary birthday and wedding banquets several times. Otherwise, others will see you as indifferent and alienated you. In the future, you When you need help from others, how can anyone care about you?"

"It's never wrong to be kind to others, and it will also prevent some villains from deliberately embarrassing them."

Bao Cong responded with a couple of errands, perfunctory, and said: "Father likes to make friends, so much so that he even committed the crime of copying the house."

It was Jia Zheng who took things from Jiangnan Zhen's family in the first place, and Emperor Zhao took the blame for it.When Mrs. Wang heard this, she was shocked and wanted to blame Jia Zheng, but she didn't continue to persuade Baocong.

Students practiced drawing maps, and went to get pens, inks, papers and inkstones, half of which was lost; when they went out to survey the terrain, horses and carriages were not enough; the office space either leaked the roof, or lacked candlelight and tea...everything that can be used The difficulty of not being deliberately criticized and scolded, Bao Cong suffered all of it.

He also expected these.

Leaky roofs were repaired by themselves, candles and tea were brought home, pens, ink, paper and inkstone were used to supplement poor students, and even the family's horses and carriages were used.The days are stuttering, but I can always get by.

It's just that the expenses at home are getting bigger and bigger.

Bao Cong and Lin Daiyu were not poor either, they just used their own money to subsidize the imperial court, and they hadn't been rewarded yet, no matter how they thought about it, they felt that their work was for nothing.

I have to think of a way!