Opposite the entrance hall

When Ji Si woke up the next day, he had a terrible headache. He rubbed his temples and looked at the furnishings in the house. His mind was a little confused. He only remembered drinking with Qi Ran on the roof, but he couldn't remember anything else. Impressions, when I was frowning and trying to remember, the voice of the maid sounded outside, so I had to give up.

When he finished washing and went to the dining room, Qi Ran and the others were all there, and Ji Kang's four sons who hadn't seen them last night were also waiting early. They all got up and saluted when they saw people coming. Sit down and wave your hand, "Sit down, you're welcome."

Everyone looked at each other and entered the seats, the atmosphere was a little awkward, Ji Kang was full of thoughts, and laughed out loud, "There is no good food in this small place, and I don't know if the two adults are used to this sweet food. Instruct the cook to cook according to my son... according to Ji Shilang's taste, how about Ji Shilang's taste, but it still tastes the same?"

Ji Si touched it randomly with chopsticks, and the table was covered with cherry meat, squirrel mandarin fish, lotus root in honey sauce, honey sauce fire recipe, rock sugar turtle... He is from Shuzhou, he likes spicy food, this sweet food is not bad After eating too much, he immediately raised his eyes and looked at him with some disgust, "Master Ji treats us with these?"

"What fifth brother is saying, I can't listen to it anymore," said the oldest man next to him, "Father ordered the cook to cook all the dishes on this table. Something went wrong, and I’ve been staring in the kitchen before dawn.”

"Fifth brother?" Ji Si raised his eyebrows, threw his chopsticks heavily on the table, and said in a deep voice, "What are you? You deserve to be called a brother and brother with me. A white-clothed man who doesn't call himself a grassroots man just keeps his mouth shut. Brother, Ji Kang, look at the good son you taught, he doesn't understand the rules, he has no dignity."

Du Heng is smart. Although Ji Si didn't say anything, he still learned a thing or two from the behavior of Ji Kang's family and his subordinates, and he also knew what kind of virtue these people are. Ji Si got angry and took over the conversation naturally, "The laws of the Great Jin Dynasty are strict. Famous scholars will not worship officials when they meet others, and children from families with titles will not worship officials when they meet officials. Elders who are over a few years old will not worship officials. If you don’t pay homage, the rest of the common people need to bow and bow when they see an official, and the official should receive the full salute, the sons of Mr. Ji’s family have not yet entered the official position.”

Hearing this, Ji Zhong's expression changed. None of the four of them had fame. They were not young and had to rely on their families for food and clothing. They had no achievements or ambitions. They hated others to mention this matter the most. Du Heng pointed it out in front of the servant girl, and immediately stood up shyly and angrily, with angry eyes wide open, obviously out of breath, "You..."

"Okay," Ji Kang patted the table, his face sank, and he ordered in a sharp voice, "I don't want to apologize to Minister Ji, it's worthless."

Ji Zhong looked back, his face full of disbelief, "Father, you made me feel like this..."

"Say one more word, I'll break your leg," he was interrupted by Ji Kang before he finished speaking, "Salute."

The anger in Ji Kang's eyes was concealed, Ji Zhong shook his body, although he was absolutely unwilling, he pushed aside his chair respectfully and saluted, and said coldly: "Cao Min Ji Zhong has seen the three adults."

Immediately afterwards, he stood up straight in aggrieved state, and when he was about to sit back, Ji Si said again, "Who told you to sit down?"

"Second brother is your elder brother anyway, don't go too far." Ji Xi said.

Ji Si smiled and picked up a piece of white and tender fish for the first day of the lunar new year, then he reluctantly raised his eyes to look at the Ji family, with a smile on his lips, "I remember what the eldest son said, this man, The most important thing is to have self-knowledge, what kind of life must have what kind of law, you are just the sons of a seventh-rank county magistrate, whoever gave you the courage to scream here, what qualifications do you have to sit with me! "

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the other two also became ugly, each of them frowned and did not dare to speak out.

Ji Kang closed his eyes and waved his hand tiredly, "Back off, back off quickly."

A few people were furious, stared at Ji Si, and left with a flick of their sleeves.

When they walked away, Ji Kang smiled obsequiously and said, "It's the servant's lack of consideration that disturbed Ji Shilang's interest. Don't get angry. This crystal elbow took a lot of work. Please, Ji Shilang."

Ji Si raised his eyes and glanced at him, without moving his chopsticks, he just said in a flat tone: "I'm busy with business, so I didn't waste time, so I just said it."

"Ji Shilang said it's okay, as long as he can do what he can, the subordinate will definitely die."

"The Liu family is on top of your Ji family tree, so you have to trouble Mrs. Ji to cross her name."

Ji Kang paused with his chopsticks, his eyes froze, and he said in a deep voice: "The Liu family is an official and concubine's house. Since it has been included in the genealogy, there is no reason for it to be crossed out at will. It will make others ridicule if it is said. What's more, she has passed away, it's normal for my Ji family to give her a title, Ji Shilang wants to get off the job, maybe he wants her to be a lonely ghost?"

"Whether it's a lonely soul or a wild ghost, it's much better than being here," Ji Si smiled slightly, "Master Ji and the four young masters are all doing nothing, you must have a headache as a father. I am acquainted with several adults in the official department, and I often drink wine, so I can have a little bit of thin face, and I can talk about it."

The subtext in the words was straightforward, and he told Ji Kang brightly: I can let your stupid sons find a job.

Ji Kang put down his chopsticks and lowered his eyes to ponder for a while.

He has spent most of his life as a county magistrate. If Ji Xi and the others can become officials, then why should the Ji family have no way to shine on the lintel, which is probably good for him, but it is so simple to cross out a woman's name. A three-year-old child can figure it out clearly, and there is no harm to it.

After thinking about it for a while, Ji Kang had a plan in his mind, but still heaved a long sigh, pretending to be deeply affectionate and unrepentant, "She was longing for the larks of the sky, but she was willing to be this sparrow for me. Love dragged her down, that's all, that's all!"

Ji Si lowered his eyes and sneered, resisting his displeasure and said: "The official spiritual seat was also taken away, after all, your Ji family's ancestral hall can't hold it anymore."

"It's easy to say." Ji Kang laughed disgustingly.

After saying this, Ji Kang immediately went to the ancestral hall to ask for the genealogy, and tore off the page with Liu's name in front of them, but he still kept Ji Si's name in his mind, and carefully placed the spiritual seat at the end Handed it over, and kept muttering: "Don't forget that Ji Shilang promised to be an official, don't forget."

The matter was a foregone conclusion, Ji Si couldn't stay for even one more second, so he found some excuses and went out of the house with Qi Ran and the others, feeling sick to his stomach even looking at Ji Kang more.

After leaving Huaxin County, Du Heng was puzzled and said, "Master Ji really wants to arrange official positions for that family?"

"nature."

Even the first day of junior high school could tell something was wrong, and asked with a frown: "Master Ji hates that family, why do you have to go to such lengths to make arrangements for that man's son? Shouldn't they be left to fend for themselves?"

Ji Si didn't reply directly, but squinted his eyes to feel the warm sun's temperature, and asked back after his displeasure was blown away by the wind: "Then do you think Ji Kang's four sons look like officials?"

Thinking about it for the first time, I shook my head.

"I know better than others what kind of temperament they are. They are not law-abiding masters. They are all trash waiting to die. Ji Kang can talk now because his sons are worthless and have nothing to eat and wear. You have to rely on your own father, but you can't be obedient and quieter. If you have a high status, then you can't be sure who in the family can tell the truth. This brother Yan Qiang's father-son rivalry has never been lacking since ancient times. For the sake of money, power and women, his four sons are not born by his regular wife, and they always look at each other as disliked and have to compete in everything, plus the disturbance of the concubines and aunts in the backyard, sooner or later there will be chaos. I feel at ease when I wake up." Ji Si explained.

After hearing this, Du Heng was a little eye-opening.

Ji Si is very smart about his own schemes, and raised his eyebrows at Qi Ran with a proud face, "What do you think of my method?"

Qi Ran didn't say a word today, with a serious expression on his face, when he heard Ji Si mention his name, he looked back, his corner of the eye fell on the man's dry lips, and all kinds of things came to mind last night, Ji Si's lips were stained with wine The liquid was a little red and swollen from being sucked by himself. From the slightly parted lips, he could see a small tip of his tongue. He raised his eyes in a dazed way, and the amorous feelings in his eyes were unmistakable. The picture was extraordinarily voluptuous. He frowned, and his lips were tightly lined , a little restlessly galloped forward, without making a sound.

"Did you two quarrel?" Du Heng looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Probably not." Ji Si scratched the back of his neck with a dazed look on his face. He remembered that the two of them were talking and laughing while having wine last night. Although he couldn't remember exactly what happened afterwards, he felt very attached to Qi Ran. I like it, why would I quarrel with him.

Until he entered Lin'an, Ji Si didn't understand why Qi Ran was so angry, he avoided him all the way, as if he saw some kind of beast, which made him wonder if he had done some sinful thing.

After they got on the official road, the surroundings began to be lively. They had never been out of Xiangzhou on the first day of the new year, and they felt novelty when they saw everything. They poked their heads and pointed to the peddler beside him and asked Ji Si, "Master Ji, there are sugar men in the capital like this too." Is it big?"

"Big, very big," Ji Si lay on the horse without moving his eyes, just staring at Qi Ran's back and said weakly: "It's bigger than you, even bigger than Master Du."

On the first day of junior high school, he heard boredom from his words, so he shut up wisely.

Suddenly, smoke and dust filled the sky on the small road beside the official road, and the sound of horseshoes was gradually approaching, fast and fast, Qi Ran tightened the reins and looked there with frown.

The sound of the horse's hooves was getting closer, with a sense of urgency, not like passing by, but like coming towards them, Ji Si suddenly sat up, raised his eyes and fixed his eyebrows.

Before the smoke dissipated, a figure jumped out from there, and hit them straight. Qi Ran leaned back on the horse and lowered his waist. The front hooves were lifted off the ground and raised high in the air, and the horse's mouth let out a hissing roar.

This person failed in his first shot, and the second attack came immediately. He used the branch as a blade, poured all his energy into the top, and turned around in the air very quickly. The branch changed direction and stabbed straight at the horse. this person.

Qi Ran's face remained unchanged, he hooked his right hand, held the sword tied to the horse's belly in his hand, swung it across his body, and pushed it hard, the moment the tip of the branch touched the sheath made of black iron, it split into two directly from it. Half, the man reacted very quickly, turned over and tapped his toes lightly, raised his momentum with the scabbard, withdrew his strength, and fell back to the ground lightly, stumbling a few steps before stabilizing his body.

"Are you able to appear in this way every time?" Qi Ran tightened the reins to appease the dismounted horse, and said to the man in front of him tiredly.

"Bah, bah, bah," the man fanned the dust with his hands, spit a few mouthfuls of sandy saliva on the ground, shrugged his shoulders and said angrily, "It's been two months since you've been here. The first floor, but the internal strength is a little unstable, what's going on? Are you injured?"

As soon as there was a fight here, Ji Si and the others hid far away, and when there was little movement, they galloped up and followed. They were a little surprised when they saw the thief's appearance, "General Pei?"

Hearing someone calling him, Pei Zhan looked up, his face was displeased, he clasped his fists in salute, and said a little distantly: "Ji Shilang."

Ji Si got off his horse and returned the gift.

Du Heng had never seen Pei Zhan before, and he was curious about the youngest general in the Jin Dynasty for a while, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances, dismounted when he saw this, and bowed to salute, "Xiaguan Yushitaiyuan Censor Du Heng has seen General Pei."

Pei Zhan nodded and nodded with a smile. He didn't have any airs of a general, and his attitude towards him was much better than that of Ji Si.

Qi Ran dismounted and raised his eyes to look at him, then asked in a flat tone, "You're not training at the Imperial Army Academy, what are you doing here?"

"The day before yesterday, the chief envoy of Longxi Province handed over the booklet to the palace. I heard from your father that it was about the flood and epidemic in Xiangzhou. After reading the booklet, Longyan Dayue, the emperor reckoned that the matter is settled. This matter is settled. I guess it's about time for you to return to Beijing, no, come out today to try your luck, who knows I guessed it." Pei Zhan was a little proud.

Cui Hao's booklet has arrived.

Ji Si lowered her eyes.

Pei Zhan on the other end was still babbling: "Your trip was plagued by floods and epidemics. Tell me what happened. I'm in Lin'an and I'm going to have hair growth every day. Let's go, okay?" Easy to come back, my brother invites you to Cuixuan Building for a drink."

As he spoke, he made a gesture to hug Qi Ran, but the latter hit him straight with the hilt of his sword. He subconsciously shrank back in pain, covered the back of his red hand and yelled, "It's too heavy! Don't take someone like you." .”

"What kind of wine are you eating? Are you not on duty today?" Qi Ran asked.

Pei Zhan didn't speak, but looked at Ji Si who was aside.

Ji Si naturally knew what that look meant, slapped his head and smiled and said, "It's getting late, and I haven't returned for a long time. There may be many trivial matters left untreated in my house. Since General Pei and Master Qi have something important to do Discuss, I will take the first step so as not to delay here."

"Ji Shilang, go slowly." Pei Zhan tilted his head and waved his hand with a smile. He stopped his smile when he walked away, and spat in disdain. None of them are good things.”

Hearing this address, Qi Ran frowned, his lips were tightly pressed, not very happy, so he had to cut off the conversation, "Why don't you train today, if it spreads to other people, you are negligent, don't I want to go back outside the customs."

"You think I don't want to practice," Pei Zhan became a little angry, "There is no gun or armor, and there is no room. How can I practice? It's okay if you don't mention it, but I will get angry if you mention it. I don't even know what the Outer Forbidden Military Academy looks like. When I was on duty on the first day, I really gained experience. A group of local hooligans are fooling around. The school field has grown grass as high as half a person, which is suitable for herding cattle. Shepherding, those weapons and guns are all broken, so they can’t be used at all.”

"Then go to the household department to allocate money to repair it."

"I found it, isn't it useless," Pei Zhan said, "I went back from the school grounds and didn't sleep all night. I didn't go to the school grounds the next day. I went directly to the yamen of the household department. I sat there for a whole day and drank tea. A few pots and a few bubbles of urine, but they have a very good attitude. They have never stopped tea and snacks, but they have been sitting for a long time. It’s been like this for a few days, and I understood at the time that the Ministry of Household Affairs did this on purpose, and made it clear that they just didn’t want to transfer the money, and it’s not easy to refute my face, so just hang me like this.”

The more he talked, the more angry he became, and the anger on his face could not be concealed, "That old man Cao Weiyuan hides from me like a mouse hides from a cat. I can't do anything about him. I can't put a sack on him and beat him up. I can only find my own way." , put the group of bastards in the mud to clean up, and said that whoever can beat my soldiers will be given the position of the commander of the imperial army. It took a lot of effort to convince them, the people were trained to be honest, and it took more than half a month to pull weeds and fill the soil, and they still had to find ways to flatten and tamp the soil, and barely managed to make a school field. The soldiers were chopping down trees and hammering iron to make guns, and Peng Sheng was guarding me when I came, and I copied the path, so no one will see it, so don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

"It stands to reason that you have just returned to Beijing, and you have no grievances with anyone. The Ministry of Household Affairs has to sell your face no matter what, so why is it stumbling you everywhere? No matter how arrogant and ignorant Cao Weiyuan is, isn't he afraid of offending you, General Dingwei's mansion?" Qi Ran was puzzled.

"How can I know that?" Pei Zhan whistled and called his mount, and said for Ma Shunmao, "Anyway, I can see that the group of people in the household department are not fuel-efficient lamps. The bureaucracy is so high that it doesn't do practical things at all. Believe it or not, the treasury will be wiped out by them sooner or later. If I saw this outside the customs, I would have been shot to death by me. Where can I see it? Tomorrow's sun, it's only been two months since I returned to Beijing, and my red-tasseled spear has dimmed a lot. Anyway, I have nothing to look forward to now. I just hope that the emperor will let me go out of Beijing. deal."

Qi Ran frowned and pondered for a while, then lowered his voice and said, "Maybe it wasn't Cao Weiyuan you offended."

"Whether the head of the household department is Cao Weiyuan or someone else, we can't..."

Speaking of this, Pei Zhan suddenly realized, pursed his lips, a little confused, "I haven't had much contact with him since I returned to Beijing."

"No matter what his plan is, it's always right to be careful." Qi Ran patted Pei Zhan's shoulder, "Go into the city, we'll talk about it another day."

The sound of horseshoes gradually went away, raising a large cloud of dust.

Stepping into the city gate, Ji Si had the real feeling of becoming a bird in a cage again. Lin'an seemed to have never changed. The decorations on both sides of the street, the endless stream of people shouting one after another, everything is changing, only this place remains the same.

He said goodbye to Du Heng, led Chu Yi across the street, and headed directly towards Ji's mansion. Chu Yi was a little timid and afraid. He had been holding on to Ji Si's sleeves tightly since he entered the city and did not dare to let go. When he reached the gate of the Ji Mansion, he dismounted carefully.

Seeing his appearance, Ji Si lowered his voice and said, "Don't be afraid, you will live here with me from now on."

Chu Yi raised his eyes to look at the house, didn't make a sound, just nodded slightly.

When the two of them stepped into the gate, the expressions on the faces of the servants in the mansion were wonderful and different, and they looked a bit complicated.

"Stupid all of them? Don't they all have to do anything?" Ji Si frowned and shouted.

Only then did the others come to their senses, and hurriedly gathered together, the scene was a little funny for a while.

The courtyards in Xiangzhou are far less exquisite and beautiful than here, with pavilions, pavilions, exotic flowers and plants, and champagne water corridors. At first glance, it is a bit dizzying, but Ji Si follows behind him step by step.

They had just passed through the front yard and before they stepped into the front hall, they heard the sound of snow and rushed over. The joy was beyond words, and they smiled: "My lord is finally back. I must be very tired from the exhaustion of the journey. The servant immediately ordered people to get ready." The hot water is good to get rid of the tiredness."

"No hurry," Ji Si pushed Chuyi in front of him, "This child is called Chuyi, and he will serve me in the future. You can make room for him in the utility room in my yard."

"Yes," Tingxue smiled at the person, "The first day of junior high school, this name is really nice."

On the first day of junior high school, I scratched my head and smiled a little embarrassedly.

Ji Si also smiled.

At this time, the servant hurried over, and before he could stand still, he said in a hurry: "My lord, His Royal Highness sent someone to send a message to ask your lord to go."

Hearing this, Ji Si's smile faded away, and his eyes froze.

coming.

The author has something to say:

small theater:

First day of junior high school: Master Ji, are the sugar figures in Kyoto as big as this?

Ji Si: Bigger, bigger than you, bigger than Du Heng.

Du Heng: ...

Qi Ran: [Eavesdropping] No matter what they say, Du Heng is so big, he is in broad daylight, he has no shame!How could Du Heng's body be so big!

Du Heng:? ? ?Feeling offended.

ps: I'm back in Lin'an again, and a bunch of people have to intrigue again, hahahaha.