lady, please calm down

On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Ruan Xianfang, the former Hebei governor of Qi State, and Cao Xiaojian, the former Caizhou supervisor, arrived in Anfeng with their entourage.

Chen Chu held a family banquet at his residence to entertain the two of them, with Chen Jing'an and Han Fang accompanying them.

"The Anfeng court was newly established, and it's time to employ people. The two of you are tired and busy in the festive season."

After the banquet started, as soon as Chen Chu opened his mouth, Ruan and Cao, who had only half sat on the chairs, quickly stood up.

"Why bother with the help of the prince?" Compared with Cao Xiaojian, who looked grateful but could still maintain his demeanor, Ruan Xianfang was obviously much more excited. He bowed his head directly to the ground, with his long sleeves hanging to the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "Thank you for your kindness, the king. I will bear in mind the five principles, and I will do my best and die, so that I can repay one or two of them."

Such explicit words of allegiance are okay if they come from the mouth of a rough warrior, but although you, Ruan Xianfang, are a surrendered minister, you are about to be appointed as a minister, which is a bit disgusting.
Han Fang thought about this and looked at Chen Jingan on the side as if unintentionally. The latter only stroked his beard and smiled, seemingly not hearing the subtext of Ruan Xianfang's "loyalty to only the King of Chu".

"Hey, it doesn't have to be like this. Although the Anfeng court is not big at the moment, the situation is very complicated. When Ruan Shangshu encounters difficulties in the future, he may even secretly curse me for putting you on the fire rack, hahaha."

Chen Chu smiled heartily, stood up and held up Ruan Xianfang's arms, but the latter said: "But as a king, I will not avoid swords and fire, and I will not regret having my liver and brains smashed to the ground!"

"Hahaha, it's not that bad, it's not that bad, just sit down."

Chen Chu asked Ruan and Cao to sit down and ordered Ru'er to pour the dishes and pour the wine. The working meal called 'New Year's Eve Reunion Dinner' began.

Tonight, Ruan Xianfang lost his temper emotionally, and a third of it was staged in order to let the 'king' feel his gratitude.

But the remaining seven points may not be true expressions of emotion.

Just two years ago, he was the prefect of Hejian Road in the Kingdom of Jin. Because his city was attacked by Xiao Xin and he lost his army rations, he simply defected to Qi to avoid Yan Zongbi's questioning.

Subsequently, in order to set an example for Jin officials, Ruan Xianfang was appointed as the Hebei manager.

At that time, Peng Er and Wang Yan had the final say in Hebei's military affairs, and Cai Si, Ximen Gong, Chen Yinglang and others were in charge of political affairs. Ruan Xianfang was regarded as a clay Bodhisattva.

However, Ruan Xianfang looks down upon me for being demoted. Being promoted and saving my family is already pretty good.

After working hard for several years, he gradually gained the trust of the King of Chu. When he was transferred, it was Ruan Xianfang's greatest wish to take his family to the prosperous Tokyo.

Unexpectedly, Tokyo suffered a sudden change at the end of the year, and the powerful civil and military forces in Hebei led their troops south to rush for reinforcements. At this time, he, the clay Buddha, really got over the addiction of giving orders.

For more than two months, Ruan Xianfang worked hard to organize the transportation of grain and grass to the south and manage the local area.

During the Tokyo War, not only did Hebei Road not cause chaos, but it actually provided support to King Qin's army second only to Huaibei.
Ruan Xianfang knew well that if Daqi was really destroyed by the Jin Xia army, others might still have a way to survive, but officials like him who rebelled against the Jin and surrendered to Qi would probably have to be executed.

Fortunately, in the decisive battle at the beginning of the month, King Chu defeated Jin Xia.

Before Ruan Xianfang could breathe a sigh of relief, he received an order from the King of Chu to come to Huaibei. During the journey south, Ruan Xianfang felt quite uneasy.

It wasn't until he arrived in Huaibei and met up with Cao Xiaojian that he learned that the king had arranged for him to be appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Great Zhou Dynasty Anfeng!

In just two years, he rose from the fifth-rank prefect of the Jin Kingdom to the second-rank official of the Zhou Kingdom. How can one not be excited!

On the way from Huaibei to Anfeng, Ruan Xianfang suppressed his excitement and gradually understood the intention of the King of Chu. The reason why the official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who was in charge of promotion and performance of his duties, fell into the hands of a surrendered minister was precisely because he did not Foundation!
He took this position in order to promote or dismiss Anfeng court officials in the future according to the wishes of the King of Chu.

Nowadays, several officials in the Anfeng court who have taken up their duties have different backgrounds. Chen Jingan is not to mention, he is an old man from Huaibei; Han Fang and Lu Yanzhong, who are respectively appointed as the chief admonishers of Taiwan, are Confucian scholars of the old school of Qi and Zhou Dynasty, who can appease the two places. The scholar class; Pei Weishu was a former minister of the former Lin'an court.
The purpose of this arrangement was to divide the Zhou Kingdom and allow the large-scale scholars in the Zhou Kingdom to see a path to advancement, and to make them feel that no matter who became the emperor, it would not affect their officialdom.

However, as a result, two factions are likely to form within the Anfeng court in the next few years, one headed by the puppet Chai Ji, and the other headed by Chen Jingan, who has some influence in both Qi and Zhou.

Ruan Xianfang's role was to influence the strength of the two factions by adjusting officials.

It's not that Chen Chu suspected that Chen Jingan had second thoughts, it was just that with the expansion of the Huaibei Clan, the Chen family had become the strongest branch of the Huaibei Clan.

In the Qi court, there was Lu Qinzai, an in-law of the Chen family, and there was Chen Jingyan, the manager of Huaibei, and now Chen Jing'an has been appointed as the prime minister of the Anfeng court.
It's not that Chen Chu is particularly partial to the Chen family, but the fact is that the officials currently trained in the Huaibei system are too young, and other families cannot compare with the Chen family, which has a thousand-year foundation.

Not to mention the two brothers Chen Jingyan, handsome and handsome are both courageous, capable and responsible officials. They have done well in their respective places of governance and have unknowingly become the leaders of the next generation.

Another example is the Anfeng court prime minister. Besides Chen Jingan, who else can be appointed?

If there are no checks and balances, Qi and Zhou will really become the 'Chen Banchao' in a few years, the Chen of Yingchuan.

Everyone knew this kind of thing tacitly, so Ruan Xianfang expressed his position in front of Chen Chu and Jing An.

That's why Han Fang subconsciously looked at Chen Jingan.

That's why Chen Jing'an smiled on his face to show his support for Ruan Xianfang's appointment as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, so as not to arouse Yuan Zhang's fear.

At the beginning of Haishi.

The New Year's Eve family dinner ended and everyone dispersed.

Chen Chu stayed alone in the flower hall, eating a few drinks with the cold food and wine. It was another year's reunion, but he could not stay at home to accompany his wife and children.

"Your Majesty, can I ask the kitchen to cook a few more side dishes to go with the wine?"

Ru'er, who was standing by, saw Chen Chu drinking alone and hurriedly stepped forward to pour the wine. Chen Chu shook his head and said: "Those who are celebrating the New Year, don't bother, let them have a rest."

If Chen Chu said something else, Ru'er would remain silent, but Chen Chu declined in order to avoid trouble for the servants. This reason sounded outrageous to Ru'er, who had been raised in the Cai family since childhood and had a strong class concept. .

Just listen to her say: "Your Majesty is so kind-hearted, and he only thinks about others. Just like the Gun Mian, the Jade Chariot, and the Dragon Flag. The Third Lady secretly prepared them for a long time, and gave them away as the Prince said."

Oh, it turns out that I was making use of the topic.

On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Chu asked Erlang to go back to Caizhou in order to get this set of imperial honors.

Unexpectedly, Cai Hua sent Ru'er to come with her. In addition to the emperor's guard of honor, Qing'er and Wen'er, two of the most popular sisters in Yunxiu Pavilion, the number one club in Caizhou, also came with her.
Ru'er is just a little maid after all, and she doesn't understand why her prince is supporting such a bad old man, giving away things and people.

Chen Chu didn't explain, and just said: "Are Qing'er and Wen'er still used to it now?"

"Is there anything you're not used to?" Ru'er curled her lips and continued: "When we were in Caizhou, Sanniang Zi personally asked the two of them if they wanted to come. When they heard that they were serving the old emperor, they smiled with their teeth exposed. Now they are eating royal food, sleeping on dragon beds, and dreaming of becoming concubines all day long!"

Chai Ji was held captive for fourteen years. The young and beautiful concubines who followed him to the north had long been divided up by the Jin people. The older ones either couldn't bear the humiliation and committed suicide, or they died of illness due to lack of medical treatment.
When he came to Huaibei, there were only two or three concubines in their fifties left with him.

In the past, Qing'er and Wen'er might not have caught his eye, but now that they had been hungry for so long and the two girls were from Goulan, they naturally had many tricks up their sleeves, so Chai Ji regarded them as treasures.

Ru'er helped Chen Chu pour another glass of wine and said: "Your Majesty, yesterday Qing'er came to me specifically and said that the old emperor was old and weak and his words were no longer useful. He came back and gave up halfway, which made him angry and asked Can I ask Taoist Priest Wugen for some elixirs to help the old emperor enjoy himself?"

"."

Chen Chu laughed dumbly and couldn't help but look at Ru'er and said with a smile: "You are an unmarried woman, and she is telling you this?"

Unexpectedly, Ru'er said nonchalantly: "I have never eaten pork, and have you never seen a pig running? I know all about it."

It's true that among the female relatives of the palace, the third lady is the most noisy when doing things. She is neither like Cat, who likes to cover her mouth with her small hands to prevent herself from shouting too loud; nor is she like Ayu, who bites her lips tightly and keeps silent. Voice
Ru'er often waits outside, sometimes only separated by a gauze curtain. What hasn't she seen?

It's just that this metaphor
"You are the pig." Chen Chu said angrily.

"Oops! My slave said something wrong. I deserve a beating."

Having lived in the same house for many years, Ru'er knew the prince's temper well and was not afraid of saying the wrong thing. She lightly slapped her face twice, covered her mouth and snickered.

There's a hint of pretentious cuteness in that look.

Ever since Cai Hua said in Lulong County in the middle of the year, "I'm tired, let Ru'er serve you." When Ru'er met the King of Chu again, things were a little different from before.

In fact, this kind of thing is very normal at the moment. As Ru'er, she has not arranged a matchmaker outside the house until now. In the eyes of outsiders, her fate is almost certain.

In the past, before Cai Hua took the initiative to mention these things, Ru'er didn't know Sanniangzi's thoughts and didn't dare to think anything wrong.

But when she was in Lulong County, Ru'er felt much more at ease after hearing Cai Hua's words.

Just like when she came to Anfeng this time, she wouldn't have been able to make the trip without Cai Hua opening her mouth.

Cai Hua had just given birth, so it was common for the maids at her side to dote on her. This had always been the most common method used by the female relatives of wealthy families.

Chen Chu doesn't mind that the palace will raise Ru'er for the rest of his life, but things like sleeping are easy to handle if there is an emotional basis, or if there is no emotional basis at all. An acquaintance like Ru'er has never been regarded as a woman by Chen Chu. People are the most difficult to deal with.

This matter needs to be discussed after returning to Huaibei and communicating with Cai Hua.

While they were silent, Erlang and Xiao Yi came in carrying a box of fireworks and said: "Brother Chen, let's go set off fireworks together tonight on New Year's Eve!"

Because of what was discussed at the evening banquet, Chen Chu was not in a high mood. He couldn't help but laugh and said: "You two can play the tricks played by children by yourselves. Erlang, call Lao Bai over and have wine with me. In the past few days, Where did he go?"

Halfway through the words, Chen Chu suddenly realized something. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, and he stared at the drink in the glass and became stunned.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Erlang and Xiaoyi looked at each other silently and slowly exited the flower hall.

Inside the courtyard, the air is clear and the sky is filled with stars.

The two of them sat on the steps and sighed in unison.

"Xiao Yi, do you know that when we just returned to Caizhou from Tokyo, you were on vacation. That night, Brother Chen took me to Brother Bai's house, but Brother Chen sat outside the courtyard gate for half the night, and in the end he did not enter Brother Bai's house. "I only left the gift outside the door." "Brother Bai has only one old lady in his family."

Xiao Yi just thought about it and knew how Brother Chen was feeling. He didn't know how to face Lao Bai's mother.

"Hey, that's right. Since the First World War in Tokyo, Brother Chen has a lot of things on his mind." As he spoke, Xiao Yi suddenly interrupted Erlang and said, "Shall we find the eldest son to come and have a bar with Brother Chen?"

"Are you stupid? The eldest son was sent back to Huaibei by Brother Chen a few days ago to deal with Lady Ding's matter!"

"Ms. Ding? What's wrong? Could it be that the eldest son has enlightened himself?"

"My wife wrote to say that at the beginning of the month, Mrs. Ding was hit by the Zhou army in order to contact the armies in Huaibei. Mrs. Ding led the Zhou army into the ambush circle of brother Zhang Bao and eldest brother Xu Zhiyuan. The Zhou army was in danger. Realizing that she had been deceived, she was furious and tried to kill Ding's sister. Although Ding's sister barely escaped, she suffered a three- to four-inch long wound on her face."

"I know this! What does it have to do with the eldest son?"

"Listen to me!"

"You said it, you said it."

"Afterwards, the Ding family sister was disfigured and hid in the house for half a month. Later, when Sister Cuiyuan heard about the incident, she took the initiative to prepare a betrothal gift and came to accept the marriage for her eldest son."

The story of Ding Jiao and her eldest son was well known in Luliuwei in the early years.

Because of a mistake, Ding Jiao almost lost her life.

Listening to Erlang's detailed explanation, Xiao Yi couldn't help but sigh: "After all the detours, the Ding family sister and the eldest brother are finally together."

Erlang also sighed, and the two fell silent again. After a long time, Erlang suddenly had an idea and said: "Brother eldest son is not here, but sister Tietan is here. Bring her over to have a drink with Brother Chen!"

At the end of Haishi, Tiedan, who had gone to bed, was invited to the flower hall by Erlang and Xiaoyi.

When the three of them came in, Chen Chu, who was drinking alone, was already flushed and seemed to be seven to eight points drunk.

Tiedan didn't know how to wait for someone to call her over, so she sat next to Chen Chu. When the latter had a drink, she would accompany him.

The two drank in silence.

On New Year's Eve, Chen Chu was in a bad mood, not just because of Lao Bai, Uncle Shen and others.

It also has something to do with inviting Chen Jing'an and Ruan Xianfang to this dinner.

Many years ago, when they first occupied Caizhou, Chen Chu and Chen Jingan got along extremely well. They could talk about everything from military affairs to family affairs.

But now, not only with Chen Jingan, but also with all the old Tongshan brothers, there seems to be some distance.

They seemed to be more polite to each other, or cautious.

Even to the point where Chen Chu had to check and balance the Chen family, it was not that he suspected that the Chen family had second thoughts, but the Chen family came from a noble family after all, and they were still able to restrain their family's desire for the means of production represented by land.

But if they are allowed to develop, what will happen to their descendants?
When Chen Chu passes away, will there be a day when the government is overthrown?
In this way, it would be meaningless for Lao Bai, Uncle Shen and those soldiers whose names they could not remember to die in battle under the walls of Tokyo.

But there was no suitable person to discuss these matters in my heart.

"In ancient times, all the sages were lonely, only the drinkers left their names."

The fuzzy Chen Chu hummed softly and drank another drink.

He never considered himself a saint, but he also experienced that feeling of loneliness.

At the beginning of the night, Chen Chu drunkenly glanced around and saw several people in the hall, all looking concerned and careful. He couldn't help laughing, stood up holding the table and said: "Let's set off the fireworks, this is New Year's Eve in Anfeng City." The night is quiet and lacks interest. Let’s add some excitement.”

Erlang and Xiaoyi were eager for Brother Chen to follow them to relax, so they quickly agreed.

Ru'er, on the other hand, saw that King Chu was drunk and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, it is very cold today. I will go and warm your bed first."

"Go, go, go back to your own room and sleep."

Chen Chu smiled and waved his hand, rejecting Ru'er's kindness, and the latter said "Oh" in frustration.

Tie Dan, who had only had wine with Chen Chu since entering the hall but didn't even say a word, gave Ru'er a half-understanding look.

One hour at a time.

Chen Chu, Erlang Xiaoyi and other personal guards ran to the front yard to set off fireworks like children.

Tie Dan accidentally wandered to Chen Chu's residence. The guard guarding the door naturally recognized Captain Shen. He saw her walking around outside the door with a red face. He glanced into the house from time to time and finally couldn't help but be curious. Said: "Captain Shen, is there something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, I'll wait for him to come back and say something."

Tiedan replied unnaturally, but the guard said: "It's freezing outside, Commander Shen, come and wait in the room!"

When Tie Gan entered the house for some unknown reason, he immediately walked over with his long legs, but...
When passing by the guard, Tie Dan hesitated again and again, and finally asked in a low voice: "Are you married?"

"what?"

"Are you married?"

"Married"

"Then" Tie Dan suddenly became nervous, lowered his head, and unconsciously drew circles on the ground with his toes, and said like a mosquito: "Then, does your wife always warm your bed in winter?"

"Hahaha" the guard couldn't hold it back anymore and said with a smile: "My mother-in-law is a bitch, I wish she could be so virtuous!"

"Oh." The words of the personal guard undoubtedly prove that only a virtuous lady can warm the bed, but a female insect cannot.
Tie Dan has a good martial arts skills, but she is most afraid of people saying that she is a mother. In order to completely separate herself from her mother, Tie Dan finally made up her mind, I want to warm the bed!

However, just as he reached out to push the door open, Tie Dan suddenly turned around and asked, "Besides warming the bed, what else do you and your mother-in-law do?"

"belch"

There was a soft sound in the guard's throat. If it weren't for Captain Shen's humbly asking for advice, this guard would have thought that Captain Shen was here to tease him!
Besides tinkering around with my mother-in-law, what else can I do?

"Nothing more to do, haha, nothing else is left."

The personal guards dare not tell the actual situation. After all, Captain Shen is still a young lady!

After hearing what the personal guard said, Tie Dan breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out that being a wife only requires you to know how to warm a bed. It's quite simple.

At the end of the day, Chen Chu had some fun with wine and returned to his residence.

When the guard guarding the courtyard gate saw him, he had a strange look on his face and took the initiative to apologize and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is back, my subordinates don't even know about it, please don't worry, Your Majesty!"

"baffling."

Chen Chu looked at the personal guards who took the initiative to retreat far away and muttered.

Huainan does not have the habit of burning earth dragons. After Chen Chu entered the house, he took off his clothes and quickly got into bed.
But unexpectedly, the bed was unexpectedly warm.

Xun Zui's brain regained consciousness for a moment. Chen Chu touched inside and sure enough he touched a female humanoid creature.

Being able to make such an accurate judgment in just a moment was naturally because his hands happened to be placed on the two pieces of evidence.

Chen Chu subconsciously thought: Is this Ru'er really running over?

Give it a pinch.
wrong!

Ru'er's small body is not of such size!

But before Chen Chu could continue to explore, the creature inside seemed to be awakened by his actions. It suddenly turned over and kicked out, hitting Brother Chu's chest and abdomen.
This force is really quite powerful!
Without any precautions, he flew more than ten feet out of the bed and hit the benches in the room, making a few clanging noises.

"There are assassins!"

Chen Chu, who was kicked away, fell to his knees and shouted loudly before he could get up.

At this sound, there was chaos outside the hospital.

Just a few breaths later, Jiao Tu led a large number of personal guards and burst into the door.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

"Brother Chen?"

Amid anxious shouts, Erlang and Xiaoyi entered carrying lanterns.

I saw King Chu of Qi, King Jin of Zhou, and Brother Chen, the prime minister of the two countries, with faces twisted in pain. They stood up from the ground with difficulty, holding their stomachs.

The assassin seemed to have just woken up, sitting on the bed with a red baby face, looking at everything around him in confusion.

Who is it if it’s not Commander Shen? (End of chapter)