lady, please calm down

At the hour of Xu, the lights begin to come on.

In the Qinxian Hall of the Lin'an Imperial City, hundreds of students from Huaibei gathered together.

Chen Yinglang, Cai Si, Zhu Chun and others are all from the Huaibei lineage and have entered officialdom several years ago. This time, they were invited to the imperial banquet as seniors to pass on some experience to their many junior brothers.

Except for them, the rest of the students were attending such a high-level banquet for the first time, and excitement was written all over their faces.

The Imperial City represents loyalty to all powers in the world, and being invited here by the principal is in itself extremely symbolic.

We have studied hard for many years, and who doesn’t want to take revenge?

Since the moment they walked out of the academy, they have been branded as "disciples of the Son of Heaven". Now that the remnants of the Zhou Kingdom have not been completely wiped out, His Majesty has hurriedly summoned them to the south. Everyone knows that a bright road has been paved before them. At the same time, this trip south is also their last "examination" to enter the officialdom.

It is probably the most important test in life.

Among the hundreds of people, Chen Chu could name at least dozens of them. To him, these people were the continuation and executors of his political ideas, as well as his younger brothers and sisters who grew up in his eyes.

Therefore, Chen Chu was particularly happy that night.

During the meal, he even went to sit for a while at Chen Yinglang's table. Everyone at this table was familiar. In addition to Chen, Cai, Peng Yuyan, Wu Yanzu and others, Cui Zaidao, a top graduate of that year, vice president of the Student Union, who had been selected by Chen Chu as a secretary of the Central Committee, was also here.

After talking to the others with a smile, Chen Chu specifically asked Cui Zaidao, "Zaidao and your mother have been dependent on each other for many years. This trip southward will cause your mother to worry."

"A man's ambition is to go far and wide! Your Majesty, before leaving, my mother specifically told me not to think about my family, but to be loyal to Your Majesty and the Great Chu, so as not to let down Your Majesty and the Queen for their cultivation and the grace of saving my life!"

If these words were spoken by someone else, they might sound like flattery, but when spoken by Cui Zaidao, they sounded extremely sincere.

Cui Zaidao never concealed his background, and his classmates all knew it. Cui Zaidao and his widowed mother were refugees who fled to Caizhou due to the Huaibei flood in the ninth year of Fuchang. The fact that they were able to survive was naturally inseparable from the relief operation presided over by the Queen in Caizhou that year.

According to him, his mother's job of supporting the family and his admission to school were all due to the Queen's personal intervention, which gave him the opportunity to change his fate.

Chen Chu pressed his hand, motioning the excited Cui Zaidao to sit down, and gave him a sincere admonition, "Zaidao, when you get to the place, don't be impatient when doing things. You must protect yourself while planning things. The situation in Jiangnan is much more complicated than that in Huaibei back then."

"I will obey His Majesty's teachings!"

"Work hard and set a good example for your fellow students. Don't bring shame to your mother, the school, or Huaibei."

"Yes!"

Compared with the large number of boys, the number of girls going south this time was much smaller, with only a few dozen people, accounting for 20% of the total number.

But compared to the boys' side, the atmosphere on the girls' side is much more lively.

Seeing Chen Chu coming to express his condolences, they all stood up and knelt to greet him.

"I have met His Majesty!"

Amid the mixed voices, Chen Chu smiled and announced a piece of good news. "Just now, the Imperial Concubine has asked Madam Zhong from the Women's Department to take your luggage to the residence of Qin Huizhi, the Prime Minister of Zhou. After the banquet is over, you can go there and rest."

"Wow~"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Concubine!"

When the Zhou Emperor fled south, he took with him several officials, led by Qin Huizhi, who could no longer return. In the following days, some officials who were concerned about the Great Chu fled back to their hometowns.

There were many unused official residences left in Lin'an City, which were more than enough to accommodate the students.

Needless to say, the prime minister's residence must be luxurious and comfortable. This is naturally a great blessing for the students who have traveled more than a thousand miles.

As for what Chen Chu said was Cai Huan's arrangement, it was entirely to ease the relationship between the latter and the students. If Mao'er traveled with the students, he would definitely take good care of everyone along the way.

But Cai Huan was too lazy to do so and almost ignored the students on the way.

It’s not that she doesn’t understand the benefits of these low-cost favors, she just doesn’t care what others think of her.

To use what she just said to Chen Chu, I am not the queen, so why should I use those small favors to win people's hearts?

On the side, Sandra Ng and Zhou Zhiruo, who were sitting next to Hutou, thought they were close to Chen Chu, so they went up to him and said a few words.

Hu Tou, on the other hand, remained sitting in the same place, staring at Chen Chu who was chatting and laughing with Wu and Zhou in a friendly manner. His watery peach blossom eyes seemed to contain a thousand words, but he didn't know where to start.

"Xiangyi, must you be tired from traveling so fast?"

Chen Chu took the time to ask Xiang Hutou, who felt aggrieved and lowered his head, saying, "Not bad."

"Haha, you grew up in Huaibei, so you may not be able to adapt to the hot summer in the south of the Yangtze River. Play in Lin'an for a few days, and I will send someone to take you back, okay?"

Although these words were expressed with concern, it was obvious that he treated her like a child. Hu Tou immediately shook his head like a rattle, and the sadness in his heart was immediately replaced by the desire to not be looked down upon, or to prove to his brother-in-law that he was no longer a child. "I don't want to go back! I'm here to help the country!"

"Oh?" Chen Chu smiled in surprise, but said, "It's not that easy to do things. Don't get wronged and go to your elder sister to cry and say that I didn't take good care of you."

“No!” Hu Tou seemed to be afraid of being driven back by Chen Chu, so he quickly made the promise. But then he seemed to be afraid to look at his brother-in-law. He turned his head slightly and looked away, muttering softly: “I’m not a child anymore. When my sister was my age, she helped my brother and His Majesty to manage Luliu Market.”

This was probably the first time that Hu Tou compared himself with his sister, but his voice was very soft and I don’t know if his brother-in-law heard it.

That night, the girl stayed at Qin Huizhi's house.

This house bestowed by the Emperor of Zhou occupies a vast area in the extremely expensive city of Lin'an. Not to mention Si Lan, who came from a wealthy family, even Sandra Ng and others exclaimed at how exquisite this house was.

After the accommodation was assigned, Zhong Yi, the secretary of the Women's Department who came here with Concubine Cai, held a small meeting for everyone and briefly explained the content of the next work.

It was nothing more than cooperating with the opera troupe to do some publicity work, explaining the new policies of the Chu State involving farmers to the people near Lin'an, and mobilizing public opinion and laying the groundwork for policies to implement land reform.

But since they had just arrived in Lin'an and were living in such a beautiful place, everyone was a little absent-minded about what Madam Zhong said. Zhang Wanyu, one of the female students, said lightly, "Don't worry, Madam Zhong. In the past few years, we have been to many villages in Huaibei with our teacher to supervise the implementation of the new policies of officials and explain the new policies of your majesty to the farmers. We know how to deal with the farmers."

Classmate Du Yunming also said: "Don't worry, Madam Zhong. The three years of high school and more than ten social practice classes were not learned in vain!"

"Yes, yes!"

The others echoed the words. Facing the confident statements of the crowd, Zhong Yi was not as reassured as they were, so she had to persuade them: "Huaibei and Jiangnan are worlds apart. Everything went well for you in Huaibei because your Majesty had already cleaned up several rounds of stubborn gentry in Huaibei. And Huaibei has been managed by your Majesty for many years, and even if the lower-level officials wanted to exploit them, they would not have the courage to do so. But it is not the case in Jiangnan."

It was a long paragraph of earnest words, but few people really took it to heart. In recent years, what they heard was that everyone surrendered when His Majesty's imperial flag was in front of them, and wherever their father and brother's army went, they were invincible.

After being in such an atmosphere for a long time, they couldn't help but feel that nothing was difficult in the world and that all stubborn diseases and evil gentry could be easily conquered!
At the hour of Hai, the lights in the back house of the prime minister's residence gradually went out.

Although they were tired from traveling for days, everyone took a good bath and were so excited that they could hardly fall asleep.

Wu Junru, who was assigned to the same room as Hu Tou, couldn't help but reach out and touch Hu Tou's suspender pure black lace silk pajamas for the Nth time. Hu Tou felt it and raised his hand to knock Wu Junru's hand away, "Is it annoying or not? Are you going to sleep or not?"

Having grown up together, Sandra Ng didn't mind at all. She smiled and said, "Xiangyi, your nightgown is so beautiful! It sets off your skin like snow. Did you make it yourself? The last time Daya and I went to Huizhi Lanxin, why didn't we see this style?"

As she spoke, Sandra Ng couldn't help herself and poked Tiger Head's arm with her finger.

Hu Tou was a little annoyed by Sandra Ng's harassment and simply sat up. Outside the screen window, the shadows of the trees were swaying, and there were occasional sounds of frogs croaking and cicadas chirping, as well as the indistinct sounds of excited whispers from classmates in the adjacent rooms.

Hu Tou naturally would not tell Sandra Ng that this nightgown was first circulated from the Qingpu Garden of Concubine Cai. After being improved and developed by Sister Yunong, almost every female member of the harem of Da Chu has one now.

She and Jia'er also secretly had someone make a set for her. In addition to being beautiful, in Hutou's eyes, this nightgown is also a prop that represents her growing up.

Seeing that Hu Tou remained silent, Sandra Ng couldn't help but ask, "Xiang Yi, what are you thinking about?"

Hu Tou had a lot of things on her mind, but at this moment she said, "I'm thinking, we must do things well, so that others won't look down on us!"

Sandra Ng understands doing things well, but does 'others look down on you'?
Sister, your elder sister is the current queen and your brother-in-law is the current emperor. Even if you do nothing and just eat and wait for death, no one dares to look down on you! "Who looked down on you?" Sandra Ng asked doubtfully.

"Uh" Hu Tou had no way of answering.

The excitement that Cai Huan caused on the 27th of last month, and the fact that Chen Chu still treated her like a child today, made Hu Tou eager to prove that elder sister and Concubine Cai are powerful, but I, Hu Tou, can also help my brother-in-law!

Two streets away, the residence of Chai Su, the former prefect of Lin'an and a member of the Zhou royal family, became one of the residences for male students.

Compared to the girls' side, this side seems a little more serious.

Chen Yinglang, the oldest one, specially invited Liu Changqing and people from Liuhuai Preparatory School to give the younger students a detailed introduction to the surrounding situation.

Liu Changqing, who had been stationed in Lin'an for more than two years, acted as a half-host. He dipped his finger in water and roughly drew a map of the surrounding area on the table. He said, "Near Lin'an, most of the farmland belonged to the Zhou royal family, Qin Huizhi and other powerful officials. After they fled south, thousands of hectares of fertile land became ownerless, which is beneficial to the implementation of land reform. As for the remaining gentry, they may secretly make some trouble, but it is not enough to stir up a big storm."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yinglang couldn't help but look at Peng Yuyan, "Minxing, where are you going?"

"It's written on the list that Lord Xu sent just now that I was assigned to Yuhang County."

"Where is Zongzhi?" Chen Yinglang looked at Wu Yanzu again.

"I was assigned to Chun'an."

After Wu Yanzu answered, Chen Yinglang asked Cui Zaidao, "Zaidao, what about you?"

"Tingzhi and I went to Changhua"

The people that Chen Yinglang asked about were all talented people in Huaibei School at the time, and they were also the ones that His Majesty paid special attention to.

Changhua is two hundred miles away from Lin'an, which is neither far nor near.

Chen Yinglang couldn't help but ask the local Guan Huimin, "Huimin, what's the situation in Changhua?"

Guan Huimin thought for a moment and said, "The Cao family is the first among the great families in Changhua. They moved here in the late Tang Dynasty and have been thriving for two or three hundred years."

"What's its reputation?" Since it was related to the place he was about to visit, Cui Zaidao naturally wanted to find out more information.

"It's not a bad reputation. In May, when General Xin's vanguard was still a hundred miles away from Lin'an, the magistrate of Changhua was one of the first to change his flag and return to the right path. It is said that it was Cao Ling, the head of the Cao family, who persuaded the local magistrate."

That being said, Cao Ling is at least a smart man.

"What about the county magistrate?" Cui Zaidao continued.

"Lu Xiaozhai, the county magistrate, has been in Changhua for more than two years, but I haven't heard much about him."

Guan Huimin said apologetically.

After all, he was only a student, and the information he could grasp was just superficial hearsay, and he could not provide more crucial information.

Peng Yuyan understood this very well and said, "Jiangnan has just been annexed. Even Your Majesty doesn't have enough time to understand the real situation of a county. What we are doing is to help Your Majesty find out the real situation in various places and be the pioneers who explore the way!"

"Minxing is right!"

"That's right. If Your Majesty has the same control over Jiangnan as Huaibei, why would you send us all the way to Jiangnan?"

"Yes, I have studied hard for ten years just to serve your Majesty and the country today!"

Seeing that his fellow apprentices were full of fighting spirit like young tigers released from a cage, Chen Yinglang could not help but nod his head frequently, but still reminded them: "My fellow apprentices, this trip is only to investigate the livelihood and hidden farm conditions of various places. If you find any illegal activities, do not act rashly. Everything will be decided by His Majesty!"

"Yes!"

Some people agreed, but others said, "Senior, you are too cautious. Now that Jiangnan has become Chu territory, is there anyone who dares to harm the emperor's disciples?"

The person who spoke was obviously very proud of Lan Xiang's relationship with the emperor as the principal.

Chen Yinglang glared at the man who had spoken, then looked around at the many young but confident students, and said, "Your Majesty has said before, you are all the seeds of our Great Chu's administration! If there is a mistake, even if we cut the evildoers into pieces, it will not be enough to make up for it. In short, His Majesty said that you just need to find out the truth. If you are wronged because of official business, His Majesty will make the decision for you. Don't do anything that will end up in vain. His Majesty has kept you for a long time!"

Although Chen Yinglang was the one who relayed the words, everyone could hear the deep love and care from His Majesty.
Chen Yinglang originally intended to calm everyone down, but after he said that, the passionate young people became even more excited, and felt that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for His Majesty and for the Great Chu!

The third day of July.

Early in the morning, Cui Zaidao and his classmate Tang Tingzhi each rode a small donkey out of Lin'an and headed west.

Along the way, both of them were in a good mood.

As a talented young man, he has a bright future that is visible to the naked eye. Coupled with the beautiful mountains and rivers, he feels like he is riding a horse at full speed in the spring breeze.

After two days of traveling, the two entered Changhua.

Compared to other places, there is nothing unusual here.

But the common people and farmers they met along the way were extremely wary of the two people who spoke with foreign accents. They either ignored them or drove them away rudely.

When they were in Huaibei, they were not loved by everyone, but as long as they said they were students of the school and disciples of the emperor, everyone looked up to them, and even officials from all over the country were polite to them.

Tang Tingzhi had never been so humiliated before, so he couldn't help but suggest, "Zai Dao, can we just wander around outside the city? Why don't we go directly to the county government office and find the magistrate of Lu to explain our identities and ask him to send a few yamen runners to accompany the two of us to the countryside to investigate."

Cui Zaidao could not help but shake his head repeatedly, "Changhua's administration is unclear. We can't find out anything even if we dress like ordinary people. If we bring the yamen runners along, no one will dare to tell the truth."

Cui Zaidao had a high prestige among his classmates, so Tang Tingzhi could not defeat him.

The two wandered around Changhua countryside for a day. At dusk, they met a young girl outside a village called Xianggongzhong.

The young girl was carrying a bundle of firewood and seemed to have sprained her ankle accidentally. She was lying on the side of the road, covering her wrist and crying.

The two men would certainly not sit idly by, so they let the young lady named Du Yue Niang sit on the donkey and sent her home.

This Yue Niang was exactly from Xianggongzhong Village. When she got home, she found out that there was only an old father at home.

When he saw the two men sending their daughter back and learned that they were traveling scholars, Old Man Du refused to let them leave and hurriedly cooked two side dishes to show his gratitude.

After the meal, knowing that the two had no place to live, he cleaned out an empty room for them to live in.

It just so happened that the two of them had no plans to go into the city in the short term, and someone took them in and saved them from the hardship of sleeping in the open.

That night, the two of them were too hot to sleep. Tang Tingzhi sat on the low bed, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and whispering, "As the saying goes, deep mountains hide beauties, and wooden houses breed handsome birds. I never thought that Uncle Du's daughter would be so pretty. When she was sitting by the roadside crying just now, I was a little moved."

Cui Zaidao, who rested his hands on his head and looked up at the roof, frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Tingzhi, isn't today's incident a bit of a coincidence?"

"What's the coincidence?"

"After a day's journey, when we were looking for a place to stay, we met Miss Du and stayed at Uncle Du's house."

"What's wrong? Do you think Miss Du is a bad person?"

"That's not true. But in your Majesty's early work Journey to the West, there is a chapter called The Three Strike at the White Bone Demon. The demon can transform into a beautiful woman or an old woman. When I was young, I just read it as a ghost story, but now that I'm older, I feel that your Majesty's masterpiece contains great truths. Anyway, you can't tell whether someone is good or bad just by appearance."

Tang Tingzhi couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "If the local gentry is showing hospitality for no reason, you and I should be careful. What can Uncle Du do to you and me? His family is poor, and just now he went to the neighbor's house to borrow two chicken eggs to make a dish of meat in order to entertain you and me. How can they be bad people?"

Cui Zaidao couldn't help but think of Uncle Du's reserved but enthusiastic appearance just now. He was very similar to his parents before they fled to Caizhou. He was simple, timid, a little cowardly, but gentle in his bones.

From this, the voice and appearance of his father who died in the flood gradually emerged in his mind, and then he remembered his mother's earnest advice to him to "do a good job" before leaving. It has not been easy for his mother over the years, but the child has finally grown up!
Thinking of this, Cui Zaidao inexplicably felt a little closer to Uncle Du and his daughter, and laughed at himself, "I'm overthinking."

His doubts were gone, and the fatigue from the days of traveling set in, and Cui Zaidao fell into a deep sleep. (End of this chapter)