Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 22 What kind of toad?

"This boy is interesting. His high-spirited behavior reminds me of how you looked when we were traveling around the mountains and rivers."

Old Guo picked up the wine and drank it all, but what he said made the Teng Wang sitting on the stool opposite him burst into laughter. They had known each other for more than 30 years. When they were 18 years old, they traveled all over the mountains together. Suddenly, he was already over 50 years old with gray hair on his temples.

"Speaking of which, these days really are like a fleeting moment. Half of my life has passed in a trance. Alas... it was already thirty-seven years ago when you and I were full of vigor and vitality."

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Lao Guo ate some side dishes and listened to the chirping of insects and birds outside. "You came to me just to find out about an unknown boy? You have been scheming since you were a child. Tell me, why did you come to me?"

"Do you know about the Chunmiao Reform?"

After Teng Wang said this, Lao Guo paused for a moment with his chopsticks in his hand, and then he continued to eat, but his eyes became sharper: "Prince of Qin Wang? I have heard of him, but I don't know the details."

Prince Teng nodded and said: "The boy today is one of the members of the Spring Sprout Reform."

Lao Guo straightened up: "Him? Why?"

"I shouldn't have told you this, but since Jing'er has already started preparations, I still need some help. I don't have the popularity with others. If you don't help me, I'll set your house on fire."

"Hahahahahaha... you're a dog. You were a dog when you were young, and you're even more of a scabby old dog when you're old. Okay, okay, you can say whatever you want. If you go too far, don't blame me for turning my back on you."

Prince Teng took a sip of wine and fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan. After pondering for a moment, he said, "The Spring Sprout Reform is actually simple. Jing'er's idea is to recruit talents from all over the country, bypass the imperial examination, and use the method of raising Gu to train a group of capable generals. When Jing'er inherits the throne in a few years, these people will be his sharp weapons to fight against Gao Xiang's lineage."

Upon hearing this method, Lao Guo pursed his lips. He certainly knew that this road was difficult. Although he himself was from an aristocratic family, he also knew that if he wanted to consolidate power, the first thing he had to do was to clean up the aristocratic families. Otherwise, it would inevitably be like the end of the Jin Dynasty when warlords fought for hegemony among the various factions.

Gao Xiang was born into the upstart Gao family in Jiangnan. This Gao family was different from the traditional five surnames and seven families. It had only been established for a hundred years, but it had keenly grasped the economic lifeline of the entire south and gradually eroded the military and political power. Now the Gao family had already been nailed to the Wei Dynasty. If it was pulled out forcefully, both sides would perish. But if it was allowed to develop, sooner or later the story of Sima seizing Cao would appear again in this round of Wei Dynasty.

The literati were not in a hurry, because they would work for whomever they were hired for, and the world could not do without them. But the royal family of Wei was anxious. Once their lifeline was completely controlled, the best outcome would be that the emperor would be held hostage to control the princes. If it was worse, they would probably end up being murdered in the street.

"If you put it that way, there are a few young men like this in every place?"

"Yes." Prince Teng nodded and said, "This is just one of them. But today I heard that this boy can make the stones in your toilet follow his pace. I am a little surprised."

"Him? That guy set a trap for me." Lao Guo was both angry and amused when he talked about it: "He set a trap for me."

"Oh? Someone is plotting against you? Tell me what's going on here."

Lao Guo has been here for some years. On weekdays, everyone is quite boring, but today's incident really made him think about it for a long time. Although the boy's calculations were not very clever, he seemed unable to avoid his three tricks over and over again.

The core of the issue here is whether to give money or not. The core demand of that kid is to get money. If he doesn't give it, then he will become a dog official who does nothing but eat and do nothing, doesn't know how to adapt and doesn't care about the people's livelihood. If he gives it, then he will be following that kid's wishes. Then it is a question of whether to punish him or not. If he is punished, then he will fulfill his reputation. If he is not punished, then he will break his own rules and the laws of the dynasty.

Therefore, the optimal solution here was exactly as that kid planned, not a single mistake. This made Lao Guo feel upset but he had no idea what to do.

As the saying goes, if you don’t eat this Nine-Turn Large Intestine, you won’t be able to judge me. If you eat it, it’s just what I want.

Although the matter is small, it is a top-level conspiracy.

“Hiss~~~” Prince Teng took a deep breath after hearing this: “Sixteen years old? This is a sixteen-year-old?”

"Exactly. His mature and slick look reminds me of Chang Sun Sheng." Old Guo raised his head and sighed, "Come to think of it, Chang Sun Sheng has been gone for eleven years. Back then, he was the only one among us who was good at playing."

"Yes. Yes, does he have a son? Where is his son now?"

"Zhangsun Wuji? He is in Chang'an, stationed in Longyou with Li Yuan's second son." Old Guo said with some emotion: "Li Yuan, this useless old man, gave birth to several sons who are all quite good. Unfortunately, my son is fat and only cares about eating."

The content of their conversation gradually became outrageous. They talked about their son's disappointment for a long time, and then suddenly turned the topic back to Xia Lin. At this moment, Prince Teng sighed without warning: "You know my daughter, she looks angry when she sees everyone, but when she talks about this slippery boy you mentioned, her eyes are bright and her eyebrows are full of affection. I think something bad is going to happen."

"Well... it's true. That boy is eloquent and handsome. He's even more handsome than you were when you were young."

"Oh no, that's it." Prince Teng slapped his thigh and said, "No, I can't let Qian'er meet him again."

"Don't worry, I will send him back to his hometown in a few days. The love between a boy and a girl will fade away in two years." "Very good, very good. Come on, come on, cheers." Teng Wang's depression was relieved and he raised his glass and drank it in one gulp: "I will give you 100,000 taels, you give it to that boy, and let him stay in the countryside and stay away from my daughter."

"One hundred thousand is a bit much, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid he'll come back for more after he runs out of it."

From these 100,000 taels, we can see that Prince Teng was really afraid that his daughter would have an affair with this unclear boy, but he might not realize that his 100,000 taels might be a waste of money.

Because at this moment, his beloved Tuoba Qian had already sneaked out while he was drinking with Lao Guo and found the inn where Xia Lin was now.

As for Xia Lin, after being hit hard by two sticks, he could only lie on the side of the bed and pretend to be dead. The doctor said he was fine, but he insisted that he was about to die and even asked Lao Zhang to prepare some delicious food for him so that he could eat well before he could set off.

Until there was a knock on the door, Lao Zhang, who was feeding him water, said jokingly, "Guess if it's the White Impermanence or the Black Impermanence."

"Damn it, this must be the little princess." Xia Lin took a look and said, "Look at her height."

Sure enough, the light from outside cast a shadow on the hollow space on the door, and it could be seen that the person was dressed like a girl. And she was so tall. Among the people Xia Lin knew, the only one of this size was the little princess.

Lao Zhang smiled jokingly: "Then I will go out for a walk and leave this room to you two. Be gentle with your movements and don't hurt your buttocks."

"Can't you talk like a human being? She's just a child. Go open the door."

As soon as Old Zhang opened the door, the little princess hurried in carrying a basket. But when she was about one meter away from Xia Lin's bed, she tripped over her left foot and fell on Xia Lin's butt with a loud bang.

"Ah~! Mom..."

Xia Lin screamed and slapped the bed with his hands. The little princess was originally very sad when she saw his miserable state, but at this moment she couldn't help laughing.

At this time, Xia Lin had already laid there limply and motionless after his howling. Except for his fingers, he felt that no part of his body could move.

"Don't feel sorry for him, he's just pretending." Lao Zhang walked back and sat on the stool: "Just look at how desperate he is in these two hits."

"I'll see."

The little princess was about to pull down Xia Lin's pants, but Xia Lin, in his dying state, sat up in shock and grabbed her wrist: "Don't watch... If you watch, won't my innocence be gone?"

"Who wants your innocence? You bad guy, you didn't even come to me when you came. Liar!"

As the little princess spoke, she began to feel wronged: "You said you would come to me when you got here, but if I hadn't seen you getting beaten, I wouldn't have known you were here. Liar, liar, liar!"

Although she complained, her eyes were full of concern when she looked at Xia Lin. She was young and didn't know what love was. Xia Lin was more like a good friend and playmate to her. He was one of the few variables and surprises in her life that she could foresee at a glance. So she cherished him especially. She would cry when she saw Xia Lin being beaten, and she would sneak out at night when she thought of Xia Lin's injuries. In short, her mind was always on him, without any distractions.

"It's not that I don't want to look for you, I'm just really busy. I just arrived last night, I can't look for you in the middle of the night, right? I got beaten up today, how can I look for you in this state?"

Hearing Xia Lin's miserable words, the little princess asked doubtfully, "Really?"

"How could it be false? Look at my elder brother, he is Zhang Zhongchun. If I tell even a single lie, Zhang Zhongchun will be pierced by thousands of arrows and die without a burial place."

"Hmm?" Old Zhang raised his head and looked at Xia Lin blankly: "If you are sick, go get treatment."

At this time, the little princess just smiled foolishly, just like when they were bickering on the road, but after laughing, she hurriedly picked up the basket and said, "I got you some golden wound medicine from the palace, and... and some silver I asked my mother for. Here are two hundred taels. Take it first. If it's not enough, I'll go back and cheat my second brother for money."

Xia Lin watched her taking things out of the basket in piles, and he felt both amused and sorry for the silly girl, so he sighed and said, "No need, just keep the money. Governor Guo has already approved the money, and this beating is worth it."

The young princess was relentless and stuffed the silver into Xia Lin's collar: "Just take it if I tell you to. What if other places need money too? You can't get beaten every time you ask for money!"

(End of this chapter)