Han official!

Chapter 35 Owl Soup
"Captain Guo Jie, I have offended you many times in the past. Drink this wine to the fullest as an apology."

After making all the necessary arrangements, Jia Ziguang summoned his servants to remove the sackcloth and said solemnly, "You know I've offended my in-laws, the Dou family. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on to my position as the chief of the city gate for long. My superior, the Chang'an Wei, Zhu Anshi, only cares about money. He's completely different from Zhang Tang, who helped you. As long as you don't break the law, I'll do my best to protect you."

That day, the officials of Chang'an Temple were seated inside.

In order to protect Guo Jie, Zhang Tang did not hesitate to contradict Dou Pengzu and offend the Dou family, the most powerful relative in Chang'an.

Jia Ziguang saw this and felt quite envious, but he could only envy her.

"I am not good at drinking."

Guo Jie didn't drink, nor did he eat any of the food on the table. Who knew if it was poisoned? He deliberately stalled for time and said, "You are wrong. Zhu Shangli is a rare good official. If you don't violate the Han laws and behave yourself, Zhu Shangli will not treat you unfairly."

What he said was flawless.

It won't give people any excuses.

Jia Ziguang looked at Guo Jie in surprise, thinking that he had only heard that he was a chivalrous man from a commoner family, and no one in his family was an official, so how could he speak so flawlessly, like a veteran official?

He ordered people to light the half-person-high lanterns, and more than ten wicks lit up, making the main room brighter.

Jia Ziguang saw the expression on Guo Jie's face and found him completely unfazed. "Captain Guo, you came to the meeting with only a few guards. Aren't you afraid that I'll call in a few dozen of the Jia clan's knights, who will kill you out of spite and hang your head on the gate?"

Wei Guang immediately glared at him, stood up with the iron halberd with the word "卜" in his hand, as if he was ready to rush over and kidnap Jia Ziguang, use him as a peach seal, and escape from the crisis-ridden Jiashe courtyard.

Before he broke into the gate, he defeated Ting Zuo, the most skilled swordsman in the Nanyang Jia family, with one halberd. The news had already spread throughout the Jiashe courtyard.

Jia Ziguang was startled and immediately clapped his hands, calling out the Jia family knights who were guarding the surrounding area.

A special kind of building is often built in the residences of nobles and powerful people.

Complex wall.

That is, a partition wall.

The double walls are usually used to store money, gold and silver utensils, and sometimes to hide people.

In the early Han Dynasty, Guan Gao, the prime minister of Zhao Wang Zhang Ao, sent soldiers to hide in the wall and prepare to ambush Liu Bang because Emperor Gaozu of Han treated Zhao Wang rudely.

On the left and right sides of the main room, there was a double wall built on the white wall, hiding more than a dozen Jia family knights, all of whom were skilled in martial arts and swordsmanship. Following Jia Ziguang's high-five, they came out from the double wall one after another, looking at Guo Jie and others vigilantly.

The leader wore a flat cap, held a ring-handled sword, and had a red-painted double-arc shield. His steps were quite methodical, not like those of a ranger who rushed forward to kill people in a disorderly manner.

They looked more like soldiers guarding a beacon tower at the frontier, holding red-painted double-curved shields in front of them, with stern faces. As they advanced and retreated, more than a dozen of them moved in an orderly manner and covered each other, as if they were facing the Huns attacking from outside Didao.

Wei Guang's expression froze, and he whispered, "I once rode my horse to Didao and saw the beacon tower guards at the border. These people are not ordinary knights. They are the guards of the border beacon towers. Brother, you must not be careless."

Didao belonged to Longxi County. Before Emperor Wu of Han expanded the territory of the Han Dynasty, Didao, which was only a few hundred kilometers away from Chang'an, was a frontier fortress of the Great Wall.

It only takes four or five days to reach the border town of Didao by riding a horse from Chang'an.

Chang'an was built with its back to the Wei River. Didao is at the upper source of the Wei River and can be reached in two days by water.

Guo Jie was surprised that Jia Ziguang had hidden more than a dozen garrison soldiers. He looked at Wei Guang with a speechless look and rode his horse to the border of Didao. He was really a fast runner and was not afraid of being caught by Princess Pingyang for personal use of his stallion.

"Don't worry, Captain Guo," Jia Ziguang said with a relaxed expression. "There are more than a dozen soldiers hiding in Fubi. Well, I'm sure you can see that they are all veterans who have guarded the frontier beacons for many years. I support them and spend a lot of money every year to find replacements. They are just to protect their own safety. They have no intention of attacking Captain Guo."

"hehe."

Jia Ziguang suddenly laughed at himself, "Not everyone has your courage. You took a red ribbon armor you found from who knows where, threw it into the warehouse of the Yang Di Yuan family, and falsely claimed that you had hidden the armor. You then had the Yang Di Yuan family executed. You are indeed a hero who can fight a tiger with your bare hands. Chief Guo's courage is amazing."

False accusation and counter-attack.

If he was not careful, the person who would be executed by his entire clan would be Guo Jie.

As well as the hundreds of knights in crimson robes around him, except for the official Zhang Qian and Princess Pingyang's riding slave Wei Guang, all of his family members will be killed.

Jia Ziguang sent people to check Guo Jie's carriages and horses, and found that he did not carry a set of red-ribboned armor. There was no need to worry that Guo Jie would use the trick of hiding the armor again and falsely accuse the Nanyang Jia family of hiding the armor.

"Someone is coming."

Jia Ziguang called over several maids, and as if he really wanted to make peace, he said with a happy face: "I heard that Minister Guo was visiting, so I asked the chef to prepare a pot of owl soup for you. Please enjoy it."

A middle-aged chef with a short beard came in carrying a copper cauldron that was bubbling with steam. He placed it on the horseshoe-shaped stove in the middle of the main room, took out some precious spices, such as dogwood, Sichuan pepper, vinegar, and some yellowish-brown salt, put them in the copper cauldron, stirred them evenly, and then retreated with his body hunched.

It smelled delicious, and the copper cauldron was bubbling with milky white broth, with a layer of grease floating on the surface. It was a rare delicacy to anyone, and what was even more rare was the grease.

The so-called spoiled children, "貴" refers to fat.

"Serve a bowl to Captain Guo first."

Seeing the owl soup bubbling in the copper cauldron, Jia Ziguang's sallow face lit up a bit. He introduced it, "This is the owl soup the emperor bestows upon all officials. Even common people have never heard of it, let alone enjoyed it. This rare delicacy is used to treat Chief Guo, showing my determination to resolve the grudge. Chief Guo, enjoy it quickly."

Wei Guang poked his head out and looked at the owl soup in the copper cauldron. He was eager to try it and seemed to be looking forward to eating it.

Eat owl soup on the fifteenth day of the fifth month to ward off bad luck.

Guo Jie smelled the aroma of the owl soup wafting from the room, and his stomach churned. The more fragrant the smell, the more uncomfortable his stomach felt.

This thing is stewed owl.

Xiao is an owl.

A bird or beast that eats carrion.

He definitely won't eat it.

A pretty maid brought a precious lacquer bowl, which was only used by nobles. Jia Ziguang had only a few lacquer bowls in his house, which were usually used to entertain distinguished guests.

The lacquer bowl was filled with soup and placed on the table.

Guo Jie didn't eat a single bite and had no intention of picking up his chopsticks.

Seeing Guo Jie's refusal to eat, Jia Ziguang's expression gradually turned cold. He said contemptuously, "It seems that people of low birth cannot eat oily fat. They will suffer from abdominal pain and vomiting if they eat it. I used to think it was a lie, but now it seems to be the truth. Wild boars cannot eat fine bran."

(End of this chapter)