"I think it's fine."
Zeng Shichun shook his head and said, "Although Master Chen and Lord Li have some old grievances, what kind of person is he, how could he use such means to revenge you?"
"I think so too." Chen Chong nodded and swallowed the whole dumpling.
Zeng Shichun smiled, picked up a dumpling with a smile on his face, and after putting it into his mouth, the smile on his face froze.
After struggling to swallow the mouthful of dumplings, Zeng Shichun put down his chopsticks, looked at Chen Chong, and said, "Master Chen, this dumpling seems to be really raw."
After a quarter of an hour, the two returned to their original positions again.
Who would have imagined that the two high officials in the court would actually do the thing of lighting a fire and boiling water for a few half-baked dumplings.
"Master Chen, your face..."
"Hehe, Minister Zeng is not much better."
"Let him go, let's talk after eating."
…
Zeng Shichun picked up a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, and then asked: "If I remember correctly, today should be Miss San's birthday. Mr. Chen is not in the mansion, so why come here?"
Chen Chong ate the dumplings, and said expressionlessly: "Master Zeng didn't go home after he was released from the government office. Is it to understand the people's sentiments, or..."
He glanced into the room and said in surprise: "Could it be that the girl surnamed Zeng is the illegitimate daughter left by Mr. Zeng to the people? Let alone, thinking about it this way, why do I feel that the eyebrows between Mr. Zeng and her are... "
"If Mr. Chen has nothing to do in the future, it's better not to come here."
Zeng Shichun interrupted him, glanced at him, and said: "If there is something to do... Mr. Chen is dignified and busy with political affairs. If there is something, you need to come to this small Yangliu Lane, don't you think so?"
Chen Chong put down his chopsticks, narrowed his eyes slightly, "Master Zeng, what do you mean by that?"
Zeng Shichun put down his chopsticks and looked into his eyes, "Zeng... has some personal friendship with Zhao Guangyuan, the former servant of the Ministry of Punishment."
"The former servant of the criminal department, Zhao Guangyuan, is still detained in the prison for taking bribes and engaging in malpractice for personal gain..." Chen Chong's eyes flashed dangerously, and he said in a low voice, "What does this have to do with Master Zeng's words?"
"It's normal that Mr. Chen doesn't admit it, because even Zhao Shilang of the Ministry of Punishment is confused. He doesn't know that the person behind it is actually you, Mr. Chen." Zeng Shichun shook his head and said: "Zeng said these things I have no other meaning, I just want to tell Mr. Chen..."
He looked into the room, a warm color flashed across his face, and when he turned his head, his eyes were already a little cold.
"Stay away from Zuimo!"
…
Chen Chong's eyes were fixed, and he said word by word: "Zeng Shichun, are you threatening me?"
"Don't dare."
Zeng Shichun's face had regained his composure, he cupped his hands, and said, "Behind Mr. Chen is the Duke's Mansion, how dare Zeng threaten Mr. Chen, but Zuimo is the only flesh and blood of my elder brother left in this world, I can't let her If something happens again, the Zeng family's family business is small, but if Mr. Chen insists, the Duke's Mansion will not be happy..."
"Your elder brother, Zeng Shijie?" Chen Chong glanced at him and murmured, "So that's how it is..."
He picked up the chopsticks again, shook his head, and said, "I thought back then that you wanted you to be a more suitable official than your elder brother. Back then, the Zeng family was suppressed and excluded by the former servant of the household department, and then they were framed and their salary was taken away. The family members suffered... no wonder, no wonder, later the former servant of the household department was found out by the Yushitai for accepting a large amount of bribes and sentenced to five hundred miles of exile. I am afraid that this Huangquan road will be more than five hundred miles..."
Zeng Shichun shook his head and said, "Only Fang Shilang knows this."
Chen Chong ate a dumpling again, and casually said, "The secret agent has not found out about that matter yet, how did you know?"
Zeng Shichun smiled, but did not speak.
"I thought Master Zeng came to his current position step by step from a small head of the household department, relying on the support of the Cui family and the King of Shu... It seems that I underestimated Master Zeng." Chen Chongyao Shaking his head, he picked up his chopsticks and said, "To express my apologies, here I present you with a dumpling!"
Zeng Shichun also picked up his chopsticks, nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Chen."
The invisible confrontation between the two just now was resolved because of these two dumplings.
For them, some things, needless to say, have already reached a consensus on that dumpling.
Chen Chong was eating the dumplings, but he glanced into the house from time to time, from here he could vaguely see the situation inside the house, although he couldn't hear the content of the conversation clearly, but the woman's chuckle from time to time was still very clear.
Chen Chong's eyes stopped on the white-haired woman's face. She was smiling and talking to the woman beside her. This kind of smile - how long had he not seen it on her face.
Even if he holds a sensational birthday banquet for her in the capital every year, in terms of grandeur and luxury, even Concubine Cui Guifei's birthday banquet is incomparable, and he has never seen such a smile on her face.
Of course, she often smiles too, but that kind of smile makes him feel more sad.
The next moment, his eyes fell on the only young man in the room.
Zeng Shichun's gaze was also in the room, but it fell on another woman.
Back then, the little girl who would only follow behind him and call "Second Uncle" and "Second Uncle" has grown into this appearance.
The eldest brother used to complain about him often, complaining that he was too spoiled with her, which caused his daughter to be closer to him as a second uncle than to him as a father...
It's just that he hasn't heard that "Second Uncle" for thirteen years.
Zeng Shichun sighed inwardly, and looked at the young man.
The eyes of both of them are extremely complicated.
At a certain moment, when the eyes of the two people retracted, they met in the air.
"Some things are hard to talk about when there are many people." Zeng Shichun put down his chopsticks after eating the last dumpling.
Chen Chong picked up another dumpling, "Mr. Zeng said it's okay."
"Master Chen thinks, how likely is the king of Shu to succeed?"
Chen Chong's chopsticks were about to be put into his mouth. Hearing this, his body shook, and he put the dumpling back into the bowl.
As the core figures of the King of Shu family, it is quite normal for the two of them to analyze the current situation and seek advice for the King of Shu. However, they all know that this time is completely different from the past.
Chen Chong said in a low voice: "When the King of Shu was in Beijing, what he did has already chilled the hearts of countless supporters in the court. Those who are vacillating, I am afraid that they will never have that kind of thought."
Zeng Shichun interjected: "The School of Computing will be relied upon by the imperial court in the future. Qin Shangshu has repeatedly said bluntly that the Ministry of Finance will absorb more talents from the School of Computing in the future. It can be said that there is no one in the School of Shu King in the School of Computing. King Jin..."
"According to the accounts, the power of the King of Shu and the Cui clan in the court was almost completely cleaned up, and the arrangement of decades was destroyed..."
"The Cui family was almost ruined by the foreign merchants. The matter of the academy could not be intervened, and it lost the support of the people. Qin Xiang's attitude has been vague recently..."
"The most frightening thing is His Majesty's attitude. The Eldest Princess is temporarily in charge of the government, and it is Cui Guifei's birthday, and the King of Shu is not allowed to return to Beijing..."
"But if the king of Shu is defeated and the new emperor succeeds, how will the Chen family deal with themselves and how the Zeng family will deal with themselves..."
…
The voices of the two of them became lower and lower, and their faces became more and more serious.
In the hall, Li Yi brought over a bowl of longevity noodles cooked by himself, and said with a smile, "Happy birthday to you."
Such birthday greetings are extremely sloppy, but Miss Chen San smiled all over her face, took the small bowl from his hand, held his hand, nodded and said: "Okay, okay..."