There were few people in the Silijian, not many houses, and not much pomp and circumstance. There were no flattering eunuchs standing at the corners, ready to rush forward to do various chores at the command of the chief eunuch. Zhang Shou came to the door of the eastern wing at the deepest part of the house, and met three people in total, including Lü Chan, one of whom was a sweeper, one was a gardener, and a dog.
It was not a snow-white lion dog squatting at someone's feet and taking a nap, but a mastiff with sleek fur, shiny black eyes, sharp teeth visible when it grinned, and almost half as tall as him. Although it was not a mastiff, Zhang Shou had no doubt about the dog's fighting ability, so he would never reach out to tease it without knowing his own limitations.
The dog followed him intelligently all the way until he followed Lu Chan to the door of the east wing and stood still. Then it wagged its tail as if bored, and then left Lu Chan and Zhang Shou and went straight to the outer courtyard.
Seeing Zhang Shou looking back at the dog with interest, Lu Chan whispered, "This is the old ancestor's favorite Black Moon. It usually only moves around in the outer court of the Silijian. Fortunately, you didn't come in when you were at the door before, otherwise it would definitely pounce on it and bite it. Only the old ancestor could stop it."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Hu and Yang Hao immediately broke out in a cold sweat. They had raised dogs in the countryside before, but they had never seen such a tall and mighty dog that was more ferocious than a wolf! When they thought about how they would definitely be chased by the dog if they had barged in without permission, they felt their legs trembling.
Fortunately, I always knew that breaking and entering is illegal, so I stopped the two reckless little guys!
Zhang Shou had the same thought in his mind, and then he couldn't help but admire the saying "like man, like dog". At this time, Chu Kuan's familiar voice came from the room: "Xiao Lu, who did you bring outside?"
"Ancestor, it's Dr. Zhang."
After this sound, Zhang Shou heard footsteps coming from the house. After a while, the door was opened in front of him. Seeing Chu Kuan, who opened the door himself, nodded at him with a smile, he bowed his hand in return.
Then, he said directly: "No one comes to the palace for no reason. Yesterday, the emperor came to the Imperial College. There were so many people and it was difficult for me to ask Eunuch Chu. Now I come to you in person to ask for students."
Lu Chan didn't expect that Dr. Zhang, who had just been polite to him, would be so straightforward and unceremonious when facing Chu Kuan, the chief secretary of the Imperial Household Department who was more than one level higher than him. However, what surprised him even more was that Chu Kuan was only slightly stunned, and then he actually smiled and pulled him into the house.
"That's easy to say. Come on, come sit in Dr. Zhang's room... Xiao Lu, go get some good tea to serve the guests!"
Although the outer court of the Imperial Household Department didn't seem to have many people, it wasn't that there wasn't even someone serving tea and water, and that Lü Chan, the attendant, had to do it himself. So, Lü Chan was stunned when he heard Chu Kuan's whistle, and when he saw Heiyue coming over and squatting at the door with his tail wagging, he realized that Chu Kuan really had something important to tell someone, so he only let him, his confidant, go in and serve tea.
So he immediately agreed, and ran to the central hall to search through the boxes and cabinets, and found a small can of tea that was said to be a tribute. He went to the small kitchen to scald the purple clay teapot with boiling water, and watched a skilled eunuch brew the tea. He then rushed to the study with the tea tray. When he pushed the door open with his shoulder and went in, he heard Chu Kuan's voice.