Lin family: .....

baffling!

Lin Jiang, who was far away in the capital, didn't know that the young general who had been the subject of much discussion recently was now at his home.

He was still waiting for the emperor's summons. In fact, he couldn't understand why the emperor would summon them again, since he had already demoted the Qu family.

Even if the Qu family had printing technology, would His Majesty know about it so quickly?

Although he was confused, he was smart enough not to ask the Qu brothers.

You'll know sooner or later anyway.

Unexpectedly, the summons he had been waiting for came so soon.

It was not the palace he had thought it was, but the inn they were staying in. From the outside, it looked ordinary and there was nothing special about it.

This day was the tenth day since he arrived in the capital. As usual, he had breakfast in the morning and prepared to practice calligraphy.

Qu Qingxu rushed in and pulled him away.

"What are you doing?"

He was puzzled because Qu Xiangbai had not allowed him to go out during the past few days in Beijing. He had no idea what the Qu brothers were doing.

Now that he was being dragged out by Qu Qingxu, he was of course confused.

"A distinguished person wants to see you."

A noble person? Although Lin Jiang didn't quite understand, he knew that the noble person that Qu Qingxu mentioned must be extraordinary.

Without asking any more questions, I just followed him.

Qu Qingxu pulled him to the end of the corridor, where there was an ordinary room.

If you don't pay attention you won't know there is another room here.

There were two guards with knives on their waists guarding the door. The feeling they gave Lin Jiang was completely different from the guards who protected them in Shangjing.

Stand upright on both sides of the door, looking straight ahead.

Hearing the footsteps of Qu Qingxu and Lin Jiang, he looked over vigilantly.

Qu Qingxu said to them kindly, "I'll bring Lin Jiang here to question the master."

The two knew Qu Qingxu, so they made way when they heard him say that.

Qu Qingxu did not push the door open directly, but knocked on the door first. After hearing the sound of someone coming in, he pushed the door open and entered.

After entering the door, the first person Lin Jiang saw was the middle-aged man sitting at the top facing him.

His clothes were no different from those of the passers-by hurrying along the street. He didn't look serious and even looked a little friendly.

There was a man standing next to him pouring tea for him.

Qu Xiangbai and Qu Qinghui sat on both sides below.

Lin Jiang had met the highest-ranking person, Qu Chaonan, who had no official position, and he had never thought of meeting His Majesty here.

He thought the person in front of him was probably an old acquaintance of the Qu family.

He just stared at the other person and was about to salute.

He was pulled by Qu Qingxu next to him.

"What are you doing? Why don't you kneel down and bow to His Majesty?"

"ah"

Lin Jiang came to his senses and exclaimed, then knelt down quickly.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Thinking of what his mother said, those in power don't like being looked at directly.

He felt a little anxious. Would His Majesty blame him for being rude? He really didn't expect His Majesty to summon them here.

Fortunately, he didn't kneel for long before he heard a voice above his head asking him to stand up.

"Get up, we are outside the palace, no need to be so polite."

His voice was quite gentle, and he didn't sound like someone who could overthrow a dynasty.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Lin Jiang stood up and stood aside politely, not daring to look around.

The leader might have found it interesting, so he asked Qu Xiangbai:

"Heng, is this the person you mentioned who knows how to print? He's such an honest kid, how did you come up with that?"

In fact, Emperor Wu had already seen the book printed by printing technology. Long before Qu Xiangbai and others came to the capital, he had presented the finished product to Emperor Wu through the hands of secret guards.

Emperor Wu thought that anyone who could come up with such an idea must be a smart and clever young man.

I never expected that the other party was a young man who was so honest that he could even be called naive.

Hearing His Majesty ask him this, Qu Xiangbai was helpless and replied with a smile:

"Your Majesty, don't judge a person by his appearance."

They all knew that this method was Li Yu's idea, but Li Yu wanted to give the credit to her son, so they had already agreed before leaving that Li Yu must not be revealed.

If His Majesty knew that it was Li Yu's idea, at most he would reward him with some silver money, but no fame or honor would be given.

Lin Jiang is just a skilled worker. Once he teaches the people in the court, he will be nothing.

What their family lacks is fame, not money.

When Emperor Wu heard Qu Xiangbai say that one should not judge a person by his appearance, he thought it was true.

"How did you come up with this idea? By the way, sit down, don't stand."

He turned around and asked Lin Jiang to sit down.

Lin Jiang was very nervous. This method was taught to him by his mother.

But his mother and Qu Xiangbai had practiced with him many times, just to give the credit to themselves.

He knew they were all doing it for themselves.

So I dare not make any mistakes.

Hearing His Majesty's question, he quickly stood up and answered:

“Actually, my family used to be very poor. My younger brother loved reading, but we always had no money to buy books.

Even now, when I study, if I like a book, I will borrow it from my classmates' homes, copy it, and then return it.

I think he works too hard, often copying books until midnight.

My third uncle is a carpenter. One day I saw him carving a little toy for his nephew, and I thought it would be great if I could carve the words and print them on paper.”