Chapter 232 New Official Takes Office

Taking a breath of the slightly cool air, Zhao Duan walked into the cafeteria in a happy mood.

The dining hall in the Zhao family's new house was quite large and even more magnificent. When we arrived, we saw that all the bowls on the table were turned upside down by larger bowls.

After all, the weather is getting cooler and we can’t let the heat dissipate.

The plump and beautiful stepmother and the elegant and refined stepsister sat quietly at the table waiting.

Maybe it's because people feel refreshed when something happy happens.

During this period, not only he, but also the women in his family had more rosy complexions and looked very good.

Seeing him approaching, especially seeing clearly the official robes he was wearing, her eyes lit up and she smiled brilliantly:

"Da Lang is here."

"Brother, please sit down. You are going to the government office today, and mother specially asked the cook to prepare this for you."

"Yeah," Zhao Duan nodded casually, sitting in the main seat as usual, and raised his hand to open the bowl in front of him.

Then he frowned: "Shark fin again..."

He looked a little embarrassed, and could smell the taste of shark fin in his throat.

Among the gifts given for promotion, a considerable portion were various kinds of precious food, especially bird's nest and shark's fin.

We were worried that it would go bad if left for too long, and we also had to prepare a banquet.

Zhao Duan has been eating shark fin and bird's nest every day lately, and he feels a little sick of it.

Eugene Hua's eyes were soft, and she was dressing more and more like a noble lady from the capital, but her nature remained the same.

Seeing that he was unhappy, he quickly stood up, walked over, took the bowl away, replaced it with another one, and said:

"If Dalang doesn't taste good, try eating something else."

Zhao Duan opened the bowl and frowned again:

"Why is it ginseng soup again? Didn't we drink it last night?"

"Last night's was only the one from the 90s. This morning's one is the one 150 years old." Zhao Pan explained softly.

Zhao Duan shook his head and handed it to the girl:

"You drink it."

Then he opened another bowl:

Sea cucumber soup.

Open another bowl:

Deer antler water

again:

Goji berries...

again.

Well, this time it’s ginseng, deer antler and wolfberry stew…

Zhao Duan frowned and opened the densely packed soup bowls on the table one by one. Suddenly, he paused and was stunned:

"This is……"

Eugene's cheeks flushed, and she hurriedly took it away, saying:

"Wrong, this is Auntie's Angelica Blood-Replenishing Soup."

Angelica sinensis regulates blood and is an essential medicine for women. It is associated with the desire for one's husband, hence the name "Danggui"...

No... people drink this to have children and treat irregular menstruation... Zhao Duan had a blank expression:

"Auntie, are you feeling unwell recently?"

Eugene Hua looked embarrassed and was too ashamed to talk about such a topic with her stepson.

Zhao Pan stood by, watching Xiaozhi calmly drink the ginseng soup, and said calmly:

"There were so many tonics brought as gifts. Mother said they might go bad if left alone, so she told the cook to brew them for us to drink. It's always good to have some tonic. Well, Mother thought that since you're going to the military camp this time, you should also have some tonic to avoid fatigue."

"Are there many tonics for gifts?"

Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, he ignored these trivial matters.

I counted the gifts and handed them over to my stepmother.

But why are these officials all rushing to send me supplements, each one more powerful than the last... I don't need them...

Zhao Duan met the two girls' strange looks and suddenly fell silent.

So, do you all feel that being the empress's lover would be insignificant?

Zhao Duan was speechless.

God have mercy on me, I only touched Zhenbao's hand twice...

He got up and left.

"Da Lang, don't you want to eat anymore?" the stepmother tried to argue.

"I don't want to eat anymore!" Zhao Duan walked out with a dark face.

The other person is too weak to be nourished, but he has taken too much and has no place to vent.

…

…

As I walked out of the house, I saw a carriage slowly approaching.

The one driving today was not the coachman Xiao Wang, but Hou Renmeng, one of the four great detectives of Lihuatang.

At this moment, the old marquis with a defiant look on his face held the whip, pulled the reins, and called out "Sir".

Inside the carriage, the confidential secretary Qian Kerou's round, apple-like face appeared, smiling:

"grown ups!"

"Yes." Zhao Duan got into the car and gave an address.

"Hey, why don't we go directly to Shenjiying?" Qian Kerou looked curious.

Today is the day when his master goes to the Beijing Camp to take up an official post. Considering that they are unfamiliar with the place, Zhao Duan transferred the two of them here to use them temporarily.

Leaving Chen Juan and Zheng Laojiu to look after the house, since Lihuatang had completed its KPI for the year and had nothing to do.

Qian Kerou and the other two were also quite curious about the Shenjiying, which was also part of the imperial guards.

"No, we have another acquaintance." Zhao Duan smiled.

…

When the carriage arrived at the agreed location, after waiting for a while, a familiar carriage finally arrived.

Zhao Duan got directly into the new carriage and asked Hou Renmeng to follow behind. Then the two carriages rushed towards the Nancheng Jingying.

"Mo Zhaorong, it's you who sent me to take up my post again."

Zhao Duan smiled, sat down very familiarly, and talked to the big ice ball who was sitting opposite him in the carriage.

The "female prime minister" who wore a wingless black gauze and dressed in a neutral and beautiful manner had her eyes closed, but now she opened them and rolled her eyes:

"If you want to change someone, I'd be happy to do that."

Zhao Duan said with a smile:

"How could that be possible? The First Lady is escorted to her new position, and all officials in the world would love to have her. Besides, I'm already replenishing my energy and blood, and I'm looking for a lump of ice to cool down."

Nonsense... Mo Chou frowned, not understanding what this guy was saying.

But it's definitely not a good thing after all... He sighed softly.

In all these long battles, she had never gained any advantage against this thief.

Although she disliked Zhao Duan because of his "rival in love", she had to admit that this bastard was a reliable colleague.

Too lazy to argue with him, Mo Chou handed him the information in her hand and said:

“Logically, I’m not that free to come and see you off every time.

This time, it was His Majesty's idea to come here. The Beijing Army is no different from other...

Don't think that just because you served as a guard in the imperial palace and entered the imperial court, you understand the military officer group.

In fact, the real army is different from the palace guards, and even more different from the imperial court officials."

Zhao Duan took the information and his expression became serious:

"I'd like to hear more about it."

Mo Chou did not speak directly, but said:

"How much do you know about the Shenji Camp you're going to?"

Zhao Duan said frankly:

"Only the broad ones. The Beijing Camp is a garrison stationed outside the city to protect the capital, and is under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War.

Well, is it Xue Shence’s territory?

The Shenji Battalion is one of the three major battalions. Its leader is a commander named Shi Meng. I will serve as his deputy and try to find clues about the internal conspiracy colluding with Prince Jing's Mansion."

Mo Chou nodded, then shook her head and said:

"You're not wrong, but you may not know about the other force in the Shenji Camp besides Shi Meng, or to be more precise, another person."

"Who? What rank?" Zhao Duan was curious.

Mo Chou shook her head and said:

"His rank is very low, only a mid- to low-level officer. Your former enemy, Zhang Changji, was one of his subordinates. However, the real trouble with this man lies in his identity."

Zhao Duan had a strange expression:

"Isn't he another dandy boy?"

Mo Chou shook her head:

"He's not a playboy. On the contrary, he's a talented person, with impressive military skills and martial arts. He holds a high reputation among the lower-ranking officers in the army, and he's likely to become a capable general in the future..."

But this is not important. I want to remind you that his father is Tang Daren, the Duke of Zhenguo, and the commander-in-chief of the border troops stationed at the gate to the Western Regions, a general similar to Zhao Shixiong. So this man is..."

Zhao Duan lowered his eyes and looked at the name on the document in his hand. Mo Chou's voice was in his ears:

"Young Master, Tang Ping!"

(End of this chapter)