“Yun’er, you love black bean chicken the most. Since Fourth Brother said the food at this restaurant is delicious, let’s try their fresh cooking method. That way we can tell whether the new one is better or the old one is better.”
As Zhu Dan spoke, he picked up a piece of chicken with black bean sauce and put it into Lu Xiaoyun's bowl.
Zhu Yu used his chopsticks to lift the black bean chicken out of the bowl, and then picked up a piece of fried goose and put it into Lu Xiaoyun's bowl: "Doesn't Fifth Brother know that she and I have switched bodies now and we are one? What she used to like, she doesn't like anymore."
Zhu Dan's forehead veins throbbed: "Fourth Brother, what you're doing is going too far."
"Is that too much? I don't think so. I'm just telling the truth." You're trying to steal my wife, so what? I can't even say a few words to you?
Zhu Dan slammed his chopsticks down on the table with a loud bang.
Zhu Yu smiled faintly: "What, are you full? Oh, that's perfect, A-Yun should eat more now."
As he spoke, he moved the dishes in front of him to Lu Xiaoyun.
Lu Xiaoyun didn't join their fight at all. Zhu Yu called her "A-Yun" so affectionately in front of Zhu Dan, but when they were alone, he called her by her full name, Lu Xiaoyun.
The atmosphere inside the private room was tense, while outside, Zuo Xiu, having just finished being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing a public display of affection), was sulking when a young man dressed in plain clothes walked over.
Zuo Xiu stood up straight and shouted, "Who goes there!"
Jiang Chuan and Li Feng also looked over at this person. They saw that he was dressed in a gray-blue cloth robe, about twenty years old, with a dignified appearance, and he bowed to the group with his hands clasped.
"My name is Guo Shaoning, a student who has come to the capital for the imperial examination. I have important business to discuss with His Highness the Fifth Prince."
Jiang Chuan, who had been watching the spectacle, felt that the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had heard it before.
Zuo Xiu snorted coldly. During this period, whether it was high-ranking officials, nobles, merchants, or students, they all came to find the Fifth Prince through various channels, simply because the Fifth Prince was the chief examiner for this year's imperial examination.
They didn't even consider that if the Fifth Prince were that kind of person, would he have earned such high regard from the Emperor?
Zuo Xiu, holding his sword, said coldly, "I won't see you."
Guo Shaoning, however, remained neither humble nor arrogant: "You have not gone in to inquire about the Fifth Prince's intentions, so how do you know that the Prince will not see me?"
"I said I'm not seeing you, and that means it. Now get out of here, or I'll get rough with you."
Guo Shaoning was not afraid. Instead, he stepped forward and said, "Everyone says that the Fifth Prince is a man of outstanding talent and talent. But now it seems that his attendant is a good-for-nothing."
Zuo Xiu drew his sword in a flash: "What did you say! You dare say it again and see what happens!"
"Heh!" Guo Shaoning chuckled and stepped forward again. "I'll say it again. The Fifth Prince is an upright man who is eager to find talent for the Great Zhou. He has petitioned the Emperor many times to allow sons of merchants to participate in the imperial examinations and enter officialdom."
At this point, Guo Shaoning's smile vanished: "But those around him don't understand His Highness's intentions and obstruct him in every way. What else can they be but fools!"
"You!" Zuo Xiu was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged, but as a martial artist, he was no match for Guo Shaoning, a talented scholar, in terms of verbal skills.
"Zuo Xiu, let Guo Juren in. Have the waiter clear the things away and bring a pot of good tea." Zhu Dan's voice came from inside.
"yes."
Zuo Xiu then sheathed his sword, glanced coldly at Guo Shaoning, opened the door, and said icily, "Please come in."
Guo Shaoning smiled and nodded: "Thank you."
Watching Guo Shaoning's retreating figure as he entered the house, Jiang Chuan finally remembered where he had seen him before.
"This humble subject greets Your Highness Prince An and Your Highness the Fifth Prince, and pays respects to Miss Lu."
"No need for such formalities, Scholar Guo." Zhu Dan nodded to him.
At this moment, the waiter who was packing things came over, and Jiang Chuan followed him into the room. He pointed at Guo Shaoning and said to Lu Xiaoyun, "Your Highness, I know him."
Guo Shaoning turned to Jiang Chuan curiously: "Lord Jiang, do you know me?"
Lu Xiaoyun and the other two looked at Jiang Chuan with curiosity.
Jiang Chuandao said, "Before the New Year, the Princess Consort and Feng Yan were seriously injured. Your Highness and Xi Yi rode back to the manor from the suburbs at high speed. The people were cursing and swearing behind your back. It was this Scholar Guo who spoke on your behalf."
Lu Xiaoyun also remembered that she had only been in the world for a few days and her injuries had not fully healed, so she did not know how to ride a horse. She clung tightly to Xi Yi's waist, which scared Xi Yi into thinking that she had fallen for him. He did not jump around in front of her for several days.
Jiang Chuan cleared his throat, stood on the stool, and mimicked Guo Shaoning's words.
"You people, living in the prosperous capital of Shengjing, far from Northern Qi, have forgotten how the people of our Great Zhou were humiliated by the people of Northern Qi! Every time those Northern Qi soldiers broke through our city gates, they slaughtered our relatives and humiliated your wives and daughters. It was only because His Highness Prince An led the Northern Army to risk their lives to save us time and time again that we were able to survive!"
"If it weren't for His Highness Prince An leading 200,000 Northern Army soldiers to defeat the Northern Qi people and force them to submit their surrender documents, the Northern Qi's iron hooves might have already trampled your homes and slaughtered your families by now! Do you think you can still stand here and slander His Highness Prince An like this!"
"When has Prince An ever sped through the streets like this? It must be something extremely important. Besides, did he harm you in the slightest? Yet you people, without any sense of right or wrong, spew nonsense! If you're so capable, go and fight like His Highness Prince An, instead of cowering in this capital city like turtles!"
Guo Shaoning himself could hardly remember, and when Jiang Chuan recited every single word he had said back then, his face turned red.
"Lord Jiang remembers it very clearly."
Jiang Chuan jumped off the stool and patted his chest: "When I returned to Shengjing the next day, your words were all over the city. Many people said that the prince had fought on the frontier for the past ten years and made great contributions to the Great Zhou. It was indeed wrong to slander him like that. I think it would be hard for me not to remember it."
Because the prince never cared what the people thought of him, Jiang Chuan never mentioned it to Lu Xiaoyun.
Guo Shaoning bowed deeply to Lu Xiaoyun: "I am Guo Shaoning, a commoner from Pingcheng. My family members all died at the hands of the Northern Qi people. It was His Highness Prince An who led 200,000 Northern Army soldiers to avenge me and the people of Pingcheng who were killed. You are a god in the hearts of all the people in the Northwest."
Lu Xiaoyun looked at Zhu Yu with a smile in her eyes. "You see, there are still many people who like you. You are not the 'Number One Demon King of Shengjing' that everyone hates. You are a great hero in the hearts of the people."
No wonder the way the common people looked at her changed after she left the mansion.
Lu Xiaoyun told Jiang Chuan to continue guarding outside.
"Please sit down."
Guo Shaoning was quite generous and sat down in another empty seat.
The people came looking for Zhu Dan, so Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Yu should have left.
However, Zhu Dan was, after all, the chief examiner for this year's imperial examination. Meeting with the candidates alone before the exam was extremely inappropriate, even if there was nothing between them. If word got out, it would be bad for everyone.
Furthermore, Lu Xiaoyun was also very curious as to why an examinee would dare to come to Zhu Dan so openly.
Guo Shaoning said, "Your Highnesses, the Second Prince came to see me before the New Year."
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