"Your Excellency is heading to the northwest to establish the Grand Military Governor's Office, and he'll need a couple of errand boys who are knowledgeable and capable of handling errands. This man is called Chen Zhuangshi, a scholar with a degree in scholarship and the editor-in-chief of the 'Shanhe Academy Newspaper.' He's been to the northwest and Xiliang before, and he's an excellent rider, capable of both killing enemies on horseback and writing articles on foot. Does your Excellency find him pleasing?"
Lord Li laughed heartily.
No wonder he was given a note, it turned out it was waiting for him here.
Lord Li looked at Chen Zhuangshi again without looking down on him.
"To be recommended by the Madam personally, he must be a man of real ability."
Chen Zhuangshi suppressed his pride, lowered his eyebrows and said, "Your Excellency is too kind to praise me. I am willing to serve you."
Lord Li stroked his beard and nodded slightly. "I'm very curious about Xiliang. You and I will be companions on this journey. How about you tell me about Xiliang?"
Chen Zhuangshi said calmly, "Thank you very much, sir! I dare not disobey your orders."
Gu Jiu clapped his hands twice and said, "It is a blessing for Chen Xuesheng to be favored by the adults."
"Madam, I disagree with what you said. It is my great fortune to have the help of Mr. Chen. I would also like to thank you for sending this man to me."
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "It's OK as long as my hand is not too long."
Hahaha……
Lord Li never expected that Gu Jiu would point out everything.
He picked up the teacup and said, "Madam, you really know how to joke."
Gu Jiu said: "I never joke."
"Madam is too serious."
"This concerns the future of adults, so I dare not be careless."
Lord Li drank his tea and said, "I am able to achieve what I have today thanks to your help. Madam, don't worry, I know what to do. Chen Zhuangshi, right? How about coming to my place tomorrow and helping me sort out the paperwork?"
Chen Zhuangshi bowed slightly and said, "Students will obey your orders."
"That's very good. Tea has been drunk, and the work is done. If my lady has nothing else to do, I will take my leave. I have been very busy lately."
"Student Chen, please see the master off for me."
Chen Zhuangshi accepted the order and stood up to see Lord Li out.
On the second-floor terrace, the big dog glanced at Chen Zhuangshi and Lord Li without barking.
In the flower hall, the piano music stopped.
Gu Jiu said, "Mr. Yang, please come out."
Yang Ji walked out from the inner room.
It turned out that the person who played the piano before was Yang Ji.
Gu Jiu motioned him to sit down and have tea.
Yang Ji followed suit and sat on the ground.
The maid Aqing came forward and changed the tea set.
Gu Jiu said to Yang Ji, "I will first send Chen Zhuangshi to the northwest to do odd jobs and run errands for Lord Li. Don't have any ideas."
"Madam, you misunderstood. I have no objection."
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "You are the new third place winner in the imperial examination and you will be studying in the Imperial Academy. Besides studying, you should pay more attention to the developments in the Northwest. Next year, I will find a way to send you to the Northwest Military Governor's Office to serve as a clerk with Chen Zhuangshi."
"Thank you, Madam. You originally planned to appoint me as the magistrate of Xinmin County. Why did you change your mind?"
"Because the Northwest is more suitable for you. That's where you will shine. Xinmin County is really a disgrace to you."
"Madam, you are too kind. I am not as good as you say."
Gu Jiu smiled faintly, "You don't have to underestimate yourself. I know your knowledge and talents better than you think. There is great potential in the Northwest, but I can't reveal too much now. Just remember, whether you can soar to the sky depends on whether you can seize this opportunity."
Yang Ji's cold face also revealed a passionate side.
"I will definitely not disappoint Madam."
Gu Jiu continued, "Chen Zhuangshi knows that he has little hope in the imperial examinations. Therefore, he will work harder than you and be better at seizing opportunities. However, you are a legitimate Jinshi who has passed the imperial examinations twice. As long as you are willing to seize opportunities, your future will be far better than his."
Chen Zhuangshi and I have already discussed this. It's so difficult for a scholar to achieve fame and enter the imperial court. So his goal is the northwest, and he will take root there. And I hope you set your sights on the imperial court; you deserve to enter it."
Yang Ji's heart surged with emotion, "Now that the students know about this, they will work hard to enter the imperial court."
"Very good! Go down, Chen Zhuangshi is waiting for you."
"Students, goodbye!"
When Yang Ji walked out of the flower hall, he saw Chen Zhuangshi standing at the gate waiting for him.
He walked over and asked, "Has Lord Li been sent away?"
Chen Zhuangshi nodded, "Did the madam talk to you?"
"Yes."
"What do you think about me settling down in the northwest?" Chen Zhuangshi asked casually, as if he was asking about the future of an unrelated person.
Yang Ji seemed very serious, "Yes! You will have great potential in the Northwest."
Chen Zhuangshi laughed, patted Yang Ji on the shoulder, and said, "I think so too. In the future, when you return to the capital, it will be difficult for us two brothers to see each other again."
Yang Ji smiled and said, "If we meet, there will always be a chance."
"You're right."
The two were clearly full of fighting spirit, yet they also felt melancholy.
“I’m a little reluctant.”
Chen Zhuangshi brought it up first, then asked, "Do you want to drink?"
Yang Ji nodded and said, "Call Brother Yan and Brother Wang."
Chen Zhuangshi laughed heartily. "Let's go to Wenqing Bookstore to arrest Brother Yan. If we don't look for him, he will lock himself in his room and won't come out."
Yang Ji said seriously, "Brother Yan is passionate about creation, so he's very suitable for this line of work. After all, he truly loves it."
Chen Zhuangshi laughed out loud, "Only you and I are ordinary people. We are obsessed with the world. We don't know where we will be buried in the future."
Yang Ji said solemnly to Chen Zhuangshi: "Brother Chen, you should consider your lifelong affairs and make arrangements for your family."
Chen Zhuangshi waved his hand. "Getting married now would only harm the girl. It won't be too late to talk about marriage after I settle down in the northwest. As for the family, money can solve everything. Madam is right, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem."
Yang Ji frowned, "Brother Chen, are you planning to get married in the Northwest? Marry a Northwest woman?"
"It depends. Maybe I can be as lucky as General Gu and be noticed by some important figure, and have their daughter betrothed to me."
Dream on!
"General Gu is at least from a noble family, Madam Zhao's elder brother. His status and background are extraordinary, not from a humble family like us."
"I know, I know. I was just saying it casually. When does Brother Yang plan to get married?"
Yang Ji said, "My family arranged a marriage for me a few years ago. I have already written home, asking her to come to Beijing to get married. Calculating the time, she should be on her way to Beijing. Once she arrives, we will hold the wedding."
Chen Zhuangshi cried out, "Looks like I won't be able to make it to Brother Yang's wedding banquet. What a shame. When Brother Yang arrives in the northwest, remember to bring some wedding candy and wine."
"Where's the gift money? If you want to enjoy my wedding candy and wine, shouldn't you give me a gift money?"
Chen Zhuangshi pointed at Yang Ji with a look of disbelief on his face, "I can't believe Brother Yang is so mercenary. People are no longer what they used to be!"
Yang Ji laughed. "It was just a casual remark, but you took it seriously. It doesn't matter whether it's a gift or not."
Chen Zhuangshi said, "Don't worry, Brother Yang, I will definitely give you the gift money."
The two chatted and laughed, then went down the mountain and looked for someone to drink with.
…
Yu Ge'er ran downstairs and came to Gu Jiu.
"Mother, are you done discussing everything?"
"We're done."
Gu Jiu waved and asked Yu Ge'er to sit next to him.
Yu Ge'er sat on the ground, his little body jumping straight.
Gu Jiu asked: "If you have any ideas, just tell me."
Yu Ge'er asked cautiously, "Is my son satisfied with the homework he handed in before the New Year?"
"Are you still thinking about it?"
Yu Ge'er nodded and said, "My son thought about it for a long time before writing that article."
"Well written. You have your own unique insights into the distance between family members, but it's too one-sided."
"Since there are problems with your son's article, why didn't you mention it?"
"Because you're still young, I don't want to force you to grow. There are some things you can't fully understand without your age and life experience. However, I don't want to force certain ideas on you. Everyone is different, and everyone sees things differently. This difference is your upbringing, your knowledge and talents. Everything about you makes you unique. I don't want to interfere too much with your thoughts and stifle your differences."
Yu Ge'er was a little moved, "Is my son really a unique person?"
Gu Jiu laughed. "Everyone is unique. There are no two identical people in the world, just like there are no two identical leaves in the world."
Yu Ge'er frowned and thought deeply.
"Mother, is my son too old and heavy?"
Gu Jiu couldn't help laughing, "Who is talking nonsense in your ear? Is it Zheng Ge'er?"
"Brother Liu Zheng just mentioned it casually. The key point is that other people also said that my son looks a little old and heavy."
Gu Jiu thought for a moment and said carefully, "You are not Lao Chen. You just know more than them and understand the world more deeply."
Is there any difference?
Yu Ge'er scratched his head.
Gu Jiu scratched his nose and said, "Don't think too much. Live and study step by step. Write down any ideas you have. Gaining and growing every day is a meaningful life."
"Um!"
Yu Ge'er nodded heavily.
Gu Jiu suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Do you like Yang Ji and Chen Zhuangshi very much?"
"My son likes them. They are all talented people."
Good vision.
Gu Jiu nodded approvingly. "Have you ever thought about discovering more talented people in the academy? Yang Ji has gone to the Hanlin Academy, and Chen Zhuangshi will also leave the academy. You need new friends around you."
Yu Ge'er was a little distressed, "How can my son discover talented people?"
Gu Jiu asked him in return: "Yang Ji and Chen Zhuangshi, how do you know them?"
"Because they went to the northwest, they had a wide range of knowledge. My son met them at Mr. Yang's place, and then we got to know each other and became friends."
"Mr. Yang has great talent. He can bring out Yang Ji, and maybe even Li Ji and Zhang Ji."
"Son understands."
Yu Ge'er laughed and said, "If my son wants to find someone with talent, he only needs to pay attention to Mr. Yang."
"Besides Mr. Yang, you can also pay more attention to other gentlemen. Talent comes from all walks of life. Not only those who can study and pass the imperial examinations can be called talented. For example, Chen Zhuangshi, his studies are average, and he is even worse at the imperial examinations, but you can't deny that he has great talent."
Yu Ge'er agreed with this and said, "I will listen to you, mother. I will also pay attention to other teachers."
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "You can listen to Mr. Ren's opinions. Mr. Ren has a sharp eye and he is very good at judging people."
"My son, please remember this."
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