Chapter 75: Secret Guards Are Consumables

There are many people busy at a banquet.

The secret guards would always pay attention to the safety of their master at ordinary times, but it was even more important during large banquets like this.

When there are too many people, good and bad people will mix together, which is a good opportunity for villains to commit assassinations.

You need to be more careful than usual at this time.

The leader of the secret guards, Yan Bo, arranged the personnel for the Hundred Days Banquet and gave them a special training session.

Yan Zhong, who had been sent away, was also brought back. He was responsible for protecting the princess and could not take it lightly.

He gave these men a good beating before letting them go.

He himself returned to his residence injured and exhausted.

Special training is not just talk. If the person returns without any injuries, it proves that the training was not adequate.

It’s not surprising if a few people died. Two people died last time.

They were lucky both times and only survived with injuries.

You don't always have this kind of luck, Dark Guards are consumables.

Elimination is happening all the time.

Even though each of them is well-trained and selected from thousands.

They can't resist those inhuman means.

But you have to resist even if you can't.

Yan Bo returned to his residence and heard the crying of a baby as soon as he walked in.

It was Yan Chu.

The emperor simply threw the concubine's illegitimate child to him, saying that he would be a secret guard in the future.

However, it was impossible to train a baby who was only a few months old, so Yan Bo was forced to learn how to take care of the child.

Yan Bo felt a headache for a moment because he came back late today due to special training.

It is normal for a child to be hungry, but his crying is not loud.

Children seem to be able to sensitively sense that the environment they are in is not safe.

Yan Bo went to the back, took out a bowl, and started to milk the tied sheep.

It is impossible for a wet nurse to enter the secret guard's residence, and other secret guards, even if they are women, are not capable of breastfeeding a baby.

The emperor simply threw the baby to him, and Yan Bo had no choice but to buy a ewe that had just given birth and use the goat's milk to feed the child.

The milky white goat milk quickly filled half a bowl.

He brought the milk over. When the baby saw him, he seemed to know that he could drink milk and smiled happily.

The tears that hadn't shed were still hanging on the eyelashes, which was both funny and pitiful.

A secret guard is not allowed to have his own feelings, so he only softened for a moment.

Only for a moment.

Yan Bo went to another cabinet and took out a bottle.

He dripped two drops of medicine into the breast milk.

Babies can only tolerate two drops at most.

He put the bottle away.

This is medicine for the secret guards. It can stimulate people's potential and make them more successful in martial arts training.

But it will not be given to the powerful and wealthy, because it costs their lives and is extremely energy-depleting.

With an expressionless face, he gave the baby the medicated milk.

I hope he can survive the layers of secret screening and come to him alive.

Thinking of those bloody and brutal killings, he stood alone on the hill of corpses.

He was the only one who survived.

That was the first test.

For Yan Bo now, it is just a matter of swinging the sword a few times.

But it is a nightmare that he will never get rid of.

The people who screened them let him out and congratulated him.

Congratulations, he survived and can enter the next round.

Yan Bo lowered his eyes and fed the baby who was drinking milk spoonful by spoonful.

He could not feel compassion for the child; the chances of him surviving were too slim.

It is better to harden your heart now than to be in unbearable grief later.

At most, give him something to give him a better chance of survival.

…

Outside the palace, Tong Huai'en was still busy with a bunch of tasks assigned to him by the emperor.

Xiangqiao sat next to her with nothing to do, so she picked up the ink block and started grinding it.

Circle after circle, the clear water splashes deeper colors on the inkstone.

She said in a low voice, "Tong Lang, I won't go to this kind of banquet."

"You also know my origins..."

Tong Huai'en put down the book angrily and asked, "Who is it that is gossiping in your ear again?"

Xiang Qiao pulled his sleeve and said, "No, no one in the mansion said it, but just because no one said it doesn't mean it's not true."

"Although you can bring your family to the palace banquet, you don't have to. You can go alone."

"It would be bad for you if I went."

Tong Huai'en found out, and she was worried that her background would affect his career.

"Qiao'er, a hero doesn't ask where he comes from. You are my wife."

"In the previous dynasty, there were also women from the Jiaofangsi who entered the palace as concubines. Your Majesty is not one of those old and pedantic people who only show off their knowledge."

"When he hires people, he doesn't care about your wife's background. He only cares about whether you can do practical things for him."

"So you don't have to worry about yourself being harmful to me."

Xiangqiao was silent for a moment, and when she raised her eyes, tears welled up.

"I am not doing this entirely for you. You are busy with court affairs and do not participate in banquets among women."

"You don't know how bad their gossip is, you don't know how painful their contemptuous looks are, and you don't know how terrible their exclusion is."

"I tried. I tried to integrate into the life of an official's wife."

“I have tried very hard to accept it.”

“But I can’t do it.”

"Tong Lang, I can't do it."

"I don't want to accept their contempt anymore."

Xiangqiao saw that he was stunned and finally spoke out.

She had kept these words in her heart for a long time.

She used to tell him everything, but gradually, things changed.

Now he is the third place in the imperial examination and a trusted minister of His Majesty.

He is young but holds a high position of power. If it weren't for her, there would be countless princes and nobles who would want him to be their son-in-law.

Even if she was around, even if he had been married before, as long as he was willing to divorce her and marry again, what kind of noblewoman could he not marry?

Xiangqiao felt that the distance between her and him was getting bigger and bigger, and he was walking along the road surrounded by flowers.

And she seemed to be still trapped in that brothel, just chasing his back.

In the past, he was a good-for-nothing scholar, and she was an otaku who was of low status but beautiful and wealthy.

They are cuddling each other.

But now she was completely dependent on him, like a dodder on a tree.

It's different.

And how long can their relationship last in such a huge difference in status?

No matter how many vows are made, can they surpass people's ever-growing ambitions?

When he finds out that she is just a burden, when he finds out that marrying a lady from a wealthy family can help him, what will he choose?

And now, he is disappointed in her.

If she can't even face this little difficulty, how can she be worthy of being the wife of an emperor's close minister?

Tong Huai'en held Xiangqiao's shoulders.

Blame him, he should have thought of it earlier. He thought that since he had honor in front of His Majesty, no one would dare to disrespect his wife.

But there are always stupid people and those who are not afraid of death.

She must be very sad and must have endured it for a long time.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What's the point of telling you? Are you going to come to me and ask for justice just because someone said something insinuating about me?"

Tong Huai'en: "Why not?"

"But, but won't you make enemies everywhere?"

"Why should we become enemies with others just for a few words?"

"I...I'll go to the palace banquet with you. Don't be impulsive."

Xiangqiao couldn't help but curse herself. Why did she let those women instigate her to become suspicious and not trust her partner?

His sincerity is beyond doubt.

Seeing her hastily agreeing, Tong Huai'en laughed out loud, still as clean and youthful as before.

If you ignore the thick dark circles under the eyes.

"For ordinary people, building good relationships with colleagues and superiors is indeed the most effective way to get along in the officialdom."

"Because no one above remembers you, it's hard to get promoted."

He smiled confidently, "But don't forget, your husband has been noted by the one at the top."

"It doesn't matter whether others like it or not."

"Besides..."

His smile faded. "Emperors have always hated forming cliques for personal gain. If the power of court officials is too great, it will weaken the emperor's power."

"Many emperors in history were controlled by powerful ministers. Although people are appointed based on their talents nowadays, a lonely minister is the sharpest knife for the emperor compared to a person who has friends everywhere."