The rolling waterwheels brought cool canal water to the rooftops of the palace, making artificial rain.
After meeting the host Queen Qin as a courtesy, Ren Ning walked out of the courtyard.
Under the heavy rain in the front yard, more than thirty young men of about the same age as him were chatting in groups.
Ren Ning walked along and listened a few times.
He could even hear his name being mentioned frequently.
Ren Ning was not surprised at all.
What Yunzhong County did was not bad. Especially the news that he had eliminated the Ren clan a few days ago was no secret among the wealthy families.
hey-hey.
Someone mocked in a weird tone.
"This illegitimate son actually removed his family name. He really doesn't know what is good and what is wrong."
"As the saying goes, the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. Although it is unpleasant to have an illegitimate child, after all, he has the reputation of the Grand Master's Palace. At least no ordinary commoner dares to bully him."
"Let's see what kind of reputation he can make as a single man with no clan or family. Nine times out of ten, he won't even be able to marry someone from a small family, and in the end he will have to bow his head and go back to the Grand Master's Mansion to catch the autumn wind."
Pooh!
There was a good-looking young man in the crowd who suddenly took a sip at the man.
"What future can those people who only rely on the shelter of their ancestors have? Some of them may have plugs in their ears. I didn't know that Ren Ning was living a prosperous life in the Rock Frontier Fortress, and he had already made a name for himself with his military exploits at a young age.
Security Commander."
"After this mission of sending the soul back home is completed, he will be at least a seventh-grade military general. I don't know how much better than those who just eat free meals at home."
Ha ha!
The man from before turned his head and looked over. After seeing the young master who made the noise clearly, he laughed disdainfully.
"I asked who would fight for the illegitimate child. It turned out to be Xiao Gang, the unworthy second son of Uncle Zhongyong's house."
"Speaking of which, in two years' time, your uncle Zhongyong's mansion will be demoted. You will probably never have the chance to attend banquets with us at various princes' and princes' palaces in the future."
"In this way, your Xiao family really has to find another way out like the illegitimate child in the Taishi Mansion. We are in the same boat."
A group of noble gentlemen around him had strange expressions on their faces, but no one said anything.
Xiao Gang, the second son of Zhongyongbo Mansion?
Ren Ning turned his head and quickly remembered this person.
On the passenger ship back to the imperial capital, weren't the four men in black who boarded the ship trying to kill Xiao Gang right in front of them?
As for the demotion of Count Zhongyong, Ren Ning was even more aware of it.
Six hundred years ago, when the empire was first established, His Majesty Emperor Taizu, in order to prevent the descendants of the founding generals from becoming indifferent to progress, stipulated that no matter how high the title, it should be passed down after three generations.
That is, if the three generations of descendants do not make enough contributions to the empire, they will be demoted.
The Xiao family used to be the founding father of the country.
It's just that the descendants of the Xiao family are not as good as the previous ones. The last Duke Xiao went to the battlefield and was so frightened that he fell off his horse and cried to go home.
The emperor at that time was furious. When the time limit for the third generation was up, he directly demoted the Xiao family from the Duke to the uncle's house. Now the preparations have reached the juncture of the third generation. In two years, if there is no promising son of the Xiao family who has earned some merits, he will come back.
, it is estimated that even the uncle’s mansion will not be able to be saved.
Therefore, all the noble families in the imperial capital secretly call the Xiao family the "Xiao" family, which means they are unworthy of their descendants.
Listening to the dark history of his ancestors, Xiao Gang's eyes were red and his face was ashen, he clenched his teeth but was speechless.
"What, you're not convinced?" The other person sneered.
"Due to the epidemic in Yunzhong County, there has been no banquet in Xingji City for a long time. Just eating and drinking is not interesting. Many of the people here are from military families. Why don't they join in the fun by making gestures. Let this unscrupulous second master look at their arrogance.
How far has our home fallen?"
Before Xiao Gang could answer, King Qin had already walked out with a smile and his hands behind his back.
"What are you gentlemen talking about? It's so lively!"
Everyone salutes.
People close to King Qin told the story.
However, he only said that everyone was preparing for a martial arts competition to cheer for him. Others remained silent.
King Qin nodded and looked around.
"I have good news for you all. Good news has come from Xingluo and Yunzhong counties. The epidemic is being controlled extremely effectively. The imperial doctors reported that the epidemic will be completely subsided within a month."
Everyone was refreshed and quickly congratulated: "God bless my emperor! God bless the clouds!"
Ha ha!
"Let's see." King Qin laughed, "Since you all want to compete in martial arts for fun, I will add some bonuses. The first place will be awarded three hundred catties of ice, the second place will be awarded two hundred catties, and the third place will be awarded one hundred catties."
Buzz~
Everyone was overjoyed.
Ice was very expensive in this era. Usually during the coldest months of winter, ice had to be collected from Tamaki County in the far north and transported thousands of miles back for storage.
The people in front of me are all children of wealthy families, but it is impossible to have enough ice to cool down in these dog days. It is almost something that even money cannot buy.
Three hundred pounds of ice will definitely make many people’s hearts flutter.
King Qin nodded with satisfaction and continued to speak.
"By the way. Princess Qin has always liked to be a matchmaker. She has also invited many noble ladies of the imperial capital. You must show off your talents in a while. Maybe you can win the hearts of some beauties today."
Everyone's eyes lit up, and they were all excited, pushing and shoving towards the school grounds.
Ren Ning didn't want to be alone and followed him silently.
Also at the back was Xiao Gang, whose teeth chattered loudly.
"Second Young Master Xiao, I am Ren Ning!" He smiled.
Xiao Gang was stunned, looking at Ren Ning up and down, and almost bumped his head against the golden pillar in the corridor.
"Are you really Ren Ning? Why are you here in Prince Qin's Mansion?"
"It's true." Ren Ning joked, "Of course it's an invitation from Prince Qin's palace. Could it be that I climbed over the wall and sneaked in?"
"That's true." Xiao Gang came back to his senses.
He glanced angrily at the young master in front of him and said hesitantly: "Did you hear what they said just now?"
Ren Ning nodded calmly, "I heard it."
"Aren't you angry?" Xiao Gang was surprised.
"What's there to be angry about?" Ren Ning spread his hands: "It doesn't matter how noble their status is, why am I here because of my own abilities? Let's see what they will be like in a few years."
Xiao Gang was refreshed and finally convinced of the identity of the person in front of him.
He suddenly bent down and bowed to Ren Ning: "Thank you for your life-saving grace on the ship. Although Xiao Gang is useless, he will definitely repay you in this life."
Ren Ning was stunned and looked surprised, "What kind of life-saving grace? I don't understand."
He checked carefully at that time, and no one found that he was the one.
"No need to deny it." Xiao Gang patted Ren Ning's shoulder familiarly.
"I checked later and found that there were more than 800 people on the boat that day. Although I only saw one corpse, four people actually got on the boat. You are the only one who can kill four men in black silently in the middle of the night.
one……"
The two of them arrived at the school grounds in the middle of the palace without saying a few words.
The school grounds were almost the same as usual, except that a long thin curtain was drawn between the pavilions and pavilions opposite.
Behind the curtain stood a number of slender figures. They were the ladies invited to the banquet by King Qin Ji.
Xiao Gang subconsciously straightened his back and murmured dissatisfiedly: "It's such a long distance and a curtain is drawn. Only a ghost can see clearly what the girls look like."
He turned back and asked Ren Ning: "Brother Ren, do you have a girl you like?"
cough.
Ren Ning coughed, "You are older than me."
"It's okay." Xiao Gang waved his hand nonchalantly, "A capable person is a teacher. Oh no, a capable person is a brother."