good season

Beijing.

Zhao Tingxuan was kneeling in front of the portrait of Taizu.

This portrait has been enshrined in the Prince of Liang's Palace in the capital for decades and has long since turned yellow and old. However, the eyes of Grandpa Taizu in the portrait are still bright and sharp. No matter whether Zhao Tingxuan looks at it from the left or the right, Grandpa Taizu's eyes are looking at him.

This made Zhao Tingxuan terrified, and the two hours of kneeling every day as punishment was even more tormenting.

Kneeling as punishment was the punishment imposed on Zhao Tingxuan by Emperor Yongjia. Starting from ten days ago until the birthday of Emperor Taizu, Zhao Tingxuan had to kneel in front of the portrait of Emperor Taizu for two hours every day. During the period of punishment, he could not leave the Prince Liang's Mansion. Every two days, the Imperial College would send someone to teach him.

Don't underestimate this punishment. Taizu's birthday has already passed this year, so Zhao Tingxuan has to kneel from now until September next year.

For a teenager of sixteen or seventeen, what hurts him most is not being forced to kneel but losing his freedom.

He could not leave the Prince Liang's Mansion, could not enjoy the spring, and could not enjoy the autumn. Although he could meet friends in the mansion, Zhao Tingxuan had no friends in the capital at all!
The reason why Zhao Tingxuan was punished was thanks to his good uncle, Master Nie Er.

As mentioned before, Master Nie II had made great achievements, while Zhao Tingxuan had no title and was a commoner. According to the rules, he could not hire someone with great achievements as his staff.

But he came to the capital as a hostage, and there were only three types of people who could follow him into the capital.

One is his teacher;
The second is companion reading;

The third group is the entourage (including staff).

The so-called teachers can be teachers who impart knowledge or elders in the family.

Zhao Tingxuan's teacher, Mr. Li, was accompanying him, so the position of the other teacher was given to Mr. Nie Er.

The two companion study places were given to Nie's two nephews, Nie Huaxing and Nie Huaze.

These two people are from the third and fourth branches of the Nie family respectively.

There are four branches in this generation of the Nie family. Mrs. Nie is from the eldest branch, and Master Nie is from the second branch. Originally, the eldest branch wanted to send their two children to the capital, but the third and fourth branches disagreed. They couldn't let the eldest branch take all the credit, so in the end, the elders of the Nie family could only treat everyone equally and let the third and fourth branches each choose a boy to be Zhao Tingxuan's study companion.

When they first arrived in the capital, the two were respectful and modest. When they occasionally studied with other hostages in the Imperial College, they were also humble and courteous in everything.

Therefore, in the first month after arriving in the capital, they had a very good reputation in the Imperial College.

But it was only one month.

The main reason why these two stand out from other brothers is that they are the pride of the family. Of course, the prerequisite for becoming pride is that they are the darlings of the family.

They are the apple of the eye in the family.

They found that the companions in the Imperial College were all children of officials in the provincial capital, and some of them were even from poor families who were chosen to be companions because of their good academic performance.

The Nie brothers felt unwilling.

No one can compare with these people, either in terms of family background or demeanor, such as those children from poor families who are often praised by the teacher.

When one is thinking something, one's words and actions become free.

When Zhao Tingxuan noticed it, he would speak out to stop them. At first, the two of them restrained themselves. However, they soon discovered that although Zhao Tingxuan stopped them, he did not distance himself from them. So after repeated tests, they became more and more outrageous.

The cause of the incident was that they mocked Yue Xiu, the companion of the prince of Northern Yan, for having "the cow dung on his feet still not cleaned, and being unworthy of discussing poetry and prose."

In order to select a study partner for the Crown Prince, Beiyan held an open examination in all counties and states for young men aged ten to thirteen with clean backgrounds. The scale of the examination was no less than that of a county examination, and after the written examination, the King of Beiyan would personally interview them. The two men who were finally selected were among the top five in the written examination, and they were handsome, resolute, calm and introverted.

Faced with the sarcasm from Nie Huaxing and Nie Huaze, Yue Xiu just laughed it off.

If it were usual, the Nie brothers would just talk to themselves and no one would pay attention to them, so they would lose interest and the matter would be over.

However, this time, they were unlucky because the Prince of Weiguo happened to be there too.

The first generation Duke of Weiguo was Taizu's right-hand man. His achievements were no less than those of the King of Northern Yan and the King of Southern Gui. Taizu wanted to confer the title of king on him, but he declined. He wanted to stay in the capital for his generations to defend the dynasty and the capital.

The stories of the founding fathers have been passed down from generation to generation, among which the most widely circulated story is the one about the Duke of Wei who saved Taizu while herding cattle, and is known to women and children alike.

The first Duke of Weiguo was a cowherd. He came across the injured Taizu. He hid Taizu among the cattle and cleverly avoided the enemy's search.

After Emperor Taizu escaped from danger, he took the cowherd boy with him. The cowherd boy followed Emperor Taizu, was both wise and brave, was invincible, made many military achievements, and helped Emperor Taizu achieve eternal hegemony.

The prince of this generation of Duke Wei is named Yan Xia. It is said that his original name of Xia was "Xia" as in "famous and far-reaching". When he grew up, he changed it to "Xia" as in "knight-errant". As to whether it was changed in the family tree, it is unknown. In short, now everyone knows that he is Yan Xia, the Great Xia Yan!
Hero Yan believes that he was born at the wrong time. He should have been born in troubled times like his ancestors. In this way, even if he could not achieve success like his ancestors, he could still become a great hero.

Therefore, Master Yan has always taken it as his responsibility to suppress violence and uphold justice. He even took an unpaid job in the Ministry of Justice. Today he catches bandits, and tomorrow he catches flower-stealing thieves. In short, Master Yan is very busy, so busy that he can only come to the Imperial College for classes occasionally.

He happened to come today and happened to hear the Nie brothers' opinions on cow dung.

Although Hero Yan wanted to be a hero, he did not despise the fact that he was born in a Duke's Mansion. Moreover, the person he admired most was his ancestor, the first Duke of Wei.

Now, someone is talking about cow dung in front of him.

What do you mean, kid? Are you deliberately mocking our Weiguo Mansion by mocking Yue Xiu?

It is true that my ancestor was a cowherd, and it is true that we in the Weiguo Mansion are descendants of cowherds, but is it your turn to comment?
Hero Yan raised his fist as big as a bowl and beat the Nie brothers so hard that their faces were bruised and their teeth were all over the ground. Then he carried the two men out of the Imperial College, one in each hand.

When Zhao Tingxuan chased out, he saw a big tree on the side of the road, and the Nie brothers were hanging on the tree. There was a group of people gathered under the tree, pointing at the two men.

Hero Yan was clear about rewards and punishments. He did not implicate Zhao Tingxuan. He only taught a lesson to the Nie brothers who spoke rudely.

What's more, the Duke of Wei's Mansion and the Prince of Liang's Mansion are related. The late Duke of Wei's wife and Zhao Tingxuan's grandmother, the old Princess of Liang, are cousins.

Hero Yan had to give this face, so he only dealt with the Nie brothers.

Zhao Tingxuan was both ashamed and annoyed, so he let the two brothers down from the tree.

He was too embarrassed to attend today's class, so he could only return to the palace with the two of them in shame.

Of course, on the way, he scolded the two of them severely.

Zhao Tingxuan had a kind personality, and he would always speak softly even when scolding people. But today, he spoke in a stronger tone. The Duke of Wei's Mansion, even his father had to give some face. How could these two people dare to mock others in front of Hero Yan?

The Nie brothers never expected that Zhao Tingxuan, who had always been kind to them, would become arrogant and scold them like servants. The two of them became angrier and angrier, so Zhao Tingxuan asked them to reflect in the room, and they turned around to see Master Nie II.

Master Nie came to the capital just to serve as Zhao Tingxuan's elder.

This is the prince's palace. Zhao Tinghan is far away in Liangdi, and the prince's palace in the capital is now dominated by Zhao Tingxuan alone.

But Master Nie Er thought that Zhao Tingxuan was just a sixteen-year-old boy, what did he know?
Everyone in the palace, from the chief secretary to the eunuchs and maids, looked down on others and did not take Zhao Tingxuan seriously at all.

Do these people really think that the sickly Zhao Tinghan can keep sitting on the throne?

Pooh!
Although Zhao Tinghan is the King of Liang, who doesn't know that he is about to die?

From now on, the throne will either belong to Zhao Tingxuan or to Zhao Tingxuan's son.

The Prince Liang's Mansion in the capital is just a small branch of the Prince Liang's Mansion. These people are idiots if they still can't see the situation clearly!
Master Nie Er quickly found someone in the mansion who was not stupid, and that was Eunuch Cui, the eunuch chief of the Prince Liang's mansion.

It is said that Eunuch Cui was a short-sighted man. Master Nie only gave him a worthless little jade piece, but Eunuch Cui opened his heart to him.

Moreover, Eunuch Cui was very familiar with the capital. Two days after Master Nie Er expressed his preferences, Eunuch Cui found two guests for Master Nie Er to discuss poetry and painting with him. One of the guests took him to meet Liu Ruyan, who was known as the third most talented woman in the capital.

(Online literature cannot exist without Ruyan Liu, just as the West cannot exist without Jerusalem)

So, now Master Nie II lives in a palace with flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted pillars. He has people to give him money, people to serve him, people to play with him, and a confidante like Liu Ruyan.

Everyone in the capital now knows that he is the brother-in-law of the former King of Liang and the uncle of the current King of Liang, a royal relative in no way related to him.

When he returned home, he could act like an elder in front of Zhao Tingxuan when he had nothing to do.

Master Nie II lives a happy life.

Today, Master Nie Er originally wanted to attend a poetry reading. It was said that the reading had invited Lu Pinpin, who was known as the second most talented woman in the capital.

For Lu Pinpin, Master Nie also wants to go.

Thinking of Lu Pinpin, the beauty with eight mouths, Master Nie became itchy and his heart was beating fast.

But for some reason, after waiting for half a day, no one sent him an invitation.

The passionate old heart of Master Nie Er gradually grew cold.

These people just look down on him!

At this time, the Nie brothers came over and cried out, adding fuel to the fire, about how Yue Xiu looked down on people, how Yan Xia bullied them, and how Zhao Tingxuan turned his elbows to outsiders.

When Master Nie Er heard this, he thought, well, their Nie family is being targeted in the capital.

This is no longer just a matter of an invitation, this is being targeted and looked down upon everywhere.

The second master Nie went to find Zhao Tingxuan in person. After Zhao Tingxuan scolded the Nie brothers, he went to the warehouse.

The warehouse of the Prince of Liang's Mansion in the capital is far inferior to that of Liangdi, and Zhao Tinghan took most of it with him when he left the capital. However, when Zhao Tingxuan came to the capital this time, Nie brought him a lot of good things.

Zhao Tingxuan selected several gifts, including a piece of bloodstone jade for the prince of Northern Yan, a clay inkstone for Yue Xiu, and a box of good ink for another study partner, Ni Jing.

However, the gift for Hero Yan was hard to find. Zhao Tingxuan rummaged through the warehouse for a long time before he found a jade knife.

He returned to the study room with a few things in his hands, and saw Master Nie sitting there with a sullen look on his face.

Master Nie II's eyes fell on the brocade box in his hand: "Why are you focusing your energy on these things again? You are wasting your time on them."

Zhao Tingxuan quickly explained: "Uncle, you misunderstood. This is an apology gift prepared by your nephew for several classmates."

"Apology? Bring it here and let me see it." said Master Nie Er.

Zhao Tingxuan did not doubt him, and placed a few brocade boxes in front of Master Nie Er respectfully: "Uncle, please help me check and see if these are suitable as an apology."

Master Nie opened the brocade boxes one by one.

This is a bloodstone of excellent quality, I like it!

A genuine chengni inkstone, I love it!
Good ink, like it!
Finally, Master Nie Er saw the jade knife. He was stunned for a moment, and his throat was mumbling. He had seen a jade knife like this before. It was an antique. It was the treasure of Xie Cai Xuan in the capital, and the asking price was six thousand six hundred and sixty-six taels!
It is estimated that these four things will be worth no less than ten thousand taels.

Ten thousand taels! Zhao Tingxuan, this prodigal son, just gave away ten thousand taels casually.

Are those people worthy?
The Crown Prince of Northern Yan?
Although the King of Northern Yan is one of the Eight Great Kings, he is a king of a different surname, do you understand? A king of a different surname does not have the surname Zhao.

In the eyes of Master Nie Er, Prince Liang and Prince Northern Yan are equivalent to his biological son and his adopted son. How can they be the same?

Different!
The Crown Prince of Northern Yan is equivalent to a godson born to a godson. The only difference between him and a family-born child is a contract of sale.

The two companions of the prince of Northern Yan were only children from humble families. Were they worthy of using the clay inkstone and such fine old ink? No!

As for the Prince of Weiguo, bah!

A dandy boy who knows nothing about anything and a reckless man who can only wield a sword and a stick.

What about relatives? Can relatives not give face?
When beating a dog, you have to look at the owner first. What's more, the Nie brothers are not dogs, they are Zhao Tingxuan's cousins!

If Yan Xia beats them, he is slapping the Nie family in the face. If he beats the Nie family in the face, he is slapping the face of Prince Liang's Mansion!

Zhao Tingxuan actually wants to apologize to Yan Xia?

Master Nie II frowned and sat upright: "You are also a person who has read the books of sages. Don't you know what is right and wrong? Hua Xinghua is wrong in that he is naive, but they are your cousins and your relatives. That Yan Xia bullies others by taking advantage of his power. It is clear that he does not take the Liang Palace seriously. His surname is Yan, and your surname is Zhao. How can he trample on the descendants of the Zhao family?

You too, how can you side with outsiders? Doing this will hurt Hua Xing and Hua Ze's feelings. Go and apologize to them. They are all brothers. If you are sincere, they will not bear it with you.

As for the Northern Yan prince and his study partner, they were nothing more than mediocre people who could not be mentioned in public, so there was no need to pay any attention to them.

As for Yan Xia, what you need to do now is to inform the Imperial Censor about this matter and let the Imperial Censor report it to the emperor. I became friends with Imperial Censor Wang of the Metropolitan Procuratorate through poetry. I told him about this matter. He has always been outspoken and righteous, and he hates these dandy boys who bully others by taking advantage of their power. Don't worry, with his help, the emperor will definitely punish villains like Yan Xia severely!" (End of this chapter)