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Suning naturally had no interest in the Jia family's affairs. He had been doing his own thing during this period, but good news came one after another.

The first good news was that Lin Yian agreed to marry into the Su family. After all, the Su family was a prominent family in the capital, and it was a great honor for them to fall in love with the daughter of the Lin family.

The union of the two families, both of whom were the emperor's confidants, naturally made the emperor happiest, so everything seemed so natural.

The second piece of news was that Suning was selected by the emperor as a guard as an exception, and was awarded the rank of third-class light cavalry captain, and he could officially enter the official career in the future.

The guards of the Qing Dynasty were a very strange group. Most of them were selected from the children of nobles, and then trained and observed by the emperor himself. Therefore, most of these guards were sent out to serve as provincial governors, such as the famous Heshen and Fuheng of the Qing Dynasty.

The Manchus' rule over this land was still very powerful, and many of the Han officials were willing to serve as Manchu officials. If the external environment in the late Qing Dynasty had not been too harsh, and national consciousness and ideas had not emerged and risen, they might have really been able to break through the shackles of the three hundred years of the dynasty. The main reason was that those Han officials were too submissive to the Manchus' rule, such as the quite famous Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan.

Because Suning was assigned to be a guard in the emperor's guard of honor, his clothes were naturally very handsome and good-looking. The reason why Suning was chosen was probably because of his appearance.

While the Ning and Rong mansions of the Jia family were in chaos preparing for Jia Zhen's funeral, Su Ning had already entered the palace and started his career as a guard. Looking at the Forbidden City in front of him, he was full of curiosity and doubts, and it felt that there was not much difference between it and the real Forbidden City.

The emperor is a super workaholic just like Yongzheng in history. Although we have not seen what this emperor looks like, it is speculated that he will probably not live long like Yongzheng, because Suning noticed that the emperor was discussing the implementation of the land-based tax system, which directly affected the interests of all gentry and powerful people.

One day, Suning was fortunate enough to be on guard duty beside the emperor, and he immediately caught the emperor's attention. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you before?"

Su Ning, standing by, quickly bowed and introduced himself, saying that one's role dictates what one should do. "Your Majesty, I am Su Ning, the legitimate son of Duke Su. I have just been granted the rank of third-class guard by Your Majesty."

"Good! You are indeed a handsome man. Can you enter the official school of Xian'an Palace?" The emperor looked at the tall Su Ning in front of him carefully, then nodded with an expression of approval and asked.

"Your Majesty, I was admitted to the Xian'an Palace Official School at the age of ten and am proficient in Manchu, Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, English, German, Russian, and French."

"Oh? Suning, do you know that deceiving the emperor is a serious crime?"

"Your Majesty, every word I say is true." Su Ning looked at the emperor in front of him solemnly and assured him.

The emperor was delighted to see the sharpness radiating from Suning. "Haha, great! I'll give you a good test later."

"Yes! Your Majesty."

Suning knew that the past and present were not the times to be modest and cautious, and he really needed to perform in front of the emperor, otherwise he would never be able to gain power.

Coming to the palace to be a guard is a shortcut to success. If you develop step by step, it is better to take the imperial examination, so the shortcut naturally requires a shortcut method.

At this time, an old eunuch ran to the emperor's carriage in a panic and explained, "Your Majesty, there is an accident in the harem."

"Hmph! What's the matter again?" The emperor frowned and looked at the old eunuch unhappily and asked.

The old eunuch then bowed and explained to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the maid Fuzi, assigned by the Empress to Concubine Hua, was found dead in a well. Concubine Wan and others happened to be passing by and saw her. Concubine Wan has been frightened to the point of falling ill."

The emperor knew without investigation that this was another battle between the Empress and Concubine Nian. "Humph! Women's affairs are always troublesome."

“…” The eunuchs and guards beside him were all silent and terrified.

The emperor, feeling irritated at this moment, ordered, "Go to the Empress Dowager's Shoukang Palace."

"Yes! Your Majesty." The old eunuch agreed to the emperor casually, then raised his head and shouted, "Go to Shoukang Palace."

At this time, Su Ning, who was acting as a guard, had a look of amusement on his face, because wasn't this the plot in "The Legend of Zhen Huan"?

I didn't expect that I would travel to a fusion world. It was not the world of Dream of the Red Chamber in the Ming and Qing Dynasties as I thought, but also incorporated some of the hot and exciting plots of Qing Dynasty dramas.

Of course, with his current status, it is not appropriate for him to interfere in too many things. No matter how lonely the women in the emperor's harem are, they are not something that a small third-class guard like him can covet, unless he is an old man who drinks poison and thinks his life is too long.

In the following days, Suning was always on duty in the emperor's guard of honor, and also had to prepare for the imperial examinations at the official school in Xian'an Palace. He unknowingly forgot about the charming Bao Erye.

One day, after getting off the horse, Suning was riding on a street, which was the famous Qianmen Street in later generations, but suddenly he heard someone calling his name.

"Young Master! Young Master."

Su Ning turned around in surprise, and then saw Master Bao's surprised face, leaning out of a luxurious carriage. "Huh? Master Bao? Why are you here?"

At this moment, Master Bao didn't bother to answer Su Ning's question. Instead, he jumped out of the carriage and held Su Ning's hand as he dismounted, saying, "Young Master, I'm glad to see you in person. It was really my fault for breaking our promise last time. Baoyu apologizes to you here."

Su Ning couldn't help but pinched Master Bao's jade palm and said itchyly, "Master Bao, you are too kind! I can naturally understand that such a big thing has happened to your Jia family."

Master Bao didn't seem to notice the small movement of Su Ning's hand as he continued to explain, "Thank you for your understanding, young master! I've been busy with Master Zhen's funeral these past few days, so I couldn't go out for a while. It wasn't until today that I was able to go out and relax."

"I see."

"Young Master, I heard that you have already arranged a marriage with the daughter of Lord Lin, the Governor of Jiangsu Province?"

"Yes! I'm now a third-class guard in the palace. I just finished my shift at the palace."

Then Master Bao looked at Su Ning and invited him, "That's such a coincidence! Young Master, could you accompany me to the restaurant for a drink?"

"This..." Suning looked at the carriage beside him with some amusement. It was obvious that there were female members of the Jia family's Rongguo Mansion in the carriage.

Master Bao looked at Su Ning anxiously and asked, "What's the matter? Could it be that the young master still holds a grudge against me for breaking my promise last time?"

"Of course not! It's just that I don't like the noise of the restaurant. How about we go to the quieter flower boat?"

"Good! Let's go now."

Seeing that the silly Mr. Bao didn't realize the problem, Su Ning reminded him with a smile, "It seems that there are women in your carriage?"

"It's okay! There are only my sister Lin and sister Xue in the car. It's just right for us to go boating and write poetry together." As expected, Master Bao didn't care about the rules that women can't see men outside.

"Oh?" At this time, Suning couldn't help but look at the carriage curiously, and sure enough, he saw two pairs of girls' eyes behind the curtains of the carriage.

In fact, it was not allowed for female relatives to have secret meetings with men outside their families in feudal society, but it was obvious that Mr. Bao did not care about these rules and regulations. It happened that Su Ning was also very curious about Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, so she did not remind Mr. Bao to pay attention to this issue.

Above Shichahai, a large flower boat was sailing quietly on the water. However, there were only Suning and Mr. Bao and a few others on the boat, with Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai sitting shyly beside them. Looking at the scenery outside the boat, it really felt so beautiful.

At this time, Master Bao was very excited to introduce his sister Lin to Su Ning, "Young Master, let me introduce you, this is my aunt's cousin Lin Daiyu."

"Hello, Sister Lin! I'm Suning." Suning said with a smile on his face as he looked at the sickly person in front of him.

"Young Master, nice to meet you." Then Master Bao generously introduced Xue Baochai, who was standing beside him, to Su Ning. "This is Xue Baochai, the daughter of my aunt Xue."

However, Su Ning was more interested in Xue Baochai. "Hello, Miss Baochai! We parted so hastily at the birthday party last time. I never thought we would meet again."

"Oh! Young master is joking." Feeling Su Ning's special gaze made Xue Baochai feel a little shy.

Su Ning looked at Xue Baochai with a troubled expression and asked, "Miss Baochai, I have a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it."

"Young Master, you can say whatever you want! Aren't we just friends joking around?"

"Miss Baochai is right! Ever since I last saw her at the birthday banquet, I have been struck by her beauty. I wanted to ask my mother to propose marriage, but unfortunately her parents have already chosen the daughter of the Governor of Jiangsu."

"What?" At this moment, everyone present changed their expressions at the same time. They didn't expect Suning to be so rash.

Xue Baochai quickly realized what was happening. She feigned displeasure and asked, "Young Master, are you already drunk before you even start drinking? How can you be so rude?"

Su Ning naturally understood that Xue Baochai wanted her to admit her nonsense. "Miss Baochai, my words do seem particularly abrupt and rude, but I really have to say it out loud! My mother saw how painful it was for me to miss her every day and not be able to see her, so she agreed to go and hire you as my concubine."

At this moment, Xue Baochai was really getting angry. "What? If you keep joking, young master, I'm going to walk away in anger."

"Wait! Miss Baochai, I don't mean to offend you. I just want to ask you frankly, are you interested in me? If not, I will stop my mother's proposal. You should know that liking someone does not necessarily mean possessing them."

"..." At this moment, Xue Baochai was stunned for a moment. She never dreamed that Su Ning would say such words.

Especially the sentence "Liking someone does not necessarily mean possessing them" was too advanced and was a fatal blow to women in feudal society, so Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai on the side both showed idiotic expressions.

At this time, Master Bao's face turned ugly, "Young Master, you are so rude."

However, Su Ning looked at Master Bao in disapproval and asked, "Master Bao, if Miss Baochai has no intention of marrying me, and my mother comes to propose marriage, won't that make Miss Baochai look even more embarrassed?"

"This……"

Soon, Xue Baochai stood up with a flushed face and said goodbye, "Brother Baoyu, young master, I have caught a cold today and feel unwell. I will go back and rest first."

"Sister Baochai, wait for me! I'll go with you." Then Lin Daiyu beside her also hurriedly stood up to pursue him. Before leaving, she didn't forget to glare at Su Ning, "Humph! Lecher."

"Sister Lin? Sister Bao?" Master Bao called out to Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai with a silly look on his face.

At this moment, Su Ning pretended to be apologetic and looked at Master Bao in front of him and said, "Master Bao, I'm so sorry today! Why don't you go back first?"

"Forget it! Let them go back in the carriage by themselves."

"..."

At this moment, Master Bao looked at Su Ning thoughtfully and asked, "Young Master, do you really like Sister Bao very much?"

"So what if she likes me? There's no way she would be willing to be a concubine." Su Ning sighed with a crazy look on his face.

Master Bao, who couldn't figure out these things, raised his glass and looked at Su Ning, "Young Master, don't think about these troubles! Let's drink together."

"Okay! Thank you, Master Bao, for being willing to drink with me."

"I like being with you, young master! I wonder if you can call me Brother Bao?"

"Brother Bao, how about you also call me Brother Ning?"

"Brother Ning?"

"Hey! Brother Bao, we won't go home until we're drunk tonight."

"Haha, okay! I'll risk my life to accompany my brother today."

In this way, Suning and Jia Baoyu drank one cup after another, and Suning kept saying things that Jia Baoyu liked to hear. As expected, Jia Baoyu was excited and drank a lot of wine. Soon he fell drunk in Suning's arms.

At this moment, Xiren, who was standing by, hurried forward to support Jia Baoyu, "Second Master, why did you drink so much?"

"What's your name?" Su Ning, who was hugging Master Bao, looked at Xiren in front of him and asked.

"My dear young master, I am Xiren, the personal maid of the Second Master." Xiren quickly bowed and saluted Su Ning in front of her.

"Oh? So you are Xiren?"

"Young Master, have you ever heard of this servant?"

"That's not important! Your Second Master is already drunk, why don't you just stay on the flower boat and rest for a while?"

"This……"

"Don't worry! I will send someone to Rongguo Mansion to report the news."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, young master."

"Then you can go out first! Brother Bao and I don't need your service for the time being. I will call you again if I need you."

"Yes! Young Master."

After Xiren left the room, looking back every few steps, Suning looked at the top quality girl in his arms with excitement, then struggled to control the impulse in his heart and hugged her, feeling that if she was a woman, she would be so perfect.

After admiring the other person's beautiful face from close range, Suning did not do anything else. After all, he was still a real straight man.

However, Suning suddenly remembered that Jia Baoyu had a sister in the palace. He wondered if that princess looked very similar to Jia Baoyu, so he planned to find an opportunity to run over and take a sneak peek.

However, the Princess Yuan in "Dream of Red Mansions" behaved particularly stupidly, and the subsequent visit to her parents was more like a farewell of life and death from the Jia family. Therefore, if you were to provoke this Princess Yuan, you would have to consider the great dangers.

……

(End of this chapter)