The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Personnel invited Prime Minister Feng to have tea at Gu's Tea House, and Vice Minister Luo also went along.

Gu Ji Tea House has a different decor than ordinary tea houses.

Its exterior walls were completely opened up, making it very bright.

Sitting in the lobby on the first floor, you can clearly see all the guests in the lobby.

When Luo saw Su Bing sitting in the corner, he wondered why her father hadn't returned yet, since the girl had already gone back.

Moreover, officials kept coming over to greet Su Bing, making him even more popular than the Vice Minister who had been entrenched in the capital for decades!

Many of those officials held higher ranks than Su Bing, yet they were warm and ingratiating towards him.

That's so enviable!

The Minister of Personnel, Zhang, spoke with a sour tone: "I, a third-rank Vice Minister of Personnel, am not as popular as a mere commander of a thousand households!"

Prime Minister Feng also realized that, as the prime minister of a great nation, he was not as popular as a mere commander of a thousand households, which made him very unhappy.

"Perhaps it's because he's a newly appointed commander of a thousand households by His Majesty, so it's something new and exciting for him."

Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Personnel retorted, "What's so great about that? What kind of skill is it to associate with officials? If you're so capable, go and befriend the Five Great Families! If he could befriend any one of the Five Great Families with their deep-rooted foundations, that would be truly remarkable!"

Without realizing it, Minister Luo walked up to Su Bing's side. Suddenly, he came to his senses and realized that he must have been possessed, as he had involuntarily walked up to Su Bing.

Luo Shilang could feel his own heart; he seemed particularly eager to go up and talk to Su Bing.

That's strange. Could it be that he was attracted to Su Bing because he looks like her?

He slapped his head hard to remind himself to stay awake.

Feeling it wasn't enough, he pinched himself again, finally feeling a bit more awake, and quickly walked back to Prime Minister Feng's side.

Vice Minister Luo said to Prime Minister Feng, "I just passed by them and heard them talking about buying rice candy. They must be trying to get Su Bing to help them get rice candy through connections."

Lord Zhang sighed, "My grandsons are also clamoring for rice candy, but it's too hard to buy. We've gone to great lengths to build up some connections, but this lowly commander has become a hot commodity thanks to his daughter selling rice candy."

It's infuriating to compare yourself to others!

Although Su Bing was only a minor commander, his promotion speed was comparable to a shooting star, and he had been promoted three ranks in just three months.

From a small bannerman to a general bannerman, to a centurion, and now to a thousand-household commander, it's quite an enviable career path.

No one could have imagined that a farmer who blushed and dared not speak when he saw people would have such a great opportunity all because he had a good daughter!

After drinking tea for a while, Prime Minister Feng and his two companions discovered that representatives from the Mu, Sikong, and Meng families—all five of the great clans—had come to congratulate Su Bing on his promotion to commander of a thousand households.

Minister Zhang of the Ministry of Personnel felt as if he had been slapped hard across the face.

He just said that it would be a great achievement to befriend even one of the five great families, but this person has befriended three families in a short period of time.

For a mere thousand-household commander, this is far too grand a display.

It would be incredibly difficult for an ordinary person to befriend even one of the five great families, yet this person managed to befriend three of them all at once—it's truly defying the heavens!

Lord Zhang seemed quite puzzled.

Could it be that Su Bing's apparent naiveté was all an act?

Lord Zhang casually remarked, "These aristocratic families are usually arrogant and dislike forming cliques, yet they are so polite to Su Bing. It's quite strange."

Vice Minister Luo knew a bit about this and explained, "I know that Miss Su's dog saved the eldest son of the Sikong family, thus forming a connection with the Sikong family."

"I also learned that the Meng family and the Su family have a close relationship. I heard it's because the Meng family used to live in Qinghe County, and the Meng family's only daughter was very close to Miss Su when she was in Qinghe County."

One of Prime Minister Feng's protégés was related to the Mu family by marriage, so Prime Minister Feng knew about the young girl's connection to the Mu family. "I heard that the young girl sent people to the border to deliver supplies, and thus became acquainted with the garrison commander of Shacheng—the nephew of the Mu family patriarch."

After hearing their explanations, Lord Zhang finally understood that it was that little girl's doing again!

They say three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang, but he felt that even the combined brains of the three of them couldn't match that little girl's brilliance!

Other people's kids are so outstanding! They're incredible!

The Fang family's side.

Sun was dressed in tattered clothes, her face covered in filth, no longer as glamorous as before, and could no longer obtain money by seducing men like other women in the village.

The weather was nice today, and there were many people hanging clothes to dry, so she ran into a large courtyard and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking, stole a thin cotton robe that a scholar would wear and ran away.

She's really going all out for her son.

As long as her son is appreciated by the prime minister, she, as his mother, can benefit from it and live a good life.

Before the snow had completely melted, Fang Cheng took a bath in the snow water in the backyard of the dilapidated temple, changed into a clean thin cotton robe, and then confidently ran to the Prime Minister's residence to wait.

It wasn't until dark that Prime Minister Feng returned from Gu's Teahouse.

Fang Cheng was eager to make a name for himself and especially wanted to curry favor with the Prime Minister, who was second only to the emperor. He immediately rushed to Prime Minister Feng and knelt down.

Because it was night, Prime Minister Feng's guards saw a dark figure rushing towards him and were startled. They thought Fang Cheng intended to harm Prime Minister Feng, so they kicked Fang Cheng several meters away.

"There's an assassin! Take him down quickly!"

Fang Cheng was quickly bound into a zongzi by Prime Minister Feng's entourage.

He pleaded loudly, "Prime Minister Feng, I'm not a bad person, I just want to be your advisor."

There are too many people who want to be Prime Minister Feng's advisors, so Prime Minister Feng naturally doesn't care about Fang Cheng and doesn't even glance at him.

After bidding farewell to Vice Minister Luo, he crossed the high threshold and walked into the mansion.

But then they heard Fang Cheng shouting.

"My name is Fang Cheng from Qinghe County. I wish to become a staff member of the Prime Minister. I humbly request the Prime Minister's appreciation."

When Prime Minister Feng learned that Fang Cheng was from Qinghe County, he finally became interested.

He then turned around, returned to the gate, and ordered the guards, "Untie him."

Minister Luo, who had originally planned to leave by carriage, also got off the carriage, wanting to ask what was going on. Why had Prime Minister Feng suddenly changed his mind?

Vice Minister Luo looked puzzled: "Prime Minister, this person—"

Prime Minister Feng explained, "He said he was from Qinghe County, so he might know that young lady surnamed Su very well. If we know her well, we can deal with her better."

Vice Minister Luo felt that Prime Minister Feng's words made a lot of sense.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. This scholar surnamed Fang should be able to help them deal with that little girl.

At this moment, Feng Yuanxi, who had taken people out to buy rice candy, finally returned.

He recognized Fang Cheng's face by the large red lantern at the entrance and immediately roared in anger.

"Hey Fang, what are you doing here? You shameless bastard, get the hell out of my sight!"

When Feng Yuanxi saw that Fang Cheng wouldn't leave, he went up and punched and kicked him without holding back at all.

"I despise poor, pedantic scholars like you. All you do all day is belittle General Su. You deserve to die!"

Prime Minister Feng was overjoyed. Hearing his son's words, it seemed that the scholar had a grudge against the girl in Qinghe County. This was perfect; he was exactly the kind of talent he needed!

He quickly ordered his youngest son, Feng Yuanxi, to pull him away, lest the man be beaten to death.

I originally intended to take this scholar from Qinghe County as my student, but my son didn't like it, so I arranged for the scholar to stay at the Luo residence first.

"Minister Luo, take the person to your residence and settle him in."

Vice Minister Luo, who listened to Prime Minister Feng the most, quickly replied, "Yes, Prime Minister, please rest assured."

Fang Cheng stood ramrod straight and followed Vice Minister Luo into the carriage.

Although he appeared calm on the surface, his heart was in turmoil. He never expected to have simultaneously climbed the social ladder by climbing up to both the Prime Minister and the Vice Minister of Works.

It is foreseeable that he will definitely make a name for himself in Beijing in the future.

Vice Minister Luo brought Fang Cheng into the Luo residence, where he ate at the same table with his family.

Fang Cheng was quite talented and loved to flatter and fawn. After just one meal, he became as close as brothers with Luo Minggeng and the others.

At night, he lay in the soft silk quilt of the Luo residence, feeling completely content.

I was also very curious.

Unexpectedly, Luo Minggeng looked very similar to the people in the old Su family mansion, while Luo Shilang and others looked very much like Su Bing.

Is it really possible for such a coincidence to happen in the world? I feel there must be some unknown secret behind it.