Gu Zhao looked at the jade ring in his hand, sneered, put it in his purse, and started to eat.

　　His Majesty stayed at the banquet for about half an hour. After about a quarter of an hour had passed, Prince Kang got up and left first. As soon as Prince Kang left, the Fifth Prince followed closely. After about a quarter of an hour, the Eighth Prince and the Sixth Prince got up and left, followed by the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth little princes.

　　There were only officials left in the entire hall.

　　The royal masters had all left, and the officials smiled and exchanged pleasantries until about four o’clock, then they got up one after another and walked out of the palace. It took fifteen to twenty minutes to walk from Taiji Hall to Anmen and Dingmen, and sometimes it took more than half an hour, mainly because the people walking with them were all colleagues, and sometimes they walked slowly while talking.

　　Gu Zhao and the other two fell behind, walking at the end of the adults, slowly and leisurely, but they couldn’t be in a hurry. When they left the palace, the Yulin Army had to check. When they got outside the palace, the carriages of each household were waiting. For officials like them with low ranks, their carriages were lined up very far behind.

　　It was already a quarter past five from the time I got up to the time I got on my own mule cart.

　　”Go back.”

　　Fang Liu drove the car to avoid other vehicles and walked slowly behind.

　　When he got home, Gu Zhao entered a door and heard people talking and laughing in the yard. He happened to meet Mr. Liu who was holding a child.

　　Li Zhouzhou sent Liushu out, and when he saw his husband coming back, he said, “Xiaoshu saw that the sun was bright, so he came to play with me after lunch with Dabai in his arms. But since it was getting late, I sent him back first.”

　　”Second brother should be home by now. It’s late and windy, so our mule cart will take you back.” Gu Zhao said.

　　Mother Lan hurried out to call Fang Liu. Fang Liu was driving the mule cart towards the back, but when he heard the sound, he turned around and came back.

　　”It’s safer to go back early.” Li Zhouzhou also said. It’s convenient now.

　　Liu Shu was not polite and thanked Brother Zhou Zhou, and Lord Gu.

　　Gu Zhao and Li Zhouzhou escorted Liu Shu and Dabai to the mule cart. After Fang Liu drove far away, they walked back together. Li Zhouzhou said, “Someone came from Ningping Prefecture this morning. It was the person in charge of the caravan who brought the letter last year. He brought four people, two brothers and two boys, two from the eldest uncle’s family, a young son, a brother who is the grandson of the eldest uncle, a brother from the second uncle’s family, and a son from the third uncle’s family…”

　　As they were talking, they arrived at the inner courtyard, and saw four people standing neatly under the eaves of the west wing door.

　　”Cousin-husband.”

　　”Uncle.”

　　The four of them spoke in unison, but from their expressions they all seemed to have heard the noise and had discussed it early on, drafted a plan, and summoned up the courage to shout out. Their voices were still small, but they were much bolder than when they first came in the morning, all thanks to Liu Shu who came to teach them.

　　Li Zhouzhou is a cousin. Liu Shu heard that he is the child of Zhouzhou’s relative from his mother’s side. He will need worker when the business opens, so he whispered to Zhouzhou that he will be the bad guy and Zhouzhou will be the soft one.

　　”…Brother Zhou Zhou, you don’t know that children in poor houses are the best at reading adults’ expressions. They look well-behaved now, but that’s because they just came to Beijing and have no one to rely on. They are counting on you to take care of them for food. But after getting along with you for a long time, they will know that you are a soft-hearted person. They won’t use force, but will just be soft and pitiful to you. There are no other big things, just some trivial things, such as eating more and doing less work. But if someone is smart and takes advantage, then someone will have to do more. If they do more for a long time, they will definitely be unhappy, and there will be a quarrel in the future.”

　　Liu Shu said he had rich experience in this, because there were many children in his mother’s family. He used to be the one who did most of the work quietly, but later he got upset and had a fit. After the fit, he thought, “It’s okay this way. I even got an extra bite of food by getting angry.” It seems that he still needs to be more aggressive.

　　”When I first arrived in the prefecture, Brother Zhou Zhou took me to do business and interact with people. I felt that I was better than when I was in the village, but I couldn’t say what was good or better. When I came to the capital and learned to read with my husband, I felt that I understood more.”

　　”When people are ignorant, they use their most outrageous brains. Fortunately, these four are young and need to be taught well.”

　　Although Li Zhouzhou had lived a hard and poor life in the village, he was his father’s only child, and the father and son relied on each other and worked hard to get through it. When it came to dealing with interpersonal relationships, especially with children of the same background as other children in the village, no one as sharp-eyed as Liu Shu could teach them.

　　”Hello.” Gu Zhao greeted them and without much conversation, he went into the main hall to change into his official uniform.

　　Li Zhouzhou accompanied them into the main hall and said to the four of them, “Go to the kitchen in the front and help Mother Lan cook. After dinner, wash up and go to bed early. Madam Yan will come to teach you tomorrow morning.”

　　The four of them nodded and went to the front.

　　The clothes that were taken off in the morning were patched up with patches, didn’t fit, were covered with fleas, and were dirty. Lan’s mother came to ask, and Li Zhouzhou asked the four people if there was anything important that they wanted to keep. If there was no need to keep it, they would burn it and prepare new ones for you.

　　Those clothes were all passed down by their superior brother and were passed down to them. They were no longer warm and were easily torn. The four of them were naturally happy but were afraid of wasting money. Li Zhouzhou saw that they didn’t understand something on their faces, so he asked Mother Lan to take them outside and burn them for fear that there would be bugs.

　　Then he said to the four people, “I am providing you with food and clothing now, but that is because you will work for me in the future. It is not given to you for free, so don’t worry.”

　　The four of them felt relieved.

　　Children of poor families have to grow up early, and the two brothers Cao’er and Xiaohe are very skillful in doing kitchen work.

　　When Mother Lan heard the lady calling them by their names, she knew that they were not to be treated as young masters, so she assigned them tasks, asking the boy to fetch water and the boy to cook with her.

　　The well is just at the corner after entering through the second door.

　　In the inner room, Gu Zhao changed out of his official uniform and put on shorts. He felt comfortable all of a sudden. He went to the toilet again, washed his hands, and came back to hold Fubao first. He took the purse with one hand and handed it to Zhou Zhou, “This is a reward from Prince Kang. Take it and put it away.”

　　Li Zhouzhou opened the purse and saw a white jade ring. He had seen the jade hairpin and jade pendant given by the Lin family before, but the difference between them and the one in his hand was obvious to the naked eye. He put it back and asked, “Why did Prince Kang give this to my husband?”

　　”The excuse was that our family helped to find Young Master Lin. But just after I received the ring, the emperor came to the banquet not long after, and Prince Kang showed off his sword skills. So the emperor rewarded Prince Kang with a better ring.” Gu Zhao would tell Zhou Zhou about everything at work and in the court.

　　Li Zhouzhou suddenly felt his wallet was burning.

　　”If our family accepts this, does that mean we have a relationship with Prince Kang?”

　　Gu Zhao was thinking, “No, I accepted it openly in front of so many people. Prince Kang gave it to me out of concern for the safety of the grandson of the deceased eldest prince. It has no other meaning.”

　　Furthermore, he felt that the Eighth Prince’s intention to win him over was more obvious than that of Prince Kang. Today, Prince Kang was only using him to gain the emperor’s mercy and sympathy. He might not think highly of him at all, so how could he be trying to win him over?

　　The two chatted for a while, and then Mother Lan said it was time to eat.

　　Gu Zhao said, “It will be awkward for the Su family children to eat with us for the first meal today. Let’s eat together. When I have my day off, we can sit together and have lunch at noon.”

　　”I think so too.” Li Zhouzhou nodded. “Let the four of them adapt. I also want to give them a big name. Now Goudan Shuanzi Cao’er Xiaohe will be looked down upon.”

　　Gu Zhao nodded and said, “The four of them have no objection—”

　　In fact, growing up in the mountains, in a remote and backward area, illiterate, with no one to teach them etiquette, filial piety and rules, without enlightenment and wisdom, they are like wildly growing weeds that need to be carefully trimmed. In this era, indulging the four children of the Su family is harmful to them.

　　”Don’t ask. You decide.”

　　Candles were lit in the main hall of the Li family, and food was laid out. The family sat down to eat.

　　The four of them ate in the west room. They ate the same food, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, steamed buns and porridge. Because the Li family had too much meat during the Chinese New Year and couldn’t finish it, Li Zhouzhou followed her husband’s advice and tried to smoke and dry it to make bacon.

　　Nowadays, when I eat, I cut some and use them in stir-frying or eating noodles. They are delicious and convenient.

　　The steamed buns were all made of white flour. The four of them were eating the steamed buns with fried bacon and cabbage. While they were eating, the youngest one, Xiaohe, started crying. The other three asked what happened and whether he had choked.

　　”No, no, it’s just too delicious. I eat it three times a day, and there is meat in the bowl every time. I want to take it back for my mother and brother.”

　　”What are we doing here? Do you want to take the meat back with you?”

　　Cao’er wiped Xiaohe’s tears and said, “I know you miss home, but now that we are out here, if you work hard and make more money, you can take it back and your mother and brother will be able to eat meat.”

　　”Yeah.” Xiao He sniffed and said, “I will work hard and not be lazy.”