You can’t get involved in this.

　　Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin frowned, how could they not know.

　　There must be someone behind this, and the force is not small. They are putting the Eighth Prince on the fire rack. Who else could have done it? Gu Zhao guessed it. Last year, the Second Prince was very popular. He worked hard for several months to make the fruit, but it was picked by the Fifth Prince. But the Fifth Prince got the fruit because the Second Prince had no choice but to let him.

　　Who can force the second prince into a desperate situation?

　　There are only two favorites, 2 and 8.

　　The Eighth Prince’s current attitude is not a way for the Second Prince to “return the favor”.

　　The three of them talked openly. If they didn’t guess it, they would have guessed it. But knowing it was one thing. Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin were now involved. The two of them together were not even worth a dish. What could they do? They could only do what they had to do.

　　Gu Zhao felt uneasy, thinking that he had implicated his second brother, as it was he who proposed to revise the book and integrate the matter.

　　Yan Jinxin said: “I also thought it was good to revise the book and agreed to it. I was praised a few days ago, so I took this opportunity to feel happy and thought that your suggestion was very good. Fortunately, I participated. But later, something unexpected happened, and I was implicated and my official career was damaged. If I blame you for this, I would be a villain and I would not be able to go far.”

　　”A gentleman should be consistent in what he says and what he does. I think it is a good idea to revise the book and integrate it.”

　　After hearing this, Shi Mingwen stroked his beard with relief, thinking that he had not misjudged the person.

　　But having said that, there are still risks. Especially one day during the morning court, an official submitted a memorial praising the Eighth Prince, and in the end, basically asked the emperor to make the Eighth Prince the Crown Prince.

　　At that time, the court was completely silent.

　　Emperor Kang Jing had a sullen face and did not speak for a long time. The officials in the hall were sweating coldly, and the situation ended with Emperor Kang Jing reprimanding the official.

　　In the past few days in the Hanlin Academy, Lord Zhao and Lord Tian have returned to their previous state. Apart from the polite greetings of social etiquette, they have kept a distance from Gu Zhao. Gu Zhao noticed it, but did not take it to heart. In his current condition, he should not implicate others.

　　But things took a turn for the better quickly.

　　The eighth prince personally wrote a letter, saying that he was not up to the task, that he had no talent or ability, that he wrote the book that day to pray for his father’s birthday, and did not give any other instructions, and that the book compiled by the two adults of the Hanlin Academy was also the intention of his father, and that the scholars of the world should remember his father’s kindness and repay Dali…

　　Emperor Kang Jing had an indecipherable expression after hearing this. In the end, the Eighth Prince stood up, saying that the relationship between us as father and son could not be disturbed by a traitor. Another imperial edict was passed to the Hanlin Academy, promoting Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin as editors of the sixth rank, and ordering them to continue compiling the book “Three Years and Two Examinations”, which was considered a clear way to compile the book in accordance with the imperial order.

　　Gu Zhao jumped two levels from the seventh rank to the same position as his second brother.

　　The annual salary of silver increased from 43 taels to 58 taels, and the annual salary of rice increased to 29 dan, or 2,900 jin.

　　He jumped two levels in less than a year after entering the Hanlin Academy. This is truly unique.

　　Gu Zhao’s business became hot again, but after experiencing the previous situation where the tea was half cold before the guests left, Gu Zhao maintained polite etiquette in response to the congratulations and flattery of his colleagues and did not really believe those flatteries.

　　Zheng Hui came with gifts to congratulate the two, but Gu Zhao waved his hand and said, “Brother, don’t talk about celebratory wine. My second brother and I are better off drinking some calming wine.”

　　”Yes.” Yan Jinxin nodded.

　　Zheng Hui laughed and patted the two men on the shoulders, “I know, let’s drink a cup whether we are here to calm down or to celebrate.”

　　After they had drunk most of the drink, the three of them started to have a heart-to-heart talk.

　　”To be honest, I used to envy you two. My position sounds high, but officials all know the situation. I might stay there for the rest of my life with no chance of promotion. After seeing your situation a few days ago, I thought that my situation is pretty good too,” said Zheng Hui.

　　Gu Zhao sighed: “Some time ago, I didn’t dare to say anything to Zhou Zhou when I went back. After all, it’s not difficult for me to keep my original intention, but the external environment is stronger than me. It’s really too fucked up.”

　　What could he do at that time? He could do nothing. He was not even qualified to enter the palace to see the emperor.

　　Do you think that revising and integrating books is a bad thing? Is it a mistake?

　　No, it is convenient in every way. He and his second brother spent a lot of time and energy to create it. It is a good thing in itself. It is convenient for those poor scholars, and also for other people to read and watch. Who does it bother?

　　But there are some bastards who took advantage of this opportunity to accuse him. Are they targeting him and his second brother? Of course not. They are just cannon fodder when the cannon hits the enemy, injuring the small shrimps nearby. If they die, they die. It doesn’t matter to them.

　　Gu Zhao drank some wine, and the frustration that had been pent up in his heart for some time turned into curse words.

　　It’s so abominable.

　　It is said that a general’s success is the result of the sacrifice of hundreds of soldiers. If one wants to be an emperor, it is normal for a few people to die. By that time, there will only be a few sentences in the history books, and these cannon fodders will not even have a name. A speck of dust of the times, falling on one person’s head, may very likely be a catastrophe for his family and his second brother’s family.

　　Later Fang Liu came to pick him up. Gu Zhao came home half awake. Li Zhouzhou wrung out a hot towel to wipe his husband’s face. Gu Zhao smiled and said, “It’s okay. I didn’t drink much. I felt refreshed after the wind on the way back.”

　　Li Zhouzhou thought about the past few days when his husband came back and everything was normal, but the official uniform he wore was loose and empty, and his cheeks were thinner. It must be that some embarrassing things happened in the officialdom.

　　Since his husband didn’t say anything, Li Zhouzhou didn’t ask, because he knew that his husband was afraid that he would worry.

　　Gu Zhao wiped his face and inadvertently saw Zhou Zhou’s red eyes filled with worry. After thinking for a while, he realized that now that the situation was stable and over, he pulled Zhou Zhou to sit down and briefly told him what had happened some time ago.

　　”…Don’t be afraid. Everything is fine now. I’ve even been promoted. I can afford our family’s monthly expenses from now on.” He tried to downplay it.

　　But Li Zhouzhou started crying.

　　Gu Zhao: “I shouldn’t have kept it from you. We are husband and wife and you should know that. I was just afraid that you would be as frightened and worried as I was and couldn’t sleep well at night. It’s all right, don’t cry, Zhou Zhou.”

　　Li Zhouzhou wiped his tears and said, “Husband, I just want you to be safe and sound. I will take care of the household expenses, so don’t worry about these things.”

　　”Okay, I’ll listen to Zhou Zhou. I’m Zhou Zhou’s handsome little husband, and I still need Zhou Zhou to support me.” Gu Zhao smiled and became like a clingy wife.

　　Li Zhouzhou knew that his husband was being lazy and sticking to him just to make him happy, so he laughed.

　　Everything is fine.

　　The eighth prince had fallen into such a big setback, and wrote in his own book: I am incompetent and unworthy of great use. However, the emperor did not refute this statement, but only said that the traitor was trying to sow discord between father and son, which meant that he acquiesced to the eighth prince’s self-written statement.

　　The situation in the court where the Eighth Prince originally had the upper hand suddenly became much weaker.

　　The Sixth Prince’s wind was blowing faintly. Nothing else, the Sixth Prince’s elder brother, the Fifth Prince, followed Prince Kang to do things, and they seemed close. On the Wanshou Festival that day, they left together, and the Fifth Prince made his position clear. This was to support Prince Kang, so naturally he would not have a chance to take the throne.

　　As a result, more and more people began to watch the Sixth Prince secretly.

　　Everybody wants to take advantage of the situation. After all, Emperor Kang Jing is sixty-four years old now. If it is too late, the other princes will have their support, the situation will be settled, and it will be too late for these petty officials to take advantage of the situation.

　　Gu Zhao guessed that the Eighth Prince would never let this go, having lost all his face, and would definitely have a trick up his sleeve to bite the Second Prince in revenge. He could guess that the Second Prince would naturally not give the Eighth Prince this opportunity.

　　Now that the second prince has taken a high position, it is natural that he will beat the fallen dog and kill him completely.

　　Gu Zhao didn’t care about all this and tried his best to be a marginal figure. He and his second brother continued to revise and integrate the book and make the second volume of “Three Years and Two Examinations”. However, this time he wanted to flatter the emperor and add some twists. He asked his teacher and his second brother asked Lord Shi. Both teachers looked at it and said it was okay. Only then did they dare to add the poems and essays written by the emperor.

　　Of course the first page should be, and it must be flattering.

　　Let all the scholars in the world read this carefully and remember it well, and must sing praises to His Majesty’s kindness! This book was created because His Majesty is kind and considerate of the people.

　　Gu Zhao was busy with the second volume.

　　In an alley more than ten meters west of a main street where the second and third ring roads in Beijing meet, four shops facing the street were connected, and Li Ji Luzhu opened for business.

　　A string of firecrackers was set off, and they exploded with a loud bang.

　　It means that the business is booming!