On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Chen Xi went to Huiniang to take a break.

Because of the long stay in the night, even Hui Niang, who is so peaceful with the world, has some complaints.

However, Chen Xi did not explain too much to Hui Niang, so she simply took a shower after using supper.

Inside the bathtub, Chenxi enjoyed the comfort brought by hot water, and the cold wind outside the window was still biting.

The room was very quiet, and the candlelight became a little more spiritual when it was beating. The door of the house suddenly opened from the outside with a "creak" sound, and then a burst of breathing came, but someone walked in with a bucket of hot water.

The door closed again, and the footsteps were heavy. The man came to the bathtub with hot water and put it down, then sat on the small stool.

Chen Xi could basically judge that the person coming was not Li Jin or Hui Niang, because the footsteps were too messy and the breathing was not natural, and the nervous breath came to his face.

"master."

Chen Xi leaned against the wall of the bathtub and did not look tilted. Instead, the person who came called out softly, letting Chen Xi know her identity.

Dongxi!

In this small courtyard, Dongxi is a very special existence. Although she was brought by Chen Xi, she was just a maid and had no connection with Chen Xi. She had to be blessed by her so that she could gain a foothold in the small courtyard. However, it was obvious that Hui Niang and Li Jin would not have much compassion for a girl of unknown origin. She was a pitiful person herself, and Hui Niang and Li Jin had no intention of sympathizing with others.

In this way, Dongxi's identity positioning in this family is very embarrassing, but she is smart and knows how to get to power. She either flatters the young master who is facing each other every day or moves closer to the master.

In this world, women must have a foothold and can only rely on men to protect them.

Chen Xi did not look back at Dongxi, and said in a leisurely tone: "Why are you?"

Dongxi did not answer and began to add water to the bathtub with a wooden scoop. She was not very strong and could not pour the hot water from the bucket into the bathtub at one time. Moreover, doing so would cause the water temperature in the bathtub to change drastically, and it would probably burn the male owner Chen Xi, so she seemed cautious.

Because she was in a claustrophobic environment, even though Dong Xi had known about men and women in the Jiaofangsi, she was still ashamed at this moment. It had nothing to do with her mind. She was just a 14 or 15-year-old girl.

"Didn't you hear me ask?"

Chen Xi asked in a indifferent tone again.

At this point, Chen Xi still didn't look at Dongxi, but Chen Xi could feel that Dongxi's breath became even more messy. When he couldn't help looking over, he found that Dongxi's heavy winter clothes had been untied before entering the house, and came in with only a small shirt. Everything she did was done in a nearly "candid and honest" way, but it was cold, and even if there was a brazier in the room, it was still trembling with coldness.

Seeing Chen Xi's eyes falling on her, Dongxi felt even more ashamed, but she insisted on adding water to the bathtub, her voice trembling:

"Grandma and second grandma are accompanying the young master, and they ask me to come here to serve the master..."

Chen Xi saw a person's shadow from Dongxi... Ning'er, the maid who had the heart to find a stable life since childhood and finally realized her dream.

Chen Xi could understand that he was born at the bottom and had the idea of ​​living a good life. He did not hesitate to do some unconventional things for this. Just like his tolerance to Ning'er at the time, he did not think that Dongxi's heart was dirty. There were no shortage of women who sought superiors in any era, especially in this feudal era where women had extremely low status.

Chen Xi did not continue to look at Dongxi because Dongxi was indeed too ordinary for Chen Xi. Although there were not many women around Chen Xi, the only few were much more beautiful than Dongxi, which made Chen Xi feel nostalgic.

I won’t talk about the beauty of my beauty for now, but I want to use some unconventional means to get ahead, and it’s a real scheming. Even if Chen Xi can understand such a woman, she won’t easily touch her.

Chen Xi waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't add too much water. Go back and tell the two grandmas that they will come here to serve them in person and don't ask the maid to fool them."

"Master..." Dong Xi was somewhat frustrated when he heard this. After all, she was a girl with little knowledge of the world. No matter whether she did it right or wrong, she had dignity and knew how to be ashamed.

Chen Xi closed his eyes and enjoyed the leisure of this moment, but said cruel words: "What is your duty? You should be clear. Take good care of the young master and marry a good family in the future..."

...

...

Dongxi left, cried and slammed the door, and even picked up the clothes on the ground outside the door.

When Chen Xi heard the "bang" sound of the door closing, he felt a little reluctant.

He secretly sighed: "I just said a few words, but closed the door for a innocent young woman... She lost the opportunity to change her destiny. Is this too cruel for her?"

Soon, Hui Niang came over and personally served Chenxi bathing.

Hui Niang was silent at first, like a maid, but she knew how to be considerate. Even if Chen Xi didn't look at him side, she felt Hui Niang's understanding.

After a while, Chen Xi finally couldn't help looking over. At this time, Hui Niang had already picked up the dry cloth, wiped Chen Xi's hair, and said, "That's the master. Even though he knew that Dongxi was just a little girl, he actually hurt her so much. How could she gain a foothold in the mansion in the future? These girls have very little face. If they can't think about it, wouldn't the master feel guilty for the rest of his life?"

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Whoever should have any thoughts? How can you be lucky? Or you blame me? I have told you how many times, Sui'an and Dongxi have their own lives, why do you have to forcefully intervene in the change?"

Hui Niang had a little resentment on her face, "Didn't this think that the master was upset about the court affairs and wanted to arrange for him to relieve his fatigue?"

Chen Xidao: "To relieve fatigue, you and Jin'er have to rely on you. If you find a girl, you will seem insincere."

Speaking of this, the two suddenly fell into silence again.

Hui Niang wiped Chen Xi's hair, then changed to a dry cloth, and tied up Chen Xi's hair. At this time, Chen Xi suddenly felt that this long hair was too hindering and really wanted to cut it off.

However, this era emphasizes "the body, hair, skin, and parents, and they dare not harm it. It is the beginning of filial piety." Therefore, even if it is inconvenient, Chen Xi will not make any changes easily.

Hui Niang helped Chen Xi wipe her face again and said, "Men are the same. They always like new people. No matter how good the old people are, it is still a thing of the past... It is better to let the old people stay at the green lamp for the rest of their lives."

There was a deep resentment in this sentence. Even if Chen Xi didn't ask, he understood why Hui Niang had such a great resentment.

Chen Xi asked, "What have you heard?"

"Someone gave the master a woman."

Hui Niang said, "This matter is not a secret. I heard that it was sent from Fanbian. I believe that those women are good at piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing and dancing. Maybe the master will be even more relieved after he is here!"

"hehe!"

Chen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I didn't expect you to eat this kind of dry jealousy?"

Hui Niang sighed: "As the master, not to mention a few singing and dancing concubines, no matter how many women there are, I will not complain. But in the end, this yard will leave some things worth looking forward to for the master. If only two old people stay here forever, then the master will gradually get tired of it from now on."

Just as Hui Niang was talking, Chen Xi suddenly grabbed her hand holding the dry cloth and stood up directly.

"ah?"

Hui Niang was caught off guard and was very surprised, but after all, she was an old couple with Chen Xi. After a brief loss of consciousness, she recovered.

And in the next step, she also understood what she should do, which was like a conventional rule and did not need Chen Xi to remind him of anything.

Chen Xi enjoyed the rare tenderness and smiled and said, "What's wrong with the old people? I know how to feel sorry for people. I don't care about myself like those girls. I basically take care of myself first, so this person can only communicate with the old people in the heart. As for the new people... it's just an impulse at most."

While speaking, Chen Xi put on the white single dress he had prepared long ago and looked at Hui Niang with his head down.

Hui Niang carefully helped Chen Xi wipe her body, and looked up at Chen Xi from time to time, her eyes full of resentment, but her jealousy seemed to be much less.

"Wow!"

The sound of water came, and Chen Xi walked out of the bathtub. He wanted to pick Hui Niang up by the waist, but was gently pushed away.

Hui Niang stood up and nodded slightly: "Master, I am not in good health. Today I will let Jin'er serve the master... It is great to be able to stay by my side."

Chen Xi looked at Hui Niang's slightly cleared face and smiled and said, "That's really a coincidence... Hi, I blame me for not counting the good life!"

"Maybe my body is too pretentious."

Hui Niang said, "It should be a great pain for the master to come here. She didn't come here just now, but I asked her to go to take a shower first, and then she would come into the room to serve."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "So she needs some time to prepare. Let's go into the room first. I want to talk to you."

Hui Niang said, "Master, please wait for me to clean up the place..."

Chen Xi shook his head: "Leave these to the girl, this is their responsibility, and your responsibility is to take good care of the master and I... Let's go."

"Um."

Hui Niang nodded slightly and prepared to help Chen Xi wear clothes.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "It's just a few steps away, why should I be so troublesome? Even if it's snowy outside, it's still warm enough if the fire is in the room... The New Year is coming in the blink of an eye. Others' plans for the year lie in spring, and my happiness this year is all in this winter."

...

...

The capital looks peaceful.

The emperor lived a life of "unstrife with the world" in the leopard room. The officials in the court performed their duties. Even Zhang Yuan, who was stared at, stopped doing things according to the rules. No one seemed to be willing to break this tranquility.

Xie relocated to the court, and the court affairs were on the right track. Even the Ministry of Personnel had a new candidate for Right Attendant, but it was Wang Chang, the original Right Attendant of the Ministry of War.

Although the position of Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War was vacant, Zhu Houzhao never asked Xie Qian about filling the issue, and Xie Qian didn't want to pay attention to this issue.

According to Xie Qian's idea, Chen Xi was the Minister of War. As for the Ministry of Personnel, it should be controlled by the old ministers in the court. As for who it was, even Xie Qian himself did not think about it.

Although there are many people to choose from, I don’t know who is more “respected” than Chen Xi for a while. Xie Qian thought about it. When Liu Jin was in power, those old guys were either defeated or turned against each other and joined the eunuch party. Even ministers like Chen Xi who rose to prominence in the late Hongzhi period have become old qualifications in the court today.

During the end of the year, what Xie Qian was most concerned about was who to replace Chen Xi as the Minister of Personnel, or who to serve as the Minister of War. In any case, Chen Xi wanted to resign from one of the positions. Chen Xi's active avoidance also made Xie Qian feel that this junior had chosen to admit defeat.

But no matter how Xie Qian decides, it will not affect the development of things. The emperor will not agree with his approach. The support Shen Xi has received in the court is unimaginable to Xie Qian.

However, at this time, Zhu Houzhao's attention was not on this matter.

Qian Ning investigated the case for more than a month, and the scope of involvement was very large. Qian Ning spent countless manpower and material resources to earn performance. However, because Qian Ning investigated the case with the Jinyiwei system, not many people in the court learned the inside story, and even Zhang Yong, the admiral of the East Factory, was not very clear.

Qian Ning was directly responsible to the emperor, but Xiao Guozi didn't know about this, but Zhang Yuan knew a lot.

Zhu Houzhao was indifferent to Qian Ning's whereabouts before, which was related to his unpopularity commander of the Jinyiwei. Just when Zhu Houzhao almost forgot that there was such a person, Qian Ning returned to the capital and appeared in the leopard room.

Qian Ning was witnessed by Emperor Zhengde, and only Zhang Yuan was listened to.

As for what Zhu Houzhao said to Qian Ning, outsiders don’t know yet. Even Jiang Bin, who has always been favored, is very curious. The person who cares most about this matter is Xiao Tiaozi. When he finds that something is wrong, he will immediately see Lifei and inform him of the matter. This is why Xiao Tiaozi wants to prepare in advance.

"... Qian Ning went to investigate the case of rebellion? Who was rebelling? Xiao Tiaozi, you haven't found out yet?" Concubine Li frowned.

There are some things that Li Fei can't guess because Qian Ning's behavior was too suspicious. When he left the capital, he was confused and came back very suddenly. Only Zhang Yuan accompanied him to meet the saint, which was equivalent to bypassing the little twister, which made him feel a great crisis.

Xiao Zhuozi said helplessly: "Your Majesty has never mentioned it... Logically speaking, such a big case should not be concealed until now, but Your Majesty doesn't care at all."
To be continued...