Chapter 34 A big tree attracts the wind
Deng Qianqiu understood what this meant. It turned out that he had been promoted to the rank of centurion, but was still a gatekeeper.

However, Deng Qianqiu gradually understood that to be on duty in the imperial city, one needs someone who can be absolutely trusted. This is just like the so-called third-rank sword-bearing guards, fourth-rank and fifth-rank sword-bearing guards in the Qing Dynasty. Outside the palace, they are senior military officers, but inside the palace, they are actually guarding the gate.

Theoretically speaking, these are reserve military officers who will first follow the emperor in the palace for a few years. These young nobles with promising futures will be used to protect the safety of the imperial city, and then they will be sent out when they are ready.

The experience of serving in the palace was an honor for the guards, but for the emperor, those who had followed him became his minions in controlling the world.

Deng Qianqiu smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I know this, I was just asking casually."

The clerk said, "It's good that you know this, Captain Deng. You were specially transferred here, so your assignment has actually been arranged by the Yiluansi. Your temporary duty is just to patrol the Xianliang Temple."

"Ah..." Deng Qianqiu's eyes were about to fall out.

He is now staying at Xianliang Temple temporarily, and is now responsible for guarding the gate of Xianliang Temple. This... this... if you think about it, it seems that Xianliang Temple is really an affiliated building of the imperial city, so...

"Why, what do you think, Captain Deng?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "No, no..."

"So good."

After explaining a bit more, the clerk suddenly asked, "Captain Deng is from Huaixi?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "Yes... yes."

The clerk suddenly became interested: "Where is Huaixi?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "Fengyang."

The clerk's eyes lit up: "Fengyang... well, good, good, good, now that we are at the Yiluansi, let's do a good job."

As he said this, he looked at Deng Qianqiu meaningfully.

Deng Qianqiu certainly knew that as a fellow townsman of the emperor, the people of Huaixi had great influence in the court, and having such a fellow townsman identity was extremely convenient.

He returned to Xianliang Temple and looked at the gate for a while, but found it boring. But when it was time to get off work, someone suddenly rode a horse into Xianliang Temple.

The man was dressed in armor, looked mighty and majestic, and looked proud. Several Yiluansi guards who were on the same shift as Deng Qianqiu hurriedly saluted him.

Deng Qianqiu knew that an important person had come this time, so he hurriedly followed the example of others and saluted.

The man reined in his horse, stopped, and looked around.

Then someone came forward and helped him hold the horse rope, saying, "Marquis Ji'an, you are back early today."

It turned out that this man was one of the twenty-eight marquises who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world. His name was Lu Zhongheng. He had made outstanding contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang in managing Jiangxi and Lingnan. Not only did he serve as the Prime Minister of Jiangxi, but when he returned to Beijing this time, he was granted the title of Marquis of Ji'an. As he had no place to live in the capital, he lived in this Xianliang Temple.

Lu Zhongheng's face did not have the murderous aura of a warrior, but he was smiling. He ignored the flattery of other guards and said, "I heard that the Yiluansi has a new centurion from Fengyang named Deng Qianqiu, right?"

So everyone looked at Deng Qianqiu.

Deng Qianqiu had no choice but to step forward and say, "I am Deng Qianqiu."

Lu Zhongheng got off his horse and said affectionately: "I am also from Fengyang. We may have been one family five hundred years ago. Haha, we are brothers, so there is no need to perform any formalities. We are one family, one family..."

The other guards have already cast envious glances at him.

But Deng Qianqiu was not happy at all. It was true that he was from Fengyang, but the problem was that he had some impression of Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an, who was very close to Hu Weiyong.

In other words, the reason why Hu Weiyong was so powerful in history was not just because he became the prime minister, but because he and many of the civil and military officials of Huaixi were almost all close friends.

No matter whether they were civil or military officials in the court, as long as they were from Huaixi, they would be taken care of and won over. They all followed Hu Weiyong to get promoted and make money. Even if they made any mistakes, Hu Weiyong would do his best to cover them up.

And now, this marquis named Lu Zhongheng is actually one of Hu Weiyong's minions.

Deng Qianqiu never expected that he, a centurion of the Yiluansi, would become their target. This shows that although Hu Weiyong's party has not yet become powerful, their factionalism is very serious.

Deng Qianqiu didn't want to deal with these people, but they always found opportunities to get close to him. If he offended them to death, with their power, even if King Jin would take care of him, it would be easy for them to deal with him even if they wanted to, even if they wanted to, it would be easy for them to deal with him.

Deng Qianqiu then smiled and said, "So it's the famous Marquis of Ji'an. I've heard of your name for a long time."

Lu Zhongheng held Deng Qianqiu's hand affectionately, saying, "I told you not to be so distant. We drink from the same river, so we are a family. I am a few years older than you, but a hero is not judged by age. We cannot judge by age based on worldly standards. How about this, if you don't mind, we can just call each other brothers from now on, how about that?"

The guards on the side were stunned. They didn't expect that this marquis was so humble. Captain Deng was really lucky. He had just arrived at the Yiluansi and found a big tree to provide shade.

Deng Qianqiu thought to himself, I was just conferred the title of centurion by the emperor, and now I am temporarily living in Xianliang Temple. I am afraid that you have already figured out my ways.

You should know that all imperial edicts need to go through the Secretariat, and Hu Weiyong now holds an important position in the Secretariat. I am afraid that people like Hu Weiyong and Lu Zhongheng also know that their appointment is very unusual.

Since you want to be brothers, then...

Deng Qianqiu simply said, "Okay, Brother Lu."

Lu Zhongheng was originally smiling like a spring breeze, but when he heard the word "brother", his smile began to stiffen.

Deng Qianqiu said: "Brother, you don't judge by age based on worldly standards, which makes me very grateful. In this world, I have only depended on my father, and I have never had a younger brother. Now that I have a brother like Brother Lu, I will die without regrets."

The guards stood in awe, with countless "f*cks" in their hearts.

Lawrence Lu: “…”

“Brother Lu, please say something.” Lawrence Lu looked around, forced a smile, made a sinister sound, and looked Deng Qianqiu up and down, and said, “You still have a father?”

Deng Qianqiu said, "Brother Lu, you don't have to be polite. We have such a close relationship. My father is your father. I think we don't need to be so distant from each other in the future. You should call me dad."

"Our father..." Lawrence Lu said the two words casually, and suddenly felt unlucky, and immediately asked: "Where is your father on business?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "I'm idle at home and reading."

"Oh." Lu Zhongheng already felt bored, he responded with a humph and thought to himself... I don't know what kind of shit I stepped on today that made me meet such a fool. It's unlucky, really unlucky.

As he said this, he continued to get back on his horse, saying, "Do your duty well and don't let the Holy Lord down."

When Deng Qianqiu saw him like this, he grabbed the reins and said that he couldn't offend him, as he was a real marquis.

So Deng Qianqiu said, "Brother Lu, why are you leaving so quickly? It's just right, I'm almost done with my shift, how about this, I'll buy you a drink."

Lu Zhongheng's old face trembled, as if he wanted to explode, but he felt that it was inappropriate to explode at a young fool. What's more, the Secretariat had told him that recently a young man from Fengyang was suddenly appointed as a centurion of the Yiluansi. The Yiluansi was the eyes and ears of the palace, and although it was only a centurion, it should not be underestimated. Moreover, this appointment was really strange.

So Lawrence Lu suppressed his anger and said, “I have something else to do, and I have to visit a friend later.”

Deng Qianqiu's eyes lit up: "Ah... since you are my friend as well as my friend, I can go with you."

Lawrence Lu said, “You don’t recognize him.”

Deng Qianqiu said, "I'll recognize it when I get there. Brother Lu, please take me to see the world."

Lu Zhongheng hesitated. The row of guards standing beside him made him feel a little angry. But when he saw Deng Qianqiu's attentiveness, he thought about it carefully. It seemed that he had provoked this fool first. If he turned against him, it would be unreasonable. He immediately said, "Next time, next time for sure."

Deng Qianqiu looked unhappy: "Then Brother Lu, you must swear that you will take me with you next time."

Lu Zhongheng was furious, with murderous intent in his eyes. He patted his horse and rode away without paying any attention to Deng Qianqiu.

Deng Qianqiu touched his nose and thought to himself, why are you so stingy?

When he turned around, he saw the other gatekeepers looking at him with incredible eyes.

Deng Qianqiu smiled at them.

They laughed too.

Deng Qianqiu was just about to speak.

A guard said, "It's time to leave, it's time to leave. Why hasn't the replacement arrived yet?"

"Yeah yeah."

Deng Qianqiu's actions seemed to have alienated everyone.

But this is also good.

Deng Qianqiu looked indifferent, patrolled in the corner alone, and couldn't help whistling.

…………

Zhu Yuanzhang has been extremely worried these days. The matter of Empress Ma has made him extremely anxious, not to mention that the pile of memorials has been increasing.

He required the Secretariat to send all memorials to the palace for his review. So he had to look after Empress Ma from time to time during the day, and at night he had to review memorials until midnight.

At this moment, the Wenhua Hall was eerily quiet.

Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang felt sore in his back and couldn't help rubbing his waist.

Seeing this, the eunuchs beside him hurried forward to serve him, but Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and asked, "What time is it now?"

The eunuch said, "Your Majesty, it is already three quarters past midnight."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked out the window and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late..."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "It's not too early, but with so many things to do, can I wait until tomorrow?"

As he spoke, he seemed to be muttering to himself: "I summoned the Marquis of Ji'an to see me today. I heard what he said about the situation in Jiangxi. There are some things that make me worry."

When the eunuch heard the three words "Marquis of Ji'an", a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

However, the smile was fleeting and was caught by Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes.

Zhu Yuanzhang shouted: "What are you laughing at?"

"This slave... this slave deserves death."

Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly: "Speak!"

"I deserve to die. I heard Your Majesty talking about Marquis Ji'an, which reminded me of some things I heard yesterday. I deserve to die..."

(End of this chapter)