NOVEL WEB Chapter 220 - Scrabble
“What are you writing?” As soon as Lu Zheng entered the bedroom, he saw Zuo Shaoqing lying on the table, writing with his butt high.
“Eh, you're back?” Zuo Shaoqing walked over as he threw away the pen and ink. He reached out his hand naturally to help Lu Zheng take off his coat. He felt that he was becoming more and more like a daughter-in-law.
Lu Zheng casually wrapped his arm around Ye Zichen's waist, then lowered his head to kiss Ye Zichen's cheek.
Zuo Shaoqing turned his head, and touched his chin in disdain, “How long have you not shaved?”
Lu Zheng intentionally used his stubble to stab him. He hugged the person who was dodging randomly and said in a deep voice, “You didn't even say a word to me for a few days.”
“Huh?” Zuo Shaoqing smiled embarrassedly. These few days, he had left early and come home late. Sometimes, he would just sleep in the study room when he came home late. It really was a few days since he had a good talk with Lu Zheng.
He stood on his tiptoes and raised his head to kiss Lu Zheng's chin. Speaking of which, he was quite tall and had already reached Lu Zheng's chin. He believed that he would be able to reduce the distance between him and Lu Zheng in a few years.
“It'll be better when I'm done with this. You don't want me to have no achievements in the position of Prefect, do you?” Zuo Shaoqing kissed him on the lips again and said in a fawning tone: “You don't know, in the past half month, the yamen caught quite a few suspicious people, a few of them could be confirmed to be spies.”
Looking at Zuo Shaoqing's “please praise” expression, Liu Tie really wanted to let the yamen people take a look. How could he not have the slightest bit of dignity as Prefect?
Holding Zuo Shaoqing's nose, Lu Zheng carried him onto a chair and then set his gaze on the table. It turned out to be a painting.
Zuo Shaoqing cried out “Aiya!” and covered up the painting in a flurry. With a little red spot on his ear, he stuttered as he explained: “I was in a great mood today, so I wanted to practice my brush.”
Lu Zheng's lips curved up in a pretty smile as he snatched the Xuan paper from his hands. After looking at it carefully, he pointed out a few major problems, “Your eyebrows are too high …” Low eye color… Your lips are a little thick… “Why, am I such a gentle and elegant person in the eyes of the great official?”
Zuo Shaoqing's portrait was based on Lu Zheng, but it also added his own imagination, transforming the brave and determined man into an elegant young master. If there wasn't a real person comparing the two, there really wouldn't be any feeling of disharmony.
“Or do you mean … “Qingqing, do you find this official too vulgar? Do you like this type of cultured person more?”
“Of course not!” Zuo Shaoqing denied it, “I just want to see what your other face looks like. You're overthinking it.” How could he possibly like cultured people more? He had seen too many hypocrites full of righteousness and morality, how could he compare to his family's Lu Zheng? He just wanted to see how the different types of Lu Zheng looked like.
“And the result?” Do you want to see me like this? ” Lu Zheng lowered his head to smell the faint scent of the ink on his body and slowly moved his hand under his waist.
Zuo Shaoqing raised his head and looked at him, then looked at the portrait in his hand and shook his head with certainty, “This is still for the best!” Although he liked Lu Zheng no matter what, but the painting always felt that it wasn't Lu Zheng.
Seeing Lu Zheng's complexion turn from gloomy to clear, Zuo Shaoqing also beamed. He moved away Lu Zheng's small hands and got up to leave his embrace. “Let's eat first. This little thing should be starving.”
Zuo Xiaolang had been playing crazily in the yamen for the whole day. He had just been taken by Luo Xiaoliu to take a bath.
“What did you learn today?” Lu Zheng's voice was slightly cold, making Zuo Xiaolang unconsciously straighten his back.
He raised his spirits and turned around to look at Zuo Shaoqing under Lu Zheng's gaze. There was a pleading look in his eyes like a small animal.
The person he was most afraid of was still Lu Zheng. Although their relationship was much better than before, as long as Lu Zheng spoke, Zuo Xiaolang would not dare to refute.
Every single day, he would train by Lu Zheng's side, and even if it was horse stance, he would still obediently fulfill the requirements, but prefectural attendent was different. Under the eyes of a group of adults, he played with things that children his age could do.
Zuo Shaoqing only asked him to learn three big words every day. He knew how to write and read, so Zuo Xiaolang replied very quietly, “I learned to write my father's name.”
“That's it?”
Zuo Xiaolang lowered his head without saying a word. In the end, it was Zuo Shaoqing who started laughing, “I originally planned to wait until he was five years old before making him seriously enter the school. Now, it's just learning and playing.”
“A loving mother has many failed children!”
Zuo Shaoqing's mouth twitched, he wanted to retort that he wasn't his mother, but his father!
“He's only three years old. He's still young.” Zuo Shaoqing tried to defend himself.
“When I was three years old, I could already recite the Three Character Classic. With a thousand characters, I started learning four books.”
Zuo Shaoqing looked at him in surprise. Although he knew that Lu Zheng had never had fun since he was young, but to be so strong at the age of three, the suffering must have been inhumane.
He gave Lu Zheng some food and said with pity in his eyes, “Eat more, eat more to make up for it! However, as someone who has gone through many things, how can you let Zuo Xiaolang suffer the hardships that you've suffered through? “
Lu Zheng pursed his lips. He really wanted to say that all the successors of Duke Zhen's residence came here like this. Otherwise, if he went to the battlefield at his age, how would he even know how he died?
“You don't want him to be useless in the future right? How can you not work hard when you were young?”
“That might not be the case. This is not like growing grain. No matter how many seeds you plant, they will grow seedlings for you. If there is too much rain, you might be able to grow some grass.”
Lu Zheng couldn't help but hit him with the tip of his chopsticks, “Brute force your way through!”
Zuo Shaoqing stuck his tongue out at his son and blinked, “Son, did you hear what your father said? “For the sake of your future, we have to be strict with you!” As for how strict the rules were, it was up to him to decide!
Zuo Xiaolang didn't quite understand, but he knew that his two fathers were having an argument about him, so he picked up his chopsticks and picked up a chicken leg for each of them. He raised his face and said, “Daddy, Daddy, Xiaolang will listen to you!”
Zuo Shaoqing's heart softened. He rubbed his head and said, “Xiaolang is the most obedient!”
Lu Zheng snorted lightly, but also gave Zuo Xiaolang a piece of roasted meat, “Eat!”
After the meal, Zuo Xiaolang went to practice his calligraphy very consciously. Coincidentally, Wang Zhenhai came to his door, so Zuo Shaoqing refused his visit for this reason.
Wang Zhenhai stood helpless in the hall, Zuo Shaoqing at the head of the table, while Lu Zheng and his staff sat in the study.
“Actually, this commoner has another matter to attend to today.”
“Oh? Tell me about it! ” Zuo Shaoqing gestured, “Sit down and talk!”
Wang Zhenhai got hit half the butt on the chair he was using and said nervously: “Sir, is what the government released today true?”
Zuo Shaoqing answered with a straight face, “Of course. When did the government ever lie to the people?”
Zuo Shaoqing had probably been together with Lu Zheng for a long time, but he had gradually been tainted by Lu Zheng's dignity, which made it easy for people to ignore his age and appearance.
“That's not what this commoner meant, it's just that … I wonder what kind of requirements Master has for the coastal merchant s? “
Zuo Shaoqing calmly drank his tea and bluntly pointed out: “Boss Wang asked you to come and ask, right?”
Back when the harbor was fortified, the first fleet caught by the officials was the Wang Family. Coincidentally, there were not only a large amount of iron ore on those ships, there were also dozens of enchanting looking women.
In the past six months, rich families had gradually bewitched dancer who came from overseas. Her luxurious clothing, her half-exposed breasts, and her slender waist were enough to make men lose their minds.
There was nothing wrong with the men who had taken in dancer. It was said that dancer's methods in bed were really amazing, causing men to be unable to stop themselves!
Therefore, quite a few coastal merchant s started this business. They bought young women from overseas to train for a bit, so no matter if they were selling or giving them away, it was guaranteed that they would not lose anything.
And of the people bought by Wang Family, a few of them were actually spies sent by some island state after investigation. Thus, Zuo Shaoqing heartlessly ordered people to apprehend Manager Wang.
After that, he gave Boss Wang a penalty of three years of imprisonment, and the Wang Family naturally fell into Wang Xu's hands.
Wang Zhenhai knew his place and nodded honestly.
“Go back and tell Manager Wang, this matter needs to be handled impartially. Of course, if Wang Family is stronger than other coastal merchant and can agree to the distribution of the official's interests, then this authority will only belong to Wang Family.”
After Zuo Shaoqing said this, he got someone to send him off. As long as Wang Xu was a smart person, he would definitely understand what he meant.
Ye Zichen hummed a tune and walked towards the study, but before he even entered the door, he heard that it was extremely noisy inside.
He knocked on the door, and only when he heard Lu Zheng's response did he open the door and enter. When he took a look, he immediately smiled.
The study room was filled with smoke, but Liang Qi and Soong Hanlin didn't know how to react. Zhou Tie was standing in front of the huge chart, staring at it with rapt attention. From time to time, he would talk with his subordinates, while Zuo Xiaolang sat in front of his small desk and focused on practicing calligraphy.
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