Xiao Qi was one of the few outstanding children among the group of orphans that Xiao Han initially accepted.
Calm, restrained, hard-working, yet flexible.
Although he is not as smart as Xiao Shiyi and his perseverance is not as good as Xiao Da, Xiao Han has always felt that if they were put on the same starting line, Xiao Qi's achievements would definitely not be lower than theirs.
"You have been here for a few years, have you ever thought about going back?" Shaking his head and getting rid of the miserable appearance of future pneumoconiosis patients from his mind, Xiao Han sat back in his seat, rubbed his temples and asked Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi was silent for a moment, then raised her head and said seriously: "I have thought about it!"
"Oh? Is it not good here?" Xiao Han was a little surprised, looked at Xiao Qi and asked, "Or have you suffered any grievances here?"
"It's very good here!" Xiao Qi shook her head and said, "I haven't suffered any grievances! But I always feel that I can't help you, Lord Marquis, here."
Xiao Han smiled: "Haha, you are looking at such a big workshop here, aren't you just helping me?"
"This is different." Xiao Qi looked at Xiao Han, suddenly gritted her teeth, and knelt on the ground with a plop: "Master Hou! What I want to do is not just to be a craftsman, but to join the court! Good help. You deal with those people in the court together!"
"You want to become an official in the court?" Xiao Han frowned when he saw Xiao Qi's actions, and asked softly: "When did you have this idea?"
Xiao Qi put her head on the ground and said in a low voice: "When you return to Chang'an, Lord Marquis, you will be ostracized by those bastards in the court!"
"You mean, Hou Jun gathered them?" Xiao Han was a little confused.
He was not curious about how Xiao Qi could learn about what happened in Chang'an. If he couldn't even do this little thing, it would really be a disgrace to him.
"Haha, Hou Junji has become a commoner now, and those bastards didn't end up with a good end." Xiao Han smiled, stepped forward, pulled Xiao Qi up from the ground, and patted the dust on his clothes. Said: "These are all small things, don't worry about me!"
"Little things?" Xiao Qi stared at Xiao Han and said urgently: "Master Hou! Can't you see that there are fewer and fewer people in the court who are willing to speak for you! His Majesty's trust in you is also Declining?"
When Xiao Han heard this, his movements stagnated, he shook his head and said, "You think too much."
"Am I overthinking?" Xiao Qi looked at Xiao Han blankly: "If I was overthinking, this battle to destroy the Turks! Why didn't you get a reward, Lord Marquis?! For the contribution of destroying the country! Even if you were made a Duke, you wouldn't be rewarded! That's too much! But what about you? Not only did you not get the reward, but even our new Fire Guard was snatched away! What does this mean?"
"Shut up!" When Xiao Han heard this, his expression suddenly changed. He stared at Xiao Qi and said word by word: "Remember! The new Fire Guard is not from our family! Never has been!"
Xiao Qi was startled by Xiao Han's sudden anger, but after she reacted, she still said bravely: "Master Marquis, your Majesty is no longer the one who got drunk with you in our house! The court is no longer the clean court that only serves the public! You can't live without help."
"I want you to help me? How? Do you want me to recommend you to be an official in the court first?" Xiao Han slowly straightened up, without any emotion in his tone.
"You don't need to be recommended by the Marquis!" Xiao Qi lowered her head and gritted her teeth: "If you recommend it, Lord Marquis, maybe I will be promoted more smoothly, but I will never be able to hold an important position in the future! If I want to help you, I can only There is a way to take the imperial examination!"
"Imperial examination? Have you met Xiao Shisan?" Xiao Han didn't seem surprised by the answer, his eyes were a little cold.
"Yes!" Xiao Qi nodded: "Thirteenth brother told me that those who take the imperial examination for the first time will definitely be particularly favored by His Majesty!"
Xiao Han hummed noncommittally: "So you want to take this opportunity to become an official?"
"Yes!" Xiao Qi reluctantly nodded, but the sweat on his back had already soaked his clothes.
Xiao Han said again: "Then do you think that even if you are not recommended by me, His Majesty will not know about the relationship between you and me?"
Xiao Qi pursed her lips tightly: "Your Majesty will know! But Your Majesty won't care!"
Xiao Han squinted and looked at Xiao Qi, a pair of eyes that seemed to see through all his thoughts. After a while, he slightly uttered two words: "Okay! I will arrange for someone else to take over your current affairs as soon as possible!"
After that, Xiao Han didn't wait for Xiao Qi to say anything else, stood up and walked away.
When Xiaodong and Lengzi in the room saw this, they looked at each other, and finally looked at Xiao Qi, who looked lonely, sighed heavily, and followed behind.
"Master Hou! I, I really want to help you!"
Behind him, there was a sad cry. Xiao Han paused when he heard the sound, but he did not stop after all. Instead, he continued to get on his horse, flicked his whip, and galloped towards Hanzhong City.
"Master Hou, I don't think Xiao Qi has any bad intentions. He really wants to help you!"
On the way back, Xiaodong glanced at Xiao Han's gloomy face, and cautiously caught up and said.
Xiao Han closed his eyes, then opened them again, and said softly: "I know!"
"Then why are you still so angry with him?" Xiaodong was a little surprised. He didn't understand why Xiao Han would be so angry if he knew about it.
Xiao Han took a deep breath and exhaled slowly: "I'm angry not because he did something wrong, but because he didn't ask me first when he did it."
The fool was also puzzled, so he followed up and said in a sullen voice: "But is he doing all this for you, Lord Marquis?"
"That's why I'm so angry!" Xiao Han clenched his fists and said coldly: "He said he took part in the imperial examination because of me! But he knew how much importance your majesty paid to this imperial examination? Those aristocratic families, How many methods were used in it? Also, for this imperial examination, I have arranged some things a few years ago! His intervention is likely to mess up many of them! By then, who can control the consequences of this? You can carry it!"
"Huh?" Lengzi and Xiaodong were both a little stupid when they heard this. They just complained about Xiao Qi in their hearts. They never thought that a seemingly simple imperial examination would have so many twists and turns. Go around.
"Then I'll tell him right now! Tell him not to take the imperial examination." After a long time, Xiaodong finally came to his senses, reined in the horse, and rushed back.
"Come back!" Xiao Leng shouted at him with a sullen face: "He is currently focused on being an official in the court. If you don't let him take the exam, what will he think about it?"
"Then, what should we do? It's not good to take the exam, or not to take the exam?" Xiaodong was anxious. This kind of thing was beyond his scope of cognition.
"Let him go!" Xiao Han sighed and said to the second general Heng Ha next to him: "But you two remember from now on, if someone says that I am doing it for your own good, don't worry about anything else, just go up and break one of his legs. Say it again!”
