Prologue

A round of morning sun rises in the east, the new snow in the capital begins to melt, and a thin layer of frost forms on the edge of the tiles, reflecting the golden morning light.

People come and go in the market, carriages come and go, and the morning bell rings forty-nine times, waking up the whole city. It is really a scene of prosperity and prosperity, and a splendid landscape.

You Miao finally got up early for the first time in three months. He was ready to change his mind today and go to school seriously.

After breakfast, he looked impatient and sat in the carriage, swaying to the Imperial College. However, when passing Zhuque Bridge, he suddenly lost interest, so he told the driver to stop. He didn't want to go to school today, so he went to play with his friends.

When the carriage arrived at Changlong West Lane, You Miao crossed his legs and saw that the main gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion was not open and no one was there. If he knocked rashly, it would be bad if he ran into the Prime Minister going out, so he turned the carriage and went to the back door to find Li Yan.

Only extremely close friends could go through the back door of Li Yan's house. The servants of the Prime Minister's Mansion knew You Miao and nodded and bowed to invite him in. There were not many people in the backyard. After You Miao came in, he went to the east wing. When passing by the stable, there was suddenly a terrible roar, and a shabby monster jumped out of the woodshed and fell in front of him.

You Miao was walking, and was suddenly frightened by this. He fell to the ground, and the servant who followed him was also frightened. He rolled up his sleeves and yelled.

"What are you doing!"

"Watch out for our young master! If he gets scared, I'll peel off your skin!"

"It's a rebellion! Are you trying to kill us?!!"

The servants in the Prime Minister's Mansion were also frightened, and they all came with whips.

You Miao calmed down and seemed to see a pile of tattered clothes.

At first, he thought it was something raised by his friend. When he saw a group of servants surrounding the dirty guy and whipping him with a whip and beating him with a stick, he saw that it was a person, a man. The whip was whipped down, and the man's skin and flesh were immediately torn apart, and blood spurted all over the floor.

The man had disheveled hair and looked like a madman. He was dirty all over, his hands were tied, and he was beaten and screamed in the corner. He glanced at You Miao inadvertently, and their eyes met. The man's eyes were very clear, but with a bloodthirsty look like a beast.

It was the first time that You Miao saw this scene. A dozen servants beat a half-dead man, and the wooden sticks broke. You Miao hurriedly said, "Stop, stop, what's going on?"

The servant shouted, "Master told you to stop!" The servants stopped. The man was beaten to death, and was held up by ten wooden sticks and thrown into the woodshed again. There was a muffled sound of his body falling to the ground.

The second housekeeper of the East Courtyard of the mansion came hurriedly, put a new lock on the firewood room, and cursed:

"Forgetful bastard! Fortunately, you didn't touch Master You!"

You Miao didn't know what this man had done, and it was inconvenient to ask more, so he went to the East Wing again. At that time, Li Yan had just woken up and was eating breakfast in the mansion with a bored look on his face. A row of maids stood beside him.

When they saw You Miao coming, they gave up their chopsticks to signal him to eat. You Miao sat down and drank a sip of tea. The two of them ate and talked about where to go and who to play with today.

Who is this Li Yan? It turned out that he was a good friend of You Miao in the Imperial College, the young master of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The emperor of the time was lazy and fond of poetry, flowers, birds, insects and fish, so the officials in the court followed suit, and they were all lazier than each other. The prime minister did not attend the morning court, and the prime minister's son did not study. He kept hawks and fought dogs at home all day, calling friends and making friends. Two years ago, You Miao entered the Imperial College.

Both of them were young people. After they met, they ate and drank all the way. Li Yan spent You Miao's money. You Miao got to know a group of Beijing through Li Yan's relationship. He bullied people and bullied men and women and wandered around.

Speaking of You Miao, You Miao was not simple. His family was a big salt merchant in Cangzhou. His ancestors made a fortune by selling private salt. After several generations, they became the richest people in the area.

Twenty-six years ago, his father divided the family and planted tea in the Jiangbei area.

He planted a fortune of millions and thousands of acres of tea fields. It was really not simple. However, among the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants were the lower class. You Dechuan had the idea of donating an official position to his only son.

In this day and age, it is easy to buy an official position if you have money, but the official position you bought cannot stop the gossips of those who like to gossip. So You Miao's father thought of letting his son take some money to Beijing to study and prepare for the imperial examination, and prepare to donate to the top three in the imperial examination. In this way, he would be a family of scholars.

You Miao was only thirteen years old when he went to Beijing. He was spoiled at home. When he went out, he brought ten carts of food and daily necessities, and a group of maids and servants came to the emperor to study.

His father You Dechuan arranged all the affairs for You Miao. After going to Beijing, You Miao stayed at his uncle's house. With the three thousand taels of silver notes given by his father, he met a group of playboys in the school and spent it all in the first year. After spending it, he asked his family for more money, but his father wrote a letter to scold him, and then gave him another five hundred taels of silver. If he spent it all by the end of the year, he would have to starve.

"You kid." Li Yan, the son of the Prime Minister's Mansion, glanced at him.

You Miao: "What?"

You Miao moved his chopsticks and stopped eating. Li Yan ate the porridge and said slowly: "I heard that the third prince wants to summon you to the palace to be his companion?"

You Miao had no idea about this, but he understood it as soon as he heard it - "the third prince" refers to the youngest son of the current emperor Zhao Guang, Li Yan's father Li Chengxiang. Four of the six ministers all stood on the side of the prince. The third prince was favored when he was young, but he was not a legitimate son, let alone the eldest son. He had no power in the palace.

But You Miao was not in a hurry to answer, just smiled and said: "Is it true? I'm afraid it's a joke."

Li Yan said: "Maybe someone from the court will come to order in a few days. I heard that the third prince is playful and active. Do you remember when we went to the lantern market during the Lantern Festival this year?"

You Miao hesitated and nodded. He vaguely remembered that during the Lantern Festival, the streets were full of lights and people were crowded and shoulder to shoulder. Who could recognize who was who?

Li Yan added, "It is said that he fell in love with you at a distance in the lantern market, and asked the tutor to summon you to the palace."

You Miao is handsome, wearing brocade and embroidered robes, with willow eyebrows and bright eyes, good temper, and rich family. The playboys like to hang out with him and sometimes press him down to kiss him. It is normal for the third prince to like him.

"Oh." You Miao said, "What kind of person is the third prince?"

Li Yan was unhappy and said coldly, "What do you care about what kind of person he is? Let me ask you, are you going or not?"

You Miao crossed his legs and smiled. He was favored by the third prince for no reason. He was going to the palace to be a companion to the minister. If it were an ordinary family, they would be very happy, but You Miao still knew the limits.

He often heard Li Yan and his group say that the third prince would at most be crowned a king in the future, and the one who really wanted to ascend the throne was the crown prince.

If he stood on the side of the Third Prince, he could no longer get close to the Crown Prince. His father sent him to the capital to study so that he could get a job in the court in the future. Of course, he couldn't do such a thing that would ruin his future. He had to live up to the Third Prince's favor.

You Miao smiled and said, "You have the final say. I will listen to you."

Li Yan's face looked better and he said, "If you follow him, our brotherly friendship will be ruined. You have to think clearly, who treats you well, me or the Third Prince who you have never met?"

You Miao laughed and said repeatedly, "Of course it's you. What kind of brotherly friendship do we need to talk about?"

After breakfast, two or three young masters came, all of them looked like they were still asleep. Li Yan bought a landscape painting for forty taels of silver and unfolded it. He showed it to You Miao, who knew the seal was fake and said, "Tsk, fake."

Li Yan: "How do you know what's real and what's fake?"

You Miao: "There's an authentic painting hanging in my father's room. Look, look, the seal here..."

The young masters laughed, and the son of the Minister of Revenue tried to smooth things over, saying, "As long as you like it." Li Yan and You Miao quarreled again. Li Yan threw the painting away and looked at him hatefully, but You Miao smiled and didn't care, crossing his legs and drinking tea.

"What are we going to do today?" After a long time, it was Ping Er, the son of the Minister of Revenue, who spoke. He was the second child in the family, and the ladies all called him "Ping Er" and "Ping Er". The dandies also knew how to flatter the superior and trample the inferior, and curry favor with the powerful. The son of the prime minister's family naturally had to flatter him, but the son of the salt merchant was slightly superior.

Although he had no status in the capital, he had the advantage of being rich.

Everyone just treated You Miao as a scapegoat, but You Miao was also clear in his heart, and often told himself that his father sent him to Beijing to study, just to take the imperial examination, meet a few ladies, and have someone in the court to do things, so that he could spend money in the future.

You Miao looked at everyone with a smile and said, "How about listening to music in Yangfeng Tower?"

Everyone cheered, and Li Yan, with a stinky face, wanted to fight with You Miao at first, but he was laughed at by him in a moment. The young man did not hold grudges, and they were hanging out together again just after noon.

After a good meal and a good drink, You Miao went home when the sun went down. He remembered what he saw in the morning, so he asked Li Yan curiously. Li Yan said, "Oh, that's a dog slave. I saw it in the Jiaofangsi last time and bought it."

Jiaofangsi? Dog slave?

You Miao was about to ask what it was, but Li Yan went home in a swagger.