Although the army of Nanya holds polo selection competitions internally every year to select excellent polo players, it sounds like a large number of people, but these excellent polo players are like freshly released pancakes, and are divided up by the princes and nobles as soon as they are selected.

The three people Wu Youxu recommended to Li Zhen were the candidates who considered establishing Qianniu Second Team. They only gave it to Li Zhen for Shangguan Wan'er, but if you want Wu Youxu to recommend one, he would have nothing.

In the afternoon, Li Zhen handed over the shift and left the palace. He went directly to Nanshi to find Zhang Xi. Zhang Xi is a local snake in Luoyang and has a wide connection. Maybe he can recommend one person to himself.

When he heard that Li Zhen came to find him, Zhang Xi personally greeted him from the inner hall, "Why did you come without saying a word?"

Zhang Xi held his hand and complained: "I'm just about to go out, otherwise I'd almost missed it."

Li Zhen bowed and apologized: "I also ask my elder brother for help if I have something to do. If my elder brother has something to do, I will come back another day."

"It's okay! It's okay! It's just to find a few friends to drink flower wine. Of course, it's important for my brother."

Zhang Xi has always been enthusiastic about Li Zhen, especially now that Li Zhen has become the queen's personal bodyguard and has a high status in the palace. Even veterans like Zhang Xi who have been a guard for five years are beyond the reach of them.

Zhang Xi invited Li Zhen into the inner hall and ordered the maid to pour tea. Then he asked with a smile: "How does it feel to be a guard by the emperor?"

"Same boring, I am Sanwei and do nothing all day."

Zhang Xi understood that Sanwei usually appointed him if there is an urgent matter at the moment. For example, the emperor has a secret decree, which is usually conveyed by Sanwei. Although it seems to be idle, once there is something, it may be too busy for several days.

"Brother, don't underestimate this emperor's guard! If you have the opportunity to go to local prefectures and counties to do business, I will tell you that prefectures and county officials are more flattering than to the censors. I'll tell you a joke. Two years ago, Zhao Chongyuan went to three prefectures in Hebei to secretly investigate the drought. He was also the emperor's personal guard like you. What do you think? He changed his house shortly after he came back. Brother, he is so fat!"

Li Zhen smiled, "I will talk about these things later. Today I have something to do and ask my elder brother for help. That's right. Shangguan Sheren wants to build a polo team, so he entrusted me with this matter. A polo team requires at least seven people. There are four people, including me, and there are still three people. In fact, there are only one person. Let's see if my elder brother can introduce some experts to me."

When Zhang Xi heard that Shangguan Wan'er was going to build a polo team, he was immediately moved. This was an opportunity to flatter Shangguan Wan'er!

He pondered for a moment and said, "Sun Li's brother Sun Lin plays polo well. Do you want me to recommend him?"

"He has already counted it. General Wu recommended him. I mean the folk polo player."

Zhang Xi can play polo himself, but he understands that this is a real polo player who wants to play in major competitions. He can't recommend himself by playing two polos, but he must be able to do real skills.

"Zhao Qiuniang's apprentice Xiao Ye also plays well. She is nicknamed Hunjiang Bailong. She is very famous for playing polo in the Nanshi area. She is just a little lacking in time. You can do a supplement. If you have time, go and take a look."

"I remember, is there any?"

"There are a few rogues. Although they play well in polo, they have all been jailed. I won't recommend this kind of person to you."

Li Zhen, who has been in prison, would not want to do so, because he had to train in the imperial city. Such people with criminal records are not allowed to enter the imperial city.

However, it was already good to find Xiao Ye, so Li Zhen stood up and said goodbye. He planned to go to the Nanyuan Martial Arts Hall to talk to Zhao Qiuniang.

After leaving Wangchun Tea House, Li Zhen first came to his elder sister's wine shop. Since Li Quan received the care of Shangguan Wan'er and took over the wine business in the palace, her business has gradually grown.

She then trayed the wine shop next door, and opened the two wine shops, becoming the fourth largest wine shop in Nanshi. The number of shops increased from the original two to ten. She became rich in just a few months, which made the surrounding wine shops envious.

However, Li Quan is a person who is prepared for danger in times of peace. She doesn't want the source of raw materials to rely entirely on Wangjia Winehouse. If the Wangjia Winehouse is out of stock one day, her wine shop will be finished.

She wanted to establish her own raw material channels and purchase goods directly from Gaochang, but she also knew it was difficult. Several major wineries in Gaochang were basically monopolized by the Wang family.

She was considering making wine by herself. Last time Li Zhen brought her a roll of winemaking secrets, which she thought should come in handy.

These days, Li Quan is worried about this matter, and his family doesn't care about it. He searches for land suitable for growing grapes all day long around Luoyang.

Li Zhen didn't know if his eldest sister was in the wine shop. He just came over to take a look. As soon as he arrived at the door of the wine shop, he heard an extremely familiar voice coming from the wine shop.

"Of course you don't know me. When Fatty Master, you didn't have any shadows yet. Whether Ah Fu is there or not, Ah Cai is OK!"

"Brother Fat, let's wait outside! Don't disturb others' business."

Li Zhen was overjoyed and rushed to the store and shouted, "Old Fat, Xiaoxi, are you?"

I saw Jiu Zhi rushed out like a gust of wind, hugging Li Zhen tightly, as if he was afraid that he would run away, and shouted excitedly: "Xiaoxi, I've caught him. Our supper is over today!"

Li Zhen pushed him away, punched him on the shoulder, and scolded with a smile: "You kid just want to eat!"

At this time, Li Zhen saw Xiaoxi again. After a few months, he had grown taller and stronger. However, he actually wore a Taoist robe, a bamboo crown, and a peach wood sword on his back, making him look like a ghost-catching Taoist priest.

Li Zhen couldn't help but laugh, "Xiaoxi, aren't you a monk? Why did you become a Taoist priest again?"

Xiaoxi scratched her head, "It's not a real Taoist priest, I'll follow my master."

"Your aunt is here too?"

"No, Fat Brother comes to see me, she will let me out for a walk."

When Li Zhen saw the two brothers, he was really happy and said quickly: "Follow me to the Zuoan Restaurant, let's have a good drink."

They placed the horses in the wine shop, and went to the Left Bank diner together.

Li Zhen found a elegant room and ordered more than a dozen dishes and two pots of wine. He asked Jiuzhi with a smile: "You kid's letter said that you will only come after the New Year, why are you here now?"

Jiuzhi showed an annoyed expression on his face, and after a while he said angrily: "Cui'er is married, which makes me unable to stay in Dunhuang for a day. I packed my luggage and returned to Luoyang overnight."

"Why?"

Li Zhen asked with a puzzled smile: "Didn't you say Cui'er wants to marry into your restaurant?"

Jiu Zhi blushed with shame and anger, "It's good to marry our family, but she is marrying my younger brother, not me!"

Li Zhen immediately felt full of sympathy for him. The most tragic thing in the world was that his lover became his sister-in-law.

Jiuzhi took a sip of wine and said angrily: "My parents and brothers have been hiding from me. I was afraid that I would go to Cui'er's house to make trouble, so I coaxed me to say that Cui'er was going to marry into our family. Now I can't meet now. I lied to me to stay at my aunt's house in Huichang County for a few days. As a result, I came back early and happened to meet Cui'er in the door. At that time, I realized that she was marrying Erlang, which made me crazy."

Li Zhen comforted him and said, "Old Fatty, let's fight for your breath and marry a daughter from a famous family in Luoyang and let them see!"

Jiuzhi took a sip of wine, then let out a long breath, waved his hand and said, "I figured it out along the way. Although I spent a lot of money on her, there was no outsider. Forget it, as long as she gave birth to a son and still had a surname, Jiu, I will accept this sister-in-law. Lao Li, how are you doing, where is Di Xiaomei?"

At this time, Jiuzhi suddenly realized that Li Zhen was wearing the guard leather armor. He couldn't help but say in surprise: "?"

"Hey! Why is it so ugly to say good words from your mouth? Seeing that I was doing nothing, Gao Fujun introduced me to the palace as a guard. Di Yan and his family went to Pengze County and would not come back next spring."

Jiuzhi looked envious and pinched his guard's leather armor, "I said Lao Li! I'm doing nothing, can I have such a chance? Tell me how about you?"

Li Zhen suddenly remembered that this fat man is the fifth ready-made one? He plays well in polo, especially at defense, and has a small wing pass. It is also good for him to be a substitute. This is simply God's arrangement!

His mind changed rapidly. The end of the year and the beginning of the year was exactly the time to recruit new guards. Without looking for Gao Yanfu, he directly found Shangguan Wan'er and arranged his two brothers into the palace.

Thinking of this, he was overjoyed and said, "You guys are so coincidental. I'm looking for polo players everywhere. The matter of you two entering the palace is covered by me."

Xiaoxi said worriedly: "Brother Li, I heard that you want to cut off that thing when you enter the palace. Have you been cut?"

Li Zhen squirted out a sip of wine, and Jiu Zhi laughed so hard that he leaned back and forth. Why can't this kid tell the difference between a guard and an eunuch?

.........

The next day, Wu Youxu found Li Zhen, he pulled Li Zhen aside, and said to him with a frown: "Your brother's affairs may be a bit difficult."

Li Zhen was not very happy. Shangguan Wan'er agreed to it well, so why is it difficult to deal with it again? He suppressed his dissatisfaction and asked, "Is there any problem?"

"There is no big problem with drinking ambition. He is tall and fat, and has a good family background. He has been farming for generations and has a clean family background. He can be recruited as a guard. But Yao Xi's father is a craftsman, so it's okay for a craftsman to change his resume. The key is that he is not tall enough. This is a hard threshold. He will be exposed as soon as he enters the palace and will be impeached immediately. Lao Li, I really have a hard time doing this!"

Li Zhen didn't say anything. He knew that if it were not forbidden to do so, Wu Youxu would never have given Shangguan Wan'er a face. It was right to think about it. Qianniu Guards had extremely strict requirements on appearance and height. Everyone could see that there was something wrong with such a short guard. If Wu Zetian saw it, it would be a big trouble.

In fact, Li Zhen also knew that Xiaoxi was not only far from the standards of Qianniu Guards, but the conditions of other guards were not enough. To put it bluntly, Xiaoxi was not suitable to be a guard.

But if Li Zhen wants to leave Xiaoxi alone outside, he won’t do it either. That’s his brother. Uncle Yao entrusts him to himself before his death. How could he ignore him?

Moreover, the small pass is exquisite and can make himself score at critical moments. He must join the polo team.

Thinking of this, Li Zhen said to Wu Youxu: "I can understand Brother Wu's difficulties, so let's do it! I'll find Shangguan Sheren to find another way to tell her not to make things difficult for Brother Wu anymore."

Wu Youxu felt guilty, patted Li Zhen on the shoulder, and then walked quickly.

Li Zhen returned to Taichu Palace again. He is now mainly on duty in Taichu Palace, following around the Empress Wu Zetian, and can enter more secret places in the palace. This is also the privilege of the personal guards. Of course, the danger is also relatively high, and there are too many women around him.

The Zhao Chongyuan that Zhang Xi told him was about something wrong near the Zhenguan Palace and almost became a useless person. He lay at home for more than three months before he recovered his vitality. He was finally sent to Chang'an to guard the Daming Palace. This incident was a secret in the palace. Li Zhen only learned about it because he became the emperor Qianniu.

When Li Zhen walked into the palace, he was more vigilant and paid attention to the movements around him at all times. If he was not careful, he might be dragged in by several hands stretched out from the darkness.

At this time, he saw Shangguan Wan'er's personal maid Xiao E, and hurriedly ran up with a smile, "Sister Xiao E!"

Xiao E is the round-faced palace maid, two years younger than Li Zhen. She blushed when she saw him, and then became redder. Finally, she could infer how long she had talked with Li Zhen when she saw her blushing.

Xiao E's face suddenly turned red when she heard Li Zhen's voice, and she turned shyly, "Guard Li, what's the matter?"

"I have an urgent matter to meet Shangguan Sheren, please give me a message."

"Well! She happened to come out of the Supreme House, come with me!"

Xiao E lowered her head and walked slowly forward, but as she walked, she seemed to be unable to walk for a moment, her body was crooked and she was about to fall.

Just at this moment, Shangguan Wan'er hurriedly walked from the corridor, followed by five or six palace maids, holding the scroll in her hands. When she saw Xiao E leading Li Zhen, she smiled and said, "Is Mr. Li here to find me?"

"It's about the polo team, but if the shepherd is busy, I won't disturb you."

"There is always time to say a few words, come with me!"

Of course, Shangguan Wan'er also cared about her polo team. Just now, the emperor asked her if the polo team was established. Even if Li Zhen didn't come, she would go to find him.

"How is it, have you found all the people?"

Li Zhen nodded, "There are six people now, and the last one is still missing, which is my brother Yao Xi."

"I have already said hello to the Ministry of War and Wu Youxu. Is there any problem?" Shangguan Wan'er was a little unhappy. She could feel that it seemed that things were not done.

Li Zhen then told Wu Youxu's difficulties, and Shangguan Wan'er was also a little embarrassed. Of course, she knew the rules here. Unless the emperor spoke, no one could cover the sky with one hand.

But she also understood that since Li Zhen was still looking for her for this matter, she hoped that she could help her to the end. If she couldn't even do such a small matter, wouldn't she lose her face?

Shangguan Wan'er pondered for a moment and asked again: "Do you have any specialties, such as cooking, gardening, etc."

Li Zhen thought for a while and said, "He knows a little bit of medical skills!"

"Then let him enter the imperial physician's room and I'll come to Shen Nanmu to make arrangements."

Shangguan Wan'er immediately made a decision. Anyway, she was just to facilitate the training of polo. She stayed in the palace for a few months temporarily, and she could still do this little thing.

...
Chapter completed!