Chapter 143: Prince Nibharu

If Chen Ao is not shocked, that is false. The emperor asked him about his studies by name. What mystery does it contain? Is it Jian Zai’s heart or the power of the ruler unpredictable? It is unknown here.

Chen Ao smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle, I wonder what the official asked about my studies?"

Zhou Zheng looked at Chen Ao deeply and said, "You really don't know?"

"It's so unfair. I'm not the worm in the belly of Zhao Boss, so how can I know why!" Chen Ao thought unfairly and shook his head at Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng sighed and said, "You can take the exam well. If you do well, you will naturally be very good. If you don't, the official said that you will be well dealt with."

Chen Ao was stunned for a while. There is no such rule in the world. If you don’t do well in the exam, you will be punished? This is too arrogant!

Chen Ao was a little worried. Did the emperor really hold a grudge for the last time that he gave the words, so he became harsh on him so that he could find an excuse to make things difficult for him?

Immediately, Chen Ao denied his thoughts again. He was the emperor. Is it necessary to do so?

But this is not the reason, why?

Chen Ao really couldn't think of one for a moment, so he came!

Zhou Zheng patted Chen Ao on the shoulder and said, "You don't have to have any burden. Most of the officials are just talking and joking."

Joke? Isn’t it that you don’t have any jokes?

Chen Ao thought so in his heart, and then he felt relieved. The Song Dynasty still treated intellectuals preferentially and believed in the court and the officials. No matter how bad the officials were, they would not make things difficult for a prisoner.

After comforting himself a few words, Chen Ao said to Zhou Zheng: "Uncle scared me." He said, "I'm so scared." He laughed, and looked leisurely, comforting Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng was always calm, as if he was worried. After saying a few more words, he said, "You go to the academy to study, it's time for me to go back."

The two of them said goodbye and entered Jixian Gate obediently; Zhou Zheng stood outside the Imperial College Gate with his hands, and the snowflakes in the sky fell down, falling on Jindeguan and his shoulders one after another. However, he seemed to have not realized it. He watched Chen Ao and Zhou Heng's figures gradually drift away in the snow, leaving only two rows of boot marks, and sighed and said bitterly: "Goods and misfortunes depend on each other, Chen Ao, it all depends on yourself."

He clearly remembered that during the morning court meeting today, the official kept him and asked about Chen Ao's recent situation. Seeing the appearance of the official, he seemed to have no disgust towards Chen Ao. However, as a Duke, he did not want Chen Ao to be in the heart of the emperor at this moment. Chen Ao is still too young and sometimes he still lacks his work. Even if the official favors him, he is like a tiger. Who knows whether the wrath of the emperor will be welcomed in the next moment.

After living to his age, he can see through many things. Chen Ao is still too young. If he grows a few years older and becomes more mature and stable, then he will be the most ideal thing to gain the heart of the emperor and the favor of the holy.

Liu Wen quietly came over with an oil umbrella to cover up the snow for Zhou Zheng, and said, "Master, it's very cold here, so let's go to the car to warm up."

"Okay!" Zhou Zheng nodded thoughtfully, got on the carriage, and said to Liu Wen: "Go to the Cooked Melon House."

Liu Wen, who was sitting on the shaft of the car, was stunned. Although this place name is popular, it is well known in Bianjing City. There is a whole street there, which is the residence of Yang Jian and Yang in the palace. Although Yang is mostly in the palace, at this time, he will leave the palace to rest for an hour or two!

The ripe melon house is the closest to the palace city, and it takes only half an hour to sit in a sedan chair. Eunuch Yang is a famous person, but he is an important figure in this court. Now he has been appointed as the governor of the Changhua Army, holding heavy power, and is even more powerful. Usually, Duke Guo did not interact with Yang Jian, so why did Duke Guo go to Yang Mansion today?

Liu Wen couldn't figure it out, but he didn't dare to ask too much. He responded quickly and drove the carriage and walked forward slowly.

Zhou Zheng sat alone in the carriage, but he closed his eyes and thought deeply. He was not sure whether it was a simplified person in the emperor's heart. There were only two people who could guess the thoughts of the officials. One was Taishi Cai who had retired, and the other was Yang Jian.

For the sake of Chen Ao, Zhou Zheng had to ask with shamelessness, what was the official’s intention to treat Chen Ao?

Just appreciate it? Or have other intentions?

Zhou Zheng sighed slightly. It would be fine if the official simply admired Chen Ao, but what he was most worried about was, or... the emperor wanted to borrow Chen Ao to take the opportunity to give him any hints?

The carriage was warm and fur was covered with furs on all sides. There was a stove hanging near the wall, squeaking with the heat of spices. Zhou Zheng sighed and leaned against the back wall, and fell asleep unconsciously.

...

The weather was cold, and the snowflakes fell to the ground one after another. The earth was as white as if it had no end. It had been snowing for three consecutive days. The snow on the ground had accumulated more than a foot thick. The prison students could not stop the cold while studying, so they liked to run to the plum forest in the northeast corner of the Imperial College to drink some water and wine to warm their stomachs. The doctors always turned a blind eye to this kind of thing. Now the wintersweet is in full bloom and the fragrance of flowers is very popular among prison students.

Chen Ao was invited to have a drink today. Among the students in charge, he knew a lot of people, but more people knew him. Tomorrow it will be the pilot. Many students in charge had no confidence in their hearts, so Chen Ao was invited to see the wintersweet.

Seven or eight people sat down in the pavilion of the blooming wintersweet sea with smiles. On one side, two supervisors piled up bricks and stones, but they were attracting hot wine. Obviously, they were experienced and very skilled.

Chen Ao sat there, and the person sitting opposite him was Wu Bi, who was also very famous among the students.

Before Shen Ao entered the tutor, his talent was only ranked behind Cai Lun. Now Cai Lun has no idea why he left with a name and never came to the Imperial College again. Wu Bi was impressed by Chen Ao and gradually became close to Chen Ao.

The other few are Chen Ao's classmates, they are very familiar with each other, and they have no taboos, and they often fight each other haha.

Wu Bi is very funny. He waved his fan in the cold weather, and wanted to make an elegant posture. He smiled and said to Chen Ao: "Brother Chen, the wintersweet is in full bloom here and the snow is flying. Why not ask Brother Chen to write a poem first to open our eyes, how about it?"

Chen Ao rolled his eyes and smiled helplessly: "Brother Wu is smart, but he only encouraged me to write poems. You can be at ease!"

Having said that, since someone spoke, there was no reason to respond. After thinking about it, he thought: "On the east wind, there was a west wind, and the leaves in the mountains were empty. Only the plum blossoms could not be blown away, but the new whites were still hugged with new reds."

As soon as he finished speaking, the others applauded, and the poem had not yet been savored, but this urgent wisdom had already opened his eyes. Wu Bi's eyes lit up and said, "Brother Chen is indeed powerful. With Brother Chen's talent, I am afraid that if I meet the arrogant prince of Nibora, I have to be amazed."

A classmate looked at Wu Bi curiously and couldn't help asking: "Who is Prince Ni Bora? This name is rare."

Wu Bi smiled and said, "Nipala is a small country south of Tubo. There are many merchants in the country. In recent days, their prince came to Jin with our merchant ships from the Song Dynasty and said that he wanted to cultivate his friends forever, but this prince was really cunning. My father was in charge of receiving this person in the Ministry of Rites. Although this person wanted to surrender, his words were extremely rude. He found some rare things from the border countries and wanted to embarrass our heavenly dynasty everywhere. It is said that even the official family had a headache."

Chen Ao also felt curious and smiled slightly and said, "The official family has a headache? This is strange. Does a little prince dare to be so presumptuous?"

Wu Bi's father was the guest doctor. To put it bluntly, in later generations, it was equivalent to the director of the Promenade Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was specially used to receive envoys from various countries. Under the influence of the eyes, Wu Bi had a certain international vision and smiled at Chen Ao and said, "This Nibaura country borders Tubo, and also has a border with Dali and Bagan. Tubo is the strongest. The Tubo tribes cooperated with our dynasty to deal with the powerful enemy of Xixia. Although the Nibaura country has few lands and people, there are more than 7,000 soldiers and horses in the dynasty. The Tubo country was very afraid of it, so when we repeatedly fought with our dynasty, they often did not dare to do their best to prepare for the enemy from both sides. If the Nibaura country could surrender to our Song Dynasty, the troubles of Tubo would no longer exist. They had an irreconcilable hatred with the people of Xixia, which could be our left and right arms."

Several classmates were stunned and suddenly felt a little unresponsive when they heard it. Although scholars were interested in state affairs, they lacked interest in this detailed diplomacy. Nipola, who knew where they were, had little to do with them.

Chen Ao understood it. It turned out that the official family wanted to integrate the southwestern vassals to alleviate the threat of the Xixia people in the northwest. Although Nipola was small, if it could win over, it would naturally try to take the means of winning over. No matter how arrogant the Nipola prince was, he had to endure it even as the lord of the nine fives.

Chen Ao smiled and continued to ask: "Nipala is located in the south of Tubo, is it that Buddha state?"

Chen Ao vaguely remembers that Buddhism was introduced from here. This small country once became a vassal state of Tubo. Later, Tubo split and divided into various tribes. It was then invaded by the Xixia people, and thus gradually got rid of the status of the sect leader. Unexpectedly, although this country was small, it was quite courageous. The prince ran over excitedly and was he disgusted. He was just to be smart?

Chen Ao felt that it was not that simple. Although he was still a barren country now, Chen Ao believed that his IQ was still fine. This time, he mostly wanted to give up on the Song Dynasty. On the other hand, he was unwilling to give up on the heavenly dynasty and wanted to teach the Heavenly Kingdom to give more benefits to buy it. Therefore, he came from afar, but he looked like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water and did not have much sincerity.

Wu Bi's eyes lit up. Unexpectedly, Chen Ao even knew about Ni Polara, and said, "Although this country is inconspicuous, it is said to be the ancestral land of Buddhism. The one who came with this prince was a Ni Polara monk who said he had great wisdom and did not take us Song people seriously! In fact, in my opinion, I have many talents in the Song Dynasty, and what is the rare thing about a monk? The reason why the officials endured it was that they were unwilling to anger the little prince and wanted to teach them to surrender safely!"

Chen Ao disagreed and smiled and said, "There has never been a coward in this world who can surrender. To deal with such people, they should take a look at the national strength of the Song Dynasty. When it is time to beat sticks, they should give sticks and when it is time to give sweet dates. If you give in, he will only think you are easy to bully."

At this time, Wu Bi seemed mature and persevering, and said in disagreement: "Brother Chen's words are out of place. The Great Song Dynasty is a country of etiquette. A barren and small country can be rude, but how can I treat it as rude to me? The visitor is a guest, so there is no reason to make things difficult for the guests."

Chen Ao touched his nose, but just smiled. This kind of principle is to fight for ten thousand years and can't be clear. As for what the prince is, it's all about him, so he changed the topic boringly: "Okay, even if Brother Wu says it makes sense, Hey, Brother Wang, is my wine not warm yet? Come on hot wine soon. I have to drink it and go back to rest early. I will enter the examination room tomorrow. I can't delay my rest."

The Wang brother whispered loudly: "It's here, it's here. Brother Chen is quarreling. How can Wang's unique skills be done so easily? Please wait."

When everyone heard Chen Ao shouting, they all clamored and said, "Brother Wang is so arrogant, it is better to abdicate and give in to the wise. If your wine-making skills are not good, we can do it for you."
Chapter completed!