In July, Hangzhou City is immersed in a hot stove. A peach tree with bright red stamens has long faded. At this time, it is lush like an umbrella, and the lazy tone of summer cicadas comes from the paved peach trees. In the yard made of blue bricks, green ivy crawls crawl over the solid walls. Purple morning glory grows densely in the courtyard, blooming a small world of flowers. Orioles stand on the shelf full of vines and sing. The sound of accidental shock immediately spreads its wings and leaves light shaking, leaving behind light spots on the ground.

Chen Zhongqing, who was rumored to be inappropriate in Hangzhou City, sat in the yard to fiddle with his bottles and jars. Since Guanzi left Bianliang and went to Hangzhou, he has disappeared from everyone's career again. He accidentally mentioned that he killed three dead soldiers in Heminglou, and was soon covered up by the overwhelming news of refugees and famine.

The vanishing in the eyes of the crowd was the best choice for Chen Zhongqing. He hid in the yard and tinted bottles and jars, occasionally giving Lao Jia a piece of paper and asked him to buy them all on the market according to the things listed above. Lao Jia just stood aside and watched his young master tossing these strange stones curiously. Occasionally, the two of them chatted together.

"Yes, this kind of stone is called green alum,"

Chen Zhongqing shook the green crystals on his hand. There were many crystals calcined at high temperatures in the distillation kettle, and liquid continued to leak into the vessels and filled the porcelain bottles at the other end.

After adding firewood to it again, Chen Zhongqing took the dry firewood that Lao Jia brought over. The high-temperature calcination was a long wait for people to boil. His face had been blackened by firewood. Chen Zhongqing wiped the sweat beads on his forehead, stroked the hair standing on his cheeks behind his ears, and continued to say to Lao Jia behind him, "The previous alchemist put this green alum in a distillation kettle to calcinate it to produce green alum oil, which has a strong corrosive effect."

“What’s the purpose?”

Lao Jia really didn't know why the young master liked to mess with these things. He had no practicality in his eyes, and could not understand the young master's temper and character. He only knew that in some aspects, no one could stop what he wanted, but on the other hand, the young master showed the gentleness and tolerance of a gentle scholar. It seemed that two completely different emotions were mixed with him, and sometimes he would think of the vassal kings of the Northern Liao that he had met.

The gentle man who was kind to others a quarter of the previous quarter of the year stuffed steamed buns to the refugee children on the roadside, and the next quarter of the year, he would lightly put the heads of those rich clans who defected to the Southern Jin Dynasty, regardless of gender, age and young.

Chen Zhongqing didn't have much. In this era when practical and truthful, alchemy was just something that alchemy used to deceive rich people. No matter what he did, he would not be recognized. He just smiled and stuffed the porcelain bottle filled with liquid tightly with a stopper and placed it carefully on the table.

"I am trying to prevent the peace in Hangzhou City will sooner or later be broken. There are more and more refugees in troubled times. Lao Jia, with your heart, should you guess what happened?"

After a while of silence, Old Jia, who was squatting on the ground and fiddling with weeds, nodded and said, "Well, I guessed. Most of the refugees came from the West Road. Although Old Jia had never left the city, he guessed what happened. It was just natural disasters and man-made disasters that were far more than large groups of migrating refugees. What might happen in the end was that Jiangnan Road caused bandits. In addition, Hangzhou City not only did not allow refugees to enter the city, but strengthened its vigilance. In addition, the soldiers of the Southern Jin Dynasty who had entered and left the city in Hangzhou these days could only explain one problem. The bandits were about to attack."

Chen Zhongqing nodded and recognized Lao Jia's point of view. "Even you have guessed, the dignitaries in Hangzhou City are definitely not stupid. They just think that those thieves cannot capture a city, so they don't take it seriously. Anyway, it's not them who died, but the group of refugees who live in no fixed place outside the city."

This time, Lao Jia looked at Chen Zhongqing very seriously. For the first time, he echoed the other party without meaning, but expressed his own opinions, "Young master, we should pack up our bags and go back to Bianliang. Hangzhou City is not safe now. If you stay here, Lao Jia is afraid that you will not be able to protect you. War is not a murder or arson. No matter how good a martial arts master is, he cannot stop forty or fifty soldiers from siege. Hangzhou falls, if you have three or two shortcomings...''

"You haven't understood it yet, Lao Jia."

Chen Zhongqing suddenly interrupted him, walked straight to the water tank, picked up the scoop placed beside him, and gently pushed away the lotus blooming on it with the edge, revealing the clear water and a goldfish that was shuttled back and forth. He directly filled a large scoop of water, walked to the distillation kettle, and extinguished the last burning firewood, leaving only the gray-white charcoal and ashes, which were sizzling out with blue smoke, penetrated into the nasopharynx, which was a little choking.

"Every move in Hangzhou City is related to the change of the Chen family's position in Bianliang. If the official Song of the game ended perfectly, Jiu Qiansui would have to abandon the car and protect the general. The first thing the emperor had to do after taking the initiative is to weaken Huang Shiliang's power and pull out the opponent's minions. In addition to the swaying puppet prime minister, Jiu Qiansui's second card is our Chen family. I saved enough incense from the emperor to prevent the Chen family from losing power in the future and redeeming their sins, otherwise I would not even have a chance to change the boat. My brother guessed that my intention was that he should use his strength to persuade my father to postpone my return to Bianliang when he went back."

Lao Jia felt that the burden on a young man was too heavy, so he comforted him, "Young master should not worry about it, after all, they are all people who have been in the officialdom for most of their lives, and they know the priorities."

Chen Zhongqing shook his head firmly and denied his view. He could see clearly his attitude towards power and desire in two lifetimes.

Chen Zhongqing poured out the words he didn't say to Lao Jia, "Father, second uncle, third uncle, do you really think they are so stupid that they can't see through the situation, but they just don't want to let go. The Prime Minister who is half a step away from being able to take the position of the Supreme Minister, who is willing to let go at this moment? They are all comforting themselves, and the misfortune will not come to their heads, but the facts are far more cruel than they imagined. If the emperor turns the market, the Chen family will be the first to be affected. Why should I bring a Qin family? Isn't it because if I lose power in the future, I can still make a comeback with the other party's financial resources?"

After saying this, Chen Zhongqing recovered his calmness a little, looked out the door again, and made up his mind to finish the game of chess.
Chapter completed!