Clever Jade

  He looked up to see the girl standing at the entrance of the alley, who was the lovely little maid who had pitied him a month ago and gave him two more buns, saving his life.

  Apparently she also saw him scolding Fei Long and his gang just now.

  At this time she was standing with other beggars at the entrance of the alley, like a beautiful flower in a pile of cow dung, so bright and eye-catching.

  Her face still has a childish air, but she is already an extremely beautiful beauty, and it's not hard to imagine that she will be a stunning beauty in the future.

  The clothes she wore were slightly different from those of the other maids who served congee, with a pink silk waistband tied around her slender waist and a pale green pendant hanging at her waist, which was a small guqin carved out of jade.

  Zhen Ming had previously worked as a polisher at the Jade Factory, and with one glance, he could tell that this piece of jade, which was so green it seemed to be dripping water, was extremely valuable. If it were to be auctioned off in the 21st century, it would be worth at least tens of millions, an ultra-A-grade old pit glass type.

  None of the other maids, whether in terms of clothing or adornment, were as fresh and dazzling as this little maid, nor did they have a valuable jade pendant hanging from their waist like hers.

  In his impression, he had only seen her twice in the past month. The first time was when he was beaten by a group of people, and today was the second time. Normally, she didn't seem to come out every day to distribute porridge to these beggars.

  He didn't need to guess to know that this little girl's status was very noble.

  "My name is Zhen Mingsu."

  That little girl was stunned for a moment, then covered her mouth and giggled, her laughter as pleasant to the ear as pearls falling onto a jade plate.

  Zhen Ming was bitter and helpless, his name had been ridiculed by others before.

  The little girl finally stopped laughing after a while, blinking her big, innocent and lovely eyes at him and asked: "Can you help me with something?"

  Zhen Ming smiled wryly and asked: "What's the hurry?"

  "Will you come here every day to maintain order from now on? My sister said that if there's another fight at the entrance, we'll have to stop giving them porridge. If you're here, they won't dare make trouble. I used to see them bully people all the time, but you're the first one who can chase them away."

  "This... " Zhenming's bitter face showed difficulty.

  That lovely little girl hastily said: "I won't let you help in vain, from now on I'll give you ten copper coins, two bowls of porridge and four steamed buns every day. As long as you come over to maintain order during meal times and don't let people make trouble, that's all."

  Ten copper coins can already buy ten meat buns. Zhen Ming's bitter expression turned around, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face: "I can try."

  ……

  Thus, Zhen Ming finally obtained his first job in this era as an Order Maintenance Officer, also known as a security guard.

  One day with an income of ten copper coins, at least the problem of food and clothing is solved, no need to beg around like them.

  That fatty dragon, after being defeated by Zhen Mingsu's hands, not only didn't hide from him but instead came closer every day. Moreover, he was quite eloquent and good at flattering people without showing any signs of it. Zhen Mingsu happened to be worried that he didn't have a familiar face in this city to show him around. As they spent more time together, the two became increasingly familiar with each other.

  From the mouth of this fat dragon, Zhen Ming finally knew that this era was the ninth year of Daye in the Sui Dynasty, when Emperor Yang of Sui was in power. The place he was in was the ancient capital Luoyang. His historical knowledge was almost blank, except for knowing that Emperor Yang of Sui was a notorious tyrant in Sui history who indulged in luxury and lost his kingdom, he knew nothing else.

  Since having Zhen Mingsu as the team leader, coupled with the original queue-cutting master Feilong's old friends following the rules and becoming people around Zhen Mingsu, the team is no longer chaotic like before, and few people dare to cut in line.

  Although there were many people, there was no queue cutting or repeated collection, and the porridge was enough to be distributed. As long as you lined up and waited patiently, basically everyone got a bowl of porridge.

  On this day, Fei Long imitated Zhen Ming's bitter expression, squatting by the wall eating the steamed buns he had just received, basking in the sun, and watching those refugees and beggars lining up for porridge with Zhen Ming.

  Zhenming was sipping porridge and eating mantou while staring at the back door of Hong Xing's courtyard, when he suddenly asked: "Who is that little girl?"

  Fei Long's mouth was still chewing on a baozi, and upon hearing this, he raised his head to look in the direction of the gaze. At the entrance, he saw the pretty little girl who had given Zhen Ming Si the assistant manager position a few days ago walking out. He suddenly said: "It's her, she's called Miao Yu, the maid of Peony Fairy. Although she is just a small maid, no one in the institute dares to disobey what she says."

  "Peony Fairy?"

  "It's that great benefactor who sends us porridge every day, the flower head of Baifeng Tower, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, especially her piano skills, it's said that even the deaf can hear, many officials and wealthy people have gone bankrupt trying to get a glimpse of her playing the piano, but it's all in vain, she's truly a heavenly beauty without equal on earth."

  Although this fat dragon is a beggar, his speech is not as crude as other beggars, and occasionally there are clever sentences that come out, which is quite interesting.

  Zhen Ming's bitter fate was raised by him with interest, and he asked: "Oh? What kind of ultimate method?"

  "I'm telling you, it's beyond your imagination. In a few days, it'll be the Cold Food Festival, and the flower fairies from the Hundred Flowers Tower will take a boat ride on the rivers and lakes. By then, you'll get to see her. A stunning beauty like her, with a fragrance that surpasses all others, is destined to be chosen as an imperial concubine in the future, flying high up in the branches as a phoenix."

  "It sounds like a pretty noble identity."

  "Of course, a flower fairy like her has an official rank, a seventh-grade official position, although it is a scattered official with no real power, but the nobility of her identity is not comparable to that of other women."

  This fat dragon has the potential to be a paparazzo, and when it comes to talking about the Baifang Building, he can't stop: "But not all courtesans can rise above the rest, sometimes their fate is even worse than that of an ordinary woman. I remember there was once a courtesan from the Baifang Building who was deeply favored, but somehow offended some big shot and was banished to the lower courtyard. I still recall the lively scene at the Hongxuan Pavilion back then - it was like a marketplace, with all those wealthy young masters trampling on the threshold, willing to spend all their family's wealth just to sleep with one of the Baifang Building's courtesans."

  The first part of what he said was still acceptable, but the last sentence ruined everything.

  Zhen Ming sighed and asked, "What is Xiaoyuan?"

  "Don't you know anything about the lower courtyard?" Fei Long's face was full of surprise, and then he grinned strangely and leaned in close to Zhen Mingsu's ear, whispering a few sentences. A look of sudden realization appeared on Zhen Mingsu's face.

  Fei Long sighed: "Alas, it's just a pity that the flower girl contracted some kind of illness several years ago and couldn't bear the suffering, so she hanged herself..."

  Fei Long spoke endlessly about the various romantic and bizarre stories that took place within these red walls, Zhen Ming sat quietly on the side listening intently, occasionally turning his head to gaze at the high-rise buildings inside the alley's high walls, as if deep in thought.