In the past, the breach of the dike was a natural disaster, but this time it was **. The officials must have been furious. After understanding the inside story, all the officials were outraged and demanded severe punishment for those responsible. That Lord Jia in the Grand Secretary's mansion was even more determined to bring down the two Chiefs with one blow.

  In short, dark clouds are gathering over the imperial court, and a life-and-death struggle is inevitable.

  But all of this has nothing to do with Chen Ke anymore, the flood of the merchant mouth broke through the dike, washing away not only those thousands of innocent soldiers and civilians, but also the tens of thousands of kilograms of anti-flood materials, as well as the little bit of concern for the country and the people that he had cultivated over the past decade with Wang Fang, Chen Xiliang and Ouyang Xiu.

  Although he had previously claimed to want a certain kind of life, the Confucian education he had received for many years still led his thoughts down the traditional path of a scholar-official. If everything went smoothly, he would become another official who considered it his duty to cultivate himself, regulate his family, govern the state and bring peace to the world. From then on, there would no longer be that Chen Sanlang who had lived two lives; there would only be an official named Chen Ke and a scholar named Chen Zhongfang, nothing more.

  But now, Chen Ke felt his own insignificance, he thought that he couldn't change anything anyway, so it's not necessary to try to change, from then on he lived a carefree life, just making his own life wonderful, and not wasting the opportunity of living in the happiest era for the Chinese people... isn't that good too?

  Even if he despised officials and gentry, Chen Kehao couldn't help but admit that living in this civilized country was a blessing for the common people.

  If you are a city resident, it is one of the greatest blessings in the world. When he came to Bianjing, he only knew that when it was windy and rainy, government offices and large households would distribute relief supplies, and by the end of the year, the court would suddenly exempt his house rent. He heard that Zhao Kuangyin wanted to expand his residence, so he consulted with the residents north of the imperial palace. However, those residents were unwilling to move away, so there was the smallest imperial palace in history, equivalent to the mansion of a jiedushi at that time...

  The name of "Weak Song" is well-deserved, it's not just weak externally, but also internally...

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chen Ke woke up again to find the room empty, but it was still bright outside. He called out and soon heard a female voice responding. Before long, Lan Pei, the maidservant left behind by Lady Cao at the Chen residence, came in with a smile and said: "Young Master is awake?"

  "......" Chen Ke smiled and said: "Pei Jie will become my stepmother soon, so just call me San Lang." Stepmother means father's younger wife.

  Nalan Pei was also in her early twenties, born with a delicate and beautiful appearance. Upon hearing this, she blushed and said: "The eight characters (of my birth date) haven't even been written yet."

  "Hey, that guy's not bad except for being boring... don't be disgusted..." Chen Ke thought for a moment but couldn't find his shoes: "Where are my shoes?"

  "That pair is all muddy and the soles are worn out." Lan Pei placed a brand new pair of black patent leather shoes with double straps in front of him, saying: "Change into these, same style."

  "Ah." Chen Ke's two feet stepped up, feeling that it was indeed very comfortable, and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction: "Sister Pei's craftsmanship is really good."

  "You're not even skilled at this." Lan Pei said with a smile as she poured water for him, "Yesterday I took Sanlang's shoes to Ma's boot shop and had them replicate a pair.

  "The capital is just starting to rise," Chen Ke took over the toothbrush and sighed, "Even the toothbrush is more useful than ours." When Chen Ke was in Qing Shen, he used a horsehair toothbrush tied to a bamboo stick, dipped in green salt to brush his teeth, like brushing a wall, which was quite uncomfortable.

  The toothbrush used in Bianjing City has a slender bone handle, with threads at the end for easy grip, and eight planting holes on the head, two rows of which are surprisingly similar to the standard health toothbrush of later generations. The planted hair is also soft and hard, and brushing teeth is very comfortable.

  Moreover, Bianjing didn't use green salt, but instead used tooth powder bought from a toothbrush store. Chen Ke could taste it, mainly bitter ginseng, which is definitely good for teeth... Otherwise, how could the men and women of Bianjing City all have clean and tidy white teeth?

  After serving him to wash up, Lan Pei was about to go cook, but was stopped by Chen Ke: "No need, I'll go out for a walk, how can't you fill your stomach?" Tomorrow has to return to Tai Xue for class, and hasn't enjoyed the free life yet.

  Lan Pei then carefully told him which family's noodles were great, and whose smoked pigeon was a specialty. Chen Ke listened with rapt attention, as if mourning the loss of his peaceful life from now on...

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As soon as he stepped out of the house, the outside sunlight was very good. Chen Ke took a deep breath, what a thick life atmosphere!

  Before, his heart was weighed down by the Liuta River, and he couldn't muster up any interest in anything. Now that the lump in his chest has dissipated, this world has once again become lovely to him.

  On the street, those red men and green women, as well as the constant shouting, quickly made him forget himself. His gaze would often fall on those girls who were exposing themselves, most of whom were daughters of shop owners on both sides of the street. They had tall figures, full chests, and pert buttocks, looking lively and wild, with bold and fiery eyes that were not at all like the shy and demure women from Jiangnan; they were even more daring than the spicy Sichuan girls.

  North

  Camellia and Southern Belle are really quite different! Chen Ke couldn't help but shine with excitement in her eyes.

  "Little official, look at your flushed face, come to my house and have a bowl of cold dew soup, it's refreshing, cooling, with rose petals and sugar added." A girl's head popped out from a tea shop, a 16 or 17-year-old girl with big shining eyes, smiling and looking at him, her voice sweet and crisp: "Don't believe me? Come in and try some..." The girls from the shops across the street couldn't help but giggle.

  Chen Ke burst out laughing and said: "I'm starving, is there anything to eat at your place?"

  "Of course, we have all kinds of tea and snacks, both meat and vegetarian dishes, all delicious...". The girl saw him stop in his tracks and became even more enthusiastic in her sales pitch: "Little brother, come on in and try some!"

  Chen Xiao looked at her with an unbridled gaze, taking in her delicate features and youthful physique, and chuckled: "Taste it then."

  The girl pulled him into the store and picked a table by the street to sit down. Chen Ke ordered, "Bring out your specialty dishes, don't bring tea, just give me a bowl of congee." The girl knew she had met the boss, smiled with her eyes narrowed, and happily nodded, "Alright."

  The girl turned to the back kitchen, and a waiter came over, carrying a large tray with a stack of cold dishes. There were scallion pancakes, pickled vegetables, dried apricot slices, lettuce stems, mustard greens, and eight plates in total were spread out on the table.

  Before long, the girl also returned with a tray. She placed it on the edge of the table and arranged eight small dishes in front of Chen Ke, saying crisply: "Crab dumplings, goose oil rolls, sesame seed chicken skin, shrimp porridge..." These were eight simple tea snacks.

  In the capital, food is delicate and emphasizes variety. Even when ordinary people go to a restaurant, they get more than ten dishes. Although each dish has only a small amount of fine food, you still can't finish it all.

  The girl brought another bowl of rice porridge, lifted the lid, scooped a bowl of steaming hot fragrant rice and meat thread porridge, and smiled: "Sir, please enjoy your meal."

  "But it can't be used." Chen Ke said with a smile.

  "Why?"

  "A person is not used to it."

  "Well, then I'll have someone sing a song for you, sir."

  "No need to bother, just talk to me and it's settled." Chen Ke took out a silver ingot and said: "Don't delay business, okay?"

  "You can't slack off here." The girl sat down beside him and stuck out her tongue: "Just taking advantage of the opportunity to be lazy."

  Chen Ke then savored a shrimp dumpling under the service of the lovely little maid, and took a sip of fragrant congee. The feeling was incredibly comfortable.

  He's a true foodie, discovering something worth taking from every dish, and can't help but exclaim: "This is all your family's culinary skills?"

  "The official seems to be back in the capital." The little girl smiled and said: "In Bianjing City's taverns and teahouses, there is no 'outside dishes not allowed'. This table only has goose oil rolls, mafen chicken skin that are from my family. The rest were bought by our slave from the neighboring household. And also brought by the economic man." What is referred to as an "economic man" is a guy who brings his own homemade food to sell in other people's shops.

  So in any Song Dynasty restaurant or teahouse, you could eat a wide variety of foods... An extreme example is the case of Chen Kui's fellow townsman. It is said that a certain Yu from Sichuan, who had come to the capital for the imperial examinations but failed to pass, was so destitute that he decided to have one last good meal before throwing himself into Golden Bright Pond. He instructed the waiter to bring him whatever was fresh and in season. The result was that the waiter brought him all sorts of fresh fruits, seafood, etc., and he ate from noon till evening.

  The bill was as much as five taels of silver, how could there be any money left to settle the account? He had no choice but to work in the wine shop for two months to pay off the debt, and the thought of suicide never occurred to him again.

  "Not bad, just arrived in Beijing." Chen Ke smiled somewhat awkwardly and said: "What's your name?"

  "The little girl from a humble family doesn't have a name." The little maid said somewhat dejectedly: "There's a nickname that people call her, it's Xiang."

  "A Xiang......" Chen Ke sniffled, his face in a state of infatuation: "A person is like their name." He said with a smile: "Have you promised someone?"

  "No rush." Ah Xiang smiled and said: "My mother is looking for a suitable big family, planning to let me go as a servant for three years before getting married... The matchmaker said that my appearance doesn't need to be a maid, can be a concubine."

  "Huh...?" Chen Ke exclaimed in surprise: "Your family doesn't seem to be in a difficult situation, why would they want you to become someone's concubine?"

  "In three years, you'll learn some manners and come back to marry a good family. Your children will benefit from it." Ah Xiang smiled and asked: "Is the master a scholar?"

  "Ah", ... is.

  "Otherwise, you can tell it to my parents." Ah Xiang immediately showed a face of admiration and said: "I'll follow you..."

  "This, I have not yet taken a wife." Chen Ke was sweating, thinking that this was also too unreserved.

  "Is that so?"... Ah Xiang sighed in disappointment: "I'm afraid we won't be able to wait for the official to get married."

  There will be another chapter... (to be continued)