Chapter 1 Rooftop,厢房

On the rooftop, in a private room.

Jiang Chen gently comforted Jia Yao'er, "I've helped you vent your anger like this, aren't you happy?"

"If you're happy, then don't give me such a bitter face… You've been frowning all the time, you'll get wrinkles."

A hint of helplessness flashed in Jia Yao'er's beautiful eyes, "Your Majesty, how can you still be in the mood to joke around now!"

"That Jiang Mu is the grandson of the Duke of Dingguo, and his mother is very protective and difficult to deal with. She will definitely not let go of the person who hurt her son… At that time, won't you be in a lot of trouble?"

The more Jia Yao'er spoke, the more anxious she became, her beautiful eyes even starting to turn red, "Ah, it's all my fault! If only I had been more patient at the time, anyway, he's been harassing me for more than just a day or two…"

Jiang Chen reached out and smoothed the wrinkles between her eyebrows, raising an eyebrow, "Am I so unreliable in your heart? Do I need to be wary of a subject?"

"If that's really the case, then I'm a pretty failed emperor, my prestige is actually not as good as a duke."

The light mockery in his tone made Jia Yao'er's heart clench instantly, "No, Your Majesty!"

"In Yao'er's heart, you are the master of Great Wei, a towering hero, even if the Duke of Dingguo has an army of two hundred thousand, he is definitely not your opponent!"

Hearing this, Jiang Chen couldn't help but smile, "In that case, what are you afraid of?"

"I am the master of Great Wei, in front of me, even if it's a dragon, it has to coil up, even if it's a tiger, it has to lie down!"

"A mere Duke of Dingguo is not qualified to challenge me, let alone oppose me!"

His expression was light and breezy, but the words he spoke were the most domineering.

Jia Yao'er's heart trembled slightly, her pretty face flushed red, and she subconsciously recalled what had happened between her and Jiang Chen in this room before… She instantly lowered her head in a panic, not daring to look at Jiang Chen again.

But she didn't know how delicious she looked with her shy and charming appearance, arousing desire.

A hint of darkness crept into Jiang Chen's eyes, and the thoughts of comforting and cherishing her unknowingly turned into something else.

Just as he reached out his big hand, preparing to personally measure this exquisite body…

The tightly closed door was suddenly knocked on.

Knock knock!

"Your Majesty, the six young men you wanted to see have been brought here, would you like to move now?" Feng Jin lowered his voice and asked respectfully.

Important matters came first, and seeing this, Jiang Chen could only give up his thoughts and temporarily let go of Jia Yao'er.

He said lightly, "No need for such trouble, just bring them over."

As he spoke, Jiang Chen straightened his clothes, giving Jia Yao'er a little time to calm her emotions and dispel the ambiguous atmosphere in the room.

Seeing that he had no intention of continuing, Jia Yao'er hurriedly stood up from her chair, feeling both fortunate and a little disappointed in her heart.

Although she was in love with Jiang Chen, she didn't want to hastily give herself to him, and being interrupted at a crucial moment was also in line with her wishes.

After all, she had no right to refuse Jiang Chen, and if the atmosphere had continued to develop as it had, something would have definitely happened between them.

But…

Jia Yao'er turned her head and carefully sized up Jiang Chen's expression, feeling uneasy in her heart, thinking: But His Majesty hasn't made any indication, does he have any feelings for me at all?

While she was struggling with this, the door to the room was knocked on again.

Six sturdy young men in tight-fitting outfits entered the room under Feng Jin's lead, respectfully bowing and saying, "We pay our respects to Young Master Jiang!"

Seeing that they were energetic and had extraordinary bearing, Jiang Chen's desire to cherish talent deepened, and he personally helped them up, "Just now you acted righteously, I, Jiang, have yet to thank you, no need to be so polite, please sit down."

His humble and courteous attitude greatly increased the six men's goodwill towards him.

They said in shame, "Young Master Jiang is too kind, we six brothers didn't even get a chance to help downstairs, and those villains were subdued by your guards, so there's no need for thanks."

"Moreover, when it comes to thanks, we brothers should be thanking you. Otherwise, with our humble backgrounds, how could we be qualified to come to the top floor of the Hundred Schools Forum?"

The speaker was the eldest of the six, his face was very honest, and he looked like an honest person, but his words were full of a kind of frustrated melancholy.

Especially when he said 'humble backgrounds', the look in his eyes practically had the four words 'untapped talent' written on his face.

Jiang Chen had already admired their character and had the intention of recruiting them.

Now that he saw their predicament and their hidden desire to seek refuge, he immediately smiled, "Fine jade and talents will not be buried, as long as you have real skills, you will always be seen by a discerning eye and shine."

"Introduce yourselves, what are your names, let's get to know each other first, and then chat about other things."

Jiang Chen's meaningful hint made a flash of excitement appear in the six men's eyes, and they said in trembling voices, "Young Master Jiang. I am Zhang Mu!"

"I am Jing Chen!"

"I am Zhao Cheng!"

"I am Xu Yue!"

"I am Liu Feng!"

"I am Wang Ji!"

The six men stated their names one after another.

After Jiang Chen noted them down, he gestured for them to sit down and said to Jia Yao'er, who was in the corner of the room, "Yao'er, go brew tea for these heroes, use the best bird's tongue tea. We can't be stingy when entertaining distinguished guests."

His two casual words revealed a sense of importance, making Zhang Mu and the others feel even more comfortable.

Jia Yao'er didn't understand the subtle hints, and thought that Jiang Chen felt she was stingy, so she couldn't help but feel annoyed, giving him a resentful glance to express her slight dissatisfaction, before gracefully walking towards the tea cabinet against the wall to brew tea.

On the other side, with the fragrance of tea permeating the air, the tone of Jiang Chen and the others' conversation gradually became warm.

"Ah, Young Master Jiang, you were really impulsive this time."

"Although you have a deep background, the Duke of Dingguo is not someone to be trifled with. You beat his only grandson half to death, he will definitely not let you off." Zhang Mu, with his honest face, sighed.

Although he didn't know Jiang Chen's specific identity, he believed that this Young Master Jiang's background was definitely not simple, given that he dared to attack Jiang Mu after he announced his family name.

Not to mention, he also had the surname Jiang, the imperial surname was not something that ordinary people could use!

Jiang Chen heard the probing in his words, and did not deny it, saying with a light smile, "It's fine, a mere Duke of Dingguo is not much trouble."

"However, this is of course only limited to myself."

"In today's conflict, you all acted righteously, you will definitely be implicated, do you have any countermeasures to deal with it?"

Hearing this, the six men's faces turned pale, and after a moment of silence, they suddenly knelt down, gritting their teeth and saying, "Young Master Jiang, we brothers are from humble backgrounds, although we have some skills, we are definitely not the Duke of Dingguo's match."

"We, we hope that you can take into account our shared fate and take us and our brothers in."

"With our skills, we can definitely be guards!"

They were not fools, they knew that the only one who could protect them now was Jiang Chen, and they had to seize this straw.

Jiang Chen was very satisfied with their surrender, but he still had to maintain a certain posture.

Opportunities that are too easily obtained are not cherished, this has been the case throughout history.

With a slight smile, Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and said, "Since you are so skilled, why haven't you made a name for yourselves until today?"