After Shen Xi settled Li Jin, he took some scattered silver for the maid and the old mother to prepare for the New Year, and then gave Li Jin ten taels of silver for his usual expenses, so that he didn't have to worry about it all the time.

With Shen Xi's current net worth, it is not difficult to raise a foreign house, although there are not many formal salaries from the five-grade Hanlin officials, but if you add the usual firewood silver, straight hall silver, etc., don't live too happily.

Because of the change of identity, Li Jin was wearing relatively clean and simple cloth clothes, dressed in coarse cloth and hairpins, which made Shen Xi feel a kind of beauty without makeup.

"Most of the things here need to be handled by yourself." Shen Xi reminded, "But if you walk out of this door, it is tantamount to humiliating yourself, I don't care about any friendship, I can do what I want." ”

Shen Xi said it very decisively, mainly to let Li Jin understand the current situation...... This yard is your cage, feel at ease as a bird in the cage, even if you want to go out, you have to wait for the Li family's case to be completely concluded.

As for whether Li Jin will do what he says, Shen Xi doesn't care too much, and tries his best to let the old mother and maid take good care of the people, and send the people out of the capital when the time is right, then the matter will be over for the time being.

The thirtieth day of the lunar month, Chinese New Year's Eve.

This is Shen Xi's first Spring Festival in the capital after becoming an official, and there are a lot of things to prepare.

First of all, he has to prepare gifts, not to give gifts to the bosses of the Hanlin Academy, Zhan Shifu and the officials of the Six Ministries, he is not that interested, and he does not plan to give gifts on the side of his colleagues, it is too tiring to send them over and toss, it is better to be as light as water as a gentleman's friend, and it is good to have his heart.

These gifts are mainly given to friends and family.

Dad and mother took their younger siblings to the capital, and they always had to send some New Year's goods to express their hearts, and Hui Niang took her daughter to the capital, and she was not familiar with the place, so she also needed to send some.

There is also Xie Duo's side to give gifts, and when he gives gifts, he is also going to come to the door in person, and by the way, he asks for a few books from Xie Duo to come back and read.

Since he went to the border, Shen Xi felt that it was not bad to be a civil servant, he went to and from work on time every day, he was in a good mood, and he didn't have to be as worried as he was on the battlefield all the time, and he had to fight with people at any time.

"Xianggong, the list of gifts has been prepared, what do you think is wrong or missing?" Xie Yun'er is worthy of being a virtuous helper, and there are some things that she can do properly without being reminded by Shen Xi.

Shen Xi nodded after reading it: "It's good, Madam has worked hard." ”

"What did the Xianggong say, these are the duties of the concubine, how can you say that it is hard?" Hearing Shen Xi's concern, Xie Yun'er showed a satisfied smile on her face, the most rare thing for a woman is to be appreciated by her man.

In this era of rebirth, Shen Xi's big man thinking is getting more and more serious, but he thinks that he will not treat any woman who gives him all her body and mind.

Shen Xi's gifts have not been sent out yet, and the New Year's gifts from the palace and the Marquis of Shouning have actually arrived in advance, silk, cloth, tea, porcelain...... are all exquisite and luxurious things, which add up to enough to withstand Shen Xi's annual income.

Xie Yun'er was very happy, she didn't know that Shen Xi would have so many rewards.

"It's not old or young."

Xie Yun'er said with a smile, "But the rewards in the palace haven't been used up yet." ”

"Then send a few pieces of cloth to my father and mother, and the shopkeeper, also send some, anyway, I haven't seen her since I returned to the capital......"

Shen Xi was a little lost in his heart, he asked himself that after coming to this world, the woman he cared about the most in his heart was not the cheap old lady Zhou, nor Lin Dai and Xie Yun'er, but Hui Niang, which was an extremely complex and difficult to understand emotion.

Xie Yun'er didn't know that Shen Xi had hidden intentions for Hui Niang in her heart, and said with a smile: "The concubine has only seen the shopkeeper once, or the concubine will accompany the princess in the afternoon, just look at Xi'er's Nizi, I heard that the slim and slim is now out." After that, Xie Yun'er winked at Shen Xi, and she was very clear about the relationship between Shen Xi and Lu Xi'er.

Although Shen Xi has always regarded Lu Xi'er as her sister, Lu Xi'er did not regard Shen Xi as her big brother, Lu Xi'er said early on that she would marry Shen Xi, it may have been a childhood joke at that time, but as she grew older, Lu Xi'er's feelings for Shen Xi did not seem to change at all, so that some things would inevitably be brought to the surface.

It's a pity that so far, Hui Niang doesn't seem to have the intention of marrying her daughter into the Shen family as Shen Xi's concubine.

"There you go." Shen Xi thought about it, and finally refused, "I'm going to visit Xie Lao in the afternoon to visit the old Xie sacrifice wine in the Guozijian, and it should be very late to come back." ”

"Hmm."

Xie Yun'er nodded, "I heard that the shopkeeper has integrated the business of the Chamber of Commerce in the capital in the past few days, and she has started to be busy again, the concubine admires her very much, she can be regarded as a powerful person, I am afraid that even many men can't match her." ”

Shen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly.

If there is any woman in the world who is the meanest to herself, Hui Niang can be regarded as the number one person.

People who have a lot of money in hand in these years will not be too mean to themselves, and will usually spend money to buy land to become a big landowner, as long as they do not conflict with the powerful, there is no problem in a stable life. But Hui Niang is like a person who likes to torture herself for pleasure by nature, which may be related to Hui Niang's identity as a widow, she wants to numb herself with her career, so she will show her strength in one place.

Shen Xi was a little helpless about this.

……

……

After lunch, Shen Xi took a carriage to Guozijian in the north of the city to see Xie Duo.

Xie Duo's apartment is full of people, not that no one wants to visit him, it's just that the guests can't even enter the door when they come, and they always eat behind closed doors, and over time they don't come to the door anymore.

Only Shen Xi regards Xie Duo's residence as his own back garden, and he can come whenever he wants, and every time he will get Xie Duo's hospitality.

Today, Xie Duo seemed to guess that Shen Xi would come, and prepared the West Lake Longjing at home to wait for him, and after Shen Xi arrived, Xie Duo even asked Shen Xi to comment on the landscape painting he had just painted.

Shen Xi looked at it carefully.

The main body of the painting is a large lake with a pavilion on the edge of the lake. An old man sat under the red pine tree by the pavilion and fished, leisurely. There is a poem by Xie Duo on it:

The height of Yanhu Lake is overwhelming, and it is said that the heavens are above. There must be Qiongtai is not the world, and there are no flowers and trees in spring and autumn. Talking about empty memories of three lives, who will rest in the end. I don't know outside Langgong Peng Island, how many people have traveled with Chi Song?

"Master Xie's painting is good, and the words are good, which can be said to complement each other and is convincing." Shen Xi exclaimed.

"You will pick up the good ones and say, who doesn't know that you and Tang Yin have fought poetry and paintings, and now your paintings are still hanging in the Minsheng Teahouse, the old man has gone to see them, and the paintings are indeed very good, but unfortunately there is a little less artistic conception."

Shen Xixin said that this is an expert in appreciating paintings.

At that time, he was just fighting with Tang Yin, and he took the "way of the other to give back to the other", where could he take care of things other than paintings?

After talking about poetry and painting for a while, the two sat down, and Xie Duo suddenly sighed: "Time flies so fast, and next year will be the year of the township test." ”

"Huh!?" Shen Xi looked at Xie Duo and didn't understand why he mentioned it.

"In fact, there are some things you should understand, in this Ming imperial examination, the most important thing is the general examination and the palace examination, but the two Jingxiang examinations are also not to be underestimated, and there are many famous talents. The old man learned that in this township examination, many young talents will participate, and many of them are compared to you...... Of course they can't surpass you in fame......"

Shen Xi thought to himself, isn't this nonsense, I am already a three-yuan and a three-yuan lianzhong, even if he can tie with me, he can't surpass me.

"Teacher Xie, the students don't understand what they said." Shen Xi said frankly.

"Why put it too bluntly?" Xie Duo glanced at Shen Xi, but saw that Shen Xi's eyes were clear, and he was not greedy, and said: "Okay, sooner or later, you have to know that the Shuntian Mansion and Yingtianfu Township Examinations have always been filled by Hanlin officials, and among them, the officials serving in the Zhan Mansion are usually the chief examiners, which means that you have a good chance to become the master of the Shuntian Mansion and the Yingtian Mansion." ”

Shen Xi shook his head in surprise: "The student's qualifications are too shallow, so I can't get my turn, right?" ”

"This is not accurate, if it is a township test in the past, there is indeed a matter of seniority, but in the past two years, His Majesty has reused young people, and you are one of them, judging from the prestige of the two capitals and Confucianism now, you are not much better than those old Hanlin officials, and even the old man doesn't know when you created a great reputation."

Shen Xi thought about it, I'm afraid it's mainly because of the fame he brought by Lian Zhong Sanyuan at the age of thirteen, plus Xie Pi and others to promote his psychology and Xie Duo to help out "Strange Tales from Liaozhai", but the most important thing is that he has a prosperous official fortune, and now he is a lecturer in the East Palace, once the prince ascends the throne, he has a great hope of entering the cabinet, so many people want to slap him up and make him famous in disguise.

"Then according to Master Xie's meaning, I have the opportunity to take the Liangjing Township test?" Shen Xi still couldn't believe it

"Roughly speaking, this is true, at least if you let the old man recommend you, you are the first choice, as for what others think, the old man is not very clear, but Fu Shangshu has a high opinion of you, the old man talks to him, and he has a lot of praise for you."

Shuntianfu and Yingtianfu Township test, who to let as the inner curtain official, is not the emperor's word, but by the Ministry of Rites to screen personnel and hand over to the cabinet, the cabinet approves and reports to the emperor, usually the emperor will not embarrass the courtiers on this issue, it can be said that the Ministry of Rites has a lot of power.

Xie Duo, as the prince of the country, is also a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and has a good relationship with Shangshu Fu Han, plus Shen Xi left a wonderful impression on Fu Han when he greeted the envoy of the Buddha Langji, and Fu Han admired him very much.

In this way, a scholar and a waiter in the Ministry of Rites felt that he was the best candidate for the main examination of the Liangjing Township Examination, and he was really likely to take over this errand.

The township examination will be held in early August, and the imperial court usually needs about half a year to prepare, mainly because the distance from Tianfu is relatively long, and after arranging the people, they must set off two or three months in advance.

Shen Xi shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently: "Whether it is the main examination of the Liangjing Township Examination or not, the students think that ...... It's not a big deal, the students just want to do a good job in the errand of the Zhan Mansion and teach the prince well. ”

"Whatever you want."

Xie Duo waved his hand, "Sometimes I think you are young and vigorous, and you are impulsive, and even the dignified prefect of Quanzhou says that you will take it, but sometimes I feel that you are too sophisticated and old, and you look down on fame and fortune. ”

"However, who called you a kid himself an outlier in the Ming officialdom?" (To be continued.) )