Wan Yutong sat by the pond doing needlework, and in her hand was a baby dress that was gradually taking shape, she sewed stitches and threads, and her face was full of happy smiles.

Wan Shan, who was wearing heavy armor, held a war knife and led Wan Yutong's cousin Wan Ming and a young man who looked like a scholar walked in, Wan Shan is the son of Wan Yutong's father's family general Wan Quan, Wan Quan's old age, pension at home, Wan Shan is Wan Yutong's dowry officer, because he served in the army, the official to the general, Zhao Junsheng appointed him as Wan Yutong's residence in the West Garden, responsible for guarding the West Garden.

Wan Shan motioned for Wan Ming and the young scholar to wait on the side, he walked into the pavilion, hugged his fists and bowed down to report, "Niangniang, my uncle is here!" ”

Wan Yutong looked up, got up and beckoned to Wan Ming with a smile, "Brother is here, come in and sit!" ”

Wan Ming hurriedly pulled the young scholar into the pavilion and saluted, "Wan Ming, meet Niangniang!" ”

"It's all my own family, my brother doesn't need to be polite!" Wan Yutong said and looked at the young scholar beside Wan Min, "Who is this?" ”

Wan Min turned his head and said to the young scholar beside him, "Zhen'er, don't you kowtow to your aunt soon!" ”

The young scholar immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "Nephew Wan Zhen has seen my aunt and has given my aunt a salute!" ”

Wan Yutong was confused, "This ······"

Wan Ming immediately explained, "Niangniang, you also know that my brother and I have no children in my life, but as the saying goes, there are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great, now I am in my fifties, and it is almost the age of the sixtieth year, and it is impossible to regenerate, Zhen'er is the son of our Wan clan, and there are many brothers and sisters in his family, I found Zhen'er's biological father and wanted to pass him on to me, and their family agreed after discussion, and Zhen'er's name was changed after the step! ”

After hearing this, Wan Yutong suddenly realized, "I see! Zhen'er, get up quickly, it's very cold on the ground! ”

"Aunt Xie!"

Wan Yutong was pregnant and couldn't stand all the time, so after sitting down, he instructed the maid, "Come on, serve tea!" ”

"Brother, don't stand, sit down and talk!"

Although they are relatives, Wan Yutong's status is noble, Wan Ming's father and son are still very restrained, and they only sit on half of the stool.

The maid quickly brought tea, and Wan Yutong smiled and said, "Brother, Zhen'er, you drink tea!" ”

"Oh, good, good!"

The father and son hurriedly agreed, picked up the teacup and drank it slowly.

Wan Ming saw Wan Yutong sewing baby clothes, and couldn't help asking, "Sister, this is ······ You're pregnant! ”

Wan Yutong smiled and nodded, "Well, it's been more than three months!" ”

Wan Ming was very happy, and hurriedly said, "Then congratulations to my sister who will be a mother in six or seven months, I guess it must be a big fat boy!" ”

Wan Yutong shook his head: "It's good whether it's a boy or a girl!" ”

Wan Ming hurriedly said, "It must be a prince!" Sister, forgive my brother for one more word, mothers are more expensive than children! ”

"I think girls are better, and daughters are more caring!"

Wan Ming said helplessly, "That's what I said, but my daughter is someone else's family after all!" ”

Wan Yutong didn't want to continue the topic, looked up at Wan Zhen and asked, "Zhen'er is still studying in the academy?" ”

Wan Ming immediately said, "I've finished reading, he participated in the scientific expedition a few days ago!" ”

"Oh? Did you get in? ”

"No, after the exam, Zhen'er said that he felt okay and did well in the exam, but I don't know how those examiners scored the papers, he actually fell to Sun Shan, hey!"

Wan Ming sighed when he said this, and also made Wan Zhen bow his head in shame, he changed the topic and said, "There are regulations in the imperial court, each student only has three opportunities to participate in the scientific examination, and if you fail to pass the examination more than three times, you can't take the exam again, but if you only want to study and participate in the scientific examination, you won't do anything, and if you can't pass the exam at that time, you will be older, and your ambition will be wiped out, what else can you do?" So, I thought I'd let him find something to do first! His aunt, our family has such a noble person as you, brother, I can only beg you to help this nephew, our old family is such a single seedling, we can't let him be so wasted in such a lifetime, I believe that as long as there is your sister, he will definitely have a future! ”

Wan Yutong put down the needle and thread, looked at Wan Zhen and asked, "What does Zhen'er think about herself?" Do you want to continue to study hard and wait three years to take the scientific examination, or do you want to start working now? If you start working now, do you want to follow the path of career, or do you want to do something else? ”

Wan Zhen arched his hand and said, "My nephew's qualifications are dull, I'm afraid that even if I study for another three years, I won't be able to pass the exam, and my nephew still has this self-knowledge, so I still don't take the exam!" If you do things, my nephew still wants to take a career in office, after all, he is a scholar, and after reading so many books, he still wants to apply what he has learned to serve the court."

Wan Yutong put the needle and thread and baby clothes in the basket, and said to Wan Zhen, "We are our own family, and my aunt will not tell you about it, this big official is not easy to do, in the past, the people said that thousands of miles to be an official is only to make a fortune, but now the official who wants to make a fortune is afraid that it will not work, if you want to make a fortune, my aunt still advises you to engage in business, there is no problem for my aunt to give you the name of an imperial businessman, as long as my aunt is still there, you can ensure that the money you earn in this life can not be spent for several lifetimes; But if you want to be an official, you must not be an official in order to make a fortune, and one day, if you are imprisoned for greed, dereliction of duty, and abuse of power for personal gain, I am afraid that my aunt will not be able to save you!

Also, if you want to be an official, your aunt can find a way to help you embark on a career as an official, but you also know that since the founding of the country, Your Majesty has promoted the selection of talents through the imperial examination, although there is no explicit provision that only those who are on the list of Jinshi have the opportunity to enter the upper echelons of the imperial court, but this is almost an unwritten rule of the imperial court. Auntie can pave a way for you, but how far you can go is up to you! ”

Wan Ming immediately pulled Wan Zhen's clothes, "Quickly kowtow to your aunt!" ”

Wan Zhen bowed down and said, "Thank you aunt for your teachings, Zhen'er keep it in mind!" ”

Wan Yutong wanted to keep the father and son to eat in Xiyuan, but there were too many rules in this palace, and they always felt uncomfortable, so they refused Wan Yutong's kindness and left.

On this day, Zhao Junsheng came to Xiyuan, and Wan Yutong asked people to prepare a sumptuous meal.

He walked to the table and looked at it, and said with a smile, "Yo, the food is good today!" ”

Wan Yutong came over with a pot of wine and said, "I have something to ask you, so naturally I want to serve you!" After speaking, he began to pour wine for Zhao Junsheng.

Zhao Junsheng was quite surprised, "Hey, I remember that since the two of us met more than 20 years ago, you never seemed to have begged me, is this the first time?" ”

"I don't remember, maybe! You just said yes or no, right? ”

Zhao Junsheng picked up the wine bottle and took a sip, and said seriously: "You haven't said anything yet, how can I promise you?" If you ask me to be a eunuch, I can't do it! ”

Wan Yutong couldn't help but burst out laughing, and hit him with a fist, "Jing Nonsense, how could I let you do that!" It's my cousin Wan Ming's stepson, that child took the scientific examination a few days ago, but failed to pass the exam, I don't want to take the exam, and I want to come out and do things. My cousin brought him over and begged me, and you know that my cousin is such a relative, so I can't say anything if I don't help! ”

Zhao Junsheng said, "That's it?" ”

"yes!"

Zhao Junsheng sandwiched a piece of beef and put it in his mouth and chewed, "You are now the imperial concubine, and the ministers and officials have scratched their heads and tried to get closer to you, you just need to say a word, isn't this matter easy to solve?" Why do you need me for help? ”

Wan Yutong pouted, "Don't bully me, I don't understand, now both the imperial court and the local government are very strict, and it is impossible to let a student who has no experience as an official and no scientific examination to be an official be an official, and no minister or official dares to arrange it easily." The reputation of nepotism and bad rules is not good, once the division investigates it, not to mention that the official position is not guaranteed, I am afraid that there will be imprisonment!

Besides, I don't want to have anything to do with those ministers and officials, I'm quietly my imperial concubine, and I live comfortably without any worries!

Also, you are my husband, I can ask you directly for whatever I want, why should I work for others? And I also know that this official position has been a national weapon since ancient times, it is not good for me to meddle in these things as a woman, it is easy to break the rules, you have not been able to establish these rules with great difficulty, I can't destroy them for you all at once! ”

What kind of woman Wan Yutong is, Zhao Junsheng has long known, and he is not worried at all that she will do something bad behind his back.

After thinking about it for a while, Zhao Junsheng beckoned to the eunuch Yuan Lian, who stepped forward and bent down.

"You go to the Gongyuan to ······" When Zhao Junsheng said this, he turned his head and asked, "What's his name?" ”

"Wan Zhen!"

Zhao Junsheng nodded and said to Yuan Lian, "You go to the Gongyuan and bring out the examination papers of this student Wan Zhen and show them to me!" ”

"No!"

After Zhao Junsheng and Wan Yutong finished eating, drinking wine and tea, and after washing, Yuan Lian took the exam papers from the Gongyuan.

Zhao Junsheng opened Wan Zhen's exam paper and looked at it, judging from the exam paper, Wan Zhen's memory is very ordinary, the arithmetic is good, the arithmetic questions are all right, and all the exam questions are not wrong because of carelessness, and some hidden traps are all answered correctly, which shows that this student is very careful.

In terms of poetry, Wan Zhen's level is very average; Zhao Junsheng read it again, Wan Zhen analyzed it relatively plainly in this regard, and wrote more public opinions, there is no point of view worthy of people's eyes, no wonder the examiner did not let him be on the list.

Zhao Junsheng thought about it for a while, picked up the pen and wrote "Citong Jinshi Origin" on the exam paper, and handed it to Yuan Jian after writing, "Let them increase the number of top three places!" ”

There is a quota for the number of people selected for each scientific examination, if you want to increase the number of selections, or increase the number of Enke, you must have the will of the emperor, and the second and third grades cannot be directly awarded, and they must be admitted to the Hanlin Academy for three years before awarding officials.

Yuan Jian left, but Wan Yutong was a little apprehensive, "This list has long passed, and suddenly a place is added, how can you convince the public?" ”

Zhao Junsheng said with a smile; "Don't worry, it's okay, no one will question what I hand-picked! By the way, you let Wan Zhen come over another day, and I'll meet him! ”

"Good!"

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