At the beginning of the year, when Xiao Mingche was punished in the palace to think about it, Li Fengming implicitly mentioned that he should learn to behave in front of Emperor Qi when necessary, in exchange for what he needs and thinks.

How Xiao Mingche later operated in front of Emperor Qi, Li Fengming did not have the opportunity to witness it with his own eyes.

But that night, she knew very clearly that Xiao Mingche not only listened to her original words, but also learned to draw inferences from one case and use them on her well.

A while ago, Xiao Mingche was busy, leaving early and returning late, he and Li Fengming slept in their own hospitals;

Later, Li Fengming fell ill again, and although Xiao Mingche accompanied him night and night, he couldn't do anything.

Unknowingly, the two of them spent most of the "vegetarian life" for half a month.

At dusk, there was such a "bite" and "bite" in the study, it was simply thunderous, and it was logical to close the account in the bedroom of the north courtyard at night.

Xiao Mingche was extremely well-behaved, coaxed again and again, and completely pinched Li Fengming's flowery heart.

She simply couldn't refuse. I didn't want to refuse.

This night, the two boldly explored several new tricks, which was really unprecedented and enjoyable.

Halfway through the middle of the night, Li Fengming's body and mind were soft, and he was paralyzed in the quilt that he had just changed, and it took a long time to calm down.

My brain was dizzy, my cheeks were red, and my eyes were watery. She said in her heart that she could no longer be greedy for joy in the future. No matter how good things are, they should be in moderation.

Xiao Mingche, who caused the accident and cleaned up the scene by himself, returned to the quilt after finishing his work, encircled her in his arms, and smiled contentedly.

"I've decided," Li Fengming muttered, "In the future, we will also be like other royal mansions, and we will fix the first and fifteenth days of the new year every month, and we can't do more than three at a time." ”

The tired voice was thin and hoarse, but it fell into Xiao Mingche's ears like a thunderbolt from the sky.

"Forgive me. If you do this, I will be 'starved' to death. ”

Li Fengming is calm and confident: "Among the two possibilities of 'starving you' and 'exhausting me', of course I choose to die and not die." ”

Xiao Mingche: "Your physical strength is too poor. It's better to increase the morning practice in the martial arts field tomorrow morning......"

"Shut up for me. Then roll. Li Fengming ruthlessly turned his back to him.

Want to do strengthening tomorrow morning? She can't get up tomorrow morning, so she can't talk about it.

Xiao Mingche tightened his embrace, his chin against her hair, "This is my bed." ”

"From now on, the two monthly accounts will be fixed in my house." Li Fengming closed his eyes and muttered.

Xiao Mingche freed his right hand and strangled her neck with a false gesture, "So it's convenient for you to tell me to go back to the North Courtyard?" ”

She was not threatened in the slightest, "That's right. ”

"Fang Cai was still pestering me to hum and chirp, and he turned his head and thought about how to get me out of bed." Xiao Mingche withdrew his hand and lowered his head to bite her ear.

"Who's pestering who?!" Li Fengming wants to cry without tears, wants to laugh silently, and is powerless to hide.

"Don't make a fuss. Tomorrow is the closing day of the rally, and you have to show up in the debate arena. ”

Xiao Mingche is going to show up, which means that she has to follow along. She's not iron-clad, and she can't afford to do it again.

The total number of days was three days.

On the afternoon of the third day, all the scholars who passed the gathering stood in front of the Jinpeng in the north and accepted the "Wang" plaque jointly issued by the Ministry of Officials and the University Scholars.

Getting this "Wang" card means that this person will enter the "Biwen" screening in two days.

According to the custom, if the prince or the princes in the brocade shed were particularly optimistic about any scholar, they would summon that person in to meet separately when the "Wang" plate was distributed.

The prince was unexpected, and the first person to be called was Hou Yun, the little son of Zhengding Bofu.

While waiting for the little official to ask Hou Yun, everyone in the shed talked about several outstanding scholars yesterday with uneven faces.

That Hou Yun is also outstanding, but he only made a big statement in public yesterday, and the prince's intention to call him to see him was obviously subtle, so everyone only said a few words to him.

Because Princess Heng's mother was from the Wen family, Uncle Rong Wang casually asked about Wen Changzhi, a side branch of the Wen family.

In fact, Wen Changzhi appeared on the first day.

The man is gentle and elegant, introverted and modest, and has a deep family background in rhetoric. It's hard to say how you can be an official, but it won't be bad at studying.

With the relationship between Princess Heng, the children of the Wen family are not bad for King Heng when they enter the court.

So King Heng and his wife sang together, and they praised Wen Changzhi as flowers.

After hearing this, the prince smiled and said, "Wen Changzhi, it is passable among this year's candidates." But compared to what I heard three years ago, it seems to be a lot worse. ”

He is alluding to the fact that the children of the Wen family are not as good as a year, and the faces of King Heng and his wife are naturally ugly.

Remembering that the "Wensheng" they said was the "fourth brother with a poisonous mouth" in Wenyin's mouth, Li Fengming was quite interested, and pricked up his ears and waited for the following.

The old King Rong squinted his eyes and played a round game, "Who would have thought that Wen Zexi would be able to raise a son who is a military attaché?" The Wen family has been heard for several generations, and this is the only one. It has only been three years since he was promoted to the head of the criminal case department of Dali Temple, and he should be able to become a big tool in the future. ”

The criminal case department of Dali Temple is straight, and the official position is neither high nor low, but the responsibility is not small. Specially review serious criminal and prison cases in various localities, and settle grievances and doubts.

After polishing in this position for a few years, if you make some achievements, and then have the support of the Wen family, the road to Qingyun will definitely be smooth.

Princess Heng covered her mouth with a silk and said with a smile, "Uncle Rong has been raised." Hearing the sound is a little bit of a skill, but his mouth is really a headache. Every time his mother talked to me, she shook her head bitterly. ”

Li Fengming couldn't help but interject: "Then the adult Wensheng has a bad temper? ”

"I don't know what to say," Princess Heng laughed back at her, "Anyway, Wenyin always said that her fourth brother had poison on his mouth." ”

In the brocade shed, Li Fengming didn't know anything about the sound. So everyone laughed, and you and I said it word by word.

"Let's talk, it's too direct."

"I heard that he doesn't like to be tortured when trying cases, and he will use every word in his mouth, and weaker people can't resist it at all."

His mother said he would come home like that. Sometimes even his father is so angry that he beats his heart. ”

The more Li Fengming listened, the more he felt that this person was very interesting. But everyone talked and talked, and then moved on to talking about other people.

She only saw Hou Yun appear yesterday, and she didn't see any people behind her, so she couldn't answer again.

So he listened to a few words with a dignified smile, and went to get the melons on the plate to eat while people were not paying attention.

This melon was soaked in the well in the morning, and it was cut and sent in for a while, and you can feel cool from afar.

At this time, the weather is hot and dry, and it is excellent to relieve the heat.

But her hand was stretched out, and she was immediately patted back by Xiao Mingche.

"Could it be that this melon is poisonous?" Li Fengming squinted at him, and asked knowingly in an angry voice.

Xiao Mingche also squinted at her, his face was expressionless, and he also replied with a tone of anger, "It's too cold, you can't eat it." ”

This woman seemed to be out of her body when she came every month, and he specially asked the house doctor, and the advice he got was to avoid touching cold things.

The melon had been soaked in the well water all day, it was too cold, and it was not good for her to eat it at this hot moment.

"It's okay to eat less. I'll just eat a slice. Li Fengming tried to reason.

Xiao Mingche took a peach and stuffed it to her, expressing his determination to strictly guard against letting her eat ice melon.

At this moment, the little official came in with Hou Yun.

After he finished the salute, the prince was like a smiling tiger, seemingly chatting with him casually, but in fact, he meant something in every word.

Everyone paid attention to the Q&A conversation between the prince and Hou Yun, and speculated on the deep meaning behind every word and sentence of the prince.

Li Fengming didn't have to guess.

The princes of all countries in the world, when they encounter an impulsive cub like Hou Yun who rashly preaches in public to shake the national system, his thoughts and practices will not be too bad.

She only had to listen a few ears to roughly understand that the prince was trying to knock Hou Yun and ask him to find an opportunity to explain who was instigating.

The words have been spoken, if Hou Yun keeps gritting his teeth in the future, the eldest princess may still try to protect him and his family.

If he was stupid enough to betray the eldest princess to the crown prince again, neither side would make his family happy.

If Hou Yun and his family Zhengding Bofu finally chose the latter, it would not be worth bothering.

Li Fengming lowered his eyes and groaned, and began to tear the peach skin with two hearts.

The prince and Hou Yun didn't talk for too long, it happened to be the time when Li Fengming finished peeling the peaches.

After Hou Yun went out, King Heng suddenly spoke, "That Cen Jiashu is really a wonderful person. Brother Huang wants to summon him? ”

The crown prince didn't seem to have much interest in Cen Jiashu. He looked around at everyone present, "What do you think about a few imperial uncles?" ”

"He didn't say a word yesterday, but he only appeared on the piano, which is quite intriguing and can be seen."

Uncle Tai Wang stroked his beard and smiled. The other two uncles seconded the proposal.

The prince looked at Xiao Mingche again: "What does the fifth child think?" ”

Xiao Mingche was about to speak, and there was an extra peeled peach in his palm.

Li Fengming blinked at him quickly, and a bright smile was about to flow out of the corners of his eyes.

The meaning is very clear, that is, please Xiao Mingche also agree to summon Cen Jiashu. She was eager to see if there was a big gap between the real person and the portrait.

"The younger brother was absent yesterday, and after listening to Uncle Tai's words, he was also curious about this person."

That being said, Xiao Mingche's indifferent face really didn't look like curiosity.

Fortunately, he has always been like this in front of people, and no one has ever investigated whether he really wants to see him or is perfunctory and follows the crowd.

Finally being able to get a close glimpse of Cen Jiashu's real demeanor, Li Fengming was so happy that he could wring out honey with a smile.

The more Xiao Mingche looked at it, the more unpleasant it became, and he stuffed the peach back into her mouth with a bad breath, and then he counted out half of the evil breath.

Their seats were on the right side of the prince and his wife, and next to them were only the old and dizzy Rong Wang and his wife.

The two of them were very careful in their words and movements, so they thought that no one saw them.

As everyone knows, the crown princess, who seems to be looking ahead the whole time, has been looking at them with her spare eyes.

In the eyes of the crown princess, the complete course of the matter is-

Princess Huai wanted to eat melons, but King Huai was "mean" and obstructed, and threw her a peach with a cold face;

She "swallowed her anger" and took it, and after peeling it off, she accompanied her smiling face to please King Huai;

King Huai kept a straight face and stuffed it back into her mouth "fiercely and ruthlessly".

Seeing that they have been married for more than half a year, Princess Huai is still so unpopular with her husband, and the crown princess can't help but feel pity.

And a little angry and indisputable contempt—

Look at the soft persimmon that is obedient, with a smile on his face, and he may not know how sad he is.

Don't everyone say that Wei Nu is very majestic?

This princess Huai was also born as a princess, but she didn't dare to take it at all in front of her husband, and she was not angry.

While waiting for the little official to invite Cen Jiashu to come, Li Fengming bit the peach gently, seemingly careless, but in fact observing everyone's expressions.

The prince's indifference to Cen Jiashu was too abrupt, which was the most incomprehensible thing for Li Fengming.

I think that at the beginning, although the queen was to cooperate with the prince to put pressure on King Heng in public opinion, she did not really want to choose a son-in-law for the unmarried daughters of each family, but the scene was still very thoughtful.

The people who will be selected by her to show the portrait are not bad, and among the two things of family background and talent, at least one of them is extremely outstanding.

Moreover, since the queen is to cooperate with the prince, the portrait she picks out will be seen by the prince in advance, and then it will be presented to the nobles.

This shows that at least a month or two ago, when the queen chose the portrait, the prince was still blue-eyed towards Cen Jiashu.

In less than two months, the prince's attitude towards Cen Jiashu has changed from approving to cold, and even a little resistant. What happened in the meantime? It's really intriguing.

Compared with the prince's coldness, King Heng was enthusiastic about Cen Jiashu.

He even took the initiative to turn to Xiao Mingche and Li Fengming, and said with a smile, "The fifth child was not here yesterday, so I guess I don't know much about Cen Jiashu?" ”

"I would like to hear the details, there is Brother Lao Heng." Xiao Mingche said perfunctorily.

King Heng climbed the ladder and immediately began to talk.

It turned out that Cen Jiashu's ancestor was "Liangjin Gui", that is, he donated a huge amount of money to the imperial court and was given a knighthood.

This knighthood came to Cen Jiashu's grandfather's generation, and it has been three generations.

According to the Qi system, if his grandfather died, the knighthood would be taken back by the imperial court, and the Cen family would return to the common people.

Li Fengming was puzzled, turned his head closer to Xiao Mingche, and asked in a low voice, "Why didn't his father seek to ask for another knight?" ”

This doesn't make sense.

Since the family is about to give the knight to the end, under normal circumstances, Cen Jiashu's father will actively collect money and then donate to the imperial court to give the knight.

Xiao Mingche did not answer directly, but asked King Heng, "Brother King Heng, there doesn't seem to be the Cen family in this year's knighthood list. But the Cen family has fallen? ”

King Heng smiled, "If you want to talk about defeat, then it counts, it doesn't count." It depends on how you say it. ”

The wealth accumulated by the Cen family for several generations is almost all poured into the education of the younger generation.

But the qualification of people really depends on the providence of God. has spent so much money, and the one who has really made a splash in several generations seems to be Cen Jiashu.

Among the candidates for this year's Xia Wangshi, there are many children of noble families, and there are many famous talents who have been circulated throughout the country with their masterpieces.

Cen Jiashu is not from Beijing, but he was able to stand out early in such a strong situation, and made a name for himself in Beijing before Xia Wang's official start, which is not something that can be done with a good-looking face.

Even if the Cen family is doing everything for him behind his back, he has to be confident enough to support the wall.

But he's really a guy who can hold up the wall.

“…… Cen Jiashu is not superior in his family background among the scholars who should be selected this year, but few people can compare his talent and teacher inheritance. ”

King Heng is like a treasure, and obviously has made some efforts to Cen Jiashu in advance.

"His teachers are not in the court, but they are famous hermits in the Qi country."

Hearing this, Li Fengming couldn't help but be curious, "His Royal Highness King Heng said, his mentor ...... Guys? ”

"Yes, he is not one person who teaches his teacher," Lao Rong Wang answered happily, "but four people, known as 'Shanxi Siye Lao'." ”

These four are about the same age as the empress dowager in the palace, and they were known to the whole country when Emperor Xiao Mingche's great-grandfather was still alive.

However, after the first emperor ascended the throne, these four people resigned and went to live in seclusion by the Shanxi in Baoshan County, and studied in seclusion.

Now, decades have passed, and the young descendants no longer know how these four people were in the court back then, only that they were highly respected and profound hermits.

It is said that they often give lectures at the altar, and they teach without class. Many people in Baoshan County have gone to listen to the teachings, regardless of whether they are young and talented.

As he spoke, King Rong laughed, "These old foxes do have real talents and learning, but they are by no means as noble as the world thinks. They, which one of them was not a human spirit in the court back then? After resigning and retiring, he played the trick of selling his reputation and reputation, which was really a knife used to kill chickens, and he believed that the people of the world were bluffing. ”

Li Fengming smiled and looked at Uncle Rong Wang, "Why did Uncle Rong Wang say this?" ”

In fact, she had already guessed what was going on, but she was just talking to Uncle Rong.

There is no shortage of such people in all countries in the world, in all dynasties.

This kind of person usually has some real skills, but they are forced to stay away from the court for various unspeakable and unavoidable reasons.

But they will not admit to the world that they are forced, and they often create the illusion of being high and retreating.

Then he opened an altar to give lectures, taught his disciples, and sold his talents and learning at a high price without a trace.

As long as they don't teach any fallacies and heresies, the court usually won't ask about it, and sometimes it will even conform to public opinion and give them false titles such as "cloth clothes and guest secretaries".

"Oh, you are married to Wei Guo, I haven't heard of their names before, and I don't know what is going on."

Lao Rong Wang smiled kindly, and patiently answered her questions, "Those four old people are endless, ordinary people talk about them, they all say that they are far away from the court, noble and do not care about the world. For decades, lectures have been held frequently, saying that anyone can go to listen to the teaching, but how many of those who really go to listen to the teaching will be empty-handed? ”

If you start to go in a vacuum, I'm afraid you won't even be able to enter the door.

In the past few decades, there have only been two of them who have openly admitted to be disciples, and one of them is Cen Jiashu.

"You just have to think about it, his grandfather is still alive and well, and the family is still giving the knight, but he doesn't have the financial resources to ask for the lord again, you can understand how much real money the Cen family has carried to Shanxi over the years."

Cen Jiashu has been enlightened since he was a child, and he has spent more time in Shanxi than in the Cen family, and he can be regarded as growing up in front of the four of them.

It wasn't until he entered Beijing this year to participate in Xia Wang's scholarship that he was officially out of school.

Therefore, although he is young, he has never let the world see the real chapter in terms of talent and learning in the past, but he has attracted much attention in the government and the opposition.

"I see. Thank you, Uncle Rong. ”

While speaking, Li Fengming's eyes lit up-

Cen Jiashu came in.

。