A loud noise came in from the open window, and the scholar frowned, got up to close the window, and casually glanced outside as he held the window frame.

Although it is already night, the bustle of Shendu Night Market has just begun.

The colorful lanterns on the street are reflected in the eyes of the scholars, which are bright and lively, and the scholars' eyes can't help but reveal a bit of yearning......

After a while, the scholar resolutely closed the window and cut off the desire to go out to play.

Among the scholars in the same group, his family conditions are the worst, so he often encourages himself, even if others can't be named on the gold list, they can go back and find other errands, and the son inherits his father's business.

But he's different, he has failed once before, if he doesn't win again this time, he doesn't know how to face his increasingly elderly parents when he goes back, and his family is in debt for the test expenses, and he really has no face to continue studying.

After thinking like this for a while, the scholar clenched his fists, then slowly let go, and continued to put his mind on the book in his hand.

Before he put his mind away, the door rang, and the scholar paused for a moment before he sighed, put down the book and walked to the door to open the door.

Outside the door was a young woman, with a very kind smile on her soft face, and asked, "Is Wen Qihua here?" ”

At this time, the door opened wide, and the scholar found that there was a man next to the woman, this man was unusually handsome, and his demeanor was elegant, just like the fairy in the painting, but his expression was indifferent, and there was a cold air all over his body, and he couldn't help but shudder in this slightly cool autumn night.

The scholar nodded with some confusion: "I am, are you ......?" ”

The two people who came were naturally Shen Lingjun and Su Musha, and after they came out of Juxian Building, they walked around to eliminate food, and then came to the Longmen Inn to find Wen Qihua. When I arrived at the inn, the shopkeeper and the storyteller all went out to visit the night market, but it seems that one of them didn't go out, so you can go and ask.

didn't think about it, it happened that Wen Qihua didn't go out, which saved a lot of trouble.

Shen Lingjun revealed his identity, Wen Qihua was very surprised, and asked the two of them to go in a little reservedly.

Shen Lingjun looked at the simple furnishings in the guest room and said with a smile: "Everyone else has gone shopping, why didn't you go out." ”

Wen Qihua stood aside respectfully and laughed self-deprecatingly: "The stupid bird flies first, I can only read more books." ”

Shen Lingjun and Su Musha sat on one side, Wen Qihua poured two cups of tea for the two of them and put them in front of them, and stood on the side.

Shen Lingjun greeted with a smile: "Sit down, let's talk casually." ”

"Yes." Wen Qihua agreed, and then sat on the opposite stool in a regular manner, sitting upright, not daring to relax at all.

Shen Lingjun and Su Musha glanced at each other, thinking in their hearts - there are also various types of emotional scholars, not to mention a group of heartless eyes who fought in Mengjin Mansion, Chang Hao was not afraid of Lao Tzu's biggest conceit before, and Wen Qihua understood the sophistication of human feelings better than Chang Hao.

"I heard Chang Hao say that the two of you have a good relationship." Shen Lingjun spoke.

Wen Qihua looked at his nose and nose, and replied dignifiedly: "Lord Hui Siqing, among everyone, the relationship between the two of us is indeed not bad. ”

Su Musha said: "What does it mean to be good?" ”

Wen Qihua hesitated slightly, and said: "Chang Hao is very talented, he is a famous talent in Suzhou Mansion, I believe that if he can participate in the scientific examination this time, he will be among the top three." Because of this, he usually doesn't care much about how to behave in the world, and often has a little unhappiness with others because of trivial things such as different opinions on a certain article, so other people don't get along with him. ”

Shen Lingjun tapped his fingers on the table and said, "So, Chang Hao often offends people? ”

"Not really." Wen Qihua pondered the sentences, and replied cautiously for a while: "Like us, we will have different opinions, that is, some literary discussions. ”

"Oh, the kind of jousting competition." Shen Lingjun said with a smile.

Wen Qihua nodded: "That's pretty much it, but everyone basically forgot about it later, it's just that there are too many times, and other people don't like to play with him very much, and it's not too bad, and the relationship is not salty or light." ”

Shen Lingjun looked at Su Musha meaningfully, and said with a smile: "Outstanding people are usually easy to attract jealousy. ”

"What about you?" Su Musha looked past Shen Lingjun's eyes and asked Wen Qihua.

"Me?" Wen Qihua was stunned for a moment, and then understood what Su Musha meant.

Lowering his head, his expression was a little lonely, and he laughed at himself with a wry smile: "The two adults also saw it, and I basically don't spend much time with them, so sometimes I have a meal with Chang Hao, who is alone, and the relationship is okay after a long time." Chang Hao is actually a good person, but his personality is too proud and upright. ”

Shen Lingjun supported his chin with one hand and said with a slight smile: "So you took him to Examiner Lu's house." ”

Speaking of this, Wen Qihua's face turned pale, his expression was a little nervous, his hands tugged at the placket, and he moved around the seat uneasily.

Then he slowly replied: "I...... I just wanted to visit, I didn't mean anything else, I didn't expect to hurt him. ”

Su Musha swept over with a pair of cold eyes, noticed the weakness of heart flashing on the young man's face, and said coldly: "You two are going to go back together?" ”

Wen Qihua nodded: "Yes, Lord Lu is very kind and polite, and left us to sit for a while." ”

Shen Lingjun's dark eyes moved slightly, and he said with a smile: "What did you all talk about?" ”

Wen Qihua's eyes lowered, looked at his hand, and said: "It's the two of them talking, about some current affairs and the like, it seems that they are very close, and I basically can't interject, it can be seen that Lord Lu admires Chang Hao's talent and learning." ”

Su Musha looked at his face and said lightly: "From the time you entered to the time you left, did you see that Chang Hao intended to bribe?" ”

Wen Qihua clenched his right hand into a fist and grinded it on the placket, and slowly shook his head: "Not at the time, but ...... I don't know if I went there later, maybe ...... Maybe he went on his own and didn't call me. ”

Shen Lingjun said curiously: "Are you saying that he may have been to Lord Lu's house in private?" ”

Wen Qihua frowned slightly: "I...... I can't say it, when we came out of Lord Lu's house, I was very excited to see Chang Hao, and said that he and Lord Lu hit it off at first sight, and it would be good if they had the opportunity to be officials in the same dynasty in the future. ”

Su Musha saw the complicated look flashing on Wen Qihua's face, and said, "Have you seen any valuables that Chang Hao has carried with him?" ”

Wen Qihua thought for a moment and replied, "It seems that there is none, but I'm not sure." We don't live together, and Chang Hao has a scholar around him, and everything is a scholar's cooking. ”

Shen Lingjun nodded, and asked instead, "There is a person named Huang Yu in your group, right?" ”

Wen Qihua was slightly surprised: "Huang Yu, yes, what's wrong with him?" ”

Shen Ling didn't answer, and then asked, "How is he a person, and how is his relationship with Chang Hao?" ”

"Huang Yu, he reads averagely, but his family is relatively rich, and he is lively and cheerful, plus because his family is doing business, he is very good at rhetoric, and he is the most popular in our group." Wen Qihua 1510 said: "As for the relationship with Chang Hao, it can only be said that it is very ordinary, Chang Hao privately said that this person is too sleek and sophisticated, and it is not worth intersecting." ”

Su Musha said: "Then what disputes and contradictions have they had?" ”

Wen Qihua shook his head slowly: "It's not true, it's just that we don't like each other very much." ”

Shen Lingjun touched his chin: "What about the others?" Is there anyone who has a rather bad relationship with Chang Hao? ”

"Nope." Wen Qihua affirmed: "We also got acquainted with each other in the middle of this imperial examination, and we all thought about the scientific examination, and we wouldn't be particularly bad with people when we went out, but it wasn't much better." ”

After finishing speaking, Wen Qihua said with some hesitation: "Lord Siqing, I heard that it was one of our group who reported Chang Hao this time, could it be Huang Yu?" ”

Shen Lingjun waved his hand: "Don't guess, don't tell others that we have found you, study with peace of mind, and prepare for the first exam in a few days." ”

"Yes, Siqing-sama." Wen Qihua nodded in response.

Shen Lingjun and Su Musha saw that there was nothing else to ask, so they got up and left.

Wen Qihua sent it outside the door, but couldn't help but ask: "Chang Hao, ...... Do you still have a chance to participate in the scientific expedition? ”

Shen Lingjun smiled: "It's up to heaven." ”

Coming out of the Dragon Gate Inn, it was already about two o'clock.

The crescent moon hung obliquely in the southwest like a barb, and the starry sky was like pearls all over the black night sky.

However, the night market is still lively, and the noisy voices of people come from all over the place.

Shen Lingjun and Su Musha were squeezed in the middle of the crowd, close to each other, rubbing their shoulders against each other when they walked.

After a juggling session and crossing the bridge, there were a little fewer people.

Su Musha looked at Shen Lingjun's cat-pupil-like eyes beside him, making the lights on both sides shine, remembering the cunning and intelligence often revealed in those eyes, and smiled slightly.

Shen Lingjun turned his head, squinted his eyes and said, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Su Musha was slightly stunned, puzzled how she knew.

"I can feel it." Shen Lingjun said mysteriously.

Su Musha shook his head: "I'm thinking, aren't you going to ask Huang Yu for questioning?" ”

"Since it was Chang Hao who he went to Shangshu Mansion to report, I can't ask anything now, I'll talk about it in a few days." Shen Lingjun thought for a moment: "I want to go to find Agui, a subordinate of the Lu Mansion, first." ”

"Another witness in this case?"

"Hmm." Shen Lingjun nodded: "It's understandable that Huang Yu did this kind of thing, and Agui has been in the Lu Mansion for many years, he can come forward to testify, either Lu Xiuyuan did take bribes, otherwise, there must be something wrong with this." ”

Su Musha nodded: "What you said makes a lot of sense. ”

Shen Lingjun held the knife wrapped in silk behind his back, and sighed: "However, you also heard it, that Wen Qihua was hinting that Chang Hao should have gone to Lu Xiuyuan in private, compared to Chang Hao's insistence that it had nothing to do with him, the gap between the two is really too big." ”

Su Musha used his hand to block the passers-by who were holding a potted begonia plant, and then replied: "You heard Wen Qihua just say, if Chang Hao participates in the imperial examination, he must be among the top three, one less powerful competitor, for him is one less obstacle, and he also has more hope, people's hearts are not so selfish, and he didn't say it must be, but it just leads us to doubt." ”

Shen Lingjun shook his head: "The more unconfident people are, the more they will think so." ”

Su Mu smiled lightly: "Ling'er, do you think that people in the world are as simple-minded as you." ”

Shen Lingjun poked Su Musha: "You don't do the same." ”