"Is Lord Xu with you?" Xue Ji was not in a hurry to respond or object, but just changed the conversation and asked.

It stands to reason that the old ministers who accompanied Qin Xu from King Ning to the position of the Son of Heaven are now only Xue Ji and Xu Yan, and if he goes on patrol, he must bring at least one trustworthy official.

Just now he ordered Xue Ji to supervise the country, and it could only be Xu Yan who was driving.

Unexpectedly, Qin Xu waved his hand and denied: "No need, you two can rest assured that you are guarding the imperial court, just have Chen Shao with you."

Chen Shao, Chen Shao again.

Xue Ji was shocked, he only knew that Chen Shao had been reused since His Majesty ascended the throne, and Chen Shao had been promoted to the secretary of the Criminal Department for a while, but he could never have imagined that His Majesty's trust in Chen Shao had reached such a level.

In the past two years, more and more officials have become friendly with Chen Shao, and he has heard of this, and with Chen Shao's ambition, he will never be satisfied with just a small position of Shangshu.

I heard that he also intends to cling to the prince, but his intentions are obviously not pure.

Without waiting for Xue Ji to speak, Qin Xu himself changed the topic.

I saw him flip through the music on the table and said in a deep voice, "Also."

Xue Ji didn't know why, so he only answered, 'Yes.'"

He continued, "I heard that Jiang Yan's eldest son will take the exam this year?"

Mentioning this matter, Xue Ji couldn't help but raise his vigilance, but what he was most afraid of when holding the imperial examination was fraud, once there was fraud, at least one person would be beheaded all over the house, and more than half of the Manchu officials would be lost.

And after this kind of official, it is easiest to be caught.

Even if Jiang Yan had already returned to his hometown and stayed away from the imperial court, this kind of gossip still couldn't be avoided.

Xue Ji bowed slightly, and said, "Yes, Jiang Gongzi is quite famous in the Jianghuai area."

"No matter how famous you are, you can't reuse it."

There was a young man standing outside the gate of the Xue Mansion, who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a green shirt, with silver hairpins tied up in his hair, his thumb in his sleeve constantly rubbing, and a nervous look between his eyebrows.

As soon as Wang Qu opened the door, he saw this scene, was stunned for a moment, and then opened his mouth hesitantly and asked, "This son, who are you?"

I only heard him say in a calm tone, "Jiang Luan, is Lord Xue here?"

This name sounded ear-sounding, Wang Qu didn't think much about it, and said frankly: "Our family has gone to the palace to face the saint, and come back later, if the prince has something to find him, he can wait in the front hall first."

Jiang Luan thanked him and didn't be polite to him, so he entered the mansion and followed him into the front hall. Wang Qu beckoned the people of the house to serve him tea, and then called someone to wait beside him, and he was busy with other things.

Within a quarter of an hour, Xue Ji came back from the palace, and only then did he enter the courtyard gate of Xue's mansion, and as soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Wang Qu hurrying over.

Wang Qu bowed and said, "Master, someone is looking for you."

Xue Ji frowned when he heard this, it was approaching the Spring Festival, and the officials were all busy, who would come to the door at this time? "Who? In the Frontroom?"

Wang Qu said: "He calls himself Jiang Luan, and his accent is Jianghuai, and he is in the front hall."

Jiang Luan, a native of Jianghuai......

Xue Ji scolded secretly in his heart, what are you afraid of, this person must be the eldest son of the former Prime Minister Jiang Yan, and I don't know why he came to the door, it won't be a good thing after all.

"Just say that I can't come back because of something, let him go quickly!" Xue Ji commanded, then turned his head and went out again, and when he arrived at the door, he didn't forget to emphasize again: "Don't let people see it!"

Before Wang Qu could figure out what was going on, he asked in confusion, "Who is he?"

"Someone you shouldn't see now."

On the day of the Spring Festival, everything was as usual, and it was not the first time that he sat in the position of the examiner, and this time he was obviously much more proficient.

The whole exam seemed to be in order, and there were no accidents until the end, Xue Ji stared closely, and he didn't see any clues.

Until the time of marking, several examiners fought at night, and no one said a word of hard work.

At about the end of the day, the people below brought dinner. Xue Ji didn't think much about it, and opened the food box casually, and when he opened it, the Jade Butterfly Delicacies didn't enter his eyes, but he first keenly discovered the one hidden at the bottom

Paper rolls.

Xue Ji raised his head and searched for the person who had just sent the food box, but found that this person was long gone.

As if nothing happened, as long as you don't take it out, who knows.

As soon as this thought appeared, it was extinguished by Xue Ji, this thing will not appear for no reason, since it appeared, it is hoped that he will see it.

The corners of Xue Ji's mouth rose slightly, and a plan was born in his heart, he beckoned and shouted, "Someone!"

This shout not only called out to the guards guarding the guards, but also made the officials who were fighting hard next to them raise their heads and turned their eyes to Xue Ji.

"Lord Xue, what's wrong?" Xu Yan put down the pen and asked with raised eyebrows.

Xue Ji gently tapped on the side wall of the food box and sneered, "I want to know, why didn't the officials search this food box when it came in?"

Several officials and guards who were called were speechless for a while, and no one dared to answer.

Xue Ji rolled up his sleeves, and in front of everyone, he took out the paper roll from the bottom of the food box, and slowly spread it out, revealing the two big characters on it.

Lakh.

Everyone present took a breath of cool air, this is a clear bribe......

Xu Yan hesitated, and asked in a deep voice, "This person openly bribed the prime minister, and it must be strictly investigated."

"Your Majesty is in a hurry to tour the east, and this investigation may be how stormy it will be." Xue Ji glanced back at him and said.

"All the officers of the night vigil tonight will be fined for three months." Xu Yan pondered for a moment and made a decision. "As for the bribe-giver?" When he said this, his eyes always fell on Xue Ji, obviously waiting for him to decide.

"If you have real talent and real learning, why bother with these 100,000 snowflakes of silver?" Xue Ji chuckled disdainfully, threw the paper roll to the ground, and lowered his head to continue to look at the essay written by the candidate in front of him. "Xue can trust you."

Fourteenth year of Changning, April

The test has passed, and the list will be released as usual.

Qin Xu was worried about the eastern tour, so naturally everything was done quickly, and the palace test was held within three days, and after the palace test, the dust settled, and this spring festival was over.

This is probably the most hurried Spring Festival, less than half a month after the end, the Son of Heaven went out to the east, and the people of the city watched from the road.

The ears can hear the voices of the people, and the city is full of mountains shouting long live. Seeing that the people on the street were scrambling to squeeze forward, they also wanted to see the royal car of the Son of Heaven.

Xue Ji stood on the city gate, overlooking the crowded streets, and frowned unconsciously.

"It's already like this in the capital, and I don't know what the situation is when I go to the east."

Xu Yan was beside him, just glanced at it, and then looked away disinterestedly. "The officials below are already ready, where do you need to worry about it."

Thinking about it, those local officials don't know how much they are looking forward to the Son of Heaven's patrol, this time Qin Xu is on his eastern tour, they must be dreaming of ascending to the sky in one step, and they are ready to flatter the saint with great fanfare.

"It's me who is overthinking." Xue Ji sighed and changed the subject: "The arrangements for the new Jinshi have been issued?"

Xu Yan replied absentmindedly, "Well, except for Jiang Luan, who needs to pay attention, everything else has been called."

Jiang Luan, Jiang Luan......

This name appeared in his ears again, and Xue Ji always felt a faint bad premonition in his heart, but he couldn't say why.

A gust of wind blew, blowing Xue Ji's sleeves lightly, he slowly came back to his senses, and moved his gaze to the city again.

The Son of Heaven's royal drive gradually went away, the people went home, the streets of Chang'an City returned to calm, and Xue Ji also came down from the city gate.

He didn't rush back to his house to rest, turned around and went to the political hall first.

Xue Ji entered the door with his front foot, and a young man followed him with his back foot.

He glanced back, and was shocked, the person in front of him ...... He knew it, but he was a little surprised.

"The minister has seen His Royal Highness the Prince, why did His Highness come here?"

I saw that Qin He was not timid at all and stepped forward with his hands behind his back, and said with a straight face, "Lord Xue is flat. My father and mother both said that Lord Xue was talented and taught me to ask adults for advice. I have come today to ask you a few words from the saints."

This is clearly the case

The half-grown child, but with a serious expression, said things that did not belong to this age, Xue Ji looked a little funny.

"The minister has no talent, and he doesn't dare to teach the word, if the prince has doubts, the minister must know everything."

Qin He said again, "I didn't bring any books, if Lord Xue is free, can he come to the East Palace Academy often?"

Xue Ji couldn't help laughing in his heart, he came to ask for advice but didn't wait for books, what kind of medicine is sold in this prince's gourd?