"I see," Chen Ziang said, pretending to be surprised.

"Yes! The emperor was furious on the spot and abolished his title of champion, and Kong Shangshu was also demoted by the official by three levels, and I am afraid that he will never be reused in the future," Lu Xiucai said with emotion.

Chen Ziang nodded, "This emperor is not too mediocre, and then what?" ”

"And then? Then the emperor asked me a few more questions, and after I answered, I was named the champion," Lu Xiucai replied.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to call you Lu Xiucai anymore, I'm going to call you Lu Zhuangyuan," Chen Ziang said jokingly.

"Brother Chen, don't make fun of me, I still think it's more comfortable for you to call me Xiucai," Lu Xiucai said with a wry smile.

"What? Could it be that Xiucai is still better than the champion? ”

"No, the champion is naturally my dream, but I don't seem to be as happy as I imagined after I really became a champion," Lu Xiucai thought about it and said.

"Why?"

"The court is too corrupt, it can be seen from the matter of Kong Shangshu, and I also learned that there are many cronyism things in the court, which are not the same as I imagined"

Chen Ziang smiled, "This kind of thing has been like this since ancient times, even if you are the champion, you can't change anything"

Champion, speaking of which is only the first step into the government, if you want to work hard to climb up, you still need to go through a lot of things, maybe Lu Xiucai will also make a lot of political friends in the future, learn to slip around and shoot horses, learn to enjoy comfortably, although it is a little sad, but this is the reality, the general environment is like this, An can be alone?

"So what's the use of champions?" Lu Xiucai muttered to himself, as if he was asking himself, and as if he was asking Chen Ziang.

Chen Ziang was silent, he didn't know how to answer Lu Xiucai, after thinking about it, he finally said politely, "Being the champion is the dream of the world's scholars, and future generations will remember it, glorifying the ancestors, and the benefits are countless."

Lu Xiucai shook his head, "My ancestors were prefects for three generations, but I am just a small showman, and the biggest original intention of being admitted to the champion is to glorify my ancestors, so that even if I die, I will have the face to see my father."

"And what do you mean now?" Chen Ziang asked with a frown.

"I want to resign from the emperor's official position and return to the Tongfu Inn!"

Chen Ziang was surprised, he had never heard of someone resigning after being admitted to the top prize, which had never happened in the ages.

"Xiucai, don't be stupid, this matter needs to be carefully considered"

Lu Xiucai shook his head firmly, "I've been thinking about it for a long time, or I've figured it out after learning about the current situation in the imperial court, this is not the champion I want, or my wish to be admitted to the champion has been satisfied, what's the difference between being an official or not?" ”

Chen Ziang thought for a while and said, "Think about it again, make a decision tomorrow, no matter what you do, I support and respect your decision."

"Hmm!"

It didn't take long for the emperor list to be posted everywhere in the capital, and behind the top champion was dazzlingly written in gold powder with three big characters "Lu Qinghou"

The system also prompted that the task had been completed and that he could teleport back immediately, but Chen Ziang felt that it was not the time yet, at least he had to go back to the inn and meet everyone for the last time before leaving.

I don't know what's going on, Lu Xiucai's admission to the top prize was known to everyone, and the inn was crowded with people all night, many of them were even some big officials in the capital, they sent countless gold, silver and silk to Lu Xiucai, and a Shangshu even sent a thousand-square-meter mansion to Lu Xiucai.

The purpose of these people is to win him over, basically most of the officials in the court know each other, so when some corrupt official cases come out, a large group of corrupt officials will be involved, because they all have common interests and goals.

Lu Xiucai didn't accept anything, whether it was gold or silver or the mansion, he returned it all, but accepted the local pastries and local specialties given by several petty officials, and he wanted to bring these pastries back to Guo Furong to taste.

Those petty officials were flattered, and they thought that the things they gave were too shabby and would be disgusted, but they didn't expect to be accepted instead, which made them ecstatic.

It was late at night, and there were fewer officials who came to give gifts, but there were many literati and scholars who failed to come to him under the banner of "literary exchange", but in fact, it was almost a relationship, Lu Xiucai simply locked the door directly, and everyone stopped bothering after hitting the wall.

Chen Ziang and Lu Xiucai sat by the window, eating pastries and drinking wine, looking at the night outside the window, and chatting eloquently.

"You can also see, I didn't know those people before, if I didn't get the top prize, they wouldn't even look at me squarely, but now they treat me as a close friend, this is the so-called officialdom" Lu Xiucai said helplessly.

Chen Ziang suddenly had an idea, and hurriedly said, "If you don't like the officialdom of the capital and don't want to be a big official here, you can choose to be the magistrate of Qixia Town, since Lou Zhixian was taken off the black gauze hat, the magistrate of Qixia Town is only the acting magistrate, if you are the magistrate of Qixia Town, you can often meet with the shopkeeper Tong, Lao Bai, Xiao Guo, and Dazui."

Lu Xiucai patted the table happily, "Why didn't I think of it!" That way I don't have to be separated from everyone."

Chen Ziang said with a smile, "You are concerned about it, or you didn't expect that the champion would be able to be the magistrate of the county."

"Hahaha, I'm going to propose to the emperor tomorrow that I want to go to Qixia Town to be the magistrate" Lu Xiucai happily poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

Chen Ziang saw something, so he asked, "If you don't want to be the champion, will it have something to do with everyone at Tongfu Inn?" ”

Lu Xiucai nodded, "It also has a certain relationship, my home at Tongfu Inn, if I stay alone in the capital, then I will be a homeless person in the future, and there is a very important reason."

"What is the reason?"

"The emperor proposed to marry the fourth princess to me today, if I agree, I'm afraid I will have to stay here for the rest of my life, and Fumei should also be very sad, I don't want to be a negative man," Lu Xiucai said.

Chen Ziang suddenly realized, it seems that this is the reason that really makes Lu Xiucai make up his mind, Lu Xiucai belongs to the kind of person who is very wooden and dedicated, and his relationship with Guo Furong is still very deep.

It seems that the emperors have always liked to use the princess to fix the relationship with the champion, and many people will marry their daughters after being admitted to the champion, so that they can firmly tie up a talent to serve themselves, I have to say that this trick is very clever.

"Come, I'll honor you for Xiao Guo with this glass," Chen Ziang said, raising his glass.

How can Lu Xiucai's alcohol consumption be compared to Chen Ziang, Chen Ziang knew that he would go to the court tomorrow to see that he was a little drunk, so he didn't drink anymore.

Who knows that Lu Xiucai made an amazing decision today, a decision that was enough to change the trajectory of his life.

(End of chapter)