Ji Ying closed the lid of the box and said, "Liu Ling gave me a gift, just to let me mix in the court in the future, so that I can support each other, this is to win me over." The Li family's father and son are certainly hateful, and their money comes from the wrong way, but there are many people like them in the world. I am now a soft-spoken and weak person, and I am not yet able to deal with them, so I must preserve my strength and must not offend them at this time. We will accept this money for the time being, and let these people relax their vigilance, and if there is a chance in the future, we will clean them up one by one! ”

"And what are you going to do with the money?" Duanmu looked at Ji Ying as if he were looking at a small vault.

Ji Ying smiled, pushed the entire box in front of Duanmu, and said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Since entering Beijing, I have been letting Brother Duanmu break the bank, and the younger brother has always been unhappy in his heart, so it is better to take this opportunity to return it with interest, which is also a little brother's heart." ”

"You can think about it, so much gold, almost half a dart game for me. Really give it to me? ”

"Of course!"

Duanmu immediately showed his true colors as a businessman, and without hesitation, he held the box in his arms.

Miao Judge sneered and said: "Look at your greedy look, what kind of young proprietor does you look like, you are simply a miser!" ”

Duanmu made a grimace: "Do you understand the diligent and thrifty housekeeping, in the future, if you marry into my Duanmu family, don't be as lavish as Ah Ying, you must think like me!" ”

Miao stomped his feet shyly, picked up a chair cushion, and threw it at Duanmu. The whole room was filled with hearty laughter.

For the next few days, Ji Ying stayed in the inn and didn't go out, not because she was sick or uncomfortable, and she wasn't focused on reading. She didn't go out because a demon king of the mixed world had recently come to the inn - no, witch - Rong Ci.

Rong Ci entered the inn and moved into Jiang Yichen's original house and lived next to Ji Ying. This little girl is really a benchmark figure for a cult of personality. She used to think that in this world, her brother Rong Shen was the most talented person, followed by her cousin Rong Zhe, and she didn't care about anyone else. Who would have thought that this little girl first listened to the praise of her brothers for Ji Ying, and then saw the results of Ji Ying's examination with her own eyes, and met Ji Ying on the street to relieve the siege, and admired and rejoiced in her heart, always wanting to pester Ji Ying to play chess, read, and tell stories.

At first, Ji Ying reluctantly agreed a few times for the sake of face, hoping that Rong Shen would have the opportunity to "control" his little sister. Later, seeing that the Rong brothers were also powerless against Rong Ci, they had to ask for others. She asked Miao Tailor to pretend to be jealous, and finally scared Rong Ci away with a cold face from Miao Tailor.

But Rong Ci is a persistent girl, she always lets Ah Feng sit at the door, and when Miao Judge is not there, she sneaks into Ji Ying's house, if Ji Ying wants to go out, Rong Ci must be the first to rush over to keep up, like a couple who are obstructed in every way.

Ji Ying had no choice but to call Miao Zhi to stay in the house and not go out.

This is a big deal for Duanmu Lingfeng. Duanmu always hoped that Ji Ying could go out often, and persuaded her: "You came to participate in the imperial examination just to enter the office, but now you are always nested in the house, how do you look like you want to be an official?" ”

"Then what do you think a person who wants to be an official should look like?"

Duanmu sighed, sat next to Ji Ying, and said, "Although the results have not come out yet, we must hurry up and make friends with the ministers of the court, and it will be convenient to do things in the future." Look at people......"

"Who is the 'people'?"

"Look at the two sons of the Rong family, they have been visiting court officials everywhere these days, especially his grandfather's protégés. There is also Lin Zejun, my brothers in the dart bureau have seen him go to the East Palace. ”

"How do you know him? He went to the East Palace? You can't be mistaken, right? ”

"How could it be wrong! Isn't he going to try for third place? The rankings are so close to you, of course I have to pay attention. And that nomadic wild ...... who is like a cockscomb all day long."

Ji Ying laughed out loud with a "poof": "Cockscomb? You can figure it out! ”

"You see him like that, always wearing a flaming red dress. I remember he wasn't so flamboyant before. ”

Ji Ying couldn't stop giggling, and held her stomach to let Duanmu continue.

Duanmu thought thoughtfully: "When I came from the dart bureau last night, I saw him coming out of the back door of the Chu Palace, and he acted very cautiously. If it weren't for his eye-catching red clothes, I wouldn't have noticed. ”

"You mean he went to the Chu Palace? He is a doctor of rivers and lakes, what is he doing in the palace of the king of Chu? When I first tried it, this guy couldn't even remember the time, and he almost missed it, not like a person who was seeking fame and fortune. ”

"I used to think so," Duanmu said, "I remember when he first came to the capital, the emperor repeatedly summoned him to the palace to receive the imperial doctor's family, but he refused, now what's the matter?" I don't think he's seen him in just two or three years, as if he's a different person. Maybe...... Maybe he just doesn't want to be an imperial doctor, but wants to be an official in the court? He is a well-known doctor, what kind of official should he be? Hey, I can't figure it out. ”

When Ji Ying heard Duanmu say this, she vaguely felt that something was wrong with this. She held her head and thought quietly for a long time, but she couldn't think of a reason, so she had to ask Duanmu and say, "If something goes wrong, there must be a demon." Big brother, I beg you and my brothers to help me keep an eye on the Muye, especially to find out why he went to Beijing. ”

"Okay, don't worry."

In the pavilion next to the Yuqing Pond in the Imperial Garden, the emperor was pulling Jiang Yichen to play chess. The Imperial Priest Jiu Cheng presented the examination papers that were personally reviewed by the emperor this year, and there was no doubt that they were the essays of the top three candidates in the original examination. The emperor took it and read it carefully, then handed it to Jiang Yichen, and turned back to ask Lord Cheng's opinion.

Master Cheng bowed and stood, his black and white beard fluttering tremblingly: "Back to Your Majesty, the ministers and others have tentatively designated the test paper of candidate Lin Zejun as the third place." This article is open-minded and sophisticated, and it can be seen that the student has his own grooves in his chest, but in a few words, there is a suspicion of compromise and concession. In the other two policy essays, Ji Ying's article is biased towards attack, and Rong Shen's article is biased towards defense, both of which are rigorous and pragmatic, and their writing is handsome, which is a rare masterpiece. The ministers did not dare to judge arbitrarily, so they asked His Majesty to decide. ”

The emperor smiled and said: "It's rare to make Aiqing's verdict - Yichen, tell me, which of these two strategies do you think is better?" ”

Jiang Yichen stood up, put away the three test papers together, returned them to Master Cheng, bowed his hand and said "disrespectful", and replied: "Although these two articles are far-reaching and brilliant, the minister thinks that Ji Ying's article is better. ”

The emperor smiled and asked, "I heard that you are very close to this child named Ji Ying?" The implication is that he naturally feels that Jiang Yichen is intentionally partial.

Jiang Yichen generously admitted: "The minister is indeed good friends with Ji Ying, but the emperor asks whose article is good, not who is close to the minister." It is a matter of social affairs, and the minister does not dare to speak falsely. ”

"Oh?" The emperor's face has improved a lot, "It is quite the style of Qi Xi who did not avoid relatives and enemies in the Spring and Autumn Period." You continue. ”

Jiang Yichen replied and said: "The minister is a rough man, he grew up in the military camp since he was a child, he is used to seeing battles on the battlefield, and he understands the truth that cowardice will die. And since ancient times, if the military ministers sit back and watch the enemy army rampant and avoid fighting, how can the country be stable? Now that Beidi is resurrecting and has a long-term intrusion potential, how can he avoid the war and wait for Beidi to become bigger? Therefore, the minister thinks that Lin Zejun's compromise is not advisable, and it is not practical to be cautious and safe, and if you want to be stable, you must fight! ”

"Good! is worthy of the famous little Huaiwang, the future is terrible, the future is terrible! ”

Master Cheng also echoed the praise.

The emperor stood up, paced to the side of the pavilion bench, fiddled with a pot of pure white gardenias, and said: "I took Ran Ran out of the palace to relax that day, but I didn't expect to meet the assassin. But I heard that he was Fang Yanqing's closed disciple. Fang Yanqing, this old thing, when I was still the prince, was my attendant, and later became an official in the imperial court, always restless, pointing fingers, and noisy I have a headache. Later, he also wanted to open up, so he simply resigned from the official position and went to the folk altar to give lectures, which earned a lot of fame. Thinking that Ji Ying can make Fang Yanqing look at her at a young age, it should not only be as simple as being smart, but more importantly, she has a similar temper. I'm afraid I'm going to have one more person buzzing in my ears! ”

Jiang Yichen replied: "Since ancient times, the minister and the Ming monarch have coexisted, and if there is a Ming monarch, there must be a minister to assist, and the minister must be appreciated by the Ming monarch." Your Majesty is a generous and benevolent king, how can he keep his courtiers out of the court? Now that I have a large number of talents, my ambition to serve the country needs to be fulfilled urgently, maybe, this Ji Ying will become a clear stream in the court. ”

The emperor plucked a gardenia, put it on the tip of his nose and sniffed it gently, raised his hand and threw it out, and the pure, fragrant flower staggered away along the clear water of Yuqing Pond.

On the same day, the emperor held a ceremony in the Taihe Hall and announced the results of the palace examination:

Forty-five in the second grade, seventy-five in the third grade, and three in the first grade: Xinke Tanhua - Lin Zejun; The eyes of the new science list - Rong Shen; The new champion - Ji Ying!

The head armor was given the post of editor of the Hanlin Academy, and after the parade, he went to the palace to go to the deer feast.

On this day, Ji Ying didn't know how she spent it, she felt as if she had been in a dream, dizzy from the impact of victory and joy. She was surrounded by everyone, riding on a tall horse, facing the tide of people, nervous, suspicious, panicked, excited...... Countless emotions enveloped her, so that she didn't even know what kind of expression she should show.

The nineteen-year-old Zhuang Yuanlang caused quite a stir, and everyone did not know how many images they had created in their hearts to satisfy their curiosity, and when they saw a thin and small, dark-skinned, and even somewhat timid child, they thought very differently, and some admired and cited him as an example; Some regretted that she had a hard time studying; Some envy that they can be taught by the great Confucians of the world; Of course, there are also those who are not convinced, but they regret their bad luck - in short, Fang Yanqing's closed disciple, the youngest champion in history, the phoenix flying out of the ravine, and other topics, no matter which one, can become the after-dinner conversation of the people in the capital, enough for them to talk about for a long time.

However, what girls like more is the gentle smile, jade crown dress, and proud of Rong Shen's son beside Ji Ying.

The girls seemed to have forgotten what they were at this time, and they all looked at Rong Shen's demeanor and talked and laughed, and some talked in low voices, and the shy smiles had completely exposed what they were talking about. There are even more daring girls, taking advantage of the unpreparedness, and stuffing the champas, colored balls and other things embroidered with their names onto Rong Shen's horseback. Looking at the lively scene, there is a posture of "watching and killing Wei Jue". No wonder Lin Zejun stroked his long beard and smiled: "In the future, the threshold of Rong Gongzi will be broken by the matchmaker!" ”

There are several people sitting at the wine table on the second floor of the Jixiang Restaurant on Chang'an Street: Rong Zhe drank bowl after bowl of tea with his head stuffy, he won the twenty-first place in the second grade, and his heart was extremely lost; The nomadic herd who fell into Sun Mountain didn't care, leisurely tasting the exquisite pastries in front of him; Duanmu Lingfeng was very happy, although he had long known that Ji Ying was talented, but when the title of champion was placed on her head, he was still pleasantly surprised, but it was a pity that in front of Rong Zhe, it was not easy to show too much; The happiest was Rong Ci, she couldn't sit still for a moment, anxiously waiting for the street procession to come, and then shouted the names of Ji Ying and Rong Shen, beckoning vigorously, and after getting a response from the two, she almost jumped downstairs excitedly.

Nomad Muye looked at Rong Zhe's bad look, and enlightened: "I remember that you have always wanted to serve in the army, why bother to compete in the imperial examination?" ”

Rong Zhe replied: "Those who can only dance with swords and stick are martial artists, and they can't do big things." The true commander of all armies must be strategic, both civil and military. How can I lose to someone else? ”

"But you're only nineteen, so there's no need to rush."

"Ji Ying is also nineteen years old, and he is only a few months older than me."

Duanmu saw that the nomadic field was defeated, and hurriedly relieved the siege and said: "Brother Zhiming is a person who is both civil and military, how can he be compared to ordinary scholars?" It doesn't matter how short it is. ”

Rong Zhe was bored and continued to drink tea with his head down.

It's a pity that this pot of good Tieguanyin!