Chengxu Academy is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with water on one side, and the magnificent houses are designed with exquisite thoughts, and many of the rooms are not like classroom buildings, but like a treasure cabinet in business. It is said that Chengxu was built at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, in addition to the officials of the Yangzhou Governor's Construction Division, there were two monks who came from the east to study, it took five years to build the first to take shape, and then the world was in turmoil, and more than half of the academy was abandoned, until the present dynasty gradually completed and put into use.

The men's courtyard covers a vast area, and there is also a racecourse and a shooting range; The women's courtyard was originally the teacher's residence and tea house, but since the previous dean, Hou Yi, put forward the idea of "women's college", a high wall was erected on one side of the men's courtyard to separate a women's courtyard, and the six female students who were studying in the men's academy disguised as men at that time became the first batch of students in the women's academy.

However, today's female students have long since lost the spirit of hard study of those female predecessors who "have to learn when they die", so that Dean Hou Tete opened a women's academy, and they regarded the college as a theater garden on South Street, walking twice a day, and getting together with the stage every other day, capturing some eyebrows that make people blush and heartbeat. Such girls belong to the lost lambs that make the gentlemen shake their heads and sigh, and now half of the girls in the academy belong to this type of students, and nine out of ten of them are opportunistic elements who do not learn and do not know how to take the "entrance without examination".

Of course, there are also many young ladies who have been quite talented in the boudoir since childhood, such as Guan Yun, the third lady of the Guan Mansion, and Guan Zhan, the fourth lady, belong to this category. Although the family is famous, it is a sure thing to get a special recruitment quota, but people just throw the special recruitment registration form aside, walk into the examination room generously, and take the exam with those daughters of large families with inferior family backgrounds, and learn the Chengxu of the examination with real talent.

Another example is Ling Miaoyi, Miss Ling San, walked directly into the examination room silently, and left after the exam, until the gentlemen finished grading the papers and passed the high scores, Dean Bai found that the name of Ling Shi's niece was also listed when he transcribed the list. The noble daughters who also belong to this list include Wu Yuying, the daughter of Wufu, Niu Wenbao, the daughter of Taifu Niu Tong, Han Xinxin, Han Qiqi, the daughter of Han Fei, the prefect of Yangzhou, etc., are all talented women who have done some hard work in piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, literature and music.

As soon as these ladies arrived at the academy, they gathered together to chat, and several women with various hairpin skirts and looks chose a pavilion near the water to sit, and while appreciating the failures in the landscape garden of their academy, they also glanced at the sedan chair at the entrance of the academy gate with their eyes.

However, while they look at the scenery, there are also people who come and go who look at them as scenery. They have a lot of things in mind, and they enjoy it.

This is a public area outside the men's house and the women's house, usually only the sons and daughters will sit here shaking their heads to read, watching the "scenery", those reserved ladies always get off the sedan chair, cover half of their faces with a Luo Pa or a fan, lotus step socks, eyes do not squint straight to the women's hospital, leaving the sons with an infinite reverie of the beautiful back.

However, today is an exception, one male and female students want to attend the opening ceremony in this public area, and the other is that Chengxu has a new subject list Sun Yanbin son, Dean Bai invited him to Chengxu to participate in the opening ceremony, for the younger generations of students to look at and respect. Therefore, the ladies also waited outside the women's hospital in twos and threes.

In addition to the blind date, such a school opening ceremony is only once a year, so the ladies inevitably have to dress up carefully on this important occasion with the sons of the wealthy families, and inlay the treasured night pearls, grandma's pigeon's bloodstone, ancestral blood coral, and the gold, silver, and jewelry at the bottom of the dowry on their heads, faces, clothes, and embroidered shoes.

At a glance, the beautiful scenery of the battle is admirable, and the beautiful face of youth is certainly eye-catching, but some old gentlemen who have been teaching in the academy for more than ten or twenty years can't help but shake their heads and sigh that the world is declining and the people's hearts are not ancient. When they were young, the daughters were all beautiful in plain elegance.

This opening ceremony is what Mama Tang called the "Beauty Competition", and the selection of the so-called "First Golden Branch" and "First Son" is actually the result of unofficial small-scale discussions - while the dean and gentlemen were speaking on the stage, the sons quietly commented on the young lady on the right, and began to vote after selecting a few outstanding ones, of course, this is only an underground activity for some people, such as Luo Baiqian, who is the father of several children, has lost interest in evaluating his little sister, and the "ruthless faction" who is above the top The representative figure Peng Shi simply scoffed at these things to the point that he couldn't sneer more.

On the contrary, it is the young ladies who are usually shy to answer, almost everyone will vote for him in their minds, if it is the turn of someone to say, the young lady chooses to abstain, there will always be one or two low hums such as "fake Qinggao" and "she will pretend" sound, so even if it is an introverted young lady who can no longer be introverted, her face is more ruddy and intoxicating than the burgundy cloth, and she will bite her lower lip and whisper a name. If this scene falls in the eyes of the boys on the left, they are so good that they will shake off the folding fan painted with ink treasures and wave a few cool breezes to relieve it.

Although the results of the selection do not represent everyone's opinions, the popularity of the young lady who won the titles of "First Golden Branch" and "First Son" will spread throughout Chengxu Academy, and even the dean and vice president will hear about it. The young lady who got the name of "the first golden branch" wants to find a wishful husband in Chengxu, because among the hundreds of male students in the huge academy, there must be at least ten or more who secretly miss her son-in-law, and among these ten, there are likely to be three or four son-in-law who secretly stuff love letters to her, if she is willing to reply to the last letter, then the two sides will be connected.

He admired her, she liked him, in a paradise, the fragrance of books in the academy, two young noble, innocent hearts slowly approached, a marriage with the goal of proposing, with letters as the way and gradually tended to be fiery love at this moment.

At present, the opening ceremony has not yet begun, and the young ladies have not yet arrived, so everyone is quietly discussing several hot people who are expected to be nominated for the "First Golden Branch" and "First Child" this year. Of course, family background is in the first place, although the family background of people who can study in Chengxu is naturally not bad, but they can also be divided into three, six, nine and so on, even if a person with a family background below the third class is nominated, it is impossible to be selected, because most people will leave a precious vote to the real nobles.

The second is appearance, which is the only criterion for judging under the same family background, but there is a certain gap in everyone's aesthetics, which leads to endless debates in the annual selection, and there are many beautiful ladies who seriously protest against the selection results, asking for a one-on-one competition with the "First Golden Branch...... In short, all kinds of excitement gathered together, so that many division commanders on the stage couldn't help but sigh, it's good to be young.

"Sister, who were the 'First Golden Branch' and 'First Son' last year?" Guan Si Miss Guan Zhan asked Guan Yun, the third sister.

Among these young ladies who have been admitted with real skills, only Guan Yun is an old student who has been studying for two years, and the other ladies are stepping into the gate of the academy for the first time in their lives today, like chickens that have just broken out of their shells, curiously turning their dark eyes to look at this splendid and prosperous world. The atmosphere of this legendary co-ed academy is really good, and after entering the academy, it feels like life is about to take off from here......

Guan Yun smiled and said: "The first golden branch is Xie Qiaofeng, the daughter of Uncle Yongping, she won't read it this year, I heard that her family is telling her about family affairs, and she will get married this year; The first son is still the eldest young master of Luodong Mansion, Luo Baiqian, he has been the first son for three consecutive years, although he has already married, but every time he is nominated, when it comes to voting, all of us are thin-skinned, even if we have a favorite candidate in our hearts, we are embarrassed to say the name, so we simply voted for Brother Luo. Of course, Brother Luo is handsome and has beaten women, and his first son is also worthy of his name. ”

Han Xinxin, the eldest daughter of the prefect Han Fei, heard this, her eyes lit up and asked, "Where is he, where is he?" "Young Master Luo, who is handsome and has beaten the women?

Guan Yun shook his head and said: "I didn't see it, probably not yet, he has to wait for his sister to go to school with him today, it is estimated that it will be delayed for a while, Sister Qiong'er has always been very picky about clothes, I am really convinced of her." ”

Among the several women in the pavilion, Guan Yun was the only one who was not dressed up to reflect the sunlight, and even Ling Miaoyi, who borrowed money from acquaintances to buy clothes, did enough to save face, and tried to dress up with the least amount of silver to achieve the most grand effect. And Guan Yun thinks that he has poetry and books in his belly, and the appreciative eyes of the opposite sex attracted by a few pieces of jewelry are neither pure nor long-lasting. She usually likes to wear simple and comfortable men's robes, but today she changed into women's clothes, and she is also wearing a refreshing placket pop dark pattern brocade skirt, which can indeed be called a beautiful person in the eyes of others, as graceful as Qingyang.

Wu Yuying, the fourth lady of Wu Fu, covered her mouth and smiled: "How picky is it?" You can change your clothes, but you can't change your nose. Alluding to Luo Baiqiong's excessively large nose is a failure in her appearance.

You can't see where your nose goes, Taifu Niutong's youngest daughter Niu Wenbao muttered in her heart, and then gently poked Ling Miaoyi beside her, and whispered in surprise: "Aren't those the two young masters of the Peng Mansion?" ”

Ling Miaoyi was also surprised: "Peng Shi! Peng Gradual! The two of them also came to read Chengxu? Like Chang Nuo, Peng Shi Peng gradually is also a familiar face that Ling Miaoyi often meets at banquets in the capital, especially Peng gradually has had several verbal disputes and mutual correction incidents with her, so he is particularly impressed.

"They also live in Luodong Mansion now," Guan Yun told what he knew, "I heard that the older generation wanted to make a family affair and come to a family to deepen the relationship between relatives." ”

Moreover, she overheard the discussion of Luo's subordinates that Luo Baiqiong fell in love with the cold-hearted Peng Shi at first sight, and also carefully designed a scene of falling into the water and losing her rescue, so that the maid tried to attract Peng Shi, lured him to save her in the water, and pretended to be unconscious and let Peng Shi hug her all the way, but at present, it seems that she has not won the favor of the other party. Frankly speaking, Peng Shi is indeed a talent, he is already like an adult at a young age, and he has a bit of his father's demeanor, aside from his family background, Luo Baiqiong is really not worthy of him, and from another point of view, Luo Baiqiong, a deep and delicate girl, can't arouse Peng Shi's appetite. If you want to know if these two can get married, we can only wait and see, anyway, she herself is not optimistic about them.

Ling Miaoyi sneered: "Two freaks, whoever marries them is unlucky...... Hey, that's Meng Xuan, the youngest general in the Meng Mansion! His family lives next to Yinghui Academy in Beijing, and he actually came to Yangzhou to study Chengxu? Strange, what's wrong with Chengxu this year, what dragons in the deep water are popping up here, Dao Sheng, General Meng Xiao, the second general of the Peng family, plus ...... Mr. Duan, there are really a lot of talents. Although Duan Xiaolou has always been called brother, but this is the academy, and the female students are not good at calling Mr. Male too intimately in public, so she called the awkward "Mr. Duan".

"What about you?" Miss Wu Si said with a slight mockery, "Why did you also come to read Chengxu?" I heard that you have a good time in the capital, and there is no one in the whole capital who doesn't know your name. "Notoriously troublemaker, lying, hurting people and setting fires.

Ling Miaoyi was about to sneer back, but Miss Niu patted the two of them and exclaimed, "Look! The real celebrity is here - it's Liao Qing'er from Liao Mansion! ”

Ling Miaoyi and several others looked at each other, and their mouths invariably made the shape of swallowing eggs: "Crazy girl Liao Qing'er!" ”

The girl's appearance was not bad, her complexion was like snow, but she was completely different from the slender beauties in the south, with a round face and a round body. The round face is slightly raised, looking up at the sky at a forty-five degree angle, walking as fast as the wind, and swinging his arms back and forth alternately, which is very different from the etiquette of a lady. She seemed to sense that many acquaintances in the capital were looking at her, so she held her head even higher and left a snow-white double chin for them to admire.

Guan Yun and Guan Zhan glanced at the eye-catching garland on Liao Qing'er's head, and then looked at each other, secretly deciding to keep a secret about the fact that the girl was their cousin and now lived in the Guan Mansion - it was a shame to have such a vulgar relative.

"Who's that guy?" Han Xinxin, the eldest daughter of the prefect Han Fei, patted Guan Yun and asked nervously, "The one who is looking at us is the one who is smiling!" ”

Guan Yun glanced at it and replied: "Oh, he is Luo Baiqian, the eldest young master of Luofu, and next to him is the second lady Luo Baiqiong, they have been frequent visitors to my house for the past two years, and you have been studying tea art in Beizhili for two years, so you just haven't met them......" Speaking of this, she suddenly paused, huh? Looking at Han Xinxin's shy and timid appearance, it is possible that he still fell in love with Na Luo Dashao at first sight? Ho! Then she is really blind, Luo Dashao is a famous straw bale merry young man!

"Hey, who's that guy walking behind the two of them? The one whose face is rubbed like a monkey's ass. Miss Wu Si asked.

"Her surname is Ho." Guan Yun glanced at it and replied briefly.

"What's the last name? Which one? Who is her father? Miss Niu asked curiously, "I look dressed ordinarily, as if I am not going to participate in the selection of the 'First Golden Branch', why do I make my face so red?" ”

Guan Yun's face showed a slightly disgusted expression, and he shook his head and didn't want to say more, which further aroused everyone's curiosity. Ling Miaoyi first glanced at it casually, then her apricot eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "This girl...... I've seen it before! ”

Miss Niu asked, "Where is it?" Beijing? Ling Miaoyi shook her head suspiciously, and lowered her head in contemplation for a while.

In a short time, the male and female students of the new school year had arrived one after another, and the male students sat one by one on the left side of the makeshift platform, while the female students were far fewer than the male students, sitting in a long row on their right.

Because there are no strict formation rules, the daughters of the boudoir have always been used to being casual, so they all sit according to the intimacy of their relationship with each other. For example, Guan Yun, Ling Miaoyi and other ladies who have traveled widely, five or six people sit in a row, and then there are Luo Baiqiong, a special student who is a little timid in her heart, and her cousins Sun Ru, Sun Shu and other three or four people sit in a row, and then back-

"There's too much space in there, sit on two!" Zheng Lian, the female gentleman of the women's hospital, suddenly stood in front of the line, pointed to the back row and shouted, "Two more seats!" ”

He Angelica was in a daze, followed the sound and looked up, and found that the female gentleman's hand was pointing impartially to her side, and she looked back and forth before and after only finding that she was the only one in the whole team. If you divide the seats according to the "gang", she is indeed one of the gangless and non-factional, but she didn't expect it to be highlighted so quickly.

It's just that she is extremely reluctant to go to this school, and since the Longpei incident that day, her spirit has been sluggish, and she can't do anything to arouse her interest, even Dong's crying, making trouble, hanging herself, hanging her four or five, she hasn't gone to watch once. The shadow brought to her by that terrible man, from some vague and tragic episodes in her dreams, to the vivid memories that she could not look back on when she woke up, now forcibly intervened in her still peaceful new life in the form of real pictures and jade pendants, making her hate and fear, and she could not think about it for a while.

"You guys!" Mr. Zheng pointed to Guan Yun's row with the largest number of people, and commanded, "Go to the back two!" Guan Yun and the others glanced at each other, but none of them moved. Mr. Zheng impatiently ordered loudly: "Whoever you are, sit down two of them, and sit next to her!" ”

This shout was so loud that everyone from the teachers on the stage to the male and female students in the audience couldn't help but look over, and the garden, which had been noisy a moment ago, was strangely quiet. Originally, there was a whispered chat without a word, and it was all the product of idle and boring, and as soon as there was any unusual movement at this moment, it immediately attracted the attention of a large number of people.

Mr. Zheng was anxious: "Why didn't anyone move?" Doesn't anyone want to sit next to her? He pointed to He Angelica's head.