Historically, after the announcement of the first place in the palace examination, the champion, as the most high-profile ranking, often received praise and congratulations from the people when parading through the streets. But now that Cheng Yan is here, the situation is reversed, and something ugly and dark is pouring in, and he hasn't heard a few good words.

Listening to the whispers of the people around him, Fang Zigui hooked the corners of his lips, rode forward and walked in parallel with Cheng Yan, and said in a low voice: "This feeling of being questioned is not worthy, isn't it?" ”

Cheng Yan's eyes were slightly condensed, and he glanced at him lightly with his side head, but did not speak.

Fang Zigui didn't expect him to give any response, and continued with interest: "Cheng Yan, I actually pity you. I think you came from a poor background, and you were enlightened and literate at the age of ten, and you didn't know how much lower than others, and you went through a lot of hardships all the way to the cold window, and finally won the title of the gold list, but you were questioned like this, how pitiful? ”

Cheng Yan sneered: "Heh, Fang Zigui, you are the leader and I am the champion, your ranking is below me, you are embarrassed to pity me?" ”

Fang Zigui raised his eyebrows, and he was not annoyed when he heard the words: "From this point of view, I really don't have the right to pity you." But...... Do you think these people are really questioning whether your talent is worthy of the spot? ”

Cheng Yan's hand holding the reins tightened subconsciously: "What do you mean?" ”

Fang Zigui didn't answer immediately, but looked at the crowd on both sides of the street and said, "Look at the eyes of these people, they first looked at the name on the sign in front of you, and after finding that it was not the one they expected, they immediately became lost. When they saw Gu Yunji ranked third again, they regretted it again. Eventually, some people's eyes will return to you and begin to question you. ”

"In fact, they are most concerned about Gu Yunji from beginning to end, to see if he is the champion, and after discovering that he is not the champion, part of the anger that turned from regret has moved to you. During the whole process, doubts and anger are not really coming at you, you just happen to be in the position of the champion, so you become the target of fire. ”

There was a bit of pity in Fang Zigui's tone: "As for who you Cheng Yan is, what your talent is, and how many you should be ranked first, no one cares at all." ”

Cheng Yan pursed his lips, his fingers tightened little by little, and he turned white.

Fang Zigui sighed faintly, with a sigh on his expression: "Cheng Yan, in fact, in any aspect, you can be called a genius, but it's a pity that you have to stand by Gu Yunji's side." Resettlement of displaced people, township examinations, and general examinations...... You have performed very well every time, but you have been covered by Gu Yunji's brilliance, so that everyone only knows Gu Yunji, but you Cheng Yan. ”

As he spoke, Fang Zigui suddenly changed his words: "But in my opinion, you are no worse than Gu Yunji at all." After all, the two of you have different starting points and have very different resources, if you put Gu Yunji in the same position as you, he may not do better than you. ”

Seeing that Cheng Yan's face was gloomy and he didn't say a word, a touch of pride flashed in Fang Zigui's eyes, and he continued to induce quietly: "Tell me about the two of you, one is from a family, and the other is a son of a poor family, such a huge gap in status and status, in the end, it was suspected that you were the one who robbed Gu Yunji of the champion by means, do you say ridiculous?" ”

Fang Zigui's words were like a magic sound, which had the effect of demagogizing, quietly floating into Cheng Yan's ears, and little by little aroused the dark seeds in his heart.

Under the influence of his words, Cheng Yan's fingers holding the reins tightened more and more, and his eyes became darker and darker. Suddenly, his fingers loosened, the ink in his eyes suddenly dissipated, and he laughed softly: "Stir up discord...... Fang Zigui, that's what you're for? ”

Cheng Yan looked at him sideways, his face was calm as usual, as if he was all pretending just now: "Yunji and I are friends, but also brothers." Do you think that just a few words of yours can stir up a relationship between us? It's naïve. ”

Fang Zigui was slightly stunned, and spread his hands innocently: "Whatever you think, I'm just stating the facts." At least, the people are indeed suspicious and dissatisfied with the fact that you are the one who won the exam. ”

Cheng Yan was unmoved: "According to your logic, the people not only don't care about me, but they also don't care about you, and they don't even care about Yunji." They only care about whether there will be another person who can be in the middle of the three yuan this year, so as to satisfy their inner voyeuristic desire. If they are saddened and self-denying because of their little questioning and speculation, it seems too fragile, and that is the real difficult position to inherit the champion. ”

Cheng Yan looked ahead with his head held high, and his voice was firm and calm: "No matter what, I am the champion appointed by His Majesty, this is His Majesty's recognition of me, and it is also the recognition of me by the imperial court." I have always had the strength and confidence to compete for this position, whether others are suspicious or dissatisfied, I am upright in my own heart. ”

As if to verify Cheng Yan's words, among the many doubts of the crowd, a voice speaking for him gradually appeared:

"I know this Cheng Yan, and Gu Yunji are fellow villagers. People are also endowed with extraordinary endowments, and they are among the best in the township examination and the general examination, and it is not uncommon to be able to win the top prize. What's more, I see that he is dignified, a talent, and he is clearly a literary and star appearance, why can't he be the champion? ”

"The palace test is appointed by His Majesty, and I don't know where the news came from before that Gu Yunji even won the third yuan, and there is no basis at all, but you still believe it. Now that such a living champion as Master Cheng Yan has appeared in front of you, you are questioning it, it's really ridiculous. ”

A young girl saw that Cheng Yan was handsome, and her heart had already deviated a little towards him, and at this moment, the audience was speculating and suspicious without any basis, and she was not angry for a while, and plucked up the courage to say loudly: "Cheng Yan is the champion appointed by His Majesty, and even His Majesty thinks he deserves it, where do you have the qualifications to think that he can't afford it?" ”

This big hat was buttoned down, directly overpowering most of the questioning voices, Cheng Yan exhaled happily, and said with a smile to Fang Zigui beside him: "According to the regulations, when the first and third places are paraded on the street, they must march in the order of the champion in the front, the leader in the middle, and the Tanhua in the back. You've crossed the line, Fang Gongzi? ”

Fang Zigui's face froze, and before he could react, he saw Cheng Yanqi take a few steps forward and leave him behind.

Compared with slander and questioning, it is always happy to be praised and recognized by others, and when his eyes touched the little girl who spoke for himself in the crowd, Cheng Yan was grateful in his heart, so he threw a smile at her.

Cheng Yan is handsome, with a warm gentleman's air, and he looks particularly good when he smiles. Seeing this, the little girl's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she thought that he was the champion of the new department, with talent, status and appearance, and he was so young, he was simply the most ideal gentleman in the world.

Thinking like this, the little girl rushed to her head with a stream of blood, and on impulse, she directly untied the sachet on her waist and threw it into Cheng Yan's arms.

(End of chapter)