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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Celeste S.] [Azurixa] [Esther D.] [Christine G.-L.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[Smurfinbatik] [J Jean] [K.Rom] [Tori D.] [Nicole] [Leticia P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Mo]
G O L D S T A R
[Cindy] [Victoria] [Nanashi D. Y.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Book W.] [Britnie M.] [Christigale M.] [DetectiveGeek421] [Hong] [Ine Oroh] [Kiiayame] [Ray]
[kuroneko_chan] [onepiece] [Hlau V.] [Sweetlove] [Liznel M.] [Scorpion Princess] [Haruka N.]
Besides, Xiao Liulang himself didn’t care.
But just because Xiao Liulang didn’t care didn’t mean Gu Jiao didn’t.
The look in Gu Jiao's eyes turned very dangerous, "What rank did he get in the provincial exam?"
"Eleven." Lin Chengye answered. He remembered it very clearly only because he couldn’t believe that his own name was able to appear at the top of the list. He secretly read the list of names at home with delight for who knew how many times. Thus, from the first place to the last place, he could recite it backwards.
Feng Lin's provincial exam rank was seventeen. The other party was six places ahead of Feng Lin. He might be okay in You Province, but he was still inadequate in the capital.
The capital was filled with Jieyuan, who would want the 11th place of a provincial capital?
He Jinghong didn't even manage to get into the Imperial Academy by recommendation, so the possibility of him going no farther than the metropolitan exam was very likely.
However, as long as he passed the metropolitan exam, there would be room for the Duke Luo Estate to manipulate things.
Although the palace exam was presided over by the Emperor himself, in fact, this was the deepest pool.
It was true that the palace exam was personally overseen by the Emperor; he could kick out the examinees he didn’t like on the spot, or keep the examinees he took a liking to at first glance. But it was impossible for the Emperor to read all the exam papers of the examinees by himself.
Hence, the exam papers would be reviewed by the cabinet officials, who would select more than ten excellent exam papers, then the Emperor would have a look at them or interview them one by one, ultimately selecting the three first-class Jinshi from among them and conferring them the title Jinshi Jidi.
During this process was when the game between the Emperor and his officials took place.
There were bound to be planted players of several major forces among this dozen or so people, and there would also be players that the Emperor himself favored.
If the Emperor wanted to keep his own people, then he had to tolerate the people of his officials as well. Otherwise, at the very first round, the officials would do their all in order to get the people whom the Emperor favored out of the dozen or so people eligible for the next round, thus the Emperor wouldn’t even have the chance to promote them.
Even if this dozen or so people didn’t manage to become a first-class Jinshi in the end, they were still a second-class Jinshi, absolutely without any risk of becoming a third-class Jinshi.
Of course, the officials couldn’t go too far. If they stuffed a good-for-nothing inside, the Emperor would be sure to turn hostile to them regardless.
People like He Jinghong, to say he had no talent was false, but he wasn’t good enough to be on the lead either. However, his achievements along the way were all good, and if he were to get an outstanding result in the metropolitan exam on top of that, wouldn’t he have more reason to be sent for the palace exam?
"Isn’t this Emperor acting too cowardly?" Gu Jiao asked.
Du Ruohan sighed, "Empress Dowager Zhuang used to govern from behind the curtain, and the cabinet is in the hands of her own brother, that is, Grand Preceptor Zhuang. This year's situation may have slight changes though. After all, Empress Dowager Zhuang is unwell and has gone to the temporary imperial residence for recuperation, thus the influence of the Zhuang Family is not as strong as it used to be. However, it is precisely because of this that the forces of all parties have to seize this last opportunity, otherwise it will be difficult for them to manipulate the palace exam again once His Majesty has completely regained power."
……
Feng Lin and co spent a pleasant day in Bishui Alley, except that Du Ruohan felt miserable after losing all his next month’s pocket money.
The elderly woman happily counted the money she had won in her room.
Feng Lin, Lin Chengye and Du Ruohan had to leave.
Before leaving, the three gave Xiao Liulang a strange look.
Xiao Liulang frowned and said, "What's the matter?"
Three people shook their heads like a rattle drum, "Nothing, nothing!"
Lady Jiao told them to pretend they hadn’t heard anything, so they acted like they didn't know anything.
The three of them left in Lin Chengye's carriage.
Xiao Liulang turned around and walked into the yard, only to find Gu Jiao coming out.
"It's so late, you’re going out?" He asked.
Gu Jiao replied, "Going to the medical hall."
The four men in the family had a day off from school, and Second Owner specially gave Gu Jiao an off today as well to spend time with her family at home, so it stood to reason that she didn’t have to go to the medical hall.
And even if she did, she would never go out empty-handed.
She always carried her back basket with her little medicine chest in it with her.
Xiao Liulang cast her a deep look.
Xiao Liulang was suspicious about Gu Jiao for nothing. She really was heading to the medical hall to see how Gu Chenglin was doing. The appropriate medicine for Gu Chenglin had already been taken out of her medicine chest and given to Physician Song in advance, so it didn’t matter if she didn’t bring her medicine chest.
Gu Jiao swore that she wasn’t going to find trouble for He Jinghong.
She didn’t know where He Jinghong lived yet after all.
But, it seemed that Gu Jiao’s luck was quite good today. As soon as she came out of the medical hall after checking on Gu Chenglin’s condition, she came across a group of people seemingly taking their birds for a walk.
"Young Master He! Your parrot is here!" A vendor handed a birdcage to a noble-looking young man, uncovered the cloth over the birdcage, and said, "Getting it costs a lot of money. She refused to sell it at first, and I had a hard time convincing her!"
"My cousin loves to raise birds!" The noble young man said.
The vendor laughed and said, "I'm not bragging when I say this, Young Master He. There's no smarter parrot in the whole capital than this one. The Duchess will certainly love it!"
The noble young man was very satisfied, threw him a purse, commanded his attendants to take the birdcage, and turned to the alley.
His surname is He, and his cousin was a Duchess.
Things were so obvious that Gu Jiao couldn’t even overlook it.
It wasn’t that I went out of my way to find you, it was you who delivered yourself to me, okay?
Gu Jiao followed him.
Young Master He was personally carrying the birdcage. As they walked, he thought of how his cousin would be amused by this parrot, and his mood was extremely carefree.
He entered an alley.
Seven or eight attendants followed closely behind him.
At first, several people followed behind him without any problem, but then——
Swish!
One person was suddenly missing!
Swish!
Another one had gone missing!
Young Master He looked back, vaguely feeling that something was amiss, but the alley was narrow, so for a while, he failed to notice that there were now fewer people behind him.
Swish, swish, swish!
When he looked back again, there was only one attendant left behind him.
The attendant widened his eyes, with a look of fright!
Young Master He was startled into almost jumping, "What's wrong with you?"
The next second, the attendant fell with a bang!
Then, Gu Jiao appeared in front of Young Master He.
She wore a narrow-sleeved clothes, and a portion of her ink-black hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head by the white jade hairpin given to her by Xiao Liulang, while the rest hung down like a fine satin, flowing elegantly and naturally in the cold wind.
Her eyes were cold, with a hint of disdain.
"He Jinghong?" She said.
Young Master He blocked the birdcage in front of him, "Who are you? How do you know my name?"
Gu Jiao uttered bluntly, "I heard that you cheated in the college exam."
A glint flashed within Young Master He’s eyes, "What are you talking about! I didn't!"
It seemed to be true.
Well, there was nothing else to say.
Gu Jiao sized him up until her eyes rested on his legs.
She wondered whether to break his leg so he couldn’t go to the examination hall anymore, or break his hand to avenge Xiao Liulang about what happened in the college exam?
As a result, He Jinghong held the birdcage tightly and ran away without saying anything!
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