female concubine

When it was time for the trial, both the inside and outside of the tribute courtyard were locked, and the imperial army surrounded the tribute courtyard layer by layer, and no one else was allowed to approach.

As the bell rang, Zhi Gongju personally lit the incense seal bell for timing, and the green smoke rose, and an order came from the Gongyuan, "Start the test!"

The examination lasted for three whole days, and the scholars who took the examination within these three days were not allowed to leave the Gongyuan for half a step. They could not leave until the four examinations of poetry, theory, strategy, and posting scriptures were completed, and the door of the Gongyuan opened.

The two Zhigongs unpacked the test questions in sealed letters, copied the test questions in large characters and distributed them to the officials in charge of each test room.

During the examination period, there were inspections, and the examiner rested in the room, alternately inspecting in turn.

Compared with the tribute members who are in the cold, the examiner’s house is warmed by burning charcoal pots.

"Since Your Majesty has assigned you and me to jointly take charge of this tribute, we should be cautious and careful, and we should not be indifferent to the Holy Grace."

"Your official, respect and abide by the holy will, and the only thing that matters is peace, and the horse is the first to look forward."

Tong Pingzhang put his hands up, looked sideways at Lu Wei and said with a smile: "I remember, Lu Nehan's master is the Sixth Prince, right? And I am assisting His Majesty and Your Highness."

"The lower official is not only the minister of His Majesty, but also the prince's minister with all the officials." After finishing speaking, Lu Wei raised his head, "It's just that the lower official has an additional identity, appointed by His Majesty, the teacher of the six kings."

Tong Pingzhang laughed immediately after hearing the incident, pointed at Lu Wei and said, "Cunning."

Three days later, at dusk, a bell rang from the Gongyuan, and the last exam was over. The examiners in each examination room put away the test papers and sealed them up.

It was dusk at this time, all the chariots and horses gathered at the entrance of the tribute courtyard, and the tribute officials who came out were happy and worried.

"This year is too difficult, it seems that we have to wait for the next three years!"

Liang Wenfu stepped out from the bustling crowd and followed a tribute official who was slightly older than him.

He shouted to persuade him to stay: "Your Excellency, please stay."

The tribute member turned around, a little puzzled, "I don't know what the hell is calling me, brother?"

Liang Wenfu stepped forward and reported his family name, "a certain surname is Liang, first name is Wenfu, and style name is Hongwen. He comes from Jiangling."

"Jiangling...it turned out to be Liang Jieyuan, Jiu Yang, a tribute member whose surname is Han, first name Si, style name Jingming, from Jinyang."

"Brother Guan Jingming is full of heaven and his ears are white on his face. This is a blessing. I think he will be named on the gold list this time. I always like to make friends with people of insight. I don't know Brother Jingming, what do you think?"

For Jie Yuan who suddenly approached to get close, Han Si did not show boredom, but he was not overly happy either, and said with a slight smile: "Brother Hongwen is a blessed person compared to his appearance, and I think he will definitely win the imperial examination in the future." Look at it, the sky is going straight up." Immediately, he cupped his hands and wanted to leave: "But, if the way is different, we will not seek each other, you and I are destined to not stand on the same line."

"Brother Jing Ming hasn't entered an official position yet, how can you see it, why are you so sure?"

Han Bang lowered his head and smiled slightly, "Intuition."

Liang Wenfu also laughed, "Then I have to wait for brother Jing Ming's intuition, right?"

"hope so."

"Then I wish Brother Jingming, Jinshi and the first place, soaring to ninety thousand miles!"

Not far away passed a carriage coming out of Da Nei. The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Gongyuan for a while, and then the curtain was rolled up inside the carriage. A middle-aged man wearing a soft-footed handkerchief and a brocade robe looked at the crowd outside the window and asked The old monk sitting opposite said, "Elder, how do you look at these two people?"

"All the students came out of the Gongyuan, but these two sons are the most calm."

"Calmness is self-confidence. Presumably these two will have a chance to go to high school?"

The old monk nodded, "The future Zaifu will be born out of two sons."

The brocade robed man was surprised, and asked speculatively: "One is the crown prince and the other is Zhao Wang. The elder means that the future emperor will be one of the crown prince and Zhao Wang?"

The man leaned out of the car window again and looked at the two figures in the distance. He couldn't tell which one was up and down, so he lowered the curtain and looked at the old monk, "Can the elder tell me which one it is?"

"Everything that has a picture is false." The old monk closed his hands and eyes, and did not answer.

For the person who only got half of the points, it made him feel anxious, "Tai. Zu's heirs are only me and His Majesty. I have survived until now and won the trust of Your Majesty, not only because I am a supporter of King Qi, More importantly, I only have one daughter under my knees, and I have no descendants. I regard this daughter as a treasure, and she is my life!"

The old monk still closed his eyes, pretending to be mysterious, "All conditioned dharmas are like dreams and bubbles, like dew or electricity, and should be viewed in this way."

The brocade robed man frowned deeply, "Elder, my life rests here. The elder refuses to say more. The future of Tokyo City will definitely be bloody."

The old monk sighed, "Amitabha, life is created by oneself, form is born from the heart, everything in the world is transformed into form, if the heart does not move, everything will not move, if the heart does not change, everything will not change. Donate, the old monk said it all. Please take me back to the temple."

------------

In the mansion of the founding father of Longde, a man in good health returned to his natal home.

"I have been recuperating in the palace for more than ten days, and the newspapers in the mansion are full of trivial matters. However, I heard that Luo Chuan was released from the Ministry of Punishment and participated in this tribute?"

Xiao Xianfu nodded, "Jiang Luochuan was originally sentenced to beheaded after the fall, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment both stamped it, and His Majesty personally approved it, but the king of Chu entered the palace once a few days before the tribute..." Xiao Xianfu stared at Xiao Youqing, "Afterwards, someone took his grievances, and the Ministry of Criminal Justice reopened the case, changed the verdict of innocence, and he was released." Xiao Xianfu said, recalling the verdict of the day, "Oh, The other person who was pardoned in Shangyuan seems to be a scapegoat, surnamed Qian, but it is not yet clear, but he is a participant in the case."

Seeing Xiao Youqing concentrating on thinking and not speaking, Xiao Xianfu hesitated again: "Is there a gap between the princess and the king of Chu..."

Seeing Xiao Youqing raised his head, Xiao Xianfu bowed and said: "It is the Xiao family's fault that they failed to detect the thief's evil intentions, and put the princess in danger..."

"Okay, Second Uncle just needs to tell me the whole truth."

"Yes."

A few days later, Xiao Youqing was in good health, so he searched for the weather for a day to prepare to go out again, and ordered someone to prepare a box of generous gifts before going out.

Seeing this, the king of Chu didn't dare to follow, but asked softly from the side: "Where are you going, sister?"

"Go to King Zhao and thank you."

The King of Chu raised his eyebrows slightly, and then asked slowly, "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No need!" Xiao Youqing quickly refused, "This is a kindness owed by my concubine, and the prince does not need to repay it."

The King of Chu didn't say anything more, and didn't take a step forward, "Well, I don't need to go to Dali Temple today for ten days. When my sister comes back, come find me in the study. I have something to tell my sister."

Xiao Youqing stopped, turned around and looked at the back of Chu Dynasty's study, stretched out his hand, hesitated to speak, and finally just replied with a sigh, "Okay."

After Xiao Youqing left, Little Six entered the study room, glanced at the king of Chu who was writing something on the table, and said in shock, "Ah Lang, what... are you going to do?"

The King of Chu closed what he had written and put it on the book, "It's a last resort, it's a perfect solution."

"It's so hard for you, how can you be willing to save someone who almost risked his life..."

"Don't worry, if I can win, I will take it back!"

"But what if you don't win?" Little Six said worriedly.

"At least, she can survive!" King Chu got up, "The round has already begun."

"Ah Lang is like this, is he going to bring down the prince first... In this way, in the end, whether it is you or King Zhao, the eldest lady can survive, but...according to the eldest lady's temperament, will living like this be happy? ?”

Little Six's words made her tremble, and before she could open her mouth, Little Sixth said again: "If the Crown Prince falls, what will the Crown Princess do?"

The King of Chu stood at the door and paused for a long time...

【"His Royal Highness summoned the ministers?"

"There are no outsiders here, why is Liu Lang still so polite?"

"Your Highness is the king, and the minister is his minister, and he dare not overstep."

The princess was stunned, the words of the king of Chu reminded her of something, and then she smiled helplessly: "I can't go back..." Then she raised her head and stared at the king of Chu, "If you have to stay with the three brothers Choice, I hope that the successor who will win in the end is you."

The King of Chu raised his head and straightened up, "Your Highness, why did you say that? The crown prince is the heir to the throne in the future, and your highness is the crown princess, who will be able to respect the world in the future. Your highness is benevolent..."

The Crown Princess just shook her head, "Since I stepped into the East Palace, I have stopped thinking about him, Liu Lang...in fact, he is not confused, nor is he a dude as they say, Liu Lang, actually knows everything." Looking at her eyes are full of tenderness, "Right?"

King Chu lowered his head in silence.

The concubine stepped forward and patted King Chu's shoulder lightly, "Don't be shy, sister, I won't blame you."]

The stuck man closed his eyes, took a trembling breath, and immediately stepped out of the study.

"Where is Aaron going?"

"Consort House."

When the carriage arrived at the son-in-law's mansion, it happened that the fourth son-in-law was at home for a few days.

Princess Kang Ning was naturally very happy to see her younger brother coming, but her face was still full of complaints, "Those who have been back to Beijing for more than half a year, do you know that this is the first time you have visited my elder sister?"

Wei Huan leaned forward and tugged at Princess Kangning's sleeve, "It's not that Liu Lang doesn't want to visit my sister, it's just that there have been many twists and turns in the house, and Liu Lang is exhausted, so he came here as soon as he had time?"

Princess Kang Ning knew that the king of Chu must have something to look for when he came to the door, so she looked up at her from top to bottom, "Does the doctor Sun often go to ask for pulse? Is the injury healed? Don't leave any root cause .”

The King of Chu smiled and patted Princess Kangning on the back of his hand, "Don't worry, Sister, Imperial Physician Sun is highly skilled in medicine, and Liu Lang is fully recovered."

A female envoy approached the middle hall and bowed to the King of Chu and Princess Kangning, "Princess Chu, Princess." Then she walked to Princess Kangning's side and whispered something.

Princess Kang Ning let go of her hand, and said with a slight smile, "Okay, your brother-in-law is waiting for you to play chess in the study, maybe you haven't seen each other for a long time."

King Chu nodded.

The furnishing of the study in the son-in-law's mansion is extremely simple, except for the books, there is only one copy.

The king of Chu took the seat, while the four sons-in-law who were commanders of the commander of the horse army stood aside respectfully, obeying orders.

"In order to avoid suspicion and attract people's attention, the six kings have not heard from the lower officials in the past few years, why did they come to the door in person today?"

"Someone wants to force this king to do evil, what do you do?"

"But according to the orders of the six kings."

"Your dispatch, can you move?"

The son-in-law shook his head, "Not long after I arrived at the Ma Junsi, I found out that there is Shen Yi'an in the Ma Junsi. It also supervises the Xiang armies of the state capitals, which can be moved."

The king of Chu shook his head, "The standing army is no match for the imperial army..." She stared at the son-in-law deeply.

The son-in-law stepped forward, clasped his fists and bowed, "I order you to listen!"

The King of Chu stood up with his hands behind his back, "A gentleman hides his weapon in his body, and he will move it when the time comes." Then he turned his head and looked slightly, "This king wants you to take control of the Mabu and the two yamen within two years, and control all the real power of the three yamen's imperial army within five years, and general Shen Yi'an. , replace it!" His eyes became deeper and chilling, "If you can, then this king will give you a batch of good things."

After ten years of hiding the front without making a sound, once the ghosts and gods were unsheathed, the son-in-law raised his head in shock, "Your servant, obey your orders, and never fail, your orders!"

The king of Chu sighed, then turned around and said in a calm tone: "It is not difficult to control the real power of Ma Junsi. This king will help you, but the road ahead is dangerous. You and I are not only monarchs and ministers. We are both hurt and prosperous. Here, copy the house." The catastrophe of extermination, let you risk your life, dare you?"

The son-in-law walked up to the king of Chu, bowed his head and obeyed his orders, and resolutely said: "If you die for your son, you will die for your filial piety, and for your minister, you will die for your loyalty. So why not die!"