Thank you sir, he is still outputting!

In late spring and March, the grass grows and the warblers fly, and the wind from the south of the Yangtze River greens the lake and dissipates the last trace of the chill. The slender branches of the willow trees in the capital all sprout new green buds.

In the backyard of the Zhou Mansion on Songmao Street in Beijing, a plainly dressed middle-aged woman took the birdcage from the servant, turned around and carried the birdcage into the house.

In the living room, a woman in a blue short skirt and a light-colored long skirt was leaning on the bed, resting her head on one hand, watching Yunniang hanging the birdcage with parrots in front of the window as before.

The woman was only in her early thirties, and because of her well-maintained skin, her skin was still fair and smooth, her eyes were full of smiles, and she was indescribably charming.

She is the hostess of this mansion - Lin Hui, the wife of Zhou Chengshen, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.

The whole body of the parrot is yellow and green, but the sides of the head and the neck are rose red, and the long tail is attached to the back. At this time, it is quietly staying in the cage, looking curiously at the scenery outside the window.

This parakeet was bought by Lin Hui's only son, Zhou Hongzhi, from a merchant from the south, and he offered it to Lin Hui eagerly, hoping that this little thing that could learn to speak would amuse his mother.

Because it was a gift from her only son, Lin Hui naturally valued this parrot, not only named it Cuiyu, but also hired a servant to take care of its basic necessities, and even brought it to the garden to breathe fresh air every day.

Therefore, although Cui Yu is just a parrot, she is living a more nourishing life than many people.

Seeing the parrot motionless in the cage, Lin Hui wanted to tease it and called it, "Cui Yu! Cui Yu!"

It's a pity that the parakeet didn't realize it, it seemed to be deaf, and it didn't give her face at all, it still tilted its head and looked at the trees outside the window, as if the trees were so attractive.

Lin Hui called it several times but got no response, so she called it again: "Cuimei!"

Strange to say, it was useless to call "Cui Yu, Cui Yu" several times before, but now it was just "Cui Meiren", which made the parakeet suddenly excited and fluttered its wings in the cage. , imitating others and shouting in a rough and weird tone: "Cuimei! Cuimi is here! Cuimi is here!"

Yunniang burst out laughing, the other little maids in the room didn't dare to laugh too obviously, they all lowered their heads and lightly shrugged their shoulders, laughing secretly until their cheeks turned red.

Lin Hui herself was also laughed out of anger. She straightened up and stared at the parakeet, and scolded with a smile, "What a beauty! What a Xie Zhao!"

At first, Cuiyu of course recognized her literary name.

It's just that since Xie Zhao lived in Zhou's mansion, he seems to have seen the parrot rightly. Every morning, he teases it with a willow branch and laughs at it: "This feather is really beautiful, so bright and shiny, it should be called Cuimei. That's right."

This Cuiyu didn't know why, after only staying with Xie Zhao for a few days, she even forgot her real name, and willingly became Xie Zhao's emerald beauty.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui couldn't help feeling rejoicing and gnashing her teeth: "Fortunately, this dude has been driven away! If he stays like this, I'm afraid my good Hongzhi will learn badly——Cuiyu wants to call herself a beauty today Boy, will my Hongzhi also fight against me for him in the future?"

Lin Hui has been dissatisfied with Xie Zhao for a long time.

About a month ago, her good husband Zhou Chengshen brought Xie Zhao into the mansion, and only told her that his name was Xie Zhao, and now he was going to prepare for this year's imperial examination in the mansion, and asked her to love Xie Zhao in every possible way, even saying He said something like "If Hongzhi has something, Mr. Xie will also send a copy".

Not long after, some servants in the mansion began to gossip, saying that Xie Zhao was the illegitimate son raised by Zhou Chengshen in the south of the Yangtze River.

Lin Hui didn't believe these words at first, but later she saw that Zhou Chengshen loved Xie Zhao in every possible way, and sent someone to ask Xie Zhao's daily life every day.As time goes by, Lin Hui will inevitably feel aggrieved for her son, and Xie Zhao also has some noses that are not noses, and eyes that are not eyes.

But she couldn't tell Zhou Hongzhi about her small thoughts.Seeing Zhou Hongzhi still foolishly following Xie Zhao every day, one brother at a time, Lin Hui felt so awkward.

So even though Xie Zhao got good grades in the Huiyuan test and is now considered to be in the limelight, after the palace examination, Lin Hui still politely invited Xie Zhao to the village in the suburbs, and came here for nothing.

Yun Niang has watched Lin Hui grow up, so of course she understands her knot.

But after all, she was much more cautious than Lin Hui, so she could only sigh at this moment: "Madam did this, I don't know if the master will blame Madam when he finds out about it afterwards?"

The Ministry of Rites is busy these days, Zhou Chengshen didn't stay in the mansion for a long time, so he didn't visit Xie Zhao in person.Every day when he entrusted his servant to ask about Xie Zhao, Lin Hui just passed it vaguely.

After hearing Yunniang's words, Lin Hui snorted softly: "It depends on whether Zhou Chengshen dares to blame me! If it weren't for my father these years, he thought he could become a fourth-rank official so quickly? Now I won't expose him. It's great that the illegitimate child came to the door, how dare he blame me?"

She sneered and patted the tabletop: "If he has the guts to ask me, I will go to Yushitai with him and talk about the illegitimate child."

If there is nothing wrong, which official in Beijing is willing to go to Yushitai?

Lin Hui didn't think Zhou Chengshen would be happy.

I'm afraid this Mr. Xie is not our lord's seed at all?

Yun Niang frowned, and hesitated to speak: "...but the results of the palace examination have not yet come out, what if Mr. Xie is the number one scholar?"

Lin Hui held up the teacup, took a sip, then put down the teacup, and said lightly, "Don't forget who my father is. In the eyes of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, although the number one scholar is powerful, it is not enough to carry weight—"

There is a reason why she can be so confident.As the head of the six ministries, the Ministry of Officials is in charge of the honorary titles of civil officials across the country. Lin Hui's father, Lin Zheng, is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials - this position is called a heavenly official.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui twitched the corner of her mouth lightly, jokingly: "So what about the number one scholar, you have to bow your head when you see my father, let him be the Monkey King, I'm afraid he will lie on the ground and turn into a pug."

Seeing her domineering appearance, Yunniang felt a little uneasy in her heart.

For some reason, she always felt that Mr. Xie didn't look like an insignificant character that could be manipulated at will by his wife.

Yunniang's uneasiness was quickly confirmed.

Lin Hui's teacup was still not cold when there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the door.Yun Niang followed the sound and looked towards the door, only to see the calm and unhurried old man walking towards the door. When he walked in, he only took a breath, and asked Lin Hui sharply, "Where is Mr. Xie?! Why is he not in the mansion?" ?!"

Zhou Chengshen's tone was extremely serious, and he made no secret of his dissatisfaction.

For the first time in so many years, Lin Hui saw him sternly treating her. Although she was a little scared, she was more angry.She stood up, not caring that there were so many maidservants around, raised eyebrows, and said coldly: "I sent him to the village in the suburbs."

"you you--"

Zhou Chengshen has always been a gentle and polite old man, but no matter how good his temper is, it will be ruined now.He pointed at Lin Hui for a while, his face turned pale with anger, and his voice trembled a little: "Young Master Xie is now the champion of the new discipline! Eunuch Chen is standing outside with the imperial decree waiting for someone, how do you want me to explain to him!"

Seeing him so angry, all the maids in the room, including Yun Niang, were so frightened that they bowed their heads and fell to the ground, dumbfounded.

——Chen Fu, Eunuch Chen?The big celebrity in front of the Holy One, and now the eunuch Chen Eunuch, the chief inspector of ceremonies?

Lin Hui's arrogance just now disappeared after hearing this name, and her vision went dark: Although the new top scholar has a great name, it doesn't take someone as important as Eunuch Chen to congratulate him in person.

She flickered, and accidentally knocked over the teacup with her right hand.The teacup fell from the table to the ground, and this set of Lin Hui's favorite enamel landscape tea set made a crisp sound and fell to pieces.

But Lin Hui couldn't care less.

She looked straight at Zhou Chengshen, and tremblingly said, "This Xie Zhao... no, who is this Mr. Xie?"

"Where is the character?"

In the past, Zhou Chengshen would have stepped forward to comfort his charming wife when he saw such an expression, but at this moment, he felt no pity in his heart.He sneered and paused every word: "He is the only son of the Zhenxi General Xie Yanxie Chunshan who passed away 15 years ago!"

——Son of Xie Yan? !

Lin Hui took a step back, her eyes were shocked, and her back was already wet with cold sweat.

Xie Zhao, who is now in the suburbs, is completely unaware of the quarrel in the Zhou Mansion.

The spring wind is lazy, blowing people drowsy.After picking the mulberries, Bingwen came to the river, and saw his young master lying on the grass, his ink-like long hair scattered all over the ground. When he got closer, he found that his hands were crossed behind his head, and his face was covered with a mask. "The Doctrine of the Mean" opened in this book.

He fixed the fishing rod on the side with a stone. Bingwen leaned over to take a look, and couldn't help but let out a long, old-fashioned sigh: the bait on the hook had indeed disappeared.

Bingwen had no choice but to squat beside Xie Zhao, and took the brand new book away from Xie Zhao's face.

As if he didn't notice that Xie Zhao was still sleeping with his eyes closed, Bingwen complained: "You also said that you want to fish for the cook to cook and eat. With your fishing method, Bingwen might become an old man." , still can’t eat your fish.”

Xie Zhao still had his eyes closed tightly, and his long eyelashes cast shadows on his face.

Bingwen groaned and glared at him: "My lord, stop pretending to be asleep!"

The next moment, Xie Zhao finally opened his eyes. Sure enough, his eyes were clear and he was not sleepy at all.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling, Xie Zhao clicked his tongue, and snatched the book from Bingwen's hand—this time it was not covering his face, but on top of his head.He propped one hand on the grass, and the other hand supported the book that shaded his head, lazily replied to Bingwen's previous words: "Have you heard the story of Jiang Taigong fishing? Your son, I am imitating the sages. What I want is a love between you and me."

Are you too lazy to fish in the sun?

Bingwen curled his lips and snorted: "Jiang Taigong fishes, at least there is bait on the hook."

Xie Zhao didn't want to get entangled with him about fishing, so he took out a mulberry from the basket in Bingwen's hand and put it in his mouth, while changing the subject: "What can you do with me?"

Xie Zhao is good-looking, the kind that even sitting on the grass and eating mulberries with a book on his head is still radiant.

Bingwen has been by Xie Zhao's side for so many years, and at this moment, he couldn't help being dazzled by Xie Zhao's appearance again.But it's also because I've been following Xie Zhao for a long time, and it's quick to recover.

He put the basket in front of Xie Zhao, and said in a rather indignant tone, "Today is the day to release the rankings, why are you not worried about your grades at all?"

Xie Zhao lowered his eyes and picked the mulberries in the basket. After picking and picking for a long time, he picked out the most beautiful one, and then put it in his mouth with satisfaction. It's time to explore the flowers."

"Exploring flowers?"

Bingwen was dubious: "Someone secretly reported to you?"

"No." Xie Zhao said, his tone was taken for granted, "But isn't it true that Tanhua Lang is the most beautiful one? Which candidate do you see is more beautiful than your young master?"

Bingwen tried his best to recall the appearances of the candidates he saw when he accompanied Xie Zhao to the exam, and had to admit that if the imperial examination had to add a test about appearance, his son would definitely be far ahead.

"But no matter how good you are, you can't be the number one scholar." Bingwen was not reconciled, "You are so good at studying, and you were raised by your grandfather, so it's no problem to be the number one scholar."

The grandfather he was talking about was Xie Zhao's grandfather Xie Hui.Before leaving the capital to go to the south of the Yangtze River, Xie Hui was the prince and grand tutor, and his knowledge is praised by everyone in the capital.

Xie Zhao was brought up by Xie Hui since he was a child, and he did not lose Xie Hui's face when it comes to reading.

Xie Zhao laughed, as if hearing a joke.

"You really have confidence in me." Seeing Bingwen nodding seriously, he was dumbfounded, "—Although I am already Jieyuan and Huiyuan, how can this champion be so good? A person who won three yuan in a row has only experienced 500 years in the previous dynasty Five people, this dynasty has never seen such a thing, you actually dreamed that I could become the number one scholar?"

The more he said it, the more amusing he was, Xie Zhao took down the book above his head.With fair and slender fingers, he rolled the books together slowly, tapped Bingwen's head, and scolded with a smile: "It's not dark yet, silly Bingwen."

Bingwen pursed his lips, touched his forehead, but still did not give up: "My lord, shall we go and have a look?"

Xie Zhao couldn't help it, knowing that if Bingwen was not allowed to see the result, he would not give up his too bold idea.

He was just about to get up when he suddenly saw a few people coming on horseback on the trail in the distance.Xie Zhao narrowed his eyes and saw that the leader was Zhou Chengshen, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites who had brought him from Jiangnan.

It's just that Master Zhou, who used to always sit upright in the past, has lost his usual calmness today. He came on horseback, but before he arrived, his voice had already been heard from afar.

"Thank you, Young Master Xie! Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations——"

He took a breath, bumped non-stop on the horseback, and while struggling to straighten the official hat on his head, he shouted loudly: "Congratulations, you have won three yuan in a row and become the No. 1 of the dynasty!"