Don't go back to hometown

The imperial examinations in Jiangnan Province have always had a large number of reference students, and the rankings were released later.It wasn't until mid-September, when the Xie family's new house had been repaired and began to be aired and ventilated, that the date for the release of the list was not set.

Jiang Xianyu booked a private room in the teahouse closest to the yamen, and on the day when the rankings were released, he brought Xie Cheng and Xiu Mu's Duan Shuwen over before dawn.

Shimo and Pingan squeezed to the gate of the yamen and waited in line to see the list.

Jiang Baizhou went to Duanzhai but found no one, and only found the teahouse after being guided by Aunt Li.

As soon as he came, he saw Jiang Xianyu lying on the window sill and looking out, he just turned around and called him "Big Brother" perfunctorily.

Jiang Baizhou stepped forward and patted him on the head: "I said that Shu Wen and Xie Cheng are not impatient, it must be you who can't hold back, everyone Zhang Luo came here to watch the list."

Duan Shuwen joked with a smile: "It's still Bai Zhou who understands Xiao Yu, and he hits the nail on the head."

Jiang Xianyu couldn't refute, so he hummed softly, and continued to look out the window.

"Brother, sit down, the Dragon Well here is not bad." Xie Cheng poured tea for Jiang Baizhou, implying that Jiang Xianyu chose a good place.

Jiang Baizhou heard what he meant, shook his head with a smile, took a taste of the tea cup, nodded and said, "It's really good."

He paused, and then said: "I heard some news yesterday, which is related to the first, third and fourth rooms of the Xie family."

Xie Cheng and Duan Shuwen paused at the same time and looked at Jiang Baizhou.Jiang Xianyu, who was lying by the window, also moved the stool forward, "What happened to them?"

Jiang Baizhou: "Last time you agreed to separate the operations. The Langyuzhai and Jinyu Pavilion under their name will no longer be escorted by the Ping'an Escort, but will be replaced by the Changsheng Escort."

This matter was expected by Xie Cheng.Jiang Xianyu also knew something, "And then?"

Jiang Baizhou looked at Xie Cheng: "Just a few days ago, the Changsheng Escort lost another dart."

"Again?" Jiang Xianyu and Duan Shuwen said in unison.

Jiang Baizhou nodded, and said to Xie Cheng: "The other party kept the news, your uncle and the others may not know about it. But with this time, it is already the third time in the past two months."

"The first two times were all jade materials, one was robbed, and the other was when the car overturned in the rain while crossing the mountain road. This time it was finished jade and gold ornaments. I heard that they encountered water bandits while walking on the waterway. "

Jiang Xianyu showed disgust: "Why is their escort agency so bad?"

There has never been an accident with the things that the Xie family entrusted to the Ping An Escort.

Duan Shuwen heard that Xie Cheng mentioned the matter of splitting up the business, "It's only three things, after so many trips, I should have lost a lot."

The old god Xie Cheng, who had been silent all this time, sipped his tea on the ground, "Last month, I received a letter from my family, saying that the uncle and the others borrowed a batch of jade materials and craftsmen from my father, and they are rushing to ship them this month."

But the shipment has now been lost.

Duan Shuwen frowned: "Although it is now a separate business, if the goods cannot be shipped on time, wouldn't it damage the reputation of the Xie family?"

Jiang Xianyu also had the same worry. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, the Xie family is one, and the "Lang" signboard represents the Xie family.

But he suddenly thought that Xie Cheng was reborn just like him.The "falsification of account books" that he didn't understand before probably happened after he left home in the previous life, so Xie Cheng was able to find out the whereabouts of the jade materials and finished products within ten days, and deal with the matter of dividing the family. .

From this point of view, for today's situation, Xie Cheng should have expected it.

Sure enough, seeing Xie Cheng with a clear face, he poured tea for Jiang Baizhou and Duan Shuwen respectively, and said: "Thank you, senior brother, I will write to my father immediately to inform this matter."

"Brother-in-law, don't worry. The rest of the houses have signed contracts before. If the signboard of Xie's house is smashed, the management rights will be given up. Last time I borrowed jade materials and craftsmen, my father knew it well, and must have made arrangements to deal with it." Of the policy."

"That's good." Jiang Baizhou and Duan Shuwen took the tea and felt relieved.

Jiang Xianyu also heaved a sigh of relief, and pushed his teacup in front of Xie Cheng, "I want it too."

Jiang Baizhou glared at him: "I don't have hands?"

Jiang Xianyu grinned at him, picked up the tea Xie Cheng poured for him and drank it down, then turned his head and lay down by the window again.

Jiang Baizhou shook his head helplessly, and said to Xie Cheng, "Don't indulge him like this."

Xie Cheng countered: "Eldest brother is the one who loves him the most."

Jiang Baizhou froze for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then I can't compare to your master and mother."

Duan Shuwen then bent his lips, "Come on, there's no one who doesn't love your baby bump."

When Baby Pimple heard it, he turned his head and took a look, just in time to meet Xie Cheng's gentle and smiling gaze, his ears started to heat up uncontrollably, and he turned back quickly.

……

At the right time, the officers and soldiers cleared the way and began to post the list.The gate of the yamen was crowded with students waiting for the list, rubbing shoulders and heels, and there was a lot of voices.

"coming!"

Jiang Xianyu leaned half his body out of the window sill, and saw two dragon and tiger lists covered with red cloth being carried up, one civil and one military, one left and one right.

Suddenly, a gong sounded, and the two red cloths were uncovered at the same time.

It was too far away to see clearly, Jiang Xianyu propped himself up and was about to climb out of the window sill, but was suddenly held down by his shoulders.

"Stand still." Xie Cheng pulled him back, "There is no rush."

Jiang Xianyu glanced out of the window again, but couldn't help but poke his head out.

Xie Cheng smiled helplessly, pulled him by the wrist and brought him back to the table, poured tea and handed it to him, "Drink tea."

Jiang Xianyu took it and held it in the palm of his hand, raised his head and said, "Why hasn't Shimo come back?"

Jiang Baizhou watched the series of actions of the two, his eyes fell on his younger brother's wrist that Xie Cheng had just pulled, and he glanced at Xie Cheng again, feeling a little weird for some reason.

Just now the expressions and postures of these two people looked...why does his brother look like Xie Cheng's little wife?

——The kind of little daughter-in-law who is more nervous than her husband, waiting eagerly for the news of her husband's high school.

"Cough..." Jiang Baizhou was so frightened by his own imagination that he choked on his saliva, and quickly turned his head to cover his lips and coughed.

Seeing that his face was red from coughing, Jiang Xianyu stepped forward to pat him on the back, picked up the tea and handed it to him, "Brother?"

"Cough...it's okay."

Jiang Baizhou stopped coughing, took the tea and moistened his throat.Looking at the worried and ignorant Jiang Xianyu again, he immediately despises himself, why can't he just think about something?

His brother is a man!How could it be Xie Cheng's little daughter-in-law? !

It's just that he and Xie Cheng are like brothers and sisters, so he is so worried.

...But he usually sends out darts, and he has never seen my younger brother so nervous for him!

Thinking of this, Jiang Baizhou couldn't help looking at Jiang Xianyu with some resentment: Is this thing his own?

"?"

Jiang Xianyu didn't understand, so he quickly poured tea for Jiang Baizhou, "Brother, drink more tea to relieve the fire, your eyes are red, have you not slept well?"

Jiang Baizhou: "..."

Should I say that you care about me, or should I say that you don't understand what your brother and I mean at all?

Just when Xie Cheng and Duan Shuwen were staring into Jiang Baizhou's eyes, a shout from Shimo suddenly came from downstairs.

"Master! Master!"

Jiang Xianyu rushed to the window, "Know ink! Here! Did you see the list?"

Shimo looked up and saw Jiang Xianyu waving at him from the window, and Xie Cheng standing behind Jiang Xianyu, instead of running upstairs, he made a trumpet with his hand and shouted: "I see! The young master won the first place! It's Xie Yuan !"

"Ouch!"

Surprises were heard all around, people from all over the teahouse came out one after another, and nearby pedestrians also stopped to look at the Shimo below, and then looked up to the window upstairs, wanting to catch a glimpse of Xie Yuan's heroic appearance.

But the boy at the window turned around and rushed towards the person behind him, hugged him and jumped on the spot, "It's Xie Yuan! You really hit Xie Yuan!"

Immediately, there was a burst of exclamation and booing.

Jiang Baizhou and Duan Shuwen were also taken aback by Jiang Xianyu's actions, and the latter smiled and said, "Look, this is even happier than the Lord."

Jiang Baizhou frowned slightly, he couldn't see it, and was about to step forward to pull him away, when Xie Cheng patted Jiang Xianyu on the back, and said with a smile: "Okay, big brother, they are still here."

Jiang Xianyu woke up like a dream, immediately let go, glanced at Jiang Baizhou, and turned his eyes to hide his guilt.

Just happened to catch a glimpse of Shimo being surrounded by people, and asked who his young master was.Jiang Xianyu lay down by the window and yelled: "Know ink, go home to announce the good news, we will come right away."

"Hey!" Shimo responded, and quickly withdrew from the crowd.

Jiang Xianyu and the others also left the teahouse before more people came up to say hello.

……

As soon as I returned to Duanzhai, the official messenger came to announce the good news.

Xie's new house is not yet liveable, and the place Xie Cheng reported is Duan Shuwen's place.

The two announcing officials kept congratulating each other, and each said a lot of festive words, boasting that Xie Cheng was as good as a storyteller.Jiang Xianyu was taken aback when he heard that.

Then one of the officials took out an invitation card and handed it to Xie Cheng, "Xie Jieyuan, this is the invitation card for the Luming Banquet tomorrow, please be sure to attend."

Xie Cheng came over to thank him, took two red envelopes from Shimo, and handed them to two officials.

The eyes of the two officials suddenly lit up, and the smiles on their faces deepened a little.

According to their past experience, the red cloth is usually wrapped in silver, and the red envelope is filled with silver bills!This Xie Xieyuan is really generous!

The two officials thought to themselves, they must also grab the job to thank Xie Yuanzu's hometown to announce the good news.

In the past, no one did this kind of work going to other places, and it was pushed down layer by layer, especially when going to the backcountry, whoever was unlucky would go.

But Yangzhou is a good place!I heard that our Xie Xieyuan was born as a wealthy businessman, so it should be more generous to announce the good news at home, right?

After sending off the two officials, Ping An also came back.

He listened to Xie Cheng's order and helped to read the list for several scholars of Yangzhou Academy.Most of them were unwilling to afford the accommodation for so long, so they went back to Yangzhou with Mrs. Chen after the exam.

Ping An took out the paper that had been recorded from his arms, and read: "Mr. Zhang Tao and Mr. Zhang won No. 6 Yakui, Mr. Li Haobin was 32th, Mr. Liu Dingcai was 190... Mr. Wen Cui and Mr. Wen were [-]th and [-]nd. Yes...there are four other young masters who didn't win."

Xie Cheng nodded, and sent a red envelope to Ping An, "Thanks for your hard work."

I sent it to Aunt Li and his wife again, asking them to prepare a family feast to celebrate.

Afterwards, several waves of people who announced the good news came, and everyone who knew ink gave money for the happy event, and the gate of Duan's house did not stop bustling all day long.

Neighbors are all talking, this house used to live in a Juren who studied in the Imperial College, and now there is another Juren, it must be due to good Fengshui.

The owner of the house also came over to say congratulations when he heard the wind, grinning from ear to ear, and wanted to reduce Duan Shuwen's rent.

It wasn't until night that the bustle of Duan Zhai subsided.

In the afternoon, Shimo went to Xie's shop first, gave happy money to the shopkeeper and the clerk, and went to the Yamen to watch the dragon and tiger list of martial arts.

Regarding Ren Xiaoyao's false identity, Xie Cheng did not hide it from Shimo, but Xie Cheng did not say too much about the twists and turns behind the truth, and only asked him to focus on a person named Duan Yu.

After Shimo came back, he said angrily: "That 'Xie Yancheng' actually won the Ya Yuan, and Wu Jie Yuan was also taken by that Duan Yu."

Everyone was a little surprised, they didn't expect that the man named Duan Yu was really capable.

However, Jiang Xianyu said doubtfully, "I thought Ren Xiaoyao would be stronger than Duan Yu."

Jiang Baizhou shook his head: "We haven't actually come into contact with this person, so it's not easy to jump to conclusions. We only saw that he was inferior to Ren Xiaoyao in martial arts that day, but maybe, as Xie Cheng said, he might be superior in the other two. place."

"Indeed." Duan Shuwen nodded in agreement, and then looked at Xie Cheng, "Tomorrow, we can have a feast of deer and martial arts together, so we can observe it."

Xie Cheng tapped his fingers on the table and pondered for a moment, then said: "We have overlooked one point - the rules of the martial arts examination are different from those of the provincial examination."

Everyone was startled when they heard the words, and heard Xie Cheng talk about the martial arts exam.

From the children's examination to the rural examination, you must pass the martial arts assessment before you can participate in the literary examination; but in the general examination, you must first pass the literary examination before you are eligible to determine your ranking through the martial arts competition.

In this contest, the martial arts examiners from each province will decide the order according to their ranking in the provincial examination. The winners will continue to challenge each other with the same name, until the only winner is determined, that is, the champion of martial arts.

In other words, Wu Jieyuan from each province was the last one to fight.

Jiang Xianyu couldn't help frowning after hearing this, and looked at Xie Cheng: "You mean, in order to pave the way for Duan Yu, Ren Xiaoyao may have retained his strength and intentionally pushed him to the position of knowing Yuan?"

"No..." Jiang Baizhou guessed along Xie Cheng's train of thought, "This year's martial arts provincial examination is not without capable people. If Ren Xiaoyao retains his strength alone, Duan Yu will not be able to win the understanding."

Jiang Baizhou: "This person should have some talent in formation and tactics, but his martial arts are not strong enough. Wu Jieyuan can get it by himself, but he may not be able to rank in the test."

Jiang Xianyu understood at this moment, "So King Zhong arranged for Ren Xiaoyao the false identity of 'Xie Yancheng', just to let 'Xie Yancheng' clear obstacles for Duan Yu during the test?"

Xie Cheng nodded: "If that's the case, King Zhong may not have just arranged for the martial arts in Jiangnan province."

After all, if you want to win the champion of martial arts, it is not enough to rely on Ren Xiaoyao alone.

Duan Shuwen thought a little deeper, "But why did King Zhong go to so much trouble to let Duan Yu get the champion? In fact, as long as he gets a first-class military Jinshi, plus his in-law relationship with King Zhong, wouldn't he be able to win the imperial court?" Did you find a good job?"

Jiang Xianyu frowned in deep thought, looked at each other with Xie Cheng and Jiang Baizhou, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and replied: "Tianxin Mansion! Only the champion of martial arts can directly enter Tianxin Mansion regardless of his background."

Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible for the prince's in-laws to enter His Majesty's confidant organization.

But it is impossible for any prince who has ambitions for the throne not to have the idea of ​​Tianxin Mansion.

Xie Cheng nodded: "From this point of view, there should be no one in the Tianxin Mansion who favors the King Zhong, that's why he took great pains to make this arrangement."

"But wouldn't he be ambitious in doing so?" Jiang Xianyu asked.

Xie Cheng twitched his thumb and said, "So I suspect that he is definitely more than Duan Yu and Ren Xiaoyao."

He paused, and continued to speculate: "Or, if he deliberately put Duan Yu in the open and exposed it to everyone, then if other princes want to use similar methods to install people for themselves, will it not work? And Will the champion of martial arts selected in the end, no matter who it is, be suspected by His Majesty of impure background?"

Jiang Xianyu's heart skipped a beat, and he realized more clearly how much the injustice of those in power will affect ordinary people.

If this is the case, wouldn't the martial arts become a bargaining chip for the superiors, so how could there be a way out for the humble warriors?

What about Wenju?

Is Xie Cheng's path also so gloomy?