In the blink of an eye, the day came when Ruan Qingyan was about to die, but everything was calm in the meantime - so on the way to the examination room, Ruan Qingyan was expected to be full of murderous intent, to the point of killing ten in one step.
… But Ruan Qingyan went in, and everything was still as usual.
"Do they want to do something in the examination room?" Qiu Yilan lay on the window of the carriage, looking at the crowd that had almost dispersed around her, and murmured her guess.
Dong Ran shook his head and said: "This is impossible. Xue Xiang is determined not to allow this kind of thing to happen -" his voice lowered, "Even the Queen Mother cannot afford to offend the world's scholars."
Qiu Yilan thought the same thing. The imperial examination was the foundation of the country. Even if the Queen Mother's Party didn't care about one or two talented scholars, they still had to guard against the Queen Mother's Party fishing.
"It turns out that I have been so nervous these days!" Qiu Yilan wiped away the cold sweat and said angrily.
Dongran said with a smile: "It's not necessarily that he was nervous for nothing. What if the young master hid on the side of the road overnight before he entered the examination room? Fortunately, with God's blessing, the young master has already entered safely."
"Go back." Qiu Yilan lowered the car curtain.
The carriage had already turned its head, and now the coachman gave the order and drove towards the General's Mansion.
When he was approaching the General's Mansion, he was stopped by someone: "Is it sister Ning Yi in the car?"
As soon as she heard this title, she knew who she was meeting. Qiu Yilan rubbed her eyebrows, opened the curtain and looked outside. Sure enough, Ling Zui, who was wearing a red arrow robe and a crane cloak, was riding a green horse, smiling next to the car. When he saw her showing up, he cupped his hands and said, "Sister Ning Yi is coming back from seeing Brother Ruan off?"
"Exactly, where is the young Marquis going?" Qiu Yilan muttered in her heart: Don't tell me that you are going to the Ruan family again!
Fortunately, although Ling Zui stared at her face with his eyes, he was not shameless enough to openly chase her at the door. He said, "The snow has melted in the spring. I plan to go to the dense forest outside the city to hunt some game to honor my parents." He smiled again. Ask her, "Do you like it, sister Ning Yi? I'll pass by Ruan's house and share some with you."
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Marquis, but I am keeping my filial piety..." Qiu Yilan said against her will - because Zhou's mother, who was loyal to Princess Ruan, and Su He were by her side every day, and she had never eaten meat since she was a child! Even the chicken soup was only drunk during the days when she was seriously injured... God knows how much she wanted to grab Ling Zui's clothes and shout: "Give me all!!!"
Naturally, Ling Zui didn't know what she was thinking, so he smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot... My sister is really a filial daughter."
"Where can I not repay the kindness of giving birth?" Qiu Yilan said reluctantly.
The two exchanged some more pleasantries before Ling Zui returned to his own team and rode off.
"Are those hounds? They're so big!" Su He raised his hand to put down the car curtain, occasionally looked out and exclaimed, "They're as tall as a man!"
"Really?" Qiu Yilan hurriedly stopped the curtain she had put down, looked over, and her pupils shrank slightly, "Is this a mastiff?"
"Fortunately, someone held the chain tightly and didn't come close to us just now, otherwise our horses would have been frightened." Dongran followed and looked at it, and said thankfully.
Qiu Yilan watched the tall mastiffs disappear at the street corner with Ling Zui and his party, and thought thoughtfully: "No wonder the young marquis said he helped that day."
"Ah?" Dongran and Su He were both confused.
"The day Aunt Kang and Cousin Kang came to fight, the mastiff that scared them into the house turned out to be deliberately released by Mr. Ling Xiaohou." Qiu Yilan muttered, "My cousin spent so much money on him. , Guess he still has a conscience!"
Thinking of the Kang family's mother and daughter, she asked, "I have been worried about my cousin's fate for the past two days and haven't beaten Kang Lizhang. How is she?"
"It's still the same as before, huddled in the room and keeping silent." Dongran said, "Occasionally I say a few words to the maid delivering food, always asking the princess when you came over."
"She won't like being beaten by me, right?" Qiu Yilan was surprised. Could it be that Cousin Kang has a masochistic constitution? !
Dongran smiled awkwardly: "It seems that I want to beg you for the Yulu Cream - the injury on her face..."
"Am I very kind-hearted?" Qiu Yilan narrowed her eyes, "Next time when I deliver food, she will ask me when I will come over and let the maid condom her. What benefits did she prepare in exchange for Jade Dew Cream!"
The box of jade dew ointment given by Jiang Yashuang gave her the inspiration to temporarily escape from the palace. At that time, she sealed the box and threw it into the well in the empty courtyard near the outer wall to avoid being found by the palace. She originally planned to raise it in the Ruan family. After ordering his body, he secretly went to get it - but when he entered the palace on New Year's Eve, Empress Jiang's gift also contained jade dew ointment. Qiu Yilan had some use for it, so she ignored it for the time being.
Now that I heard that Kang Lizhang was eager to see her, she figured out how much benefit she could get from this cousin Kang
It’s not that she loves money, but at least the things that the old concubine and Princess Ruan took away from the Kang family’s mother and daughter should be vomited out with interest, right
Unexpectedly, Qiu Yilan just entered the general's mansion and received a tragic news: "There was a greeting card on the door. The person who came claimed to be a servant of Qiu Dian, the imperial censor. This time, it was for the son's former aunt and uncle. Came to post.”
Ruan An frowned and said, "I'm afraid... the person who came here is evil!"
"I thought Hua Shen was talking nonsense. It turned out that she had been wronged. It's not that she didn't come, but that she planned to challenge me when my cousin is over." Qiu Yilan opened the greeting card and looked at the signature. Xu, Pang Biao, she was very interested, "Cousin's previous surname was Pang? What was his name? Tiger? Leopard?"
Ruan An coughed and said, "Princess, the other party will come to your door tomorrow."
"Ignore them?" Qiu Yilan sneered, "Who stipulates that you have to receive people after you submit your invitation? What if you show off as a censor? My grandfather is not in good health, and I have to serve around me. How can I have time to entertain people? Especially My cousin is in the examination room now, how do I know it’s really someone he knew before? He’s not a liar—huh?”
She blinked and asked Ruan An, "What does Uncle Ruan think about arresting two liars in the general's house?"
"Young master said before that these two people cannot be his former mother and brother." Ruan An pondered, "But since they dare to openly pay a visit, they obviously have something to rely on. Besides..." He raised his head and glanced at Qiu Yilan. , "Jingzhao Yin Feng Rugui's position, the last visit to the 'Renqing Hall' has reminded many people. Qiu Dian is in charge of Yushitai and knows the laws of Da Rui very well. Even if he doesn't accompany the mother and son to the door in person, I'm afraid he will Send someone to take care of you.”
The implication is that it is unlikely that Qiu Yilan would use his official position to bully the people like last time.
Qiu Yilan thought for a moment and said: "If that's the case, then I would like to meet them. After all, even if they are real, they have nothing to do with me. If we don't see them until my cousin finishes his exam, I'm afraid it will be even more troublesome. ”
"These two people chose to post today and visit tomorrow. They are obviously deliberately avoiding the young master." Ruan An frowned, "In my opinion, they are clearly here specifically for the princess!"
Qiu Yilan said indifferently: "Then let's see what trump cards they have prepared these days! Qiu Dian... I don't know if the purple-robed official who came to the court that day was him?"
The next day, the mother and son of the Pang family came as promised, and as expected they were accompanied by Qiu Dian's disciples.
Take it to the court for a look: Pang Xu is rich and handsome, and she looks like the wife of a wealthy businessman, but her skin is slightly darker, otherwise she would have been a beauty when she was young; Pang Biao is as the name suggests, tall and fierce, with a standard businessman appearance —Oh, the kind of businessman who specializes in business without capital.
The guest of the Qiu family who accompanied them was a thin man in his thirties, wearing a Confucian shirt and a soft robe on his head. He didn't look very good, but his demeanor was very calm. He claimed that his surname was Li Minggui, and he had a good reputation as a civil servant - but he didn't end up doing this this year. . I don’t know if I can’t go on with the imperial examination
Li Gui said that he was a distant relative of the Pang Xu family and had come with them, and then fell silent.
The mother and son were a little nervous at first, as it was their first time entering a place like the General's Mansion.
But when I looked up and saw that there was only a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl in plain clothes sitting in the hall, and there were not many people around, I immediately felt confident: "Princess Princess, the peasant woman and the dog have taken the liberty to come here to ask for a favor from the Princess." Something.”
Qiu Yilan said casually: "Since you came in with Qiu Yushi's post... you say."
"Pang Lu, the youngest son of a commoner woman, heard that he came here last year. Now that there is something going on at home, I would like to invite him to go back with us." Pang Xu said in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
"Who is Pang Lu?" Qiu Yilan continued casually, admiring the pattern of the blue, white and red sea animal pattern bowl in his hand, "There has never been anyone called this in the house - and, although he is a relative of Li Juren, he also holds Qiu Yushi A post came to my door, but I have to say something: There is an old man in this house who is not in good health. Now he is waiting for the good news of his grandson's apricot list. The imperial doctor has warned not to disturb... This is not a secret in Beijing. You need to find someone. Can you please come back after you figure it out?”
She lowered her face and put down the tea bowl with a "clack" sound, "My grandfather is currently only served by the princess. Before Qiu Yushi had nothing to do in his own house, he was so busy that he came to the Ruan family to entertain himself?!"
Hearing the threat in her words, Li Gui exclaimed: "That's not the case." Look at Pang Xu and her son.
The faces of the mother and son became solemn: "Princess Princess, please rest assured. Although the commoner woman is only proficient in writing, she also knows some Darui laws. How can she dare to come to the house unless she is sure that her son is in the house?"
Qiu Yilan sneered: "Oh, I haven't identified all the people in this mansion, but you have identified them? How to identify them?"
"Princess Princess, please read this letter." Mrs. Pang Xu took out an unsealed letter from her sleeve and raised her hands.
Qiu Yilan glanced at Dong Ran, who walked down the hall, took the letter from Mrs. Pang Xu, looked at the light for a moment, dusted it vigorously, and then put it on the table beside Qiu Yilan.
"...You all go out, I want to have a private conversation with Mrs. Xu." Qiu Yilan opened the letter, took a look at it, her expression changed, and ordered.
Dongran and others were surprised: "Princess Princess?"
"Get down!" Qiu Yilan rubbed her brows and ordered again.
Li Gui cupped his hands and took the lead to walk out. Dong Ran and others looked at each other, fearing that Qiu Yilan's face would be ruined in front of outsiders, and thinking about it in broad daylight, the Pang Xu family didn't have the guts to do it. What did Qiu Yilan do? She stepped back three times.
After the door closed, Qiu Yilan asked Pang Xu with a gloomy face: "Who are you?!"