After telling this thrilling, twisted and bizarre story for more than half an hour, both Xiao Suzhen and Hanxiang were sweating in their hands, until Xue Poye ended the story with a very emotional emphasis, the two were still immersed in it. Among the thrills.
Xue Poye looked at the expressions of the two daughters, secretly proud of himself, no matter what, Sir Xue's storytelling ability is still top-notch, this kind of story that is three parts true and seven parts false is even more catchy, and there is no need to type it. belly draft.
"So... so...!" Xiao Suzhen sighed softly, glanced at Xue Poye, saw that he was also looking at her affectionately, his ears were a little hot, his cheeks flushed, and he said softly: "But... but you After you came back, why...why didn't you go to me?" When she said this, she obviously mustered up her courage, and as soon as she said the words, she lowered her head and wrung her hands together, in an indescribably shy embarrassment.
The stone in Xue Poye's heart was completely dropped. When Xiao Suzhen said this, it showed that most of her anger had disappeared, so she sighed: "Do you think I don't want to? But as I said just now, I am forced to As an official of the imperial court, if the matters assigned by the Holy Majesty are not handled in time, I am afraid that many people will be involved, so I can only deal with these matters as quickly as possible, and then go to see you with a good mood. I don't want to let You see a melancholy me, and you don't want my melancholy to affect your mood, Suzhen, can you understand my thoughts?"
Xiao Suzhen stared at Xue Poye for a long time, then sighed quietly, and said softly: "You... aren't you lying to me?"
Xue Poye said seriously: "I dare not hide anything."
Hanxiang hurriedly said: "Miss, Mr. Xue will not lie, he is a high official now, let alone lie."
"Stupid girl." Xiao Suzhen sighed softly, "An official is even better at deceiving people."
Han Xiang was taken aback for a moment, looked at Xue Poye's eyes, and then said with a smile: "Other high officials can deceive people, but Young Master Xue can't."
Xue Poye's feeling towards the little girl is really good, this little girl always speaks for herself at critical moments, and what she said has a great influence on Xiao Suzhen.
He thought of the matchmaker in "The Romance of the West Chamber" who contributed to the marriage between Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng.
"Hehe, Hanxiang, you can always see through people's hearts and see things that others can't see. I also want to learn from you." Xue Poye laughed, touched his nose, and looked at Xiao Suzhen inadvertently.
Xiao Suzhen pouted and said angrily: "You... are you accusing Sang and Huai of me again?" Turning her face away, that angry look is really beautiful.
Xue Poye smiled faintly, and said softly: "Good sister, don't be angry, I haven't seen you for so long, let me take a good look."
In front of Hanxiang, he said such nasty words to Xiao Suzhen, which made Xiao Suzhen, who had always followed the rules, reserved and self-respecting, numb all over, and even blushed, not daring to look at him.
Han Xiang's face was also slightly flushed, but she quickly remembered something, and said involuntarily, "It's not good."
Xue Poye and Xiao Suzhen were startled at the same time, they both looked at her, not knowing why she had such a reaction, Xue Poye said softly: "Hanxiang, what happened?" Seeing that Hanxiang's face was a little ugly, he added: "Don't panic."
Han Xiang shook her head and said, "It's not me who should panic, it's you who should panic."
Xue Poye and Xiao Suzhen looked at each other, not knowing why.
Hanxiang looked at Xiao Suzhen, and said softly: "Miss, the master said that you are not allowed to marry someone in the government. Now that Mr. Xue is a high-ranking official, isn't it troublesome? That's all. The most important thing at the moment is that Mr. Then I started to choose apprentices, what should I do?"
Xiao Suzhen also became anxious with a look of sudden realization, and said repeatedly: "If you don't tell me, I would have forgotten, this... what should I do?"
Xue Poye was confused and didn't know why, so he asked: "What is choosing an apprentice? What do you mean? Is Mr. Chen Yin going to restart the mountain gate to accept apprentices? This is a good thing, what does it have to do with us?"
Xiao Suzhen stomped her feet, glared at Xue Poye, and lowered her head.
Xue Poye knew something was wrong, looked at Hanxiang, and asked in a low voice: "What's going on? Hanxiang, tell me quickly."
Hanxiang took a look at Xiao Suzhen, saw her bowed her head, her hands were just twisted together, understood her thoughts, sighed, shook her head and said: "Mr. Xue, I don't know if it will be too late." Paused After a pause, he said in a soft voice: "Sir, he said something a month ago. If he wants to open the mountain gate and recruit closed disciples, he needs to be of good character, and he has to go through three trials before he can get in. Actually...!" Han Xiang looked up at Xue Po He glanced at Ye, but didn't continue talking.
Xue Poye frowned, pondered for a moment, glanced at Xiao Suzhen, and said calmly: "I seem to understand, Mr. is not trying to sell dog meat."
"Why do you speak so badly?" Xiao Suzhen raised her head and glared at Xue Poye, and said displeasedly: "He is my father, do you respect him like this?"
Xue Poye smiled lightly: "Choosing apprentices is false, but choosing a son-in-law is true, right?"
Xiao Suzhen's delicate body shook, she lowered her head, Hanxiang took a look at Xiao Suzhen, and said in a low voice: "Mr. Xue, you... will you go to participate? Don't let Miss be snatched away by others."
"Suzhen is mine, and no one can take it away." Xue Poye stood up slowly, looked at a pool of snow on the eaves in the distance, and said calmly: "Go back early, it's freezing cold, Don't freeze." After finishing speaking, he dropped a piece of silver, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the teahouse slowly.
…
"Miss, is Mr. Xue angry?" Han Xiang looked at the background of Xue Poye going away, and couldn't help asking softly.
Xiao Suzhen also stared blankly at Xue Poye's back, and said after a long time: "He... what does it matter to me whether he is angry or not?"
"Miss, you...!" Hanxiang couldn't laugh or cry: "It's this time, and you still say such things. You said he was bad, but when did you forget him in your heart? There was no news about him at that time, and you are still there." Weeping in the quilt, now that he is in front of you today, why should you have a cold face and a warm heart with him."
"You... you little girl, what nonsense, I... I will tear your mouth open." Xiao Suzhen was very shy when Han Xiang opened her mind, and stretched out her hand, trying to tear Han Xiang's mouth.
Hanxiang jumped away with a smile, and suddenly sighed: "Miss, don't forget, there is an exam tomorrow. I saw those who came to the door, there were hundreds of them, and many of them were rejected by those who were in the screening." The gentlemen in charge of this matter are eliminated, and I really can’t guarantee whether Mr. Xue will be able to enter. Those selected men are not good-looking, and they are all arrogant, and there is no good person.”
Xiao Suzhen propped her chin, with a troubled expression on her face, and said softly: "Father... hey, father is really...!" Then she cast her eyes on the road where Xue Poye left, and Xue Poye's shadow had long since disappeared, and said faintly: " He... will he go?"
Xue Poye returned to the Han Garden, walked to his office, and heard a voice coming from the office, the voice was very familiar, it was You Shaoqing, a scholar of the same subject, but he did not know how to enter his office.
He was about to open the door and go in, but he heard the voice of the little stone coming from inside: "Sir, do you mean that these four words have the same meaning?"
Hearing You Shaoqing's voice, he said triumphantly: "Yes, these all have the same meaning, but there are four ways to write this word. There are many more words like this, let me think about it, oh, yes, there are There are four ways to write the word fen, come, let me teach you."
"Okay, okay." Xiao Shitou hurriedly clapped his hands and said, "Thank you sir for teaching me."
Xue Poye heard it outside, and couldn't help laughing, it seemed that You Shaoqing was playing with words, showing off his talents in front of Xiao Shitou.
He pushed open the door, and saw Xiao Shitou sitting on the table, learning to write with You Shaoqing. The two of them were a little surprised when they saw Xue Poye coming in. Xiao Shitou said happily, "Master, are you back? Where are you going?" Already?"
Xue Poye smiled and said softly: "Didn't you be told to rest in the post house? Why did you come here?"
Xiao Shitou said a little depressed: "My sister has something to leave. She told me that if it is too boring, I can go to Hanyuan to find you. The posthouse must not be fun. I want to be with you, so a few Uncle Habayashi sent me here."
"So you met him?" Xue Poye looked at You Shaoqing and asked indifferently.
Little Shitou nodded and said, "Yes, master, sir, you know a lot of things and taught me a lot."
Xue Poye walked slowly to the chair and sat down, looked at You Shaoqing, smiled slightly, and said, "Long time no see."
You Shaoqing looked left and right, stood up suddenly, straightened his clothes, walked up to Xue Poye, knelt down respectfully, and said humbly: "Student You Shaoqing has met Mr. Shi Lang."
Xue Poye was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect You Shaoqing to be so humble. Seeing his humiliating appearance, he felt a little displeased, and felt that his bones had softened a little, and said lightly: "Get up and talk, here Just don't care about these."
"Your Excellency is now an important member of the imperial court, and Shaoqing dare not be rude." You Shaoqing said with a smile: "Shaoqing has long seen that His Excellency the Minister has a bright future, so he is determined to serve by his side. Now it seems that Shaoqing still has some vision of."
Xue Poye laughed and said: "Brother You is very sincere. How have you been for a while? Why did you come here today? Aren't you helping Lanyuexuan?"
"Hey, there are Miss Lin and San Hu over there. Everything is in order. I really can't help you." You Shaoqing said with a smile on his face: "I heard that the servant is back, so I hurried over to pay a visit."
"I have a heart." Xue Poye leaned on the chair, squinted his eyes, touched his nose and stared at You Shaoqing: "You really have a heart."
You Shaoqing didn't care about the sarcasm in Xue Poye's words, got up and said: "Master Shi Lang is back on business this time, is it true that he will leave for Beijing as soon as the official duties are over?"
Xue Poye glanced at him and said calmly, "What do you want to say?"
You Shaoqing chuckled, and finally said bluntly: "Shaoqing is willing to follow Mr. Minister's side, serve in Beijing, and serve with all his heart. I hope you will include it!"
Xue Poye knew what he meant when he heard him say it. He really wanted to go to Beijing. He must have wanted to get an official position deep down in his heart. With a weird smile on his mouth, he said: "Brother You, the capital is Longtan, Once you get in, you can't get out."
You Shaoqing immediately said: "For the sake of the country and the people, you are not afraid of hardships and dangers, and you are not afraid of danger when you follow Mr. Shi Lang."
Xue Poye chuckled, touched his nose and said, "Let's discuss this matter later. By the way, do you know about Mr. Chen Yin's opening of the door to accept disciples? What's going on?"
"Your Excellency is talking about that? You know." You Shaoqing came to his senses and hurriedly said: "There have been rumors about this matter more than a month ago. It is said that Mr. Chen Yin wants to reopen the mountain gate and recruit another closed disciple. Teach what you have learned. Your Excellency knows that this Mr. Chen Yin is my great Chu Wenhao. If you are his student, you will definitely be able to find an official position in the court. This is not a rare thing, so students and literati from all over the world come here Hangzhou, I want to be that lucky person."
Xue Poye thought that he met many people on the way to Hangzhou, including wealthy sons and knight-errants, and couldn't help saying: "Students of literati? No, as far as I know, it is not only students of literati who are running for the election, but also There are rich kids and gangsters."
"What your lord said is true." You Shaoqing nodded and said, "But this is something that happened a while ago." After a pause, he seemed to be sorting out his thoughts, and then said: "At first, I thought that Mr. Chen Yin only accepted literati students, so Those who come to choose are all scholars and literati from all over the world. Mr. Chen Yin’s selection of apprentices is a major event in Hangzhou City. The Hangzhou literary world is naturally very lively. The meaning is to select outstanding people from among them to participate in the subsequent examinations."
"Should be!" Xue Poye said with a chuckle: "Mr. Chen Yin chooses disciples, and there are as many people who come to apply for the selection. If there is no such famous way to screen, some crooked melons and dates will also participate in the election. Wouldn't it be humiliating? Mr. Chen Yin's reputation."
You Shaoqing immediately said: "My lord said yes, what my lord said is true, isn't that the case? Thousands of people came to Hangzhou to participate in the election, and in the first round of screening, most of them went, and the remaining less than half." See Glancing at Xue Poye, seeing that he was listening carefully to what he had to say, he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency may not know that there are more than a dozen Hongru in this famous hall, and there are even a few heads of the escort agency."
"What do you want the bodyguard to do?" Xue Poye wondered, "A bodyguard?"
"No, no." You Shaoqing waved his hand and said, "It's like this. Mr. Chen Yin's rules for choosing apprentices are quite simple, as long as you pass three tests. I still don't know what the tricks are for the last two tests, but this first one A level starts from the day of registration."
Xiao Shitou was also standing aside at this time, listening with relish.
"In front of this famous hall, there is a stone lion weighing two hundred catties, which is guarded by bodyguards every day. Whoever wants to sign up has to move the stone lion ten steps away, otherwise the way to get started will be lost." You Shaoqing shook his head and said: " As far as this first test is concerned, most of the people have been eliminated. After the news spread, those wealthy sons and gangsters who had practiced martial arts were full of confidence and rushed in one after another. Now hundreds of people have passed the test. Most of them are people in martial arts, this... Hehe, I don’t know what Mr. Chen Yin’s thoughts are, whether it’s choosing the children of literati, or choosing martial artists, it’s really puzzling.”
"Two hundred catties?" Xue Poye thought in his heart. With his own ability, he could pass the test easily. Seeing You Shaoqing's disappointed expression, he touched his nose and smiled, "Did Brother You go there to try?"
You Shaoqing blushed and said in embarrassment: "I... hehe...!" He didn't continue.
Of course Xue Poye knew that You Shaoqing must have tried such a good thing a long time ago, but his body is thin and he has never practiced martial arts, so he couldn't move the stone lion, so he retreated.
"Is it a stone lion? Two hundred catties? It's not too heavy, is it?" Xiaoshi suddenly interjected.
Xue Poye glanced at Xiao Shishi, and the two of them looked at each other, and they both laughed. Both of them practiced the "Ecstasy Heart Technique" very well, and their bodies were full of energy. This two hundred catty stone lion, Not only Xue Poye can move easily, but the little stone may also be able to move.
You Shaoqing glanced at Xiao Shitou, and a strange look flashed across his eyes. The expression obviously felt that Xiao Shitou was young and didn't know the heights of the sky and the earth.
"I heard that the exam will start tomorrow?" Xue Poye asked again.
You Shaoqing nodded and said: "Yes, yes, the second test will be held tomorrow, but I don't know what kind of trick it is. But I think there must be many people who will be screened out. Those warriors easily passed the first test. If tomorrow Exam, I'm afraid few can pass."
Xue Poye closed his eyes, and he greatly agreed with You Shaoqing's words. There is no distinction between civil and martial arts. Since the first pass is a test of strength, the second pass may be a test of essays, such as poetry and poetry. Things are of course a great test for warriors.
This time, there are a large number of candidates, so of course we must set up tricks to make things difficult, otherwise everyone will pass the test, and it will be a tricky thing in the end.
Xue Poye laments Mr. Chen Yin's good intentions of Xiao Moting, Xiao Moting's purpose is nothing more than to select a person who is one in a thousand, and the main purpose is not to recruit disciples, but the main purpose is probably to use this method to find someone for Xiao Suzhen. Get a son-in-law who is all-rounder in civil and military affairs.
"Actually...!" Xue Poye said slowly, "I really want to see what that stone lion looks like. Brother You, if you have time, why don't you go and see it together?"
How could You Shaoqing refuse, and said repeatedly: "Shaoqing should be your companion, and you should be your companion!"
It was not too late, so Xue Poye immediately took You Shaoqing and Xiao Shitou to the Hall of Records.
The Hall of Records is really not far from the Han Garden. It is located in the most famous academy in Hangzhou "Bai Li Academy". Therefore, all qualified students of Baili Academy participated in the selection at the first time. There were only more than 100 students, and only three students passed. The stone lion blocked the pace, and all of them sighed.
By this time, the first round of selection in the Hall of Records was coming to an end, and in two hours, the first selection would be closed.
When Xue Poye and the others came here, they saw a large circle of people gathered in front of the gate of Baili Academy. Outside the large and solemn main gate, a big shirtless man was trying his best to hold a white stone lion forward. OK, there was silence all around, and after only six or seven steps away, the big man finally couldn't hold it back, loosened his hand, and the stone lion fell to the ground.
A person who looked like a security guard next to him said loudly: "Failure, the next one!"
The big shirtless man looked frustrated and hit his chest hard. With a helpless look on his face, he lifted the clothes next to him and left depressedly.