After the Qionglin Banquet, the Ministry of Officials began to allocate a new batch of jinshi, and Xiao Yuan was so busy that he didn't have time until mid-March.
Because of the small disturbance of Tanhualang's offering of flowers, the court petitions to the Crown Prince stopped. Emperor Hongzheng didn't know what to think, and let the fourth prince Jingyu take charge of the punishment department. As for the tributary affairs of Fanbang, Marquis Wenyuan was handed over to him. Although the people from Fanbang did not come several times a year, Mu Hanzhang had a practical job.
The second and third top jinshi have to be admitted separately in order to obtain the position, but the first and three people have official positions directly.
"The second place went to the Hanlin Academy to be an editor, and Ma Tanhua went to the Ministry of Rites." Xiao Yuan took a sip of tea, and the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel finally came to an end. When spring comes, it really doesn't stop for a day. Looking at the two people sitting across from them who were very idle from beginning to end, Shi Lang suddenly felt that the sky was unfair.
"We have been fighting for more than half a year, so naturally we should take a break." Jing Shao said as a matter of course, seeing the sadness in Xiao Yuan's eyes.
"Where did the champion go?" Zhou Jin came over with a plate of pastry cakes, and when he saw Xiao Yuan's puffed up appearance, he asked with a smile.
"The fourth prince wanted to send him to the Ministry of Punishment, but that person asked him to be a parental official." Speaking of Qin Zhaoran, Xiao Yuan's face showed a strange look. Jinshi and Didu were always eager to stay in Beijing. Well, do the opposite.
Jing Shao snorted coldly. Because Prince Rui admired Ma Zhuo's quick response at the Qionglin banquet, the Ministry of Rites just needed someone who could speak well, so he went to discuss it with Emperor Hongzheng. That idiot, Jing Yu, went straight to ask for the champion, for fear that others would not know his intention to suppress the emperor's brother.
"In this form, it is actually better to be an outside official than a Beijing official." Mu Hanzhang said slowly, with Qin Zhaoran's temperament, he must not want to participate in these princes' battles. He just pushed away.
"Jing Yu has liked to compare with his elder brother since he was a child. When he was named back then, he chose to bring jade." Jing Shao said disdainfully, saying that Jing Yu was the eldest son of the queen, and he should be the same as Jing Chen.
Mu Hanzhang couldn't help but chuckle, the name was not taken by the fourth prince, and the fourth prince was also to blame.
Qin Zhaoran stood in front of the palace gate and looked at the magnificent gate. It was much more imposing than the Beiwei Hou’s residence when he was young. On the door was the six characters of "Wenyuan Hou's Residence", which looked very strange, but It was in that crappy title that there was a little intimacy that was inhumane to outsiders.
"This son, what's the matter?" Mr. Yun, who went out to work on errands, saw the young man in a daze in front of the door. Seeing his polite appearance, he must be a visitor, so he asked aloud.
Qin Zhaoran wanted to say nothing, but after a pause he couldn't help but ask, "Qin Zhaoran is an old friend of Marquis Wenyuan, dare to ask if the Marquis is in the mansion?"
"The Marquis and the prince went out together, and can't come back until after noon. If the young master is not in a hurry, you can enter the mansion and wait for a while." Mr. Yun said politely.
"There's no need." Qin Zhaoran waved his hand, glanced at the door sign with disappointment, and turned to leave.
When the two came back from the aftertaste building, Mr. Yun talked about the visit of the champion, and Jing Shao thought that since he was a classmate of his own princess, the champion and the first invited people to have a meal, so he asked Mr. Yun to send a post, please He will come to Fuzhong tomorrow.
"He probably won't come." Mu Hanzhang looked at the invitation. He was an upright scholar in his bones, and he had always been dismissive of princes and princes.
"It's your classmate after all, and it's a relative. It's up to him whether he wants to come or not when the post is posted." Jing Shaohun said carelessly.
The post was handed over to the champion of the new division, Qin Zhaoran hesitated again and again, and finally did not go.
The servants said back and forth that the champion of the first prize was humble and did not want to cause trouble to the prince and the prince, but he had someone hand over a piece of inkstone to Mu Hanzhang.
"This person is cautious." Jing Shao said to his princess after listening to the servant's reply.
Mu Hanzhang frowned and looked at the inkstone in his hand. It was made of a kind of inkstone from Qin Zhaoran's hometown. It was rarely sold in the market, because the ground ink was not of the highest quality, always had some impurities, and was not easy to break. Sculpture. When he was a child, Qin Zhaoran told him that his family was poor and he couldn't buy a good inkstone, so he went to the river to find this kind of inkstone, and he could produce ink by grinding any pit. The handwriting will have a hint of indigo. He was curious at that time and wanted to see this kind of ink stone, but Qin Zhaoran still remembered it after so many years.
"It's on the cusp of the storm now, it's fine if he doesn't come," Mu Hanzhang put the inkstone to the side, "It's already eye-catching that my brother asked Tanhualang to pass, we should not get too close to other people. "
Jing Shao nodded and asked his servants to return some gifts to Qin Zhaoran. Thinking about it, since he is a friend of his own princess, he told Xiao Yuan not to transfer him to a remote rural area, but to find a place with rich products and easy achievements.
Until Qin Zhaoran left Beijing to take office, Mu Hanzhang never saw him, and Jing Shao also forgot about it, because in mid-March, Jingchen left for Jiangnan, and the two of them were busy.
When Jingchen left, he handed over some of his contacts to Mu Hanzhang, and asked him to deal with some urgent matters in Beijing, and also handed the tanhualang to him, so that he could mention more.
"Brother now trusts you more than me." Jing Shao said sourly when he came to his princess.
Mu Hanzhang wrote a comment on the official document in his hand, and patted the big head hanging on his shoulder: "Whoever told you to run away when you saw the official document, my brother has long stopped expecting you."
Since Mu Hanzhang was able to go to court, Jingchen has often asked him to go to Prince Rui's mansion to participate in some affairs, and gradually handed over some affairs to him. After that, Mu Hanzhang was not in a hurry.
Jing Shao was reluctant to get up, Xiao Huang got in through the crack of the door and looked at the table legs. There is a plate of fresh mulberries on the table, the bright red is slightly purple, it is delicious time.
"What happened to that Ma Zhuo? I always think he and my brother are old acquaintances." Mu Hanzhang tapped the furry paw that was reaching out to the plate with the pen.
"Well, I don't know either, but my brother mentioned it vaguely, he seems to be from the Zhuo family," Jing Shao squeezed a not-so-red mulberry and stuffed it into the little tiger's mouth, and immediately shook his head sourly, "Ma Zhuo is not actually Ma, but Zhuo."
Mu Hanzhang stopped writing and turned to look at him. He used a pseudonym for the exam, presumably there was some hidden secret in it.
"I was young when the accident happened to the Zhuo family, so I don't know very well, but I guess my brother may have been in touch with them over the years. Otherwise, where did Ma Tanhua have the ability to forge the nationality examination for the imperial examination?" Jing Shao whispered. He paid little attention to the things in the courtroom, so he didn't know the people around Jingchen.
Although Mu Hanzhang was young at that time, Zhuo Shangshu was convicted and ransacked his house, and the whole family was exiled to a remote place.
"Then Ma Zhuo is really a wonderful person. He became acquainted with the Ministry of Rites within a few days. Even the elders were pleasant when they saw him." Mu Hanzhang squeezed a mulberry to eat, but was preempted by Jing Shao. to the mouth.
"This mulberry is sweet and sour, let me send some to my mother." Jing Shao licked his long and lustrous fingers while eating, feeling the fingertips tremble slightly, and then let go with satisfaction.
"It's been sent to me," Mu Hanzhang felt helpless about Jing Shao's increasingly childish behavior. This mulberry was grown by himself in the palace. Now that Mrs. Qiu is pregnant, she likes these sweet and sour things." I also sent some to Prince Rui's mansion, I heard that my sister-in-law is not feeling well recently, let's go see it tomorrow."
"Well." Jing Shao responded, and after a while, he heard someone coming to report that Mr. Ma from the Ministry of Rites was visiting.