Shen Fengming spoke with sincerity. Jiang Yunzhu believed that he must have said this after careful consideration, so she agreed to meet those people in two days and then decide whether to hire them.
After leaving the teahouse, Jiang Yunzhu continued to take care of her own business. She only returned to the inn when it was dark.
Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen had been waiting for her for a long time.
"Miss Jiang." Gu Yanzhou said worriedly.
Jiang Yunzhu noticed that something seemed to be wrong between the two of them
After a while, the three of them sat in a corner of the inn lobby. Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen looked at each other before saying to Jiang Yunzhu, "Miss Jiang, do you know Mr. Shen's identity?"
Jiang Yunzhu didn't expect them to ask this. In fact, there was nothing to hide in this matter, so she nodded.
Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen were very surprised. They thought Jiang Yunzhu didn't know. At least when they went to Beijing to take the exam, Shen Fengming hadn't revealed his identity.
"Something happened and we found out his identity." Jiang Yunzhu said half-truthfully.
Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen fell silent. Jiang Yunzhu knew Shen Fengming's identity but was still with him.
"Miss Jiang, if you don't want to..." Gu Yanzhou said carefully. If Jiang Yunzhu was forced, he could help her find a solution.
Jiang Yunzhu shook her head.
Her behavior can already explain some problems.
After a moment of silence, the three of them talked about other things.
There is still some time before the Ministry of Personnel appoints them as officials, so the two plan to go back to Wuling County tomorrow, one to share the good news with their families, and the other to settle their families.
After the Ministry of Personnel appoints them as officials, they may take up their posts directly.
"I heard that the emperor plans to make an exception and appoint the candidates in this subject?" This was not a secret, so Jiang Yunzhu asked.
Gu Yanzhou and the other man nodded. This was what the court had said, but they didn't know what this "exceptional appointment" meant.
Let’s not talk about this anymore. Xie Chen asked Jiang Yunzhu if they needed anything to bring back or help with anything since they would be returning to Wuling County tomorrow.
There really is one. "Can you help me pass a message to Xue Jing and Gu Qifeng. If they want to go to the capital, they can come now."
"A little thing."
The three of them talked for a while, and then Jiang Yunzhu was tired after a day of work and went back to rest.
Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen were left alone. They stopped smiling and were still thinking about what happened before. Jiang Yunzhu suddenly came to the capital. They hadn't thought about it before, but now they thought it might be related to the governor Shen.
Did she really want to get entangled with him willingly? Even if she did, what would she do in the future
To others, this might be a blessing from heaven. After all, the Shen family was one of the largest families in the Xia Dynasty, and Shen Fengming held a high position. But from Jiang Yunzhu's perspective, they couldn't help but worry about her.
Qi Dafeiou, can the Shen family accept her? It's something I dare not even think about.
If you don’t accept it, who knows what will happen.
No matter what, she would be the one who suffered in the end. It was because she was of low status and a woman.
They didn't want to see her like this.
The two sat for a long time before returning to their rooms.
The next day, the two set off back to Wuling County.
It should have been a scenic journey, but the two men had something on their minds, so they did not delay on the road, and returned to Wuling County in just ten days.
Everyone in Wuling County has received the news that Gu Yanzhou has won the top prize and Xie Chen has won the imperial examination.
County Magistrate Meng was overjoyed, as next year would be the time for the Ministry of Personnel to conduct evaluation. He had already been the magistrate of Wuling County for eight years, and had seen the people of Wuling County becoming increasingly prosperous. This year, Wuling County was the first to solve the problems of the disaster victims, so he should be given an excellent evaluation next year.
There is hope for promotion, but it is not yet stable.
Now it is different. A small Wuling County has produced a champion and a Jinshi at the same time. This is a model of the prosperity of culture and education. As the parent official of Wuling County, he should be praised for educating and educating people.
That would give him a better chance of promotion, so how could he not be happy
So the whole Wuling County became lively, with many colorful silks hung on the streets to welcome Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen back home.
County Magistrate Meng came to greet them personally and invited Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen to have dinner together.
There is no need to elaborate on the details. In the end, Gu Yanzhou returned to the Gu family, and the whole family was naturally overjoyed.
Xie Chen went directly to Qishanju to find Xie Lian, and wanted to tell Xue Jing and Gu Qifeng about Jiang Yunzhu's message.
He didn't know Gu Qifeng. When he left, Gu Qifeng had not yet come to Qishanju.
But he knew that there was such a person, Gu Yanzhou's cousin. He should have been there when Gu Yanzhou saw him off last time. The two should have met, but never spoke.
It doesn't matter.
Xie Chen saw the sign of Qishanju from afar, and his heart was in turmoil. At that time, he felt that the words on the plaque were written in an unusually vigorous manner, and he did not expect that it was the handwriting of Governor Shen.
Who would have thought that the famous Governor Shen would actually live in a small restaurant for so long, and even wrote this plaque himself and hung it outside every day.
Xie Chen felt that Shen Fengming liked Jiang Yunzhu, otherwise he would not have acted like this.
However, just liking someone is not enough, just like him and Qin Yao. If it weren't for Jiang Yunzhu's advice, Qin Yao would have married someone else long ago.
He thought for a long time and then stepped into Qishanju.
Everyone in Qishanju had also received the news and were happy for him.
But there was some worry hidden under everyone's smiles, especially Xie Lian, who, seeing Xie Chen, threw herself into his arms and cried. But she was not crying tears of joy, but it seemed as if she was worried about something.
"What's going on?" Xie Chen asked Xie Lian.
Xie Lian was able to speak now. She asked Xie Chen intermittently, "Brother, are you going to be an official? Can you help Gu Qifeng?" When she said this, her tears burst out again.
"Gu Qifeng? What happened to him?" Xie Chen asked.
Xie Lian was hesitant, and finally Xue Jing said, "I don't know what's wrong with that kid, he..." He looked at Xie Chen, not knowing what to say.
"What's going on?" Xie Chen asked.
Everyone looked at each other, and no one knew what to say.
Finally, Xue Jing couldn't help himself and said, "He beat Xie Yong half to death and was detained in prison."
Xie Yong... Xie Chen thought he would never hear this name again in his life, but he heard it again today. No wonder these people were embarrassed to tell him, after all, Xie Yong was his father.
Then why did Gu Qifeng hit Xie Yong
He glanced around and his eyes finally fell on Xie Lian.
"Alian, come with me." Xie Chen called Xie Lian outside and asked her what was going on.
At first, Xie Lian didn't say anything, but later, Xie Chen said that if he didn't know the reason, he wouldn't be able to save Gu Qifeng.
Xie Lian's body was shaking and she almost fainted.
Seeing this, Xie Chen couldn't bear to force her anymore, so he did this.
Xie Lian hugged her body tightly and slowly told the truth.
After Gu Qifeng arrived at Qishanju, he spent every day with Xie Lian. Both of them were young and ignorant, at the age of falling in love for the first time. It didn't take long for Gu Qifeng to develop a liking for Xie Lian and he took good care of her.
A bright boy like him naturally has a special attraction to Xie Lian.
She also liked his cheerful look, liked his smile, and liked the various ways he used to make her happy, but she didn't dare to like him.
She is so dirty! Someone like her doesn’t deserve him to be so nice to her, let alone him.
Xie Lian has always been distancing herself from Gu Qifeng. Gu Qifeng is smart and guessed from her occasional words and some things he heard from Xie's neighbors that Xie Lian didn't like him, and it seemed to be related to Xie Yong.
He didn't understand why, so he took the silver, bribed the jailer, and went into the prison to see Xie Yong.
Xie Yong will spend the rest of his life in prison. He hates Xie Chen and Xie Lian. He sees that Gu Qifeng might like Xie Lian, and he wants to make him feel bad, so he tells him about it.
When he said that, he saw Gu Qifeng's face slowly becoming angry and distorted, and he felt relieved.
Gu Qifeng was furious. How dare he! He is Xie Lian's father.
He started to wrestle with Xie Yong.
He was later pulled apart by the jailer.
Gu Qifeng left and went back to the cell to visit Xie Yong two days later and almost beat him to death.
This naturally violated the criminal law, so he was put in jail.
Xie Lian finally told the secret she had been hiding in her heart. She huddled up, trembling all over, not daring to look at Xie Chen. She was afraid that he would think she was dirty and would not want her anymore. Also, it was she who harmed Gu Qifeng, so she should have died long ago!
Under such heavy pressure, Xie Lian fainted.
"Alian!" Xie Chen quickly hugged Xie Lian and took her to see a doctor.
Along the way, his face looked extremely ferocious.
He had never thought that Xie Lian had suffered such torture. Thinking back carefully, there were traces of everything, but he had never discovered it. No wonder she suddenly couldn't speak, no wonder she was so afraid of Xie Yong... It was hard to imagine how desperate and painful she must have felt when she faced Xie Yong at home every day.
And he was not even as good as Gu Qifeng in discovering this matter.
Anger, guilt, regret...
Xie Lian was fine, she just fainted and she didn't want to wake up.
Xie Chen took her home and sat by her bedside all night.
That night, dark clouds covered the moon, and the sky and the earth were dark.
The next day, when everyone saw Xie Chen again, they felt that he was different from before. It was hard to say what was different, as his appearance did not seem to have changed, but the gloomy and fierce look he occasionally showed made people tremble.
Gu Qifeng is Gu Yanzhou's cousin. He did commit a crime by beating a prisoner, but there is a lot of room for maneuver as to what crime he committed and how he should be sentenced.
County Magistrate Meng also knew that Xie Yong was not a good person. Taking various considerations into account, he only sentenced Gu Qifeng to one month in prison, which meant one month in jail.
Three days later, Gu Yanzhou and Xie Chen returned to Beijing, accompanied by Xue Jing, his wife Ruan, and Xie Lian. As for Gu Qifeng, he could only go to Beijing after he was released from prison.
Xie Lian stopped talking again and sat blankly in the corner of the carriage every day.
Gu Yanzhou asked Gu Qifeng why he beat Xie Yong, but Gu Qifeng didn't tell him. He guessed that it might have something to do with Xie Lian, but he just thought that Gu Qifeng hated Xie Yong for beating and scolding Xie Lian in the past. After all, most people wouldn't dare to think about that kind of thing.
Xie Chen didn't want to tell anyone about this, so everything seemed to be over.
However, on the fifth night after they left, Xie Yong hanged himself.
There were many people in the prison who committed suicide because they could not bear the pain, so although there were some doubts about Xie Yong's suicide, no one cared. They wrapped his body in a straw mat and carried it out.