Chapter 175 Meng Yu is a restless person

The palace examination has begun.

The examination was held in the Jiying Hall, which was named after the gathering of the world's best talents, making it the perfect venue for the palace examination.

The palace examination lasted only one day and only tested policy questions. Sometimes the emperor would personally draft the questions, but most of the time they were drafted by a special group the night before and announced on the spot in the palace the next day.

Candidates entered the examination hall at dawn and submitted their papers at dusk. The papers were collected and stored by officials who received, managed, and sealed them. On a specific day for grading, the papers were distributed to eight examiners for rotation. The examiners would use different marks to indicate the quality of the papers. Finally, ten outstanding papers were selected and presented to the emperor, who would then personally appoint the first, second, and third place candidates, who are known in folk parlance as the top scholar, second-place scholar, and third-place scholar.

The top three scholars were officially appointed on the spot, and afterwards they would wear big red flowers and participate in the champion's procession to announce their appointment to the world.

The Zhao couple had long since memorized this process, but from the moment Zhao Yunjing entered the examination hall, they began to feel uneasy, pacing back and forth at home. If it weren't for the fact that waiting at the palace gate would have been too conspicuous, they would have gone there much earlier.

The wall between the Zhou and Zhao residences had been rebuilt, and Zhou Mujiao entered through the main gate. Seeing the Zhao couple in such a panic, she couldn't help but smile and say, "Uncle, Aunt, relax, Brother Zhao will be fine."

Eighteen, who had skipped school today claiming to be sick, pulled Aunt Zhao down to sit: "Mom, look, Sister Jiaojiao said Big Brother is fine, so he's definitely fine. Mom, Dad, you can doubt Big Brother's abilities, but you can't doubt Sister Jiaojiao's words! Over the years, when has Sister Jiaojiao ever said anything that's true?"

The couple calmed down considerably upon seeing Zhou Mujiao. Aunt Zhao nodded, "Yes, trust Ajiao. If Ajiao says there's no problem, then there's definitely no problem."

Meng Yulai served tea and chimed in, "It's still your words that work, Miss. We tried to comfort her all morning but to no avail. She was fine as soon as you came. Miss, you must come to our house more often in the future, otherwise we'll become distant."

It took Zhou Mujiao a while to remember Meng Yu. She looked at Meng Yu a few more times and found that she was much fairer than before and her body had matured. She was a real young lady. Just as she was looking at Meng Yu, two servants who were walking by bumped into the threshold and almost fell because they looked at her a few more times.

Aunt Zhao glanced at Meng Yu and said, "What do you mean 'your family' and 'my family'? The Zhou family and the Zhao family were originally one family. But Ah Jiao, you really have to come back often. Every time I see that wall, I feel suffocated. I always feel like you're going to abandon Yun Jing."

Uncle Zhao panicked even more: "Ah Jiao, Ah Jiao, you mustn't abandon him! It's okay if you leave Yun Jing, but Yun Jing can't do without you. Yun Jing is the unluckiest guy in the world. If you don't want him, he won't even be able to survive, let alone become the top scholar!"

Eighteen raised her hand: "I can't leave my sister either! I'll die if I leave my sister!"

She's a little girl who's grown up surrounded by love. She's almost eight years old, and she's even more innocent and naive than when Zhou Mujiao first met her.

Zhou Mujiao laughed: "So Eighteen only needs me because she can't survive? I thought it was because she likes me. Oh, I'm so heartbroken, so devastated."

Eighteen rushed over and hugged her neck, pouting, "Sister, sister, I love you the most! I love you the most!"

He kissed her a dozen more times, making Zhou Mujiao's face turn red. The little girl had grown to 1.4 meters tall, and when she got anxious, she didn't care about anything else and wanted to climb on Zhou Mujiao like she did when she was little.

"Okay, okay, I like Eighteen the most too!"

The little girl finally gave up. She looked at Meng Yu, raised her chin, and said, "Meng Yu, I told you my sister definitely likes me the most. Now you believe me, right?! None of you can compare to me! Even my older brother can't compare to me!"

Meng Yu covered her mouth: "Yes, yes, yes, our young lady's favorite is definitely her! How can the young master compare?"

The host family chatted and drank tea, while Meng Yu, the maid, waited nearby, ready to refill their tea whenever needed.

Two aunties passed by, glanced at her, and whispered as they walked away, "That girl Mengyu is hanging around the master and mistress again. Do you really think the master and mistress can't see through her intentions?"

"What is Meng Yu thinking? She came in as the young lady's companion, without having to do any hard or dirty work. What else could she possibly want? Could it be that she wants to be the mistress? Hmm... does she really want to be the mistress?"

Another voice lowered even further: "She definitely wants to be the master, but I don't know if she wants to be the head master or the junior master."

“The eldest son has a bright future. Between the son and the father, any person with a brain would choose the eldest son, Nan. But firstly, he already has someone he loves, and he is deeply in love with her. Miss Zhou is both outstanding and beautiful. Secondly, he only comes back once a month at most. Even if Meng Yu has the heart, she doesn’t have the opportunity.”

"So Meng Yu wants to become the master?"

"Master is afraid of his wife. Even if he really takes a liking to her, at most he'll give her some money to keep her outside. He won't dare to acknowledge the children she gives birth to. Even if Madam agrees, the three young masters and young ladies won't agree. Not to mention, there's Miss Zhou at home to look after them."

"Luckily, there's a capable Miss Zhou to help keep things under control, otherwise all sorts of monsters and demons would have gotten into the house..."

As the voices of the two aunts faded into the distance, Meng Yu finally stirred.

She didn't know if Zhou Mujiao had heard what the two aunts were saying. In any case, she was now the young lady's companion and personal maid. She could see the master at most once a day. As for the eldest young master, she might not see him even once a month.

What could she possibly be thinking?

With Zhou Mujiao by their side, the time didn't pass too quickly. In addition, as people from various shops kept bringing over account books, Uncle Zhao and Aunt Zhao also helped look at the account books. With things to do, the time passed even faster.

Eighteen was quite helpful; Zhou Mujiao only glanced at the ledger she was in charge of before closing it.

Meng Yu was very puzzled. She had been watching them closely all day and hadn't seen them use the abacus at all. If they didn't even use the abacus, how were they doing the accounting? Could it be that the accounts were so easy that they could be counted on ten fingers?

Sensing Meng Yu's gaze, Zhou Mujiao suddenly looked up.

Their eyes met, and Zhou Mujiao curled her lips into a smile: "Meng Yu?"

Meng Yu quickly came over: "Miss, can I learn accounting from you? If I can do accounting, I can help you manage the accounts after you get married, so you won't have to do everything yourself. I know a little bit, so I won't be fooled and make you a laughing stock."

That makes sense.

Zhou Mujiao glanced at Meng Yu again, but couldn't discern anything.

Aunt Zhao nodded: "Okay, then you should learn more from Xixi from now on. If Xixi doesn't understand something, you can come to me."

Xixi is the name of the eighteen-year-old.

Meng Yu was naturally overjoyed.

Soon it was afternoon, and Zhou Mujiao, along with the Zhao family couple and Shiba, went to the palace gate to pick up the person. Unexpectedly, they encountered two unexpected people on the way.