Chapter 28 The Ancient Scholar Used as Cannon Fodder (Part 28) The Emperor...

For a moment, the emperor was at a loss for words. Was the skill of this pillar of the state he had his eye on a bit too unconventional?

"Since Zi'an values ​​Chu Nanfeng's paintings so highly, they must be of good quality. If he's only doing this to make a living, why doesn't he sell some of his paintings?" the Emperor couldn't help but ask.

Selling paintings sounds more in line with the temperament of a scholar than selling pastries, and it's also more time-saving and labor-saving.

The commander of the secret guards, who had already investigated Chu Nanfeng several times, showed a rare hint of hesitation on his face, but ultimately reported the truth:

"After Chu Nanfeng came to the capital, he did paint a few paintings and planned to send them to the study for consignment, but before he could send them, they were all taken by Prince Xie."

The commander of the secret guards paused for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps knowing that Young Master Xie had his allowance taken away, Chu Nanfeng didn't charge him a single penny and even provided his own writing materials."

The Emperor fell silent again. Zi'an was usually a reliable child when it came to handling official duties, so why did he specifically set Chu Nanfeng up to be a target?!

That silly kid probably still doesn't realize that he's cut off his brother Chu's source of income.

The Emperor coughed lightly to hide the smile on his lips: "Tell Xu Wuchen about this, and have someone follow Zian to see his reaction. When he comes back, he should tell me in detail."

Now that kid has grown up, he's become more and more mature, and there's not much to laugh about anymore.

In the Chu family study, Chu Nanfeng put down his brush, checked the policy essay he had just written, and nodded in satisfaction. Then, while taking a break, he checked Lin You's homework.

Starting after the Lunar New Year, every night before bed, Chu Nanfeng would give Lin You a tricky question and then ask her to come up with a solution the next day.

Those questions all exploited loopholes in the system from various angles. Lin You had to think for a long time just to understand the questions.

Every time she does practice problems, she has to check the system rules from the previous night, and she no longer feels that the night is long, lonely, or boring.

[Ding! Special mission: Invite the Emperor to taste the food you personally prepared. Completed. Reward: 50 points.]

[Ding! Emperor's favorability +1, 10 points gained.]

[Ding! Congratulations! You have gained 10 points of Emperor's Favorability. Reward: One Musical Score Skill Book.]

[Ding! Main quest: Perform a talent show for the Emperor within three months to gain 5 points of favorability. Success rewards 30 points; failure incurs no penalty.]

Lin You was watching Chu Nanfeng from the side, writing a full page of annotations for her, when she suddenly heard a series of system notifications.

Lin You, who had been somewhat listless, immediately perked up and said with absolute certainty, "I bet a bag of melon seeds that Xie Zi'an definitely helped with this mission again!"

Aside from the pastries Chu Nanfeng made himself for his family, only the thirty-six he sent to the restaurant every day were actually made for himself.

Xie Zian was a regular customer of that restaurant, and besides him, who else would go out of their way to deliver six snacks bought from the restaurant to the Emperor?

Chu Nanfeng tapped the table helplessly, "Alright, those points aren't very useful anyway, Sister, you should focus on the lesson."

“…Oh.” Lin You composed herself and continued listening to Chu Nanfeng explain the details and loopholes of the rules, as well as the precautions to take.

My brain cells were about to get tangled up from all the listening; it was even more mentally taxing than when I used to do ten sets of 35 sets.

After Chu Nanfeng finished explaining the problem, he listened to Lin You reiterate the key points to make sure she had remembered everything even if she hadn't understood it, and then he ended today's exclusive lesson.

In the past, Lin You would go to find Chu Qing or go out for a stroll after class, but today she had no plans to go out.

Chu Nanfeng knew what she was waiting for, so he took out the sheet music as a reward. Lin You sat on the table, propping her head up, waiting for him to demonstrate another skill for her to learn.

To be honest, watching Chu Nanfeng craft skill books by hand really gave me the feeling of playing a full-immersion game.

Chu Nanfeng didn't touch the skill book. Instead, he said to Lin You, "I have already gained some understanding of the way of the zither, so this book is of little use. Sister, why don't you give it a try and see if you can learn this skill?"

Chu Nanfeng had studied the zither with a teacher at the academy and played quite well, but he was always short of money and couldn't afford to buy a zither.

It's a special learning method that can't be used by others, but it's only a basic skill, and the level might not even be as high as Chu Nanfeng's, so it's a bit of a waste to let him learn it.

Perhaps because the book was a special item that Lin You was allowed to touch, she curiously flipped through it, wanting to see if there were any written records inside.

"I'm a system, so I probably can't learn skill books..."

Holy crap! It actually works!

Before she could finish speaking, Lin You watched as the book in her hand turned into starlight. Luckily, she swallowed the "Holy crap" in time, preventing her image from crumbling.

After all, very few girls in ancient times used foul language.

Lin You felt that there was something obscure and difficult to understand in her memory, which was the method of playing the guqin and some scores.

I must say, this thing is much more convenient and faster than going through all the trouble of learning it on your own. It's just that I probably won't achieve the same level of mastery as if I learned it on my own.

Lin You frowned and adjusted for a moment. She did know how to play the guqin, but she still only had a superficial understanding of the basics such as musical scores and rhythms.

That's amazing!

"I can't play the piano now, so I don't need this skill. What a waste!" Lin You still felt a little sorry for him.

Actually, you could give it to Chu Xiaomei, just consider it her magic or something, since she already thinks she knows magic anyway.

"I'll teach my little sister to play the piano later. She's still young, so she can learn slowly. Just because I can't play the piano now doesn't mean I can't in the future."

Chu Nanfeng spoke casually, but Lin You, unusually, caught the unspoken meaning in his words: wasn't it just that Chu Xiaomei was smarter and learned things faster, while she herself was a bit slower?

She secretly pursed her lips. So what if he's clumsy? After all, how can a normal person compare to a prodigy?

Chu Nanfeng took the bonus quests of the cheat code more seriously, wondering if there would be other skill books as rewards later.

If possible, he wanted to help his older sister level up as many skills as possible, since she didn't seem like someone who liked to study. Regardless of what the skill was, learning more things would always be beneficial.

In contrast to the warmth and harmony of the Chu family, chaos reigned once again in the Xie family mansion.

After hearing Xu Wuchen's words, Xie Zian was completely distraught. He stared at Xu Wuchen for a long time before slumping dejectedly into the corner.

His head was thrown back and hit the wall with a thud. Xu Wuchen couldn't help but grimace at the sound, but he seemed not to feel any pain.

Xie Zian wanted to cry but had no tears.

Xie Zian was heartbroken.

Xie Zian felt utterly hopeless.

What kind of image does he have in Brother Chu's heart now?!

Thinking back on the few times they spent together, Xie Zi'an himself felt that Chu Nanfeng was really unlucky to know him!

"Xu Wuchen, why do you think Brother Chu would become friends with me? He wasn't forced, was he?" Surely it's not because of his status that he couldn't refuse.

"It's not that bad." Seeing how miserable he was, Xu Wuchen didn't want to kick him while he was down. Instead, he comforted him, "If he wanted to refuse, you probably wouldn't even be able to get into his house."

After all, given Chu Nanfeng's personality, he had plenty of ways to refuse, instead of preparing paintings every time and placing them where Xie Zian could just see them.

That seemed to make some sense. Xie Zian felt comforted and immediately sat up straight, gesturing for Xu Wuchen to continue.

Seeing Xie Zian's expectant eyes, Guard Xu continued, "Perhaps it's because a smart person like him prefers to be friends with someone who is very guileless."

Xie Zian glared at him immediately, then slumped back into the corner, thinking that if he was brainless, he should just say so directly, there was no need to beat around the bush like this!

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and rummaged through his belongings, trying to find something suitable to give to Brother Chu as a gift.

As the days passed, Xie Zian finally chose his gift, and the day of the imperial examination arrived.

Chu Nanfeng calmly carried his basket to the examination hall. The weather was indeed colder now than it was during the provincial examination, but he was much better prepared than before.

The basket still contained the mints Lin You had given it, but since there was homemade dry food from Chu's mother, the nutrition bars were not included.

Lin You saw him to the door and didn't go in. "Baby, if anything happens, send me a message. If you're sick, be sure to tell me and I'll bring you medicine!"

"Don't worry, sister, I can take care of myself." Chu Nanfeng was reliable enough to be trusted. Lin You went home first, and then met Xie Zi'an at the door.

He was carrying a rather large, long wooden box and was knocking on the door.

The coachman and Afu took Chu Nanfeng to the exam. There were many carriages and horses outside the exam hall, and it would probably be a while before they returned.

He figured no one was home, so he knocked for a while before Grandma Yu finally opened the door.

Upon hearing Granny Yu say that Chu Nanfeng was away taking an exam, Xie Zian paused for a moment before breaking into a sweet smile.

"I just wanted to surprise Brother Chu while he was away. Grandma, please take it inside. I'll visit Brother Chu another day!"

Young Master Xie put down the box and ran off like the wind. How could he have forgotten that the imperial examination was today!

Watching his hasty retreat, Lin You clicked her tongue in amazement. She had been in the capital for so long and had heard many of Xie Zi'an's great achievements.

He was a figure who struck fear into the hearts of all the纨绔 (playboys) in the capital. How come he became so simple-minded after meeting Chu Nanfeng?

The process of the provincial examination was similar to that of the provincial examination. Even though it wasn't his first time, Chu Nanfeng was still exhausted. After the nine-day examination ended, he slept for a day and a night before he could recover.

In the meantime, Chu's mother even invited a doctor to come and check Chu Nanfeng's pulse to confirm that he was alright, and everyone was finally relieved.

When he woke up, he learned about the gift Xie Zian had sent. Under the curious gazes of Lin You and Chu Qing, Chu Nanfeng opened the wooden box, and inside was a zither.

It wasn't made of precious wood, nor was it an antique, but its tone was remarkably clear. Chu Nanfeng casually plucked the strings, and immediately a melody like the tinkling of a spring rang out.

"It sounds so good!" Lin You always felt that her vocabulary was extremely limited at times like this.

Only the teachers at the academy knew about his love for the zither, and it was unclear how Xie Zian found out. "Zian really put his heart into it this time."

"He's really thoughtful; he completely forgot about something as important as your exam." Lin You recounted the previous events to Chu Nanfeng, unable to resist complaining as she did so.

"How can someone as simple-minded as him serve the Emperor? Didn't he say before that he and Guard Xu investigated the Prince Cheng's treason case?"

Chu Nanfeng smiled, picked up his pen and wrote a note, which he then had Afu deliver to the basket at the Xie family's door.

Ever since that invitation incident, Xie Zian had been keeping a close eye on Chu Nanfeng's invitations. Now, seeing the invitation that had been sent, he was both surprised and delighted.

The place Chu Nanfeng arranged to meet was the same private room where they first met. Now that he was familiar with the owner, it wasn't difficult for him to prepare a meal for him in advance.

Xie Zian arrived quickly, but he seemed rather reserved, a stark contrast to his previous unrestrained and reckless demeanor.

"Zi'an, although we haven't known each other for long, I can tell that you are a very good friend."

Chu Nanfeng's voice was kind, and seeing Xie Zian's somewhat awkward appearance, he even poured him a cup of wine.

Young Master Xie lowered his head and said dejectedly, "But I always fail to consider things thoroughly, and I have caused Brother Chu trouble many times."

"It's hardly a burden, just a small matter. We're friends, so if you really care about anything, I'll naturally tell you."

Chu Nanfeng smiled. "Besides, you've helped me many times."

Lin You looked at Xie Zi'an and continued, "You're the one who boosted the entire mission. You've already helped him gain ten points of favorability before he's even met the Emperor. You've probably done it all."

"Really?!" Xie Zi'an looked at Chu Nanfeng and, realizing that he wasn't just being polite, smiled and became more lively.

He toasted with Chu Nanfeng and ate several bites of food. He hadn't eaten properly for the past few days and was suddenly hungry.

Lin You watched as he ate very quickly without hindering his speech at all, and wondered how he did it.

"Brother Chu, why do you love roast duck so much? The crispy roast chicken here is also good, and so is the braised pork ribs..."

"Brother Chu, how difficult is the imperial examination? Is it tiring to write for nine days straight? Are you confident? I'm still hoping to serve in the same court as you..."

"Brother Chu, are you really the one who makes the dim sum at the restaurant? Could you please tell the manager to save me a plate every day? The lottery is too difficult; I only won once in ten days..."

After recovering, Xie Zian became very talkative, as if he wanted to say all the questions he had accumulated during this time.

Chu Nanfeng answered all his questions with good temper, and casually replaced his wine with soup, even promising to make him a little snack every day.