Chapter 283 Inexplicable Hostility

Hearing He Jinglan's question, Gu Xixi answered casually, "Jiang Mingyuan, his mother is the daughter of the local Gu family. She just passed the imperial examination this year and is said to have won two prizes in a row."

"Recently, the prefect recommended him to temporarily take over as the Qingtian County Magistrate before the imperial examination."

He Jinglan was surprised, "You said he won the first place in the college examination and the provincial examination?"

She looked at Jiang Mingyuan, "I didn't expect to meet someone who is so good at studying again."

"Again?" Gu Xixi asked, "Have you ever seen anyone as powerful as him?"

He Jinglan turned around in confusion, "Don't you know? It's not too difficult to get the first place in the initial college examination. Mu Nanzhao got the first place in the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. He really won the first place in three consecutive examinations."

"My brother almost got first place in the college exam, but only got third place in the provincial exam. Mu Nanzhao laughed at him for a long time."

Gu Xixi was stunned for a moment, "I thought he could enter the government directly because of his family background."

He Jinglan smiled and said, "I feel like laughing when I mention this. He and my brother could indeed enter the government through favor or recommendation, but he refused and said he wanted to take the imperial examination to enter the government, thus shutting up those old guys in the court in advance."

"My brother naturally didn't want to admit defeat, so the two of them competed vigorously."

"I still remember everyone saying that during the palace examination, the late emperor was very fond of Mu Nanzhao, the prospective No. 1 scholar, and he also admired my brother, the prospective No. 2 scholar, and even ignored the other candidates who were also taking the palace examination."

"So much so that after the examiner reminded him, the late emperor asked two questions to the third, fourth and fifth place winners, and hastily selected the third place winner."

Gu Xixi couldn't help sweating, "This Tanhua Lang is a bit pitiful."

He Jinglan said, "That's right. There were rumors in the capital back then that the late emperor only liked the top two and didn't want to choose the third place. But since it was not in accordance with the rules, he just randomly picked one of the last three."

Gu Xixi showed a longing look, "Hearing you put it that way, I really want to wonder what a grand sight it was when they rode horses through the streets back then?"

If one can pass the imperial examination, he or she will be a real official and will be assigned to serve in various places soon.

If you go one step further and enter the top list, you can go to the palace to meet the emperor and become his disciple. Even if you don't rank in the top three, you can still be considered a rare talent.

However, the late emperor only liked the first two.

This is enough to show how talented and outstanding these two are among their peers.

He Jinglan sighed and said, "He studied very hard and won the third place in the imperial examination. He first became the topic of conversation and a joke among the others. Then, it happened that the three of them were all officials in Beijing. He soon found that his talent, ability, and even promotion were not as good as theirs."

"I think it was probably because he gradually developed resentment in his heart, which accumulated over the years and finally led to such a wicked act."

Gu Xixi was originally engrossed in listening to the story.

When she heard the last sentence, she was inexplicably shocked and asked uncertainly, "The one who poisoned him, could it be..."

He Jinglan's expression confirmed Gu Xixi's guess.

Gu Xixi asked, "Did he have a good relationship with this third place winner?"

He Jinglan frowned and thought for a while, "I can't say it's very good, but there is trust."

"There are not many people who can be recognized by someone, and Tanhualang is one of them."

He Jinglan was afraid that Gu Xixi would think too much, so she explained, "He probably didn't intentionally hide things from you in the past."

"Maybe the memories are just too bad."

Gu Xixi's eyes were calm, "Being schemed against by someone he trusted, with such a proud personality, how could he be willing to recall it over and over again. I understand."

She thought of the pain that Mu Nanzhao hid secretly but never showed in front of others, and her heart couldn't help but feel a little moved.

When the moon was at its zenith, the government soldiers had already entered the farm and searched it thoroughly, confirming that there were no hidden bandits. They also brought the prisoners who were tied up at the back door to the front.

Jiang Mingyuan personally counted the number of people and ordered the government soldiers to escort everyone back to the county government office immediately.

An Qinghe suddenly appeared out of nowhere and approached Gu Xixi and He Jinglan, "Who is this person?"

Gu Xixi glanced at him and said, "Where did you go just now? You haven't been seen for a long time."

An Qinghe picked up the scimitar with a jewel-studded scabbard and said proudly, "Of course I'm going to help at the back door."

"Then I feared there might be some evildoer hiding in the Grange, and I looked in and out of both of your rooms."

"When I came out, I met these officers who were also searching."

He Jinglan wanted to tease him, so she pursed her lips and said, "Did you see that man in the green robe? His name is Jiang Mingyuan, and he is Xixi's relative in the Gu family. He just passed the imperial examination this year, and he is young and promising, and he has never married."

"He and Xixi met at the last clan meeting, and they hit it off right away."

Gu Xixi knew that He Jinglan was naughty, and said sideways, "I didn't tell you whether he was married or not, so how do you know he didn't have a wife?"

He Jinglan was full of confidence, "Needless to say, you can tell at a glance."

"Besides, if it wasn't you who came back from the clan meeting and told me that you met an interesting person of the same age and that you could talk to each other, then it must be him, right?"

Seeing that Gu Xixi did not deny it, An Qinghe was shocked.

Jiang Mingyuan happened to come over and was about to say goodbye to Gu Xixi.

An Qinghe suddenly turned his head and glared at Jiang Mingyuan.

Jiang Mingyuan was startled when he found that the curly-haired, blue-eyed Hu man was glaring at him.

He looked at Gu Xixi in confusion, "I wonder who this brother is..."

Jiang Mingyuan remembered that he had never seen this person before, so he probably had not offended him in any way.

Gu Xixi smiled awkwardly and winked at An Qinghe and He Jinglan, telling them to stop making trouble.

"This is Mr. An Qinghe from the Yunling Nursery Chamber of Commerce."

"Brother An, this is Jiang Mingyuan, Lord Jiang, and also one of my relatives' elder brothers."

"So you're just my brother." An Qinghe made no secret of his hostility towards Jiang Mingyuan.

Who is Jiang Mingyuan? He has the courtesy of a scholar, as well as the stubbornness of a scholar who refuses to admit defeat.

He noticed An Qinghe's attitude, looked at him for a moment, and said with a smile, "So it's Boss An."

"The Pinellia fruit trees planted by Sister Xixi came from the Western Regions. I think they could not have been done without the care of Boss An."

"Jiang would like to thank you on behalf of my sister."

Anqing was very angry. They had only met once, and Gu Xixi had told this Jiang guy all this?

He sneered and said, "Xixi and I are even good friends. If we talk about taking care of each other, Xixi takes care of me more often."

"Brother Mingyuan, there's really no need to thank her on her behalf."

The two men stood face to face, one smiling gently, the other sneering arrogantly.

Gu Xixi sighed helplessly. She really didn't understand these men. Why would they argue and confront each other over such a small matter?

She looked at He Jinglan inquiringly, indicating that she should say something quickly.

He Jinglan's eyes lit up as she watched, and it looked like she was about to clap her hands to encourage them to start fighting.

Gu Xixi had no choice but to speak up herself, "I'm afraid it's already past midnight. I should have invited Brother Zichu in for a cup of hot tea, but since you have official business to attend to, I won't delay..."

She wanted to say, "I won't delay your return to the city."

Jiang Mingyuan looked at An Qinghe and said with a smile, "It's okay. Take the prisoner back tonight and register him in the prison. We can start the interrogation after reporting to the county magistrate at dawn."

"I'm also worried, so I'll go in and have a cup of tea and leave in the morning."