"Young masters, His Majesty invites you."

Ling Ku stood in front of Qin Zheng and Sun Cai with a blank expression and spoke. Before the two could react, he cracked his knuckles twice, and they immediately collapsed to the ground.

"I apologize for the offense. His Majesty has instructed that the whereabouts of the two young masters must not be exposed, so I have no choice but to offend you."

Despite this, Ling Ku showed no embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, he looked at the two lumps of flesh on the ground with some disdain. These two seemed to have gained quite a bit of weight since arriving in Da Yu.

That's really interesting.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Gu Qingyan was startled by the commotion Ling Ku made. After realizing what had happened, he glared at Ling Ku with annoyance. "General Ling Ku, be careful they hold a grudge against you for doing this."

"Your Majesty, I have already committed countless crimes against them, so one more or less won't make a difference." Ling Ku chuckled. "I have brought the person you requested. I will wait for you outside."

"No need, it's too cold outside. Just stay in the palace and wait with me for Mother to arrive."

After Gu Qingyan finished speaking, he continued to review the memorials. After an incense stick had burned, Jiang Yu arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony in a sedan chair.

Ling Ku directly took two cups of tea that had long since gone cold and splashed them at Qin Zheng and Sun Cai. The effect was immediate, and the two of them sobered up instantly.

"Ling Ku, how dare you ambush us!"

Qin Zheng was furious, his face turning red with anger, but Ling Ku just smiled and cupped his fists in the direction where Jiang Yu and Gu Lin were sitting, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, the person has woken up."

"Good." Jiang Yu looked at Qin Zheng and Sun Cai. "It seems that Young Master Qin and Young Master Sun have not lost weight. It seems that the feng shui of our Great Yu is still good for people."

"You can lock us up for a while, but do you think you can keep us here forever?"

Sun Cai clenched his fists; he refused to believe that Dayu could keep them locked up here indefinitely.

"Of course not."

Jiang Yu's words made Ling Ku's eyes widen involuntarily, but Gu Qingyan nodded in agreement with Jiang Yu's words.

"The Emperor and I have invited you two here today to give you something to do," Jiang Yu chuckled. This was a brilliant idea she had come up with after much thought.

"The spring examination of our Great Yu will be held in March. Those who will participate in the spring examination this time are the most outstanding scholars in our Great Yu. I have long heard that aristocratic families have passed down the tradition of scholarship. Why don't the two young masters participate in the spring examination with the candidates of Great Yu, so that we can witness the style of aristocratic families?"

Jiang Yu's words stunned Qin Zheng and Sun Cai. Qin Zheng even rubbed his ears.

"We are not from Dayu, so why should we participate in Dayu's imperial examination?"

"Yes, so it's to broaden the horizons of us candidates from Chongqing and let us see the demeanor of the young masters of aristocratic families."

In just a few words, Jiang Yu had ensnared Qin Zheng and Sun Cai.

"But we have never participated in the imperial examinations of Dayu, and we have no idea what the Dayu imperial examinations test." Qin Zheng felt it was absurd. "Your Majesty, you are being far too insidious by making us lose to the Dayu candidates in this way."

"presumptuous!"

Gu Qingyan immediately stood up, his aura changed, and a murderous aura gradually enveloped Qin Zheng.

"I am still here. How dare you speak of my mother like that? Qin Zheng, if you don't want to live, just tell me."

“Ayan.”

Jiang Yu smiled helplessly, "Sit down quickly, let's talk this out."

Qin Zheng seemed startled by Gu Qingyan's sudden change of expression, and froze on the spot.

"Young Master Qin, the imperial examination is in March. Now that the New Year has just passed, I will hire special tutors for you during these three months. I believe your experience and understanding will be more than enough."

Seeing that the two were still hesitating, Jiang Yu's smile widened even more. "I am doing this for your own good. If you do not agree, I cannot guarantee that you will be taken there immediately. You may be sent to any place in Dayu and do the same hard labor as ordinary prisoners."

“You are treated much better than real prisoners of war,” Ling Ku said slowly from the side. For a moment, Qin Zheng and Sun Cai exchanged glances.

"We agree."

......

"Brother Qin, why did you agree so readily?" After being brought back to the courtyard, Sun Cai asked anxiously.

"At least it can be delayed until March." Qin Zheng sighed heavily. "Judging from their tone today, if we don't agree, they probably won't be in the capital tomorrow."

“That’s true.” Sun Cai also looked helpless. “But how can we compete with those students who have studied hard for years in the imperial examinations?”

Why can't we compare?

A strange light shone in Qin Zheng's eyes. "You and I were enlightened by great Confucian scholars from a young age. The Great Yu has only existed for four or five years. Two or three months is enough time for us to understand the imperial examination system of the Great Yu."

"Brother Qin means..." Sun Cai realized Qin Zheng's intention, and his heart trembled slightly.

"Brother Sun, we not only want to participate in this spring examination, but we also want to trample all the candidates from Dayu under our feet. We want Dayu to know that some things cannot be changed by force."

"good!"

Sun Cai was also inspired by Qin Zheng's words, "Let's work together to win back the honor of our family."

Zhaoning Palace.

"Just as Mother predicted, after returning yesterday, Qin Zheng and Sun Cai actually took the initiative to ask when the tutor Ling Ku had hired for them would start teaching." Gu Qingyan was simply amazed. "The method that Mother came up with is absolutely brilliant."

Stop flattering me.

Jiang Yu smiled and said, "These two people may seem carefree, but they actually have the integrity of a noble family and will not tolerate others looking down on them."

Therefore, these two will definitely take the bait.

"However, Mother, why do you insist on having them participate in the imperial examinations with the other candidates?" Gu Qingyan had never understood this. "Could it be that you really just want to see the level of the aristocratic families?"

But Jiang Yu smiled mysteriously, "Ayan, you'll find out soon enough."

Sometimes, the subtle influence is immeasurable.

"So many natural disasters in the first year of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Chongqing." Inside the room, Sun Cai frowned as he looked at the booklet in front of him. "Floods, droughts, blizzards..."

"Gu Qingyan actually handled all these matters by himself?" Qin Zheng pursed his lips. "It's probably another scheme devised by his courtiers. How much ability can an emperor who hasn't even come of age yet have?"

“That makes sense,” Sun Cai muttered. “I wonder what kind of people are participating in this year’s spring examinations. I heard there are even a group of female candidates.”

"Female examinee?"

Qin Zheng's eyelids twitched a few times. How could there be so many things about Dayu that he had never known before?