Those memories were like sharp blades, piercing Hong Yingrong's heart. She tried hard to calm her inner turmoil and carefully examined the flowery paper in her hand again.
Although Yan Boxi's handwriting is similar to Xue Jiyan's, upon closer inspection, it still has its own unique charm and style. But this is only because she is Xue Jiyan's mother and is very familiar with her son's handwriting. If it were someone else, no matter how they compared them, they would just think they were from the same hand.
"Mother Han, you did the right thing." Hong Yingrong finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly. "I'll leave these flower notes for you. You can go and do your work. I'll take care of this matter myself."
Upon hearing this, although Mother Han had some doubts in her heart, she also knew that the old lady always acted with propriety, so she bowed and took her leave, secretly praying in her heart that everything would be fine.
After everyone left, Madam Zhao quietly left the room and gently closed the door, leaving the old lady alone in a quiet atmosphere to think quietly.
Hong Yingrong examined the remaining flowery notes one by one. When her eyes fell on the piece of paper titled "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix", she suddenly became furious.
The Marquis's Mansion kindly took Yan Boxi in to prepare for the exam, but he actually had the audacity to secretly send love poems to her daughter. How could such frivolous behavior be tolerated in the Marquis's Mansion?
Hong Yingrong angrily pulled out the flowery paper, walked to the incense burner, opened the lid, and wanted to burn it.
However, just as the flame of the incense flickered before her eyes, she suddenly withdrew her hand.
No! Hong Yingrong was suddenly shocked.
In the memory of the previous life, Yan Boxi was beheaded in public for cheating in the examination. He had already died at that time. How could he imitate Xue Jiyan's handwriting and copy anti-poems three years later?
Could it be that he wasn't actually dead, but was used as a substitute?
It is not impossible to think so. Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the capital has had a history of a hundred years as the capital. Looking back in the past, there are many examples of royal relatives using death row prisoners to replace real ones and thus escape death.
But Yan Boxi's family has fallen on hard times now. If that is true, then who has such extraordinary abilities to save his life?
Moreover, Yan Boxi had no connection with the Marquis' Mansion at that time. Was it a personal grudge between him and the Marquis' Mansion? Or was he framed by someone else?
Of course, if someone else imitated the handwriting, then all this might just be Hong Yingrong's own conjecture.
After some thought, she finally decided to put the flowery note in a box and keep it safely.
No matter how things develop in the future, keeping this evidence can always provide her with a clue when needed or become a trump card to protect her family from being implicated.
…
Ever since Han's mother left, Yan Boxi has been distracted and unable to calm down.
He sat at his desk, a scroll in his hands, his eyes looking elsewhere, vacantly, wondering what his beloved lady would think after reading the flowery letter. Would she, as he wished, secretly fall in love with him?
"Oh, why is it so hard to suppress this feeling?" He whispered to himself, frowning, obviously disturbed by this feeling.
For a moment, he could no longer focus on the words in front of him. He flipped the pages of the book a few times and then dropped them limply on the table.
During the past few days of staying in the Marquis' Mansion, Yan Boxi was busy reading and had not even left the house once. He had been keeping the silver bills he had received before close to his body, which gave him an idea.
"My dear mothers, the Spring Examination will be held the day after tomorrow. I want to go out of the house to buy some writing materials..." Yan Boxi stood up, walked into the yard, and explained the reason for going out to the busy mothers.
After hearing this, the mothers looked at each other in bewilderment. One of the older mothers spoke up, "Young Master Yan, there are many books and articles in the study room. Feel free to choose from them. The Spring Examination is approaching, and I'm afraid your absence will delay your studies..."
Yan Boxi smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, Mom. I know what to do. This trip won't take more than half a day. I will definitely be back before sunset. I won't be late."
Seeing Yan Boxi's persistence, the mothers stopped trying to dissuade him. The older mother sent him out of the house, only reminding him to be careful on the road and to go and come back early.
After Yan Boxi stepped out of the gate of the Marquis' Mansion, he turned and walked into Dongxing Street, heading all the way to Xishifang Street.
But his destination was not the bookstore that sold pens, ink, paper and inkstones as mentioned earlier, but a dazzling jewelry store, where he lingered and carefully selected items.
In the past, Yan Boxi knew very little about these exquisite items, but when he thought of Xue Shanqiu as the daughter of a marquis and the apple of his eye, he naturally knew that any jewelry of inferior quality or style would hardly match her noble status.
However, those hairpins and rings with novel designs or inlaid with pearls and jade were often surprisingly expensive, often costing hundreds of taels of silver, which made Yan Boxi secretly astonished. He only had 400 taels of silver in banknotes on him, and part of it had to be kept for his future living expenses in Beijing.
Thinking of this, he looked at the white jade butterfly twin hairpin in his hand with some reluctance.
The white jade butterfly on this hairpin is carved so vividly that it seems to be dancing at any time, implying a dream of living together forever, making it hard to let go.
"Mr. Yan, what a coincidence!" A familiar voice came.
"Manager Liu?" Yan Boxi looked up and saw Manager Liu from the Ancient Books Studio walking out from behind the counter. He couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
Before the fire at the Imperial College, Manager Liu went to the academy specifically to give him a hundred taels of silver as a reward for copying calligraphy and paintings. Unexpectedly, he met him in the jewelry store at this time.
"This jewelry shop is also owned by my boss..." Shopkeeper Liu was sharp-eyed and immediately noticed the white jade butterfly twin hairpins in Yan Boxi's hand. Seeing his reluctant look, he had guessed 80% or 90% of the answer.
This hairpin is priced at six hundred taels, which is indeed a considerable burden for a scholar.
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