The eldest prince was stunned and wanted to refute, but his wife was staring at him eagerly, so he could only laugh dryly and said, "Yes, yes, it's a rare opportunity to rest. I need to go home and be with my wife and children."
The problem is that although he only has one wife, he has many other women. If he stays at home, he will just have to watch a bunch of women vying for his favor, which is boring.
Xie Qingcai ignored him and pulled Qin Wan away.
Qin Wan rarely leaves the palace, and Xie Qing rarely has a rest, so naturally he has to accompany her to do things.
In the morning, they sent the examinee to the Qin family and stayed for a while. In the afternoon, they went straight to Xiaoxuezhuang to check the grain planting situation. They did not return to the East Palace until the evening.
Qin Wan looked at the pile of memorials on the desk and couldn't help but feel sorry for Xie Qing: "Are they all going to be reviewed tonight?"
Xie Qing casually flipped through the memorials, which had already been sorted according to their importance. He casually pushed a pile of memorials over and said, "Wouldn't it be much faster if you came to help me?"
"Ah?" Qin Wan was stunned. She casually picked up a memorial and glanced at it, then shook her head. "It's okay for important government affairs, but I'll just help you with these."
Qin Wan walked to the other side, where a letter of greeting was placed.
Some require approval and some do not, and no handwriting is required, so there is no need to worry about whether someone will recognize the difference in handwriting.
Qin Wan just picked up the red pen and circled and drew. If a few sentences needed to be written, she would write the content that needed to be approved on a piece of paper and put it in. Later, Xie Qing would just copy it.
"Why is this book here?" Qin Wan picked up a memorial book, which was about the construction of the Gyeonggi Dam.
Although the content is just some daily routine of dam construction, it should not be included in a letter of greeting.
Xie Qing looked at the folded paper and frowned, "Xiao Luzi, who touched the folded paper?"
The people who helped distribute the memorials were the officials of the Secretariat, all of whom were the emperor's confidants. Such an oversight should not have occurred. The only possibility was that someone had tampered with the memorials on the way there.
Xiao Luzi knelt down quickly and said, "Since it was sent from the Secretariat, I have been watching over it the entire time. No one has entered."
"That's someone from the Secretariat, they're hiding well enough!"
Xie Qing threw away his red pen and said, "Go check. The Secretariat must be clean from top to bottom!"
Qin Wan handed Xie Qing another pen, then picked it up and gently shook it in the pen wash. The bright red color gradually spread in the water. "The construction of the dam is related to people's livelihood and the safety of tens of millions of ordinary people. If they ignore thousands of people in order to fight for this position, they deserve to die!"
The clear water in the brush washer had turned crimson. Qin Wan didn't like it, so she put away her brush and asked someone to change the water. "What do you think?"
Xie Qing raised his eyes to look at Qin Wan, his eyes firm: "I originally thought that I would use them again when the previous few came to the court two years ago. Now it seems that I am afraid that I don't have time. I don't have anyone available."
The former queen was from the Cao family, and the current queen is also from the Cao family.
Xie Qing did not trust the Cao family, and the people he had been managing for many years after his rebirth were all spies from all over the country and people in the capital. Those who could be used in the court had no time to help him monitor the construction of dams in various places.
Qin Wan smiled and said, "You and I are husband and wife, and the Qin family will naturally be at your service. I'll let my brother know."
Qin Can and others did not intend to serve as officials in the court, but if they just wanted to supervise the construction of the dam for the prince, they could still do it.
Xie Qing did not hide it from others and immediately sent an imperial edict to the Qin family, summoning the second son of Marquis Xuanwu, Qin Hua and others to the palace.
The Qin family members were assigned relatively low positions, which were not important, so the officials in the court naturally had no objections.
However, the Fourth Prince was at a loss when he learned that all the people assigned to the Secretariat had been cleared out. Now he couldn't intervene at the dam and was very anxious.
Just as the Fourth Prince was getting anxious, the results of the county examination came out.
Ping'er's grades were average, not the first place that Bai Wanyi had expected. Bai Wanyi was very dissatisfied: "Those people from peasant families can get into the top ten, what are you doing!"
Ping'er lowered her head and said nothing.
Bai Wanyi brought him to the table and said, "Write out the exam essay for me! Quick!"
Upon hearing the news, Old Lady Lu rushed over, intending to celebrate Ping'er's passing the county exam. However, she overheard Bai Wanyi scolding Ping'er. She immediately leaned on her cane and quickly protected Ping'er: "He's still just a child! How old is he? Are you forcing him to grow like this?"
Bai Wanyi turned around and glared at Old Lady Lu: "Don't you know how much a loving mother can spoil her child? Do you know how much effort I've put into raising Ping'er?"
"If you had put in so much effort, would Ping'er have never been educated before coming to Beijing?" Old Madam Lu would not indulge her.
"Ping'er was over seven when she came to the capital. For ordinary children, starting their education at three is already too late. Scholars hold their children on their knees! What about Ping'er? She could barely read when she came to the capital, and couldn't even memorize the Three Character Classic. What a waste of effort! Bah! How dare you say that!"
Bai Wanyi argued confidently, "You said it yourself, they're a family of scholars! The Lu family is a family of military commanders. Lu Yan and I have been at the border for eight years, fighting for eight years. During these eight years, I have been working hard for the glory of your Lu family. Now you blame me?"
"If you have the guts, don't monopolize my military merits! I gave you, the Lu family, at least 80% of them. And now you're accusing me of not teaching Ping'er well?"
Old Lady Lu was furious: "You are a woman of the Lu family. It is your duty to assist Yan'er! And you are asking me for credit?"
Bai Wanyi sneered, "You guys are so confident!"
"Everyone, get out!" Bai Wanyi really didn't want to say another word to people like them. She pushed Old Lady Lu out, turned around and pulled Ping'er to the desk: "Go, recite the article!"
Ping'er looked at Bai Wanyi in confusion, then lowered her head to look at the paper and pen on the table, and could only pick up the pen and start writing her own article from memory.
Bai Wanyi watched Ping'er write the first sentence and knew he hadn't listened. "I told you, sharp! Opinions should be sharp. What are you talking about? What kind of impression can such an old-fashioned essay make on people?"
Bai Wanyi snatched Ping'er's pen, picked up the pen and began to write an article according to his own ideas.
Ping'er looked at the shocking words and stammered, "Mother, you will be beheaded."
"How could it be that easy? Only the Qing Dynasty had literary inquisitions!" Bai Wanyi felt that there was nothing wrong with it, and said, "If you think there are any problems, you can change them. Do you have to be so pedantic? Remember! This is how you answer!"
Ping'er bowed her head and nodded, but dared not speak.
The second provincial examination.
Ping'er entered the examination room with Bai Wanyi's earnest instructions. He had no intention of answering the questions according to Bai Wanyi's ideas, but her voice was like a spell, echoing in his mind.
The ink on the tip of the pen was about to drip when Ping'er came back to her senses, washed the ink off the pen, and picked up the pen again.
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