A few more days passed like this, and it was already ten days since the competition in Qionglin Garden.
Su Wenxuan still hadn't received any news, and he couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Qin Yishu was also feeling uneasy at this time.
He paced back and forth in the side hall of Chongyang Palace, looking extremely anxious. Seeing this, the people around him dared not even breathe.
Only the queen was sitting calmly in front of the coffee table, pursing her lips as she looked at the few pieces of thin paper on the table.
Written on the thin paper was the status of the investigation into the five people, including Su Wenxuan, who had won the Qionglinyuan exam on that day.
Gao Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple has a lung disease and is not in good health.
The father of Sima Zhao, a member of the Ministry of Finance, married a concubine a few years ago. He was very cold to Sima Zhao's mother. Because of his father's preference for the concubine over his wife, there was a lot of discord in the family.
Deputy Captain Huo of the Infantry was betrothed since childhood. Because the girl's father died a few years ago, the Huo family has always wanted to cancel the engagement. Now that they see that Deputy Captain Huo has a chance to become a prince consort, they have used coercion and inducement to get the letter of cancellation of engagement.
Mr. Guo, the lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, looks handsome and well-mannered. He has four beautiful concubines at home and a mistress outside. His child is already one year old.
There was only one sentence on the piece of paper with Su Wenxuan's name on it.
Lord Su has been too busy with the various affairs of the Ministry of Rites recently. He returns home too late at night, usually goes out with only one attendant, and his meals are too simple and shabby.
Qin Yishu: "..."
Is this a shortcoming? This is a different way of praising Su Wenxuan! Praising him for his dedication to work and his lack of extravagance...
It's so infuriating!
He had put so much thought into preparing for such a competition, just to let Su Wenxuan know that there were many people who were better than him and worthy of the princess, but now after rounds of screening, only Su Wenxuan was left in the end? It was really infuriating! The more Qin Yishu thought about it, the angrier he became. After pacing around again, he sat down heavily on the chair and drank the tea on the table.
He didn't care whether the tea was freshly brewed or not, it was so hot that it hurt his palate.
"Your Majesty, please calm down." The queen consoled him.
"How can I calm down?" Qin Yishu shouted, "The whole court is full of talented young men and women, but they can't even choose a suitable consort for the Fifth Princess. It's ridiculous!"
"Isn't there another suitable one?" the queen said with a smile.
Qin Yishu was speechless. After gritting his teeth for a long time, he shouted, "It's better not to have it!"
Who knows, he might be able to keep the fifth princess in the palace forever without her suffering any grievances.
"Your Majesty," the Queen said with a smile, "I wonder if Your Majesty really despises Lord Su and is competing with him, or is Your Majesty competing with me?"
Qin Yishu was stunned by the question. He opened his mouth again and again, but in the end, no words came out.
To be honest, he doesn't know either.
Su Wenxuan is outstanding among young people.
He has good character and appearance, a steady temperament, and is serious and careful in his work while also having the necessary structure. Most importantly, he keeps himself clean and has never been involved in any affairs in places of entertainment.
But when he heard that the Fifth Princess admired Su Wenxuan, he did not feel the joy that his daughter had grown up, nor the peace of mind that he had found a good husband. Instead, he felt as angry as if a thief had come to his door.
This anger exceeded his usual admiration for Su Wenxuan, and made him dislike Su Wenxuan no matter what.
He even wanted to make Su Wenxuan suffer a setback.
As the Queen said, he didn't know what he was doing.
Is he competing with Su Wenxuan, or is he competing with himself?
But the anger in his heart had to be vented, otherwise he would feel very suffocated!
Qin Yishu was still very angry, and raised his hand to call Minghai, "Convey my order and summon Su Wenxuan to the palace at this time."
At this time, the sun was setting outside, so someone was sent out to pass the message and invite Su Wenxuan into the palace. When they arrived at Chongyang Palace, the lights were just coming on and it was time for the emperor to have dinner.
Is the emperor going to invite Su Wenxuan to the palace for dinner?
Minghai guessed in his heart, but when he saw Qin Yishu's face, which was so gloomy that it seemed as if water was about to drip out, he quickly withdrew his inquiring gaze.
It doesn't look like they are inviting Su Wenxuan to dinner.
Instead, he wanted to turn Su Wenxuan into dinner!
Because he was nervous, and the Fifth Princess had stuffed him with a lot of gold and silver a few days ago, Minghai, in accordance with the principle of being lenient with others, reminded Su Wenxuan when he led him into Chongyang Palace, "The emperor seems to be in a bad mood, Lord Su should be careful in dealing with it."
Su Wenxuan was already very nervous about entering the palace, and when he heard Minghai say this, his heart sank even more, but he did not forget to bow and thank him, "Thank you for your reminder, eunuch."
"Master Su, you are too polite." Minghai raised his hand, "Master Su, please come in."
Su Wenxuan nodded slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then walked into the hall.
The emperor was sitting alone at the table at this time, and palace servants brought in food one after another and placed it on the table.
Su Wenxuan lowered his head and walked closer, kneeling on the ground to salute, "Your Majesty, long live the emperor."
The emperor seemed to have not heard it and ignored it. Instead, he seemed to be talking to himself, "The quail seems to be cooked wrong today. I will take it away first."
"I had honeydew melon for lunch yesterday and it tasted good. I want some more."
"The tofu skin buns are a little salty for me. My taste has been light these days. Please ask the imperial kitchen to pay attention to this..."
"Yes." Minghai agreed and arranged everything according to Qin Yishu's instructions.
Then, the maid beside him served the food, and Qin Yishu picked up the chopsticks and began to eat slowly.
From beginning to end, he never called Su Wenxuan to stand up, as if he was completely ignored.
Seeing this, Su Wenxuan didn't dare to say much, he just knelt on the ground with his head lowered.
Qin Yishu continued to chew slowly until he had finished the small bowl of rice and half of the dish on the plate, and then he put down his chopsticks.
Minghai hurriedly asked someone to bring tea for him to rinse his mouth and clear the remaining food on the table.
Qin Yishu stood up, walked past Su Wenxuan, went to the table nearby, sat down, and raised his hand, "Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Su Wenxuan bowed and stood up.
Because he had been kneeling for a long time, Su Wenxuan's legs and feet were a little numb and he was a little unsteady on his feet. He only managed to maintain his balance by clenching his teeth.
"Come and play chess with me."
"Yes." Su Wenxuan bowed again in response and quickly walked to Qin Yishu's side. He did not dare to sit down directly, but just stood there with his head bowed.
Qin Yishu chose the white piece, pushed the black piece in front of Su Wenxuan, and then placed the first piece.
Su Wenxuan also hurriedly placed the chess piece in his hand.
The two people didn't say anything, they just played chess silently.
Minghai knew what was going on and just stepped aside, not daring to disturb them, and asked everyone to wait outside.
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