Chapter 7: The Palace Examination Ruined (7)
The snow fell heavily, and soon covered the sky and the earth in white.
Zhu Qingchen sat in the pavilion in the backyard, hugging the stove and watching the snow. The cold wind blew the snowflakes onto his cloak.
Liu An sat beside him, boiling snow and making tea.
Pei Xuan and other students were playing snowball fights in the snow, running around happily like a group of little hounds who had never seen snow.
"Master." Liu An placed the teacup in front of Zhu Qingchen.
Zhu Qingchen picked up the teacup and took a sip. The warm tea warmed his limbs.
Zhu Qingchen smiled and asked Liu An: "Why don't you play with them?"
Liu An said calmly: "After all, I am their senior brother, a few years older than them. Let them go and play, and I will just look after the Master."
Zhu Qingchen paused and said, "But as I remember, you should be a few years younger than them."
He is called "Senior Brother Liu", but he is actually the youngest.
Liu An paused and said, "I am a son of an aristocratic family. I am a few years older than them mentally. I have long disdained to play such childish games."
"Yes, that makes sense." Zhu Qingchen nodded, "The teacher is not from a noble family, and he is younger than you."
Liu An suddenly felt something was not right: "Master..."
"Then Master, we can also have a snowball fight!" Zhu Qingchen threw his cloak behind him, tucked the hem of his cloak into his belt as he ran out of the pavilion, bent down, made a snowball, and smashed it hard on Song Feng's back.
"Who?" Song Feng called out, and when he turned around and saw that it was the Master, he quickly restrained his expression and held his breath, "Master."
Zhu Qingchen hit him again: "Song Feng, your article yesterday was so bad, and you even fell asleep while writing. I told you but you didn't listen, you deserve a beating."
"Next, Chen Zheng. You were late the day before yesterday and didn't come to study. You also gossiped with your seatmate yesterday. You deserve a beating too."
"Also, Xu Rong, you talked to Chen Zheng and he stopped talking to you, but you kept pestering him. I'll give you two slaps."
Master Zhu began to seek revenge, and the students did not dare to resist and could only hide away.
"Master, I hit the wrong person. You said I was your best student a few days ago!"
"I'm going to hit you, Pei Xuan. You read so loudly that the neighbors have complained to me many times! Sooner or later I'll build a thick wall and lock you in, so that you can study for three days and three nights."
Master Zhu was so crazy that he rolled up his sleeves and hit each student twice.
Cool expression, fierce attack.
For a moment, the scene was extremely chaotic.
Liu An was sitting in the pavilion, seemingly leisurely brewing tea, but in fact he was waving a flag for the Master.
Master, you beat me well! Pei Xuan deserves to be beaten!
The next second, a snowball flew towards him and hit his sleeve.
Liu An looked up in shock: "Master, what did I do wrong?"
Zhu Qingchen loosened his wrist and lifted up his sleeves: "You still dare to ask? Did you write 'People are like cattle and sheep, and the saints drive them themselves'? How can you be so capable? You treat people as cattle and sheep?"
Liu An lowered his head: "I was wrong."
Zhu Qingchen taught each student a lesson, then fell backwards, panting.
The students stood in a row and listened to the instruction obediently. When they saw that he was about to fall, they hurried to help him up.
Zhu Qingchen waved his hands, sat down on the soft snow, waved his sleeves to fan himself, and muttered quietly: "I'm so tired. It's so tiring to teach students. No wonder my teacher also spanked me in the past."
The system said: "Before, you only had the prince with you, so of course it was easier."
Zhu Qingchen was helpless: "I'll say it one last time, that's an empty position, Li Yue doesn't have a crown prince, and I've never taught a crown prince."
The system is a goldfish brain.
Just at this moment, someone came outside.
"Master Zhu, there is an imperial decree from the palace, and they are waiting outside."
The students rushed forward and helped Zhu Qingchen up from the snow.
Zhu Qingchen brushed off the snow stuck to his body, adjusted his hair, and made sure that he looked presentable and there was nothing wrong with him before he led his students out to receive the order.
Speaking of which, he had been here for two or three days. As a school official, he did not have to attend court. He was always running back and forth between the school palace, the mansion, and Pei's winery, but he had never seen the emperor here.
I don’t know why the emperor suddenly issued an order.
On the way, the system helped him retrieve all the information about the emperor from the original book.
The book says that this emperor was Prince Jing's elder brother and was an absolute tyrant.
The emperor was blind and sent Pei Xuan, a talented scholar, to exile to the frontier; he was suspicious by nature and feared King Jing, and he kept pressing him; he was warmongering and violent by nature.
In short, all the bad words can be put on him. To use the system's words, "This is the villain in the book. Whenever there is a problem between the top and the bottom, blame the villain."
Finally, Prince Jing succeeded in his rebellion, and the emperor hanged himself in the palace
Above.
Because he had been blind and sent Pei Xuan to exile, King Jing chose the word "Li" as his posthumous title in order to vent his anger on Pei Xuan.
After Pei Xuan jumped off the city wall, King Jing dug out the former emperor's corpse, hung it on the city wall, and cut it into pieces to vent his anger.
Zhu Qingchen has asked the system countless times about the question "Why doesn't King Jing need to atone his sins to Pei Xuan?"
The system said: "His atonement is a little different, because he is the protagonist, so he only needs to 'chase his wife to the crematorium'."
Zhu Qingchen didn't understand.
The system gave an explanation: "Chasing wife to the crematorium: refers to the online novels, in the early stage, the top is indifferent to the bottom, and even bullies and tortures the bottom. In the later stage, in order to win the bottom back, he will do many things, just like being sent to the crematorium for burning corpses."
Zhu Qingchen asked: "A lot of things? What do you mean specifically?"
The system replied: "In this article, it specifically refers to the fact that after Pei Xuan jumped off the city wall, he survived, and King Jing realized that he loved him, so he knelt down and apologized to him."
Zhu Qingchen frowned: "'Can do a lot of things'?"
"The book says that a man's knees are made of gold and a man's dignity is the most valuable. This is already a big apology." The system added, "Prince Jing will also make Pei Xuan his queen and give him supreme love."
Zhu Qingchen was puzzled: "'Sent to the crematorium to burn the bodies'?"
The system said seriously: "Yes."
Zhu Qingchen scratched his head, and suddenly he felt...
The "vicious cannon fodder" Liu An and the "tyrannical villain" are both so wronged!
During the palace examination, Liu An and Pei Xuan were strangers to each other. When Pei Xuan was about to fall down, he avoided him, which was naturally understandable.
Prince Jing originally wanted to rebel, so it’s not wrong for the “tyrant villain” to be suspicious. Why do you insist on saying that he is “suspicious”?
Besides, wasn't it Prince Jing who planned Pei Xuan's exile? Maybe he was too harsh in exiling Pei Xuan, but it was far from the extent that Prince Jing bullied Pei Xuan.
Why can't they be "cremated" and cut into pieces?
While thinking about things, Zhu Qingchen walked along the corridor and came to the main courtyard.
The eunuch who came from the palace to deliver the imperial edict was already waiting in the courtyard.
Zhu Qingchen stepped forward quickly and bowed, "Your Majesty, Zhu Qingchen accepts your order."
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict looked at him with a smile and said, "Your Majesty's order. As the saying goes, auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. Today is the first snow, and I am very happy. I will invite all the civil and military officials to a banquet in Yihe Hall to enjoy the snow together. The emperor and his subjects will have fun together."
"Mr. Zhu is also on the banquet list. Go change your clothes and come with me to the palace for the banquet."
It turned out that he was going to a banquet, and Zhu Qingchen thought something big had happened.
He breathed a sigh of relief, leaned forward and said, "I obey your order."
He was going to the palace for a banquet, so he did not allow the students to have dinner at home. He sent them all away, and Zhu Qingchen went back to his room to change his clothes.
The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict was waiting outside the door, chatting with him with a smile: "Mr. Zhu has become very famous in Yong'an City these days."
"Hmm?" Zhu Qingchen put on his clothes and responded.
"The school official accepted a few students, and the people in the city all praised the school official for his noble character."
“Is… is that so?”
Zhu Qingchen suddenly felt a little nervous.
He whispered to the system: "Could it be that I have been acting too ostentatiously recently and attracted the emperor's attention, so the emperor summoned me to the palace to punish me?"
The system was also confused: "This shouldn't happen. You only accept two disciples. You are a tyrant who doesn't care about state affairs. You don't even care about important matters like war. Why would you care about a little master like you?"
Zhu Qingchen couldn't figure it out, and he became a little alert. He put on his formal wear and decided to be careful after entering the palace.
He pushed open the door: "Father-in-law, I'm done."
The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree followed him, got into the carriage with him, and entered the palace together.
On the way, Zhu Qingchen quietly lifted the curtain and looked out.
Other officials also rode in carriages, preparing to enter the palace.
It seems that he is not special.
The carriages stopped one by one in front of the palace gate. Zhu Qingchen got off the carriage, separated from the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict, and stood in the team of civil servants.
His position is not high, but his advantage is that he is special.
This dynasty respects teachers and values learning, so Zhu Qingchen and several other academic officials are ranked relatively high.
Zhu Qingchen recognized them and greeted them with a smile. The school officers were much older than him and treated him very kindly, just like their own child.
One of the old scholars asked softly, "Xiao Zhu, you haven't been to the palace for a banquet yet?"
Zhu Qingchen nodded: "Yes."
The old scholar gently reminded him: "Your Majesty likes singing and dancing. There must be music and dancing at the banquet. The singers and dancers may sometimes... dance in front of you. Just eat and toast with us. Don't worry about anything else."
"Okay, I'll remember that. Thank you, old student."
The old student smiled, shook his hand and reassured him.
Yihedian Burning
With the ground dragon head, as soon as you step over the threshold, a warm breeze blows towards you, like a spring breeze.
Zhu Qingchen followed the old academic officials and sat down at the desk, sitting upright.
As night fell, two rows of palace maids held candles and lit the palace lanterns.
For a moment, the palace lanterns were as bright as day, magnificent and golden.
Zhu Qingchen took a sneak peek and said to the system in his mind, "Wow, this palace looks pretty good too. I'll ask Li Yue to build one for me when I get back so I can use it to get together with my friends."
Just as Zhu Qingchen finished speaking, suddenly, a voice was heard from outside the palace announcing "His Majesty has arrived."
Zhu Qingchen helped the old scholar beside him to stand up, and together with them, he folded his hands and bowed to salute.
Zhu Qingchen lowered his head, concentrating on the jade tassel hanging from his belt, his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart.
The emperor's footsteps came closer and closer, until a black hem of clothing came into his sight.
It was not known whether it was Zhu Qingchen's illusion, but the emperor's black boots seemed to be moving towards him. But the next second, he seemed to be blocked by something, and he changed direction, slowed down his pace, and walked forward.
Then, the attendants behind the emperor also came into his sight, their clothes were tangled and he could no longer see them clearly.
Zhu Qingchen could only lower his head further.
After an unknown amount of time, the emperor finally climbed up the jade steps in the palace, sat down on the high seat, and said in a cold voice, "Stand up."
Zhu Qingchen straightened up, helped the senior school officials around him, and made sure they were seated steadily before he sat down himself.
Zhu Qingchen sat upright, but he couldn't help but clench his hands under his sleeves in anticipation.
It’s a palace banquet. He has never attended a palace banquet before, so he doesn’t know what delicious food is there.
The system was puzzled: "You have never attended the palace banquet, aren't you the 'Prince's Tutor'?"
Zhu Qingchen said, "The country was not settled yet, and the princes were fighting for supremacy. Li Yue's grandfather started from scratch and had been storing grain and soldiers. His life was very hard. Later, Li Yue inherited the family business and started fighting. I told him not to attract attention and not to proclaim himself emperor first. If he was not an emperor, he naturally could not hold a palace banquet. After I died, he hurriedly proclaimed himself emperor."
The system is still confused: "Why?"
Zhu Qingchen smiled and said calmly: "Because only after you become emperor can you posthumously confer the title of 'Prince's Tutor' on me."
Soon, two rows of palace servants entered from the palace gate, holding plates of exquisitely presented wine and food.
Zhu Qingchen raised his head slightly and watched happily as the palace servants placed a variety of exquisite meals in front of him.
Cherry meat, squirrel mandarin fish, roast goose with plum sauce
, it smells sour and sweet.
He turned his head to look at the other ministers, and after they all picked up their chopsticks, he followed suit, picked up a piece of cherry flesh, and put it into his mouth. A satisfied smile appeared on his face, and even his eyes curved.
tasty!
It suits Zhu Qingchen's taste very well!
Zhu Qingchen swallowed the food in his mouth, turned around, picked up the public chopsticks, and helped the old and blind official pick out the big bones of the mandarin fish.
He smiled and said, "Take your time to eat. Call me if you need anything."
The old student nodded: "Oh, thank you, Xiaozhu."
Zhu Qingchen put down his chopsticks and raised his head, not wanting to meet the gaze of the emperor sitting high on the throne.
The emperor's face could not be seen clearly because of the twelve layers of royal tassels. Zhu Qingchen didn't know if he was looking at him, so he lowered his head in panic.
From the jade steps, an electronic voice that only the emperor could hear came: "Host, please control your emotions and do not do anything that goes against your character's personality."
The emperor lowered his eyes, retracted his gaze, and waved to the eunuch beside him.
The eunuch understood, raised his hands and clapped twice.
The musicians held their instruments and the dancers leaped lightly into the hall from outside.
When the dancer's sleeves swept past Zhu Qingchen, Zhu Qingchen thought, the old scholar was right, this emperor really likes singing and dancing.
He raised his eyes slightly and looked at the emperor.
The emperor was leaning on a soft pillow, his head supported by one hand and the other hand on his knee. His fingertips tapped along to the music, his eyes fixed on the dancing dancer.
Zhu Qingchen only took a glance and turned his head away quickly for fear of being discovered.
His Majesty was just indulging in singing and dancing, and had no intention of staring at him or hitting him.
When Zhu Qingchen turned his head, the emperor also turned his gaze back.
His gaze passed through the twinkling palace lanterns and the flying sleeves of the dancers, and fell on the cheeks of some people who were bulging from eating.
"Host, please be careful to maintain your image as a tyrant..."
"Shut up, I'm just watching dancing!"!
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