Jiaren and Lu Zong stood up abruptly, and to avoid any misunderstanding, they spoke in loud voices.
Jiaren asked, "My lord, what is the situation outside? Is there truly a rootless wind in the palace? Are there any casualties?"
"Yes, please tell me frankly, sir," Lu Zong anxiously chimed in.
The duty officer had participated in the entire interrogation of the two soldiers and had also seen the Marquis of Xinting and the Earl of Zhongshan who had arrived. He dared not be negligent.
At this moment, he carefully explained, "Please rest assured, there was indeed a rootless wind outside, but only a few residences suffered casualties. The Shou Kang Palace and Zhi Lan Palace in the palace were sealed off, but no one fell ill and everyone is safe and sound."
"You two can rest assured about the exam. The soldier who was deliberately framed has been taken over by Marquis Xinting. The truth will be thoroughly investigated."
Jiaren, Lu Zong, and even Li Ge'er, who was craning his neck to listen from a distance, all breathed a long sigh of relief.
Actually, they weren't completely at ease, since they hadn't seen their sister safe and sound with their own eyes. But since the Marquis had taken over and sent this message, it was quite credible.
Jiaren and Lu Zong bowed in unison to thank the official on duty.
The official on duty coughed twice, resuming his official tone, glanced at the students looking over, and said, "Take your exams properly and don't make any more noise."
After saying that, he walked away with measured steps.
Jiaren didn't know his name, but he remembered his appearance.
He will definitely repay this favor after the big exam.
Even if the official doesn't come to tell them the result, there's nothing they can do.
But not only did they come, they also explained so clearly that they were worried about delaying their exams; they were very kind...
He waved to Li Ge'er in the distance, signaling him to relax.
When he sat down again, Jiaren realized that his whole body was ice cold.
I was worried just now and didn't feel anything, but now I'm afraid of catching a cold.
He quickly boiled water and made himself a cup of milk tea.
The aroma of milk and tea blended together, creating a sweet and mellow flavor that finally brought him a touch of warmth on this winter night.
Lu Zong next door and Li Ge'er in the distance also held up cups of milk tea without prior arrangement...
Three days passed in a flash, and as soon as the gates of the examination hall opened, the exhausted students poured out.
Jiaren, Lige'er, Lu Zong, and Jia Xu were walking together when they encountered Jia Huan with his steward and servants not far from the alleyway.
How is my sister?
"Big brother, how did the exam go?"
The two asked the question almost simultaneously, but their answers were completely different.
Jiaren grew anxious and pressed, "Has any news come out of the palace? How is my sister? Has Physician Zhang gone to the palace to oversee things?"
As Jia Huan led the group to stand aside to avoid being scattered by the students, she replied, "Brother, don't worry, I'm fine. The Marquis said there's nothing to worry about; there's some hidden story behind this matter, and he and Second Uncle have made arrangements."
Jiaren was relieved and let out a breath he had been holding in, but his legs felt weak.
These past three days, even though I know my family won't abandon my sister, and I know someone is deliberately distracting them, I still can't help but worry.
He couldn't eat or sleep well, yet he still had to give his all to answer questions, and at the same time, he had to comfort his younger brother with his eyes from time to time. He was truly exhausted.
Li Ge'er was also clinging to Jia Huan's arm, constantly saying, "Brother, I'm starving! I want meat, I want rice, I want dumplings!"
At this time, people from the Lu and Jia families also came over and invited Lu Zong and Jia Xu to go home.
The group only had one night to rest before heading to the examination hall the next morning, so time was very precious.
Soon, the group parted ways.
The Li brothers traveled by carriage and quickly returned to the Earl's mansion.
Wan'er had already prepared dinner and was waiting at the door.
Finally, her husband returned home, and she was so happy that her eyes welled up with tears.
For the past three days, she has been worried about her husband's exam and also about her sister-in-law being confined to the palace. She really wished she could split her heart in two.
Just as they were eating, Lord Hou, along with Li Lao Er, Li Lao San, and Li Lao Si, all rushed back.
No one asked Jiaren and his brother how they did on the exam; they simply recounted the events in the palace in detail.
When Jiaren and Lige heard that it was the Empress Dowager who had orchestrated the whole thing, using the strange illness as an excuse to cover up the truth and divert attention, they were completely relieved.
“Father, the Empress Dowager isn’t necessarily behind the matter at the Imperial Examination Hall. She’s currently in a weakened position and focused on seizing power, so she probably doesn’t have time to care about the two of us. Could it be that someone else is taking advantage of the situation to stir up trouble?” Jiaren asked.
Li Lao Er nodded, quite satisfied with his eldest son.
At least he hasn't become stupid from reading too much, and he still has the necessary sharpness.
"You guessed right. You were distracted by someone deliberately passing messages on you at the examination hall. It was definitely not the work of the palace."
The Marquis continued, "That soldier was caught in time, and the person behind him didn't escape either. The person behind him was... Mr. Wen's elder brother."
"The Wen family has been pestering Mr. Wen recently, trying to persuade him to change his mind about marrying into the Cui family and to return to his ancestral home, but Mr. Wen disagrees. In their anger, they heard that you, their prized student, are expected to be the top scholar in the imperial examination, and they became jealous."
"Coincidentally, a strange illness broke out in the palace, and Fu Niu'er was confined to Zhilan Palace. They came up with this vicious plan to ruin your future."
Jiaren and Lige were speechless. When they were anxious and couldn't sleep in the examination hall, they guessed who was behind it. They had guessed almost all of their family's enemies, but they never expected it to be the Wen family.
This is truly unexpected!
Jiaren, respecting his teacher, quickly asked, "Where is the teacher now? We haven't been affected and answered the questions smoothly. I hope he won't overthink it."
Li Lao Er waved his hand, comforting him, "Don't worry, Mr. Wen is not a narrow-minded person. He has already gone to the Wen family's ancestral home to handle this matter personally. He left a message telling you all to study hard for the exam. Ten years of hard study are all for this one exam, so you must make your efforts worthwhile."
Jiaren and Lige'er stood up together and bowed to the south.
Seeing that they were pale and exhausted, the others didn't say anything more. They ate with them and then urged them to rest.
At this moment, Mu Xu actually brought a food box and rushed back under the cover of night.
"Young Master, Sixth Young Master, the Princess was concerned about your hard work during the exams, so she specially prepared some nourishing soup and asked me to bring it back for you to drink."
Everyone was extremely excited and pulled Mu Xu aside to ask about the situation in the palace.
In fact, apart from being sealed off, nothing has changed at Zhilan Palace.
During these three days, Jiayin ate and lived with the Third Princess without any discomfort. On the contrary, because she had free time, she spent her days thinking about delicious food and gained a little weight.
Everyone was completely relieved to hear this.
Whether it was psychological or not, Jiaren and Lige felt much less tired after drinking the tonic soup. After saying a few more words, they yawned repeatedly, barely managed to go back to their room, took a bath, and then collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and fell fast asleep.
The next day, the two brothers woke up refreshed and full of energy. They carried their exam baskets to the examination hall again, their fighting spirit high once more.
Mu Xu escorted the two into the examination hall before saying goodbye to the Li family and preparing to return to the palace.
On the way, he remembered that Jiayin liked to eat roasted chicken from the south of the city, so he made a detour and bought two to give Jiayin a change of pace.
As luck would have it, while taking a shortcut back to the palace, he unexpectedly made a new discovery while passing by a semi-abandoned courtyard...
Today's update is here!
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