Chapter 19

According to the previous plan of Qi Xinglan and Liang Yin, the examinations will start in various parts of Xiyuan in March. Since the imperial examination system is not perfect at present, the first round of examinations will only be a large-scale test.

The reason why the examination is held in March this time is that the court is in urgent need of civil servants, so it has to select once. There will be an examination in various places in early March, and another one in the Western Capital at the end of April. This is the end of the examination. Next year, the academy examination, provincial examination, metropolitan examination and palace examination will be carried out as planned.

Qi Xinglan thought that it would be enough to send Liang Yin to be the chief examiner. He didn't want to join in the fun, but Hui Lin wanted him to go.

"Lan'er has made such a great contribution to Xiyuan, don't you really want to let the students see their queen?" These were his exact words.

Qi Xinglan thought about it and was indeed tempted.

He was afraid of being laughed at if he arrived late, so he went there early and dressed formally, the court dress of Queen Xiyuan.

The exam had not started yet when everyone arrived, but Qi Xinglan's appearance attracted the attention of most of the candidates.

Everyone had heard that the king had married a man, and today they finally saw him in person, so they couldn't help but look around curiously.

Qi Xinglan looked into their eyes openly, which made the candidates feel a little embarrassed. They never expected that Her Majesty the Queen was so beautiful.

However, although he is good-looking, there is no inappropriate look in other people's eyes when they look at him, such as admiration. After all, Qi Xinglan is not feminine.

Most people would just treat him as a good-looking peer, and maybe a few who like men might have other thoughts.

"Begin the exam!"

Liang Yin stood in front of the candidates. After he said this, no one was in the mood to think about anything else and they all lowered their heads to do their homework.

Qi Xinglan was also walking around, and when she saw that everyone was working hard and no one was cheating, she went to the front and greeted Liang Yin silently.

Qi Xinglan saw that the officials were inspecting seriously, so she pulled Liang Yin to a corner and asked him in a voice that only the two of them could hear clearly: "Hey, is this question difficult?"

Qi Xinglan didn't pay attention when he just came over. Besides, even if he had seen it, he might not have understood it.

Liang Yin shook his head, "I don't know, but this is a question asked by the king, and there are many people taking the exam this first year, so it probably won't be easy."

Qi Xinglan nodded to show that she understood and then walked away. It was not good for two people to whisper to each other.

......

Sure enough, after the exam was over and the candidates had collected their papers and left the venue, even from a distance one could hear the candidates crying to each other in groups of two or three.

Qi Xinglan and Liang Yin smiled at each other, then spread their arms and shrugged.

The final results did not come out quickly because it was the first year. The officials looked at the papers and screened out those who had not finished answering the questions or those who spoke unclearly. Then Hui Lin personally read the rest.

The test results were released in mid-May, when the weather was just right, so the candidates were not too upset when they saw the results.

The top of the list was a man from Xidu named Wu Yizi.

Although I have never seen this person's true face, the name sounds like one that was given by his educated parents.

Qi Xinglan also asked Hui Lin a specific question. When Hui Lin heard him asking another man's name, his expression darkened and then he pressed forward.

Qi Xinglan knew he was wrong, so she leaned on his chest and quickly explained, "No, no, no, no! I meant to ask you if he comes from a noble family!"

Hui Lin didn't want to hear that at this moment. He felt like he was on fire, but he still answered truthfully: "Lan'er guessed right. He is the son of the Marquis."

Qi Xinglan sighed when she heard this and loosened her hand that was supporting him.

"What's wrong?" Hui Lin asked him.

Qi Xinglan glanced at him and said, "Sure enough, no matter whether the imperial examination is fair or not, educational resources are always unfair."

The more established a family is, the more it values ​​the knowledge and achievements of its descendants, and the more outstanding the offspring they raise will be.

Hui Lin knew what Qi Xinglan was thinking, so he touched his face and replied, "Don't worry, Lan'er. I'm trying my best to make amends. I can't say it's completely fair, but I can't let the classes be too divided."

Some will die of drought, and some will die of flooding. How can we accept this?

Qi Xinglan smiled again, tilted her head back and kissed him, "My husband is so nice!"

Hui Lin did not miss this great opportunity. He pushed forward directly without giving Qi Xinglan any time to react.

......

Qi Xinglan was lying on the bed, swaying so much that she had no idea what time it was. The man was quite heavy, but Qi Xinglan did not feel any oppression. Instead, she felt very safe.

The man held her tightly like this and she soon fell asleep. She didn't even know what happened afterwards.

—

After the test results came out, the candidates who got a good ranking, even if it was a small one, were considered to have official status. Hui Lin chose a day to entertain the top candidates, a total of five people.

Those five people were able to take part in the examination and be selected because of the king's grace, so they would definitely toast Hui Lin. Qi Xinglan was the queen, so naturally she had to drink a few glasses as well.

Hui Lin has a good alcohol tolerance, so a few drinks are no big deal. Qi Xinglan's alcohol tolerance, however, cannot be said to be outstanding. After five or six drinks, not only does her stomach feel burning, but she also feels like she can't see clearly.

The people below did not dare to look up again without orders, and they turned around to look and saw Qi Xinglan, whose eyes were already unclear.

"Lan'er?"

"Hmm?" Qi Xinglan looked over in a daze, closed her eyes and looked again, before she could barely see Hui Lin.

"Back to Lin... Why do I feel a little dizzy..."

Hui Lin glanced at Fu Wen.

"Fu Wen, send the queen back first." The banquet had not ended yet, and Hui Lin had to stay here, otherwise he would have returned to Lanquan Palace with Qi Xinglan.

Several people noticed the movement above, looked at each other, stood up and said in unison: "Your Majesty, I respectfully send you off."

They march in unison, their steps are light and airy, but they refuse to let anyone support them and insist on walking on their own.

"Your Highness, please slow down!"

Fu Wen was helpless and could only ask a few eunuchs to protect him from all sides. Otherwise, the prince would walk so unsteadily and might fall at any time. How would she explain to the king then?

......

Qi Xinglan walked back to Lanquan Hall, opened the door with the help of muscle memory, found the bed and lay down on it.

Fu Wen came after a while, holding a bowl of sobering soup in her hand. Seeing that Qi Xinglan's face was abnormally red and her slightly closed lips were watery, she knew that Her Majesty the Queen was quite drunk.

"Your Highness, please get up and drink some sobering soup before going back to sleep, okay?"

"Um... not good."

It seems that he is still conscious. Fu Wen breathed a sigh of relief. It will be easy to coax him then.

"Your Highness, you should get up and drink before going to sleep. Otherwise, when the king comes back later, he will definitely not be happy that you are so drunk."

When it came to returning to the forest, Qi Xinglan regained some consciousness and tried to get up. Seeing this, Fu Wen hurried forward to help her sit up and brought her things over.

The sobering soup wasn't very tasty, but Qi Xinglan still drank it with a frown.

The corners of his mouth were curled, and he didn't look very happy. "Going back to Lin?"

Fu Wen was no longer surprised by the fact that Her Majesty the Queen often addressed the King by his first name. "Don't worry, Your Highness. The King will always come back after his socializing."

She had never seen the king not stay overnight in Lanquan Palace.

"Your Majesty would be very happy if he knew that Your Highness missed him."

"No!" Qi Xinglan pouted and lay down again, "I don't miss him at all."

Fu Wen suppressed her laughter and said, "Okay, okay, Your Highness said you don't want to, so I'll go out first. If you need anything, just let me know."

As soon as Fu Wen went out, she ran into Hui Lin, who was panting. He must have been in a hurry to come back.

"May the king be well!"

"Well, is Lan'er asleep?"

Fu Wen shook her head, "I just drank some hangover soup, I guess I haven't slept yet..."

Hui Lin got the answer, and said "hmm" without turning his head and was about to leave. Fu Wen finally said: "Just now, His Highness asked me why you were not here, and I thought... His Highness might be missing you."

Hui Lin's expression softened. Fu Wen seemed to vaguely hear the man laughing, but she raised her head again. Hui Lin still had a blank expression on his face. She suspected that she had seen it wrong.

"You leave first..." Hui Lin thought for a moment, "No, let's prepare some water first."

"yes."

Hui Lin walked in quietly and saw Qi Xinglan lying quietly. He approached and his expression softened unconsciously. Qi Xinglan's hair was disheveled and her cheeks were red like newborn apples. She licked her lips unconsciously while sleeping.

Hui Lin's Adam's apple also moved. Only he knew how beautiful the scene was.

The man reached out his hand and immediately picked up Qi Xinglan, his tone unconsciously softened, "Lan'er, go take a shower before going to bed, okay?"

Qi Xinglan seemed to immediately recognize that this was Hui Linlai, and immediately hugged the man tighter, her eyes half-closed, and her voice was sticky and coquettish, "Hui Lin..."

Such a voice was enough to make Hui Lin's bones soften. He hugged Qi Xinglan again, and his hoarse voice revealed his inner thoughts, "Lan'er, be good."

Qi Xinglan didn't listen. The fragrant person buried her head in his neck and rubbed his lips consciously. "I want..."

Hui Lin's hand around him suddenly tightened, and he led the group to the bathroom.

......

Fu Wen was guarding outside when she suddenly heard a different sound of water. She opened her mouth to ask something when she heard a short and rapid voice of a young man.

"Don't..."

"Go back to the forest!"

Fu Wen:.......

She closed her mouth silently. If she could have closed her ears, she would have done so long ago.

The scene turns to the bathroom, where a pair of white, bony hands are gripping the edge of the bathtub.

The sound of water hitting the barrel came in waves, getting faster and faster.

The boy's whole body was flushed pink, and he bit his lower lip tightly, trying not to make a sound. When he couldn't bear it anymore, he turned around and looked at Lin with pleading eyes.

His eyes were full of tears, but he could only speed up Hui Lin's destruction of him.

In the end, Hui Lin let him go, turned around to face Qi Xinglan's puzzled gaze, and then put Qi Xinglan's arms around his neck.

Then he began to gallop, like a wild horse galloping on the grassland, with the enthusiasm that is unique to a boy from Xiyuan.

Qi Xinglan climbed to the top, but was unwilling to let go.

"Lan'er?" She used to stay outside, but when she returned to Lin and wanted to move, she was held tightly.

"I want..." Drunk people don't care about these things.

"...good."

No matter what, if Lan'er wants it, he will give it to her.

Qi Xinglan was satisfied. She put on her clothes and was taken back home with a satisfied smile on her face. "I like the perm..."

Hui Lin resisted the urge to do it again, so he settled the person down and covered him with the quilt. He then lay down on the outside and naturally hugged Qi Xinglan.

Qi Xinglan finally sobered up after sleeping for a while. When she thought about what she had done not long ago, her face kept getting hot.

Without thinking too much, I fell asleep due to sleepiness.

When she woke up again, it was already morning. Hui Lin had already gone to court. Qi Xinglan moved her aching body, then resigned herself to her fate and stayed still.

It was so damn uncomfortable. Qi Xinglan touched her knee. It hurt when she pressed it, so it must be bruised.

As for her body, Qi Xinglan knew what it looked like without even looking.

With a "squeak" sound, Qi Xinglan looked and saw a white cat's paw. Futuan had grown up and was fat, which made people happy just by looking at him.

Fu Tuan jumped onto the bed with graceful steps and nestled into Qi Xinglan's arms with ease. He stared at the red marks on Qi Xinglan's exposed skin with his beautiful heterochromatic eyes and tilted his head.

Qi Xinglan pretended to be calm, pulled her collar tighter, and poked Fu Tuan's head in a teaching manner, "What are you looking at, little guy? Don't look at things you shouldn't look at!"

The young man knew he was being scolded, so he jumped out of bed and left angrily, leaving Qi Xinglan angry and helpless.