first step
I was lying in Muli's arms, almost falling asleep, when I felt the ghostly energy on my middle finger contract slightly. I quickly got up and shouted, "Shadow!"
As a result, when I suddenly stood up, the recliner lost its balance and almost threw me off. Luckily, Muli pulled me back quickly, which helped stabilize the recliner.
So when Shadow came back, he saw Muli holding me tightly as we lay together in the rocking chair.
She turned her head towards me, not saying a word, but her face clearly said: What are you all doing...?
I looked her up and down, and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
“It’s nothing,” she shook her head, then went back to her corner.
At this moment, the rocking chair stabilized, and Muli pulled me up, then tapped my forehead and said, "The business is done, it's time to sleep." Then she pulled me back to the room with her.
When I woke up the next day, Ah Shi was already awake. He was drinking tea and watching Wu Qing practice swordsmanship.
I reached out and waved my hand in front of his eyes: "Awake?"
He smiled sheepishly and said, "You're awake, Auntie."
Do you know how embarrassing you were yesterday?
"Huh?" His face paled. "What... happened to me yesterday?"
"Yesterday, you were crying and making a scene, and you even bit me. I didn't even want to admit that I knew you!"
He blushed slightly before asking me, "Auntie, does your hand still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I'm so glad you didn't use too much force, otherwise my hand would be ruined if you got drunk even once!"
“No,” he shook his head, “Even if I’m drunk, I won’t hurt my aunt.”
"Oh, you've been learning from Uncle Xiang for so long, you've finally learned how to talk!"
At this point, he nervously rubbed his hands together: "Auntie, the results are out today!"
"Huh? The results are out?" I jumped up. "Aren't you going to check?"
"I..." He pursed his lips, "I'm... a little scared!"
"What are you afraid of? Don't be nervous. Come on, let's go out of the palace and take a look."
"Oh? But it's still early. Should we wait a bit longer?"
"What are you waiting for?" I pulled him and walked outside: "Hurry up, let's go see first, otherwise it will be too crowded and hard to squeeze in."
But by the time I dragged Ah Shi to the place where the results were posted, it was already too late. There were many students of all kinds standing in front of the imperial list, all looking for their names on the list.
To see it, we had to push through the crowd to the front. I pulled Ah Shi and we started to squeeze into the crowd, but the further we went, the less space there was, and we couldn't break through at all.
Ah Shi grabbed my hand that was pulling his arm and pulled me back a little: "Auntie, there are too many people in front, let's wait."
"But," I jumped up, "we can't see it at all!"
He was much calmer at this moment: "The people in front will leave after they see it. When someone leaves, there will be gaps. Let's wait."
After waiting for about fifteen minutes, there was still no gap in front of us. I shook my head and said, "This won't do, Ah Shi. We still need to move forward!" As I spoke, I pulled him and prepared to push through the crowd and move forward again.
As a result, the people in front of us realized we were trying to squeeze through and bumped into me instead. Ah Shi quickly pulled me back and whispered, "Be careful, Auntie."
His voice came from behind my ear, warm and gentle. We were too close... but the area around us was full of people coming to see the imperial edict. People were packed together, with no space between them.
I don't know what's going on on the other side, but the crowd keeps pushing towards us. Ah Shi quickly reached out and put his arm around me, whispering, "Auntie, why don't we come back later? There are too many people."
I looked around at the densely packed crowd and simply turned my head to say, "We can't get out of here now!"
Suddenly the crowd fell silent, and then I heard a familiar voice: "Xu Yi?"
Is that Muli? I quickly raised my hand: "Muli, I'm here."
Then the Imperial Guards slowly parted the crowd, creating a narrow passage for one person. I rushed over and threw myself into Mu Li's arms. He kissed my forehead before looking down and asking me with concern, "How are you? Are you hurt?"
I shook my head, and then he took my hand and pulled me back, saying to Ah Shi, "Tenth Prince, please."
Ah Shi smiled at us and walked out, saying, "Thank goodness General Mu arrived just in time!"
I had already turned my head to look at the imperial edict seriously, starting from the first name and slowly looking at the rest. There were so many names that my eyes were getting tired. Then I heard Mu Li lean closer to me and whisper, "Third row, fifth name."
Sure enough, it was Ah Shi's name. I turned to Ah Shi excitedly and said, "Ah Shi, you won!"
“Yes,” he nodded, “Yes, Auntie.”
"Wow, you won!" I excitedly went over and pinched his cheek, giving it a good rub. "You really won, Ah Shi, you're amazing!"
“Hmm,” he said, letting me pinch him without resisting, just smiling, “Yes, we’ve finally taken the first step.”
"That's fantastic! That's fantastic!" I was clearly even more excited than Ah Shi, so I said, "I'll take you out for something delicious to treat you!"
He pouted and shook his head: "The teacher should be waiting for us to go back for dinner today."
"Oh, right, let's go, let's go," I said, linking arms with Ah Shi on one arm and Mu Li on the other, and we walked to the side: "Back to the Prime Minister's residence!"
When we got into the carriage and returned to the Prime Minister's residence, we found that the main gate was wide open and rows of candles had been lit. The steward and his servants greeted us kindly: "Miss, Tenth Prince, General Mu."
"Wow... This is the first time I've ever seen the Prime Minister's residence like this!" I exclaimed in amazement, and was the first to enter the residence.
When we arrived at the central courtyard, we saw that the prime minister had already changed into plain clothes and was sitting there waiting for us. He gave us a cold look before saying, "Sit down, are you waiting to be invited?"
I quickly sat down and exclaimed, "Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen such a luxurious Prime Minister's residence! I can hardly believe it!"
The prime minister snorted coldly: "The prime minister's residence has always been like this; I've just been keeping a low profile lately."
"Oh, oh," I nodded, then happily shared with the Prime Minister, "Ah Shi passed! I saw his name!"
The prime minister rolled his eyes at me again: "I already knew yesterday!"
"Oh? You didn't mention that I even went with Ah Shi today to squeeze into a crowd to see the imperial edict!"
The prime minister gave Ah Shiyi another cold look before turning back to me and saying, "The imperial edict has not yet been issued, so it is not appropriate to say more."
"Alright!" I looked at the table full of delicious food, my mouth watering, and asked the Prime Minister with sparkling eyes, "Uncle Prime Minister, are we still waiting for someone?"
"Heh..." He chuckled softly and said calmly, "Let's not wait any longer, let's eat!"
"Alright!" I quickly picked up a piece of pork belly with my chopsticks. It melted in my mouth, not oily or greasy at all. I exclaimed, "It's so delicious, rich and flavorful!"
After watching me take a few bites of pork belly, the prime minister raised his cup and said, "Congratulations to the tenth prince on passing the imperial examination. You have taken a good first step."
I also raised my glass: "Congratulations, Ah Shi."
Muli followed up: "Congratulations, Tenth Prince."
Ah Shi smiled shyly: "Thank you, teacher, thank you everyone."
It was another pleasant dinner.
By evening, the prime minister was clearly a little drunk, and he laughed and said, "Haha, this old man hasn't drunk alcohol in a long time, so I'll go back to rest first. You young people can eat and drink slowly!"
"Alright!" I said, a little tipsy myself. "You should go and rest!"
The steward then helped the prime minister to the backyard to rest. As he was leaving, he turned back to us and said, "It's too late tonight, so please rest in the mansion. Tomorrow is the banquet, so it's not good to get around."
Huh? Ten days already?
“Okay!” I nodded. “Then we won’t go back to the palace tonight.”
Finally, I was half asleep when Muli carried me back. He put me on the bed, kissed my lips, covered me with a blanket, and left.
After a while, he came back and instinctively pulled me into his arms.
The next morning, I was woken up by the servants pacing back and forth outside...
I stretched casually, got up, opened the window, and took a deep breath of fresh air. As soon as I relaxed, I opened my eyes and saw servants and maids sweeping and arranging things outside.
They all bowed to me and said, "Miss."
I paused for a moment, then nodded, gave an awkward laugh, and closed the window: "You guys continue, you guys continue."
Then I turned around and bumped into Mu Li's arms. He gently pulled me into his embrace and chuckled, "Did you scare Thirteen?"
"Hehe, it is a bit awkward."
Mu Li pushed the window open again and sighed softly, "This is the real Prime Minister's residence."
I turned my head and followed Muli's gaze back to the bustling courtyard.
The courtyard was full of servants. Some were wiping the flowers and trees, some were sweeping fallen leaves, and others were squatting on the ground scrubbing the bluestone slabs. Ladders were set up at the gateposts on both sides, and the servants climbed up to sweep the wooden beams and then tied dark red silk ribbons on them. In the cleaned corners, various colorful flowers were piled up neatly. Servants were also pruning the branches and leaves in the courtyard. It was a scene of thriving vitality...
At this moment, the butler walked up to us and bowed to me: "Miss, the master is already waiting for you in the dining room."
"Oh, we need to get up early today," I quickly pulled Muli out the door and headed to the dining hall.
The prime minister, dressed in casual clothes, sat in the main seat, with an unfamiliar man and Ah Shi sitting beside him.
The prime minister rolled his eyes at us: "I already told you there would be a banquet today, and you still didn't get up early enough to wait for the two of you."
I chuckled and said, "Uncle Xiang, I've already gotten up early. If I were the lazy person I am, I wouldn't be up yet!"
"Shameless!" The prime minister rolled his eyes at me again, then pointed to the man next to him and said, "His name is Xiang Zhi."
The man stood up and greeted us: "Greetings, Miss Xu, General Mu."
"Oh, you're too kind." I waved casually, then sat down and started eating.
Ah Shi chuckled and patted Xiang Zhi on the shoulder: "Auntie has always been like this, very natural, so you don't need to be reserved."
The prime minister took a sip of porridge and looked at me: "I'm old and I don't have the energy for many things anymore. You should come to me less often in the future. If you need anything, just go to him."
"Hmm?" I asked, puzzled. "Won't he be living in the Prime Minister's residence from now on? What's the difference between me looking for him and looking for you? We're both coming to the Prime Minister's residence, aren't we?"
The prime minister smiled faintly: "Yes, you're never polite anyway."
"Hehe, Uncle Xiang, you flatter me."
He was then met with a disdainful look from the prime minister, who urged him, "Eat quickly, then go to the ancestral hall to offer incense."
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