What? You like the emperor's mother-in-law?

Gao He had no idea that a terrible prospect was waiting for him. He

smiled at first: "Thank you for your good words." Then he was curious: "Looking at the two brothers, you are about the same age as me, are you also the ones who will participate in this imperial examination?"

Xu Yanmiao blinked his eyes and showed a subtle smile: "Lian Hang is not, I will definitely participate in this imperial examination."

Gao He was surprised: "In this case, we are in the same year."

Lian Hang joked: "Are you so sure that Xu Lang will be on the list?"

- Only if you pass the exam can you be called a classmate.

Gao He smiled and said: "Brother Xu is so smart and beautiful, and his appearance is like a fairy. He must be the top scorer."

This compliment was comfortable.

Xu Yanmiao immediately taught him the experience of the imperial examination.

"For example, for this pen, don't choose a straight-tipped pen. The ink is too thick and it will easily dirty the paper. It is not suitable for imperial examinations. It is best to choose a pen with a thin and sharp tip, and just peck the paper when answering."

"The 'Songdai Pavilion' in the capital sells ink at a low price. You can buy some to prepare, so as to avoid wasting time grinding ink during the imperial examination."

"Be sure to bring a hand warmer to warm the inkstone."

"You have some money now, so it's best to buy some ginseng slices and bring them with you, so as to avoid your body being unable to withstand the hardships of the imperial examination."

Gao He was very moved. He suddenly bowed and saluted: "Thank you, Brother Xu."

For poor students like them, there are many things they don't understand. Rich families have elders to remind them, or they have teachers with experience in imperial examinations, but poor students can only figure it out on their own. For example, in the case of the "Qifeng pen", there may be poor students who have used it to take several imperial examinations, but they don't know that they failed because the ink was too thick and stained the paper.

After thanking him, Gao He hesitated to speak, and for some reason he was worried again.

Xu Yanmiao: "What's wrong? Don't you have enough money?"

Gao He's face flushed: "I... I want to ask Brother Xu to pass on these important matters about the imperial examination to the poor students?"

Xu Yanmiao: "Okay. But these alone are not enough. Please wait for me for a few days. I will see which charcoal is cheap and good, which salary and rice are cheap, which Taoist temple and monastery rents the least money, and which cooked food is the cleanest and most hygienic. Then I will compile it into a booklet and distribute it to the students."

He said it lightly, but Gao He's heart was as hot as water and fire when he heard it, boiling and warm.

"Brother Xu!" He said hurriedly, "I have inquired about many students. If I cannot visit high-ranking officials and literary masters, I can also gain some insights by exchanging knowledge with these students. Brother Xu, do you need it?"

Xu Yanmiao became energetic: "Yes! I need it very much!"

Lian Hang: "..."

Silently showing a sympathetic look to the students who were not in front of him.

Gao He then listed them all.

"There is a judge named Yin in the room next to my hostel. He has a hunchback and a very violent temper. He likes to throw things when he is angry. It is best not to discuss with him. In case you have different ideas and get hurt by him, it will affect your performance in the imperial examination."

[He took the imperial examination eleven times and failed, so of course he would be angry.]

"Wow——"

Lian Hang's eyes widened.

Gao He: "In the temple where I used to stay, there was a student named Fang who was good at classics and had a thorough understanding of the Book of Changes, but he was very greedy and always borrowed things from others, from small things like toilet paper to big things like quilts, and never returned them - but he was willing to exchange knowledge with others."

[Oh, this! It turns out that he secretly took all the toilet paper that was left for guests in the toilet, so immoral - well, let's ask another question related to morality.]

"Oh my god -"

Lian Hang's eyes widened.

There are still such people? ? ?

Your Majesty is already a small fry, but compared to that student named Fang, it is really a small fry compared to a big fry!

Gao He: "There is another student named Wang, Wang Fugui, who is really rich. His upper dentures are all made of gold! Gold!"

Xu Yanmiao: "Ah?"

Gao He coughed and got down to business: "He is quite generous. He is willing to lend the box of books he brought to other students. He just requires others to read them in his yard and leave the books before leaving."

[Wow! He is quite generous and rich. He can even hire people to go into the mountains to pick mushrooms for him in the middle of winter!]

Gao He: "And... Ouch!"

"Ouch!"

The man who bumped into Gao He was a middle-aged man, strong, solid, with plump and well-proportioned flesh. He was holding a bundle in his arms, and now it fell to the ground and broke open all of a sudden, and a bag made of thick cloth came out with a "click".

The man seemed extremely anxious: "Sorry! Sorry!"

He went to stuff the thick cloth bag into the bundle. As a result, perhaps because he was too busy, a ball of old cotton wool soaked with blood fell out from the opening in the front of the bag.

Gao He and Lian Hang both took a half step back reflexively, and Gao He even covered his eyes.

Xu Yanmiao was still at a loss.

The man stuffed the old cotton wool back in panic, and spoke to Xu Yanmiao in a low voice: "It's a menstrual belt from a bitch, not something dirty."

After saying that, he glanced at Xu Yanmiao, and seeing that there was no disgust in Xu Yanmiao's eyes, only admiration for him, he pulled the corner of his mouth, and hurriedly left with the bundle.

Xu Yanmiao turned to Lian Hang and exclaimed: "It looks like he is helping his wife deal with her menstrual belt. I didn't expect that there are such people when many people think that women's menstrual period is dirty."

Lian Hang forced a smile.

Gao He put down his hands covering his eyes and was shocked: "Isn't that the eldest son of the head of the Ministry of Justice? He is also a candidate for this imperial examination - he is so affectionate with his wife."

[Liang Rui! ]

Xu Yanmiao had a good impression of this Liang head. He jumped from a county magistrate to the head of the Ministry of Justice. When he was a county magistrate, he was recognized by the people as an honest man. After coming to the Ministry of Justice, he would never let go of any criminals and never wronged the innocent.

[If it was him, it would not be surprising that he could raise such a son. ]

Lian Hang also nodded involuntarily.

A few days ago, someone fell into the Luo River. In the middle of winter, Liang Rui saw it and jumped in to save him without hesitation. He almost couldn't get out.

But... Lian Hang thought, Liang Rui's eldest son is really dark.

＊

Xu Yanmiao also thought so.

When someone knocked on his door at night, he could only see someone standing there, and he couldn't make out his facial features at all: "Who are you?"

The man said embarrassedly: "Xu Lang, I am the eldest son of the head of the Ministry of Justice. My surname is Liang, my name is Youwen, and my courtesy name is Cihan. I have heard my father talk about Xu Lang. During the day, my behavior offended Xu Lang, so I came here to apologize."

As he lit the fire stick, Xu Yanmiao saw a big black bag at his feet.

"It's not money, it's some hot and sour chicken feet that my wife and I pickled ourselves. I heard that Mr. Xu likes gourmet food, so I..."

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly heard a scolding in the night: "Get lost! Who do you think I am!"

Then a carriage turned the corner, and then the curtain shook, throwing out a statue of a lady, carved from a tree root. In the moonlight, you can see that the lady is carved round and plump. It's beautiful and expensive at first glance.

Unfortunately, the owner was very angry and smashed it very hard. The lady's nose was broken.

Then, a scholar with a face as white as paper came out, picked up the statue of the lady, and said awkwardly to the people in the carriage: "Jijiu, I will take my leave first." Then he put the statue on the armrest of the carriage.

Another snort came

from the carriage. When the scholar passed by the carriage window in a daze, the chief academician opened the curtain and looked at him with a half-smile: "Liang Youwu, for your father's sake, I will pretend that I have not seen you today. If you ask about the examination questions again, you will go back to Heyang and study hard with your teacher!"

The scholar's eyes turned red with shame, and he lowered his head and walked away quickly.

The chief academician of the Imperial College was about to lower the curtain, but when he looked to the side, he found a big man standing under the firelight, looking at him with sharp eyes.

"Xu Yanmiao?!"

His hand shook at that time, and the gray cloth curtain hit the window with a "snap".

Then a voice was heard: [Huh? Why such a big reaction? ! 】

The Imperial College Priest encouraged himself, and after two or three breaths, he turned his face outside. Just as he was about to speak, his eyes fell on the person in front of Xu Yanmiao and the black bag at his feet. His tone became subtle: "Xu Lang, what are you doing at night..."

Xu Yanmiao: "Sour and spicy chicken feet, this gentleman's apology gift, do you want to see it?"

The Imperial College Priest: "..."

He got off the car and turned it over, and found that it was really all sour and spicy chicken feet, without any trace of gold or silver. The sour and spicy taste rushed straight into his nose, which was both friendly and appetizing.

His excited heart suddenly cooled down. After saying goodbye to Xu Yanmiao, the carriage left far away. In the car, the Imperial College Priest cursed in a low voice: "Are you crazy!"

What kind of sour and spicy chicken feet are you giving at night!

＊

Xu Yanmiao didn't even take the hot and sour chicken feet, but he couldn't deny...

[Master Liang is really good at teaching his son.]

The next day, at the court meeting, Xu Yanmiao said so with emotion.

Liang Rui was slightly stunned and began to think about what his son had done, and he could actually hear them from Xu Yanmiao's inner voice.

However, it should be a good thing?

[He let me see the menstrual belt, and he apologized for such a small thing... Eh? That's not right, he bumped into Gao He, why did he only apologize but not compensate? 】

[Did he look down on Gao He's status? 】

[That's not right either, he didn't even go to Lian Hang's place, why did he only come to my place. 】

[Huh? ? ? ]

[He's not married, and that menstrual belt, the old cotton wool is mixed with chicken blood? ! ]

The air suddenly became quiet.

Liang Rui's expression suddenly became very blank.

He had a vague feeling that his son was probably going to betray his father.

[Huh? He guarded the palace gates every day and waited for me to finish my duty. After a month of guarding, he finally found out what I liked to eat, then made a sack of spicy and sour chicken feet by himself, and picked a day when someone was around me to deliberately come and bump into me? ]

[What does he want...]

[What? ? ? ? ]

[He likes the old emperor's mother-in-law and hopes that I, a favorite minister, can help to lobby for her? ! ]

The old emperor: ? ? ?

His mother-in-law? !

His mother-in-law is not- [

The old emperor's mother-in-law, the mother of the Empress, the old lady Wei Chi, is 95 years old? ! ]

Liang Rui's eyes went dark.

No wonder his son doesn't want to get married at the age of 32. When asked, he said he didn't like anyone. When asked what kind of woman he likes, he said he likes gentle and tolerant, but not weak, dignified, decisive, experienced, wise, decisive and strong. If you can't find it, it's better to have nothing than to have too much.