The sound of rain almost blocked out the voices of the servants outside.
However, the intermittent words still floated into the car, and Yan Shang felt as if he was drenched in cold air.
He leaned against the wall of the car and heard clearly the conversation between the people outside and the princess sitting next to him.
Princess Danyang was furious and asked, "Wasn't the Minister of Personnel the one who appointed the third place winner? Why was he replaced at the last minute? Who did it?"
The servant replied, "Princess Luling had it revised. The Minister of Personnel didn't want to disobey the princess, so he sent the revised list directly to the Secretariat. It was because Your Highness had informed His Highness the Crown Prince in advance that when he saw the list, His Highness felt that it was wrong and did not approve it. But after all, she is the princess, and the Crown Prince said that as a younger generation, we must always give face to the elders."
Mu Wan shook his finger and scratched the window frame, his tone cold: "Then who did Auntie replace the third place winner with?"
Servant: "A scholar in white clothes named Feng Xianyu. This man is taking the imperial examination for the fourth year. He hooked up with the eldest princess. Your Highness is better off not messing with him."
Having said all, and making sure that Princess Danyang had received the information she needed to know, the servant left with his umbrella in hand.
There was a loud "crash" sound.
Mu Wanyao closed the window and door angrily. Her carriage was still parked at the palace gate, but the attendants and maids riding beside her did not dare to provoke Her Highness at this time and ask Her Highness where she was going.
Sitting in the same car, Yan Shang looked over and saw that Mu Wan's brows were full of hostility, which made her beautiful face look a little cold and ferocious.
She was so angry that her chest heaved, and she swept all the teacups on the small table in the car. With a heavy "thump", the utensils were swept onto the mattress in the car. Although they were not broken, no one picked them up.
Mu Wan shook his head angrily: "What Feng Xianyu, I've never heard of him..."
Yan Shang looked at her: "I've heard of it."
Mu Wan was startled and looked at him.
Yan Shang said: "When I first entered the Imperial College, I was looked down upon by the children of the great aristocratic families. Feng Xianyu helped me out. After that, we became friends and I got to know him quite well. I never thought that he would be able to get close to Her Royal Highness the Princess and have such an opportunity."
Mu Wan shook: "..."
She couldn't believe it: "You said he was a friend? Would a friend take away something that belongs to you? I know my aunt better than you do. She doesn't play politics, but she likes to keep some beautiful boys. Do you think your friend has any other way to get close to my aunt except selling his body?
"Do you think all princesses are as easy to talk to as me?"
Yan Shang looked at her, silent.
Mu Wanyao vented for a long time and was still very angry. She scolded her aunt for a long time, but when she looked over, she saw Yan Shang sitting opposite her coldly, neither getting angry nor comforting her, just listening to her anger.
Mu Wan shook her head and glared at him: "Your fame and honor was taken away by someone else, and you don't have any reaction at all? Don't you have anything to say?"
Mu Wanyao's eyes were as cold as ice: "In my case, if you don't ask for help, I will never stand up for you."
Yan Shang remained silent.
After a while, when Mu Wanyao was about to vent her anger on him, he slowly said, "The matter has come to this point. Your Highness, what do you think I can say?"
Mu Wan was stunned: "..."
Yan Shang looked at her: "Should I encourage His Highness to stand up for me? Your Highness, will you? Offend Her Highness the Princess for me and make an enemy of Her Highness the Princess? I am just a commoner, should I pretend to be sad and beg Your Highness to ask Your Highness to find the Princess for me?"
Outside, rain was tapping on the window. When he stared at her with calm eyes, Mu Wanyao's heart suddenly sank and she felt a little dazed.
Her anger was suppressed a little because of this.
yes.
What is Yan Shang?
He was just a country bumpkin she met in Lingnan.
She was moved by him for a short time, but she and Yan Shang knew that it was just the atmosphere and it didn't mean anything at all.
After leaving Lingnan, she turned her back on him, and he never mentioned the past. They maintained a tacit understanding that no one wanted to break.
Mu Wanyao herself was in trouble, so why would she stand up for a commoner whom she had only known for a few days? Maybe she appreciated Yan Shang in some way... But in the face of power, that little appreciation really meant nothing.
Thinking of this, Mu Wan lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
She was a little embarrassed and a little depressed: "I thought you would at least show that you were sad."
Yan Shang was silent for a while, then said, "I'd better not let these emotions influence Your Highness."
Mu Wan lowered her eyes and saw him suddenly stand up. The fabrics of their clothes brushed against each other slightly in the small workshop. When he stood up, Mu Wan shook her nose and smelled the elegant agarwood on him again... The car door opened, and some drizzling rain drifted in through the window.
Mu Wan shook her head and saw Yan Shang was about to get off the car.
She couldn’t help but: “Yanshang!”
Yan Shang turned around and looked at her.
Mu Wanyao was silent for a moment, their eyes met, tense and suppressed emotions flowing in their eyes. It was like a volcano under the iceberg, and they tried their best to restrain themselves from letting the volcano erupt.
Mu Wanyao said slowly: "How do you know that I won't go to the princess and ask for an explanation for you?"
Yan Shang: “Is that so.”
He said: "Even if Your Highness wants to go, I will stop him."
Mu Wan looked at him in surprise.
He smiled slightly, his voice soft, "Your Highness, have you ever thought about this? His Highness the Crown Prince has people waiting here to tell you about the announcement tomorrow and the change of quota today, just to make you stand out and fight with the Princess. I don't know what you want to get, but you are being pushed out by His Highness the Crown Prince, so help His Highness the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, you are fighting with the Princess. If you have a stronger character - and you already have a strong character, you and the Princess will definitely fight to the death. The Ministry of Personnel cannot escape the responsibility for the incident in this year's imperial examination. In the end, when the matter comes to His Majesty, maybe you and the Princess will each be punished with fifty strokes of the cane, and maybe Feng Xianyu and I will both be admitted. What can His Highness the Crown Prince gain from it?"
Mu Wanyao thought about what he said.
She knew much more about the inside story than he did. As soon as Yan Shang mentioned it, Mu Wanyao thought, "...Perhaps the prince's goal is to snatch the Ministry of Personnel from my third brother. Yes, the prince is already very powerful, but the way to recruit officials is controlled by the King of Qin, and the prince has never been willing to give up. In the past few months, the prince has been testing the waters with my third brother."
She spoke more fluently and more confidently: "In the end, perhaps the eldest princess and I will both be losers, and the only winner will be the crown prince."
Yan Shang nodded silently.
Mu Wan shook her head and asked, "But what does this have to do with you? If I stand up for you, you can get back what originally belongs to you, why do you want to stop me?"
Yan Shang has already got off the carriage.
Chunhua held an umbrella for him considerately, and he stood in the rain, bowing to the princess' carriage and horses: "Because I can't bear the great kindness of your highness in standing up for me."
He looked up in the rain, and his robe was soon soaked with rain. "Your Highness, I can still repay your kindness in helping me to publish the scroll. But how can I repay your kindness in standing up for me and offending the princess? Your Highness' kindness is too great, and I can only repay you with my own death, there is no other way."
The evening is quiet.
Actually, there is another way to repay you.
Just like Feng Xianyu devoted himself to Princess Luling, Yan Shang could repay the favor with his own life.
However, what Yan Shang said was that he was not that kind of person. He was unwilling to repay a favor with his own death even though it was too great a favor to ask for his retreat...what about other things?
Mu Wan shook off all expressions.
She sat in the car, motionless, feeling disgusted if she looked at him for any longer.
She closed her eyes and angrily said, "Get lost!"
The car door closed.
-----
Chunhua sympathetically gave the umbrella to Yan Shang and watched Yan Shang walking in the rain, taking one step at a time, heading back to Yongshou Temple.
The young man's back was lonely, his robe sleeves were wet, and he looked so pitiful.
Chunhua sighed, feeling confused.
Liu Lang was like this, and so was Yan Erlang. Feng Xianyu turned against Yan Erlang for the sake of fame... Is the path to upward mobility so difficult?
Yan Shang didn't return to Yongshou Temple until the afternoon. He fell in the mud on the way. When he returned to his room, he was already in a mess.
Looking down at his dirty clothes, Yan Shang sighed.
After a while, he changed his clothes and sat down at the desk. He sat there in a daze for a long time before wiping his face and calming himself down.
He spread out the scrolls and rice paper on the table and began to practice calligraphy, as a way to cultivate his character. After arriving in Chang'an, he learned this method when he became friends with Wei Qilang.
The children of the aristocratic families all have good handwriting. Wei Qilang told him that if he wanted to write well, there was no other way but to practice every day. The children of the poor families envied the children of the aristocratic families, but the children of the aristocratic families did go further in terms of talent and learning.
From then on, Yan Shang insisted on practicing calligraphy every day. Even when he was in a bad mood, he would open the rice paper and practice calligraphy.
Now, after dipping the brush in thick ink and repeatedly writing several large characters, Yan Shang's emotions finally calmed down, allowing him to think about some things.
He spread out another piece of rice paper, was silent for a long time, and wrote the three words "Feng Xianyu" on the paper.
Then, he began to write about what kind of person Feng Xianyu was, where his ancestral home was, what his ancestors did, how long he had been in Chang'an, what his temperament was like, and who he dealt with... If Feng Xianyu himself were here, he would be horrified.
Because his words seemed to be analyzing him, and the analysis was very accurate.
After writing a whole sheet of rice paper about Feng Xianyu's life, Yan Shang spread out another sheet of paper and began to write about the friends he made after arriving in Chang'an. People he met through himself, through his teachers, through his fellow apprentices... Listing out the entire network of relationships was actually a bit scary.
After many twists and turns, it seems that there is really a way to get in touch with the eldest princess, or some powerful person.
If others were to see it, they would never have thought that Yan Shang had only been in Chang'an for more than a month, but he had already made so many friends.
He was good at making friends, and it was not just talk. Half a month ago, Mu Wanyao mocked him as a "busy man" because he did not always focus on the Danyang Princess Mansion.
He has too many friends and he needs to deal with them one by one.
Now that this network of relationships was before him, Yan Shang threw down his pen and stared at the paper filled with names, feeling a little frustrated.
After all, his starting point was too low and the time was too short. Even though he made so many friends, no one could help him at this time.
Yan Shang rolled up all the papers into a ball and threw them away for the time being.
Leaning against the shelf of antiques, he tiredly covered his face with his sleeves and closed his eyes to take a nap.
He could not help but imagine that if all the friends he knew were at the same level as Princess Danyang, it would be much easier for him to simplify the matter...
-----
Mu Wan returned to the princess's mansion in a rage and was angry for the whole afternoon.
Maybe she was in a bad mood or extremely depressed, and she went to bed as soon as it got dark.
Mu Wanyao, who was indignant and felt that she was slapped in the face by the eldest princess, held back her anger for a day, thinking that she would feel better after sleeping. But she dreamed of an incident that happened during the two years of the marriage.
"Husband! Husband!" Between the tents of the royal court of the Wuman tribe, the young Princess Wei stumbled after a tall and impatient man.
She fell to the ground, and the surrounding Wuman people just looked at her with teasing eyes, and sometimes some felt pity for her.
The sixteen-year-old Mu Wan staggered to the ground, looked up, and saw King Wuman hesitated and stopped. She seized this opportunity, grabbed the man's sleeve, and begged: "Nianhua is my maid who has been with me since she was a child! My husband, please give her back to me, I, I can help you find other beauties..."
The Wuman King, who was in his thirties or forties, was tall and strong, with tattoos all over his body, as majestic as a lion. He looked back at his naive wife in a ridiculous way and said, "I just want a maid from you, why do you want to change? After changing so many times, is it still the same person?"
He said perfunctorily: "The king will send your maid back tomorrow."
Muwan was dazed.
In the distance, two burly Wuman men were dragging a young and beautiful maid. The maid struggled and cried, "Your Highness, Your Highness, save me—"
Mu Wanyao mustered up her courage and begged again, "No. My husband, give her back to me. It won't work tomorrow. Half an hour, just half an hour..."
She begged desperately, and her clothes left black streaks on the ground.
Before the marriage, she was just a weak little princess. After the marriage, she was just a puppet at the mercy of others.
She was too weak and she could not compete with the tough King Wuman...but her maid was no match for him!
Really not!
Everyone around was watching the excitement, which was extremely embarrassing. The young princess, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and swung it at the somewhat surprised Wuman King...
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
She had had enough! She wanted to kill her husband! However, she was too weak and she only injured the man's arm with all her strength. After that, she was locked up and had nothing to eat. The Wuman people said that the Wuman King was furious and would never forgive her.
"Let me out! Let me out!" Mu Wan knocked on the door while crying.
Two days later, King Wuman's eldest son Meng Zaishi opened the window a crack and said to her sympathetically, "Your maid is dead. Don't cry anymore. It's useless."
Meng Zaishi sighed, "Princess, you are too weak. If you can't be tough, everyone around you will disappear."
The girl, who was locked in the room and sitting against the wall with her knees hugged, looked up with a blank gaze at the young Prince Wuman who was talking to her through the window. With her long hair disheveled and covered in mud, the only thing she could hear in her mind was the sympathetic voice of the young man:
"Your maid is dead."
In fact, some people died before and will die later. But only the death of Nianhua made Mu Wanyao collapse instantly, making her wonder what she had done wrong, why she couldn't even protect the people around her...
The princess of Wei should have been high and mighty. It didn't matter if she was weak, because someone would protect her. However, when she arrived at Wuman, these barbarians didn't take her seriously at all... They humiliated and tortured her day after day, year after year...
Meng Zaishi's voice sounded again: "You have to be tough."
Through the window, he whistled, held out his hand to her, and said with a half-smile: "How about cooperating with me, Princess?"
-----
Mu Wan suddenly woke up from her dream, opened her eyes, and found that her heart was still beating wildly and her face was burning hot.
She covered her heart, her brows suddenly drooped, and she made up her mind.
Mu Wan got out of bed barefoot and called the maid outside: "Come with me to the Princess's residence! I can't let this go!"
"She can fight for something else for her Feng Lang, but she can't touch my people!"
The lights in the princess's house gradually lit up, and the maid Chunhua and the attendant Fang Tong all got up. Chunhua served the princess, and she was frightened when she knew that the princess was going to confront the eldest princess. The princess called her into the house, and she took the opportunity to tell Fang Tong not to let the princess do anything stupid.
-----
In Yongshou Temple, the rain pushed the window open a little, and the rain curtain that floated into the room woke up Yan Shang, who was sleeping with his eyes closed at the desk.
Yan Shang rubbed his forehead and stood up to close the window. He held his hand on the window and suddenly stopped moving because he saw Guard Fang walking towards him in the cold night and heavy rain.
The two looked at each other through the window.
Fang Tong cupped his hands and said anxiously, "Yan Erlang, this matter was caused by you, you can't just let it go! My princess is going to settle accounts with the eldest princess for you... There are still a few hours before dawn, and she wants to change the quota back!"
Yan Shang's eyes were somewhat dazed.
Fang Tong called out, "Yan Er, Yan Erlang? You're not going to let my princess offend someone she shouldn't offend just for you, are you?"
Yan Shang came back to his senses and said quickly: "Of course not!"
Fang Tong breathed a sigh of relief. Yan Shang had already opened the door. "Guardian Fang, are you here on horseback? Lend me your horse!"
-----
The night rain is drizzling.
The lanterns hanging in front of the carriage fluttered in the rain, the heavy firelight was silent in the dark night, and only the sound of horses and carriages could be heard.
The carriage arrived outside the palace of Princess Luling. Chunhua held an umbrella and Muwan, wearing a gorgeous dress, got off the carriage and stood outside the palace, looking up at the mansion she rarely visited. The guards at the gate also looked at Princess Danyang in confusion, wondering why she came to visit so late at night.
Her face was cold. She took a deep breath and was about to step onto the stairs. Behind her, in the heavy fog and rain, there was the sound of violent horse hooves shaking the ground. Someone's voice was clear and urgent, and he was lying on the horse.
"Your Highness!"
Mu Wanyao was completely focused and never paid attention to anyone who was not related to her. Chunhua would turn around to look, but she would just lift her skirt and step onto the stairs.
Just as she was about to ask the guard to go in and report, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed Mu Wanyao's wrist. Because the person behind her was too strong and Mu Wanyao was standing on the steps, she was pulled and staggered, and was pulled around by the person behind her.
The tip of my nose hit the man's damp chest.
His heart was beating wildly, and when she was about to fall, he hugged her shoulders.
On a staircase, the two of them hugged each other as if they were in front of the Princess's mansion.
Mu Wanyao stood on the steps, looking into Yan Shang's quiet and relieved eyes. His eyes were complicated, confused, and looked at her as if he didn't know her.
There were also some stray sparks that gradually lit up in his eyes.
In the rainy night, he put his arm around her shoulders and slowly leaned down.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, "I know what you are going to do. I have a better way. Come with me."
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