Chapter 29: Thank You
To be honest, when Luo Shaohui first got Ye Jianshan's moving address, he didn't know that Ye Jianshan lived next door to the Crown Prince's Mansion.
After meeting up with the others and discussing it briefly, someone immediately said, "Isn't this right next to the former site of the Crown Prince's residence?"
"true and false?"
"Really, we can't just go into the palace whenever we want. The place we're going to this time is the Crown Prince's residence, which is the old site of the Crown Prince's residence."
He wasn't the only one who remembered; the others looked at each other in bewilderment and silently made their way to the gate of the Ye residence.
Looking at the Ye residence and then at the Crown Prince's residence next door, I didn't know what to say. These plaques must have been bestowed by the emperor. Just by looking at them, the two characters for "Ye residence" and the three characters for "Crown Prince's residence" were clearly written by the same person.
Luo Shaohui and his group had only been there a short while when Ye Jianshan came out.
She was dressed very elegantly, and it seemed she had dressed up for the occasion, quite different from her usual self.
"Ye Huiyuan".
Everyone greeted Ye Jianshan.
Looking up again, they saw three people following Ye Jianshan. One of them was Ye Jianshan's third uncle, and the other looked a lot like Ye Lei. He must be Ye Yan who came yesterday.
But Guo Yu's appearance surprised everyone.
"Greetings, General Guo."
Everyone who went to the examination hall had seen Guo Yu, but everyone said that Guo Yu was the Crown Prince's man, so it was not surprising that he appeared behind the Crown Prince's son.
Ye Jianshan introduced them: "This is my eldest uncle, Ye Yan; this is my third uncle, Ye Lei; and this is General Guo Yu, whom everyone knows. He will be coming with me to the Crown Prince's residence later."
The three men bowed to the other tribute students as a greeting.
After exchanging pleasantries and greetings, Ye Jianshan told Old Man Ye and Old Lady Ye that he was about to lead his people to the next room when he saw a richly dressed young master from a prominent family arrive late.
The newcomer bowed apologetically and said, "I am truly sorry for being late. My name is Cui Jianbing, the second-place winner in this imperial examination. I have long admired the name of Scholar Ye."
Ye Jianshan also cupped his hands in greeting: "It should be that I have long admired Brother Cui's name. I have heard of him before, and today I finally meet him. Shall we go together to the Crown Prince's residence to thank the chief examiners?"
"Can."
Cui Jianbing gestured for Ye Jianshan to proceed, and Ye Jianshan walked ahead without any hesitation.
Luo Shaohui and the others thought that Cui Jianbing would be better when the two stood together, but unexpectedly Ye Jianshan outshone them.
Their demeanor and bearing were both very generous and poised.
And this composure is beyond his years.
What's even more captivating is the confident and spirited aura he exudes.
Yes, at this age, even disregarding his status as the crown prince's biological son, achieving the highest honors in five imperial examinations and then becoming the top scholar would be enough to secure his place in history.
Anyone would feel elated in that situation.
Ye Jianshan led the group to the gate of the Crown Prince's residence, where people were already waiting. He then led them to the banquet venue.
The Crown Prince's residence was very large. Almost all three hundred of them came this time, but there was still plenty of space after they were seated.
Food was already laid out on the table.
Ye Jianshan had just finished eating and was sitting there with a serious expression.
Waiting for the Crown Prince to appear.
The proctors had all arrived, and Ye Jianshan stood up to greet them and express his gratitude.
The proctors were somewhat apprehensive, no longer daring to be as aloof as in previous years, given Ye Jianshan's status. They quickly returned the greeting humbly.
"Greetings, teachers."
"No, no, I don't deserve to be called a teacher. It's just what I should do."
The atmosphere inside was still good when someone announced that the Crown Prince had arrived.
Before Ye Jianshan could even sit down, he hurriedly stood up again, bowing with his hands clasped without even raising his head.
He has now performed the traditional cupped-hand salute for the rest of his life; it has become an unconscious habit.
The movement of raising his hand and bending over was done in one smooth motion.
The Crown Prince is wearing a moon-white robe today, which is very similar to the one Ye Jianshan is wearing.
After leaving Ye Jianshan's room yesterday, the prince went home and specifically chose clothes in the same color scheme.
The Crown Prince was very pleased to see the jade crown on Ye Jianshan's head. It was not prepared by Ye Yun, but was placed there by the Crown Prince yesterday.
Ye Yun discovered it but didn't change it.
"Alright, everyone, please rise."
The Crown Prince stepped forward and personally helped Ye Jianshan up.
He looked her up and down with satisfaction and was very moved.
He didn't sleep a wink last night, feeling like it was all a dream. Only now, seeing the person truly standing in front of him, did he realize that he really had a son, and the Crown Princess had returned.
The candidates behind didn't dare to raise their heads, but quite a few still secretly stole a few glances at the Crown Prince.
It looks just like it, it really does.
The examiners, who were face-to-face with the examiners, had only one thought in mind: it's too similar.
They were all startled when they came in.
Although they had seen him before, they felt that no matter how many times they saw him, they would still feel fear whenever they saw that face that resembled the prince's.
They look so alike.
Luo Shaohui didn't know what to say. In fact, he had only glanced at the Crown Prince a few times in the examination room. At the time, he thought he was hallucinating because he thought the Crown Prince looked like Ye Jianshan. But when he came out, everyone said that the Crown Prince looked like him, and he realized that he was not seeing things.
They just look alike.
The light was perfect, and the prince was standing in front of Ye Jianshan, who was sitting to the side and could see both of their faces clearly.
If it weren't for the fact that the Crown Prince was twenty years older, people who didn't know better would have thought the two were twins.
How can they look so alike?
Everyone present repeated the action of taking one look and then another.
There's nothing I can do; this scene just looks weird.
And this scene might only happen once in a lifetime.
It's so rare, I feel like I'm missing out if I don't take a good look at it.
Cui Jianbing's emotions have been in turmoil ever since he saw Ye Jianshan's true appearance.
He had arrived long ago. He wanted to go up to Ye Jianshan when Ye Jianshan came out of the Ye residence, but he did not expect Ye Jianshan to look so much like the Crown Prince.
With that face, there's no need to guess who Ye Jianshan is.
Cui Jianbing was completely deflated. He had been angry about nothing; there was no need to compare himself to Ye Jianshan.
He also came up with a series of conspiracy theories, but they all fell apart when he saw Ye Jianshan's face.
It's unnecessary, really unnecessary.
But why would someone who looks like that choose the path of the imperial examination?
Cui Jianbing regretted it at this moment. He should have listened to his grandfather and spent another three years preparing for the next imperial examination.
Unfortunately, he was blinded by the fact that he became famous at a young age.
He wanted to achieve six consecutive top honors in one go at the age of seventeen, thus becoming famous throughout the world.
He was very confident before entering the examination hall. At first, he regarded Ye Jianshan as his opponent, but he relaxed his vigilance when the other party did not appear. He did not expect that a big one would come in the end.
Ye Jianshan is not only of high status, but he also won the top prize on his own.
Everyone says that the article Ye Jianshan posted outside the examination hall was well-written, but Cui Jianbing has never been able to bring himself to read it. He just wants to block it out to numb himself.
Judging from the Crown Prince's behavior, he personally helped Ye Jianshan up, while the second-ranked person sitting next to him didn't even get a glance from him.
The Crown Prince only had eyes for Ye Jianshan.
The other examiners only had eyes for Ye Jianshan.
No one paid any attention to him, the grandson of Chief Minister Cui.
Cui Jianbing clenched his fists under his sleeves, trying to hold back.
This banquet is very important.
Grandpa said that the Emperor also plans to attend.
Although the emperor disliked the Cui family, he couldn't do anything to them.
After all, the former Empress Dowager was a daughter of the Cui family. Although she had passed away early and the current Empress Dowager was the Emperor's mother, the Cui family still had influence in the court.
Many ministers in the court were graduates of the Cui family's private school and had to address Chief Minister Cui as their teacher.
This year, when the Crown Prince Cui Jianbing was to take the imperial examination, his grandfather voluntarily stepped aside and did not arrange for an examiner. Unexpectedly, the Emperor directly arranged for the Crown Prince to take the examination. Not only that, but he also suddenly recognized a young grandson of the Emperor during the examination.
This young prince achieved excellent results and was the top scholar in this year's imperial examination.
People might believe it was just a coincidence, but after considering all these factors, it all seems a bit too much of a coincidence.
What a coincidence!
Cui Jianbing looked at Ye Jianshan, who was standing there, and wanted to ask him personally if he really knew nothing.
Once you arrive in the capital, who would quietly shut themselves away for four or five months?
Is it really not an act?
Cui Jianbing had many doubts and was troubled by them, and he knew that there were no answers.
But he was still bothered and unwilling to accept it.
On what grounds?
The Crown Prince didn't even glance at the people around him; his attention was entirely on Ye Jianshan.
"Excellent, Ye Huiyuan is in high spirits. As the chief examiner, I am very happy for you. Congratulations on winning the top prize."
The Crown Prince then personally offered his congratulations.
Ye Jianshan quickly replied, "Your Highness is too kind. I am unworthy of such praise."
"You're being modest; I'm capable of taking the blame."
The two of them started chatting away, one sentence after another.
Everyone found it quite amusing.
His Highness the Crown Prince smiled more often.
He seemed to become a completely different person in front of Ye Jianshan.
Ye Jianshan looked up and saw the prince's attire. He raised an eyebrow. The two of them were wearing matching outfits today.
The jade crowns on their heads were the same style, one large and one small, and their clothes were also the same color.
Sure enough, the Crown Prince then brought up clothing: "What a coincidence, we're wearing the same color scheme today."
Ye Jianshan said with a hint of pride, "My mother made me these new clothes, and she specially made me wear them to pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince, the chief examiner."
The following sentence was added by Ye Jianshan himself.
Everyone else was speechless. What's so interesting about clothes? Why don't you guys just talk about faces?
They didn't even wear the same clothes, but their faces were definitely identical.
After exchanging pleasantries, the Crown Prince spoke a few words of concern to the others, and everyone thanked him in unison, thus concluding the first part of the event.
Then Ye Jianshan stood up again, raised his glass, and spoke on behalf of the others, expressing his gratitude to the chief examiner and the other examiners.
After he finished speaking, the Crown Prince continued, "In principle, you are all my students, but my status is special. Although we cannot call each other master and disciple, you can still talk to me if you encounter any problems in the future."
Everyone was somewhat disappointed.
They had hoped that if Ye Jianshan stepped forward, His Highness the Crown Prince would acknowledge him as his teacher, following the old custom.
But to my surprise, His Highness the Crown Prince spoke frankly.
If they really become the Crown Prince's protégés, their generation will be set for life.
After all, His Highness the Crown Prince is the next emperor.
Their status was naturally superior, making it easier for them to advance in the court later.
But the crown prince eliminated it at the root.
Choi Gyeong-byeong never expected things to turn out this way.
I don't want any students...
What was the significance of participating in this imperial examination that day?
It wasn't just one or two people who were disappointed.
Ye Jianshan didn't feel anything. He had never had a master since he was a child. His mother taught him when he was young, and he followed a teacher when he grew up.
Calling him Your Highness is fine; otherwise, calling him Teacher would be strange.
Apart from Ye Jianshan, no one else present could laugh.
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Author's Note: Today's update
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