Dou Zhao felt that he had been worrying too much recently.

Ji Yong got up at 11:00 a.m. every day and went to bed at 11:00 p.m. He was either reading or writing, and occasionally he would walk around the courtyard of Heshou Hall. He never even left the door of Heshou Hall, let alone get into trouble.

Or maybe it was because he was so serious about learning that he was able to pass the imperial examination at such a young age?

Dou Zhao guessed and often told Su Xin to pay more attention to Ji Yong's diet and daily life, and try to provide him with a more comfortable environment, which would also be beneficial to his career.

Ji Yong soon sensed the change in treatment and began to demand of Su Xin: "I don't like eating chicken skin. When you roast chicken in the future, remove the skin." Or he would provoke: "Why does cabbage have stems?"

These are all small things, and Su Xin is satisfied with them all.

One day, Ji Yong went to Fayuan Temple, fanning herself with a fan.

Dou Zhao was very surprised.

Su Xin frowned and said, "Master Ji said that the Ghost Festival is coming soon, and he wants to go to Abbot Tuyin to discuss Buddhism."

It’s good to go out and relax!

Dou Zhao laughed and said, "He still has the time to do this?"

The maid Dou Zhao sent to serve Ji Yong said without thinking, "Master Ji studies Buddhism in his room every day. He said that this time when he goes to Fayuan Temple, he will make Abbot Tuyin speechless and follow him to return to secular life!"

Let Abbot Tuyin return to secular life?

Dou Zhao was stunned and asked, "Hasn't he read the Four Books and Five Classics these days?"

The little maid couldn't tell, she only knew that Ji Yong spent several hours at her desk every day, "He kept muttering something like Mani or Da Zi Zai."

Dou Zhao was furious and ordered Su Xin: "From now on, he will eat whatever we eat. Is there a hen without skin?"

Su Xin was also very angry and felt that he had let everyone down.

As a result, Ji Yong stayed in Fayuan Temple. It is said that he preached the Dharma with Abbot Tuyin every day, which attracted elders from several Zen monasteries nearby, such as Shengshou Temple, Shari Temple, Chongyin Temple, Hongji Temple, and even Dafang Temple in Lingbi County next door. Fayuan Temple was so lively that it was like a temple fair, and it had no effect on him what kind of food the Dou family cooked.

Could this guy really be Master Yuantong?

Dou Zhao couldn't help but think.

Before he became a monk, he wanted to seduce other people's elders to return to secular life. After he became a monk, he wanted to seduce the emperor to become a monk as well. This really fits his character.

I just don’t know who made him leave home in his previous life?

Or maybe she just didn't know.

For a guy like him who is capable of getting into trouble, I'm sure the Ji family will keep silent about his affairs!

She received a letter from Chen Qushui.

He wrote in the letter that Ji Yong had not yet been given a name. But he had been very smart since he was young. He could read ten lines at a glance, which was unmatched in Yixing. He was known as a child prodigy at a young age. The Ji family had high hopes for him, so everyone doted on him. He had grown up smoothly until today. If there was any difference between him and others, it was that he was particularly naughty. Other children would at most climb a tree to dig out a bird's nest or go to the river to catch fish and shrimps. However, he wanted to climb Mount Tiantai after reading "Classic of Mountains and Seas", and made wooden oxen and flowing horses after reading "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital". After hearing the story of Xu Fu taking five hundred boys and girls to Penglai to seek immortality, he made elixirs at home, which almost made the Ji family explode.

He was only nine years old at that time.

Old Lady Ji was reluctant to beat him, and scolding him was useless. She was in a dilemma, so she had to confine him and made three rules with Ji Yong: as long as he could pass the imperial examination, he could do whatever he wanted in the future. But before that, he had to study and write at home and could not go anywhere.

He readily agreed, and after three years of hard work, he passed the imperial examination. Although he was arrogant, he was also much more stable. Only then did Old Lady Ji feel relieved and let him travel around with his guards and servants, so that he could experience the joys and sorrows of the secular world and have a compassionate heart...

Do whatever you want!

Dou Zhao couldn't help sweating on his forehead.

Does the old lady of the Ji family know what kind of promise she made to Ji Yong?

※※※※※

The news that Song Mo had defeated Dong Qi's pair of double geese with a pair of five quickly spread throughout Kyoto.

When Jiang walked into Yizhi Hall, Song Mo was practicing archery.

His body was like a pine tree, his hands like rock; he pulled out the arrow, drew the bow, and shot the arrow; his movements were firm and powerful, and he completed them in one smooth motion.

Jiang couldn't help but exclaimed, and her eyes fell on the bow and arrow in her son's hand.

The bow body is jet black and of simple style. It is impossible to tell what material it is made of. The bow arms are wrapped with thick cow tendons, but the bowstrings are as thin as hair and shine with a dull light. One can tell at a glance that this bow is definitely an extraordinary product.

"Why did you take out the Sun-shooting Bow that your uncle gave you?" She glanced at the bow, as if she saw the face of her deceased brother, and her voice softened a little. "Didn't you always say that this bow is too eye-catching?"

Song Mo pulled out a carved feather arrow from the gilded quiver, shot it into the bull's eye with a clang, then slowly put down the bow and said softly, "This bow is more convenient to use... I have to make sure I can do whatever I want. I'm more confident using this bow!"

What does it mean to do whatever you want?

Jiang was slightly stunned. Just when she wanted to ask more details, she saw Song Mo had handed the bow to Chen Tao, who was serving beside him. Then he took the handkerchief handed to him by Chen He and wiped his sweat while asking, "Why are you here? Are you feeling better today?" Then she asked, "Where is Tian En? Didn't he say he was with you? Why can't I see him?"

"How can I be so delicate?" Jiang said, "I was just too tired. Now I have taken the medicine prescribed by Dr. Yang Yu and rested for a few days. I am well now."

Song Mo helped Jiang sit down at the stone table under the old locust tree.

"Tian'en went to school." Jiang took the tea served by her son and said with a smile, "I'm not in any serious trouble. I can't let Tian'en's studies be delayed because of me, right?" At this point, she remembered the purpose of her trip and couldn't help showing some hesitation.

Song Mo smiled at his mother and waited patiently for her to speak.

Jiang considered it over and over again, and then said tactfully: "I heard that when Zhang Zongyao inherited the throne, the Zhang family invited the Guanglian Troupe to perform?"

Song Mo laughed and said bluntly, "Mother, you want to ask about the gambling between me and Dong Qi, right? Don't worry, I know the limits." As he spoke, his smile gradually faded, "If I allow the civil and military performances to be praised by the court and the public, the emperor will be worried about sleeping and eating when he thinks about it; but if I can't push things forward, the emperor will think I'm too stingy. This doctrine of the mean is indeed the most difficult thing in the world."

Jiang couldn't help but ponder.

Song Mo sat beside him and drank tea quietly.

The wind blew through the treetops, making a rustling sound.

Song Mo's thoughts drifted a little far away.

He thought of what Chen He had told him a few days ago: "Mr. Chen is investigating the case of Wang Xingyi, the patrol officer in Yunnan."

Wang Xingyi is the father of Dou Zhao's stepmother. Why did he want to investigate Wang Xingyi?

Should I investigate Dou Zhao carefully?

As soon as the thought came to his mind, he suppressed it immediately.

The most important thing about friends is understanding each other. If I go to investigate Dou Zhao, what will happen between them?

But why is this idea so tempting?

He took a sip of tea with some trepidation, but somehow the choking sensation of the tea made him cough repeatedly.

"Be careful." Jiang patted her son's back and said with heartache, "Are you practicing archery for the autumn hunting in a few days?"

The emperor would hold hunting trips in autumn every year, and the noble families would select sons over the age of fifteen to accompany him. The emperor would also take the opportunity to test their riding and archery skills in order to promote talents.

Song Mo was given the hereditary title of Fourth-Rank Assistant Minister just a few days after he was born. He began to participate in hunting in spring and autumn before he learned to walk, but it was not until the spring of his ninth year that he actually started to participate in hunting and shooting.

The first time he participated in the Autumn Hunt, he came in second in horse riding and fifth in archery. He ranked first among the children of nobles and was the youngest of all the participants. He also achieved the best results among the children of nobles in the past few decades.

The emperor was very happy, thinking that the noble family had a successor, and rewarded him with a small estate of fifty acres of land.

His popularity surpassed the top three.

He won first place in the next two years.

Taizong ordered that the emperor's uncle, Prince Yu, once muttered to the emperor when he was drunk: "I think we should not allow the prince of Yingguo to participate in the archery competition anymore, so as not to destroy the morale of other children."

The emperor had drunk a lot, and he laughed loudly after hearing this. He took off a piece of Hetian jade pendant from his waist and threw it to Song Mo, saying, "Song Mo, hold them all back!" He then said loudly to the princes and ministers present, "Whoever can beat Song Mo, I will reward him with the title of deputy commander of the Jinwu Guard."

Hearing his mother's question, Song Mo nodded and said in a deep voice: "We have to try to find out what the emperor thinks of our family!"

Jiang's eyes moistened when she heard this: "It's all because of mother that you got implicated!" There was a barely perceptible sob in her tone.

"Mother, what are you talking about!" Song Mo hurriedly hugged his mother's shoulders, "You only see the hardship I'm going through now, why don't you think about the glory my uncle brought me when he was here? Not to mention anything else, just this bow of mine, and Feidu, and the guards around me..."

Jiang was very pleased.

"Mother, please don't say such things anymore." Song Mo said softly to Jiang, "With Uncle San around, the Jiang family will make a comeback in ten years at most. We should encourage Uncle San and help them return to the court. We can't say such sad words."

Jiang nodded heavily, but couldn't help but shed tears.

※※※※※

After the 15th of August, the wind starts to feel cold when it blows on your body.

This year's autumn hunting ground is located in Huailai.

When Song Mo and his companions arrived, the emperor's personal guards had already set up camp.

The prince sneezed and walked over: "Tianci, how are you this year? Do you want me to find you a better bow?"

He was twelve years older than Song Mo. He was tall, thin, and fair-skinned, with thick eyebrows and a high nose like the emperor. He sneezed incessantly in the autumn, and it was even worse in the hunting grounds. The autumn hunting grounds were not a pleasure for him, but a torture.

In Song Mo's opinion, his character was a bit gentle, more like a teacher than a prince.

Following the prince was his cousin, Shen Qing, the sixteen-year-old prince of Huichang.

He teased Song Mo: "The deputy commander of the Jinwu Guards costs fifty thousand taels of silver!"

After the Emperor said, "Whoever can beat Song Mo will be rewarded with the title of Deputy Commander of the Jinwu Guards," they joked in private that they might as well bribe Song Mo and make him lose to them in the Autumn Enemy...

Song Mo smiled and said, "It's easy to beat me, but the problem is that there are more than one person on this field!"

Shen Qing was depressed.

The prince laughed and said to Song Mo, "Don't worry about him. He has been racking his brains these days to think about how to get a rank in the Autumn Round. If the rank was so easy to get, why would you say that you would bet 50,000 taels on Song Mo to lose..." As he was speaking, someone slowly walked over and saluted the prince respectfully, "Your Highness!"