It would take some time to verify the relationship between Yao and the Prince of Ziyang, but Yin Chengyu remembered that there was another thing that needed to be done.

He glanced at Xue Shu and tapped the table with his fingers, as if he was considering something. Xue Shu stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

"The palace examination has ended, and this year's new Jinshi have entered the Hanlin Academy." Yin Chengyu said slowly: "I am going to the Hanlin Academy today to take a look at this year's newcomers and select a few of the well-educated ones to serve as my attendants."

The palace examination ended in March, with three people in the first class: top scorer Xie Pingchuan, second place Chen Maoming, and third place Wang Zhi.

After returning from Huguang, things have been piled up one after another. Now that he has some free time, Yin Chengyu remembered that Xie Pingchuan has graduated from high school and it is time to go see him.

"Your Highness does not want to see the new Jinshi, but wants to see Lord Xie, right?" These ordinary words, uttered from his mouth, had a hint of weirdness.

Although he knew that Xie Pingchuan would not say anything good when he was mentioned, Yin Chengyu was also surprised that he would be so sinister.

He raised his eyebrows, stared at Xue Shu, and waved at him: "Come here."

Xue Shu had a gloomy face, but he moved closer obediently.

There was less than half a foot between the two of them. Yin Chengyu sat up straight, raised his hand to pinch his chin and forced him to bend down. He squinted his eyes and looked at him carefully, still puzzled: "Why are you always jealous of Xie Pingchuan?"

In his previous life, this person also despised him and Xie Pingchuan getting along the most. Whenever he was nice to Xie Pingchuan, this person would come to find fault.

At that time, he just thought that he was deliberately picking on him to make trouble, but now looking back on the past, it was clear that this person was just being jealous?

Regardless of past and present lives, he has the same bad temper and loves to occupy land.

But forget about the past life. In this life, he and Xie Pingchuan have not had any contact. What is this person jealous of?

Xue Shu pursed his lips, as if he didn't want to say anything.

But being stared at by those beautiful eyes, he finally gave in and said in a muffled voice: "Your Highness and Xie Pingchuan recite poems, compose poems, brew wine and boil tea, and they become close friends. He even remembers to send gifts to Xie Pingchuan every year on his birthday..."

At first I didn't want to say anything, but once I opened my mouth, I couldn't stop and started to accuse everyone one by one.

"On my birthday, Your Highness would just give me some small gifts, but on Xie Pingchuan's birthday, you would always carefully select the gifts. The gifts may not look expensive, but they are all very thoughtful..."

Not to mention the honors he bestowed on Pingchuan.

Even though he and Xie Pingchuan were not on good terms, he had to admit that Xie Pingchuan was unmatched in both appearance and talent.

Yin Chengyu admired and trusted him, and Xie Chuan repaid him with loyalty.

Whenever Xue Shu saw the two of them walking side by side, he would always feel a sense of panic in his heart.

With similar interests and ideals, they were like the wise rulers and loyal ministers in history books, complementing each other. But he stood in the dark, with blood on his hands. If future generations wrote history, he would only be a treacherous villain abandoned by wise rulers and spit on by thousands of people.

They were so different, even if he had used all his means to get her for a short time, a hundred years later, the old friends had turned into dust, and in the history books, one of them was a wise ruler, and the other was a flatterer, and there was still an unbridgeable gap between them.

And Xie Pingchuan's existence seemed to remind him all the time that the gap was insurmountable.

"Is it just because of this?" Yin Chengyu stared at him, his penetrating eyes almost seeing into his heart.

Xue Shu turned his eyes away and refused to say anything more.

"The art of being an emperor lies in controlling others. Xie Yunchuan is both a good friend and a minister. I need to keep him under control." Yin Chengyu slowly traced the shape of his lips with his fingertips and placed a kiss on his dry lips: "As for you...why do you need me to keep you under control?"

Xue Shu's eyes moved, as if he was half believing and half doubting.

Yin Chengyu chuckled and rubbed his lips: "Besides, what are you comparing with him?" His fingers, as cool as jade, reached into his clothes from the back of his neck: "Besides you, who else can be like me...?"

The muscles on his back were tensed, and Xue Shu was like a beast ready to pounce. Finally, he could not resist the invitation of his prey and held the man down and plundered him.

His body sank back into the armchair, and Yin Chengyu raised his face to meet him.

After a long time, their lips parted. Yin Chengyu licked her red lips, pulled up her messy clothes, and smiled at him, "Is it not sour now?"

Xue Shu silently adjusted his breath and said in a hoarse voice: "When will Your Highness go to the Imperial Academy? I will go with you."

Yin Chengyu's expression froze, and he looked at him inexplicably, but he finally agreed: "Just go, don't cause me any more trouble."

At noon, the two went to the Hanlin Academy together.

The Hanlin Academy is located in Nanxunfang, just to the left after exiting Chengtian Gate.

Xie Pingchuan was the newly crowned number one scholar and had been appointed as a compiler, entering the National History Museum to edit books.

There has always been a saying in Dayan that "only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the inner cabinet." This is how Xie Pingchuan's road to promotion started in the previous life.

If he follows the default promotion path, he will stay in the Hanlin Academy for three to five years, and after he is familiar with political affairs and has experience, he will enter the court as an official. If his political achievements are valued, he will be sent to the local area to hone his skills for a few years, and when he is transferred back to Beijing, he will be able to take up an important position in the court. In this way, after accumulating enough political achievements and experience, he may be able to enter the inner cabinet when he is in his forties or fifties.

But the 19th year of Longfeng in the previous life was not peaceful.

In the winter of the 19th year, the lumps and bumps plague broke out in Damingfu, northern Zhili and other places, and then quickly spread to Wangjing.

The plague killed countless people, and many officials in the court also contracted the disease and died, resulting in a serious shortage of staff. As a result, this group of new Jinshi who had not yet experienced any experience in the Hanlin Academy were rushed in to fill the vacancies.

This is both a danger and an opportunity.

Xie Pingchuan was soon promoted to the Ministry of Personnel due to his outstanding performance. Shao Tian, ​​who was the Prime Minister at that time, was the Minister of Personnel. He admired Xie Pingchuan very much and wanted to promote him. In just four years, Xie Pingchuan was promoted from the Minister of Personnel to the Minister of Revenue, and then to the Minister of Rites. By the time Yin Chengyu returned to the palace, he had become the youngest cabinet minister in the history of Dayan.

He was Shao Tian's right-hand man, and Shao Tian even intended to marry his daughter to him and train him to be his successor.

However, Shao Tian never imagined that the successor he had carefully trained would eventually become Prince Yan who wanted him dead.

Xie's family was murdered by Shao Tian, ​​and Xie Pingchuan worked hard to collect evidence of Shao Tian's crimes. After he ascended the throne, he managed to gain Xie Pingchuan's trust. The two joined forces to bring down Shao Tian and eliminate the Shao family's gang.

If Xie Pingchuan had not defected in his previous life, he would have had to uproot the deeply rooted Shao Party, which would have been very difficult.

Fortunately, in this new life, the Yu family has not been destroyed, Shao Tian is not the prime minister yet, and he has not had several years to build up his power. Now that he has caught the fox by the tail, it is much easier to deal with him.

However, without Gedawen and Shao Tian as stepping stones, it might not be as easy for Xie Pingchuan to enter the inner chamber as in his previous life.

When the crown prince arrived at the Hanlin Academy, the president of the academy received the news and hurriedly led people to greet him.

Yin Chengyu waived the formalities and just said that he came to the Hanlin Academy to look for some ancient books and wanted to pick a few new scholars to serve as readers in the Eastern Palace.

"I have been reading history recently and have many questions that are difficult to answer. I asked the Grand Tutor for advice, but he said that I had reached a dead end. So I want to find a few Japanese lecturers to read history for me, maybe I can get some inspiration."

The dean was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately led people to the National History Museum: "The three top scorers in this year's exam are all extremely talented people. Your Highness can go and try."

The National History Museum was quiet and peaceful. When Yin Chengyu passed by, many scholars were busy editing books.

The dean asked Yin Chengyu to sit for a while in the reception room and personally called four people over, among whom was Xie Pingchuan.

"Your Highness, these are the four most learned scholars of this year's imperial examination."

Several people were suddenly called out by the dean, and they were surprised and happy to learn that the prince was coming to select a tutor. Only Xie Yunchuan looked calmer, with a look of surprise, and looked at Yin Chengyu sitting in the main seat and Xue Shu standing beside Yin Chengyu.

He had seen both the Crown Prince and the eunuch Xue who served beside the Crown Prince.

Especially the eunuch Xue, who looked difficult to deal with and had saved him once.

Xie Pingchuan quickly withdrew his gaze and frowned in thought. Although he might be a little self-indulgent, he always felt that these two seemed to pay special attention to him. Especially when Eunuch Xue brought him and several other scholars out of the imperial prison, they met the prince who was leaving the palace halfway. The prince looked at him very strangely, as if he knew him.

Could it be that the prince knew something? Xie Pingchuan thought about this possibility, but quickly rejected it.

At that time, he was weak and was fostered by his parents in the temple since he was young. Outsiders did not know that the Xie family had another son. Later, the temple master passed away and he was adopted by the teacher. Even if someone wanted to investigate, they would not be able to find out anything.

Xie Pingchuan felt slightly relieved. When he heard his name being called, he stepped forward respectfully and answered the prince's question.

Although selecting the imperial tutors was just an excuse, Yin Chengyu still carefully tested the four of them and did not treat Xie Yunchuan any differently.

The result satisfied him very much. Except Xie Pingchuan, the other three were all very knowledgeable and had great potential.

He originally planned to select only two people to be tutors, but he changed his mind at the last minute and took all four of them, letting them take turns to be tutors in the East Palace starting tomorrow.

The person who came to the East Palace to serve as a tutor on the first day was Xie Pingchuan.

Yin Chengyu did not treat him any better because of their acquaintance in the previous life. After all, people are fickle. There was a full four years between Xie Pingchuan in this life and Xie Pingchuan in the previous life. He still needed time to slowly understand the difference between these years before planning the next step.

So on the first day he only let Xie Pingchuan tell him history.

Xie Pingchuan is indeed a man of talent. Even for history books that have long been thoroughly read and ruined, he can still offer unique insights.

Yin Chengyu discussed with him and gained a lot of inspiration.

The reading lasted no more than an hour, and when the time was up, Xie Yanchuan politely took his leave.

Before leaving Hongren Hall, he carefully glanced up at the prince again and felt that his previous feeling might have been just an illusion, and the prince did not treat him any differently today.

But he met Xue Shu again on the way.

After entering the palace, he learned that the eunuch Xue who had saved his life was now the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the Supervisor of the East Factory.

In the past, he had a bad impression of these eunuchs, especially after being implicated in the Sun Miao case and witnessing all kinds of cruel and inhumane torture in the imperial prison. He became more and more disgusted with these eunuchs who abused their power for personal gain and went beyond the rules.

But that day in the imperial prison, Xue Shu killed Sun Miao with a knife, which changed him.

Not to mention that later Xue Shu brought him and several other scholars out of the imperial prison, which indirectly saved their lives.

Xie Pingchuan stopped and looked at Xue Shu who was walking towards him. He took the initiative to greet him, "Master Xue." Then he bent down and bowed solemnly, "Since we parted at the Ministry of Justice that day, I have not yet thanked you for saving me."

Xue Shu, who was about to pass by him, stopped and raised his eyebrows in surprise.