Xiao Fu helped him collect Lin Zikui's banknotes.
Although it wasn't much, Lin Zikui gave himself as much as he had. Xiao Fu had never been short of money since he was a child, but he knew how precious Lin Zikui's sincerity was.
After the family finished their meal, Xiao Fu thought that he could play on the swing with Lin Lang for a while, read a book for a while, and then take a shower and go to bed.
But someone came in and said, "Sir, the carriage from Prince Shuo's mansion is here to pick you up."
Xiao Fu: “?”
Xiao Fu looked at Lin Zikui and found that he had changed into clean new clothes. The servant boy next to him was wearing a six-board hat and carrying a cloth bag on his shoulder.
Xiao Fu realized something was wrong: "You still have to go to Prince Shuo's Mansion to attend class so late?"
Lin Zikui was still thinking about how to tell Zhao Ling when the carriage arrived.
Now I have to say: "Teacher... let me go to Prince Shuo's Mansion for class."
Xiao Fu: "It's so late, I won't go! You can go tomorrow!"
Lin Zikui lowered his head: "I will not come back for the time being."
"What did you say?!" Xiao Fu stood up suddenly.
Lin Zikui felt a little guilty as the exam would have to wait another month.
"It's just an exam. I'll be back after it's over. Zhao Ling, please let me go."
Xiao Fu said without thinking, "No, I won't allow you to go." He turned around and angrily ordered someone to send the carriages from Prince Shuo's mansion away, "Let them go!"
Lin Zikui didn't know what to say. He couldn't disobey his teacher. His wife was unhappy, so Lin Zikui wanted to comfort her and picked a beautiful peony for her: "Zhao Ling, calm down."
Xiao Zhaoling was still angry: "You want to be away from me for two months? Do you really want to leave me?" Including the exams, that would be more than a month, almost two months.
Outside the door, an old man's joking voice suddenly came: "Xiao Zhaoling, do you want me to get out?"
Xiao Fu frowned, his eyes piercing coldly at Elder Xue who had just entered the room: "I'm talking about you."
"You don't want to let Huaifu go, but have you ever thought about how he can pass the imperial examination?"
"I know my limits, he can get by no matter what!"
Mr. Xue also looked serious: "The imperial examination is not a joke. Yes, you can influence some things, but the examination will last for nine consecutive days! Huaifu is weak, how can he take the exam without enough rest!"
Xiao Fu looked at Lin Zikui and saw that his face looked rosy recently, but his body was thin. He looked frail in his bamboo-leaf green shirt. His eyes seemed to be filled with spring water. He looked at him pleadingly and shook his head. His lips moved and he said silently, "Zhao Ling, don't be disrespectful to the teacher."
Xiao Fu retracted his gaze and glanced at Mr. Xue, with a cold arc at the corner of his mouth.
Old Xue calmly confronted him with his hands in his pockets: "Which is more important, your husband's future or your momentary pleasure?"
"Teacher," Lin Zikui said, "I will go with you."
"Zhao Ling." Lin Zikui turned her head and gently held his hand, her gentle features showing determination, "Wait until I finish my exams, then come back, okay? I will definitely get into high school."
The examination paper did not allow cheating. Even if Xiao Fu was the regent, he could at most influence the examination questions.
With Lin Zikui's ability, do I need to make him miss some questions? Of course not.
But the nine-day exam...
It's a bit too much trouble.
"Then come in with me," Xiao Fu grabbed his wrist with his backhand, "I have something to tell you, old man, wait."
Lin Zikui raised his hand and patted him on the back, but he hurriedly dragged her into the house, almost losing her balance: "How could you treat the teacher like that?"
Xiao Fu put one hand around his waist, pulled him closer and said, "He's so annoying, don't talk about him. Let's talk about you. Look at me."
Lin Zikui's eyesight has improved greatly, and now he only needs to wear a delicate pair of glasses to be able to see the tiny handwriting clearly.
A candle had just been lit in the room, and by the window hung a peony lantern chosen from a lantern riddle guessed during the Lantern Festival. Outside the window lattice, there was still a ray of light in the evening.
Through the lens of his eyes, Lin Zikui could clearly see Zhao Ling's face, including the delicate little moles, the distinct black eyelashes, and the upper eyelids that looked like ink-painted hooks.
Whenever Lin Zikui looked at his face carefully, he felt short of breath and couldn't take his eyes away.
He said with some difficulty: "Xiao Lang, please let me go and don't get angry with the teacher, okay?"
"...I allow you to go." Since he has already said that, is there any reason to stop him from going? Xiao Fu said: "King Shuo's son is a fool, don't talk to him. King Shuo himself is a playboy, often bringing girls home. If King Shuo wants to take you out, it must not be a good place, remember to refuse."
"Okay, okay, I know." Lin Zikui evaded the question at first. Yuwen Can was a little naive, but he was not stupid. Why didn't he just not talk to people?
"How did you find out so much about Prince Shuo's Mansion?"
"I found out from others. Otherwise, how could I feel at ease when you went to class?" Xiao Fu hugged him with his arms, and Lin Zikui hugged him back, crossing his hands on his broad back and stroking it like smoothing fur. Xiao Fu buried his head and pressed his nose against his hair, but did not kiss him. He just hugged him.
Lin Zikui said: "I should go now."
"…Have you packed your things?"
Lin Zikui nodded obediently: "Okay, I've packed six or seven shirts and underwear, that's enough."
Xiao Fu sighed: "Young Master, leave me some underwear."
Lin Zikui: “…”
Lin Zikui's face suddenly turned red with anger: "You...you did that again."
"The weather is dry and the night is long. What can I do without you?" Xiao Fu lowered his voice and whispered, "I'll come to Prince Shuo's mansion to see you another day. Don't let your teacher know, he's very annoying when he talks."
Lin Zikui thought that he couldn't make an exception. If he came once, there would definitely be a second time. Prince Shuo might even want his wife to stay. What's more, he might find out at a glance that his wife was a man, which would cause more trouble in the future... Lin Zikui couldn't let him come no matter how he thought about it.
"Don't come, wait until I finish the exam, okay..."
"I'll do it once." Xiao Fu nudged his shoulder with his chin, closed his eyes and said angrily, "How can there be such torture? They want to separate people right after they get married, and separate them again and again. It's all because of studying!"
After finally convincing Xiao Zhaoling, Lin Zikui followed Master Xue into the carriage. Feeling quite sad, he apologized to his teacher: "Zhaoling was wrong to speak like that. I taught him a lesson, and he won't do it again next time."
"If you can really teach him a lesson, then I have to thank you on behalf of others. Don't I know his petty temper?"
Among so many people, Mo Liu was probably the only one who was truly happy.
You are about to stay at Prince Shuo's mansion. With such a teacher and friendship with Prince Shuo, you will surely rise to a high position in the future. Although Madam Xiao is beautiful, she is too fierce. She goes out early and comes back late every day. I don't know what bad things she is doing. It's better to stay away from her!
As soon as Lin Zikui left, Xiao Fu lay alone on the bed covered with flower petals, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
It can be seen that when Xiao Fu came home just now and saw the big bed with flower petals, he was still thinking about what to do in the evening to live up to Lin Lang's meticulous arrangement.
Unexpectedly, it was the lonely pillow given to him by the young master that made him unable to sleep.
Xiao Fu couldn't sleep, so he set off to return to the Duke of Changguo's mansion in the middle of the night, scaring the Duke of Changguo awake: "It's almost time for court, what are you doing back here?"
"Dad, didn't you tell me to go home? I'll go home and take a look."
"You kid, you haven't been home for a month, and you choose to go home in the middle of the night? Go to bed!"
"No need," Xiao Fu said, seeing the sun and the moon shining together, "Please pack up later. I will come back to stay at night and go to the palace later."
Xiao Fu was closer to Prince Shuo's Mansion, which was separated by a wall, and his thoughts seemed to be comforted.
Early in the morning, the carriage entered the palace.
Xiao Fu went to the palace and changed into court robes. Commander Chen came to greet him and noticed that Xiao Fu looked sleepy and haggard. He asked, "Did Your Majesty not sleep last night?"
"I can't sleep. I can't sleep. I'm sick."
Yuan Qing: "Mr. Xie is gone. Can we ask the imperial physician to come and see you?"
"The imperial physician cannot cure me. I am suffering from lovesickness."
“…”
Xiao Fu spread his arms, and the eunuch fastened his belt. Xiao Fu said, "Let's go to court. Is His Majesty awake?"
"I'm up and waiting outside."
Yuwen Xuan was very courteous and meticulous. Before going to court every day, he would first come to see Xiao Fu, pay his respects to his father the Emperor, and then go to the Fengtian Hall.
Xiao Fu looked sleepy. After leaving the court, he asked Eunuch Liang to invite the Minister of Rites over and said, "Lord Pang, who will be the examiner for this year's imperial examination? Where are the examination questions? Submit them for me to see."
The regent was particularly concerned about the imperial examination, so Lord Pang did not dare to be careless: "This year, I will be the chief examiner myself, and the deputy examiners are all university scholars who entered the government through the imperial examination."
Xiao Fu reviewed all the examination questions. From astronomy to geography, Lin Zikui knew everything. He could write all these eight-part essays, but he just didn't like writing them.
Xiao Fu thought for a moment and said, "Let's add one more rule. The examination essays are not limited to the eight-part essay style. Candidates can express their true feelings and write whatever comes to mind."
"Ah?" Mr. Pang opened his mouth.
Writing eight-part essays has been an old tradition for many years, and this... can be changed just like that?
Xiao Fu said in a deep voice: "This prince cannot read eight-part essays, but considering that the candidates have practiced for so long, I allow them to write. Those who do not want to write do not have to write. You will do the preliminary review of the examination papers, and this prince will also do the final review. I will not allow any partiality or fraud! If you let this prince know, you will lose your head!"
New rules for the imperial examination were released and posted outside the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall. Some are happy and some are sad.
"That's great! We don't have to write stereotyped essays anymore! The Ministry of Rites has finally behaved like a human being!"
"I have studied hard for ten years, writing an eight-part essay every day without interruption. I am almost sick of writing. Now there are no restrictions on the genre. How can my article with its clever ideas and sharp words stand out?"
There is a casino for betting on exam questions in Qinhuai River. Some students spend money to bet on the questions, while others study hard.
Mo Liu sat and fanned the young master with a wooden fan. The afternoon sun was shining directly on him and he was almost falling asleep.
Lin Zikui is writing an article.
This time, he was going straight for the membership. To get the top prize in the provincial examination, the top prize in the metropolitan examination, and the top prize in the palace examination. These were his goals, so he could not be careless and could not slack off just because he could recite the book by heart.
After Xiao Fu left the court, he returned to the Duke of Changguo's Mansion and couldn't help but come over to see him.
Seeing him studying hard, he looked a little sleepy and his mouth was dry. He wanted to drink a bowl of tea, but when he turned his head, he saw the book boy sleeping on the chair with drooling.
Lin Zikui had no choice but to get up and mix the tea himself, but the teapot was empty.
There was an ice basin on the ground, so it wasn't that hot.
Lin Zikui was too embarrassed to ask the servants from Prince Shuo's mansion to pour tea for him, so he forced himself to drink up the little water in the teacup.
He was so exhausted from writing that he fell asleep on the table.
Xiao Fu picked up the teapot, filled it up, added ice cubes to it, and finally carried him to the bed.
When Lin Zikui fell asleep, his face happened to be pressed on the ink that had not yet dried, and his face was imprinted with black ink. Xiao Fu tried to wipe it with his hand, but accidentally rubbed the little boy into a calico cat.
Lin Zikui was sleeping with a fever, and he unconsciously reached out and tore open his collar, revealing a clear collarbone and half of his chest.
Xiao Fu couldn't help but feel a little distracted. He fiddled with Lin Zikui's fingertips. Lin Zikui trembled sensitively and said "hmm" in a half-asleep and half-awake state... He half-opened his eyes and saw a dazzling light. The mosquito net floated like smoke. Lin Zikui saw Xiao Zhaoling and thought it was a dream. He murmured, "My wife, I miss you..."
After murmuring, he closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
Xiao Fu responded in a low voice: "Do you know that I come to see you every day?" He slowly and carefully wiped the ink off Lin Zikui's face.
Since ancient times, scholars all over the world have spent ten years studying hard and reading thousands of books. If you don't read thoroughly, reading more is useless. However, there are also people who can read thoroughly without reading much. People like Lin Zikui, who read thoroughly, studied hard, and learned tirelessly, are a minority.
On July 30th, Lin Zikui was taken to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall by a carriage from Prince Shuo's palace. The examination would be held tomorrow, so he reported in advance today. Book boys and servants were not allowed to accompany him inside. Lin Zikui stood outside the Imperial Examination Hall with his book bag on his back. He looked up and waited in the sun. His head was burned hot by the sun, but he still did not see Xiao Zhaoling.
Lin Zikui felt empty inside.
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of an acquaintance, who was tall and strong, standing out from the crowd. Yuan Qing strode over and respectfully asked him, "Sir, the master is waiting for you in the carriage."
Lin Zikui's eyes finally lit up, and he happily ran through the crowd with his schoolbag on his back, among the many students. Yuanqing followed closely and reached out to pick up the book for him: "Let me carry it, Master Lin."
Standing on the high building of the Imperial Examination Hall, Minister Pang squinted and looked at him: "Isn't that big guy Commander Chen? How come he has relatives coming to take the exam too?"
The regent said that favoritism and corruption must be severely punished. Even if he is a relative of the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards, he will not be able to succeed if he does not have enough knowledge.
Xiao Fu left the palace and changed carriages several times. The carriage was gray and low-key. Lin Zikui lifted the corner of his robe and climbed onto the carriage. He lifted the bamboo curtain with one hand and the face of his beloved came into view. Lin Zikui froze for a moment and called out, "Zhao Ling."
Xiao Zhaoling's eyes were as soft as water, and he smiled and called, "Little Master."
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