260, Hanlin Academy Report
260, Hanlin Academy Report
"Bang—"
After their prince entered the gate of Prince Ding's Mansion, the gate was closed from the inside.
The closed door blocked out all prying eyes from outside.
After learning that Zhao Lang had been summoned to the palace by the Emperor, Lu Mingfei had been feeling uneasy. He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhao Lang return safely. Seeing Zhao Lang enter, he strode towards him, grabbed Zhao Lang's hand, and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Why did the emperor summon you to the palace?"
"It's okay. They just called me in, scolded me a few words, and punished me not to go out for a month. It's just right that I can stay with you at home during this time." Zhao Lang couldn't ask for more as he could stay at home with Lu Zhuangyuan instead of going out to be a playboy.
"..." Lu Mingfei, this was the first person he had seen who could be so happy after being punished by the emperor.
After waving his hand and letting everyone else go out, he pulled Zhao Lang into the room and asked him in a low voice, "The emperor doesn't suspect you of anything, right?"
"It doesn't seem like there's anything on the surface, but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. We should be careful during this period. If there's no rush, we can deal with our shops later." Zhao Lang was actually more worried about exposing Lu Mingfei's existence.
After all, he was the emperor's nephew, and he had his father and hundreds of thousands of Northern Guard troops behind him. Even if the emperor knew he was selling his property and trying to escape, he wouldn't really do anything to him. But if the emperor knew someone was helping him, it would be hard to say.
Zhao Lang knew too well the cruelty and methods of the royal family, and he didn't want Lu Mingfei to take risks for him.
Lu Mingfei knew what Zhao Lang was worried about at first glance. "Don't worry, I will be careful. I didn't personally handle your shop. I left it all to the housekeeper to arrange and handle."
"As long as the people on your side are fine, nothing will happen to me."
"Butler Liu was left to me by my mother. His descendants are all servants of Prince Ding's Mansion. The indentures of their entire family are in my mother's hands. He will definitely not betray us." Zhao Lang was quite relieved about this.
"As for the guards of our Dingwang Mansion, they are all my people now. They will not betray me."
"I have a way to make Butler Liu follow us wholeheartedly."
"Well, what do you say? What's the solution?"
Lu Mingfei motioned Zhao Lang to move his ear closer and whispered a few words into his ear.
After listening to it, Zhao Lang agreed without any hesitation, "Then I will write a letter to my mother today and have someone deliver it to her as quickly as possible."
"There's no rush. If you send someone to deliver a letter to your mother at this time, it will seem too abrupt. The emperor must have sent someone to keep an eye on you at this time. Any movement on your side may arouse the emperor's suspicion." Lu Mingfei held Zhao Lang's hand and told Zhao Lang not to worry.
But after thinking about it, he felt that it was not impossible for Zhao Lang to write a letter to his mother who was far away in Beijun to ask for something?
He gave Zhao Lang an idea: "You can write a letter to your mother, but don't ask for the indentures of the housekeeper and his family."
"You can tell your mother that you're short of money and ask her for some. Your mother should have money, right?" Lu Mingfei thought about it and the idea seemed more and more appealing to him. Zhao Lang's mother was Princess Ding, so she must have money. Zhao Lang had been a hostage in Kyoto for so many years, and his parents hadn't shown much concern for him. So, asking him to ask his mother for some money to support his own army wouldn't be too much of a stretch, right?
"Probably quite a few."
"The Mid-Autumn Festival is in two months. Have someone prepare two carts of gifts and send them to Beijun for your mother and brother. And ask them for some money for the festival."
When Zhao Lang met Lu Mingfei's eyes, he instantly understood what Lu Mingfei meant by this idea. He is now a compulsive gambler. If he loses money and doesn't ask his family for money, wouldn't that make people suspect that he still has money in his hands?
If I don’t ask his family for money now, when will I ask them?
Moreover, he also knew Lu Mingfei's selfish motives. His mother had been in charge of the inner chambers of Prince Ding's Mansion for so many years, and she must have had money on hand. Right now, they needed money, so instead of letting those people in Prince Ding's Mansion get it for free, it would be better to let his mother give them some money to use.
With their family's Lu Zhuangyuan's intelligence and ability to make money, it shouldn't take long for him to help him accumulate a large family fortune. When he has money in the future, he can return it to his mother, right?
"Okay, I'll ask the housekeeper to do it later." Zhao Lang replied.
"As for the indentures of Butler Liu and his family, you can wait until we arrive in Beijun and then go to your mother in person to get them. However, before that, we can first tip off Butler Liu and let him know our plan, so that he will be willing to work for us wholeheartedly." Among these people, Lu Mingfei was most worried that Butler Liu would be bribed by outsiders and betray Zhao Lang and them.
If the emperor knew what they were doing, not only would Zhao Lang not be able to escape, but he and his family would also be implicated. He couldn't gamble with his life, Zhao Lang's, and his family's lives.
"Okay, then let's do as you arrange." Zhao Lang had an expression that said, "I'll do whatever you say."
That day they found the butler and went into the secret room, where they had a secret conversation.
Ever since that day when the prince called him in for a talk, for a long time afterwards, Butler Liu was like a chicken with its blood injected, full of energy and motivation.
Over the next month, Lu Mingfei slowed down the processing of Prince Ding's palace's open industries in Jingdu Prefecture, but accelerated the construction of their hidden industries. At the same time, they also sent people to find a hidden mountain and set up a military base there.
However, it was not convenient for both of them to leave the capital, so Zhao Lang handed these matters over to his subordinates.
From the outside, it looked like Zhao Lang had been confined to the mansion obediently during this time, not going anywhere, and the entire Dingwang Mansion was very quiet. However, only they themselves knew how much they had done during this period.
On the third day after the Chinese Valentine's Day, Lu Mingfei returned home, ending his "trip". He went home to have a meal with his family, checked his younger brothers' homework, and talked with his father and godfather about the family business and arrangements.
After spending two days at home with his family, he and Zhang Lingxuan reported to the Hanlin Academy.
***
On this day, the two arrived at the Hanlin Academy in the morning. After they arrived, they didn't have to wait too long before a steward named Sun led them to meet the head of the Hanlin Academy.
The Dean is the highest official in the Hanlin Academy and the superior of all of them.
After bowing, Steward Sun told their Dean, "Dean, Editor Lu and Editor Zhang have arrived."
"Your humble servant greets the dean." Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan saluted their highest superior.
"No need for formalities." Dean Xu was busy sitting at the desk at this time. When he saw Manager Sun coming with this year's new top scholar and second place scholar, he put down the brush in his hand and looked up at the two young men.
Seeing the appearance of the two young men, the dean nodded with satisfaction.
"Thank you, Dean." Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan said in unison.
The two men raised their heads and looked at the dean sitting at the desk. They saw that the dean was wearing a second-rank official uniform and an official hat. He looked to be around sixty years old, with half-haired hair, deep wrinkles on his face, and big bags under his eyes. The loose official uniform looked very big on the dean.
However, their official uniforms are made relatively large. Unless they are fat, the official uniforms will appear very large when worn by thin people.
They are Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan. They look very big in their official uniforms.
The official uniforms they wore were also very exquisite. For example, the dean was a second-rank civil official, and his official uniform was navy blue with a peacock embroidered on the chest.
The official uniforms of these low-ranking civil servants are dark green, but the patterns embroidered on the chest are also different.
For example, Lu Mingfei is a sixth-rank official, and the embroidery on his clothes is a heron, while Zhang Lingxuan is a seventh-rank civil servant, and the embroidery on his clothes is a mandarin duck.
If it was a low-ranking official, like the steward Sun who led them, who was a low-ranking official without any rank, there would be no patterns embroidered on his clothes.
Therefore, in the Great Yan Dynasty, one could tell whether an official was a civil official or a military general, and his rank, by the official uniform he wore.
Every three years, a group of top-ranking, second-place and third-place scholars would arrive at the Hanlin Academy. Those who could enter the Hanlin Academy were generally first-class Jinshi graduates. Dean Xu himself was a top-ranking scholar, so in the Hanlin Academy, the top and second-place scholars were nothing special.
Therefore, Dean Xu's attitude towards the two young people who came this year was also normal.
After a moment's thought, Dean Xu assigned teachers to the two young men who had just arrived at the Hanlin Academy. He then said to the steward beside him, "Steward Sun, take them to see Scholars Cao and Song. Ask them to arrange some work for Lu Xiuzhuan and Zhang Bianxiu."
"Yes, Master." Upon hearing this, Manager Sun responded.
After Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan thanked the dean, they followed Manager Sun.
Not long after, Lu Mingfei was brought to Master Cao by Steward Sun. He and Zhang Lingxuan bowed to the master together and said, "This humble official greets Master Cao."
After paying his respects, Steward Sun addressed Lord Cao, "Lord Cao, the headmaster has sent Lu Xiuzhuan to you to take charge of your work."
"Okay, let's keep the person here." Lord Cao glanced at Lu Mingfei and only asked Manager Sun to keep the person.
"Yes." Manager Sun gave Lu Mingfei a look that said "you stay here", and he took the remaining Zhang Xiubian to find another scholar Song.
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