Chapter 222 Reunion at Guanfeng Pavilion
After hearing the whole story, Ouyang Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead in shock, and his voice suddenly became heavy.
"You've worked hard. But... there's something I have to tell you now. I hope you're mentally prepared."
Ouyang Ye hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to tell them that the King of Zhenbei had previously written a letter to lead the generals in the court to impeach the two of them.
These two children went through life and death, but the final outcome was so cruel that Ouyang Ye really couldn't bear to speak.
Seeing how serious his expression was, Zhu Lan and the others couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
At this moment, the door of Ouyang Ye's study was suddenly pushed open, and Yan Yuze walked in over the threshold in a white robe. There was a hint of fatigue on his young and noble face, but his expression was happy.
He always liked cleanliness, but at this moment his white robe was stained with dust. It was obvious that he had just rushed back to Jiangzhou from the capital and had not had time to rest.
"Okay, okay, it's good that you're all here." Yan Yuze poured himself a glass of water and finally he felt a little better.
He stood in front of Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan, straightened his expression and spoke:
"The Holy Emperor's oral instructions..."
Zhu Lan and the other man looked at each other and knelt down quickly. Ouyang Ye beside them also knelt down to listen to the order.
"Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan are two girls taught at Longchang Academy in Jiangzhou. They are both virtuous and talented, wise and brave. They first protected the daughter of Wuzi general Zhu Ertai, and then formed an alliance between the two countries. Then they went deep into the enemy's camp and assisted the King of Zhenbei and the Princess of Ningyue to quell the chaos on the border and reassure the people. The King of Zhenbei wrote a memorial to praise you two for your merits. I am very happy and relieved. I specially gave you three thousand taels of jewelry and silk.
Now that we are recruiting talents, we have specially allowed Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan to take the spring examination in mourning, one to show the court's love for talents, the other to fulfill their grandfather's legacy, and not to violate the principle of filial piety. I hope you two will study hard and live up to the court's high expectations. I decree this."
"I, Zhu Lan, accept your order and thank you."
"I, the humble lady Zhu Qingyan, accept your order and thank you for your grace."
Zhu Lan stood up and finally breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he had made the right decision.
The matter of escorting A Jiang to the Northern Frontier was kept secret, so the King of Zhenbei was able to fiddle with the report submitted to the court. However, the complete annihilation of the Great Purification Army that was wreaking havoc on the border was an achievement that shocked the entire Northern Frontier, and it was impossible to hide it from the court, so the King of Zhenbei took advantage of the situation and submitted a letter to ask for credit and did this favor.
It's just that... the King of Zhenbei has been nurturing bandits for his own benefit. This time, his excuse for asking the court for money and food has been eliminated. The King of Zhenbei will definitely suffer a great loss, and this loss can only be blamed on himself and Zhu Qingyan.
The reason why the King of Zhenbei did not argue with me and Zhu Qingyan about the imperial examination this time was because he was a high-ranking official and had to respect his status. But if the two of us entered officialdom in the future, it would be easy for the other party to trip us up, so we had to be more careful.
Zhu Qingyan looked at Ouyang Ye and asked, "Dean Ouyang, what did you want to tell us just now?"
"Oh." Ouyang Ye reacted and a smile appeared on his face, but he immediately suppressed it and returned to his usual serious look.
"Ahem, I think you two have gained a lot of knowledge during your trip to the Northern Frontier. Write an article about what you saw, heard, thought, and realized, and hand it in to me in three days."
"Yes." Zhu Lan and the other two responded with a smile, and then left Ouyang Ye's study.
Zhu Lan had just turned around to close the door when he heard an extremely excited scream behind him.
“Lanlan——!!!”
When Zhu Lan turned around, he saw Qiao Youyou pouncing on him like an octopus, almost hanging on him.
"Ahhh, Lanlan, you're finally back. We missed you so much!!!"
Qiao Youyou hugged Zhu Lan and shook her shoulders excitedly. Xiao Wan, Liang Zhou and Zhou Da also walked out from behind Qiao Youyou, and everyone had a smile of reunion on their face.
After not seeing each other for two months, Zhu Lan was very excited. They came to the Guanfeng Pavilion where they used to gather, and Zhu Lan recounted his experiences along the way in Northern Xinjiang.
Liang Zhou and others are very concerned about the recent situation of their good brother Gu Chaoyang. They are very happy for him when they hear that he is doing very well in the military camp and has made great progress in martial arts.
"Hey, why is Zhao Sicheng not here?" Zhu Lan then realized that one person was missing and asked Xiao Wan.
"He has already gone to work in the Ministry of Works, following Lord Song, the doctor of the Ministry of Water Resources." Liang Zhou replied with a smile.
"Oh, right." Zhu Lan looked at Xiao Wan and Qiao Youyou, "When I returned to the academy just now, I heard that the officials from the Ministry of Revenue wanted to transfer you two to the capital to take up positions. Why didn't you go?"
Zhao Sicheng had already gone to the capital, but Xiao Wan stayed in Jiangzhou, which surprised Zhu Lan.
Xiao Wan's voice was as gentle as ever. "Even if we enter the Ministry of Revenue now, we can only be a juren. The spring imperial examination is coming soon. I think it would be better to try to continue the imperial examination. If I can pass the imperial examination, my future development will be better."
Qiao Youyou nodded at the side, "Yeah, I also listened to Xiao Wan's advice. Don't be in a hurry to become an official. At that time, the official from the Ministry of Revenue meant that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but fortunately, the headmaster came out to speak for us. No matter how we do in the examination next year, we can enter the Ministry of Revenue. If we pass the examination and become a Jinshi, our starting point will be even higher."
"That's a good thing." Zhu Lan was sincerely happy for Xiao Wan and Qiao Youyou. He then asked about Qin Yuwei's situation. He felt relieved when he learned that she was doing well in the East Palace.
Qiao Youyou suggested that everyone have beef hotpot in the evening.
"Let's go some other time. I haven't had time to go home yet." Although Zhu Lan was craving for beef hotpot, he had to go home to see Pei first. "Besides, Dean Ouyang asked me to submit an article to talk about my experiences along the way."
"Huh? You just came back and Ouyang already assigned you homework. You can't even urge the production team's donkey like that!" Qiao Youyou felt that this was outrageous and stood up for Zhu Lan.
Zhu Lan smiled but didn't say anything. She could understand Ouyang Ye's painstaking efforts.
During this trip to the northern border, although Zhu Qingyan and I brought some books and did not neglect our studies along the way, most of our energy was still spent on dealing with other things, and our schoolwork progress fell behind a lot.
However, she and Zhu Qingyan gained something more valuable, which was knowledge that other students from other academies could never get to know.
You should know that the current affairs policy essay is a must for the imperial examination. However, most of the students who took the imperial examination studied hard for ten years, and their understanding of many practical policies only came from books. Most of the content they wrote was either empty talk or boastful.
If you want to study, you can just read thousands of books, but if you want to govern a country, you must travel thousands of miles.
What I have learned in these two months is far more useful than the little bit of schoolwork I have missed!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
