Chapter 326: Joining the Game
When Ouyang Ye saw that it was Zhu Lan, he was a little surprised. He quickly stood up and even returned the greeting.
"Zhu Xiuzhuan actually has time to come?"
The word "Zhu Xiuzhuan" from Ouyang Ye's mouth really made Zhu Lan feel uncomfortable, so he smiled and said, "There is no such thing as Xiuzhuan in the academy. You should just call me Zhu Lan."
"You are now an official appointed by the court. The laws and etiquette cannot be violated. You should call me what I should call you." Ouyang Ye's tone was old-fashioned, but there was a rare gentle smile in his eyes.
Zhu Lan exchanged a few pleasantries with Ouyang Ye and finally got to the point.
"Does the dean still remember that when I first entered school, I won a copy of the Annotated Works of Various Philosophers in a poetry competition?"
This happened too long ago. Ouyang Ye stroked his goatee and recalled for a long time before he nodded and said he remembered.
Zhu Lan quickly asked him if he knew when and how the book entered the Wanjuan Tower.
Ouyang Ye couldn't remember, but he turned around and went back to the bookshelf in his study and took a book from the top of the shelf.
“Longchang Academy was established in the previous dynasty and has a history of hundreds of years. It was originally forced to close due to war, but the current emperor is kind and benevolent. After he ascended the throne, he ordered Longchang Academy to be reopened and encouraged students all over the world to study.
There are tens of thousands of books in the Wanjuan Tower, some of which were inherited from the past and some were donated by later generations.
Ouyang Ye flipped through the book and said, this is a list of all the new books added to the Wanjuan Pavilion after the reopening of Longchang Academy. If the book "Collected Annotations of Various Philosophers" was sent by someone later, it would definitely be recorded.
"Found it." Ouyang Ye pointed to a page of records and showed it to Zhu Lan.
Zhu Lan took a look and found that it was indeed twenty years ago.
The person who donated the book did not leave his real name, but only left the word "Ning", so it must be Chu Xiuning.
This confirms that the book mentioned by Chu Xiuning before his death was "Collected Commentaries on the Philosophers".
The secret about the Jiangzhou Jin couple hidden in "Collected Annotations of Various Philosophers" is the key evidence to prove that Yan Xiuyun is the real prince!
Zhu Lan felt relieved, knowing that he had made the right decision to come to Jiangzhou.
…
Finally, Ouyang Ye personally escorted Zhu Lan and the other two to the mountain gate, and Zhu Qingyan bowed and said goodbye.
Before leaving, Zhu Lan suddenly asked Ouyang Ye: "Master Supervisor, have you ever heard of the Jin couple from Xiangyang County, Jiangzhou?"
Ouyang Ye was stunned by the question, and there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.
He shook his head slowly, indicating that although he had been to Xiangyang County, he had never known the Jin couple.
Zhu Lan understood, said goodbye and left.
…
When I returned to the gate of Zhu Mansion again, two familiar figures were already waiting at the door, almost stamping their feet anxiously.
"Mother!"
"mother!"
Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan both stepped forward quickly and threw themselves into the arms of Pei Yue and Su.
Pei Yue brought Su and Du Lanfang back from the pilgrimage. When they heard that their daughter had returned, they were extremely happy and waited for them at the gate.
The two mothers hugged their daughter, saying "You've lost weight again" and "My daughter, you've worked hard", and they were so heartbroken that they were about to cry.
Du Lanfang's somewhat aggressive laughter came from behind.
"Where did you lose weight? I didn't see anything. The Hanlin Academy is in the imperial palace, how could they eat poorly?
Come on, you two mothers, Lan Jie'er and Yan Jie'er finally came back, and you're just ruining the mood with your crying! Come on, Hongming and I will make sure dinner is ready, let's have a good meal together as a family."
Du Lanfang wiped her hands on her apron twice and pushed a few people into the house.
During the meal, Zhu Lan mentioned that he was planning to go to Xiangyang County tomorrow.
"Xiangyang County?" Pei Yue thought for a while. "Xiangyang is quite far from here. Although I have never been there, I heard that it takes a whole day to travel there by water."
Du Lanfang seemed to remember something and looked at Zhu Hongming, "Dad, didn't you just go to Xiangyang County some time ago?"
When Zhu Lan heard that Zhu Hongming had been there, although he had little hope, he still asked him if he knew a couple named Jin.
Zhu Hongming shook his head as expected, and his reaction was within Zhu Lan's expectations.
Zhu Hongming lowered his head and sipped a glass of Jiangzhou Maotai, then suddenly said, "By the way, when I was coming back from Xiangyang County, I saw some soldiers on the shore, and they seemed to be investigating someone."
This statement immediately aroused everyone's interest, and Du Lanfang hurriedly asked him to continue. Zhu Hongming said that it was nothing, he saw the soldiers, but it had nothing to do with him, and then he came back.
Du Lanfang, whose appetite had been whetted in vain, was so angry that she kicked him under the table.
The laughter and joy in Zhu's house continued until late at night.
…
Zhu Lan did not drink last night. She got up early in the morning without saying hello to anyone and prepared to go to Xiangyang County alone.
She thought about it for a long time. She didn't intend to hide the matter of the prince from Zhu Qingyan, but the matter was of great importance and being involved in it would be very risky.
He got involved because of Yu Wei, but this matter had nothing to do with Zhu Qingyan after all, and Zhu Lan didn't want to involve her.
Unexpectedly, when she went out, Zhu Qingyan was already waiting for her, leaning against a pillar with his arms folded.
Chu Xin poked his head out from behind Zhu Qingyan and said, "Sister Zhuangyuan, let's get going!"
Zhu Lan came up to the two of them and was struggling to speak, but was interrupted by Zhu Qingyan's snort.
"I know what you're going to say. Don't get me wrong, I don't care about you at all, let alone what you're going to do.
If my mother hadn't told me to protect you last night, and if Madam Pei hadn't been kind to me, I wouldn't have bothered to care about you."
Zhu Lan considered and said: "This matter is somewhat risky."
"It's risky, so I have to go. Otherwise, if anything happens to you, how can I explain it to the Zhu family?"
Chu Xin nodded behind Zhu Qingyan. "Yes, Sister Zhuangyuan. Although you don't say it, I can feel that this matter... is related to my aunt's death, right?"
Zhu Lan was silent.
"Then I must go even more. I have the skills and maybe I can help. I won't hold you back!" Chu Xin looked at Zhu Lan seriously and said.
The gazes of the two people in front of him did not waver at all. Zhu Lan looked at them for a moment, and finally sighed and laughed helplessly.
"Okay, let's go together."
After saying this, Zhu Lan also figured out some things.
From Chu Xiuning's death, to himself and Zhu Qingyan being "put on leave" from the Hanlin Academy, to that mysterious note, everything seemed like a hand pushing him forward.
And she could vaguely feel that there seemed to be more than one force behind the whole thing.
In the whole situation, not only himself, but also Zhu Qingyan and Chu Xin might have been noticed by those forces a long time ago. Even if they wanted to stay out of it, they were afraid they couldn't help it.
Zhu Lan raised his eyes slightly and looked towards the bright blue sky covered by floating clouds. His eyes gradually became deeper and more determined.
Since someone wants to use me as a chess piece, fine, then let him do as he wishes.
If you don’t enter this situation, how can you break it?
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