Chapter 231: The Carriage of Prince Qi's Mansion
An official from the capital who came to join in the fun passed by the carriage and inadvertently glanced at the carriage window. Then he walked forward a few steps and suddenly came to his senses and turned around with a start.
As soon as he saw the face of the person in the car clearly, he immediately lifted up his clothes and knelt down.
"Qi..." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Yan Changwen made a gesture, indicating that there was no need to make it public.
Then use your eyes to signal the other person to come over.
The official hurriedly walked to the carriage and bowed to listen.
Yan Changwen pointed his fan at Zhu Lan, who was surrounded by people, and asked, "Is that woman the champion of this year's competition?"
The official hissed, squinted his eyes and tried to look at her. After a long while of identification, he nodded and said, "Yes, she is Zhu Lan from Jiangzhou, the first place in this examination."
"Zhu Lan..." Yan Changwen moved his chubby fingers and let the official leave, murmuring Zhu Lan's name, which seemed familiar to him.
He soon remembered that this was one of the two women sent to the northern border by his sixth uncle, and it was his father who ordered that she be allowed to take part in the imperial examination during the period of mourning.
Of course, there was another reason why Yan Changwen remembered Zhu Lan, and that was what his father-in-law, King Zhenbei, mentioned in the secret letter that Cheng Lian had sent to him some time ago.
The Great Purification was destroyed, the border was peaceful, and the court really changed its mind. The 200,000 taels of military pay originally planned to be allocated to the Northern Frontier Camp was cut in half to 100,000 taels after a round of discussion in the court. The generals who supported the King of Zhenbei in the court had nothing to say and could only swallow their anger.
Yan Changwen raised the corner of his mouth. The King of Zhenbei hated Zhu Lan so much that his teeth were itching. The letter firstly asked him to negotiate the issue of military pay in the court and ask for as much as possible. Secondly, it hinted that if Zhu Lan entered the officialdom, it would definitely be detrimental to his power in the future, so he wanted him to find a chance to eliminate him.
Princess Qi Murong Lian was also sitting in the carriage.
"Your Highness, let me take a look."
"Okay." Yan Changwen nodded, and when he turned his gaze to Murong Lian, his deep little eyes were suddenly filled with tenderness.
Yan Changwen took Murong Lian's hand, let her sit on his lap, and looked towards the entrance of the Ministry of Rites through the carriage window.
"You're so young." Murong Lin looked at Zhu Lan from afar, his tone somewhat envious.
"Look at what you said." Yan Changwen hugged Murong Lan and whispered in her ear, "It's a pity that our Lan entered the palace early and never took the imperial examination. Otherwise, with Lan'er's talent, it wouldn't be difficult for her to get the top prize."
Murong Lian angrily slapped him on the back of his hand. "If I win the first place in the imperial examination and become an official, you can marry someone else, right?"
"Nonsense." Yan Changwen hugged her tighter, "Besides Lian'er, who else in this world can catch my eye?"
The two of them chatted quietly for a while, and Murong Lian finally asked seriously, "How do you plan to deal with this Zhu Huiyuan?"
As he spoke, Murong Lian sighed softly, "It's really not easy for a woman to have such talent. It's a pity that she can't be used by us in the end."
"It may not be impossible." Yan Changwen said, his eyes deepened as he looked at Murong Yan, "It's just... I'm afraid of angering my father-in-law."
The King of Zhenbei hated Zhu Huiyuan very much. As a son-in-law, he should be united with his father-in-law. If he tried to win over Zhu Lan, wouldn't that be a betrayal?
What's more, the officials of Prince Qi's palace, including Prince Qi's faction, are all of the same blood with the Prince of Zhenbei. Losing 100,000 taels of military pay for nothing is also a big loss for them, and I don't know how many people will hold the grudge against Zhu Lan.
Murong Lian looked at him for a long while, then held Yan Changwen's broad hand with his backhand.
"If you want to do it, just do it. I will take care of it with my father."
Yan Changwen lowered the carriage curtain and said with a smile, "Don't worry, this is the Spring Examination. How good is this Zhu Huiyuan? We will have to wait until we get to the Golden Palace to find out.
Don't forget, there are more talents this time. The young master of the Zuo Xiang family is also very interesting. "
…
In front of the Ministry of Rites, Qiao Youyou and others came back after looking at the list. She was not good at hiding her emotions, and her excitement and joy were all written on her face.
Before Zhu Lan could ask, Qiao Youyou had already started counting like pouring beans.
"Yes, everyone is on the list! I'm number 131, Zhou Da is in the 90s, Liang Zhou seems to be a little behind, Xiao Wan..." Qiao Youyou touched his head and looked up at the sky, "Eh, I don't think I saw her."
"Wanwan, Wanwan!" Zhao Sicheng, who had specially asked for leave from the Ministry of Industry to come here, struggled to squeeze through a group of people, moved to Xiao Wan's side, and asked her excitedly how she did in the exam.
Xiao Wan looked calm, pursed her lips and smiled, and whispered: "Not bad, 18th place."
"Eighteenth!?" Zhao Sicheng shouted exaggeratedly, attracting many people to look over here. They wondered whether the eighteenth place in high school was this boy or the thin young girl in front of him.
No matter who you are, you are enviable.
"My wife is so awesome!" Zhao Sicheng was much more excited than Xiao Wan, and even spoke a little vulgarly accidentally, but he didn't care.
If there weren't so many people around, he would be able to hold Xiao Wan and spin around three hundred times!
Someone walked up to Zhu Qingyan and said happily, "Congratulations to Zhu Huiyuan!"
Zhu Qingyan: ...
She was speechless for a moment, then pointed at Zhu Lan with her chin, "Zhu Huiyuan is there!"
The candidate with poor eyesight suddenly said "Oh" and apologized for his mistake, then put a smile on his face again and walked towards Zhu Lan.
Zhu Qingyan shook his head. It was such a pity that Zhu Lan got the first place again.
But think about it from another angle, if I am destined not to be the first, then it is better to let Zhu Lan be the first than to let those stinky men take it.
Not far away, Zhu Lan politely responded to the congratulations from all around him, but he was thinking about other things.
Why is Wenren Yuebai's name not among the top ten?
At this time, Qiao Youyou came back with a mysterious look on his face. He lowered his voice and asked Zhu Lan, "Guess who is on the Palace Ranking this time?"
The Palace Ranking was the last one on the list. Zhu Lan shook her head, she didn’t know.
"It's Wenren Yuebai!"
Zhu Lan was a little surprised. This was indeed something she had not expected.
Then Qiao Youyou snorted, "I thought Xu Shiming was exaggerating at the time, saying 'the best in the capital'... He ranked last in the imperial examination, and he can be the best in the capital with this?"
Zhu Lan was also confused. Could it be that this person really was a person who gained his fame in vain?
…
At the same time, a young man wearing a light fur coat and sitting in a wheelchair was pushed out of the Ziyun Hall by the eunuch in charge.
This man had delicate features but his face was sickly pale. In his hand, he held a gilded hand warmer like Emperor Liang, but the warmth could not reach his cold eyes at all.
The eunuch in charge behind the wheelchair hurriedly lowered his head and entered the Ziyun Hall, then quickly walked out with a loud voice.
"Rumor has it, Wenren Yuebai——"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com