With the double insurance of Zhu Zhongyan and Li Xingye, Zhao Lin felt at ease. He just had to wait for the exam after the new year. It didn't need to be too good, even if he was the last one. As long as he passed, the position of prefect would be firmly in his hands.
A young man who is sixteen years old and will be seventeen next year is still a teenager. He just passed the exam and became the governor of a state in one step. In Zhao Lin's previous life, he would have directly become the secretary of the municipal party committee. It must have been a major event that shocked the court and the public. There would definitely be many obstacles, and the impeachment of the censors would be like snowflakes. Moreover, Zhao Chenhan would not sit idly by. There would probably be a shock at that time.
But this has nothing to do with Zhao Lin. He just needs to seize the time to study and pass the imperial examination.
Of course, there is another big matter that needs to be dealt with.
That is to calm Fu Liqing's anger.
Zhao Lin faked his death and escaped to Qingzhou without telling anyone except him and Su Di, which made Fu Liqing sad for a while.
If you make a beautiful woman sad, you must make amends to her.
Zhao Lin asked Yun Zhiyi to deliver some books he brought back from Qingzhou to Fu Liqing, and reluctantly obtained the beauty's forgiveness.
…
"Did that bastard go to the palace to see Zhu Zhongyan?"
Zhao Chenhan had been staring at Zhao Lin. When he heard that Zhao Lin had gone to see Zhu Zhongyan, his face twisted slightly.
Zhu Zhongyan is a powerful eunuch who has absolute power over everything. Even Zhao Jingzhou is not as powerful as him, so Zhao Chenhan naturally wants to curry favor with him.
But he couldn't do what Zhao Lin did, such as participating in building a shrine for Zhu Zhongyan and writing poems for him.
When the ancestral temple was inaugurated, Feng Siyuan invited Zhao Chenhan, but he directly refused.
Zhao Chenhan thought clearly that he would be hanging out with those ministers in the future, so how could he possibly ruin his reputation by attending the ceremony?
But having said that, Zhao Chenhan was still jealous and went crazy when he heard that Zhao Lin went to see this powerful eunuch who was second only to the emperor.
"This bastard doesn't care about his face at all. What did he say to Zhu Zhongyan?" Zhao Chenhan asked.
"We can't follow them into the imperial city. No one knows what they are talking about." said the subordinate.
"Useless trash." Zhao Chenhan cursed.
These men were servants of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion recruited by Zhao Chenhan with money. They were good at doing small things like gathering information, but they were not qualified to do big things.
The servants curled their lips. They only ran errands for Zhao Chenhan because he was generous and Zhao Jingzhou and his wife didn't care about Zhao Lin. Otherwise, their indentures were in the hands of the master, and if they dared to betray their master, being buried alive would be the least of their punishment.
Zhao Chenhan also noticed the other person's expression and waved him off. He thought to himself, "Looks like I need to quickly develop my own manpower. Damn it, I'm the only heir to the Marquisate. Why didn't they make me the Crown Prince and give me all the manpower in the mansion? Do you still want that bastard to come back?"
"It seems I have to find a way to remind them."
Zhao Chenhan thought for a moment, and happened to see Zhao Mingya coming from afar. Zhao Chenhan sighed deeply.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Mingya asked with concern.
Zhao Chenhan sighed, "This trip has left me with deep feelings. I want to do something, but I'm powerless. Unlike my elder brother, I don't have the help of the eunuchs."
"Humph, that bastard actually clung to the eunuch party. He's really courting death. He's brought shame upon our Marquisate. Never mention him again."
When Zhao Lin was mentioned, Zhao Mingya became furious and said, "The manpower issue is simple. I'll go talk to mother. Anyway, you will be the prince and the future master of the Marquisate. If the manpower in the Marquisate is not given to you, how can it be left to that bastard?"
After saying that, Zhao Mingya walked away.
Zhao Chenhan was secretly delighted, but he still followed up, "Dad and Mom have their own plans, so let's not talk too much, okay?"
Zhao Mingya said, "Anyway, mother has already said that you will be the crown prince, but it will be a month or so earlier."
Zhao Mingya found Han Yuehua and told her what happened. Han Yuehua nodded repeatedly: "Mingya is right. It was my mother who was negligent. As the heir of the Marquisate, the future young marquis, how can you be without people around you? Fang Cheng, go and pick twenty secret guards from the mansion for Han'er."
"Yes, ma'am." Butler Fang replied.
Zhao Chenhan was overjoyed: "Thank you, mother."
The secret guards of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion were all trained by Zhao Jingzhou himself. They are veterans of hundreds of battles and are very powerful.
Han Yuehua smiled and tapped Zhao Chenhan's forehead with her finger: "You kid, you're so polite to your mother. You did a good job in the Qingzhou mission. Did Li Xingye give you any reward?"
Zhao Chenhan shook his head and said, "No, I haven't been asked to come over in the past two days. Maybe it's not as good as my brother's."
Han Yuehua said angrily, "This Li Xingye, relying on his royal status, is arrogant and indifferent to everyone. They say he is fair and selfless, but I think he is a mean-spirited person who abuses his power for personal gain. You have done so much, and if I don't give you some reward, I will settle the score with him when your father comes back."
Zhao Chenhan said in surprise, "Dad is coming back? Didn't they say that Beidi has been very active recently and it's difficult for Dad to leave?"
"That was the case before, but your father set up ambushes and won two victories, annihilating some of the enemy. They dare not come again in the short term. It's just that your father can't make it back in time for the New Year, so he won't be back until after the New Year. But..."
Han Yuehua looked at Zhao Chenhan and smiled, "Your father has already sent a letter. He will write to His Majesty to ask him to confer the title of Crown Prince upon you."
Zhao Chenhan immediately pretended to be apprehensive: "Can I do it? Big brother is highly regarded by Lord Li, why not ask big brother to come back..."
Han Yuehua immediately shouted angrily, "Don't mention that rebellious son. He actually colluded with the eunuch party. He is no longer my son. You are not allowed to mention him in the future. Don't let anyone know that he is from the Marquis' Mansion. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Mom." Zhao Mingya and Zhao Chenhan replied quickly.
…
The two rumors spread in the capital, but they did not have as great an impact as others imagined.
After all, they are just two teenagers, and everyone can accept it even if they do something out of line.
So whether Zhao Lin is trying to praise Zhao Chenhan or Zhao Chenhan wants to disgust Zhao Lin, it won't have much effect.
Zhao Lin was too lazy to pay attention to Zhao Chenhan. Every day, apart from reporting to the government office, he would study at home. In order to pretend that he was a well-behaved child, Zhao Chenhan would go between Prince Yu's Mansion and Chongwenguan, and they didn't bother each other much.
Time just passes by little by little.
Soon, it’s the end of the year and the Chinese New Year is just a few days away.
"Why are there so many people?"
As soon as Sudi went out, he saw a long line of carriages in front of the door. The dust raised by the carriages covered his face, and he said very unhappily.
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "These are officials from other places who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination."
"Going to Beijing to take the imperial examination?" Sudi reacted immediately and said, "What a great image."
Starting from half a month ago, the capital city has been bustling with people coming and going, and there are more and more foreign accents.
They are all people who come to Beijing to give gifts.
Interpersonal relationships are necessary in any world.
What's more, the world is in such chaos right now that it's impossible to get promoted through normal procedures. You can only rely on moving around.
Isn’t it just going to Beijing to take the exam?
"Did you give any gifts?" Sudi suddenly asked, "Lord Li may not give any, but others must."
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