Seeing Xiao Li drinking a glass of wine in a cool and neat manner, the young master looked at her for a long time and suddenly said, "I don't know how to address you, young lady?"
Xiao Li looked over and said quickly, "My name is Song Junzhan. Please forgive me if I was rude."
"Xiao Li, the Li of dawn."
Song Junzhan's expression changed slightly: "Miss Xiao."
Xiao Li put down his wine glass and tilted his head slightly to look at him: "The east wind I've been waiting for has arrived, what about you?"
"Young Master, you don't look like an ordinary person. What are you waiting for, guarding this teahouse with no business?"
Song Junzhan gave her a deep look, then turned his gaze to the window: "Miss, have you heard of the imperial examination?"
Xiao Li raised an eyebrow. Isn't this world based on a system of recommendation by aristocratic families? Why is there still an imperial examination?
Song Junzhan saw that she had no idea and explained, "The imperial examination was a system of the previous dynasty. It was used to select talented people to govern the country. Regardless of their background, anyone with a clean family background could participate."
"But after the founding of our dynasty, Emperor Taizu bestowed titles upon aristocratic families. After that, all officials in the court came from aristocratic families. After that, no one from a poor family could climb to a high position. The aristocratic families controlled the government, undermined the imperial power, and suppressed the poor. Not only did they cut off the opportunities for the poor to realize their ambitions, they even enslaved them at will, torturing them to death without any means of redress."
"Ten years ago, the late emperor intended to revive the imperial examination system and united many of his ministers to reform it. However, his intentions were discovered by the aristocratic families, and all the ministers involved were imprisoned and exiled on various charges. A few years later, the late emperor died of illness, and no one mentioned the imperial examination system again."
"I am just an ordinary kid from a poor family. I have a lot of knowledge but nowhere to display it. I can only stay in this small teahouse and wait for the opportunity."
Xiao Li didn't say anything for a long time, mainly because it was difficult to answer.
How does the saying go: If you ask me what I don’t have, as long as I have it, I can give it to you; but if I really have it and you ask me if I am willing to give it to you, then I might hesitate, because I might really have to give it to you.
She knew how good the imperial examination system was for the ancient system, and she also had the ability to help him realize it.
Then you can't just take this lightly.
What she wants now is to kill people, kill and kill all the way. Although those she kills are all from aristocratic families, the imperial examination changes the court structure. She is not going to govern the country for the emperor, so she doesn't want to interfere in this matter.
This is a script, a cage that traps her. What she wants is to kill her way through the script and return to her original world, not to innovate infrastructure here.
"Do you believe you can wait?"
This was obviously a casual remark, but Song Junzhan didn't care: "Things are in our hands, and things will change."
After Xiao Li left, Zi Yue sneaked in and nervously looked at Song Junzhan who was still drinking tea: "Young Master, why did you tell the beautiful sister everything about the imperial examination? Don't you want to live anymore?"
Song Junzhan asked him back: "Don't you like her that much?"
Zi Yue sat down, worried. "I like you, but that's not the same thing. My beautiful sister is obviously from a noble family. If you tell her, what if she goes back and tells her family? The consequences will be disastrous."
Song Junzhan raised his hand and touched his head: "Don't worry, even if she won't help us, she will definitely not become our enemy."
Ziyue was convinced by the young master's words: "Why?"
Song Junzhan did not answer, but thought in his heart: Because her surname is Xiao.
Xiao is the national surname.
Dawn is the rising sun, and he may know the identity of this girl.
Perhaps, she is the dawn he is waiting for.
Thinking of this, Song Junzhan tapped the table lightly, as if he had made some kind of decision: "Zi Yue, go and invite Uncle Jiang up."
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Xiao Li entered the palace again because the cowardly and incompetent emperor was blocked in the imperial study by the aristocratic families and could not even return to the bedroom.
The emperor issued an order to Prince Wei and Lou Yan, asking them to thoroughly investigate the Changchun Tower incident, but the matter could not be further investigated.
Judging from the speed at which the emperor executed the Gao family, many noble families would be killed if the investigation went on.
The Gao family has been raided, and this matter should end here.
They blocked the way and said they wanted to persuade and discuss things, but in reality they just wanted to stop the emperor from issuing imperial decrees that they could not control. They were forcing the emperor.
This time, the Wang family and other aristocratic families seem to be competing with the Lu family, but in fact they are standing on the same front.
We are all in the same quagmire, who can be cleaner than who?
Those who died in Changchun Tower were not just those related to the Lu family, not to mention that these were only the ones who died in the open. There were also those who participated secretly and are still alive.
The madam of Changchunlou said that their list was also lost, and that list must absolutely not be made public, otherwise there would be no solution.
Their attitude was very simple. They would no longer pursue the prostitutes who had escaped from Changchunlou, so there was no need to investigate the case involving Changchunlou anymore.
The Chief Justice of the Dali Temple was beheaded and the Gao family's property was confiscated. This was considered an explanation to the people and the matter ended there.
In the imperial study, Xiao Jingyun had not eaten or drunk for a whole day.
Maybe he was not so determined originally, but seeing the aristocratic families pressing forward step by step, he was forced to take action.
He is the emperor, and these aristocratic families don't take him seriously at all.
He would never give in. He would fight them to the death and let them all die.
Dong Changrui stood by with a dustpan in his hand, patiently persuading him, "I know Your Majesty loves the people, but the country is not a joke. Your Majesty should prioritize the overall situation."
"If Your Majesty investigates this thoroughly, there will be chaos throughout the country, and the country will be in turmoil, Your Majesty..."
Dong Changrui's advice was not without reason, but considering Xiao Li's previous words, the emperor now suspected that he was just speaking for those people outside.
Seeing that the emperor was young, everyone wanted to give him some advice.
How could he not know that he was the emperor? Why did he have to have a bunch of people pointing fingers at him?
A group of people outside had clearly done something wrong but were still forcing him. This damn eunuch was clearly the one who was in charge of him, but he ended up speaking on the side of outsiders.
These people didn't take him, the emperor, seriously at all.
The emperor could no longer tolerate it and was about to lose his temper when he heard Xiao Li's voice from outside.
"Hey, everyone is here."
For the emperor, listening to Qianqian'er's voice was like hearing heavenly music.
Completely ignoring other people's gazes, he quickly went to the door, but did not open it. He looked out through the gap eagerly.
Those who came today were all heads of aristocratic families and the highest-ranking officials of the current dynasty, most of whom were from the generation of the late emperor, such as Lu Cang and Wang Changwen, who were from the generation of the late emperor's late emperor. At a glance, they were all old men.
Ambition does not diminish with age. These white-haired old men are about to die but still cling to power tightly. Their cloudy eyes are full of shrewd calculations and their ambition remains undiminished.
"Princess Xuanyang."
Even if they were reluctant, this group of old men still had to say hello and let someone say something symbolically. Forget about saluting, it would be good enough if they didn't have to let Xiao Li salute them.
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