Chapter 79 Stimulation
In the past, the second exam was supposed to test the candidates' knowledge of the classics. However, Xiao Yu felt that simply memorizing the texts was useless, so he changed the exam to test the interpretation of the classics. This exam mainly tested the candidates' memorization and explanation skills.
As with the previous exam, the examiners selected ten of the best papers to present to the emperor, who would then make the final decision. Xiao Yu selected three of his most satisfactory papers and placed them together with the previously selected ones.
"My lady, we're just waiting for the last exam." She was really looking forward to the last one. She had personally prepared the essay, and even if the first two exams were excellent, they would only be icing on the cake. She didn't want someone who could only recite poems and compose couplets.
Song Luoning raised an eyebrow, a smile playing at the corners of her eyes: "Is Your Majesty so confident in the exam questions you set?" She trusted this lecherous man, but for some reason, she just didn't want him to get his way.
“Of course, the question is a bit old-fashioned. The floods in Jiangnan have been going on for so many years and haven’t been resolved yet, right? What does that mean?” Xiao Yu looked at his wife expectantly.
"What does that mean?" Song Luoning asked, following her words with a puzzled look.
Xiao Yu didn't rush to answer. She glanced at the door of the imperial study. Without her permission, the palace servants dared not enter or leave casually. Thinking of this, she smiled and picked up Song Luoning without thinking: "Give me a kiss, and I'll tell you."
"..." Song Luoning stiffened, lowered her eyes, and pushed her shoulder, her tone soft: "Why don't you put me down? What will people think if they see this?"
"Really not going to kiss me?" Xiao Yu was a little discouraged. As expected of a young lady. Since the mountain won't come to see me, I'll go to the mountain myself. So she lowered her head and kissed him without hesitation.
A sweet and tempting kiss really has to be given by yourself.
Song Luoning's breath hitched. She hadn't expected this scoundrel to be so audacious. The two of them were still in the Imperial Study, how could this happen...?
After a while, he slowly closed his eyes, and his arms quietly climbed up her neck, closing the distance between them.
Xiao Yu's lips curved into a smile, knowing that although she refused verbally, she was willing in her heart. Thinking this, he carried her directly to the imperial desk and deepened the kiss.
"Not here..." Song Luoning snapped out of her daze, placing her hands on her shoulders. She took a deep breath and cupped her face, her cheeks flushed, her eyes shimmering with a captivating allure. She shook her head, her voice pleading, "No..."
Xiao Yu was unhappy. How could they stop now that they'd come this far? Besides, she wanted to try it here too. So she hugged her tighter and said somewhat shamelessly, "Why can't it be here?"
How could you do this? You lecherous scoundrel!
Song Luoning gripped Xiao Yu's sleeves tightly with both hands, her eyes shimmering, biting her lip, looking like she had been bullied terribly.
Xiao Yu's heart trembled, and she couldn't help but lick her lips. The young lady looked like this...
How could she possibly tolerate that?
Of course, she didn't intend to hold back. Taking advantage of Song Luoning's shyness, she once again captured her lips, held them, and sucked on them.
After a long while, they reluctantly separated. Their breaths were unsteady, and they only parted slightly, their lips still touching, their breaths mingling. Xiao Yu looked at her trembling eyelashes and subconsciously stuck out his tongue to lick her lips, causing the beauty beneath him to tremble slightly. After a while, she slowly opened her eyes, their eyes met, and the next second she turned her face away, avoiding that shameful gaze.
"My lady..." Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat again, and he called out softly. He pressed down on her again without regard for anything else, and his fingertips reached for her clothes and gently picked up her sash.
"No...there might be someone..." Song Luoning tensed up, then suddenly came to her senses and quickly grabbed her hand: "Not here."
How could this lecherous man act so recklessly in a place like this? The scene from just now flashed before my eyes; I imagined this lecherous man reviewing memorials here from now on...
Right where she was lying, thinking about this, Song Luoning couldn't stay calm. Her face turned red again and again. How could she have indulged her like this?
She then hardened her heart and said resolutely, "Anyway, not here. Put me down now."
Although Xiao Yu was still somewhat unsatisfied, he didn't insist any further. He blinked, helped her straighten her clothes, and carried them down.
Song Luoning blushed, feeling both angry and annoyed. If she hadn't come to her senses in time, she would have almost been taken advantage of by that lecherous man. She bit her lip and walked to sit down on the chair.
On the other hand, the policy essay exam has been completed. Unlike before, two hundred papers need to be selected from thousands of papers to be presented to the palace. Policy essays are different from others. The examiners have to read them from the beginning, filtering out those that are not coherent, have many typos, or are irrelevant to the topic. Then they have to pick out the good ones and compare them one by one. Since everyone has different political views, sometimes they need to discuss with each other before they can select a good one.
By the time the examiners delivered the exam papers to the palace, it was already noon the next day.
"Your Majesty, why don't you have some cool soup before you finish reading?" Song Luoning placed the white jade bowl on the imperial desk, sighed slightly, and took the examination paper from her hand. This scoundrel had been sitting there for two whole hours since the examination paper was brought into the palace.
"Hmm." Xiao Yu raised his head and couldn't help but complain, "None of these exam papers are good. I really don't know what these people are thinking. I asked them to come up with a good solution for flood control, and what they did was ask me to open the granaries and release grain. If it were that simple, what would be the point of flood control? We might as well just let it go."
Song Luo Ning frowned: "Calm down first. There are still some we haven't seen yet. Maybe there are some good ones. Your Majesty, drink some cool soup first. Don't get too hot and hurt yourself. I'll accompany Your Majesty to see them later."
"That's all we can do." Xiao Yu reached out and pulled her into his arms, pressing his cheek against her chest. "My wife is the best. I want to finish watching this quickly and spend time with her."
What's the point of accompanying her?
Song Luo Ning was slightly taken aback. The image of her almost rolling over the imperial desk earlier flashed back into her mind. Her face flushed slightly. She pursed her lips and put her hand on her shoulder: "How old are you? Stop acting like a child. Business is important. It's not too late for Your Majesty to spend time with Luo Ning after the talent selection is over."
Xiao Yu sighed, tightened her grip, and then reluctantly released her after a moment.
"My wife is right." She glanced at the cold soup and asked with concern, "Did you drink it?"
Song Luoning smiled and said, "I drank it."
"That's good." After saying that, Xiao Yu picked up the bowl of cold soup and drank it down in two or three gulps.
"Ugh..." It's too late for the cold soup... This scoundrel! How could he drink it all in one go? His stomach can't handle this cold soup all at once.
Song Luoning looked at her with concern: "Is your stomach uncomfortable?"
"It's okay, I used to drink cold drinks all the time," Xiao Yu said nonchalantly.
Before I wore this, I could easily drink a whole bottle of iced cola in one go, so this little bit of coldness was nothing.
After waiting a while and seeing that she was really alright, Song Luoning finally felt relieved and looked at her with a gloomy expression.
"Don't drink like that again next time, it's bad for your health."
"Yes, I'll listen to you, my wife." Xiao Yu nodded in agreement and took the exam papers from the imperial desk to continue reviewing them.
Song Luoning sighed softly, her gaze lingering on her with affection. She hadn't expected that this lecherous man could be so attractive when he was serious. Unconsciously, the curve of her lips slowly widened.
In the late afternoon, Cuizhu brought in some snacks. Seeing that the masters were all bowing their heads and reviewing documents, she quietly placed the tray on the table, tiptoed over, and whispered, "Your Majesty, the snacks are here."
Song Luoning nodded, put down the exam paper in her hand, and glanced at the person who was still engrossed in grading papers. The person sometimes frowned and sometimes nodded. Song Luoning sighed and said softly, "Your Majesty, please rest for a while and have some snacks." This person had barely eaten anything at lunch. Normally, even after finishing lunch, this person could drink two bowls of porridge. She looked at her with heartache.
"My lady, come and see this. It's very well-organized and analyzes the terrain of the Jiangnan region clearly. Although the part on water management is a little lacking, I believe that given time, she will definitely be a useful person." The young man's eyes were full of excitement, and even when he spoke, his eyes never left the exam paper, showing that he was very satisfied.
Song Luoning shook her head, her eyes overflowing with doting affection, and leaned over to read it with her.
The maidservant sighed. It was one thing for His Majesty to disregard her feelings, but now even his mistress was ignoring her. Was it really okay for him to be so affectionate in front of a single girl like her?
She glanced at her two masters, then quietly left the main hall as if she had no will to live. She decided to stay outside and keep watch, lest some fool disturb her young mistress's good time.
The young maid dutifully sat down on the steps in front of the palace.
Inside the hall.
Xiao Yu couldn't suppress his excitement: "My wife, of all the exam papers I've reviewed, this one is the most satisfying. I just don't know what kind of person this is." He felt a little uneasy.
Song Luoning chuckled: "His Majesty will be able to see it during the palace examination."
"My wife is right." Xiao Yu nodded. "Does my wife have anything good to offer?"
Song Luoning truthfully replied, "There weren't any particularly outstanding ones, but we did select two that were fairly average."
"Oh?" Xiao Yu's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Bring it here and let me see."
"Have some snacks first before you look at it." Song Luoning shook her head. She knew this person valued talent, but she didn't expect him to disregard his own health.
Seeing her refusal, Xiao Yu wasn't annoyed. He snuggled closer, nuzzling her shoulder, and said in a sweet, childlike voice, "My wife~"
At this moment, he had lost all imperial majesty and had become a large, soft, and clingy cat.
Song Luoning froze, and after a while, she pushed her gently and said softly, "Stop fooling around, eat something first."
"Okay." Xiao Yu replied, obediently walked to the armchair and sat down, picked up some snacks and started eating. He looked so well-behaved that Song Luoning couldn't help but soften her heart.
She tidied up the selected exam papers and placed them aside. On the other side were the ones she hadn't had time to read yet, and there weren't many left. Glancing at Xiao Yu, Song Luoning sat down again and continued to flip through them. By the time Xiao Yu finished her snack and returned, she had already read through several exam papers.
Xiao Yu blinked: "My wife, can you show me now?"
Seeing that she was still thinking about the exam papers from earlier, Song Luoning smiled and placed the two sets of exam papers she had prepared in front of her.
After reviewing the papers, Xiao Yu found that, as Song Luo Ning had said, there were none that were particularly outstanding. She felt a little disappointed and couldn't decide whether to be happy or worried. She was happy that she could recruit some people she could use, but worried that such a large country didn't have a single person with the talent she wanted.
The remaining exam papers were also mediocre. Ten papers were selected from the two hundred papers and, along with the ten papers from the previous two subjects, were handed over to the palace servants to be sent away.
With only one final palace examination remaining, it was scheduled for three days later. At that time, armored soldiers would escort the thirty candidates into the Zichen Palace, where she would personally set the questions for the examination.
After a long day, when Xiao Yu returned to Funing Palace, a crescent moon was already hanging in the sky.
The palace servants all knelt down to pay their respects.
Xiao Yu waved his hand, and the palace servants hurriedly withdrew from the hall. The emperor disliked being served and only allowed the empress to be near him. Everyone in Funing Palace knew this, so the palace servants all retreated to wait outside the hall.
Seeing that everyone had left, Xiao Yu took off his outer clothes and collapsed onto the dragon bed, exhausted.
"When will this heat end?" She wondered why summers in ancient times seemed so unbearable. She really missed the air conditioning at home.
Song Luoning picked up her outer garment from the couch and draped it over the screen: "Don't get too cold."
She wasn't greedy for coolness at all. Xiao Yu rolled over and lay face down on the couch: "Has ice been put in the palace?"
"Knowing you were coming back, the palace servants prepared everything in advance."
Why is it still so hot?
As he spoke, he kicked off his boots, rolled to the inside of the dragon bed, and patted the spot beside him: "Wife, come up quickly."
The young lady has a low body temperature, so holding her in the summer is just right.
Song Luoning naturally had no idea what she was up to, assuming she was just being mischievous again, and gave her a reproachful look: "It's time to eat soon, no fooling around."
"......"
What's the meaning?
How could she be acting so recklessly? On such a hot day, she just wanted to hug the young lady to cool off, how did that become acting recklessly?
Xiao Yu was unconvinced and refused to give up, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about? Come and lie down with me for a while."
Song Luoning's breath hitched.
Lying down together for a while... isn't that considered fooling around?
The two stared at each other for a moment, and Xiao Yu obediently withdrew his hand, his gaze following her as she went to the bookshelf to take a book and sat down on the side of the tatami.
The bright moon hung in the sky, and floor lanterns were lit on both sides of the hall, so it didn't feel dark. Seeing that she didn't intend to lie down, Xiao Yu moved over and sat down, reaching out to pull her into his arms. The slightly cool touch made him feel relaxed and comfortable.
Xiao Yu sighed, "I wish I could hold you like this forever."
What kind of insolent and lewd words are these?
Even though she was used to hearing it, Song Luoning still blushed, but she didn't push her away, her eyes fixed on the book.
Both of them were tired from the day, so Xiao Yu didn't make a fuss. After the beauty was in his arms for a while, they went to sleep together after dinner.
The next morning was the morning court session held every three days. Before Xiao Yu even reached Funing Palace after court, he was stopped by a young eunuch.
"Your Majesty, this humble servant pays his respects."
Xiao Yu glanced at them; they were unfamiliar and didn't seem to be palace servants from Funing Palace. "What is it?"
The young eunuch said, "This servant is here by the Empress Dowager's decree to invite Your Majesty to the palace for a meal."
Empress Dowager?
Isn't she the old emperor's empress, the one who had a deep affection for the old emperor and never left the palace after his death?
What did she mean by suddenly inviting me to dinner?
I don't think I have any connection with her, but since she sent someone to invite me, it would be unreasonable for me not to go.
Xiao Yu beckoned to Fu Shun beside him: "Go quickly and tell the Empress that I can't have breakfast with her. Don't keep her waiting."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After the others had gone some distance, Xiao Yu said to the little eunuch, "Lead the way."
Having passed by the Shou Kang Palace once before, it didn't feel unfamiliar. There were twelve palace servants in the Shou Kang Palace, who all knelt down when the emperor arrived, shouting loudly, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Xiao Yu waved his hand and stepped into the hall. The hall was filled with the scent of sandalwood. Although it was daytime, palace lanterns were still lit in the hall. Two palace maids stood on each side of the hall door. Xiao Yu looked around and his gaze fell on the main seat. The woman in the main seat was well-maintained and her age could not be seen. She was dressed in dark Shu brocade, which was elegant and noble. Xiao Yu hurriedly stepped forward and raised his sleeve: "Greetings, Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Your Majesty, there's no need for such formalities. Please sit down."
Xiao Yu sat down to her left and then noticed that, besides the Empress Dowager and the palace servants, there was a young man in the hall.
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