Seeing Yining being naturally affectionate towards Luo Yihui, Old Lady Wei smiled and said, "You two sisters continue talking. I'll ask the servants to prepare lunch." After that, she let Mother Song hold her hand and walked out.
Yi Ning looked around but didn't see Luo Shenyuan. She asked Luo Yihui, who then said, "...I just met Cheng Lang. They went to play chess."
After taking a sip of tea to moisten her throat, she continued, "Yesterday's news was that your third brother had just been appointed as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple."
Yi Ning was somewhat surprised to hear this. Luo Shenyuan had won the top spot in the imperial examination in February, and he had only been working as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy for two months! Ordinary Jinshi scholars had to first accumulate experience in the Hanlin Academy or the Six Ministries before becoming officials, and it took three years of experience. And even if they did, they should have gone to the Six Ministries, but his third brother went straight to the position of Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, which handled criminal cases.
"How did you suddenly become the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple?" she asked. "Even if you wanted to be an official, you should have started as a Censor or a Doctor of the Six Ministries."
Others would be county magistrates or councilors of the Tongzhengsi. It's impossible for them to suddenly become the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, a high-ranking official of the fourth rank!
Luo Yihui shook her head and said, "He was highly recommended by Deputy Minister Xu. There are many people who don't agree with him...but your third brother didn't say anything. You can ask him when you see him later."
Yining remembered that Xu Wei was the backbone of the Qingliu School.
The court's factional struggles were clearly divided between the Qingliu faction and the Wang Yuan faction. After Wang Yuan murdered Lord Liu, the Qingliu faction resented him to the core. However, Wang Yuan was the Prime Minister, and he had been suppressing the Qingliu faction heavily, keeping them suppressed for years. Perhaps driven to desperation, they were forced to seek new forces.
Although she was surprised, she was still very happy to know that her third brother had become the Shaoqing of Dali Temple.
"Then I have to congratulate him in person!" Yining said with a smile, and called the maid over to ask where Luo Shenyuan was.
The two of them were playing chess in the pavilion.
When Yi Ning arrived, the chessboard was already covered with black and white rivers and mountains. Yi Ning had played against both of them before. Cheng Lang's level was indeed very high, but he was still no match for Luo Shenyuan.
His chess skills can be described as terrifying. He can arrange the game and plan the strategy with ease.
Seeing her coming, Cheng Lang raised his eyes and said, "Just now it was apprentice versus apprentice, now it's master versus master."
Yining saw her third brother playing with chess pieces across from her. He looked at Yining calmly and said, "You can't beat him."
Not to mention that Luo Yining couldn't beat Cheng Lang, even Daoyan couldn't beat him back then.
Yi Ning sat down next to her third brother. After she sat down, his left sleeve brushed against hers and he made another move. "Master Cheng's victory over my sister was unfair."
"Lord Luo is too modest. Yining's chess skills are extremely high. I think Miss Xie, who is famous in the capital, can be comparable to her." Cheng Lang said with a smile.
"I've fought with Xie Yun before." Luo Shenyuan said calmly, "She couldn't beat Xie Yun."
Yi Ning wanted to speak after hearing this, but she felt a little strange when they mentioned Xie Yun. She immediately said, "Third brother, I haven't competed with Second Miss Xie yet. We should at least compete first."
Luo Shenyuan glanced at her, patted her head and said, "Okay, we'll talk about it next time."
Yi Ning didn't know what to say. Was this Third Brother trying to comfort her?
Cheng Lang had learned chess from a master and was incredibly talented, so she'd assumed no one could possibly surpass her. Unexpectedly, the newly crowned top scholar was also a master. The two of them hadn't even settled the match by dinnertime, truly a match made in heaven. Instead, several girls approached the pavilion, stopped nearby, and watched them, their whispers interspersed with exclamations of surprise.
When Yining looked up, she saw Shen Jiarou standing behind Zhao Mingzhu evasively, her big watery eyes fixed on Luo Shenyuan, her face slightly red.
Cheng Lang looked at it, put his fist to his lips, and smiled silently.
Luo Shenyuan's face remained sullen. He tossed the chess piece into the bowl and said to Yi Ning, "...Isn't it time for dinner at your house?"
Yi Ning also found it interesting and wanted to see more. But she said goodbye and asked the maid to go to Fangshan to order dinner. When she arrived in Fangshan, she saw Shen Yu, whom she had not seen for a long time, talking to Mrs. Wei. After seeing her, Shen Yu stood up, nodded and smiled at her: "Sister Yi Ning, it's been a long time!"
Yi Ning thought he had forgotten about the original incident and smiled at him: "Brother Shen Yu is well." Luo Shenyuan and Cheng Lang walked in and stood behind Yi Ning. Yi Ning was going to take his third brother to dinner and forgot about Shen Yu.
After dinner, Luo Shenyuan and Cheng Lang continued playing chess, while Old Lady Wei invited a troupe of opera singers and watched the show with Luo Yihui in the back mountain of Jing'an Residence.
Yi Ning had no interest in watching the opera to begin with, so she reluctantly accompanied her elder sister for a while. The sound of gongs and drums gave her a headache, so she said goodbye to Old Lady Wei and her elder sister and prepared to rest in the side room.
After leaving the stage, the clacking of the opera drums subsided. Yi Ning looked at the tender pink lotus buds that had sprouted in the early summer pond and thought they were growing beautifully. Since she didn't have a lotus pond, she said to Zhenzhu, "...have someone pick some lotus flowers and put them in the study. Ting'er likes lotus leaf rice, so make him some tonight."
Zhenzhu nodded. Yining felt that he had not slept well last night and had a slight headache. He rubbed his eyebrows and let Zhenzhu support him as he walked away.
Zhao Mingzhu stood behind Yi Ning and watched for a long time. When she left the stage, she followed her out.
When she looked at Luo Yining, she would think of Lu Jiaxue and her own difficult birth... But what could she do? She took a deep breath until the two of them disappeared and was about to go back. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her asking, "Sister Mingzhu, do you know where Sister Yining went?"
Zhao Mingzhu turned around and saw Shen Yu standing behind her. He was wearing a brocade robe, looking handsome and smiling at her.
Zhao Mingzhu was silent for a moment, but she suddenly remembered what Su Xi had said to her, if Yi Ning got married. She knew Shen Yu liked Luo Yining... If they really matched the two of them, Luo Yining would marry into the Zhongqin Earl's family in the future. There must be a place for her in the Duke of Yingguo's mansion... She smiled slowly and pointed in the direction of the corridor: "I saw Sister Yi Ning going that way."
Shen Yu thanked her again and went in the direction she pointed.
Cheng Lang was halfway through his chess game when he walked out, also looking at the new lotus flowers, which were rolling in the green waves under the breeze. He saw Shen Yu talking to Zhao Mingzhu from a distance, and he even heard what they were saying.
He listened expressionlessly against the pillar for a moment, then walked back. Whatever happened to Luo Yining had nothing to do with him. Since he had already decided not to get involved with her... he might as well just leave her alone.
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