Chapter 1755 Adding fuel to the fire

Changzhi returned to the rented yard. The yard was not big, so the servant asked a woman from the village to clean it. He also bought food, eggs, etc. in the village.

Chang Zhi said, "Go to the county town and buy a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone. Buy some more good paper. It should be enough to write two copies of the Four Books."

The boy didn't understand, "Master, you want to dictate?"

"It's for someone else."

Changzhi waited for the servant to leave, and took out his usual writing tools to prepare some letters. He met three unsuccessful candidates along the way, two of whom had problems. The first one had been so frustrated that he gave up studying, but only Liu Mingsheng continued to persevere and had a good character.

Liu Mingsheng's case is easy to investigate. Just follow who is suppressing him and you can find out. Liu Mingsheng's test paper must have been swapped with someone else and replaced Liu Mingsheng's score.

This hasn't even reached Chuanzhou yet, the darkness under the imperial examination is shocking, the local noble families can really cover up the sky with one hand.

After Chang Zhi finished writing the letter, he thought about what he had seen in the provincial capital. A young man from a noble family actually did not take the provincial officials seriously, all because he had an uncle who was an official in the capital.

In Beijing, Zhou Shuren had no idea what Changzhi saw and felt, he was holding the child!

Yes, a soft child.

The emperor was amused watching from the side. "Marquis Zhou often holds children at home. Look how standard his movements are."

Zhou Shuren said: "Indeed, I hugged him a lot."

The emperor asked, "Does this child look very much like me?"

Zhou Shuren thought that they only looked three-quarters alike, and that the child looked more like the prince. "Yeah, alike."

The emperor snorted. The old fox only said "similar", but he didn't mean it was very similar. He stretched out his hand and took the child in his arms. "Today you have seen your future apprentice. This child is yours in the future."

Zhou Shuren had mixed feelings. With such a young disciple, "I will try to live a few more years."

The emperor felt worried when he saw Zhou Shuren, and asked, "Can't you eat more?"

"It's a physical problem. This can't be blamed on me."

Don’t even mention how jealous his wife is that he can’t gain weight!

The emperor handed the child to the prince and signaled him to send the child back. When no one was in the study, the emperor said, "I haven't summoned Gu Sheng for a while. Your son is testing his future son-in-law, and I have added fuel to the fire."

Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes in his heart, "You obviously want to increase the stakes for the Yong'an Duke's Mansion."

So don't think he's thinking well!

The emperor laughed and said, "I knew you knew everything."

Zhou Shuren took a sip of tea and said, "It's almost three years. Where does Your Majesty want Zhuo Guyu to go? I want to make my position clear. The Ministry of Revenue is not prepared to hire an official."

The Emperor: "Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble for you."

Zhou Shuren looked up at the emperor, his meaning was obvious even without him saying anything: Aren’t the troubles you’ve brought me enough?

The emperor had no guilty conscience. "I have chosen a good place for him. What do you think of the Ministry of Justice?"

Zhou Shuren put down his teacup and gave a thumbs up, "Great."

The Duke of Yong'an's Mansion can only resort to open conspiracy, which is not easy to do, so the Emperor added chips and conveniences.

The emperor smiled again and said, "The prince will go to the Ministry of Justice in a few days, and he will take Zhuo Guyu with him."

Zhou Shuren raised his thumb again, which meant that the emperor was the best at playing chess.

The emperor added: "Your fourth son has a lot of ideas."

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "He reads a lot and thinks a lot."

The emperor sneered, "There are many people who read a lot, but not many who have ideas."

Zhou Shuren agreed. He said that many officials in the court did not do their job and clung to their stubborn ideas. They also suppressed officials with their own ideas. He felt uneasy every time he saw this.

The emperor said again: "What a pity."

Zhou Shuren lowered his head and looked at the teacup on the table. It was indeed a pity for the fourth child. He could only be Mr. Zhou Si. Fortunately, Chang Zhi understood and was open-minded.

The emperor kept his eyes on Zhou Shuren, this man was too clear-headed.

A few days later, the emperor did what he said. The prince went to the Ministry of Justice and brought Zhuo Guyu with him, which made many eyes fall on the Yong'an Mansion.

Everyone thought that the Duke's Mansion had no future, but the eldest son of the Zhuo family caught the favor of the Crown Prince and was taken to the Ministry of Justice.

The Duke was not very happy, instead he kept sighing. The Duke's Mansion was working very hard!

In the Hanlin Academy, several people came to Gu Sheng, and one of them said, "It seems that Zhuo Guyu has already found a destination."

Another person said, "I thought the first one would be Gu Sheng."

Gu Sheng said, "Hey guys, you guys blocked the light."

Several people looked at each other with sarcasm in their eyes. They envied Gu Sheng in the past, but now without Lord Zhou's protection, Gu Sheng was no better.

Gu Sheng is stable. If he can't enter the palace, he just needs to do his own thing. Good and bad things go hand in hand. Because of his silence, fewer people have mentioned kissing recently, which is a good thing for him.

When leaving the government office, Gu Sheng saw Wu Shangheng, "Why are you here?"

Wu Shangheng said: "I'll treat you to a drink."

Gu Sheng smiled and said, "Okay."

He understood that Wu Shangheng came to support him, as he was the future prince consort.

After getting on the carriage, Wu Shangheng looked at Gu Sheng and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's a good opportunity for me to calm down and study ancient books."

Wu Shangheng was relieved. "I told you not to look down on Zhuo Guyu. My father always warned me that there is no good without fate or reason, and we should not judge everything by appearance."

There are some things he can't say much about, so he can only reveal these.

Gu Sheng just didn't have big ambitions, but he wasn't stupid. "I understand. Didn't you say last time that your father was going to Beijing?"

Wu Shangheng said: "It will take another five or six days to reach the capital. He didn't come here for me."

Dad went to the palace to see the emperor and let him know the Wu family's loyalty.

Wu Shangheng sighed, "After Changzhong left, the Fourth Prince also stopped leaving the palace. You are the only good friend I have left. I can only have more tea and chat with you in the future."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

At Zhouhou Mansion, Zhulan and Zhao were chatting. Zhao mentioned Hu, "My mother-in-law went to the manor."

"She's living a good life."

Zhao had watched her mother-in-law's life for a long time and was envious. She had no children to worry about and lived a fulfilling life. "Well, she wants to rebuild the farm this year."

Zhulan likes Hu's personality very much. She keeps her word and never interferes with the couple's life. "She is an open-minded person."

Such people live long lives.

Zhao was worried about Yushuang, "I don't know how Yushuang and her husband are doing."

"Liu Feng and Yu Shuang can handle it."

On the contrary, she was not worried about the two children, as they both knew what was going on.

Zhao suddenly said, "I heard from my husband that the Ministry of Rites is preparing for the second prince's wedding."

Zhulan knew that Shuren came back and said that the emperor was going to let the second prince get married. However, unlike the crown prince's wedding, the second prince's wedding would be low-key. It has not been announced yet and only a few people know about it.

Zhao said in a low voice: "It's not easy for Miss Li."

Zhulan thought that it was indeed not easy. The Second Prince hoped to have a good in-law family, but unfortunately the Li family was not one of them. The more unwilling the Second Prince was, the harder life would be for the Li family girls.

(End of this chapter)