In fact, Lieyang still has nightmares from time to time, dreaming that he is participating in the Autumn Examination again. Every time he is awakened from the nightmare by the inhumane body search. As a result, he has been searched countless times in his dreams, but has never been to the Imperial Examination Hall... In fact, it is mainly because he does not know what the Imperial Examination Hall is like.

Once he even dreamed of a vicious soldier searching him, who shouted at him impatiently: "Are you here to take the imperial examination or to sell your body?"

After waking up, he was sobbing and crying out of humiliation that Jin Xuezeng, who was sleeping in the same bed with him, thought he was possessed by evil spirits.

After listening to Jin Xuezeng's story, Master Zhao thought about it for a while and said to Shen Si, "Since you are used to it, you should take the test."

"Yes, Master..." Yu Shensi responded with a sad face, still unwilling to give up, and asked: "Then Master, will Sixth Junior Brother take the exam too?"

"He's sick, are you sick too?" Zhao Hao was furious when he heard that, and whipped Yu Shensi on the butt. "You can take the test if you want, it's like you're taking it for me!"

"Master, please calm down. I was just asking casually. I will definitely take the exam." Yu Shensi quickly held his head and begged for mercy.

Zhao Hao's expression eased a little then. He glared at him and said, "With your academic ability, it will be no problem for you to pass the imperial examination. It will be more convenient in the future if you have an official title." It would not be said that he disliked him for affecting the admission rate of students in the science department.

As for Zhang Jian, he is the soul of the Xishan Island Research Center. Even if he is not sick, Master Zhao will not let his beloved disciple distract himself from the exam.

The petty-minded master is also a snob...

"Then you should explain your work and go to the academy for intensive training after the New Year." Zhao Hao thought for a moment and said, "Although Dayang can recommend you to take the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture, you should go back to Shandong to take the examination. The competition here is too fierce."

People all immigrate to provinces where it is easier to pass exams. No matter how confident you are, there is no reason to do the opposite.

"Yes, Master." Yu Shensi responded weakly.

"If you still can't pass the exam after returning to Shandong, you don't have to come back!" Zhao Hao glared at him fiercely and said, "You useless thing! Learn from Sima Guang, Cai Lun, and Zheng He. Didn't they suffer more than you? Didn't they also have strong wills despite their disabilities and achieve great things?"

"Master, that's Sima Qian. Although Sima Guang also wrote history, he didn't have eunuchs..." Jin Xuezeng reminded in a low voice.

"Shut up! I made him so angry that he was talking nonsense!" Zhao Hao whipped Lao Qi with his backhand.

"Master, don't worry, I will definitely pass the exam!" Knowing that if he failed, his master would disown him, Yu Shensi was frightened and finally pulled himself together. He swore that even if it meant losing his life, he would pass the exam and become a Jinshi.

"That's good enough." Zhao Hao nodded with satisfaction.

~~

On the other side, while Ma Xianglan was accompanying Qiaoqiao for a horse ride, Xiao Zhuzi finally got the chance to talk to the young county lady alone.

"Are you ready to show your true colors?" She and Li Mingyue were riding at full speed, and they were able to talk without being affected. It can be seen that Miss Zhang also rode horses a lot.

"Well, I won't act anymore. It's tiring." Li Mingyue said, and then added a qualification: "At least not in front of Brother Zhao."

At least in front of the big brother's family and subordinates, he had to act. Especially that stinky old man Zhao Liben, who didn't like him in the first place. If he acted carelessly in front of him, he didn't know how he would frame him.

But as long as I can be free with Brother Zhao, those are nothing. After all, the little county lady is a natural actor and doesn't feel too much pressure in acting.

"Aren't you afraid that Mr. Zhao..." Zhang Xiaojing couldn't help but ask, "Don't you like this?"

She still believes that Zhao Hao pretended not to like writing poetry in order to relieve the pressure on the young county lady.

"I admit that I had a gambling element..." A rare trace of sadness flashed across Li Mingyue's bright face, and then she chuckled and said, "But I won the bet, so there's nothing to say!"

After saying that, he squeezed the horse's belly hard and surpassed Zhang Xiaojing again.

In fact, she originally wanted to see how Brother Zhao would react to her true self. She had already thought about it. If he didn't like her like this, she would just say she was joking and get over it...

But think about it, disappointment is certain.

In fact, even if it wasn't like that, the feeling of disappointment was always there, but she didn't show it because she loved Brother Zhao too much.

The reason is simple. Unlike Jiang Xueying, who seems strong and tough, but is actually weak and helpless, Li Mingyue is truly strong. She is a member of a royal family and has a rebellious mother. This allows her to do whatever she wants with the royal halo, but she is not bound by the royal rules.

In fact, she is happier than the princess to a great extent, because she is free! For the canary in the cage, the gorgeous bird cage and the exquisite food are not important, the most precious thing is freedom!

If there was a woman in the Ming Dynasty who could live her own life freely, it would probably be Li Mingyue.

So when she found that she needed to share her beloved Brother Zhao with others, Li Mingyue naturally would not accept it as freely as Jiang Xueying did.

Li Mingyue felt aggrieved, but her love for Zhao Hao was greater than her grievance, allowing her to understand Brother Zhao's difficulties.

She knew that the Jiangnan Group was established by Zhao Hao and Jiang Xueying, and the people in the Jiangnan Group would not agree to their president being a subordinate, as that would make them overall inferior to the Xishan Group. Even if this emotion was suppressed by Mr. Zhao, it would cause cracks in the Jiangnan Group.

She didn't want to embarrass Zhao Hao, so she could only embarrass herself. So when she was at the dock before, she was indeed angry... thinking, if you don't like me because of my true face, then I don't like you either.

But Zhao Hao liked her so much that he was willing to go crazy with her. This made the little county lady lose her temper again. Forget it, forget it. Her Royal Highness the Princess has long said that it is harder to find a man you like and can play with than to find a needle in a haystack!

It's so hard to catch one, so don't be picky. It's hard to be perfect in this matter... My mother was forced to marry my father.

Thinking of this, the gloom in the young county lady's heart suddenly dissipated, and she decided not to think about those trivial things anymore.

Let us live a carefree life with the world as our companion, galloping on horseback and sharing the prosperity of the world.

But since it has come to this, how can it only benefit outsiders?

Thinking of this, she slowed down, turned to her best friend and said with a smile: "Can we be together forever?"

"What a joke! I don't like women." Xiao Zhuzi almost fell off his horse after hearing her tangy words.

"I don't like it either." Li Mingyue said this, then turned her horse's head and ran towards Zhao Hao, shouting happily: "Brother Zhao, I have changed my mind, let's go hunting!"

Xiao Zhuzi looked at her retreating figure in astonishment, her pretty face suddenly flushed, and she spat softly, "What nonsense are you talking about."

~~

The group of young people had a great time at Dongtan for the whole day. The next day, the girls rested in the county government office, while the poor Master Zhao, accompanied by his disciples, went to inspect the Jiangnan Shipyard.

In the carriage, Master Zhao lay on Secretary Ma's legs yawning, complaining why he was not allowed to rest all day.

"Sir, tomorrow is the day you will meet with Hai Zhongcheng. If you want to go back to Chongming Island before the New Year, then I will cancel today's schedule." Secretary Ma said softly while pressing the acupoints on his face with her slender fingers.

"Forget it, forget it. I won't even have a break during the Chinese New Year." Young Master Zhao accepted his fate in frustration. There was nothing he could do. Who allowed him to run such a big business? Even if his subordinates were very capable, he still had a lot of things that required him to personally attend to.

"Then sit up quickly." Sister Ma patted his cheek and said, "We'll be there soon."

"But I really don't have the strength anymore..." Zhao Hao continued to lie down. As he spoke, he looked at Sister Ma's pretty face, which was like a beauty in a painting. Her eyes were as bright as the brightest stars in the night sky. "Come on, sister?"

"Alas, child, it's not easy for you to learn good things, but you learn bad things so quickly." Sister Ma took off her gold-rimmed glasses with a helpless look on her face and lowered her head shyly.

~~

The carriage stopped for a full ten minutes before Zhao Hao got out.

After a while, Secretary Ma, who seemed to be calm, also came down with a slightly unsteady step.

In fact, her legs were just numb from being pillowed...really.

Over there, in addition to the two disciples, there were also the deputy director of Jiangnan Shipyard, Ma Hu, the chief engineer Yang Mi, and Yang Fan, the supervisor of Longjiang Baochuan Factory who came from Jinling, who had been waiting for a long time.

Originally, Elder Niu was the deputy director of Jiangnan Shipyard, but Chen Huaixiu had too much shipping tasks to do, so Elder Niu had to go to Jiangnan Shipping to help first, and handed over the equally important shipyard to his apprentice Ma Hu.

Ma Hu is Hu Niu's husband Xiao Hu. He is Elder Ma's nephew and has been learning shipbuilding in the sand ship gang shipyard since he was a child. Although he is a little naive, he is very serious and never careless.

Later, when Royal Shipping was established, Zhao Hao simply asked Elder Niu to serve as deputy general manager and chief dispatcher, and officially appointed Ma Hu as deputy director of Jiangnan Shipyard.

As for Yang Mi, he is Yang Fan's younger brother. His brother taught him the shipbuilding techniques. At that time, Yang Fan promised to recruit 1,000 skilled shipbuilders for Zhao Hao, including him. Because he was a master in shipbuilding, he became the chief engineer.

However, Yang Fan has nothing to do with Jiangnan Shipyard, and no one knows what he is here for.

After greeting, Zhao Hao asked everyone to stand up and smiled to Yang Fan, "When did you arrive?"

"My Lord, it's been three days." Yang Fan smiled and replied, "I came here purely out of curiosity to watch the fun."

"Glad that you're here." Zhao Hao smiled indifferently and walked towards the shipyard surrounded by the crowd.

As soon as you enter the shipyard, you will see the uniquely shaped and huge Oriental Beauty moored alone in the No. 1 dock.

"Have you seen it?" Zhao Hao asked, pointing at the boat.

"I've seen it, and it really opened my eyes." Yang Fan couldn't help but sigh: "In terms of shipbuilding, the Westerners are indeed better than us in many aspects."