With only ten days left until the provincial examination, the entire city of Fengjing was shrouded in a silent tension.
Qin Zhaoyue has been living a carefree life lately, with the palace covering all her needs for food, clothing, and daily necessities, so she doesn't have to worry about anything.
The only slight regret is that she can't go play with her handsome young man.
The Empress Dowager did not allow them to return to their residence, and there was no movement from Yin Zhe's side, so the danger was clearly not over.
She did consider going to the royal villa, but traveling alone, who knew if there were any powerful figures at the Divine Martial Realm secretly following her? She didn't feel safe enough.
Her three elder brothers and sisters were so busy that they had no time to spend with her.
The three below are full of energy and eager to go out and play, but what kind of date can they have with three burdens in tow? It's not enough to cause trouble.
So, Qin Zhaoyue completely gave up and gave up.
For a major event like the imperial examination, even if it's just an appetizer for the preliminary examination, on the surface, with her reputation, she has no say in it at all.
Putting aside the fact that it doesn't fit her usual persona, even if she were to bite the bullet and ask for power, who would give it to her?
As for those who, like Fifth Brother, follow behind Third and Fourth Sisters, running errands and doing odd jobs, how much merit can they earn?
The more comfortable she was, the more displeased the three people above her became.
Qin Zhaowan kept forcing her to do some work, but Qin Zhaoyue either refused outright or did it half-heartedly.
She personally demonstrated to her fourth sister what true "non-competition" means.
In the end, the third princess was so angry that she could only grit her teeth and give up, letting her do as she pleased.
Qin Zhaoyue is living a comfortable life, but some people are worried, so worried that they're getting blisters on their lips and are practically climbing on the roof to tear off the tiles.
On the afternoon of the third day after the preliminary test.
Qin Zhaoyue was lounging lazily on the chaise lounge in the corridor, a thin brocade quilt draped over her, her eyes half-closed as she digested her food.
The warm autumn sun shone through the carved window lattice, casting a lazy golden hue over her.
In this blissful state between sleep and wakefulness, the hushed whispers of two palace maids behind a pillar not far away reached her ears.
The keen senses of hearing and sight at the fifth level can sometimes be quite annoying.
At first, I thought it was some palace secrets or gossip, but upon closer listening, I realized they were just passing the buck.
"Go ahead, and after it's done, I'll give you half of the profits, okay?"
"Are you out of your mind? Didn't you see that the three masters above are all avoiding the Sixth Prince? You dare to make this money? Don't you want to live?"
"Well... that was news from the inner palace, and it was the will of His Highness's biological father. So what?"
"What's wrong? Why don't you go by yourself? Why do you have to share half of the benefits with me?"
...
The two whispered and pushed each other for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
In the end, it was the palace maid who had accepted the task who cautiously moved in.
Her face was pale, her fingers tightly gripping a plain letter, as she bowed deeply to Qin Zhaoyue on the bed.
"Your Highness, um... Lord Wen Yujun sent you a letter through someone."
"Who?" Qin Zhaoyue lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyes.
Palace maid: ...
"It is... Wen Ruoyu, Wen Yujun."
"Oh," Qin Zhaoyue lazily lifted her eyelids and casually raised her chin. "Okay, put it there."
"Yes!" The palace maid felt as if she had been granted a pardon. She practically rushed over to place the letter on the small table beside the bed, then fled as if she were running away, her footsteps so fast that they created a gust of wind.
Qinghui Hall is located deep within the outer court, far from the palace gardens where the inner palace resides.
Those in the inner palace who wanted to come in person couldn't do so without His Majesty's verbal order, so they could only rely on this method of having someone deliver the message.
Qin Zhaoyue waited for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before slowly extending two slender fingers to pick up the letter, unfold it, and glance at it.
The entire page is filled with clichés like "The autumn wind is getting cooler, may your body be at peace" and "The deep palace is lonely, I miss my beloved dearly."
Despite the roundabout and rambling conversation, the core message was simple: Wen Ruoyu missed her.
Feeling lonely, empty, and cold, he hoped she could obtain an imperial edict to visit her "poor" old father in the inner palace.
whispering sound……
Qin Zhaoyue chuckled and casually tossed the letter back onto the small table.
His Majesty is busy with countless affairs of state; he has no time to concern himself with such trivial matters.
Besides, she could guess what her cheap father was up to even with her eyes closed.
It's nothing more than that Wen's cousin passed the preliminary exam, tasted the sweetness of predicting the questions, saw the hope of passing the exam and becoming an official, and wanted to continue to get the secrets to passing the exam from her.
And it turned out just as she expected.
After returning home, Wen Mingke, the second son of the family, immediately embellished the story and reported it to Madam Wen.
Seeing that her granddaughter actually had a chance to rise above her station, the old woman thought it over and over again and felt that if she didn't seize the opportunity now, when would she?
With gritted teeth and a determined step, he decided to sell everything he owned and give it another shot.
The Wen family was prepared for a huge financial loss, but the problem was... the person couldn't be found.
This shows how destitute the Wen family is in the capital now, unable to even find a way to get the message to the Sixth Princess in the palace.
The family was like ants on a hot pan, suffering anxiously for three whole days.
With the provincial examination drawing ever closer, Wen Mingke could no longer bear it and hurriedly contacted his almost forgotten elder brother in the harem.
It was only through Wen Ruoyu's efforts and through intermediaries that this "letter of longing" was finally delivered to Qin Zhaoyue.
Qin Zhaoyue does want to make money, that's true, but she wants to make money while maintaining a respectable image.
She simply ignored such roundabout and unspoken letters.
The strategy can be summed up in one word: stretch!
Eat as you please, drink as you please, lie down as you please, and act as if you didn't see anything.
As dusk fell, a second letter, more urgent and with clearer implications, arrived on her desk, but Qin Zhaoyue didn't even lift her eyelids.
The following day, the third letter arrived as scheduled.
This time, Wen Ruoyu didn't care about being coy anymore. In his letter, he "strongly hinted" that Wen Tingwan was reviewing her studies.
However, lacking reference materials, I would like to ask her if I could borrow the collection of essays on the imperial examinations from previous years from the princess's collection.
Ha! Qin Zhaoyue almost burst out laughing.
This is such a fabricated story, it's like they didn't even bother to write a draft.
The Sixth Princess's residence doesn't even have a decent study, so where would she get a collection of essays on the imperial examinations over the years?
However, it's stretched out enough; the heat has reached its limit. Too much of a good thing can be bad.
She finally humbled herself and began to write, producing only one sentence in a flowing, elegant style on the snow-white Xuan paper:
"Go to the palace residence to find the broken ink."
In the imperial harem, when Wen Ruoyu held this piece of paper, which was light yet weighed more than a thousand pounds, she almost burst into tears of joy!
He was not considered a favorite, and life in the palace was already difficult.
He had asked people to send messages and make arrangements, and his meager savings were almost gone.
Finally... finally a response!
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