Chu Yunmu wanted to brag about his bravery again, but the lady told him what happened before he could.

The lady dowager hugged Chu Yunmu lovingly, wishing she could call him her darling.

Chu Lingyu looked back and forth between Chu Yunmu and Chu Qianling. Like Liu, he was also dissatisfied and wanted to argue with the lady and the eldest son.

The problem is…

Thinking of something, Chu Lingyu temporarily suppressed his dissatisfaction and signaled his wife with his eyes to stay calm.

After everyone sat down, the lady drank a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Ah Xiao, A Yu, why did you two come back so late today?"

Chu Lingyu was waiting for the lady to ask. His eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "Mother, the annual Imperial College enrollment is coming soon. My eldest brother and I have discussed that Yi and Yun are both old enough and can go and try."

The Yi Ge'er that Chu Lingyu was referring to was Chu Lingxiao's eldest son, Chu Yunyi.

Chu Lingxiao nodded slightly, "They are both almost twelve years old, so they can go to the Imperial Academy for some training."

Unlike the previous dynasties that valued civil over military, the Great Qi Dynasty attached equal importance to civil and military because Nan Hao was eyeing it covetously. Therefore, the Imperial College not only recruited civil students such as tongsheng, xiucai, and juren, but also military students.

The Imperial Academy is the best institution of learning in Da Qi. To enter the Imperial Academy, one must not only pass an exam, but also need a letter of recommendation. To put it bluntly, it is impossible for everyone to rush to the Imperial Academy to take the entrance exam.

Liu's eyes also lit up. She also understood why Chu Lingyu asked her to be patient. If Chu Yunchen wanted to get the recommendation letter, he would need the help of the eldest son's family.

There are only a few admission places to the Imperial College every year. Not only do they have to compete with the children of noble officials in the capital, but they also have to compete with the children of other aristocratic families from all over the country. It is no exaggeration to say that they are one in a thousand.

But once you enter the Imperial College, it is like having one foot in the imperial court. In the future, civil students will take the civil examination, and military students will take the military examination. Seven or eight out of ten will be able to pass the civil and military examinations.

When they serve as officials in the court in the future, their classmates in the Imperial College will not only be their colleagues in the court, but can also become a kind of help.

The lady was also in high spirits, and thought this was a good idea. She smiled and said, "Brother Yi will arrive in Beijing soon, so we can catch up with him."

In mid-February, the Jiang family sent a message saying that Old Master Jiang, the wife's elder brother, was ill. The wife was worried about his brother, and Chu Lingxiao and his brothers were busy with work and could not go to the Jiang family, so Chu Yunyi went to Yuzhou to visit Old Master Jiang. He did not return to Beijing until Old Master Jiang recovered. It has been three months since he left.

Chu Qianchen drank tea silently on the side.

When she was reborn, Chu Yunyi had already set off for Yuzhou. From her previous life to now, she had not seen Chu Yunyi for many, many years. Even his appearance had become blurred in the long river of memory.

Chu Qianchen did not have a deep impression of this biological brother who had the same father and mother. She only vaguely remembered that she had played with him when she was little. He followed her like his little tail and called her sister. Later, she didn't know what happened, but Aunt Jiang didn't let her play with him. It seemed that it happened when she was four or five years old, and she couldn't remember it clearly.

After experiencing those thrilling events in her previous life, the past thirteen years in the Marquis' Mansion became insignificant. Her grandmother, father, aunt, second brother... most of her blood relatives were no different from strangers to her.

Not to mention the prince, even when compared with Mo Chen and Xue Feng playing them, they cannot be compared.

Chu Qianchen drank his tea by himself and didn't say a word from beginning to end.

Her calmness formed a sharp contrast with the noise and bustle around her.

The mother and her two children were talking more and more excitedly. The lady subconsciously looked at Shen, wanting her to help her find her mother's family.

For the Marquis's Mansion, it is not difficult to obtain a letter of recommendation for the Imperial College entrance examination, but if the Duke Mu's Mansion steps in, perhaps the two children can enter the Imperial College directly without taking the exam.

Every year, the Imperial College has a few places that are exempt from the entrance examination. Sometimes they are young geniuses who have become famous, such as Su Hongfei, the only liberal arts champion in the history of the Great Qi Dynasty who won the third place in the small and third place in the big three; sometimes they are talents recommended by great Confucian scholars; sometimes they are granted by the emperor...

Shen lowered her eyes and drank her tea, as if she was completely unaware of the lady's gaze.

The lady's face darkened. If it were in the past, she could naturally act like a mother-in-law and discuss things with Shen, but for the past half month, she had been treating Shen coldly. Now, she couldn't bring herself to bow her head and beg Shen.

The lady could not help but wink at Chu Lingxiao, but Chu Lingxiao also did not want to ask Shen for help and just pretended not to understand.

He also didn't think that the Duke Mu's Mansion had the ability to send two children directly to the Imperial Academy. Otherwise, why would the children of the Duke Mu's Mansion need to take the exam themselves!

Chu Lingxiao had already made a plan in mind, so he said, "Mother, I plan to invite Master Wen and Master Wu to come back and help the two children improve their lessons."

Just like the military examination required policy questions, the Imperial College's military examination also had a literary test. Those who could not read a single word would definitely not pass the entrance examination.

Chu Lingyu and Liu also echoed the words. One said that the teacher of the clan school was just a scholar and probably knew nothing about military tactics. The other said that it would be best to invite a martial arts candidate to give some advice...

As the topic turned to the Imperial College entrance examination, Chu Qianling pursed her lips tightly behind her veil and twisted her fingers around.

The lady-in-waiting watched her two sons discuss the matter, but in the end she did not ask Shen for help.

They were talking animatedly, while Chu Qianchen was just there drinking tea, eating plums, and occasionally feeding a plum to Chu Yunmu. He just ignored what they said.

On the contrary, Chu Yunmu listened very attentively.

He felt that he would need to take the Imperial College entrance exam in the future, so it would be best to prepare for it a few years in advance.

He listened attentively, and ate whatever Chu Qianchen stuffed into his hand, like a squirrel holding food in both hands, with his little mouth puffed up.

Chu Qianchen felt warm in his heart just by looking at him. He thought about making a better and more handy bow for Chu Yunmu, also to avoid what happened today from happening again.

She remembered that the prince had said that there was a century-old bow-making shop in the capital, and the Jurchen bow that the prince had given her was also made there.

Oh, and she also needs to make a few knives.

Although there are some knives commonly used by doctors on the market, such as open knives, flat-blade knives, crescent-blade knives, scissors, tweezers, etc., she still feels that these knives are not delicate or sharp enough.

She planned to make some improvements based on the existing knives. The knife had to be thin and light, thinner than a razor; sharp and able to cut hair; and small, smaller than a dagger, so that she could hold it flexibly between her fingers and turn it over and over, like the size of a playing card.

Moreover, it had to be easy to use, and she had to know the uses of knives such as the opener knife, the flat-blade knife, and the moon-blade knife. In this way, she could open the prince's stomach and remove the arrow as quickly as possible, minimizing the wound and reducing the trauma to a minimum.

Since this concerns Gu Jue, she must not make any mistakes.

Since her rebirth, she has drawn several blueprints, but she always feels that they are not good enough.

After Chu Qianchen returned to Wanyan Courtyard, she had dinner first and then stayed in the small study with Amber. She drew several drawings of the knives.

The desk was in a mess, with all kinds of knives, flat-blade knives, moon-blade knives, triangular needles, razors, daggers, throwing knives, leaf cards, etc. placed on the table.

The sun had already set outside, and the sky was a deep gray-blue.

Amber lit a sheep-horn palace lantern beside the table. The candlelight swayed slightly in the thin lampshade, casting a faint luster on Chu Qianchen's hair.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Chu Qianchen grabbed a leaf card in her hand, and the leaf card was turned over and over flexibly between her white and slender fingers.

Her movements were light and nimble, and the bamboo leaf card made her slender fingers look like they were carved from mutton-fat jade, which was indescribably beautiful.

Amber was watching from the side, almost stunned, and couldn't help but say: "Girl, your hands are so flexible!"

Amber said this from the bottom of her heart. Her daughter's hands not only write beautifully, but are also good at sword dancing, archery, acupuncture, medicine making, playing the piano, painting, etc.

Amber often finds it incredible that such a young girl can understand so much?!

The leaf card turned again in Chu Qianchen's hand, and then fell into her palm. She grabbed it and said casually, "What's the big deal?"

Chu Qianchen's words also came from the heart.

The prince's hands were much more flexible than hers. He had taught her how to play cards, Pai Gow, and dice, and demonstrated to her how the dealers cheated. He said that knowing how to cheat would prevent one from being cheated, and playing cards could train the flexibility of the fingers.

Yes!

Chu Qianchen suddenly clapped his hands, his pupils lit up.

The prince is much more powerful than her. Although he does not know medical books, his understanding of weapons such as swords far exceeds hers.

She can ask the prince!

But……

Soon, her eyes dimmed again little by little, and she looked out the window, looking at the southern sky.

But, when will the prince come back? !

Before the prince returns to Beijing, she can only rely on herself.

Chu Qianchen picked up the wolf-hair brush again and continued to paint on the rice paper, painting a knife, a bow, one after another...

The night is getting deeper and deeper, and the moon is rising above the willow trees.

The gong sounded at the first watch.

The gong sounded at the second watch.

…

Chu Qianchen was completely unaware and was just concentrating on drawing.

The candle flame was burning quietly in the lampshade. The night wind blew in from the window, and the candle flame swayed gently twice.

The small study was dim and bright.

Chu Qianchen raised her head and was hesitating whether to close the window, but she saw a moon-white figure outside the window lightly jumping down from the tree and landing outside her window silently.

Chu Qianchen opened his eyes slightly and watched the other party climb in through the window with great agility.

It’s Gu Jue.

He was wearing a moon-white Hu clothing with a lapel, a jade belt around his waist, and short boots, which made him look tall and lean.

The orange-yellow candlelight softly enveloped his face, dimly making his originally cold features soften a little.

(End of this chapter)