Prefect Li came from a poor family and studied diligently for ten years before becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination.
He previously worked as an editor at the Hanlin Academy.
He works diligently and conscientiously.
He was only about twenty years old. Most of the young ladies in the capital came from prominent families, and he was just an insignificant figure in the capital. None of the young ladies looked up to him.
In a few years, once he has saved some money, he will bring his elderly parents to the capital so they no longer have to toil in the fields. He will then be content to marry a well-mannered and respectful ordinary girl.
However, the eunuch beside His Highness suddenly walked into the Hanlin Academy with a smile.
Read aloud the Emperor's decree.
He was actually transferred to Jiangnan to serve as the prefect!
It should be noted that even the top scholar in the imperial examination still had to go through the ranks of sub-prefect and prefect before becoming a prefect.
Each step forward is not easy.
He, a nobody with no power or influence, who was not even noticed by the young ladies of the capital except for his diligence, was appointed as the prefect before he was even twenty years old.
This could be described as a meteoric rise; as long as they perform well, their future is limitless.
He recalled his childhood when he studied hard, unable to afford kerosene lamps, and had to read by moonlight; he remembered how his elderly father, wearing straw sandals, carried him to the private school in the snow-covered roads in winter, his steps uneven; he remembered how his mother sewed a pair of thick-soled shoes for him for several nights without rest when he went to the capital to take the imperial examinations.
Father, Mother, your child has made something of himself.
Once I arrive in Jiangnan, I can immediately bring you here to enjoy a life of comfort.
"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!" Prefect Li prostrated himself on all fours and kowtowed deeply.
That day, the threshold of his ordinary little courtyard in the capital was worn down by suitors.
However, Prefect Li was unwilling to betray His Highness's appreciation. Since he had been transferred to Jiangnan as Prefect, he would definitely protect that land.
Instead of heeding the advice of those around him, he stayed in Jiangnan for a few years, did some activities, and was able to return to the capital.
Your Majesty, I will certainly not fail in your trust!
Inside the mansion, Gu Mu was playing cards with his fierce maid and Shen Ling.
They wouldn't have done that originally.
But when you travel back to ancient times, entertainment facilities are really scarce.
So, Gu Mu, who was already quite impatient, gritted his teeth and taught them anyway.
Fortunately, Shen Ling was clever and understood immediately, while it took the fierce maid a lot of effort.
"Call the landlord!" Gu Mu looked at his hand—a bomb of cards, four twos, and...—and thought his hand was very good, so he said...
"I won't steal it."
"I won't steal it."
Gu Mu curled the corners of his lips into a smile.
The three cards on the table are revealed.
One is a 3, one is a 5, and one is an 8.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that what he initially thought was a straight was missing a 7.
Even a bomb and four twos can't save this hand.
He looked at Shen Ling across from him, her expression calm. Gu Mu couldn't figure out whether her hand was good or bad.
But the fierce maidservant was practically covering her mouth in secret delight.
Just then, Youyou rushed in, her expression anxious: "Your Highness, Your Highness! News has come from the border that General Shen was injured in the fighting a few days ago!"
General Shen is Shen Ci. When Gu Mu assigned him to the frontier, he made him a junior general.
In the original owner's memory, Shen Ci's health deteriorated daily after he was injured and did not receive timely medical treatment. However, the original owner refused to transfer him back to the capital. Despite his illness, Shen Ci fought against the enemy on the border battlefield, where war broke out every three to five days, and finally died on the battlefield half a year later.
Shen Ling's beautiful brows furrowed slightly, but her expression did not change much.
However, her slender, white fingers suddenly clenched the cards in her hand, and the veins on them bulged.
Youyou clearly hadn't expected Gu Mu to be in the house. She only noticed after speaking, and immediately knelt down, pleading, "Your Highness, please let General Shen return. There are imperial physicians in the capital who can provide General Shen with timely treatment. Otherwise, otherwise..."
Even Shen Ling, who had always been aloof and distant, looked at Gu Mu with a hint of hope.
After all, he was her own brother.
The older brother who took her to fly kites, fold paper kites for her, and swing her on the swing when she was little.
Even the most hard-hearted person can be overcome by emotions and lose their rationality.
So even though he had experienced his past life and knew that His Highness would never agree to it, and that His Highness intended to exterminate the entire Shen family, he still looked at Gu Mu with a hint of unrealistic fantasy.
Gu Mu then threw away the cards in his hand.
"General Shen has only been on the frontier for less than a month. If he is transferred back to the capital because of his injury, what will others think of him?"
"He's only twenty years old, young and promising. If he wants to return to the capital, he would never do so in such a humiliating way that borders on defeat."
Gu Mu used four words that were absolutely impossible.
Suddenly, the light of hope in Youyou and Shenling's eyes went out.
"Yes," Youyou said, choking back tears, not daring to say more.
It's clearly not suitable for me to play cards anymore.
Gu Mu left the Princess's Snowfall Courtyard and headed towards his own main courtyard.
As the regent, he doesn't have many people he can use, but someone like Shen Ci is definitely worth the effort to cultivate.
Since Shen Ci's death in his previous life was indirectly caused by infection.
In this life, if Shen Ci encounters Gu Mu, who possesses penicillin, she will absolutely not die again.
Back in the main courtyard, Gu Mu's spies had been waiting for a long time.
After a brief whisper, Gu Mu learned about the current state of the imperial court during his more than half a month in Jiangnan.
The Grand General, the Minister of War, the Minister of Justice, and others have been secretly in close contact recently.
However, the Regent's spies were everywhere, and their every move did not escape Gu Mu's eyes.
These people are all members of the Empress Dowager's faction, and the Grand General and the Minister of War are in charge of military affairs. It is feared that they will launch a coup.
In their eyes, half of the tiger tally was in the hands of the Grand General, and the other half was missing, meaning Gu Mu had no military power.
If a coup is launched, the power of the regent will likely be handed over to the empress dowager.
Gu Mu gently tapped the teacup with the lid, pondering why these things hadn't happened in his previous life.
Neither the assassination attempt by the young man in green nor the conspiracy between the general and the Minister of War occurred to the original owner of this body.
Could it be because of that poisonous insect?
That poisonous insect is likely problematic. Although the original owner's poison seems to have healed, there must still be toxins remaining in its body. It will likely die suddenly many years later, just like the old emperor.
Gu Mu was not bitten by the poisonous insect; Shen Ling discovered it beforehand and crushed it.
So when the Empress Dowager knew that Gu Mu would not die, she could no longer hold back and began to take various measures. Even if launching a coup was illegitimate, she was determined to seize power from Gu Mu!
Gu Mu chuckled softly...
Since the princess knew it was a poisonous insect, she couldn't possibly be unaware that the poison in the body isn't so easily cleared after being bitten by a poisonous insect.
But in the original owner's memory, the princess watched him fall for the attack without saying a word.
It turns out that the princess's cunning nature had already been exposed in her previous life.
However, it wasn't very obvious at that time.
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