Liu Yexi had already gone to make arrangements 2 days earlier, so Mu Yuyan naturally was not worried.
But it was always good for Gu Lan to study at home. He would not get entangled in outside troubles, and she could personally protect him.
Eh, this seemed a lot like that book her husband had told her about a few days ago, 《The Campus Belle’s Personal Expert》, except this was the reversed version…
Mu Yuyan appeared calm on the surface, but her thoughts were actually quite lively.
“Don’t worry, husband. I won’t overexert myself because of the imperial examinations.”
Gu Lan nodded with a smile, his fingertips gliding through her black hair. “I said before that I don’t study in order to become an official. Have you forgotten, wife?”
“It is a good thing that my husband has such uncommon aspirations.”
Of course, Mu Yuyan did not know why he did not want to become an official. She merely thought of that timeless maxim, and her heartstrings stirred, her eyes full of tenderness.
Absorbing the merfolk pearl can wait until tomorrow…
Desire stirred in Gu Lan’s heart. He could not help lowering his head to lightly kiss her fragrant lips, then gazed deeply into her eyes.
Mu Yuyan’s entire body went soft.
“Wife…”
“Mm?”
“The moonlight tonight… is so beautiful.”
…
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
After Wu Feng escaped danger that day, he bought a fine horse and rushed toward the capital.
He bore a blood feud on his shoulders, and even after being saved once, he did not dare linger for long!
Because he had heard that the Empress did not attend to state affairs, Wu Feng feared she would not dispatch troops for him alone. So he originally intended to go straight to beat the Dengwen Drum and, before the imperial city gates, announce the Huajian Sect’s monstrous crimes recorded in the Image-Recording Stone to all under heaven!
He wanted to use such an extreme method to make the court redress his father’s injustice!
However, what he had not expected was this!
On the very night he checked into an inn, Chancellor Sima Qin of the current court came to see him, holding the Empress’s imperial edict in both hands. He was appointed Governor of Yunzhou and allowed to return to inherit his father’s post!
Wu Feng was dumbfounded!
Immediately afterward, when he heard that the Empress had long since executed Duan Pei and that his father had been posthumously ennobled as Marquis Ningyun, he burst into tears on the spot and performed the full rite of 3 kneelings and 9 kowtows toward the palace city!
“For Your Majesty’s sacred grace, the Wu family will surely repay it even beyond death!”
After he returned to Yunzhou, the people of the capital heard about this matter and discussed it with relish in the streets:
“Her Majesty perceived the smallest details and cleared the Wu family’s long-buried grievance. Great Jing has gained another household of loyal ministers!”
“From now on, quite a few demons in Yunzhou should be driven out. We won’t have to live in constant fear anymore!”
“…”
Thus, it became a much-told tale.
And subtly, whether among the people or the officials, impressions of the Empress gradually began to change.
…
On Langzhou’s long street, a spring breeze stretched for 10 li.
Today was the registration day for the autumn provincial examinations.
Gu Lan arrived at the authorities, and from afar he saw a queue like a long dragon. At the front, a yamen runner was recording names in the register.
“The one bad thing about transmigrating is that there’s no online registration!”
Gu Lan muttered softly and walked to the back of the queue.
Of course, he definitely would not foolishly stand in line.
Although the sun was not harsh at this time, standing for too long still inevitably made one’s back and waist ache.
The xiucai scholars currently standing in line were already growing impatient one by one, constantly pounding their waists and legs, their faces showing discomfort.
Gu Lan circled around the queue, went straight to a small stall, sat down, ordered a serving of cooling tea, and quietly waited for the crowd to thin.
Just then.
Gu Lan suddenly discovered a very peculiar fellow at the very end of the queue.
It was a scholar wearing a blue headscarf and a plain white Confucian robe. His features were quite refined.
The reason Gu Lan called him peculiar was that he kept giving up his place!
He was already the last person in line, but as long as anyone else came to register, he let that person stand in front of him.
After queuing for half the day, he was still the very last one!
Everyone else was rushing forward, afraid they would not be registered before dark and would have wasted an entire day in line, yet he did the exact opposite?
“This person is interesting.”
Gu Lan smiled faintly.
When the sun was sinking toward the western hills and pedestrians on the long street gradually grew scarce, Gu Lan placed a piece of broken silver on the table, then calmly walked toward the registration queue.
That scholar was still at the very end.
Seeing Gu Lan approach, although he was somewhat tired, he still smiled and made an inviting gesture. “Brother, you may stand in front of me. I’m in no hurry.”
If you’re in no hurry, why did you come so early and keep giving up your spot one by one… Gu Lan wanted to laugh inwardly. He cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, brother. May I ask your honorable surname?”
“No need for ‘honorable’; my surname is Lin, and my given name is Lu.”
The scholar replied with refined courtesy.
Lin Lu…
Gu Lan nodded and ran through the names of important characters in the original novel. Finding that Lin Lu was not among them, he spoke at ease. “I am Gu Lan. A pleasure to meet you!”
“Brother Gu, are you connected to Gu Teahouse?” Lin Lu suddenly asked.
“I am the one who opened that teahouse.”
Gu Lan was not surprised at being recognized, because due to his family having moved here from far away, his household was the only one surnamed Gu in the city.
“Ah! Then I truly must thank you, Brother Gu!”
Lin Lu suddenly cupped his fists, his eyes filled with gratitude. “Before the New Year, my elder sister planted 2 mu of tea leaves. After the harvest, however, no tea merchants wanted them. In the end, it was your teahouse that bought them and solved my family’s urgent need!”
Gu Lan had some impression of this matter.
When they had just entered the twelfth lunar month last year, his wife had handled that deal. They had made no profit and had merely treated it as forming a good karmic tie with a pair of siblings.
“It was a small matter. Brother Lin, there is no need to be polite.”
Once they had spoken, they were no longer strangers. Only then did Gu Lan ask, “Just now, I saw Brother Lin keep giving up your place to those who came later, while you yourself still have not registered. May I ask the reason?”
Lin Lu was somewhat embarrassed. He scratched his head and laughed. “Actually, the main reason is that I don’t want to take the exam… I came here to register only to appease my family…”
Eh, there’s someone like me too… Gu Lan’s eyes lit up.
But I’m doing it because I don’t want to go to the capital. What’s your reason?
“Brother Lin, did you not review?”
“Ahem, of course not!” Lin Lu choked a little, then explained, “It’s just that my ambition does not lie here, and I don’t want to waste this money.”
There were fees for the imperial examinations, and once one passed and entered the Imperial Academy, it cost even more.
Lin Lu did not want his sister to work so hard, toiling away at growing tea to support his studies.
“Then what do you want to do?”
Gu Lan asked curiously.
“To be honest, Brother Gu, I actually want to go to the battlefield!” Lin Lu’s eyes shone with spirit, and a few traces of boldness appeared on his delicate face. “Not only can I receive rations and pay there, but there’s also a chance to become a cultivator. That’s much better than wearing out writing brushes!”
“…”
Gu Lan looked at his build somewhat speechlessly and felt that this fellow seemed to lack clear self-awareness.
There were indeed opportunities on the battlefield, but you would probably be dead before you ever became a cultivator!
“Your sister doesn’t want you to go, right?”
“Mm. She’s worried about me.”
Lin Lu answered honestly, “I’m the only male in the family. She truly can’t do without me, but she doesn’t know that a family like ours has no money to raise a high official…”
After hearing this, Gu Lan was deeply moved.
Money, no matter what world one went to, truly was something that could decide one’s fate.
“Perhaps your sister doesn’t necessarily…”
Gu Lan stayed silent for a long time and was just about to advise him.
Just then.
A bossy, blustering voice shattered the peace of the dusk.
“Move aside, move aside! The sun’s about to set. I have to get my name registered today!”
A young man dressed in luxurious purple robes barged over. Instead of lining up at the back of the queue, he walked directly along the line toward the yamen runner recording names at the front.
One could tell at a glance that he intended to cut in line!
I hate people like this the most… Gu Lan frowned and asked, “Who is that?”
The one who answered him was not Lin Lu beside him, but several scholars lined up ahead.
Clearly, they were also quite displeased with this Li Yang!
“That worthless mud from the Li family who can’t be plastered onto a wall… Li Yang, of course!”
“He’s taken the exams for 8 years and is still only a tongsheng. Later, he used connections in the authorities to buy the status of xiucai.”
“Among us scholars, he is the one we despise most!”
“Who told him to have such a ‘good sister’? She just had to marry our prefect. Though she’s only a concubine, she can still whisper a little pillow talk and add some ‘glory’ to the Li family, can’t she?”
“Pah!”
“…”