Yu Shu left the Taicheng Bureau, but she did not go home directly. Instead, she had the bearers send her to the People-training Hall. This was the place where the eight thousand examinees of the Dayan discussed, so there was no lack of eyes and ears. Regarding this strange technique, she wanted to hear the opinions of others before deciding what to do next.
When she arrived at the front of Peiren Training Hall, some of the candidates had already returned and were discussing about Prince Xiang's treasure. Yu Shu picked a teahouse in the crowd and ordered a pot of oolong tea. She listened to others. In a crowded place, there would always be someone who liked to show off and did not hesitate to show off their tongues —
"The period of ten days is neither long nor short. We only need to calculate the whereabouts of Prince Xiang's treasure within these ten days. We don't need to look for it. Ten days later, we will hand in our papers at Taicheng Office. After that, it will be up to Prince Xiang's Mansion and the Celestial Commissioner. Before the examination in April next year, they will send people to look for it according to the answers on our papers. Those who can find the lost item will be selected in one go."
Yu Shu nodded inwardly. She didn't know much about the process of the exam, but after listening to them, she had an idea. It turned out that this question didn't require them to find the item for it to count. They only needed to calculate the whereabouts of the item within ten days.
"If you ask me, what could Prince Xiang have lost? He actually used it as this year's Dayan examination question. "
"Since there are so many people here, it must be a priceless treasure, such as a golden horse or a jade carriage. Anyway, it is something that ordinary people like us have never seen before."
"No, it can't be such a big treasure. I think it should be a small thing, perhaps a jade pendant or a painting."
"That makes sense, that makes sense!"
When this person spoke, people upstairs and downstairs in the teahouse responded one after another. However, someone preferred to sing a different tune and snorted, "Who said it must be a dead thing? Maybe it is a living thing. Maybe it is a bird or a cat … Maybe Prince Xiang has lost a living person!"
Everyone in the teahouse looked at each other in dismay and whispers could be heard everywhere. Yu Shu touched her chin and felt that this person's speculation was interesting … Keeping it in mind, she waited for another hour and inquired about the location of Prince Xiang's Residence. It was almost noon. Seeing that there were no other useful discussions, she paid for the tea and left.
She expected that on the first day … the entrance of Prince Xiang's residence would definitely be crowded with visitors. Yu Shu didn't join the crowd and returned to Zhao Hui's residence.
Zhao Hui had been waiting in the front hall for the whole morning. As soon as she saw her return, she hurriedly asked, "How was it? How was the exam today?"
"The exam hasn't been conducted yet. Today, only the topic has been announced …" Yu Shu then told Zhao Hui about the topic of the strange arts and said, "I will first think about the method of divination. Tomorrow, I will pay a visit to Prince Xiang's residence and ask about the situation."
Zhao Hui didn't understand this and could only agree. She ordered a maid to bring the ginseng wine and pigeon soup that was prepared this morning. She watched her eat two bowls before allowing her to return to her room.
Yu Shu returned to her room and put down her book case. She took off her hat and tidied up her hair. She went to the kitchen to see that Jing Chen's medicine was ready and brought it over to him.
After being warned by Doctor He not to move around for two days, Jing Chen only got out of bed this morning … He couldn't practice his swordsmanship, so he sat in the room and read. Yu Shu came to deliver the medicine. After hearing the content of her exam, Jing Chen saw that she was talking about how difficult the question was and how difficult it was to solve … but her face didn't show much panic or distress. He didn't worry for her and said, "Since there are ten days, you should make good use of it. There is no need to visit me every day. I will take the medicine on time."
Yu Shu gestured for him to drink the medicine first. At the same time, she joked with him leisurely, "Jing Chen, hurry up and recover your memory. Who knows, you might be able to remember the past within these ten days. When that time comes, you can use the secret arts of your Mount Longhu to calculate with your fingers and you'll be able to find out where Prince Xiang lost his treasure. Then you can tell me, hehe."
Seeing that she wasn't serious, Jing Chen couldn't help but laugh. He actually nodded and said, "Alright. If I can calculate with my fingers, I will definitely help you."
The two of them didn't chat much. Yu Shu took the empty medicine bowl and left. She went back to her room to think of a solution.
Sitting in front of the study table, Yu Shu played with the waist token that she received from Minister Tai Cheng this morning. This item searching question couldn't be said to be easy. It wasn't related to good or bad luck, nor was it related to the future. It was an ordinary Qimen technique. Within the sixty-year cycle of nayin, there was no corresponding divination method. However, to her, this question was a little interesting.
When talking about how to solve the question, the first thing she thought of was the law of the time of calamity. She thought that Prince Xiang lost his treasure. This should be considered a kind of calamity, similar to losing money. If she used the law of the time of calamity to calculate Prince Xiang's eight characters and four pillars, she should be able to find some clues. At least, she would be able to determine when he lost his treasure. If she knew where Prince Xiang was at that time and what he was doing, she could basically determine where the treasure was lost.
If that was really the case, then it would be too easy for her.
However, the problem was that she couldn't be sure that the treasure that Prince Xiang lost would always stay at the place where it was lost. There were two possibilities. One, the treasure was found and taken away by someone else. Two, the treasure would 'leave' on its own.
Just like what the candidates in the Human Training Hall had guessed, this treasure might be a dead thing or a living thing, big or small. If it was a small dead thing, it would naturally be the best. But if it was a living thing, then it would give her a headache.
"It seems that I have to go to Prince Xiang's Mansion to find out what exactly is going on."
Yu Shu put down the waist token and prepared paper and ink. She wrote down the things she wanted to find out in detail on the paper in preparation for tomorrow's news gathering.
At night, before going to bed, she used the six lines of divination to do two complete hexagram. One was to ask if the hexagram would show a small auspicious sign in this examination. Moreover, the brother's eyes had water and withered trees, which was a sign of the appearance of a noble person. The other was to ask if the Ji family had anything to do with her. Unexpectedly, she revealed her fierce side. Obviously, the Ji family didn't intend to let her go. This made Yu Shu feel both happy and worried.
On the second day after Tai Chengsi announced the topic of the examination, Yu Shu went to Prince Xiang's Mansion early in the morning to queue up. As she expected, there was a scene of people and carriages crowding outside the Prince Xiang's Mansion early in the morning. There were guards guarding the entrance of the Prince Xiang's Mansion. Only a small door was opened at the south corner. A housekeeper wearing a gauze hat stood inside the door to receive the candidates who came to pay their respects.
"Don't push. Line up one by one. Male guests stand here and female guests stand there. After showing your waist token, leave your invitation card and wait for your name to be called at the door!"
Under the watchful eyes of the guards who were armed with iron weapons, the crowd did not dare to make a ruckus. Everyone obediently lined up. In this way, the female transvestites benefited from this. There were fewer of them than the male transvestites, so they lined up faster.
Yu Shu took advantage of the chaos … to mix into the middle of the female guests. Even so, she still waited for half an hour before handing the invitation card she wrote last night to the housekeeper. She took the opportunity to look inside the door … She saw that there was a long table in the gatehouse with thick invitation cards piled up. There were two clerks copying and organizing them.
There were two thousand candidates participating in this year's examination. It was impossible to let them all in at once. The dignified Prince Xiang's Mansion would become a vegetable market. How could it be dignified?
Not long after, another side door opened … Someone loudly read out the names of three people along with their birthplace. Someone excitedly squeezed out from the crowd as if he had won the lottery. After the guards checked the waist token and the examination card, they were led in by the servants of the Prince Xiang's Mansion.
The three people went in and came out after the time it took to drink a cup of tea. As soon as they came out, they were surrounded by people … They scrambled to ask them what they had heard. They all wanted to hear the news as soon as possible.
But these three people were extremely tight-lipped and refused to say a word … It took a lot of effort to escape from the crowd and disappeared like a wisp of smoke.
Also, the examination hall was like a battlefield. It was either you die or I live. Who would be willing to give others a chance? Wouldn't that be making trouble for themselves?
With these three people as an example, several groups of people who were led in later didn't say anything. They all kept their mouths shut and left in silence.
Yu Shu thought that she came early … She counted the number of people and the frequency of the candidates entering and exiting. She estimated that it would be her turn in about two hours. So she calmed down and waited, listening to the gossip around her … It was not without any harvest.
She waited for the whole morning until the housekeeper of the Prince Xiang's Mansion announced that the Prince Xiang's Mansion would be having lunch and asked them to come back in the afternoon. During this period, Yu Shu's name was not called.
This made Yu Shu a little puzzled. It seemed that there were a few people who queued behind her and had already entered. Why was it that she didn't get her turn for the whole morning? Could it be that she was separated from the others?
Seeing that the door of the Prince Xiang's Mansion was closed, the candidates had no choice but to disperse. Yu Shu followed the crowd all the way to Peiren Mansion to eat.
There was no wall in the world that was impervious to wind. Moreover, this wall was not a dense one. Yu Shu had just eaten a bowl of San Xian dumplings when news leaked out from the Peiren Mansion teahouse —
It turned out that this morning, the candidates who were called into the Prince Xiang's Mansion didn't see Prince Xiang himself, but an old housekeeper who accompanied him for the past six months.
It was said that after Prince Xiang returned to the capital, he fell sick and it was inconvenient for him to meet outsiders. So he asked the old housekeeper to meet the candidates on his behalf and answer their questions.
This was human nature. No one could blame Prince Xiang for falling sick at the wrong time. But there was another matter that made a group of people who didn't have a high status want to curse —
"Did you notice this morning that some people came late and were called in before they could even submit their invitation?"
Hearing this strange situation, a group of people started to ask what was going on. Yu Shu also pricked up her ears to listen while she was slurping her noodles.
"Tsk, isn't it because he bribed Housekeeper Zhao of Prince Xiang's Mansion and bribed his connections in advance. Let me tell you, don't doubt me. If this goes on, even if we line up honestly like this, we might not be able to enter the Prince Xiang's Mansion the day after tomorrow.
There was a wave of hissing and complaints. One after another, they scolded the housekeeper who opened the back door. Yu Shu smacked her lips and didn't vent her anger with them. She had long passed the age of complaining about the injustice of the world. What she was thinking now was how to privately get in touch with the housekeeper. If bribing two taels of money could make her wait one day less, then this deal was quite worthwhile. Don't be fooled by this group of people's noises. If they really had money and connections, who wouldn't be willing to spend money to gain the upper hand? But to bribe, one must pay attention to connections. If there were no connections and no one who was willing to accept money, there was no way to spend it.
After Yu Shu finished her bowl of noodles, she thought of a person who could help her enter the Prince Xiang's Mansion in advance.
On the street opposite the Peiren Mansion, she sat on the sedan chair. The sedan bearer asked, "Miss, are you going home now?"
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