When all the spectators in Qiongyu Restaurant had arrived, the drums on the banks of the Spring Wave River began to beat, calling all the heroes who had come to attend the meeting to the side of the arena. Today was a literary contest. On the three chi high arena, there were several long tables, complete with the four treasures of the study.
Yu Shu only treated herself as a decoration. Sitting there, she placed the tools she had brought on the table and pretended to listen to the discussions upstairs. From time to time, she would jot down a few strokes on a piece of paper. It looked like she was divining something, but in fact, she was just scribbling.
Liu Tan did not care about what she was doing. He turned to the side and whispered to Mister Helan. Occasionally, he would glance at the situation on the arena. When he saw something that caught his eye, he would make a hand signal to somewhere downstairs. Spies would then run to investigate.
On the tea table, there were some flower cakes and wine. Yu Shu ate and looked around. She was quite at ease. Just like that, she spent the entire morning. Midway, she even went to the toilet.
At noon, everyone moved to the dining room in the building. Inside, a banquet had already been laid out. The private rooms were separated and the princes brought their own people to the banquet. There were also those who were close to each other, such as Liu Hao and Liu Yi, who entered the same room.
Not mentioning how awkward it was for Yu Shu and Liu Tan to eat lunch together, Liu Hao entered the inner room and avoided being seen. He frowned and coldly snorted. He said to his left and right, "Lao Jiu is making things difficult for us. He found someone to make up the numbers to make us unhappy. He's afraid that people don't know that he's close to Daozi."
Liu Yi curled his lips and disdainfully said, "Isn't it to see what he found? Which one of us brothers did not invite a descendant of an aristocratic family? Today, that stinky girl, I really did not recognize her at first. Tsk."
Without a word, Ji Xingxuan sat down beside Liu Hao. She picked up the wine pot and poured him a cup. Liu Hao took it and turned to look at her. His expression softened. "If you feel uncomfortable with that person, you can go back today."
Ji Xingxuan paused and nodded. Hiding the flash of hatred in his eyes, he hugged the wine pot and bowed his head, "Many thanks for your understanding, but I can't hide forever. Xingxuan still has this much patience. "
Liu Hao sighed and looked at her lovingly. He said indulgently, "Up to you."
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Before the sun went down, the honored guests of Qiongyu House dispersed one after another. Yu Shu sat on the sedan chair that she came in, following Liu Tan and the others back to the guesthouse.
Liu Tan returned to the rear courtyard to change his clothes while Yu Shu and Mr. Helan sat in the reception hall, waiting. The servants served tea and fruits and handed them hot handkerchiefs for them to wash.
What Yu Shu didn't expect was that Mr. Helan, who looked to be in his forties and had a scholarly appearance, would take the initiative to talk to her, "I heard that Miss Yu is an examinee for this year's Major Examination?"
Yu Shu raised her head to look at him. Seeing that the other's expression was amiable and didn't look like he wanted to cause trouble, she smiled and nodded.
"It's the first major examination this year."
"Which subjects did you take?" Mr. Helan asked again. He seemed to be purely curious.
Yu Shu said, "Other than Yi Li, which is a compulsory subject, I also took the Arts of Mystery and Mathematics."
"Why don't you try a few more subjects?"
Yu Shu shook her head, "I know that I'm not a genius. How can I study everything? It's better to only choose subjects that I'm confident in. "
Mr. Helan looked at her approvingly and said, "I think that Miss Yu is a down-to-earth person, which is good. Young people shouldn't bite off more than they can chew. I've seen many young people try to eat their fill the first time they take the major examination, but in the end, none of them got what they wanted. Who would have thought that the Major Examination isn't a place to test one's luck."
Then he changed the topic and asked Yu Shu, "I don't know about the Arts of Mystery and Mathematics. Which subject is Miss more confident that you can enter the rankings? "
Yu Shu was asked directly. She hesitated for a moment and then answered, "Mathematics."
Hearing this, a trace of disappointment flashed across Mr. Helan's face, but he quickly concealed it. It wasn't seen by Yu Shu.
The two chatted for a while more before Liu Tan changed into casual clothes and entered the reception hall. Yu Shu and Mr. Helan stood up and bowed.
"The two of you, please sit and serve some tea."
Liu Tan was actually only sixteen or seventeen years old, but he already had some experience in his conduct. He had the arrogance of an imperial prince, but he didn't lack modesty and amiability. In Yu Shu's eyes, compared to people like Liu Hao and Liu Yi, the person in front of her was the most pleasing to the eye.
"This is the list of names that the spies have collected in the past few days. Some of them were outstanding in the literary duels, and some of them are popular candidates for the next subject of physiognomy. The two of you can take it back and look at it." Liu Tan indicated for the personal attendant behind him to hand two stacks of books to Yu Shu and Mr. Helan.
Yu Shu took the list and flipped through it. She saw that a few people were listed on it. Their names, birthplaces, dates of birth, as well as their strengths and weaknesses were all listed in great detail.
"The next Great Yuan Examination results will be released on the twenty-sixth. There are only a few days left. I'll have to trouble the two of you to draft a list as soon as possible so that I can send someone to post it. Is there a problem?" Liu Tan's last words were clearly directed at Yu Shu.
Yu Shu immediately felt a headache coming on. She was clearly here to mingle, so how could she help Liu Tan choose talents? However, she couldn't show any fear on her face. Otherwise, if Liu Tan regretted asking her to be his substitute, then what would she do if the quota for the Taishi Library flew away?
"I will definitely do my job well, but how many people do you want on this list? Will it only include the examinees of the Great Yuan Examination, or will it include the scholars?" Yu Shu was puzzled. She was still unfamiliar with this new business and didn't want to make a mistake while being muddle-headed.
Liu Tan glanced at Sir Helan. The latter understood and explained on her behalf, "Miss has seen the list that His Imperial Highness gave you. You only need to select the best. Usually, it's fine to limit it to three to five people. You need to separate the scholars and martial artists from the merchants. You just need to rank them according to the ones who have the highest chance of passing the examination."
Yu Shu thanked him, "Then I understand. Thank you, Sir, for your guidance."
After they finished discussing business, Liu Tan said to Yu Shu, "If there's nothing else, Miss Yu can go back first. Servants."
Liu Tan called the servants to send Yu Shu home. Yu Shu could see that he and Sir Helan still had things to talk about, so she tactfully got up to leave. Little did she know that after she left, the subject of their conversation was none other than someone else — —
"What does Sir think?"
"It's hard to say. I saw that this woman seemed to have a card up her sleeve, but when I asked her about it, it turns out that she's an expert in mathematics. You have to know that there are two direct disciples of Old Mathematician Han who are taking the mathematics exam this year. It's not a joke that there are three mathematicians in one subject. In this way, the chance that this self-taught Miss Yu will amaze the world with a single brilliant feat is very slim. "
Liu Tan frowned and said with uncertainty, "But, my martial aunt has predicted that this woman has great luck and has already shown signs of a bright future. She will rise greatly in the imperial examinations, so it shouldn't be false."
Sir Helan stroked the short beard on his lips and smiled slightly, "Since the immortal aunt said so, then there must be a reason. Your Imperial Highness, there's no need to worry yourself. If it's true, then congratulations to Your Imperial Highness for having a good eye for talent. You'll definitely be able to sweep away the previous dark clouds and not make this trip to the Shuangyang Imperial College a waste. If it's a failure, then it's just a waste of a place to enter the school, but you'll also owe Eldest Young Master Xue a favor. You won't lose anything, so why not? "
Liu Tan mulled over his words and the suspicion between his brows gradually dissipated. He cupped his hands towards Sir Helan and said with a serious expression, "Sir is willing to work for me and do your best for me. This humble prince is grateful for this and will definitely treat you well."
This Sir Helan, whose real name was "Chou", was thirty-nine years old this year. If one were to look into it, he was a famous person in the early years of Anling City. He was originally a talented person recommended by Xue Rui after Liu Tan returned to the capital. However, it was unknown what happened in between that allowed Liu Tan to surpass Xue Rui and finally recruit him for his own use.
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When Yu Shu returned home in the evening, the food had already been laid out. After washing her hands, she was called over by Zhao Hui.
"Why are you only back now? You haven't recovered for a few days and you're running around again." Zhao Hui held her stomach with one hand and sat down with the other on Yu Shu. She had a worried expression on her face as she scolded her.
"I'll come back earlier tomorrow." Yu Shu touched her nose. She was afraid to startle Zhao Hui, so she didn't dare to tell them that she was now going out with a prince. She only said that she had found a proper job outside. Zhao Hui thought that she was working for someone in a barter house.
To prevent Zhao Hui from asking, Yu Shu hurriedly changed the topic and asked Yu Xiaoxiu, "Today is the first time you took Bai Ran to the Academy. Did you see Xue Wenzhe?"
After visiting Aunt Cui yesterday, Yu Xiaoxiu had no worries and went back to school today. Yu Shu couldn't send him because she had something to do. He Fangzhi naturally took the task and sent the two children to school. He also paid for the tuition fees.
When Xue Wenzhe was mentioned, Yu Xiaoxiu was annoyed and said, "The Academy is only so big. Of course I saw him."
Yu Shu noticed that his tone was not right. She frowned and asked, "Why? He dared to bully you? You didn't let Bai Ran beat him? "
"Ahem." He Fangzhi suddenly coughed twice and glanced at Yu Shu. She blamed her for not teaching Yu Xiaoxiu well.
Yu Shu noticed the dissatisfaction of the elder and smiled apologetically at him. But she didn't change her words.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaoxiu hurriedly said, "It's nothing. Last time, I had to apologize to him. He was so embarrassed that he didn't dare to provoke me. He just stared at me a few times. It was really annoying."
Yu Shu snorted, "It's him who does things immorally. He still has the face to stare at you. He is several years older than you. He doesn't look like a boy. Don't learn this kind of temper. It's so useless. "
Yu Xiaoxiu said gloomily, "I won't learn from him."
"Okay, good boy." Yu Shu smiled as she picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his bowl.
Zhao Hui saw that the siblings were getting along well, and her face was filled with motherly love. She touched her round belly and thought about how she would soon have a child. With such an elder sister and brother taking care of them, they would not be lonely in the future. They would definitely grow up well. She did not ask for this child to become a dragon or a phoenix. As long as she could see them with her own eyes start a family, marry a wife and have children, and live a safe and sound life, she had nothing else to ask for in this life.
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