Lord Wang's sigh was understandable to Yu Shu, as someone who had once longed to enter the Taishi Library.
The Yi Academy, which was known as the number one academy in the world, actually relied on one's family background.
That's right, it was family background.
On the surface, the Taishi Library, which accepted students every three years, selected the best based on the rankings of the Grand Yan Examination. But in reality, those who did not have the background of a noble family, lacked the guidance of a famous teacher, and had to rely on their own to figure out their way and achieve results in the Grand Yan Examination were all not young.
And the other rule of the Taishi Library was that they only accepted young talents. This was another dignified "excuse". The noble families of the Yi Academy never lacked children. They had a group of masters to guide them, and even those who were not talents could be taught to become "talents". It was not difficult for them to pass the Grand Yan Examination.
There were twelve noble families in the capital alone, not to mention those outside the capital. The Taishi Library only accepted a dozen or so people every three years, and almost all the places were taken by the children of noble families. How many "dark horses" like Yu Shu could there be?
And how many geniuses had been killed in the cradle in the past hundred years?
There were many young people in the Taishi Library, but they were limited to the small circle of "noble families". Even the eighteen academicians in charge of teaching were all from noble families.
Of course, Jing Chen was an exception. His background was more powerful than that of a normal noble family. He was the emperor himself.
It seemed like there was a constant influx of new blood, but what was not visible was the serious exclusion. Under this kind of atmosphere, it could only result in a situation where each generation was worse than the previous one.
It was precisely because of what she saw today that Lord Wang sighed.
Yu Shu did not know which ancestor had proposed the rule of "regardless of age, only rank" in the Taishi Library, but she guessed that the ancestor would not want to see the "sealed" Taishi Library. Unfortunately, Yu Shu could almost foresee that in the near future, this rule that she admired would probably be useless.
This was the so-called "when one flourishes, one must fall".
Yu Shu looked at the sorrowful and helpless Lord Wang, and suddenly realized that the generation she had come to had not only witnessed the prosperity of the Yi Academy, but also a decline?
"Complementary operator? Complementary operator?" Lord Wang called Yu Shu a few times to bring her back to reality. Seeing her absent-minded look, he mistakenly thought that she was also exhausted, so he frowned and said,
"Do you have any discomfort anywhere?"
Yu Shu flashed a toothy grin and said, "No, I'm fine. It won't be a problem for me to stand for a whole morning."
Lord Wang heaved a sigh of relief when he heard her confident reply. He thought to himself that these two were the only ones who could handle the situation. If there was another one who couldn't handle the situation, he would definitely cry.
Lord Wang turned around and asked Wen Shao'an, who looked thin and weak. The answer he got was almost the same.
"Don't worry, Sir. I can stand for a whole day."
Well, this one was even more straightforward than Yu Shu.
Lord Wang was so touched that he wanted to cry. He nodded and had them put down the utensils in their hands. He pointed at the bronze utensils that had been left behind by a few people and said,
"In that case, Yu Suanzi will take the Eight Trigrams Plate, and Young Master Wen will take the sword."
Yu Shu and Wen Shao'an looked at each other and didn't understand what he meant. Didn't they choose it before? Why did they change it again?
Lord Wang quickly explained to them,
"When the Holy Ancestor established the Da 'an Kingdom, he used a Chunjun Sword to command the six armies. Empress Ningzhen received the mandate of heaven and used the Book of Changes passed down by the Goddess of Ninth Heaven to assist the Holy Ancestor. Therefore, the sword and the Eight Diagrams are the most important of the six utensils. They were too weak and were afraid that they would make a mistake that day, so you two took it and walked in front."
Hearing the reason, Yu Shu couldn't help but laugh. This was called an unintentional willow.
Wen Shao'an continued to ask, "But it was clearly written in the ritual that among the six utensils, the tripod was the first, followed by the ruyi scepter. Don't you want us to memorize it by heart?"
Being questioned, Lord Wang smiled and said seriously, "I want you to memorize it by heart, but I didn't ask you to memorize it by heart. The ritual has its own rules. This is the Sacrifice Day of the Holy Ancestor, so we naturally have to follow the instructions of the ancestors."
Whether Wen Shao'an noticed it or not, Yu Shu felt that Lord Wang deliberately didn't explain it to them at the beginning.
However, the Sacrifice Day was held once a year. Some students from Taishi Library had even participated in it three times, so they should have noticed it. But looking at Zhan Xueyuan's appearance today, it was obvious that he didn't know it, so he chose the ruyi scepter.
What did this mean? Yu Shu thought about it and could only say that the Zhan family of Jiangxi was a local tyrant. In the capital city, they still had to listen to the twelve families.
It wasn't until noon that the internal official in charge of the kitchen seemed to remember the people living in the side courtyard and finally sent food over. It was a simple three dishes, a soup, and steamed buns. When it was sent over, there was no heat. Fortunately, it was summer, so they didn't have to worry about being hungry.
Putting aside the fact that Yu Shu was giving them special attention in the room, Lord Wang came again in the afternoon. Zhan Xueyuan and the others had eaten their fill and finally had some energy. However, before they could do anything, they were rearranged to hold the utensils and were told that the six people would be led by Yu Shu and Wen Shao 'an.
Naturally, some people were dissatisfied, but they were dismissed by Lord Wang.
"What utensils do you want to hold? Stand under the sun for an hour, and I will agree."
"Then why don't the two of them stand?" The person who pointed at Yu Shu and Wen Shao'an was Cui Yun, who had received the Eight Trigrams Plate in the morning. At this moment, she was a little resentful. She must be regretting hiding in the room to accompany Zhan Xueyuan in the morning and wasting the opportunity.
"That's right. Everyone has to stand. Why don't they stand?" Zhan Xueyuan was also dissatisfied and immediately called the other two to agree.
Yu Shu looked up at the sky. Wen Shao'an was expressionless.
Lord Wang sneered and said, "When you ran back to your room to rest in the morning, the two of them stood for more than an hour."
This time, no one had any objections.
They arrived at Huazhen Garden on the sixth day of the New Year. After the seventh day, on the morning of the eighth day, Lord Wang brought the ceremonial robes for the ceremony. There were also a few palace maids accompanying them. They went into the rooms to teach them how to put on their hats and clothes.
The styles of the men's and women's ceremonial robes were different. The three youths were wearing crooked robes, while the women's dress was a plain long dress with three layers of snow-white undergarments. Only a tall and thin person like Yu Shu could show off her waist in the dress. The other two girls were equally dressed.
After changing into the formal clothes, Lord Wang checked them one by one. When he was satisfied, he waved his hand and ordered them to follow him. With a palace maid leading the way, they followed behind to learn the steps and posture.
Huazhen Garden was huge. Pavilions and terraces could be seen everywhere. After leaving the side courtyard, they crossed a small bridge. In the distance, they saw a group of nobles in the garden. Some of the six youths were tempted to make a move, but Lord Wang acted as if he didn't see it and continued walking. He had no intention of leading them to climb up.
In the distance, in a pavilion, someone was looking at the group of people.
"Imperial Brother, Imperial Brother, look over there. Why are they dressed like that? Are they patrolling the garden?"
He pointed to a little girl in the distance. She had a palace gauze on her shoulders and a partridge flower hairpin on her head. She was about eleven or twelve years old. From her voice, one could tell that she was a member of the royal family.
Liu Tan, who was arranging the chess pieces, turned his head and took a look. With a normal expression, he said, "Oh, that should be a student of the Taishi Library."
After saying that, he turned back and saw the man who was playing chess with him. The man held a chess piece in his hand and didn't place it. He was also looking at the bridge.
"Cousin, it's your turn.
Xue Rui came back to his senses and smiled at Liu Tan. He placed the chess piece in his hand and didn't say anything.
The little princess saw that they were playing chess and didn't play with her. She pouted and looked around in boredom. After a while, she lifted her dress and walked to the side. When they weren't paying attention, she slipped down the pavilion and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"The Twelfth Princess ran away." Xue Rui raised his hand and started eating the black chess pieces on the plate.
Liu Tan was thinking about his next move. Without turning his head, he said, "Huazhen Garden is guarded by the Yulin Royal Guards. We can't lose her. Let her play. It's rare for her to leave the palace."
Then he changed the topic and asked, "Is Miss Lianfang here for this year's ceremony?"
Xue Rui said, "She was not selected. Later, Miss Qin fell and got injured, so she was replaced."
Liu Tan smiled coldly, "The Taishi Library."
Xue Rui didn't comment. He watched him move a chess piece. He nodded and said,
"Good move."
Lord Wang took Yu Shu and the others to walk around Huazhen Garden. They went to all the places they could go before letting them go.
Tomorrow was the ninth day of the New Year. The ceremony was at noon. However, they had to rush to the Imperial Mausoleum early in the morning. There was no room for mistakes. Lord Wang reminded them again and again, especially to have them rest early tonight.
When he said this, he especially stared at Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun, hinting at something.
After Lord Wang left, Yu Shu returned to her room to change out of her gown and put it away in the wardrobe. It was still early, and she didn't bring any books with her on this trip. Now that she had nothing to do, she hid in her room and felt bored.
"Knock knock." Someone knocked on the door.
"Yu Suanzi."
Yu Shu recognized Cui Yun's voice. She came out of her bedroom and opened the door. She saw Cui Yun standing outside with a smile and holding Zhan Xueyuan's hand.
"What's the matter?"
"It's still early to eat. We are going to walk around the garden. Do you want to come with us?"
"I'm tired. You guys go ahead." After Yu Shu finished speaking, she closed the door. She would rather stay in the room and be bored than deal with this kind of villain.
Zhan Xueyuan looked at the closed door and said to Cui Yun with a gloomy expression, "I told you not to call her. You are meddlesome. If you want to curry favor with her, go ahead. Why bring me along?"
Cui Yun hurriedly held her arm and whispered, "What are you talking about? Why should I curry favor with her? Is it worth it? I don't want to see you become enemies with her. She is a fourth-class female fortune-teller. When we get back to the library, if she comes looking for trouble, I want to see what you will do. "
Zhan Xueyuan couldn't be provoked. She gritted her teeth and said, "Do you think I'm afraid of her?"
"Fine, fine, fine. You are not afraid of her. Let's go. Let's go somewhere else. Don't let her spoil your mood."
Cui Yun pulled Zhan Xueyuan away. Behind the door, Yu Shu listened to their quarrel. She frowned and went back to her bedroom. It was not that she had a good temper and did not want to go out and argue with them. It was really difficult for her to pay attention to such mindless characters.
Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun said that they were going to the garden. However, Huazhen Garden was not a place where they could casually walk around. There were guards guarding the garden. They didn't go far before they were blocked. After a few times, they lost interest and walked around the lake for a while before heading back.
Cui Yun followed Zhan Xueyuan back to her room. Seeing that she was depressed, she coaxed, "There is nothing fun in Huazhen Garden. When we return to the capital, I will take you to a better place. I'm sure you will like it."
"En." Zhan Xueyuan nodded. She touched her neck. The next moment, her expression suddenly changed.
Bored people were the easiest to get sleepy. Yu Shu and Yi lay on the bed and unknowingly fell asleep. When they woke up again, they were woken up by the sound of knocking on the door.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Come out. Yu Shu, come out!"
Yu Shu yawned and sat up. The room was dusky. She tidied her hair and was unhappy to be woken up like this. She went to open the door with a gloomy face.
"What's with the noise?"
One, two, three, four … There was more than one person standing outside the door.
The first person was Zhan Xueyuan. When Yu Shu saw her angrily push her away, she rushed into her bedroom without saying a word.
Yu Shu was stunned. She followed closely and saw Zhan Xueyuan pull the pillow and quilt on her bed to the floor. She stepped on it like a headless fly and turned to pull at her wardrobe.
Yu Shu strode forward and grabbed her hand. She used force to pull her away and shouted, "Are you crazy?!"
"Let me go! You little thief! " Zhan Xueyuan shook off her hand and pointed at Yu Shu's nose. She scolded with red eyes, "You stole my Tianyu. Stop pretending. Give it back to me!"
Yu Shu suddenly felt a headache. She pulled her hard, pinched her wrist, and asked coldly, "Which eye of yours saw me steal your things, huh?"
Zhan Xueyuan felt pain. She shrank her shoulders and said fiercely, "Who else could it be except you? I went out with Yunyun in the afternoon and you were alone in the backyard. You must have been greedy for my Tianyu and sneaked into my room to take it!"
Yu Shu almost spat on her face. She was a brainless fool. She was not a member of the Zhan family and didn't know Tianyu Fengshui. What was the use of taking her broken stone? Did she want to use it to break the glass of her house?!
Cui Yun, Feng Jun and Wen Shaoan, who came to watch, saw this scene and hesitated. They didn't know whether they should go forward to persuade her or not. Cui Yun couldn't stand it anymore. She said bitterly,
"Yu Suanzi, if you took Xueyuan's Tianyu, give it back to her. Don't wait for things to get worse."
Zhan Xueyuan suddenly turned around and shouted, "Yunyun, go and ask Lord Wang to come here. Go and find the guards. Tell them there is a thief here. Go!"
Cui Yun hesitated and took two steps back. She turned around and was about to run out to call the guards. Yu Shu saw this and felt her teeth itching. Idiots! A group of idiots!
Didn't they know where they were? If they really alarmed the higher-ups, they would be in big trouble!
"Wen Shaoan, stop her!"
Would Wen Shaoan, who had been keeping a distance from Yu Shu these days, listen to her? The answer was proved by his actions —
"Ah! You, let go of me!"
Cui Yun screamed and tried to hit Wen Shao 'an's arm, but Wen Shao' an didn't budge at all. He didn't let her move a single step away. The other two youths looked at her and didn't know whether to help or pull her back. They just stood there blankly.
At this time, the room was in chaos.
"Don't pull me. It hurts. Let go of me! Help! Help! "
"Yu Shu, you little thief! You damn thief! How dare you steal my Tianyu! You have a guilty conscience! You are despicable and shameless!"
Yu Shu took a deep breath. She couldn't bear it anymore. She raised her hand and slapped Zhan Xueyuan's head. Zhan Xueyuan was knocked to the side and said angrily,
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