On the day He Ming returned to the capital, it was drizzling in the capital. He leaned against the carriage and listened to the sound of the rain outside. With a pale face, he lifted the curtain and looked at the city gate in front of him. He revealed a faint smile.
When the carriage neared, he saw da ge and er ge on horseback. Behind them were the officials that received them. He motioned for the carriage to stop and was about to get off.
"Si di is wounded, there's no need," He Heng urged his horse forward, smiling as he stopped He Ming from bowing. He flipped off the horse, raising his hands in a fist salute: "Si di has suffered this time."
"Er ge is too serious. It's just that I have failed fuhuang's trust and feel very guilty," Even so, He Ming still returned a bow from the carriage. His face was slightly ashamed, "And made fuhuang worry, it is even more unfilial as er chen."
"You did your job seriously, but the people are vicious, what does that have to do with you?" He Heng smiled, "Fuhuang specially ordered me and er ge to take you back to the palace to report. Si di, don't worry."
"Thank you for your trouble, da ge, er ge." He Ming bowed to He Qi and He Heng before sitting upright in the carriage. The guard driving the carriage carefully closed the curtain, waiting for Ning Wang and Duan Wang to go first.
He Heng mounted the horse and turned to stand next to He Qi who had been on the horse all this time. He looked at the carriage behind him and said to He Qi: "Da ge, let's go."
"En," He Qi nodded. Then he sighed in concern, "Si di's body has gotten much thinner. You must have suffered a lot on the road."
He Heng smiled as he responded. He turned to say: "In a few days, it will be the Spring Examination. After the Spring Examination, it will be si di's big day. At that time, us brothers can have a good time."
"Of course it will be a good time," He Qi laughed brightly and didn't converse with He Heng.
After He Ming entered the palace to visit Qing De Emperor, he was rewarded with some herbs before leaving Tian Qi Palace. When he went to visit mufei An guipin, An guipin shed a lot of tears.
After listening to mufei finish describing what had happened in Jing, He Ming smiled and said: "Mufei doesn't have to worry. This is actually a good thing. At least er chen can use the excuse of recuperating to close the fu and not participate in their affairs."
After An guipin heard this, her expression suddenly changed. "Ming 'er, could it be that you …"
Seeing that there was no one else in the room, He Ming lowered his voice and said: "Those assassins didn't seem to have any intention of harming er chen. Instead, they tried to kill Right Minister Wei. Er chen's injury looked dangerous, but in reality, it didn't hurt any vital parts, so Lady Mother doesn't have to worry too much."
An guipin wiped her tears and said hatefully: "He Yuan and He Qi have gone too far. They are fighting for the position of heir; why must they involve my son?"
"One of them is the eldest, the other is fuhuang's favorite. Naturally, they wouldn't put anyone else in their eyes," He Ming grimaced, "Mufei doesn't need to get angry over these things."
An guipin barely suppressed the anger in her heart. She had never been favored. In the years after giving birth, Shu guifei always made things difficult for her. If it wasn't that the Empress was fair, her days would have been even harder to endure. She sighed: "It's that mufei isn't capable. If mufei was more favored, you wouldn't have been treated so coldly." She suddenly thought of Jing guifei. Jing guifei wasn't as favored as Shu guifei, but she still had some status in the Emperor's heart. Her son, He Heng, was only second to He Yuan in favor. She might not have interacted with him before, but he must be a very capable person.
Thinking about it, she opened: "He Heng might not be able to see through him, but mufei sees that he isn't a cold-blooded and heartless person. If you interact with him a few more times, you can be considered a brotherly relationship."
He Ming knew the meaning behind mufei's words. He thought for a beat before replying: "Mufei doesn't have to worry too much. Er chen will consider this matter." He Yuan and He Qi ascended the throne. For him, the days in the future would be even more difficult to endure. If He Heng ascended, even if the other was a sanctimonious person, he wouldn't mistreat him, a didi who wasn't a threat at all. Instead, to show brotherly respect, he would give him preferential treatment.
He Ming didn't want to fight, but he didn't want to be a blade that was thrown away after being used. It was better to choose a wise master and plan for the rest of his life.
"He Heng's di wife, Qu shi, has a deep relationship with the Luo Family. After you left Jing City, Qu shi even sent someone to deliver gifts to me. Jing guifei has also taken good care of me," An guipin was a woman who was content with her ordinary life but she wouldn't allow others to harm her child, "No matter what they are planning, at least they eat better than the other two."
He Ming knew in his heart that He Yuan and He Qi had never thought highly of him. Instead, it was his second brother who had played with him when they were young. Although it had faded a lot over the years, he still treated him much closer than the other two, and he remembered this favor in his heart.
Sitting on the step-carriage that fuhuang had specially given him, he left the palace and got on the carriage to return to the wang fu. Not long after He Ming returned to the fu, he received gifts from all the families. Even his da ge and his three brothers had sent something over. Even though they looked expensive but weren't practical, at least they had some presence.
But the things that er ge's fu had sent over, after being examined by the fu doctor, all of them were tonics that were beneficial to his body. He Ming felt the concern of er ge.
Thinking about how fuhuang had hinted to him that the assassination had nothing to do with san ge at Tian Qi Palace, the smile on He Ming's face became colder. Since fuhuang wanted him to express his sincerity, he naturally wouldn't disappoint fuhuang. As to whether people would believe him or not, it would depend on fuhuang and san ge's abilities.
"Benevolent father and filial son?" He Ming threw the sandalwood bead bracelet that Qing De Emperor had bestowed on him to the ground. Looking at the sandalwood beads bouncing around, he sneered to himself, "What a joke."
On the first day of the spring examinations, the Tribute Courtyard was filled with carriages. They were all for the examinations.
Liang Rong and Qu Wang Zhi sat in the tea house, looking at the numerous students lining up to enter the Tribute Courtyard to take the examinations. The two felt their faces were slightly bitter. Both of them were students of Dong Shan Academy. Because it was a holiday today, they had specially come to the Tribute Courtyard to take a look. Thinking that they would have to enter in a few years, they felt strangely pressured.
Especially Qu Wang Zhi who was going to take the examinations this fall. Looking at the solemn expressions of the examinees, he felt he couldn't breathe.
"Biao xiong, there's nothing to see here, let's go," Four to six hours after the examination started, a few examinees with white hair were carried out. Qu Wang Zhi's expression became even uglier as he stood to leave.
"Didn't Duke Qu's fu give birth to a wang fei? Why did he send his youngest daughter to be a qie?"
"Who knows. I only heard that the youngest daughter was born from the second wife. This second wife is just from a declining family. Duan Wang Fei is born from the original duke's furen. Do you know who she is? "
"Who is it?"
"Tian daren of the Judicial Office, do you know the Marquis of Xiang Qing?"
"Who hasn't heard of such a famous person? I heard that no matter how hard the case, as long as it was sent to the Judicial Office, it would be solved."
"Isn't that so. Duan Wang Fei's birth mother is the Marquis of Xiang Qing's elder sister. Do you think their birth and upbringing would be the same? So one is a wang fei and one is a qie, isn't that normal? "
Qu Wang Zhi heard this conversation and his expression instantly became ugly. He was about to charge over to talk to the people who were talking but was pulled back by Liang Rong, "Wang Zhi, this is the entrance to the examination compound. It's not good for you to make a ruckus."
"But are we just going to let them talk like that?" Qu Wang Zhi's anger couldn't be quelled but he didn't insist on charging. If the matter got out of hand, it would affect his future career in officialdom.
Liang Rong looked at the surroundings and lowered his voice to say: "Right now, they're just trying to be happy. You have to know, the one most favoured at court is His Highness Rui Wang. Biao mei entered Rui Wang Fu to be a ce fei, in the future … …" He raised a thumb at Qu Wang Zhi, the meaning clear.
Qu Wang Zhi gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger. The two of them went down the teahouse together. After riding for a while, they saw a luxurious convoy coming in front of them. The guards in the lead were all tall and sturdy, and their eyes were full of vigor. They didn't look like guards from ordinary families. The carriage behind them was pulled by eight valiant horses, and the bells on the sandalwood carriage jingled as it moved forward.
The two of them reluctantly moved aside. When the carriage came closer, they found the insignia of Duan Wang Fu was printed on the carriage. Qu Wang Zhi's face darkened but he could only helplessly lower his head to show respect to the wang fu.
After the carriages of Duan Wang Fu had gone far away, the two of them continued to move forward. Liang Rong was slightly puzzled as he asked: "This is the direction out of the city. Duan Wang Fu has so many carriages, where are they going?" Was Duan Wang's family going to the Jing suburbs to play at this time?
"Who knows what these wang ye want to do," Qu Wang Zhi's tone wasn't good. He turned his head to look in the direction that Duan Wang Fu's carriages were going in. His voice paused, "I heard that Duan Wang Ye has a hot spring villa in the Jing suburbs. The flowers on the mountain bloom early, they must be going to play."
Qu Wang Zhi was born in a duke's fu and knew more than Liang Rong. So he knew a little about the important villas that the wang ye had in the Jing suburbs.
"They're really going to play?" Right now, the assassinated Right Minister Wei and Cheng Wang had returned to Jing. Ning Wang and Rui Wang were fighting fiercely on the stage. Duan Wang was going to leisurely go on a vacation?
Liang Rong felt that his brain wasn't enough to process it. At this time, shouldn't he be going to fish in troubled waters? Why was he staying so far away?
The good show was about to start but Duan Wang was playing this trick. How could the daren in Jing who were fighting fiercely endure this?
In the carriage, Qu Qing Ju had her hair combed into a simple bun. She leaned against the soft pillow and asked: "Wang ye is really leaving Jing like this?"
He Heng looked at her with a mirthless smile: "Didn't Qing Ju want to soak in the hot spring? This weather is perfect."
Qu Qing Ju chuckled and turned to burrow into his embrace: "Wang ye is so good to me."
If it was He Heng who heard it, he would have recognized it immediately. He smiled helplessly, replying: "At this time, Jing City will definitely be in a mess because of si di and the rankings of the Spring Examination. Ben wang isn't interested in these things. It's better to stay far away, that way I can have some peace."
Qu Qing Ju looked at his smiling face and strangely felt that black-bellied was written all over his face.
Che, he thought she hadn't heard the story of the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind.
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