Ti flies swiftly, and before one realizes, the day of the Imperial Examination arrives. Despite investigating for several months, Xiao He has not figured out where Ye Qiu learned his Martial Arts from, but he has been persistently monitoring everything about the Ye Family.
"Brother, we will wait for you at ho, you must take care of your health." Xiutong makes sure everything is in order for Ye Qiu and seriously instructs.
Xiao He, who volunteered to patrol the examination hall, sohow approached and looked sowhat dismissive. Although he acknowledges that Ye Qiu’s Martial Arts are impressive, he had never heard of this man in his previous life, which suggests that Ye Qiu’s Imperial Examination result might not be impressive. Furthermore, there have been nurous literary and poetry etings in Shangjing recently, yet Ye Qiu has barely participated in any, nor has he made any renowned literary na. Is Xiutong being overly confident?
However, he cleverly remained silent, seeing that Ye Qiu’s siblings did not intend to engage with him, he didn’t walk away but instead waited until Ye Qiu entered the examination hall and then said, "Ahem... Miss Ye, my mother and grandmother really like the roses you’ve nurtured, and I wonder when I could be allowed to visit your peach garden?"
"The weather is still cold now, the roses that bloom are cultivated in the greenhouse. If you want to see the roses during the proper season, you need to wait until April. I wonder what varieties your mother and Old Madam prefer? I will instruct the Housekeeper to select the best saplings and provide the most favorable prices," Xiutong replied in a businesslike manner as if handling official affairs.
"Oh, then thank you, Miss Ye," Xiao He dryly responded, not knowing what to talk about next.
However, before he could think of sothing, Xiutong decided to leave, staring at him with wide, puzzled eyes, saying, "Does the Marquis have any other business? If there’s nothing else, I shall return ho first."
Xiao He sullenly watched Xiutong leave, wondering why she wouldn’t seek his favor like others do. Aware that her brother has little hope in the Imperial Examination, wouldn’t speaking kindly to him offer a chance to arrange a military position for him? Why doesn’t she realize this!
In fact, Xiao He himself didn’t fully understand his own feelings. By the age of his previous life, he was old enough to be Xiutong’s father, yet perhaps because he felt too old inside, he presud to regard Xiutong as a younger relative.
When she struggled to rent a shop, he couldn’t bear to see her run around; when she was bullied by the local ruffians, he protected her like shielding a calf; when she was powerless in Shangjing yet strived to sell flowers, he thought about looking after her business more.
As a self-declared elder in his own mind, he always felt that Xiutong was not cunning enough. With such a solid support as himself, why wouldn’t she seek to ingratiate herself? After all, she and her brother had once saved his life, and he wouldn’t refuse her.
Thus, the more Xiao He thought, the more frustrated he beca, and the more frustrated, the more he couldn’t help but pay attention to her, not realizing this exceeded the concerns an elder should have for a younger relative. Besides, in what capacity does he count as Xiutong’s elder?
His peculiar behavior baffled Xiutong. Although the contemporary views on male and female interactions weren’t as strict as in the previous dynasty, Xiao He was still a Marquis, and she was just a florist; it was best not to forge any relationships, so each ti she t the Marquis unexpectedly, Xiutong always found an excuse to leave quickly.
anwhile, Xia Yu also lost his little companion because, with Ye Qiu engaging in the Imperial Examination, Xiuying was not in the mood to play and had been ignoring the Little Emperor for days. For this reason, the na Ye Qiu was etched in the minds of both the Little Emperor and Empress Dowager Liu.
How could Empress Dowager Liu not see her son’s loneliness? She thought that since her son liked that Little Ya so much, if her brother indeed had so talent, it wouldn’t be wrong to ntion him, eventually he was supposed to enter the palace as a concubine. Elevating a powerless scholar with no connections was much safer than allowing those influential nobles to exploit loopholes.
Now with her son’s heart set on that Little Ya, although it’s uncertain whether it was youthful infatuation or re playful thoughts, as long as the girl could make her son settle down, Empress Dowager Liu was willing.
Helpless, this year the Emperor was only fourteen, next year he was definitely going to take over major responsibilities. If this playful behavior continued, wouldn’t he be devoured by those power-hungry nobles!
At this mont when Ye Qiu was taking his Imperial Examination, he was unaware that certain interested parties had already set their sights on his two precious sisters. If he had known earlier, he would definitely not have allowed his sisters to roam freely, as neither the Emperor nor the Marquis were people they should be provoking right now.
Unfortunately, Ye Qiu currently didn’t know this and was still diligently writing.
Five days later, Ye Qiu and Wang Zhaoxing left the examination hall together, looking much better compared to others who appeared thoroughly daunted, showing no signs of having been tortured by the exam.
"Hurry in and sit down so the doctor can take your pulse," Xiuya said worriedly, stepping forward quickly which scared the two grown n.
"You’re still pregnant, don’t move." Wang Zhaoxing hurriedly supported her, feeling a cold sweat as he realized that the five days of imperial examination went smoothly but Xiuya walking slightly faster was alarming.
Xiuya chuckled, "It’s not that delicate, the doctor said it’s okay. Now the important thing is you guys. Let the doctor check quickly. It’s horrifying for , thinking from the second day of the exam, how people were continuously carried out, fearing sothing might’ve happened to you."
"It’s okay, maybe the questions were a bit difficult this ti," Wang Zhaoxing explained. Nearby, a scholar and a teacher were discussing the solution approach and realized their misunderstandings, which led one of them to jump directly into the moat.
The sheer shock left Xiuya and the others stunned as she quickly said, "You guys better not do anything foolish. If not this year, then just wait another three years."
"No worries," Ye Qiu said with a light laugh, "You see them so agitated, but actually, every ti after the imperial examination, there are governnt officers with nets by the moat ready to catch people; they won’t die."
"That can actually happen!" Xiuya expressed in surprise, and then she noticed that the scholars who fell into the moat were indeed rescued and listened dejectedly to the teacher’s admonishnts after coming up.
It seems they are not so fragile after all!
"We’re all seasoned exam candidates, only a step away from making it through, our ntal strength isn’t that fragile," Wang Zhaoxing added.
"How about you guys? How did the exam go?" Xiuya couldn’t help but ask.
Wang Zhaoxing then gratefully smiled at Ye Qiu and said, "Thanks to our cousin brother, we had discussed the essay question topics before, and even though we’re not sure if it’ll appeal to the examiners, at least we stayed on topic."
"So, do you think big brother has a good chance of passing?" Xiutong also asked with sparkling eyes.
"Almost certain!" Ye Qiu said confidently.
As Xiao He unconsciously passed by Ye Qiu and his group, he overheard and sneakily twitched his mouth, inwardly criticizing: He seems poised, but unexpectedly so arrogant! He felt that for Xiutong’s future happiness, he needed to give her big brother a heads-up.
However, Xiao He was soon proven wrong.
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