Good luck with koi carp

Chapter 150
"Madam?" The maid serving in the luxurious carriage called softly and doubtfully to the young lady who had been looking somewhere outside the window, not knowing what she was looking at.


After being called back to her senses by the maid, the young lady suddenly closed the open car window, as if trying to cover her ears, and ordered in a harsh voice: "Go back."


"Yes." The maid lowered her eyes respectfully and went out to tell the coachman to drive back.


Under the driving of the coachman, this luxurious carriage that accidentally passed by the government gate gradually drifted away and went straight to its owner's house.


He Fu.


He Xuexi, who happened to be at home today, saw that his wife, who had just announced that she was going back to her parents' home to visit her mother, returned home not long after leaving. He couldn't help but asked doubtfully: "Didn't you say you would stay there for two more days? Why did you come back so soon?"


Is there something going on at my father-in-law's house?Speaking of which, the rebellion of the three kings has just been put down, and I heard that my father-in-law seems to have been involved too. Could it be...


Suspicions were lingering in his heart, and before he could figure out the reason, He Xuexu heard his wife hesitate to speak: "Husband, do you still remember..." the female beggar he met in front of their house two years ago?


"What?" Seeing that his wife had stopped talking, He Xuexu's face became even more confused.


Then he saw that his wife looked bad. The habit he had developed over the years made him subconsciously smile softly and comfortingly. He walked over and stretched out his hand to gently support her. He lowered his eyes and stared at his wife's beautiful face, and said in a warm voice with concern: "Wen'er Why do you look so haggard, but there is something wrong with your body, would you like to ask a doctor to take a look?"


"No, I just suddenly worried about Ru'er on the way. I couldn't feel relieved. After thinking about it, I decided to come back and prepare to take her with me."


After finally swallowing the words she wanted to ask, Lu Shuwen smiled and changed the topic, not wanting her husband to delve deeper.


He Xuexu didn't doubt his wife's reason.


The daughter is now only a little over two years old, and she is at the age where she cannot live without her mother. If the wife had not been worried that things at the in-laws' family might affect the child, she would not have planned to take the child with her when she went back to her parents' home. But after all, she is still a mother. It is normal to not want to let the child out of your sight, so in the end you are overly worried and regret thinking about taking the child with you.


He Xuexu himself does not know how to take care of children, or he actually doesn’t like his daughter very much, even if it is his eldest daughter and his first child. Influenced by his parents’ ideas since he was a child, he still feels that there must be a daughter in the family. It would be great if a son inherits the family business, but...


His eyes vaguely swept over his wife's abdomen. He Xuexu remained calm on the surface and only asked his daughter to be carried over to his wife who was sleeping.


Holding her daughter who was a little sleepy and about to cry after being woken up, Lu Shuwen skillfully nudged the child a few times to coax her. Then she chatted with her husband for a few words and waited until the servants had packed up her daughter's things and brought them to her. Then I left the house again and went to my parents' house.


In the car, apart from Lu Shuwen and her young child, there was only Wu, the nanny who had taken care of her since she was a child. Later, she had a little master and had always been by her side.


Wu is Lu Shuwen's nanny and has been with her since she got married. She can be said to be Lu Shuwen's most trusted person. If there is anyone she trusts most in the world, then besides her own mother, it is probably Wu. .


So the question she just couldn't say to her husband can now be told to Wu calmly: "Nanny, do you still remember the female beggar you met outside our house two years ago?"


"Two years ago..." Mrs. Wu heard the words and recalled carefully. She soon remembered who the lady was talking about, and her expression suddenly changed: "I still remember that that person was my uncle's old appearance... "good.


When the latter word caught her wife's eyes, she immediately swallowed it and asked strangely: "Why did the madam suddenly mention this person? Could it be that she came to pester my uncle again?"


If this is the case, then she must drive him away as soon as possible, preferably far away, and not allow him to enter the boundaries of Kyoto again, so as not to affect her wife.


Although it stands to reason that the other party came first, and their wife did not know about it later, and she took away his love, which was a bit unfair to her, but now my uncle has married their wife, and even sister Ru has a son. , the deal is done, no matter what, that person should not come back to pester him endlessly.


big deal...


The worst they can do is give them more money as compensation.


Not knowing what her nanny was thinking, Lu Shuwen pinched the corner of her daughter's clothes, hesitated and said, "I seem to have seen her today."


"Sure enough, is she coming to pester my uncle again? Madam, don't worry, I will definitely drive her away before my uncle sees her, and she will never let her affect the relationship between you and my uncle." Wu She has a face full of fighting spirit. For her wife, she will do it without any mercy even if it is unconscionable.


"No, she probably isn't here to pester her husband."


Lu Shuwen recalled how she met Chi Li. At that time, the father and daughter had just come out of the government. Both of them had seals representing their fame and status hanging on their waists. The older man was just a scholar, and the beautiful one was just a scholar. She was so exquisite that she couldn't believe that the young woman was a beggar she had met once before, but she was actually a high-ranking official.


If she hadn't remembered the other person's eyes out of a woman's intuition at that time, and recognized the other person and confirmed his identity with only those eyes when they met again, she might have been more than this. She has actually come to Kyoto again, and transformed into one of the rare female candidates in the current dynasty.

The father and daughter will appear in Kyoto, probably to participate in the examination.


Born into a family of officials since she was a child, and having lived at the foot of the imperial city for a long time, Lu Shuwen has higher political literacy than ordinary people, so she can know how difficult it is for that person to gain the title of civil servant, and she also knows that once he is recognized by today's His Majesty found out that even if he is still just an official, it is very likely that he will be used.


After all, it is an obvious fact that the empress now urgently needs female officials to help consolidate her power and break the monopoly of male officials in the court.


By then, his identity will be different from what it is today.


If she holds a grudge against her husband because of past events, then her husband may have an enemy in the court in the future.


Reason told her that it was best to tell her husband about this matter, even if they would not do anything to each other, so as to take precautions in advance, but...


Lowering her eyes to look at her sleeping daughter in her arms, Lu Shuwen raised her hand and touched her tender little face very gently, and finally chose not to say or do anything.


"Nanny, just pretend that I haven't seen her today. You don't have to do anything more. You just need to take good care of our sister Ru."


"Yes, ma'am."


Wu never refutes her wife's decisions, and never goes against them. She always strictly implements them. This is why she can become the other party's most trusted confidant.


So after being told to pretend that this matter didn't exist, she really seemed to have forgotten about it and only focused on taking care of her wife and sister Ru.


#

Chi Li didn't expect that by chance, on her only way out before the exam, she would meet the wealthy daughter of Chen Shimei.


The two of them only had a brief relationship two years ago. At that time, the original owner was still quite embarrassed and disgraced. Fortunately, people could recognize her face at a glance.


Even though there was some distance, Chili could still see the other person's expression changing at that moment.


I believe that the other party can also see the fact that he also recognizes her.

This seemed outrageous, but after thinking about the profound impression the original owner had on him, Chili understood. After all, the two were considered former love rivals, so it was normal for them to care so much about each other.


Chili's thoughts have always been positive and sunny. After all, she is a Koi Fairy who majors in merit. She sincerely believes that there are still good qualities such as truth, goodness and beauty in human nature, so she generally does not make conspiracy theories about everything. change.


But for people who are obviously in opposing positions, even if they don't actually have any deep hatred for each other, she still doesn't lose the sense of precaution she should have.


But now that the trial is about to begin, Chi Li really has no time or energy to think of ways to deal with Chen Shimei's family, so she can only focus on the most important things at hand.


Anyway, no matter how bold Chen Shimei was, he would not dare to do anything in the trial. In other words, if he really had the courage, Chi Li would be completely relieved.


Take a look at the Zhujiu Clan package.


It may be that Chi Li's guess came true. From that chance encounter when she successfully stepped into the entrance of the examination room, she never encountered any conspiracy or conspiracy against her, and not even an accident happened. Everything went smoothly.


According to the regulations of the examination, candidates cannot wear more than five pieces of tops and no more than two pieces of pants. They must wear single layers of clothing. They are not allowed to carry mezzanines. Violators will be treated as cheating.


February in the north is when the snow melts, and the temperature in this season is a bit colder than in winter. In this kind of weather, you are not allowed to use cotton, fur or other materials to keep out the cold. No matter how many layers you wear, you can't resist the whoosh. A chill filled my body.


Many students who queued up before dawn to wait for the entrance exam could only hold themselves tightly with their hands and tremble, even Chili was no exception.


When she finally waited in line for her to enter the room and search her body, her lips were already slightly purple from the cold, and she didn't know how she would survive the next nine days of exams.


Rarely, Chili felt a flash of sadness in her heart.


This is only the first general examination since the Empress came to the throne, and it is also the first since the policy of allowing women to take the imperial examination was issued. This examination is naturally of great importance to the higher-ups, especially Her Majesty the Empress.


For this reason, the newly-renovated security area specially set up for female students was also specially arranged for four high-ranking female officials sent from the palace to search their bodies.


Inside the Gongyuan, where no one can see, there is a place where you can directly see the scene of female students queuing up in front of the guard house. There, no one can imagine that the empress of the dynasty stood in front of the window with only two of her confidants, looking at That short line only had a dozen people at most.
"I thought there wouldn't be a single female student in this session, but I didn't expect there to be so many people. Congratulations, Your Majesty." The middle-aged woman standing on the left side of the empress smiled and congratulated the empress.


Her advance congratulations were not false. Even if none of these female candidates were awarded Jinshi in the end, the candidates were already qualified to be officials. As long as His Majesty needed it, he would be able to legitimately use them to serve as officials in the court. There was no need to Constrained by those stubborn guys who talk about ancestral etiquette.


And according to their original assumptions, they thought that it would only take two or three years for women to take the imperial examination. At least within five years, they should not be able to wait for female students to step into Kyoto as candidates. However, it turned out that all of a sudden There are more than a dozen surprises, how can we not say congratulations?


"I have already said that our vast country is full of talented people. Even if they are women, there are many talented people. As long as I give you this opportunity, someone will naturally seize it."


So the result now is just a two-way journey between her and her future courtiers.


She reached out and gave them a chance, and they responded and fought tooth and nail to get to her, simple as that.


During the conversation, the empress noticed that her General Protector was looking unexpectedly at a female student in the team outside. She couldn't help but follow her gaze and asked casually: "Mo Aiqing, do you know that person?"


"Back to Your Majesty, I have met Miss Chi several times. She once rescued my younger brother unintentionally. Not long ago, I saw her and her father in a town a hundred miles away from Kyoto. I thought she was I came to the capital to seek my favor back then, but unexpectedly I saw someone in this tribute courtyard. Suddenly, I lost my manners in front of you, and I hope your majesty will punish me."


Mo Yu knelt down on the spot and told all about his previous relationship with Chi Li without reservation.


When the empress heard this, she had no intention of blaming her: "Get up, I will forgive your guilt."


Speaking of which, this female student may have unintentionally helped her on her career path, and she has to thank him.


If she hadn't saved the young prince of Zhen Guo Gong's mansion and caused him to die unexpectedly, or fall into the hands of the hostile forces at that time, it's not certain whether Zhen Guo Gong's army could be fully used by her.


It's not that Mo Yu would have any second thoughts about her because of her brother, but in the eyes of the world, the young prince was the legitimate heir after the Duke of Laozhen, so the generals and soldiers who surrendered to him They are only willing to obey his orders, or are willing to obey the orders of the people who are supported by the young prince. Mo Yu alone, even if she is a direct bloodline of the Zhenguo Duke's mansion, no matter how outstanding she is, she cannot fully mobilize the entire Mo Yu. Family army.


The battle for the throne is a life-or-death war. What's more, the empress still competes with the brothers as a princess. She said that everything she has to go through is more dangerous and bad than ordinary princes who want to ascend to the throne. , if anyone lacks a little help, I am afraid it will lead to defeat and eventually be thrown into a place of eternal destruction.


Even so, her status after successfully becoming emperor was always not stable enough. There were always some sick-minded guys who thought they could gain the support of those old diehards because they had two ounces more flesh on their crotch than her, and tried to overthrow her.


It bored her so much that she even had the dangerous idea of ​​killing all her brothers. If she hadn't been strongly dissuaded by her subordinates, she might have gained a reputation as a cruel brother-killer.


All of this made the empress even more eager to have more faces of the same gender as herself in the court. It wasn’t that she was biased against men and women. In fact, she didn’t care whether her ministers were men or women, as long as they were loyal enough to her and useful. That's fine, but I can't bear the fact that some people like to use this distinction between men and women to separate the relationship between her and her courtiers.


Therefore, in order to completely consolidate her power, she must promote more female ministers. First, she can form a rivalry with her male ministers to balance her imperial skills. Second, she needs more female ministers who can fully stand up for herself. The talents here come to strengthen the control of the centralized power. The female ministers rely on her to stand on the court. Apart from her, they actually have no other power to rely on and can only rely on her. The subordinates, Third Lai, the Empress, more or less, still want to improve the status of women in this era.


After all, the oppression of women nowadays is really too much, and as human beings, why should they be treated so unfairly?

Before Chi Li stepped into the room to search her body, she could feel a few eyes falling on her, but in this environment, she did not dare to look around, so she could only ignore them and continue to line up calmly. Admission.


There were several charcoal pots burning in the room where the body was searched, but it was not cold at all.


Chi Li, who was still a little trembling at first, gradually turned red in the face during the process of taking off her clothes and being inspected. After it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong with her and was allowed to go, a younger female officer looked at her face and was stunned for a moment. There was a flash of surprise, and then she was glared at by the older female officer next to her with a warning look. She quickly regained her composure and put on a serious look again.


However, the girl just now was really beautiful.


It is not the kind of beauty that exists in the world, but a kind of ultimate beauty that cannot be described in detail, is refined from the world, and has a bit of fairy spirit. People can't help but immerse themselves in beautiful things just looking at it.


Even if they are both women, there is no way to feel jealous at all. No, maybe it is because we are both women, so we can appreciate each other's beauty without any distractions.


The shou-shen house has a front and back door.


These students who are taking the entrance exam can go directly through the back door after completing the inspection and enter the examination room of Gongyuan.


Several children with lanterns were already waiting here. When one of them saw Chi Li coming, she took a step forward with a lantern in hand. Then she would lead Chi Li to the cell she was assigned.


"Thank you." Chili whispered before taking steps.


"Thank you." These were her words of thanks after successfully entering the dormitory she was assigned to.


The two only exchanged these two sentences, while the other party was silent the whole time, not even saying a word to Chi Liyan.


Knowing what the other party's rules should be, Chili didn't force it. After entering the dormitory, she first looked around the small cubicle, which was less than two square meters in total, and then checked the things uniformly distributed in it.


There is only an oil lamp on the table, and there is a quilt folded on the wooden board behind which people sit. It is not very thick, but it can keep some warmth. There is a charcoal pot on the ground underneath, and the charcoal inside has been lit. The smoke made the entire inside of the dormitory slightly warm, and there was a small pile of charcoal piled next to it. This was the amount of charcoal she would use for nine days here. She had to use it sparingly. If it was used up all at once, it would be gone later.


In addition, there is a toilet bucket hidden under the wooden board of the seat. The physiological problems of the candidates are solved here. A dedicated person will come to pick up the toilet bucket every day and replace it with a new one for them.


Nowadays, when it comes to the examination, there is no such thing as a bad number, because every dormitory has a bad number.


Since everyone stinks, it means they don’t stink.


Everyone can only comfort themselves in this way.


Pens, inks, papers, inkstones, etc. will not be distributed until the papers are handed out, and they have not been given to them yet. In addition, at meal time, food will be provided inside the examination room. As for what they can eat, Chili doesn’t know yet. , she just prayed that when the food was handed to her hands, it would still be hot.


The examination lasts for nine days, with a total of three exams, and papers are issued in three rounds.


When the first round of hair comes down, pen, ink, paper, inkstone and a bowl of water will also be handed out.


Before lunch begins, whether the bowl of water is for them to grind ink or for drinking depends on how the candidates allocate the water consumption.


Chili's choice was to take a big sip to quench her thirst before she started grinding ink, and then use the remaining water to grind the ink without drinking any more.


Although she loves water, she can survive until noon on this water alone.


The first exam was mainly about the contents of the Four Books and Five Classics. They were all old acquaintances. After carefully reviewing the questions, Chi Li began to answer questions skillfully. The process was quite smooth, without any lag or interruption.


By the time lunch was served, she had finished two of the four-book questions in one go, leaving five questions unfinished.


There is plenty of time next, and Chili is not in a hurry. It is important to eat first.


She has determined that no matter how terrible the food here is, she will force herself to swallow it. After all, the exam will last for so many days, and it is impossible not to eat enough to replenish her strength.


Unexpectedly, the food distributed was quite good.


A bowl of thin millet porridge, four steamed buns, two vegetables and two meats, all very generous and steaming. I was also given a bowl of hot water, but it has turned into lukewarm water now, but it’s fine if you can drink it, Chili Not picky.


Her appetite was not small, but when faced with buns that were bigger than her fist, she couldn't fit in four of them. She could only eat one vegetable, one meat, two buns and a bowl of millet porridge.


Keep the water so you can drink it if you're thirsty in the afternoon, or if you run out of ink, you can replenish it.


There is a small slit at the bottom of the dormitory. Those used dishes and chopsticks only need to be pushed out along the slit. Someone who sees them will naturally take them away without leaving them occupying the small space inside.


Chi Li completed all the questions on the afternoon of the second day, but out of caution, she did not choose to submit the paper in advance. Instead, she carefully checked all the questions she had written at least three times, and then wrote some questions that were insufficient in literary talent. After a lot of polishing, I copied it on the paper in the most beautiful font, stroke by stroke.


It was almost the afternoon of the third day, and the first exam was over. Chili also completed the final answers to all the answers. He put all the papers and all the used and unused scratch paper on the table, and someone would collect them.


With a bang, the small window in front of Chili's dormitory was suddenly opened from the outside, and then a slender arm covered with armor stretched out, took away the papers and other items in front of Chili, and then again Close the small window with a snap to prevent candidates from peeking outside too much.


Obviously, the person who came to collect the papers was a female soldier, which was not a big surprise.


Even before entering the examination room, Chili saw many female soldiers among the soldiers guarding the Gongyuan. He heard that the General Protector had a brave and capable female army under his command, and it might be these people.


It should be that the imperial court considered that there would be female candidates in this examination, so it specially sent some female soldiers.

(End of this chapter)