cabinet first lady

Chapter 36

Because the appearance of Cai's mother and son is of great importance, climbing Lingri Mountain is naturally impossible.

Luo Yu waited for Luo Jie to come back at home, while Ruan Muyang and Han Ruo went home respectively.

There was no movement in the next few days. Ruan Muyang guessed that Luo Jie was sending someone to investigate the details of Cai's mother and son to confirm their identities.

About ten days later, Luo Yu sent someone to deliver a letter, which said that Cai's son was indeed King Yong'an's child.

Ruan Muyang believes that Luo Jie will not give up this opportunity at this time.Next, she will wait patiently for this matter to ferment.

On the morning of September 25th, a minister impeached Yongan Wang Xie Zhao for his misbehavior, leaving the royal blood out for many years.

All the ministers present knew well that the minister who came out to impeach was a member of the Luo class faction.Sure enough, Luo Jie would not see King Yong'an go so smoothly, and suddenly find an illegitimate son, this is a very clever move.

"Father, my son doesn't know about this!" Yong'an Wang Xie Zhao was unprepared, "Father, please investigate clearly."

Emperor Wu looked at Xie Zhao somewhat disappointed and said, "I will send someone to investigate this matter."

It turned out that the child was indeed Xie Zhao's blood.Emperor Wu even asked Zhang Anyi to arrange and meet the child in person.

The child was only four or five years old, and he was pink and cute. He was a little scared when he saw strangers, and he kept looking at them with a pair of dark eyes.Emperor Wu looked at him and asked Zhang Anyi beside him: "Zhang Qing, do you think this child is like King Yong'an?"

Now the court is divided into two major factions headed by Luo Jie and Xu Hou, and with the three-legged censor and officials, Emperor Wu naturally sees it.He also knew that Zhang Anyi was on good terms with Luo Jie and Xu Hou, not belonging to any faction.Although this is good, some censors have been eyeing him, saying that he has both sides, and pretends to be a snake.

Emperor Wu had lived for so many years and read countless people, so he naturally knew that if everyone said he was good, then this person must be terrible.Zhang Anyi was young, so soon after he entered the cabinet, he was favored by the two powerful ministers. Naturally, it was not easy, but he was stared at and scolded by the official censor all day long. After all, he was still a little tender.

A very proud smile appeared on Emperor Wu's lips, as if everyone and everything were under his control.

Sensing that Emperor Wu's gaze fell on him, Zhang Anyi seemed to be sizing him up calmly, and said respectfully: "Return to Your Majesty, I think this child has a quarter-like resemblance to King Yong'an, most likely it is—"

"Well, it is indeed my grandson."

Emperor Wu had seven sons in total, except for the murdered Prince Yongjing Xie Xin, the sickly crown prince and King Yongan, one of them died young.It was also in his later years that Emperor Wu felt that his heirs were weak after he killed King Yongjing.

As for the emperor's grandson, Emperor Wu now has only one emperor's grandson, who is born of the prince and princess.

After the child was taken away, Emperor Wu declared King Yong'an into the palace.

After scolding him severely, Emperor Wu asked him to take the emperor's grandson into Yong'an Palace to raise him well, and bring Cai's family into the palace as a concubine.

Xie Zhao had slept with many women, and when he saw Cai, he had already forgotten her.Suddenly an extra son appeared at this time, of course he knew that he was being tricked.

Especially Zhang Anyi was still standing beside Emperor Wu.He looked at his nose and his heart, and the old god was watching him being scolded, obviously without any expression, but Xie Zhao felt that he was looking at him as a joke.

He was originally very hostile to Zhang Anyi because of Ruan Muyang, but now he felt that he was being scolded for face, and he was gnashing his teeth in his heart, but he couldn't show it in front of Emperor Wu.He could only bow his head and say to Emperor Wu: "I obey."

Because of this incident, the voices of the court calling for the replacement of the prince suddenly decreased a lot.

Emperor Wu also seemed to remember the goodness of the prince, so he sent Gao Yan beside him to the East Palace to have a look at him.

All of a sudden, the situation became confusing again.

Everyone knew about King Yong'an, Ruan Muyang felt sorry for Xu Miaolu, but he didn't expect anyone to feel sorry for him.

One day, when he went to pay his respects to the old lady, Ruan Muyang ran into Zhang Anyu.When he came out, it was inevitable that he would ridicule him again.

"The second sister-in-law seems indifferent to the matter of King Yong'an?" Zhang Anyu is still that lazy playboy.

Why should she care?

Ruan Muyang thought that he was too young to make sense, so he was too lazy to explain to him.It was because he had scolded Zhang Anyan angrily before, and she felt that among his brothers in the Zhang family, apart from Zhang Anyi, he was a rare understanding person. When he grew up and became more sensible in the future, he might be Zhang Anyi's help. She couldn't continue to misunderstand like this.

Speaking of which, Zhang Anyu is also a formidable person, and she, Ruan Muyang, thinks that she has a very good temper, and she can get very angry every time he says a few words.

She said patiently: "Fourth brother, I have a clean relationship with King Yong'an, and I have nothing to do with him."

Zhang Anyu returned a mocking smile almost out of habit.

Ruan Muyang's patience was completely lost by his laughter, he took a deep breath and said, "If the fourth brother still doesn't believe it and still wants to find evidence, then keep staring at me until you give up."

After that, she left.

Looking at her leaving figure, Zhang Anyu frowned, feeling a little complicated.In fact, he has already believed that there is nothing between her and King Yong'an, and he also thinks that she is not a person who is cheating, but he just can't help but want to tease her a few words.

Because of Cai's incident, the climbing of Lingri Mountain on the ninth day of September was postponed indefinitely.Until October, Luo Yu invited Ruan Muyang to Lingri Mountain again.

This time it was the Luo family's carriage.

After getting into the carriage and finding that Han Ruo wasn't there, Ruan Muyang asked suspiciously, "Where's Sister Han?"

Luo Yu looked outside the carriage and said, "Her, there is something at home today, let's ask her out next time."

I don't know if it's Ruan Muyang's illusion.She felt that Luo Yu was a little strange today.

Luo Yu thought of something very interesting, and said to Ruan Muyang: "Sister Ruan, do you know? Xu Miaolu has a heart for King Yong'an, and after knowing that King Yong'an has a son outside, she was so angry that she made a big fuss in the Xu family. Dare to go out, saying that I am afraid of being laughed at by other young ladies."

Then she gloated and added: "There are too many people waiting to laugh at her face to face. Who offended so many people by her domineering appearance all day long? She deserves it! I don't know if she still has any thoughts about King Yong'an .”

Ruan Muyang smiled.

Xu Miaolu is an extremely proud person, so naturally she can't bear the existence of Cai's mother and son.But the existence of the Cai family's mother and son will only have some impact on them at most. After all, it is not a big deal. It will be a matter of time before King Yong'an will marry the Xu family.

But as Luo Yu said, it's enough to scare them off and cause some unhappiness between them.Slowly, Ruan Muyang discovered that the carriage was not going to Lingri Mountain.

"Sister Luo, where are we going today?"

"Today—well, we're going—" Luo Yu's eyes dodged a little, and her speech became hesitant.

Ruan Muyang was even more suspicious.

It wasn't until the carriage stopped suddenly at the gate of a villa that Luo Yu looked at Ruan Muyang and said with apology and guilt: "I'm sorry, Sister Ruan, I lied to you. In fact——my grandfather wanted to see you." She acted like Like something wrong.

Afterwards, the curtain of the carriage was lifted by someone outside.A middle-aged man said with a kind smile on his face, "Madam Zhang, please."

Ruan Muyang pursed his lips and got out of the carriage.

"lady!"

Seeing some flustered Diancui and Fangang outside the carriage, they must have been controlled before, Ruan Muyang comforted: "It's okay, you wait for me here."

This is a villa of the Luo family outside the capital.

Ruan Muyang walked in with the middle-aged man, looking around along the way.

The middle-aged man stopped when he reached a closed door.

He first knocked on the door respectfully, and then carefully pushed the door open when he heard "Come in" from inside.

He made a "please" gesture to Ruan Muyang, and said, "Madam Zhang please, sir is waiting for you."

The door that was pushed open was like a mouth that could eat people, and what came inside was a kind of sternness and silence. Ruan Muyang's heart beat fast, he took a deep breath, and walked in.

As soon as she walked in, the door was closed from the outside, and she became even more nervous.

After walking a few steps inside, Ruan Muyang saw a thin, old but very imposing figure.

This is Luo Jie, one of the cabinet ministers!
"See Lord Luo." Ruan Muyang tried his best to maintain his composure.

Luo Jie raised his head and looked at Ruan Muyang.

They had previously met at the peony banquet at the Luo family.At that time, he had noticed her because of the new champion Zhang Anyi. At that time, he just thought that the child was very quiet, but he didn't expect that the recent events made him need to re-examine the child.

As the prime minister of the cabinet, Luo Jie is almost only under one person, and the aura cultivated by staying in the top position all year round makes ordinary people have no courage to look directly at him.Especially when he felt Luo Jie's scrutinizing gaze, Ruan Muyang felt that all his disguises and thoughts had been seen through, and that even the slightest emotion could not escape his eyes. He immediately felt extremely stressed, and it became difficult to breathe.

After a while, Luo Jie finally spoke when Ruan Muyang started to sweat coldly on his forehead.

"There seems to be something wrong between Mrs. Zhang and King Yong'an?" Luo Jie couldn't hear any emotion in his old voice.

Ruan Muyang tried his best to maintain his composure, summoned up the courage to raise his head, and asked suspiciously, "King Yong'an? My wife doesn't quite understand what Lord Luo means."

Luo Jie smiled lightly.

When the calls for changing the crown prince became louder and louder, an illegitimate son who lived in Yong'an Wan suddenly appeared among the people. Anyone with a little understanding knew that there must be someone secretly manipulating him. When he went to investigate, he was found on Luo Jie.After finding out about him, everyone thought that he must be the one who caught Xu Hou and the others by surprise, and no one would investigate further.

And how did they know that Luo Jie was also taken advantage of by others!
When Luo Yu said that he had met the illegitimate son of King Yong'an, Luo Jie, who had experienced so many conspiracies and schemes, suddenly realized that something was wrong.Asking Luo Yu to go through the details of meeting Cai's mother and son, he felt that every word Ruan Muyang said was guiding.Then he found Cai's mother and son, interrogated them, and then went down to find out the mastermind behind the scenes.

What he didn't expect was that it was really her, a woman in the back house.

"Madam Zhang doesn't have to hide it any more, the old man you sent will find out right away."

Ruan Muyang knew that this matter could not be hidden from Luo Jie.She didn't intend to hide it either.

Seeing that she was no longer pretending to be stupid, Luo Jie frowned and looked at her and said, "How did you know that King Yong'an has a son outside?" At that time, seeing King Yong'an's reaction in the court hall, he probably didn't even know he had a son , why would she, a woman in the back house, know?
"Is this matter related to Zhang Xueshi?" Luo Jie asked uncertainly.

After all, Zhang Anyi was on good terms with himself and Xu Hou, and he didn't seem like someone who would take sides in private.

Luo Jie's question made Ruan Muyang gradually less nervous.She looked at Luo Jie and replied: "My lord, it has nothing to do with my wife's husband at this time, he doesn't know about it." This is her own business, unless it is absolutely necessary, she does not want to drag the neutral Zhang Anyi into the water.

Luo Jie was even more puzzled: "How did you know the existence of their mother and child? Why did you do this?"

"Knowing the existence of Cai's mother and son is also a coincidence." Realizing that Luo Jie was not satisfied with this answer, Ruan Muyang paused and said, "But my lord is right, there is indeed a quarrel between my minister's wife and King Yong'an. Don't worry, my lord. The minister's wife did not have any deep meaning in this move, she just didn't want to see Yong'an Wang Chunfeng proud."

Her words aroused great curiosity and interest in Luo Jie, and asked, "Oh? What's wrong with you and King Yong'an? As far as I know, he is your cousin."

She couldn't explain why she was able to find Cai's mother and son. If she couldn't even explain the relationship with Xie Zhao, she might annoy Luo Jie.Ruan Muyang showed an extremely resentful expression, and said with shame in his tone: "To be honest, my lord, I had a marriage contract with him at first, but later I married into Zhang's family by accident. Me, even...belittled me and humiliated me. I hate him so much, I wish he would die!"

Although these words were half true and half false, her hatred for Xie Zhao was real.

Luo Jie would naturally distinguish her emotions.

He saw her performance in his eyes, and there was a hint of ridicule in his vicissitudes of life serious voice: "It really is the most poisonous woman's heart."

Ruan Muyang remained silent.

"King Yong'an probably never imagined that you are the real manipulator behind the scenes." Speaking of this, Luo Jie changed the subject, "How courageous! How dare you even plot against the old man!"

Although he had already prepared for Luo Jie to get angry, Ruan Muyang's body couldn't help shaking at this moment.What she faced was not ordinary people, not Xie Zhao, but Luo Jie, the minister of the cabinet!

She said cautiously: "It's unavoidable, and please forgive me, my lord. After much deliberation, I can only rely on my lord to push Cai's mother and son out. Besides, at this time, my lord also needs it."

After speaking, the room fell into silence.

Luo Jie's voice sounded, and there was danger in the distance: "You mean, I still want to thank you for helping me?"

Ruan Muyang lowered his head: "My wife dare not."

There was no killing intent in Luo Jie's eyes, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.

"Don't dare?" Luo Jie looked at Ruan Muyang's calm expression and said, "I see that you are not afraid now. You are not afraid that this old man will send you to King Yong'an? If he knew it was you, he would definitely hate you to the bone. "

Ruan Muyang took a deep breath, raised his head again to look into Luo Jie's eyes, and said firmly, "Your Excellency will definitely not do this."

A woman in the back house had the guts to include him in the calculation, apparently even including him finding her, Luo Jie had no choice but to think highly of Ruan Muyang.Of course he also knew her ultimate goal.

After so many years of playing tricks, Ruan Muyang's thoughts are not enough in Luo Jie's eyes.

"Mrs. Zhang can be regarded as surrendering to the old man now? Is it you alone or together with Zhang Xueshi?"

Sure enough, he saw it, and Ruan Muyang stopped beating around the bush.She knelt down and said: "He doesn't know about all this. My lord doesn't want to make King Yong'an proud, and my wife's purpose is the same. Although my wife is a woman in the back house, she is willing to do my best when my lord needs it." Power."

Luo Jie looked at Ruan Muyang, who was kneeling on the ground, and could not hear any joy or anger in his tone: "Do you think this old man will need your help?"

"Maybe there will be?" Ruan Muyang is Zhang Anyi's wife, and the daughter of Ruan Zhongling, Minister of Industry.She bet that Luo Jie would not let go of the opportunity to win over and control Zhang Anyi through her, nor would she give up Ruan Zhongling, who was still neutral.

Of course, she never had the idea of ​​involving Zhang Anyi and the Ruan family.

Therefore, she is equivalent to seeking skin with a tiger now.

Luo Jie stroked his white beard, frowned and looked at Ruan Muyang, his eyes were deep and dark, showing no emotion.

In the end, he said: "Okay, you go back first. The old man invited Mrs. Zhang to come today just to clear up the confusion, and I will offend you."

Neither rejected nor accepted.

Those in positions of power are so unobtrusive in their work.

Ruan Muyang said obediently: "My wife will leave."

After leaving the room, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, and belatedly realized that her hands and feet were shining.

After all, Luo Jie is the prime minister of the cabinet, not something she can play with in her hands, so she still has to be careful in the future.

Ruan Muyang walked out full of thoughts, and met Luo Yu who was destroying a camellia plant in the garden.

Hearing footsteps, Luo Yu immediately turned around.Seeing Ruan Muyang, she first had a burst of joy on her face, then slowly walked towards her with some hesitation, and asked tentatively while looking at her expression: "Sister Ruan, what did grandfather say to you? But because the Cai mother and son about?"

Although Luo Yu is unruly and capricious, she is innocent and has no bad intentions.Only a carefree woman who is pampered can develop such a personality. Perhaps this innocence is too beautiful, and it is what she lacks. Ruan Muyang always has a little pity for her.

It was she who had planned Luo Yu into it, so naturally she had no reason to be angry with her.Besides, she doesn't know what happened from her appearance, it can be seen that Luo Jie loves her very much and doesn't want her to know about these intrigues.

"Lord Luo just asked me some details about meeting Cai's mother and child, nothing more." Ruan Muyang's tone softened.

"Sister Ruan, are you not angry with me?" Luo Yu said with a smile on her face, "My grandfather insisted on making me do this, and I didn't want to. But I dare not go against my grandfather's wishes." Speaking of which , she felt a little aggrieved.

After all, he was still a child, Ruan Muyang comforted: "It's okay, I don't blame you."

Because of Luo Jie, they were not interested in going to Lingri Mountain, so Luo Yu suggested to take a walk around the villa, and Ruan Muyang agreed.

When going back in the evening, Ruan Muyang told Dian Cui and Fang Fang in a serious tone: "Don't tell anyone what happened today, including Er Ye. If anyone asks, just say that we went to Lingri Mountain with Miss Luo today."

Diancui and Enamel nodded.

As soon as October is over, it seems that the Chinese New Year is getting closer.

As time passed, the matter of King Yong'an subsided, and gradually someone raised the idea of ​​changing the crown prince, but Emperor Wu was still hesitant.

In the blink of an eye, two years passed, and it was the spring festival that happened every three years.

In the past two years, Emperor Wu's health has gradually started to deteriorate due to his old age. There is still an undercurrent between the two factions of Luo Jie and Xu Hou. There is no political achievement, on the contrary, King Yong'an went to the north to make meritorious service, and the momentum picked up again.

Maybe one day Emperor Wu had plans to change the crown prince.

The two years of work also allowed Zhang Anyi to gain some qualifications in the cabinet and completed the compilation of "Records of Emperor Guanghua Chongdi".As the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, he and Shen Wei worked together to deal with the practice of entrusting and offering bribes, and the atmosphere in the court was very good.Zhang Anyi is also more and more appreciated by Emperor Wu. Not only was he appointed by the Holy Master to be the president of "Guanghua Huidian", he was also appointed as the co-examiner of this examination, and he has become an official with the two chief examiners Luo Jie and Xu Hou in reviewing the papers. The brightest rising star.

In the past two years, many things have happened to the Ruan family of the Zhang family.

After Mrs. Chen gave birth to a son, she and Zhang Anchao returned to the Zhang family from Zhuangzi.

Old Shangshu's body is still not good.

Last year, Ruan Muyang's elder brother, Ruan Minghua, also married the eldest daughter of Youdu Censor Liu Zhidong, and the couple are very affectionate.

And her elder sister, Ruan Muyun, gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Song family, and she is already pregnant with her second.

After the new year, students from various places who participated in the Spring Festival came to Beijing one after another.

Originally, Zhang Anchao was also going to take part in this examination, but because Zhang Anyi became a co-examiner of the examination, he had to avoid it.

I will try once every three years, and if I miss it once, I will waste another three years.Three years and three years, how terrible.

Zhang Anchao, who knew the news, seemed very calm.After leaving the Zhang family and living in Zhuangzi for nearly a year, he who was already very silent became even more silent.

However, this is all fate.

"Third brother has prepared for this spring for a long time." In the evening, when there were only the husband and wife, Ruan Muyang couldn't help but sigh.

Zhang Anyi was 20 years old when he won the first prize in the examination, and now he has been ups and downs in the court for three years. The calm demeanor experienced in an important position is both extremely attractive and daunting.

But he is only 24 years old.

His voice was extremely gentle: "The third brother is someone who keeps everything in his heart, so he should bear grudges against me at this time. I hope he can figure it out this time, otherwise he might go astray."

Ruan Muyang sighed: "I just hope he can really figure it out." Such a silent person is actually the most terrifying.

Zhang Anyi looked at Ruan Muyang with a smile.He was 19 and she was 17 when they got married.Now she is 21 years old, her appearance is a little more mature than before, her skin is still as delicate as snow, and her manner is also indescribably charming. Shen Jing will gradually fit her appearance, becoming more and more charming.

Seeing him in such a gaze, Ruan Muyang immediately realized what he was thinking, and blushed: "Becoming a co-examiner of the examination is also regarded as a teacher, you should be more serious."

"Whoever makes Madam more and more beautiful, it always makes me hard to hold myself." As he said, Zhang Anyi slowly approached.

After a while, the two fell down on the bed, entangled together, and the sound of panting gradually sounded.

A charming room.

In March, the results of the palace examination were released, and many students were nominated for the gold list, and they were about to enter the imperial court.

Hanshi had nothing to do, so he went to copy a copy of the gold list and came back.

"Madam! Take a look at this gold list."

Ruan Muyang said with a smile: "Our second master is no longer participating, what are you going to do to copy the gold list? I'm afraid few of the names on it are familiar, what's so interesting?"

Han Shi looked around and saw that there was no one else besides Diancui and Fangang, so he said in a low voice, "Ma'am, look who is on this gold list."

Seeing his mysterious appearance, Ruan Muyang took the gold list and looked at it carefully.

Most of the familiar names on the gold list are sons of some well-connected families. Ruan Muyang glanced hastily, and finally his eyes fell on the No.2 and second place names in the top list.

Palace Examination No.2 - Yin Ji.

Chewing these two words in his mouth, Ruan Muyang slowly recalled what happened that year when he went to Jingzhou to serve illness and passed by Yangzhou City.

"Ma'am, do you think this Yin Ji is the Mr. Yin we met back then?" Han Shi said in a low voice.

Diancui thought for a while, then remembered, and said in disbelief: "That apprentice? How could he be ranked second in the exam?"

If he hadn't seen this name on the gold list this time, Ruan Muyang would have almost forgotten this person. "Maybe it's just the same name." She said uncertainly.

It doesn't matter if it's true or not, it's been several years, and it's been so long since a small incident that he probably forgot about it, besides, he didn't know their identities at that time, and he didn't see her face.

This year also ushered in the [-]th birthday of Xu Hou, one of the cabinet ministers.

Because Zhang Anyi and the two powerful officials were good private teachers, both he and Ruan Muyang received posts.

Everyone knows that one of the two cabinet ministers loves power and the other loves money.Xu Hou is the one who loves money.

Even the emperor was alarmed by this birthday banquet, so he naturally didn't dare to collect money openly, and many people gave him things in private.

On the second day of May, Xu Hou had his birthday.Zhang Anyi and Ruan Muyang went to Xu Mansion together.

When Xu Hou celebrated his birthday, all the high-ranking officials in the imperial court and noble families came, and of course there were many uninvited ones.After exchanging pleasantries with acquaintances, Ruan Muyang sat down with Mrs. Zhao and chatted.

"Why didn't my sister come?" she asked.

Mrs. Zhao replied: "Your sister has been reacting so badly recently, there is no way to come."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Zhao looked at Ruan Muyang's stomach, and said with a bit of worry on her face, "Why hasn't your stomach moved? Is there any discomfort in your body?"

Ruan Muyang shook his head and said: "Maybe it's not the time yet, let's go with fate." In fact, she has never stopped Bizitang in private, so naturally she won't be able to conceive.

"In a few days, I will take you to Xingyue Nunnery outside the city to pay respects. The Guanyin Guanyin there is very spiritual."

Ruan Muyang couldn't laugh or cry, and wanted to refuse, but he didn't want to take away her kindness, so he nodded.

Mrs. Zhao sighed: "Thanks to the Zhang family's old Shangshu and the old lady for being tolerant to you, and your in-laws are not around, otherwise your life will be difficult."

For this, Ruan Muyang is also very grateful to the old Shangshu and the old lady.It's really not outrageous to be married for three years and have nothing to do.

The topic of sons and heirs didn't stop until Han Ruo walked over and called "Sister Ruan".

Ruan Muyang smiled at her, let her sit down beside him, and asked, "Luo Yu didn't come? I haven't seen her for a long time."

"Her parents want to betroth her, but she doesn't want to, she is having a temper at home." Han Ruo smiled narrowly.

Two years passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye, Luo Yu and Han Ruo both reached the marriageable age.

Ruan Muyang asked with a smile: "What about you? Did Mrs. Han find a marriage for you?"

After all, Han Ruo is still a girl's family, and her face blushed immediately when she mentioned this: "Sister Ruan, what are you talking about?"

Seeing that she was thin-skinned, Ruan Muyang stopped making fun of her.

Hearing the laughing voice of the girl next to her, she looked over and saw Xu Miaolu sitting with several young ladies who were about her age.Everyone else was talking and laughing, but she was the only one who was always reserved, smiling faintly, with a sense of superiority.

Xu Miaolu is one year older than Luo Yu, and has reached the age of marriage, and has not been engaged for a long time. Xu Hou still likes King Yong'an.As for Cai's mother and son, at most, the young Xu Miaolu would be shocked for a while, but it would not affect Xu Hou's decision.

Furthermore, Xie Zhao's skills are so good that it's easy to coax a simple-minded young lady like Xu Miaolu.

Ruan Muyang glanced over, and suddenly found that among the women's family members at today's birthday banquet, there were particularly many fifteen or sixteen-year-old ladies from aristocratic families.

"Sister Han, did you notice that there are a lot of young ladies from aristocratic families here today?" With her fragrant clothes on her temples and her temples, she burst into laughter.

"Sister Ruan doesn't know?" Han Ruo said a little shyly, "Mr. Xu Ge's birthday banquet happened not long after the palace examination, and he invited the winners of this year's palace examination gold list, and even the top three came."

Most of the nominees for the gold list are young talents, and their futures are boundless after entering the officialdom. No wonder so many ladies from aristocratic families came to see their future husbands.

Ruan Muyang suddenly remembered the name he had seen on the gold list before, and he came here when he thought about it.

After the banquet, women and young ladies from aristocratic families gathered in twos and threes to chat.

Ruan Muyang was chatting with Han Ruo and several wives when Diancui hurried over, as if he was pretending to be serious.

Seeing that she had something to say, Ruan Muyang took her aside and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Ma'am, I just met that apprentice! He really is the No. [-] this year." Dian Cui frowned when she spoke, obviously unwilling to believe that a frivolous apprentice could become No. [-].

Ruan Muyang was a little surprised.She didn't expect that the No. 2 "Yin Ji" on the gold list was really the Yin Ji they met outside Yangzhou.She remembered the way he fell in the muddy water when she met him.

Since he was able to survive the assassination of his brother at home until now, and even went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he should have trampled those people under his feet.

Now that he is admitted to the second place, he has a bright future in the future.

Dian Cui was very distressed, and after thinking for a long time, she couldn't find a solution, and asked sadly: "Madam, that person is not serious, what if he recognizes us and calls us?"

Ruan Muyang comforted her and said: "It's okay, I was wearing a veil at the time, he didn't see my real face, and he didn't know our identities, and besides, he might not remember it after several years."

Dian Cui's eyebrows frowned even tighter, and she reminded: "But—Madam, he has seen me and Fang Fang, and Han Shi."

(End of this chapter)