"Three gentlemen, tomorrow's banquet has been confirmed and will be hosted by the Crown Prince himself. It goes without saying that His Majesty loves these three gentlemen so much as the Crown Prince is here in person!"
In the Imperial Academy, Wan Guili offered wine and smiled and congratulated the three heroes of Tushan who had come to the Imperial Academy half a day in advance to prepare.
Mr. Linxi waved his hand and said high-sounding words, "I'm so flattered, but I'm afraid I'll let down His Majesty's love."
Mr. Lin, as usual, was stingy with words in the evening and only drank tea from a cup.
Mr. Kongbi is still hot-tempered, "We are recruiting disciples. Why does the prince come to join in the fun? When he comes, will he listen to him or us?"
Wanjijiu was so frightened that he quickly stretched out his hand to comfort him, "Of course I listen to you, I listen to you. His Royal Highness came here mainly to sit on the spot to prevent possible chaos. You think, by then, the Prince of Jiaodong and Linjiang will These princes are coming, and there are also many dignitaries in the capital. The situation is chaotic. There is no one as prestigious as the prince sitting in charge. How can these people be honest? I heard that His Highness the prince has also admired the names of the three gentlemen for a long time. Isn’t this something that everyone is happy about? What's the matter?"
At this time, the three old gentlemen all glanced at him. Mr. Wan Lin and Mr. Kongbi remained silent. Mr. Linxi said lightly: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. We will carefully select our disciples to honor our literature and honor our literature." Thank you, Your Majesty."
Wanjijiu laughed dryly and said, "Yes, yes, yes, His Highness the Crown Prince will also do his best to help the three old gentlemen choose the mantle to pass on."
——
"The prince will be here to preside over it in person?"
Lu Rusong was sitting in the study of the British Duke's Mansion, looking at the information in front of him, pursed his lips, and fell into thinking.
Xia Jingyun's funeral for the prostitute did not stir up the waves he imagined. It was as if a pair of invisible hands suppressed the waves that should have surged, so that the good mood he had been in the past two days was gone.
But when he reached his position, he could no longer let his personal emotions affect his decision-making. He had already put aside his regrets and dealt with the real major events, one of which was the Spring Festival Banquet on the 18th of the first lunar month.
Speaking of this, he and his daughter had to thank that stupid woman, Concubine De, for being merciful and giving her the right to choose teachers for the King of Jiaodong County. What a great opportunity, but in the end, she recklessly targeted the three masters of Tushan. on the body.
Those three old guys are the only three leading figures left in the literary world today. Their reputation, ability, and connections are all extremely powerful. As long as they can become the prince's disciples, the prince will almost immediately have a very good official background. , but the key is that you have to have that ability!
Even after repeated evaluations, he felt that he might not have the ability, so he settled for the next best thing.
Concubine De almost got into big trouble with her actions. Although for some reason later on, the three old guys changed their minds, and Concubine De was not made a laughing stock in the world, but it also created a good opportunity for his grandson.
Since you, the Three Masters of Tushan, are openly recruiting disciples, the Jiaodong County Prince can sign up, but there is no reason why the Linjiang County Prince can’t sign up, right?
And for this kind of opportunity, there will be no big loss if you are not selected, but if you are selected, it means that Concubine De and Xia Jingyun spent all their efforts to make wedding dresses for others.
If only Shaoer gets the hit but the Jiaodong County Prince misses, that would be the most amazing thing!
Thinking like this, the British Duke had already begun to make intensive arrangements. In these days, Mr. Fan led many great scholars to give Linjiang County Prince a good lesson. The five-year-old little fat man Linjiang County Prince's head was shaking after hearing this. I'm going to explode, and my eyes are straight when I walk.
Then just yesterday, Lu Lifeng, a great scholar from Longshou Prefecture and a disciple of Mr. Wan Lin, one of the three masters of Tushan, and now a giant in the literary world, was specially invited to come to help.
In order to invite this person, he spent a lot of money and took care of all aspects. In the end, he agreed to take a trip into this troubled water for the sake of his fellow sect.
At this moment, the other party was in another study room in the backyard, testing Linjiang County Prince's knowledge and giving him the final explanation.
Seeing Lu Rusong's silence, the staff carefully asked: "Sir, what do you think His Majesty is thinking? By presiding over such a major literary event and making friends with the three masters of Tushan openly, does he really want to cultivate the prince?"
As a party fighting for the dragon, they have naturally analyzed the overall situation. Although their understanding of the issues between His Majesty and the Crown Prince may not be as thorough as Xia Jingyun, a man with thousands of years of historical experience, they may not necessarily have the same understanding as Mr. Zhao, the owner of the village. It is as clear and unique as Mr. Su, but it is similar. It is still very clear that His Majesty wants to depose the crown prince, so I feel somewhat confused about His Majesty's decision.
"I know!"
After thinking for a while, Lu Rusong suddenly relaxed his brows and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty is showing his attitude to the world, showing that he completely abandons the prince, and at the same time intends to humiliate the prince."
"ah?"
The staff looked puzzled.
"Think about it, why does this Spring Festival banquet attract so many people's attention?"
"Because you can become a disciple of the Three Masters of Tushan. To become a disciple of the Three Masters of Tushan is a step to the sky for an ordinary person. For a prince who has great ambitions, he can gain huge reputation and gain huge benefits."
The British prince twirled his beard and smiled, with a playful smile, "But it's obvious that the East Palace is owned by someone, right?"
The staff reacted immediately, stroking their hands and smiling, "I see! Let the prince watch the people who replaced him grow up with his own eyes, and push them forward personally, but he can't do anything about it. Your Majesty's move is really cruel."
"And if the prince sees through this and misbehaves at the Spring Festival banquet, we, the concubines, and the literary elite will all regard him as a formidable enemy, causing his already small reputation to plummet and raise countless enemy."
The British Duke analyzed with emotion, and then came to the conclusion, "The prince dies as soon as possible. What we have to do is to seize this opportunity and let Shaoer become a disciple of the Three Masters of Tushan!"
"My master is so well-prepared, and Prince Linjiang is so talented, he will surely succeed in one fell swoop!"
The British Duke nodded slowly, stroking his beard lightly, and his majestic eyes showed a burst of confidence that he was bound to win.
——
Compared with the solemnity and tension of the British Duke's Mansion, the painting style of Jiang'an Marquis Mansion is extremely broken.
In the backyard, Su Yuanshang, Gongsun Jing and Feng Xiuyun stood in a row, looking at the scene in front of them with helpless expressions.
Xia Jingyun was playing a game with Dongfang Bai, the king of Jiaodong County, and Bai Yunbian. The game he played was not complicated. He specially asked Zhang Dazhi's apprentice to help make the literacy cards. One side was the radical and the other side was the rest. A card can be eliminated by forming a whole word. In the end, if all the cards are eliminated, you will win.
Dongfang Bai was in high spirits and was very happy. Xia Jingyun accompanied him with a smile and helped with some pointers from time to time.
Only Bai Yunbian was still there with a look of reluctance on his face, feeling that a natural-born protagonist like him was here to play such a mentally retarded game with a little kid. It was really a loss of status.
When it was dinner time, Grandma Yuan took the Prince of Jiaodong County to dinner, and the game came to an end.
Xia Jingyun asked people to pack things while looking at the three people, "Okay, stop making such a grimace. Before the war comes, you should relax more. This is called relaxation."
Gongsun Jing said with a bitter face, "Young master, this is a big deal. It is said that the British government has invited many great scholars to teach them day and night. Not to mention that our days here are short, but you are still fooling around with the Prince of Jiaodong County."
Seeing Gongsun Jing, a man in his forties pouting, looking like he dared to be angry but dare not speak, Xia Jingyun felt funny, "If we were to test their abilities, how old are these two children? No matter how much you teach them, Can they really remember it? If it is to test my ability, there is no need for him to learn, so he can just have fun, relax and show off his ability and princely demeanor tomorrow."
Gongsun Jing nodded subconsciously, but he always felt that something was wrong.
But now that the time has come, there's no point in worrying about it.
A night of silence.
The next day, on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the rooster had just started to crow and the sky was still dark. Dongfang Bai, the seventh son of Prince Huang of Jiaodong County, got up consciously as he did every day. Aunt Yuan, who was sleeping outside, had also gotten up long ago to serve him and dress him. After washing up neatly and having breakfast carefully, I waited until Xia Jingyun, who rarely got up early in the morning.
After a while, the uncle took his nephew on the carriage and walked towards the Imperial Academy.
Gongsun Jing, Bai Yunbian and other spectators sat in another carriage and followed behind.
The carriage inevitably slowed down as it approached the Imperial Academy, but at this moment, another carriage followed directly, squeezing in line with the carriage of the Marquis of Jiang'an.
Xia Jingyun opened the side curtain and saw an old, unfamiliar face in the car next to him.
That face has the majesty brought by living in a noble position for a long time, the heroism of a person who practices martial arts and leads troops, and the vicissitudes carved by the passage of time, but more importantly, there is undisguised hostility in his eyes.
So, he slightly cupped his hands and said, "I have met the British Duke."
It was also the first time for Lu Rusong to see this young man whose name he had heard for a long time with his own eyes. He smiled slightly and said, "Young master Xia is indeed a young and talented man. He is not as famous as the first sight."
Everyone can talk about the situation, and no one in the situation will lower their status and do stupid things. They each exchanged polite words. After the two parties took a deep look at each other, they lowered the curtain in unison.
At Xia Jingyun's signal, the Marquis's carriage slowed down, and the British Duke's carriage was not polite, speeding up instantly and took the lead.
Xia Jingyun stretched out his hand to lift the car curtain, glanced at the driver of the Duke's Mansion in front, turned to look at Dongfang Bai, and said with a smile: "You were overtaken by them like this, what do you think?"
Dongfang Bai only glanced at it and then withdrew his gaze, saying calmly: "My mother-in-law said, there is no need to fight against the useless."
"Then what if today he is accepted by those three old gentlemen, but you miss this opportunity?"
There seemed to be a hint of teasing in Xia Jingyun's smile, but there was no hint of teasing in his eyes.
He wanted to see if his nephew, who held the hopes and ideals of himself and everyone around him for the rest of his life, was a character worthy of help.
If not, then while Dongfang Bai is still young, there is still room for brainwashing and training to save everything.
Dongfang Bai had no idea that his real big test was coming so suddenly on the carriage. He just followed his own heart and said, "Even if he wins this round, there is more to his life than this round. As long as you don't admit defeat, there is still a chance for everything. Besides,"
He glanced at Xia Jingyun and said, "Isn't it you, uncle? Uncle, you have to work hard!"
Seeing Dongfang Bai waving his little fist, Xia Jingyun smiled, "Then if I fail to help you and you lose in the end, will you blame me?"
Dongfang Bai frowned, "This is my business. It's already good if you come to help me. Why should I blame you?"
The carriage stopped slowly at this moment. Xia Jingyun smiled and stretched out his hand to rub his head, "Let's go, uncle will help you win against them today!"
(End of chapter)
