Enrollment in Jixia Palace is scheduled for the eighth day of the first lunar month of the coming year. At the beginning of the new year, everything will be renewed.
For students from other places, this time is a bit awkward. They should either go a little earlier and simply celebrate the New Year in the capital, otherwise they might spend New Year's Eve on the road.
But compared to being able to enter Jixia Palace, this grievance is not considered an grievance at all.
Mengzhou is located in the northernmost part of the Ning Dynasty. Even if the weather is suitable for traveling after spring, the carriage will take more than a month to travel. Especially in the cold winter months, if there is heavy snow, it will be bad if it is delayed.
So after getting the admission place, the second room got busy and bought everything he could think of, and also re-made a few sets of jewelry to prevent Lu Jianyu from losing his place in front of the powerful ladies of the royal capital.
Mrs. Lu also made some good things privately. After all, it was important to save face for the Lu family, and she couldn't save what she shouldn't.
But in such a busy and orderly day, Mr. Lu broke a piece of news. Now, it was like a wolf breaking into a henhouse, and the chickens and dogs jumped up.
In the second room, Lu Wei looked ugly, Mrs. Yu was cursing, and Lu Jianyu was crying so hard that she was out of breath.
"Your eldest brother is such a bully. He has already decided on the candidate. Now he is about to leave and becomes his own daughter. This is not to make fun of us, but to insult us on purpose!" Mrs. Yu spread her palms and tapped her left hand with the back of her right hand. Palm, "Who in the whole of Meng doesn't know about this, huh? How will Jian Yu go out to meet people in the future?"
Lu Wei frowned and said, "Stop saying a few words. The king's intention has nothing to do with eldest brother."
"Hmph!" Yu spat on the ground: "No one sent the news, how could the royal capital send such a letter!"
Lu Jianyu whimpered and cried loudly: "It's better now. They have achieved the good reputation of their big house, but they use me as a raft. I... I'll just die."
Lu Wei's head hurt from the noise, and he threw up his sleeves and said, "I've been making so much noise every day, and there's no end to it."
Mrs. Yu hugged Lu Jianyu in her arms and said angrily: "Master, I want to be fair to you. Over the years, no benefit has been given to Dafang. He is the patriarch of the clan, but aren't you his colleague?" Brothers from the same mother and father? We don’t care about anything else. Just this matter, is it Lu Xun who is in the wrong? "
"Eldest brother said that he can't do anything about Jixia Palace, and other places will compensate Jian Yu." Lu Wei said in a deep voice.
Mrs. Yu disagreed and snorted coldly: "What you say is better than what you sing. If he hadn't brought that woman back back then, our Lu family would be where we are now..."
"Shut up!" Lu Wei suddenly stood up, his eyes were unusually cruel and full of warning: "If you mention this matter again, get out of the Lu family!" After that, he walked away.
Yu and Lu Jianyu were frightened for a moment. When they recovered, they became mother and daughter crying.
There was no peace in the second room, and Mrs. Lu was also troubled. She looked at Lu Xun, this eldest son had always been gentle and elegant, but he was also stubborn, otherwise...
When Mrs. Lu recalled that time, her chest felt like being beaten by a dull drum, and her heart became even more depressed. She said with a worried expression: "Ning Yuan, tell me the truth, what is going on?"
"My son has received two letters from Jixia Palace." Lu Xun sat under Mrs. Lu's head and said with a respectful expression.
Mrs. Lu tentatively asked, "All of them are marked with Lu Anran's name?"
Lu Xun slowly exhaled and nodded: "Yes."
If the first letter could be suppressed, even he couldn't suppress the second one. "It has Prime Minister Liu's seal on it."
Mrs. Lu took a breath: "This..."
There are two types of admission tickets for Jixia Palace: one is without naming names and is given directly to the hands of major families, and the candidates are decided by the families; the other is that Jixia Palace secretly selects talents and posts them personally. .
"No more than ten famous letters are sent outside Jixia Palace each time, and even fewer are actually sent out." Old Madam Lu's slightly cloudy eyes were unspeakable, "It seems that the matter is a foregone conclusion. "
Some people were unhappy, and some were just watching the show, but no one was more presumptuous than Lu Xueqing. After hearing the news, he just laughed three times in the yard.
"The eldest lady is indeed better than Jian Yu." Qian said.
Lu Xueqing was used to Qian's timidity, so she still muttered: "What do you call Miss?" She was very surprised.
Seeing that Lu Xueqing was about to run out again, Qian stopped him and said, "Don't mess around these days, so as not to make your grandmother unhappy and your father in trouble."
Lu Xueqing didn't like that Qian was so cautious in her life. She was afraid of this and that. She was cautious all day long, but in the end no one took her seriously.
Lu Xueqing flicked his sleeves and said nonchalantly: "I'm going to give Lu Anran a gift to celebrate, shall we?"
Qian didn't hold him back and looked worried: "Why doesn't this child listen?"
—
The noise outside seemed to be far away from the small courtyard. Lu Anran was still reading and writing without any delay.
Chunmiao said enthusiastically: "Miss, I heard that the capital is not as cold as our north. How many winter coats should I bring?" She was troubled, "This is too sudden, and there is no time to tailor some new clothes."
After listening to Chun Miao ramble for a long time, Lu Anran put down his pen and rubbed his head, "Pick up some important things. You can buy other things when you get to the capital."
"That's right, you can't buy anything with money." Chunmiao became happy again, "I thought the young lady didn't want to leave Mengdu before so she was so calm."
"Going to Jixia Palace is not an opportunity like this." Lu Anran washed his hands and took a sip of hot tea.
"Huh? What did the lady just say?"
Lu Anran looked at the sloshing tea and felt clear in his heart. Although a few fixed families in the Ning Dynasty would get an admission quota every ten years, it did not mean that other people, such as students from poor families, would not have the opportunity.
Jixia Palace will open an assessment on the day of admission. Anyone who registers can participate, but it is difficult. Only one or two people out of a thousand can be selected. Those who can be selected are regarded as the proud ones of heaven.
Lu Anran knew her father, he was humble and gentle, but once he decided something, there was no room for change, so she didn't ask any more questions, but secretly made a decision, and she must enter the royal capital to take the assessment.
"If I hadn't heard from the young lady and the third young master that they wanted to go to the royal capital, I wouldn't have known about it..." As he said that, he was shocked when he saw Lu Anran's expression changed slightly. He knelt down and said, "I didn't eavesdrop on purpose."
The Lu family has a strict family tradition and clear priorities. On weekdays, Lu Anran lets Chun Miao scold the servants in the house, but it does not mean that she can break the rules.
"Hey, why are you kneeling now?" The frivolous young man said, his smile was not frivolous, and his clear eyes were unruly.
Lu Anran closed the tea lid: "Xue Xue is here."
The boy's face turned dark again.
"Well, you're not hurt." Lu Anran glanced at Lu Xueqing up and down, making the latter feel terrified in his heart and his face became unnatural.
"Ahem..." He pretended to cough, cleared his throat and said: "The capital is so far away, who knows if you might die on the way. Here, I'll give you a hard blow. If you encounter any thieves or bandits, kill them first." If you solve it yourself, you won't have to let them take advantage."
After receiving the things, Lu Anran smiled: "Thank you very much."
The dagger inlaid with red emeralds is small and exquisite. It looks like it is suitable for a girl to use for self-defense. Pull it out with force, the cold light is cold and it is extremely sharp.
Lu Anran suddenly remembered that day between life and death, clasping his fingers tightly, raising his head to hide the shock in his eyes, and the smile on his face was sincere and bright.
Lu Xueqing was shaken by the smile, and felt a little embarrassed: "I, I, I'm leaving, you love me to death, it's up to you!"
Lu Anran shook his head and laughed. He was obviously concerned and had to stop being awkward.
He withdrew his eyes, looked at the maid kneeling on the ground next to him, rubbed a ruby on the dagger, and said: "Chun Miao, I don't have many rules here, but you have to remember the same thing, a righteous mind means a righteous body, and a clear mind means clear eyesight. "
The situation in the royal capital is more complicated than that of the Lu family, so Lu Anran needs to deal with it in advance.
Chunmiao also knew that today was different from the past, and she couldn't lose her place to her young lady when she went out, so she kept it in her heart, and waited until Lu Anran saw her come to her senses before continuing to pack her things.
Lu Anran sorted out the pages of the book in his hand, and heard Chunmiao's voice coming from the door: "I have seen the master, and the young lady is in the room."
Wearing a lake blue robe, the collar and cuffs are embroidered with silver threads and flowing cloud patterns, and a wide-brimmed green auspicious cloud belt is tied around the waist.
The father and daughter sat down next to each other. Lu Anran poured tea and handed it over with both hands. However, they happened to meet Lu Xun handing over documents. They were both startled at the same time.
Lu Xun took the tea with his free hand, looked at Lu Anran with complicated eyes and said, "You can enter Jixia Palace directly with this item."
"Thank you, father." Lu Anran lowered his head. On the cover of the document, the three words "Jixia Palace" were written with dragons and phoenixes dancing in them. The writing was sharp. Looking at it, there was a feeling of excitement that made people's blood rush.
Lu Xun fell into silence, and Lu Anran looked at his profile from the side. Although he had entered middle age, he had not lost much of his charm except for adding a touch of maturity. His temperament was gentle and elegant, and his demeanor remained unchanged in his words and deeds.
This man, who is still full of charm, has been keeping his daughter alone for more than ten years, and has not even considered taking a concubine, let alone a second marriage.
Thinking of this, Lu Anran sighed in his heart.
For her mother, she should be proud of this, but for her father, she feels like a debt.
"Father, if there is someone suitable at my grandmother's place, you might as well... meet her." It is always full of embarrassment for a daughter to talk to her father about continuing their relationship.
Lu Xun raised his eyes, his eyes seemed sad and seemed to have an unexplainable look, "Have you thought about it, do you have to go to the royal capital?"
Lu Anran did not hide anything, "Mengdu County is very big, but it only occupies a small corner in the territory of the Ning Dynasty. My father once said that if you don't have enough, you won't know how big the world is. I also want to go out and see."
Lu Xun knew that this was not the reason, at least not the most important one, but when faced with the stubbornness on Lu Anran's face, he didn't know where it touched his heart, and he suddenly didn't know what to say.
Finally, he sighed deeply in his heart and said, "In the evening, let's have a drink with my father."
Lu Anran nodded: "Okay!"
That night, the father and daughter opened their hearts and talked all night, getting drunk and burning the midnight oil.
A few days later, Lu Anran took a carriage with a group of more than a dozen people and left Mengdu, where he had lived for sixteen years.
