Lu Anran took a moment to take a look. He saw that the man had thin eyebrows and long eyes. He was somewhat handsome, but his brows were full of anger, which ruined his handsomeness.
He played with the fan and pretended to be elegant, but elegance cannot be faked.
For example, Yun Qi, even if he is not holding the jade bone fan, his actions, raised eyebrows and chuckles have a charm of their own.
Some people can't pretend no matter how hard they pretend, such as the person in front of me.
"Oh, it's so early, come on, come on, make way, make way, brother, can you hold a seat for me here?" Another voice sounded, smiling and familiar.
Lu Anran glanced over the corner of his eye and saw a cyan shadow in the middle of the crowd, which jumped out unusually.
—
From Maozheng Station to Chenshi, I gradually became tired, showing some impatience, and more of a confusion.
"It's been more than an hour, why haven't you seen anyone from Jixia Palace?"
"The admission notice said that Maozheng will gather here, but nothing else was said."
"At least come here and give me some explanation."
"Just wait a little longer."
…
They are all a group of nobles, and it is rare for them to be treated coldly. What's more, this group of people have been treated coldly together for the first time in history.
But facing Jixia Palace, no matter how many complaints he made, they could only be suppressed.
However, someone soon found the target of the ridicule, pointed to the other side of the mountain and said: "Hey, look at them, aren't they also planning to enter Jixia Palace? Do they have admission stickers, hahaha——"
The mountain breeze blows in the forest, rustling for joy. A double shadow in the mountains fell on the group of lonely students, half-shaded and half-dark.
Suddenly being mentioned, many people showed some embarrassment and embarrassment on their faces, and a few of them straightened their chests, like pines and cypresses, proud of frost and snow.
"If you dream of rising to the top, a chicken will turn into a phoenix. Dream faster."
"You can't say that. Jixia Palace pays attention to fairness in recruiting students. There are also students from poor families. I don't know how much they weigh."
"Brother, you're right. It's boring anyway, so it's good to watch a joke."
Among the many voices, only the jumping green shadow waved towards the opposite side and praised: "My husband must have high ambitions and dare to be the first in the world."
The man waving the fan looked down upon this with great disdain: "Hey, it's just nonsense."
"Eh? Brother, where did the word 'blind trick' come from?" The two of them were seven or eight years apart. The man's ears were good, so he turned this way and said.
Lu Anran saw clearly that this man had red lips and white teeth, as bright as a jade tree, and as bright as the morning sun. He made a fist salute to others, with a solemn smile and a clear and cheerful expression.
The man swinging the fan raised his eyes for a moment, not looking at the other person, "Everyone knows that 'the first is kindness, the second is frugality, and the third is not daring to be the first for the world.' Don't you think the word 'no' makes you uncomfortable?" Lost."
The green shadow swayed slightly, took two steps forward, and said with a laugh: "How dare I ask my brother, 'Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things.' The first is inaction, the second is action, and the third is virtue. The four are the world. Is it inaction or action, virtue comes first, or does the world come first?"
The man waving the fan choked, his face twitched, he threw his sleeves and hummed: "You talk nonsense, I don't know what to say!"
The man in green wasn't angry either, he was still laughing and joking. No matter who he met, he could quickly become friendly with them.
At about the same time, a person walked out from the mountainside and saw everything below, but the people below suddenly didn't realize it.
'Dong -' long, simple, magnificent, Xiao Su.
As the bell rang, everyone immediately shut up and became silent, only to realize that there was someone standing above them.
The visitor was dressed in a white shirt, hunting in the wind, looking like an expert from outside the world, with a bit of an immortal demeanor.
Lu Anran raised his head, unable to see his face clearly, when he heard the man say: "The assessment begins!"
Until the people left, the students below still stood there inexplicably.
They didn’t even mention the content of the assessment, so how could they be assessed?
Besides, they have already received admission stamps, so why do they need to take assessments?
The disciple who was the first to ridicule the poor students even threatened to say: "Shouldn't the people who are being assessed be those poor people who have settled down? It has nothing to do with us."
Lu Anran looked up at the towering mountain, lowered his eyes and thought for a few breaths, then took steps and started walking up.
Everyone saw this woman's behavior and looked at each other, wondering what she wanted to do.
At this time, a burst of horse hooves broke through the ground. When they reached the crowd gathering place, they were strangled and raised their necks high, making a long and high neighing sound.
A woman in purple clothes jumped off the horse, wearing gold-embroidered boots, a purple skirt with scattered flowers, and a brocade-trimmed fur cloak. She was neatly dressed and not lacking in nobility. He raised his chin and glanced at the audience, his eyes full of arrogance.
"Princess Ding'an, Princess Ding'an."
"Why is she here too?"
Except for a few people in the palace, Princess Ding'an is definitely the most noble person in the world. Even the concubines who are not of high rank can't compare with her. Logically speaking, she doesn't need to come here.
When Princess Ding'an saw that no one was moving, a trace of satisfaction appeared on her face, and she said with great arrogance: "They are all here? No one is going up the mountain, right?"
"Zi Sangyan, why don't you go through the back door and come here to enjoy the wild wind?" Qingying jumped out again.
Princess Ding'an glanced sideways, with a flash of disgust in her eyes, "Su Zhi, if you don't speak, no one will think you are mute."
"If you have a mouth, you just have to say it, haha."
Only then did others realize that the green figure dancing around turned out to be the second son of Su Guogong's family, Su Zhi.
Someone hurriedly flattered her: "Princess, there is a woman who went up the mountain just when you came here."
Princess Ding'an's brows jumped, she grabbed the riding crop and threw it to the ground fiercely, saying: "It's all my father's fault!" Her steps were brisk, but she walked up the mountain.
The others looked at each other again, what is going on?
Someone saw the door and said, "Go up the mountain first?"
"That's right! Isn't Jixia Palace just on the mountain?" It's useless for them to waste time here.
Su Zhi touched his chin and said to himself: "Hmm? Assessment? Is this what you mean?"
The group of people suddenly dispersed and rushed forward.
—
Lu Anran walked very slowly, step by step very steadily, but it always felt like the sky was high and the mountains were far away, and he could never reach the end.
There are dense trees all around, with countless roads branching off, and branches and vines blocking the way, making it difficult to see which is the correct road.
Thinking in his mind, Jixia Palace encompasses everything, one of which is the Qimen Dunjia, which is good at fate judgment, magic and array formation. This place seems ordinary, I'm afraid there is some kind of formation.
She couldn't break the formation, so she could only follow her instincts, go wherever there was a way, and turn to the right when she encountered a turn.
After walking like this for a few hours, she seemed to have some realization——
The so-called assessment tests one’s character and perseverance a priori.
After all, not everyone has the patience and willpower to keep walking aimlessly like this. In a seemingly repetitive and endless road, people's emotions will calm down from the initial excitement and excitement, and gradually become irritable, fearful, and reluctant to quit.
Furthermore, the surroundings were silent, except for the sound of the wind blowing in the forest, not even the chirping of insects. It was really eerily quiet.
Lu Anran always wondered whether a venomous snake would suddenly appear, or a wild beast would pounce, to add some fun. Fortunately, the journey was uneventful, and he actually reached the darkest place.
Coming out of the forest, there is a flat open space, more than three feet, and further forward, there are stone steps, one by one, with different heights and generous levels.
Looking down, there are light clouds, the wind blows, and the green trees are in bloom.
It turned out to be halfway up the mountain.
She took out a small bag from her arms. A few pastries were wrapped in an apricot flower handkerchief. The corners were peeling off after being covered for a long time, but the shape of a cat's paw in the middle was still lively and cute.
One bite, a groan, another bite, a groan.
Lu Anran chewed his mouth, put away the remaining cakes, and looked in the direction she came out just now.
After silently counting to thirty-two, a figure crawled out, groaning. A drop of blood fell with each step, and when he came to Lu Anran, it had already dropped into a red line.
Lu Anran fluttered her eyelashes up and down, looking at the young man who suddenly appeared without saying a word.
He was covering his left leg with one hand, limping, and kept shouting "Ouch, ouch, ouch". When he reached the steps next to Lu Anran, he seemed to be unable to hold on, and fell down, already sweating profusely. ,exhausted.
Blood came out from between the fingers and was still dripping.
"Girl, girl..." The young man took a few breaths and frowned, "I broke my leg while climbing the mountain. Can you bandage it for me?"
Lu Anran said sincerely: "Your hand is still there."
The man seemed not to have expected Lu Anran to say these words. He opened his eyes wide in surprise, and said sadly for a while: "You are a girl, but you have no mercy. I am so injured that I cannot move."
After a long sigh, the man discussed: "How about this, how about you heal my injury and I show you a clear path?"
Lu Anran: "You know the formation."
"Knowing a little bit is enough to get out of this dense forest."
Lu Anran nodded, and when he thought he must compromise, he walked away.
The man froze in place, as if he couldn't believe it. After a long time, he shook his head at Lu Anran's disappearing back.
—
On this day, it was not time to set off, and it was only after sunset that we finally reached the top of the mountain.
Lu Anran felt that the clothes close to her body had been wetted more than ten times and blown dry by the wind more than ten times. She was exhausted, her whole body was weak, and her legs and feet no longer looked like her own.
"Yo ho ho, it's a little girl."
Lu Anran was startled. Behind a fat banyan leaf, half of his head stuck out. His face was dark, his eyes were bright, and he winked, not looking serious.
The leaves trembled, and first a corner of his white robe was exposed, and then his body swayed and he stood in front of Lu Anran.
This is an old man, but because he is wearing a white robe, his face looks darker, as if his whole face is evenly smeared with pot ashes, and his eyes are particularly bright.
Lu Anran saw that this robe was exactly the same as that worn by the person who had announced the assessment before. He thought it was the uniform uniform of the Jixia Palace concubine's robe, so he made a proper student salute.
"Well, come with me." The tone of his voice was as if Lu Anran had fallen into his trap.
Lu Anran followed behind in confusion. Jixia Palace's actions were really unpredictable, and he still couldn't feel his accurate pulse, so he was totally confused.
He just walked around among a few trees, and the next moment, Lu Anran suddenly saw an open and flat land in front of him. At the front was a house with black walls and red tiles.
