Chapter 195: The debate on whether to appoint a leader or a virtuous person in Qiming Pavilion, Yang Wenyuan: Walk more leisurely!

Shou'an Hall.

Inside Minglan's house.

The Spring Examination is coming soon, and the weather will still be a bit cold. Her brothers are only allowed to bring thin clothes to the Imperial Examination Hall to prevent layering under their clothes, so Minglan is embroidering knee pads at the moment.

However, his movements with his hands were not very smooth, and he looked outside from time to time with a dazed look on his face.

At this time, Xiaotao, who had just delivered the message, walked in.

"How is it, what does the young master look like?" Minglan quickly put down her needle and thread and asked Xiaotao.

Xiao Tao reported truthfully:

"The young master was very anxious at first, but then he seemed to get angry again, and then he stopped being angry. Before he left, he asked me if the young lady had anything else to say. I told her that was all she had to say, and then she stopped talking to me."

"Oh!" Minglan nodded blankly.

Then he sat in the chair in a daze.

Rationally speaking, she knew that she had to separate from Qi Heng, and they would have nothing to do with each other from then on.

She can make up her mind and do it.

She should have breathed a sigh of relief, but at this moment, Minglan still felt uncomfortable and felt as if she was suffocating with every breath.

He only murmured in an imperceptible voice:

"It doesn't matter if you're angry or if you don't want to talk. It's all good. It's all good."

"Hmm? What did you say, girl?"

"Nothing." Minglan forced a smile and said that she was a little hungry, and asked Xiaotao to go to the kitchen to get some food.

"But you are about to eat. If the old lady sees that you have no appetite..."

"Go ahead." Minglan said softly.

"Okay." Xiaotao nodded and left.

The room suddenly became quiet, leaving Minglan alone, feeling sad.

"What Zhuang Xuejiu said is right. It is important for people to know themselves. Many disasters are caused by showing off one's abilities..."

Day two.

Qi Heng still wanted to talk to Minglan, but was stopped by Changbai in advance, who then led him to the study to talk.

"Yuan Ruo, you have never had brothers or sisters since you were a child. It is not surprising that you think your sister is likable, but you should avoid suspicion now."

Changbai said the same words as he did that day, which made Qi Heng's face turn pale. The blood that had surged on his face due to running suddenly disappeared, and there was no trace of blood on his pale face.

As soon as he said this again, Qi Heng's hope was instantly shattered.

That day Changbai knew everything.

It was only for the sake of my own and the Qi family's reputation that I didn't say it directly, but only gave a tactful reminder.

"So Minglan didn't see me because of Changbai?"

At this time, Qi Heng still had this thought in his mind.

He knew that this matter must not have been discovered by the elders of the Sheng family, otherwise nothing else would have happened until now, and Changbai would not have come to him alone.

Changbai said to Qi Heng earnestly:
"Young Master, it would be better for you to focus on the imperial examination first."

At this moment, Qi Heng suddenly felt an urge in his heart, wanting to tell him that he cared more about Minglan than some damn imperial examination.

In his heart, whether or not to take the imperial examination was far less important than Minglan who was right in front of him.

But before Qi Heng could finish his words, Chang Bai continued:
"And if this matter were known to the elders of both families, you, young master, would have the Duke of Qi's Mansion and the princess, while my little six would only have an old grandmother to help him..."

Changbai shook his head and sighed, not wanting to say more.

He has done his utmost to say this.

"Princess..." Qi Heng muttered to himself.

At any other time, this title of "Princess Madam" would be the most solid backing and big tree for Qi Heng, and even the entire Qi family, able to provide enough shade to protect everyone. But in the case of Minglan, it became an unshakable mountain.

However, Qi Heng was already prepared to bring up the matter of choosing Minglan with Princess Pingning, and he immediately said:

"Second brother, don't worry. When I pass the exam, I will immediately ask mother to come to the Sheng family to propose marriage!"

Seeing that Qi Heng seemed to think that he would definitely pass the exam, Changbai felt helpless.

However, the Spring Examination was approaching, and Changbai couldn't say anything that would be discouraging.

"You're right. Why are you looking for my Xiaoliu now?"

Changbai could only continue to persuade earnestly:
"The princess is most concerned about your imperial examination, Yuan Ruo. As long as you pass the exam, everything will be negotiable. But if you are distracted by other things, I'm afraid nothing will be accomplished, and others may even suffer because of it. Yuan Ruo, you are also a well-read person, so I'm sure you understand..."

Given Qi Heng's condition, Changbai was a little worried that he would fail the exam and propose marriage to Princess Pingning.

If Princess Pingning is unhappy at that time, she might come to my house to cause trouble.

Qi Heng also knew that he was not in the right, and whispered:

"I just want to see Minglan for the last time and tell her what's on my mind..."

Changbai immediately said:
"I'll just tell you this. You can just focus on your studies now. The exam is more important now."

Seeing Changbai say this, Qi Heng felt a little unhappy, but since his brother had personally promised to help him convey the "sweet words" to his sister, Qi Heng could not say anything else and bowed gently:
"Then I'll trouble you, second brother!"

Then he left.

Watching Qi Heng leave, Chang Bai sighed softly:
"What an injustice!"

Although Changbai felt that it would be best not to let Minglan hear this, after weighing the pros and cons for a while, Changbai decided to give the two of them a glimmer of hope, and finally told Minglan the words.

"Second brother, young master..."

However, Changbai didn't say anything, he just walked away in silence.

Minglan stood there with hope in her beautiful eyes.

She thought for a moment, then took out the knee pad that she had half-sewn and thrown into the bottom of the box.

This scene fell into Xiao Tao's eyes, and she immediately said in surprise:

"Girl, didn't you just say that this pair of kneepads were embroidered incorrectly and can no longer be given away? Why did you take it out again after just putting it in the box?"

Minglan glanced at Xiaotao and said angrily:

"I can't practice my craft with the ones I embroidered incorrectly!~"

"But I've already embroidered the knee pads for the eldest son-in-law, the second son, and the third son. Why do I need to practice?"

Xiao Tao pursed her lips slightly and whispered:

"Girl, do you think I haven't seen that knee pad? It's clearly fine. Now you take it out again, I'm afraid it's for Xiao..."

"You still said that!"

Minglan's beautiful eyes widened, and she ordered aggressively:
"Go get me another cup of Eight Treasure Tea!"

"Ah?" Xiao Tao immediately looked sad.

Eight Treasure Tea is a dessert that takes a lot of time and effort to make.

Xiao Tao had every reason to suspect that she was being retaliated against by her own girl because she was honest and told the truth.

……

Late February, the last few days.

The pale yellow Osmanthus fragrans quietly bears fruit.

Qiming Pavilion.

"As the imperial examination approaches, everyone, it's time to test your skills in actual combat."

Zhuang Xuejiu took out a book from his desk and said slowly:

"Today I will use this book Confucius' Family Sayings as a blueprint. I will open a page at random and point to a sentence, and then I can use this as the topic for my policy discussion."

As Zhuang Xuejiu was speaking on the stage, Yang Wenyuan, who was listening below, felt surprised.

No way……

The time is uncertain, the people are different, but the question asked by Zhuang Xuejiao has not changed at all. Could it be that the next step will be...

Under everyone's gaze, Zhuang Xuejiao rubbed the book for a while, then slowly turned a page, and lightly tapped it with his index and middle fingers. "Haha, it's appropriate for the occasion."

Zhuang Xuejiu closed the textbook in his hand and smiled at everyone:

"Listen carefully, everyone. Today's policy topic is 'Should I appoint the eldest son as the heir? Or should I appoint the most capable and virtuous one? Which is better?'"

"Sure enough..." Yang Wenyuan in the audience said in his heart.

The title of this policy paper has not changed.

In this way, Zhuang Xuejiu's word "casual" may have a lot to say about it.

After all, only Zhuang Xuejiu can see the words he points to, no one else knows, so it is up to him to say what he wants.

And this question is very relevant.

There are supposed to be three important matters in the court now.

It can also be said to be two things. After all, the affairs of Lingzhou are vague, and only the ministers and powerful generals can understand the inside story.

Given Mr. Zhuang's identity, it is highly likely that he does not know the inside story of Lingzhou's affairs.

Therefore, Zhuang Xueji's question about the eldest son and the wise and capable one can immediately connect the two things together.

The first to be affected was the dispute over the crown prince between Prince Yong and Prince Yan.

Then comes the upcoming Spring Examination.

Once these two things are connected, it is very likely that Zhuang Xuejiu's question was deliberate.

This question becomes even more interesting if we discuss the identities and status of the people present.

The Sheng family's obvious distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is worth some debate.

Yang Wenyuan, Qi Heng and Gu Tingye are all legitimate sons of noble families, and are the definite heirs.

As for Gu Tingye, even if his brother Gu Tingyu survived, he still had the title of Marquis of Xiangyang to choose from.

This argument also implicitly represents the views of these three parties on the court struggle.

But Zhuang Xuejiu did not like the court and was not interested in fame, wealth or power.

Why is this?

Yang Wenyuan could only secretly guess that Zhuang Xueji's deliberate planning was probably mostly out of the curiosity of an "old child".

Zhuang Xuejiu's question about "appointing the elder and the wise" immediately stunned the people in the audience.

"It really fits the occasion."

Gu Tingye was the least fearful and was the first to speak.

"The hottest topic in Bianjing right now is the dispute between Prince Yong and Prince Yan over the succession to the throne. They can't even compete in the imperial examinations."

"Sir, this question is inappropriate, isn't it?" Regardless of whether Changbai could guess whether Master Zhuang did it on purpose or not, he understood that the dispute between legitimate and illegitimate children was difficult to explain even in ordinary families, let alone when it came to the royal family, so he immediately stood up and asked back.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."

Zhuang Xuejiu, however, was like a turtle eating a weight, determined and waved his hand:

"Nowadays, people are discussing this in any restaurant or teahouse in the capital. Those present are all classmates. It's okay to talk about it behind closed doors."

"Just don't tell each other."

Changbai thought that they were discussing this matter at home.

If it were an ordinary family, it would be fine, but my family is an official family. If everyone gathered to discuss the matter of legitimate and illegitimate children and it got to the emperor's ears, I'm afraid it would be bad news, as the emperor would have the impression that we were discussing state affairs without permission.

I have to persuade him again immediately.

But before he could say anything, Master Zhuang waved his fan at him and told him to sit down.

It is not easy to disobey the gentleman's words.

Considering that everyone present was his family, Changbai had no choice but to sit down.

"Since you say it's okay, let's talk about it and just treat it as a joke."

Gu Tingye was not afraid of being in the limelight. He immediately looked up at Chang Feng who was sitting in front of him on the left, and then continued:
"The current emperor has no children, and the ministers in the court are forcing him to adopt a son and make him the crown prince.

Prince Yong was old and incompetent, with no political achievements, but his only advantage was that he had many wives and concubines, worked day and night, was exhausted every day, and left behind a large family of children.

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhuang Xuejiu above was the first to turn his head away.

Although he wanted the students to speak freely, he did not expect that it would be in this way.

Yang Wenyuan immediately tried to hold back his laughter, thinking to himself that Gu Tingye was indeed not an ordinary person.

The three girls from the Sheng family nearby were not married yet. When they suddenly heard Gu Tingye's dirty words, they felt as if their ears were polluted and gave him looks of disgust.

"Zhong Huai, my sister is here, please be careful with your words!" Although Chang Bai did not intend to say anything, when he heard Gu Tingye speak so bluntly, he immediately turned around and glared at him.

"Oh!"

Gu Tingye waved his hand to apologize, and then continued:
"Prince Yong is old and has many sons and daughters. Just make him the heir. What is there to argue about?"

Chang Feng was the first to jump out and objected. He turned around and retorted to Gu Tingye:

"Prince Yan is only half a year younger than Prince Yong. Although he has only one son, both father and son are smart and capable, and are highly respected. Having such a wise prince as the crown prince is also for the benefit of the country."

"Half a year younger is still younger!"

Gu Tingye immediately replied:
"We can't go against the order of seniority. If the reputation is not right, then the words will not flow. If everyone in the world looked at talent, then this matter would be fine. But everyone insists on distinguishing between high and low, and this matter is not just about talent."

Chang Feng considered it from the perspective of being a bastard.

Gu Tingye's position is not only from the perspective of the legitimate son, because he is not the eldest son of the Gu family, but more because of his mother, Bai.

In Gu Tingye's heart, his identity as the second son of the Gu family was earned by his mother Bai's life and his grandfather's one million taels of silver.

Since I have paid so much for this status, wouldn't it be a joke if I never cared about it again?
"Second brother, you make it sound easy. This is about the throne, not about small families fighting over fields and shops. If we don't clarify the status, won't it be a mess?"

"Hey, how come it's so hard to tell the difference?" Gu Tingye was about to argue, but was stopped by Zhuang Xuejiu who saw the signs of an argument.

Then Zhuang Xuejiu walked to the front table, in front of Yang Wenyuan.

"Wenyuan, what do you think?"

Yang Wenyuan immediately stood up and returned the greeting.

"I have some ideas in my mind, but it's too sudden and I need to think about it. Let my brothers speak first."

This kind of opinion is not something that can be expressed casually, even if it will not be spread out.

Yang Wenyuan has always been steady and prefers to be tactful in matters like this.

In fact, in Yang Wenyuan's heart, Prince Yong, Prince Yan, and even Zhao Zongquan of Yuzhou who was forced to take the throne by Gu Tingye in the original story line, were not good candidates for the emperor in Yang Wenyuan's mind.

For Yang Wenyuan, no emperor could be better than the current emperor.

The emperor now needs to rely on the Yang family, so Yang Wenyuan lives a comfortable life.

And if a random emperor were to take the throne, no matter who it was, it would not be good news for Yang Wenyuan.

The emperor is a cold-blooded creature, especially one who comes to power midway.

Even though Gu Tingye worked diligently and made the greatest contribution in Zhao Zongquan's rise to power, he was still no match for the queen's younger brother, Uncle Shen.

Even though he got a lot of benefits, compared with Gu Tingye's wealth and title, it was actually not as big as he had imagined. What he got more were dangerous, dirty and tiring work.

All of these need to be done by Gu Tingye, an "outsider".

Therefore, compared to choosing an unknown middle-aged emperor, Yang Wenyuan was more inclined to choose a young emperor from the royal family.

It might not be a bad idea to let Empress Cao rule the country from behind the scenes and take power on her behalf.

Anyway, although the Cao family, to which Empress Cao came from, was a family of generals, it lacked foundation, so she did not have to worry about any fatal threat to her.

Moreover, in recent years, under the instruction of Yang Wenyuan, Yang Yuqing has been interacting with the Cao family more frequently than usual, and their relationship has become much closer.

We are all from military families, so everything can be discussed.

As for everything that followed and how the future would develop, Yang Wenyuan could also arrange it calmly and be promoted to the status of a chess player, instead of being beheaded by an imperial decree.

This matter requires long-term consideration, and Yang Wenyuan has already begun planning.

However, compared to these, Yang Wenyuan hopes that the current official can live longer.

Yang Wenyuan can take this step more leisurely.

(End of this chapter)