Chaos on the temples: You can't escape if you provoke treacherous ministers

The second girl of the Xu family looked at Liu Yunxiang and Liu Yunxiang suspiciously. Just then someone called her in the courtyard. Her expression tensed up and she hurriedly invited the two to the corner.

When Liu Yunxiang turned around, he looked back and saw that it was Mrs. Xu's wife.She came out with something in her arms, looked around, but couldn't find Miss Xu Er, and muttered something.

Afraid of being discovered by her mother, Miss Xu hurriedly went inside to invite Liu Yunxiang.

"Don't let my mother see you."

Liu Yunxiang looked at Miss Xu Er and was silent for a moment, "What happened to your brother?"

Miss Xu Er did not answer, but asked them: "Really Mr. Bai asked you to come? What about Mr. Bai? I heard that he is not in the academy, so where is he now? But something happened?"

The series of questions showed that Miss Xu Er cared about Old Man Bai.

"He's fine, don't worry..."

"He is in Yangzhou Prison."

Liu Yunxiang originally wanted to appease Miss Xu Er, but Yan Mu's words frightened him.

"D-Prison?" Miss Xu Er's face turned pale.

Liu Yunxiang glared at Yan Mu, but Yan Mu ignored him and continued: "He committed a crime and is now in prison. He asked me to take care of Banshan Academy. I also hope that we can help your brother."

"Then who are you?"

"Old man Bai thinks we have this ability, and that's the most important thing."

Miss Xu Er lowered her eyes and thought for a long time. Just when Liu Yunxiang was getting a little impatient, she finally spoke.

"My brother topped the flower list, but because of his business status, he was not qualified to pass the provincial examination. He was very angry, but helpless. He had nowhere to put his talents and ambitions to use."

Speaking of this, Miss Xu Er frowned.

"Then...then he made a fake household registration form, changed his business registration to agricultural registration, and went to Yangzhou to take the rural examination. After passing the rural examination, he went directly to Shengjing without telling us, and took the general examination the next year, and won the exam in one fell swoop No. 1 in the first class. Then came the palace examination. Because of his talent and appearance, he was selected as the third best. But not long after the results were released, the court found out that his household registration was fake. Because he had participated in the palace examination, he was almost convicted of deceiving the emperor. "

Miss Xu Er couldn't stop trembling when she thought of what happened at that time.

Liu Yunxiang could understand that if he simply falsified his household registration to participate in the imperial examination, the crime would not be too serious, at least it would not be a death penalty. However, if it was a crime of deceiving the emperor, it would not only be him, but the whole Xu family would be implicated.

"Fortunately, old Prince Shunping came forward, so the punishment was waived and my brother was sent back to Yangzhou."

Liu Yunxiang was a little surprised and turned to look at Yan Mu. It turned out that the person he was talking about who used a fake registration book to take part in the imperial examination and passed the exam was Xu Jingyu.

Yan Mu sighed slightly. At that time, he received a letter from the old Prince Shunping. He felt sorry for the young man and was even angry, and he was not the same.Just changing a law is not that simple.

"So your brother returned to Yangzhou?" Liu Yunxiang asked hurriedly.

Miss Xu Er nodded with red eyes, "I'm back."

"What about the others?"

"He returned to Yangzhou, but committed suicide on the boat back to Zhushui County."

Liu Yunxiang was shocked, "He, he committed suicide?"

"Thrown into the lake." Miss Xu Er shed tears. "The boatman saw him jumping out of the boat and rushed to save him, but he was still washed away by the water. The government officials searched all the way down the river and found him three days later. corpse."

After Miss Xu finished speaking, Liu Yunxiang and Yan Mu fell silent.I didn't expect that Xu Jingyu would be so obsessed with it and resolutely ended his life.

"Perhaps he is not talented enough. He did not take part in the provincial examination, the national examination and the palace examination, and he was not awarded the top prize. He would not have done such a stupid thing out of grief and anger."

"The government notified my family to claim my brother's body. My mother didn't believe that my brother would take this step until she saw his face. My mother fainted and when she woke up, she seemed not to remember that my brother had surrendered. He had already committed suicide in Shengjing, and he only thought that he had become an official in Shengjing as he wished. He was also a good and upright official, and even married a wife and had children." "We couldn't bear to let her suffer the pain after waking up, so we Just follow her words."

Miss Xu Er let out a long sigh, "That's why I'm afraid that my mother will see you and mention my brother's matter."

Liu Yunxiang felt sour in his heart, for Xu Jingyu, Xu's mother and the Xu family.

Coming out of the alley, Liu Yunxiang saw Xu's mother talking to some women who were bundling incense. She was holding a cotton-padded jacket in her hand, which she must have sewn by herself, and she was asking the women for their opinions.

"Is the cotton wadding too thin? Do you need to add another layer?"

"Shengjing doesn't need our Zhushui County. It's cold in winter. My Yu'er is afraid of the cold. If it doesn't work, I have to add another layer. It must be thicker."

The women followed her words, saying that it was not too cold in Shengjing, that there were coals in the house in winter, and that the stitching was so fine that it was better than those made in Xiulou outside.

Hearing the women's compliments, Xu's mother smiled even more happily.

Coming out of the Xu family alley, Yan Mu and Liu Yunxiang walked all the way to the academy and were silent for a long time.

"That's what Old Man Bai wants us to see. Maybe he hopes we can change this situation, or maybe he just wants us to experience his helplessness."

On today's ranking list, Fang Wanjin and Xie Si failed not only because of lack of talent and learning, but also because of their household registration and the hierarchical system of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce.

There is no shady secret here, so even they can't do anything about it.

When I returned to the academy, I heard the excitement inside before I even entered.

"You bastard, if you run away again, I-I'll break your legs!"

"Mom, why don't you take a break first?"

"Will you come home with me?"

"No, I haven't had enough fun yet!"

"Playing? I think you are itchy!"

Liu Yunxiang and his wife entered the door and saw a round woman wearing a purple coat holding a stick and chasing Fang Wanjin in front of her, while Fang Wanjin was jumping up and down with a smile on his face.

Because this woman was fat, she was huffing and puffing when she ran, and her face was flushed with exhaustion.But she still chased Fang Wanjin and seemed to never stop until she hit him.

When Fang Wanjin saw that his mother was about to fall down from exhaustion, he simply climbed onto a branch of a tree and lay down comfortably.

"You, get down here!" The fat woman pointed at her son with a stick.

Fang Wanjin shook his head, "After all, I just won't go home with you, so don't waste your efforts."

"What's your future if you stay here? Can you take the provincial examination? Can you become an official? Don't you want to follow the same path as the son of the Xu family?"

"Anyway, I don't want to learn business from my father."

"Mom knows you have great ambitions, but our family is a merchant, so we have to accept our fate." The fat woman patted her chest and gasped, "Unless the laws are changed one day, and merchants can also participate in the imperial examination, otherwise you will stuff it in your stomach No amount of ink will help.”

Fang Wanjin snorted, "How do you know that this law will not be changed?"

"You, what do you want to do?"

As expected, Fang Wanjin folded his arms and looked like he had already planned, "I plan to go to Beijing to find the King of Zhenbei and the Queen Mother and ask them to revise the laws." (End of this chapter)