Jinghong Tower

". Wuchang Prefecture in Hubei is assigned nine intern officials.
Hanchuan County: Wang Hongru, Li Yun;
"

An official from the Ministry of Personnel loudly announced the list of people to be dispatched to various places. Whoever his name was called would step out of the list. When all the staff of the mansion were in place, another official would issue them identity documents. After they received the identity documents, special soldiers from the Ministry of War would escort them out of the capital three days later.

Shen Yao's mind was full of random thoughts, but she couldn't help but prick up her ears. She knew that she was going to be abandoned, but she still had a little hope in her heart.

". The Chengdu Prefecture in Shu is equipped with 18 trainee officials.

Huayang County: Li Wei, Gao Shilan;

Shuangliu County: Qin Anbang, Huang Yinyue;

Renshou County: Lü Zhi, Wen Fengnian;

Jintang County: Guo Xuyang, Shen Yao;
Neijiang County: Ma Rufei, Qian Huiru"

After the list of names from Chengdu Prefecture was read out, the official counted them and frowned, and another official began to issue identity documents.

".Shen Yao, is Shen Yao who went to Jintang County here?"

Shen Yao, who was standing at the back of the crowd, suddenly heard someone calling her name. Eh, was she right? Was she really calling her?

Just now she seemed to hear her name being called, but she couldn't believe her ears. She was too embarrassed to ask others, fearing that if she walked over even though it wasn't her, she would be laughed at, so she just stood there without moving.

This time, everyone's eyes were on her. There was nothing she could do. Among the few female Jinshi, she had been in the newspapers. She couldn't keep a low profile. She didn't know others, but many people knew her.

"Shen Yao!" The official frowned. If the girl could pass the imperial examination, she must not be a fool. Why did she look so stupid? He looked at the list again. There was another Guo Xuyang in Jintang County. He would remind Guo Xuyang to take good care of Shen Yao. Don't let the young girl be abducted by anyone.

Shen Yao blushed and walked to the front awkwardly. She heard the official say, "When you go out, you must be alert. Whether you are on the road or in a place, don't go out alone."

When Shen Yao and her fellow scholars walked out of the Ministry of Personnel, with the warm sunshine shining on them, Shen Yao suddenly realized that she had not been abandoned. After she told the truth, Mr. He forgave her!
She suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times in the direction of Laomofang Hutong.

The other trainee officials were all shocked, but Guo Xuyang, who came out last, suddenly realized. No wonder the official just now called him and asked him to take better care of Mr. Shen. He found it strange because Mr. Shen was ranked ahead of him, so why did he need to take care of him?

Now he understood that Mr. Shen was indeed different from normal people. Well, he had to keep an eye on him. He had heard that kidnappers particularly liked to target young girls. If Mr. Shen was kidnapped by kidnappers, he would also be responsible.

Shen Yao didn't know that a certain Scholar Guo had made up his mind that he would rather be abducted than lose Scholar Shen.

Three days later, this batch of new scholars left the capital. The Ministry of War mobilized 10,000 troops, divided them into four groups, to escort these new scholars to all directions.

Before leaving Beijing, Shen Yao once again came to Madam Renyi's tomb. This time, she came to say goodbye to her great-grandmother.

"Great-grandmother, the eldest daughter did not punish Shanshan. You are right. The eldest daughter is wise and intelligent, and can distinguish right from wrong. She will be a wise ruler.
My great-granddaughter is going to Shu for internship. I will definitely learn from my predecessors and become a good official. I will come to see you again after my great-granddaughter's internship is over."

After leaving the capital, Shen Yao and three other female scholars rode in a carriage to Shu. Shen Yao and Huang Yinyue were both going to Chengdu Prefecture, while the other two went to Hanzhou and Jianzhou respectively.

Ke Qingman, who was going to Hanzhou, suddenly looked at Shen Yao and said, "Mr. Shen, how is your relationship with Zeng Ziqi from Hangzhou?"

Shen Yao was startled, not knowing why Ke Qingman asked this. She said, "I know him, but not very well."

Ke Qingman breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's good that we're not familiar with each other. I saw that you are all from Hangzhou, and I was worried that you were classmates or something, so I asked this question."

Huang Yinyue, who was standing by, asked curiously, "Is Zeng Ziqi the one you're talking about the candidate for this year's imperial examination? Where was he assigned to? Did he stay in Beijing?"

When the list of people going to various places was read out that day, Huang Yinyue paid attention to the destinations of the top ten. She seemed to have forgotten about mentioning Zeng Ziqi, so she suspected that he had stayed in the capital.

Ke Qingman looked around seriously, and another female Jinshi Zhang Xuelan said with a smile: "Don't keep us in suspense. There are only four of us in this car. Don't worry, the soldiers outside will not eavesdrop on this."

Everyone laughed again. It is human nature to love gossip. Gossipers are gossipers by nature, no matter if you are illiterate or talented.

Ke Qingman cleared her throat and shared the news she had heard: "You all know, Ke Qingfeng, who is ranked seventh, is my cousin."

"Ah? Really? Two people in your family have passed the imperial examination? That's amazing! That's incredible!"

Ke Qingman bowed and said, "You're welcome. In our Ke family, besides the two of us, there was only one runner-up the year before last. It's nothing!"

Everyone
Well, I remember that there was indeed a runner-up named Ke, and it turned out that he was also from their family.

Ke Qingman finally got down to business, "My aunt lives in the capital, but her family is full of women, so it's not convenient for my cousin to live there, so I'm the only one living in my aunt's house, and my cousin lives in an inn, which happens to be the same inn as Zeng Ziqi. Yes, yes, that's the one you know, the one with four big red silk hanging in front. This year, four Jinshi were born in that inn.

My cousin said that a few Jinyiwei suddenly came to the inn that day and took Zeng Ziqi away in front of them! "

The other three were all shocked, Jinyiwei!
How come these newly-minted scholars are related to the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Ke Qingman continued, "My cousin and the other two Jinshi were all extremely anxious, but they couldn't ask the Jinyiwei for information. It wasn't until the day before yesterday, when we came back from the Ministry of Personnel, that Zeng Ziqi was sent back. Guess what, he was dirty and smelly, just like he was fished out of a cesspool!"

"Ah?" everyone exclaimed.

Only Shen Yao's heart moved. She calculated the date and found that the time when Zeng Ziqi was taken away seemed to be the day when she went to meet the head of the He family.

Could it be
"Did he get beaten?" Huang Yinyue asked curiously. She didn't mean to speculate maliciously, but for someone who was captured by the Jinyiwei, it would be lucky to get out alive.

Ke Qingman shook his head: "My cousin said that although he was dirty, he was not beaten. He had no injuries on his body, but he looked like he had been seriously ill. He was haggard and dazed, as if he was frightened."

"They have all been captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. How can we not be scared?" everyone said.

Shen Yao asked: "So he wasn't assigned?"

Ke Qingman nodded: "No, my cousin was kind enough to ask Zeng Ziqi to ask the people in the Ministry of Personnel to see if there was still a chance, but Zeng Ziqi burst into tears and said that he was harmed by a woman and that his future was ruined by that woman. Don't you think this is interesting?"

Of course it was interesting, he was captured by the Jinyiwei, and then he said that he was ruined by a woman. Everyone was talking and guessing what happened to Zeng Ziqi.

Shen Yao asked: "What about now, Zeng Ziqi is still in the capital?"

Ke Qingman said, "That man is also a man of some means. He cried for a whole day, and the next day he packed up and went out. Yesterday, my cousin and the other two Jinshi wanted to take him out for a drink, after all, they would go their separate ways from now on. But he didn't come back after waiting for a long time, so the three of them went by themselves. When they returned to the inn in the evening, they saw Zeng Ziqi had already returned."

Huang Yinyue was disappointed: "I thought he was so depressed that he went to Coal Hill to hang himself. Why is he back now?"

Everyone: Sister, you have a dark mind.

Ke Qingman said, "Otherwise, how can we say this guy has a way? He actually found himself a job. A family invited him to be a tutor, and he was paid 100 taels of silver a year. There are so many rich people in the capital, and they can even pay 100 taels of silver as tuition."

Zhang Xuelan shook her head, a little regretful: "What's a hundred taels of silver? He is a successful candidate in the imperial examination. Let alone a successful candidate, even a Jinshi like us wouldn't be a teacher, right? This isn't a famous academy."

Yes, for example, Shenglin Academy where Yao Linlang works part-time is a famous large academy. It is said that Xu Qiuli would occasionally go there to give a few classes.

But Zeng Ziqi certainly did not go to such a large academy, but to be a tutor. Even if he was from a noble family, that was a lowering of his status.

Everyone felt it was a pity, but after all, it had nothing to do with them. When girls get together, there is endless gossip to talk about.

"By the way, you know Tanhualang, right? It seems that he was chosen as a son-in-law from the list."

"really?"

Everyone soon had a new topic to talk about, and the gossip about Zeng Ziqi became old news in the blink of an eye. Even Shen Yao began to recall the appearance of the third place winner.

At this time, Zeng Ziqi was looking around the yard where he lived.

The yard is not big, but it is kept clean and tidy. There is also a bunch of cannas planted under the window, which are green, lush and red, and very interesting.

The curtain of Xiang Fei's room was lifted from the outside, and two maids walked in.

Both of them were about sixteen or seventeen years old, one had a rosy face, slender eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, while the other had a face like a full moon and a dimple in her smile. Although they were maids, they were dressed very well. Even in those century-old families in Hangzhou, there were probably no maids as respectable as these.

"The master asked us sisters to come here to wait for Master Zeng. I, Qing Xing (I, Hong Tao), will pay my respects to Master Zeng."

The two bowed gracefully, and Zeng Ziqi helped them up: "I am new here, and I will be grateful for your help in the future."

Zeng Ziqi looked around the furnishings in the room again, and his gaze finally fell on the two beautiful maids. The resentment in his heart was largely reduced at this moment.

He was not assigned and his name was not on the list of places for internship.

This means that he is a Jinshi in name only!

How could one pass the imperial examination but not become an official?
It will become a joke if it gets out!

Zeng Ziqi asked someone and found out that the places assigned to this batch of Jinshi were not very good because they were all Zhou Cangyue's territories, and some places were even barbarian lands.

Not only was Shen Yao not affected by the letter of accusation, but she was also assigned to the relatively better Chengdu Prefecture.

Shu is a land of abundance. Although there are some poor places in Shu, Chengdu Prefecture is definitely the best of the good places. Shen Yao was assigned to Jintang County under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Prefecture. If he is lucky, he may be able to stay in Chengdu Prefecture to be an official in the future.

This is truly a golden pie that fell from the sky. This is probably the best place I can get this year.

That bitch Shen Yao got such a good deal!
Thinking of his own situation and where Shen Yao was going, Zeng Ziqi wished he could write ten or eight more letters of denunciation. No, he wanted to make up a story and sell it to the storyteller in the teahouse, saying that Shen Yao was staying in a temple, and secretly had a tryst under the moon with a scholar who was also staying there, and they got engaged.

Yes, write it like this. It would be better to add the monks in the temple as well, the talented woman, the scholar, and the flowery monk!

Zeng Ziqi spread out paper and ground ink. Just as he was about to start writing, he suddenly recalled his experiences in the imperial prison over the past two days. The imperial prison was simply not the human world. It was more like the underworld than hell!
He was arrested and thrown into prison by the Imperial Guards for only writing a letter of denunciation. If he continued to ruin Shen Yao's reputation, would the Imperial Guards come to arrest him again?

Zeng Ziqi is not stupid, on the contrary, he is very smart. If you say that a person who can be a messenger is stupid, then he is a fool.

He knew that the Jinyiwei would not arrest people at random. They must be following instructions from above. Since Shen Yao was safe and sound, what did this mean?
Either Shen Yao is not a member of the Jing family at all, or someone above her is protecting her.

If Shen Yao was not a member of the Jing family, why would she go to visit Madam Renyi's grave and claim to be the great-granddaughter?
So Shen Yao must be a member of the Jing family. She is the daughter of Jing Chongguang, the daughter of a true traitor, the kind who could have her entire family confiscated and her entire family exterminated.

But not only was Shen Yao fine, but she was also treated preferentially. What does this mean?
It means someone is taking care of her.

Who is that person?

It all depends on who can command the Imperial Guards!
A name was about to come out, but when it came to his lips, Zeng Ziqi didn't dare to say it.

He Ran, the boss He.

Zeng Ziqi suddenly felt a little regretful.

How could he forget that the Dingguo Mansion was destroyed, but not only was Old Lady Meng fine, she was even given the title of Lady Renyi. Half of the Jing family's mansion in Jinling was used as a women's academy named after Lady Renyi, and the other half was still Lady Renyi's Mansion, where a statue of Lady Renyi was enshrined.

Madam Renyi's coffin was brought to the capital together with Mr. He.

Madam Renyi refused to be buried in the Jing family's ancestral tomb after her death, and the Jing family members did not dare to object. Why? Because this was He Ran's order, so no one dared to say no.

Zeng Ziqi regretted his decision. Why didn't he think of these things? He obviously knew that He Ran respected Madam Renyi very much, so He Ran would most likely treat Madam Renyi's great-granddaughter well.

She is just a great-granddaughter, not a son, so she won't cause any trouble. He Ran might even arrange a good marriage for her in the future.

Zeng Ziqi regretted it very much. He found a fellow Hangzhou native whom he met in Beijing. This fellow showed him a clear way, and he came here. (End of this chapter)