I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 125 Is everything normal?
"Isn't Commander Hong worried?"

Zhang Rui asked when he escorted the other party to the entrance of the hall.

Hong Lie paused for a moment, and without turning his head, he asked, "Master Zhang, what do you think of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"On the surface, he appears to be a benevolent monarch, but in reality, he is insidious, selfish, and even quite timid. When he cooperated with Tian Ye, he even had the idea of breaking taboos for his own benefit. He is a monarch with average ability but not very peaceful."

Hong Lie turned around and looked at Zhang Rui strangely: "Master Zhang is good at summarizing."

"It's okay, it's okay." Zhang Rui smiled modestly.

"Then Lord Zhang should be more worried than I, Hong, right?" Hong Lie said dimly, "I am a royal relative and a loyal subject of His Majesty. I do not belong to any faction. As long as the Crown Prince is not stupid, he will not say that he does not need me. On the contrary, Lord Zhang, you ruined the Crown Prince's plans in Beihai back then. If he is promoted to the throne this time, you will be in trouble."

"Isn't that so?" Zhang Rui's smile suddenly turned bitter: "It shouldn't be that easy, right?"

"That depends on you, Lord Zhang." Hong Lie whispered, "I still like His Majesty more, so if Lord Zhang has the ability, you should rescue His Majesty as soon as possible."

Having said that, he strode outside.

Zhang Rui looked at the other person's back and sighed slightly.

He also wanted to save people. If his speculation was correct, His Majesty should be fine, but it was also true that he would not be able to come back in a short time. And if the prince was pushed to the throne during this period of time, it would be really troublesome.

How can I put it about some things? It all depends on the timing. No matter how thick your majesty's hidden cards are, as long as the prince is on the throne now, he will at most be the emperor emeritus when he returns. If he wants to rule the country from behind the scenes by then, I'm afraid the aristocratic families will not agree.

This is definitely not a good thing for him. A prince who targets him and an emperor who targets him are completely not on the same level.

"Master Zhang"

Just as he was thinking about it, several heads of the examination hall came out one after another, bowed and said, "Time is up."

Zhang Rui looked at the sky and knew that the exam time could only be delayed until now.

"Let's have someone seal the test papers first." Zhang Rui looked at all the heads and said, "Thank you for your help, but since this happened suddenly, you heads will have to stay in the palace."

Upon hearing this, several headmasters looked at each other with helplessness on their faces.

Just now, they all saw the scene where His Majesty suddenly disappeared, and they were terrified at that time.

No matter how calm His Royal Highness the Crown Prince pretends to be, something big has definitely happened. They are just ordinary mortals and naturally don't want to be involved in this matter, but things go against their wishes. They can only hope that the subsequent storms will not affect them.

"I'm sorry to have wronged you, deans." Zhang Rui bowed in return.

"You are too polite, sir." One of the mountain chiefs approached and said, "Sir Zhang, you and I are considered to be a master and disciple. Could you please send someone to report home that you are safe?"

Zhang Rui was a little surprised. No wonder the old man had been looking at him secretly just now. He thought that he should be the principal of Bailu Academy who was transferred to Beijing.

It seems that he has also taught himself.

"You are too polite, Shanzhang." Zhang Rui said quickly, "I will notify the family members as soon as possible, and you can rest assured that you will be safe in the palace."

The mountain heads hurriedly returned the greetings, but they did not feel relieved in their hearts. Most of them had served as officials before, and they knew how dangerous it was to be involved in such evil events, not to mention that even the emperor could be affected. This had never happened in the entire history of the Great Jin Dynasty, and they were afraid that the water inside was just as deep as it could be.

After the presidents left, the candidates came out one after another. Unlike before the exam, the candidates after the exam were obviously not as nervous as before. Regardless of whether they passed the exam or not, at least they had done what they could, and most of the candidates felt relieved.

Only the sons of several sorcerers from top families had gloomy faces. They had also noticed the disappearance of the emperor. With their knowledge, they naturally knew how terrible this was. When the emperor had an accident a few days ago, the entire Jiuqing family almost ended up in ruins.

"Brother Zhang."

The first to say hello were his classmates from Bailu Academy. The most enthusiastic were naturally Du Cheng and Sun Yufan. Zhang Rui had asked them before whether they were married, and after that, they heard from Zhou Zhijie that Zhang Rui had a younger sister who was not married yet. They immediately became excited.

The family backgrounds of both of them are not very good, but they are relatively well-off compared to ordinary people. Zhang Rui became a Beijing official at such a young age, and it is said that he can be won over by top ministers such as Wei Shangshu. His future is limitless. Being able to marry such a person is a blessing.

"How did you do in the exam?" Zhang Rui calmed himself down and asked with a smile.

"It's okay," Sun Yufan said with a smile, "This last test question depends entirely on your majesty's wishes. I'm taking a safe route. Combined with the basic scores from the previous two papers, I think I should be able to get into the second place."

"It's better to be safe." Zhang Rui nodded. The so-called safe means that the views are in line with the interests of the civil service group. The essays of Jinshi are first reviewed by many officials from the Ministry of Rites and then handed over to the emperor for judgment. Views that are in line with the interests of civil servants will not be screened too harshly, at least in the first wave. As long as the views are not too disliked by His Majesty, getting a passing score should not be a problem.

On the contrary, if one wants to gamble on the emperor's favor, if the article fails to attract the emperor's attention, it would be equivalent to being sentenced to death by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, which is extremely risky.

"Where is Brother Du?" Zhang Rui turned around and asked.

"Me too." Du Cheng scratched his head. He did very well in the first two papers, so there was no need to take risks on the last one.

"I wish you two good luck in the exam!"

"Thank you for your good words!" The two of them responded with greetings.

The attitudes of both of them showed that they were willing to get close to each other, and Zhang Rui was also quite satisfied with them. His daughter could marry either of them, and her life would not be bad in the future, but the premise was that he would not fall. After the two left, Zhang Rui looked at Qi Xuan and others who were waiting in the distance.

"Master Zhang" Qi Xuan took the lead, and behind him followed a group of scholars from the temple.

Their eyes were clear at this moment. How could they have doubted themselves as before?

Zhang Rui didn't care and looked at Qi Xuan: "How is it?"

"I wrote down what I thought, which might be a bit risky, but fortunately, the scores of the first two papers were relatively high, so I shouldn't fail the exam, right?" Qi Xuan laughed.

Several classmates behind me secretly curled their lips when they heard what I said. When people asked you how you were, you didn't say a few words of modesty, but actually said that you would not fail the exam. It was very likely that you wrote some bold remarks. If the Ministry of Rites dislikes you and you fail the exam, how will you have the face to see people?

"Good, you have the confidence!" Zhang Rui said with a smile. He preferred people as frank as Qi Xuan. If you have the ability, you must be confident. Forced modesty is too hypocritical.

"Go back and rest early. Don't come out unless necessary." Zhang Rui patted the other person's shoulder and said in a low voice, "If you encounter any emergency, crush this."

Zhang Rui handed over a yellow jade pendant.

The other party was stunned, then quickly put away his gift.

He was concentrating on writing at the time and did not notice when the emperor and the prince arrived. However, he had just heard that His Majesty seemed to have disappeared out of thin air in the palace.

Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince remained calm enough at the time and it didn't seem like a big deal, this was definitely not normal. Now that Zhang Rui said this, he became even more alert.

The incident in the temple made him realize how terrible the evil in this world is. He didn't think that even his cruel grandfather could defeat the monster in the temple, and there might be many monsters like this.

"Go ahead." After Zhang Rui made sure that the other party had secretly put away the jade pendant, he patted his shoulder and also wished the others: "I wish you all success in the imperial examination."

"Thank you for your good words, sir!" Several people bowed and responded with a smile.

Some young men from aristocratic families in the distance saw this scene and sneered secretly. Is this Zhang guy starting to recruit new people so quickly?
Nowadays, people from these secluded families are becoming more and more arrogant.

Just as he was thinking about it, a voice like a duck's voice suddenly came from outside: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."

Upon hearing this, the people still outside the palace looked in that direction and saluted one after another: "Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Thank you all for your hard work!" The prince came over with a smile on his face, which was very different from the state he was in when he left here a few hours ago.

Zhang Rui watched it coldly and roughly knew what was going on. He guessed that several major families had given hints that if His Majesty did not return for a long time, in order to stabilize the situation, they would first ensure that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascended the throne!
This guy used a forbidden technique in the North Sea, which overdrawn his body and greatly reduced his lifespan. It is possible that he may not live as long as his father. If he wants to succeed to the throne, this is a rare opportunity.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Zhang." The prince came closer and smiled.

"Your Highness is too polite. It's just my duty. It's not hard at all." Zhang Rui replied in a cold tone.

The prince's smile remained unchanged, but there was a gloom in his eyes. This guy was stubborn and if his ascension to the throne went smoothly this time, he would definitely learn that in this world, even if one has some personal ability, it does not mean that one can do whatever he wants!

"This must be Qi Xuan, right?" The prince turned his head and suddenly looked at Qi Xuan and smiled.

Qi Xuan was stunned. He didn't expect that the prince actually knew his name.

"I heard from Minister Qi a long time ago that there is a child of extraordinary talent among the descendants of the family. Now I see that he is indeed extraordinary." The prince said with a smile.

Qi Xuan was even more stunned. That heartless grandfather would say this to him? Was he sure?
"I just read your article. It's good. You are very courageous and have the style of a loyal minister. This is different from other children of the Qi family. However, some of your ideas are still too immature."

"Your Highness, please correct me." Qi Xuan said hurriedly.

The prince smiled slightly upon hearing this, then looked at the people around him and said, "All students have worked hard, please go back to the palace and rest first. The imperial chef will deliver dinner in an hour."

"Your Highness, when can we leave the palace?" a student asked directly.

The prince frowned and looked at the person who asked the question. He recognized that person. He was a member of the Jiang family. Even after suffering such a heavy blow, the Jiang family was still so rude and arrogant.

"The time to leave the palace will be notified separately. Everyone, please go back to the palace with the guards to rest. I wish you all success in the imperial examination."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Everyone saluted, and the prince looked at Qi Xuan: "Let's go and chat over there. Your article is of great interest to me and my father."

Zhang Rui frowned slightly, but then he thought of something. Shen Yuan had analyzed before that the reason why the Qi family was willing to retreat to Xijing was largely because of Qi Xuan's excellence. They planned to bide their time and train Qi Xuan to take over. It made sense that the prince was willing to win over Qi Xuan at this time.

Everything seemed to be fine, but for some reason, he always felt uneasy.

What's the problem?

Is there anything you haven't thought of?

(End of this chapter)