Hidden in the court

I don’t know what happened, but ever since Su Mengyang sat down, Mr. Hu’s luck seemed to have turned. He kept swinging the club and hitting the target every time.

They didn't have enough fun until dusk, so they finally took the two biggest ones back home.

Before leaving, he said to Su Mengyang: "I'm counting on you."

After Mr. Hu left, Ji Mingshang called Su Mengyang over and gave him some instructions.

"Brother Su, General Hu has shown his favor to you, you must seize the opportunity."

"Brother Ji, I have a question in my mind. Please help me. General Hu is highly respected and holds a high position among the officials. Why would he show his good will to me?"

"Since Brother Su is about to enter the court as an official, I will make some things clear. There are many factions in the court. If Brother Su wants to accomplish the great cause of the people's livelihood, he will inevitably have to deal with them."

Su Mengyang also nodded, indicating that he understood. He was just a little naive and stunned, but he was not stupid, and he still understood the twists and turns here.

"Please give me your instructions, brother."

"There are four main factions in the court now: the Emperor Party, the Hawk Party, the Dog Party, and the In-laws. The Emperor Party mainly consists of Your Majesty and most of the former emperor's old ministers. General Hu is the largest member of the Emperor Party. The biggest advantage of the Emperor Party is that as long as Your Majesty is not dead, these people can basically live until death."

"The hawks are mainly my two 'fathers'. Although they disagree with each other, they are definitely on the same page. Let me remind you that although they are my family, they are by no means loyal to the emperor and patriotic, especially Ji Liancheng. If it weren't for General Hu's checks and balances, he would be the biggest traitor to the country.

And my 'father-in-law' is an old man with many narrow-minded ideas. He advocates first removing the emperor from power and then political reform rather than abolishing it by force."

“No, Brother Ji, is this something I can listen to!?”

"Everyone in the court knows all about this. This group of people is just like that. At least everyone seems to be in harmony on the surface."

"The Dog Faction was actually launched by the Emperor a few years ago to counterbalance the Hawk Faction. Guess what happened? Now the dead eunuch wants independence. He wants to be a vicious dog biting its master. This dog won't live long."

"As for the relatives by marriage, don't be afraid. They are not powerful, and their only foothold is that the emperor has no son. If you hold on to some fantasies and hit hard on the pain points, they will almost fail."

After saying that, he looked at Su Mengyang meaningfully.

It's a pity that Su Mengyang didn't notice it and was lost in thought like a fool.

"Go and take a rest. You must leave a deep impression on His Majesty during the palace examination tomorrow."

……

The next day, the Imperial Palace

Nangong Lin sat on the dragon chair, looking at the candidates coming in one by one.

The desk closest to him was the seat of Huiyuan Su Xiao. However, he hadn't come in yet, so he was curious about who this scholar was who dared to challenge the descendant of a general.

It was not until Su Mengyang entered the hall and sat down that Nangong Lin took a closer look at this young man. He was fair and delicate, with small arms and legs, but his eyes were bright.

He couldn't help but doubt whether this kid could master the archery skill among the six arts.

"Examinees, please take your seats. Your Majesty, please ask the questions."

Nangong Lin cleared his throat and said mysteriously, "Ahem, let's discuss the current problems of the country, according to your opinions. You can answer them in one hour, and then I will show you something interesting."

"Yes." Everyone responded in unison.

"Don't be so serious. I will serve you for the next hour."

Just like that, the examinees began to answer the questions. Nangong Lin was like an old man taking a walk after dinner, looking around, grinding ink for one and making tea for another.

One or two people with weak mental qualities were frightened by Nangong Lin and trembled like sieves. Looking at Su Mengyang again, he was quite calm.

The more Nangong Lin read Su Mengyang, the more he liked him. At the same time, he also began to pay attention to the content of Su Mengyang's writing. How should I put it? Good! It really criticized the current situation and hit the nail on the head. But there was really not a single good word. Compared with other people's articles that were more or less flattering, Nangong Lin didn't know whether it was good or bad.

An hour passed quickly, and during the break Nangong Lin found Su Mengyang.

"You write well, but can you ride and shoot?"

Nangong Lin suddenly said something that confused Su Mengyang, but after thinking about it, he still answered:

"Your Majesty, I have learned the six etiquette naturally, but I am not proficient in the art of riding and shooting."

"Well, just a little bit will do."

Nangong Lin immediately ordered, "Go and bring out Bai Yiju." Then he said to the candidates, "In a quarter of an hour, we will have a horseback archery competition in front of the palace."

"what?"

The candidates were totally surprised when they heard this. They thought, this is a literary exam, not a military exam. Forget about the archery ceremony, but also archery on horseback? Among them, only one or two people have ridden a horse before!

Soon, a snow-white, agile horse appeared in front of everyone. It was not very tall but looked vigorous. Everyone could tell that it was a famous horse.

"This horse is called Bai Yiju. You can ride and shoot with this horse. Whoever can tame it will get this horse!"

Nangong Lin was leading the horse in front, which made all the candidates flattered.

Next, the candidates showed off their abilities, some couldn't even get on the horse, some climbed up but were thrown off in just three seconds, and some finally shot an arrow on horseback, but Bai Yiju raised its front hoof and the arrow went deflected into the sky.

Su Mengyang looked at the performance of everyone in front of him and found a problem. It seemed that His Majesty the Emperor was reluctant to part with this BMW.

Su Mengyang was the last one to mount his horse. He patted Bai Yiju's neck and said to Nangong Lin, "Your Majesty, I'm ready."

"Then I'll let go."

As soon as Nangong Lin loosened the reins, Bai Yiju rushed out with Su Mengyang. Just as he was about to draw his bow and arrow, he saw a small movement from His Majesty the Emperor.

Bai Yiju received the command, raised its front hooves, and raised its head suddenly. Su Mengyang immediately wrapped his arms around the horse's neck, clamped his legs together, and pressed his entire body against the horse's back as much as possible, successfully avoiding the fate of being thrown off.

Just as the horse's front hooves hit the ground and its strength was not yet restored, an arrow was shot out at high speed. The force was not strong and the accuracy was not great, but fortunately the arrow still hit the outermost circle of the target, which was much better than the others whose arrows did not even go out.

Nangong Lin glanced at Su Mengyang on horseback, then looked at the horse. "This kid...my horse..."

Even though he was reluctant to part with it, he still had to keep his composure. When Su Mengyang dismounted and saluted him, he said cheerfully, "From now on, this horse is yours."

……

"The new number one scholar has arrived!"

The streets and alleys of the capital were filled with the sound of gongs and drums, and firecrackers blasted. Su Mengyang looked a little unnatural riding on a white horse in a red robe. The people were also happy to have a good time, and were also happy to get some of the glory of the top scholar.

"Where does the number one scholar live?" the accompanying clerk asked Su Mengyang.

Su Mengyang was a little embarrassed, "I have been staying at Prince Jin's Mansion these days, and now I don't have anywhere to go."