Cannon fodder and female supporting role, a match made in heaven

Shen Zhaozhao brought a plate of tofu to the worn and peeling table, wiped the oil stains off his hands with his apron, then pulled over a chair and sat down.

It was already dark, the road outside was almost invisible, the evening breeze was blowing, and her "big son" had not returned yet.

Shen Zhaozhao rested his elbows on the table, holding his face in distress and thinking.

But such a slightly childish action looked extremely awkward on the old woman's face with wrinkles all over it.

She had been in this old woman's body for several days.

The flow of time in the illusion is abnormal and the scenes are constantly changing.

After Lin Daishuang and Chen Zijian separated, she separated from Lin Daishuang's body.

After the space twisted for a while, when she opened her eyes again, she appeared in a mottled wooden house.

She really couldn't understand why she possessed an unrelated person when it was clearly Marquis An Yuan's dream.

Lin Daishuang had at least met An Yuanhou before, but her current body can be said to have nothing in common with him.

Jia Sifan walked back drunkenly, and when he reached the door, he fell to the ground, unable to hold on.

He cast his gaze on the hunched-backed, somewhat old man, and was slightly dazed.

Why does his mother look like this? She exudes a temperament that doesn't match her age.

When Shen Zhaozhao heard the noise, he sighed helplessly, resigned himself to his body's instructions, and walked towards Jia Sifan tremblingly.

She helped her eldest son up, complaining, "You've been drunk for several days. You just got fourth place in the exam. Do you want to just muddle along like this?"

Fearing that her son might feel bad, Jia's mother comforted him, "This imperial examination is held every year. At worst, you can take it again next year. Mother believes in you. With your ability and talent, you will definitely pass it next year."

Jia Sifan sat crookedly at the table with his eyes slightly closed. When he heard what his mother said, his hazy, drunken eyes suddenly flashed with a faint light.

He held the woman's hand and said with a big tongue, "Mom, today is different. I am happy today, so I am drinking with them to celebrate."

The woman slapped his hand away, served him the food, and placed it in front of her, nonchalantly.

"What's there to be happy about? It's your classmate who won the top prize, not you, so you're just foolishly celebrating."

Jia Sifan stared at the bland meal on the table with some disdain in his eyes.

He looked at Lady Jia steadily, without moving his chopsticks, just watching his mother shovel rice into her mouth.

"Mom, I have good news for you. You better hold on and don't faint from joy."

"Oh." Grandmother Jia put down her chopsticks, widened her eyes, and was a little curious. "Then tell me, what good news could it be?"

Jia Sifan began to keep the secret: "Mom, guess first."

Grandmother Jia pursed her lips, picked up the chopsticks again, picked up a piece of tofu and swallowed it.

"Could it be that the results of your palace examination were wrong, and today I'm told that you are the top scorer?"

She shook her head and continued, "The emperor himself set the questions, and the whole court was reviewing them. How could there be any mistakes? Son, don't let your wishful thinking go on."

She talked to herself for a while and didn't hear her son respond. She looked up and saw Jia Sifan, who was silent but with a burning gaze.

Grandmother Jia stopped picking up the food and asked uncertainly, "Could it be...could it be true?"

Jia Sifan nodded vigorously, with an unstoppable smile on his face.

"Mother, the emperor summoned us to an audience today and announced the rankings again. Your son, I, was chosen by the emperor as the runner-up."

Grandmother Jia seemed to have been stunned by the money. She was so happy that she couldn't stop shaking her body.

"Son, are you telling the truth?"

Jia Sifan straightened his back: "It couldn't be more true."

After being happy, Grandmother Jia felt a little sad. She was afraid that her son was too sad and that all this was just his imagination.

"How could this be? Didn't His Majesty announce the top three directly after your palace examination the day before yesterday? Why did he announce it again today? Could it be that someone cheated?"

"No, no." Jia Sifan shook his head, pretending to be mysterious, "Someone in the top three had an accident, and I was lucky enough to be a substitute."

Shen Zhaozhao had been listening quietly in Lady Jia's body, but suddenly her mind was startled when she heard Jia Sifan say this.

She thought of Chen Zijian.

Jia Sifan thought of something and sighed, a little regretful: "Come to think of it, it turns out that the third place winner is really talented in writing. When the emperor reviewed his test paper, he praised him highly, saying that his writing was not just empty talk, but most importantly, he showed that he had a heart for the country and the people."

Shen Zhaozhao knew that the third place winner that Jia Sifan mentioned must be Chen Zijian.

Chen Zijian's ending was not good. The proprietress of Zangxiang Pavilion said that he was beaten to death by thugs.

"What a pity! How could such a good person die?"

Jia Sifan was a little confused: "Hey, mother, how do you know he is dead?"

Shen Zhaozhao finally realized that she could control her body again.

She just said what was on her mind.

Facing Jia Sifan's confusion, Shen Zhaozhao shook his head: "I'm just guessing, go on."

Jia Sifan said, "In fact, the emperor originally wanted him to be the top scholar, but seeing that he had good looks and qualities, he wanted to marry the princess to him, so he made him the second best choice and made him the third scholar."

The custom in Dazhao was that the one with the most outstanding appearance among the top three would be named Tanhualang, marry a princess, and become a royal consort.

Marrying a princess does not affect one's future, so although Tanhua ranks last, many people still prefer to be Tanhua rather than the runner-up who is in the middle, especially those from poor families.

"What a pity! I don't know why this scholar didn't have such good fortune. Before the emperor could bestow the title on him, he was beaten to death by a group of thugs on the street."

Shen Zhaozhao glanced at him and said unhappily, "Why aren't you the substitute for the third place?"

Of course, this was not her own idea, but what Grandmother Jia thought. She had been in this body for a few days and could only occasionally take control of her body.

Jia Sifan was also a little disappointed.

"Yes, it would be great if I could be the third place in the imperial examination. If I could become a royal consort, I would be the best among men."

Grandmother Jia spat on the ground. Although she wanted to, she knew very well what her son looked like.

She pointed her finger at Jia Sifan's forehead and said, "I think you are a toad wanting to eat swan meat. It's wishful thinking."

He couldn't hide his happiness as he continued, "It's great to be the runner-up. Sifan, you really bring honor to our family."

Jia Sifan said excitedly: "Mom, we won't have to eat these simple meals anymore. I will let you live a good life in the future."

Grandmother Jia's face was full of relief, and she kept answering: "Okay, okay, I will burn incense to our ancestors and thank them for their blessings."

She didn't even eat, and after she finished speaking, she stood up and walked without any more trembling.

Seeing how happy his mother was, Jia Sifan couldn't help but feel even happier.

He stared at his father's tablet and whispered to himself, "Could it be that you really blessed me with this shitty luck? Chen Zijian must have not visited his ancestors' graves, so he has bad luck."

Thinking of this, Jia Sifan also stood up and burned incense to his ancestors.

"Mom, I want to pray too. I hope my dad can bless me with a smooth career in the future."

Zhao Minglun's face popped up in Shen Zhaozhao's mind.

She thought that Chen Zijian’s death might be related to him.

In this imperial city, it is not uncommon for powerful people to become lawless outlaws. For them, killing someone who offends them is as easy as crushing an ant.

The Jia mother and son were immersed in joy the whole night, but Shen Zhaozhao felt sad.

For Chen Zijian and also for Liu Yingxue.

Even though she knew their ending long ago, when she actually met Chen Zijian and realized what a good person he was, she couldn't help but feel sad about his death.

However, Liu Yingxue did not wait for the scholar to marry her, and even misunderstood him for a long time.