After the death of the previous emperor, the Empress Dowager became arrogant

Yuan Yi put down his sword and mask, knelt at the table and read a book with Yuan Qing.

However, the book he was reading was a picture book on military affairs that Yuan Qing had found specifically for him. It was simple, easy to understand, and very interesting.

This was much more interesting than those boring books, and he soon became immersed in it.

In the following days, Yuan Qing either stayed in his own little corner or stayed in the house reading.

Because of the importance the head of the family and the elders showed to Yuan Qing, and because of the tough masked guards, no one dared to make things difficult for her.

It happened to be seen by some people.

"Fifth Young Master, someone is coming!" the servant outside the door shouted loudly.

Yuan Qing closed the book and motioned Yuan Yi to go out and take a look.

Before he could open the door, the two ladies came in with their maids, with friendly smiles on their faces.

"Bin'er, you've been here for so many days, why don't you come sit with us?"

The person who was speaking was the fourth elder's wife. Everyone in the Gong family called her the Fourth Madam. She was also Gong Bin's fourth aunt.

Following behind was the third elder's wife, now the third aunt.

Gong Xuan and Gong Bin's biological mother died early, so the Gong family currently has only two mistresses, and the two ladies jointly manage the Gong family's internal affairs.

The two men carried a basket of things and broke into Gong Bin's bedroom.

Although the words were affectionate, weren't they implicitly mocking Gong Bin for being disrespectful to his elders and not even knowing how to take the initiative to greet them?

Gong Xuan told her personally that she didn't need to worry about others and just do her own thing.

So the relationship between relatives is not important to her.

Yuan Qing put down the things in his hands, stood up and saluted, "Gong Bin greets the two aunts."

The Fourth Madam did not respond to him, but instead focused her eyes on her desk.

He put down the basket, walked over quickly, picked up the book on it, flipped through it, looked at it with disdain, and then quickly disappeared.

"I just took a look and found that Bin'er is really smart. There are some things in here that even I can't understand, but Bin'er can still provide annotations?" The Fourth Lady said in a praising tone.

The third lady felt embarrassed watching from behind.

Yuan Qing smiled and said, "My fourth aunt, your praise is too much. It is just some shallow opinions. Compared with my second brother, it is not worth mentioning."

His tone was filled with joy, and he really sounded like a young boy who was delighted to be praised by his elders.

There was just a torn-up copy of the Book of Songs on the table.

This book is an introductory book for students. If you are still reading the Book of Songs right before the exam, there is basically no hope of passing the exam.

It seemed that they came here specifically to spy on the enemy, so she certainly couldn't let them down.

When she heard Gong Bin mention her son, the fourth lady immediately said modestly, "Heng'er just studied a few years longer than you. If you could come back earlier, you would definitely be no worse than Heng'er."

He spoke modestly, but his eyes were full of pride.

Yes, as a disciple whose qualifications are only second to the patriarch Gong Xuan, he passed the imperial examination at the age of only sixteen, and was even two years younger than Gong Xuan when he passed the examination. This is indeed a capital for him to show off, and he also has the intention of surpassing Gong Xuan.

Yuan Qing suddenly thought of the man whom he couldn't see through.

She felt that Gong Heng's abilities in all aspects should be much higher than what he showed in front of everyone.

What is he hiding?

"Listen to what Fourth Aunt said. Don't be too impatient in everything. You must learn to take good care of your body. Otherwise, you will ruin yourself, which will not be worth it." Fourth Madam took her hand and said with concern, "Go and play with your third and fourth brothers when you are free. Those two children love to be in a lively atmosphere."

Yuan Qing pulled his hand back calmly, but was complaining in his heart.

Although it sounded like these words were made for her benefit, wasn't the Fourth Madam's purpose a little too obvious? After all, the Third Madam was sitting next to her.

She didn't mention her own son at all, but instead asked her to go play with the third wife's two sons. Was she trying to bring down these potential rivals for Heng Lao Er?

Yuan Qing secretly looked at the Third Madam's expression.

As peaceful as ever.

He didn't even move his eyes, as if he was used to it.

After seeing the result she wanted with her own eyes, the Fourth Lady pretended to be tired and wanted to go back to rest.

If it wasn't for Heng'er, she wouldn't want to see that bitch's son!

How can such a dull and talentless boy compare to her Heng'er, a genius? This is really the retribution for those two people!

The fourth lady turned around swiftly and left with the third lady without saying a word.

Come in a hurry, go in a hurry.

Yuan Qing looked at the two figures in deep thought.

Should she change her strategy?

……

On the day when the results were announced, Yuan Qing was catching up on sleep in his room.

These days have almost exhausted her completely, and it's rare to have such a relaxing day.

Before she fell asleep, Qiu Laosi pulled her up and said, "Why are you sleeping? Go with me to see the result."

Yuan Qing lay on the bed, not wanting to move, not even opening his eyes. He waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. Remember to come back and tell me when you're done."

She had a rough estimate of her own ranking.

As for how others performed in the exam, it was not within her concern.

If your grades are good, someone will come to inform you with drums and gongs, so there is no need to worry at all.

I slept until the evening.

In the evening, Gong Xuan notified all disciples to go to the school quickly.

This indicates that the elders of the Gong family need to summarize the results of this incident.

This is the unique family motto of the Gong family.

After Yuan Qing packed up, he followed the servant to the school.

All the disciples were ready, with their heads lowered and not saying a word.

She walked carefully to the door, followed the wall to the corner and knelt down.

The whole classroom was silent. She inexplicably felt as if she was in the process of teachers scolding students one by one after an exam.

Do you seem a little nervous?

Yuan Qing felt guilty and hid further behind the crowd.

Gong Xuan looked towards her, but didn't see anyone, only half of her head exposed.

He looked back.

The Great Elder took a recorded list, cleared his throat and said, "This time, the Gong family sent a total of 32 disciples, and 18 of them passed the exam. The result is not bad."

Suddenly, he changed his tone, looked across the crowd at the cowering Yuan Qing, and said sternly: "Some of these disciples really disappoint me!"

The dozen or so disciples who didn't pass the exam were so frightened that they didn't even dare to breathe.

Who this is talking about is obvious, okay?

"Gong Qiu, Gong Bin, both of you come out!" Gong Qinshan didn't beat around the bush and directly shouted out the two people's names.

It was common knowledge that Gong Qiu had poor grades, so everyone looked back.

They would never have thought that Gong Bin, who usually studies hard, is actually the same as Gong Qiu?

Yuan Qing took a deep breath, walked over under the gazes of everyone, and knelt together with Qiu Laosi.