All the members are good people, only the host is a pervert

After Lin Ruan passed the provincial school entrance exam, he took his certificate and household registration to the capital with Jiang Wenhui and Lu Zhao. The reason they came together was because Lu Zhao's family was in the capital, and Lin Ruan and Jiang Wenhui would stay there for the year.

Lin Ruan had another reason for living in the Lu Mansion: she wanted to buy a house in the capital, but she had no roots there and couldn't find a house in a good location. She could only rely on the Lu Mansion, as Mrs. Lu was the Minister of Rites, a third-rank official.

The system said, "Actually, you don't need to buy a house. There's a No. 1 Scholar's Mansion in the capital, right behind the Imperial College. It's a large, four-story house. If you can achieve the highest score in the imperial examination, the current emperor will definitely reward you."

This No. 1 Scholar's Mansion was awarded by the emperor to the first person in Fengwu Kingdom who won three top honors in a row. The second person also lived here.

There have only been two such cases in the 1,500-year history of Fengwu Kingdom.

Lin Ruan: "What if I'm not the top scorer? Then I'll have to live on the street with my whole family?"

System: "Hehe~ If I, the Seventeenth, take action, I will definitely make you hit three prizes in a row!"

Lin Ruan sighed faintly and said, "Although I also used the formation jade pendant when I drew the bad number, and I always asked you to check it before copying, but when I think about Han Shuang studying hard for decades and getting the top spot, I used this method to snatch it away..."

The system said: "Then, leave it to fate?"

Lin Ruan: "I feel like laughing... What did you say? Dog Seventeen, are you stupid? Is the energy not good or is the house too small?"

System:m9( ｀д′ )!!!!

Lin Ruan bought two single-entry houses, right next to the Imperial Examination Hall. They were the same size as the inner courtyard of the Lin residence in the prefectural capital, but lacked the front yard and back rooms. Because of their proximity to the Imperial Examination Hall, they sold for a very high price, fetching 1,500 taels each, almost as much as the two-entry house in the prefectural capital. A two-entry house, slightly further from the Imperial Examination Hall, had only three more back rooms than the two single-entry houses.

These three houses cost Lin Ruan more than four thousand taels.

But she didn't feel bad about it. These three houses were all next to the Imperial Examination Hall, and renting them out would bring in a considerable amount of income every year. It was all visible money!

After buying the house, it was time to buy servants. This time, she only brought Lin Jing and four maids, Chun, Xia, Qiu, and Dong. Lin Ruan planned to leave the rest of the servants, except for those who served her personally, in the city. Also staying in the city was Lin Zhong's family, Lin Ruan's father's servant. After all, Lin Ruan wasn't some wicked person who would insist on separating them. The Lin residence in Weizhou also needed a servant to guard the inner courtyard.

Lin Ruan bought servants according to the city's standard, and temporarily arranged them in the two-story house. As for the one-story house, Lin Ruan and Jiang Wenhui moved into one of them.

It’s not that the Lu Mansion is bad, but after all, there are many people in the Lu Mansion, and some intrigue is inevitable. If Lu Zhao was not unhappy about not living at home, he would have wanted to move out with the two of them.

Not content with just the mansion, Lin Ruan also purchased eleven shops and five farms, following a systematic selection process. Shops in the capital were extremely expensive, with the smallest costing eight thousand taels of silver, and the most expensive over fourteen thousand. In total, Lin Ruan had spent nearly one hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver on these eleven shops. To conceal his activities, he even sold three two-hundred-year-old ginseng roots. However, the rent was also high, netting Lin Ruan over ten thousand taels of silver annually from the shop rent alone. If it weren't for the Fengwu Kingdom's rule limiting officials to fifteen shops, Lin Ruan would have undoubtedly bought at least an entire street.

There were farms on the outskirts of the city, some with dozens of acres, some over a hundred, and some even several hundred. Lin Ruan had wanted to buy all the largest ones at once, but that was too much of a stretch, so he had to pick five, large and small. The smallest was no more than 150 acres, the largest no more than 300, for a total of no more than 800 acres. Since he included the farm owner and tenants, he spent a total of 23,000 taels of silver. Since part of the rent was converted into grain, livestock, fruits, and vegetables, just like in the prefecture, the annual rent was no more than 2,000 taels.

In the days that followed, Lin Ruan and Jiang Wenhui threw themselves into preparations for the imperial examination. They rose early and went to bed late every day, diligently studying classics and historical texts. Lü Zhao also attended during the day, discussing with them and striving for mutual progress.

Five days before the imperial examination, Lin Ruan came to Jiang Wenhui's room. "Wenhui? Is it convenient for me to come in?"

Jiang Wenhui opened the door and said with a smile, "What's wrong, Ah Ruan?"

Lin Ruan said, "You know that every spring, women get cold. Although your cotton-padded jacket is warm, it doesn't allow you to flex your arms. You'll definitely be wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket that day. How can you resist the chill of spring? This is what I usually wear. It's cotton on the outside, but it's lined with silk cotton. It's very light and warm. I got you two pieces, so wear them now."

Jiang Wenhui wanted to refuse. She was not the kind of person who would try to save face and pretend to be noble. For example, when she was staying here, Lin Ruan provided her with food, drink and accommodation. She mentioned giving Lin Ruan money, but after Lin Ruan refused, she did not mention it again.

After all, it is a sisterhood. She accepted Ruan Jie'er's kindness and will repay her double in the future.

But this outer robe with silk cotton filling, even if it is made of cotton, is hard to buy without fifty or sixty taels. How can she accept such a valuable thing?

Seeing her hesitation, Lin Ruan smiled and said, "I'm not giving these to you. I'm just lending them to you for a while. Given our relationship, do you think I won't wear them anymore just because you've worn them? Or do you find these two robes annoying because they're old and blame me for being stingy?"

Jiang Wenhui quickly took it and said angrily, "I didn't think so. Since you lent it to me, I'll accept it."

"Ding-ding-ding-ding~" Lin Ruan pulled out two pairs of gloves, one with covered fingers and one with open fingers. Both were made of wool. She smiled and said, "These are the ones I really want to give to you and Lu Zhao. How can you write neatly when your fingers are stiff and red in the cold? Try both sets and see which one is more comfortable for writing. Wear that one."

"Okay." Jiang Wenhui's voice became soft and obedient. She hugged Lin Ruan and said, "You are so kind. I can't even imagine what I would have done if I hadn't met you, Sister Ruan."

Lin Ruan thought about her original trajectory and said with a smile: "If you hadn't met me, you would probably have passed the imperial examination and become an official."

Jiang Wenhui shook her head and said, "It's different after all."

In the past few days, the capital was full of students preparing for the imperial examinations. Except for the courtyard bought by Lin Ruan, all other houses were filled with people. Even more students were living in the guild hall to study hard.

During the imperial examinations, scholars in Beijing would place bets on who would win first place or place in the top three. The winners were often from southern Jiangsu provinces like Suzhou and Guangzhou, where the literary tradition flourished, or from prefectures like Hongzhou and Luanzhou, where the imperial examinations were most common. Although Lin Ruan was also a top candidate, Weizhou was located in the northeast. Even if she wanted to bet on a sudden fortune, she had nowhere to place her bets.

Before the joint examination, the candidates also knew the identity of the examiner of this subject - Feng Ruyue, the Prince's Tutor, the Minister of Personnel, and the Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace, and Gao Yingyang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Academician of the Hanlin Academy.

The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, also known as the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, held the highest rank and held the power to draft bills, making him the center of power at court. Within the Grand Secretary, there was one Grand Secretary of Zhongji Hall and two Grand Secretaries of Jianji Hall, also known as the first and second assistant ministers.

However, the chief examiner of the imperial examination has always been taken turns by two deputy assistants. Feng Ruyue had served as the chief examiner last time, but unexpectedly, she would be the one this time!

Lin Ruan thought, the hearts of scholars are all black. After such a series of actions, I wonder how many students who have painstakingly studied the writing style and preferences of the other deputy assistant will sigh in despair.