Princess Promotion

After reading the announcement, Mr. Liu was filled with thoughts and slowly walked home.

The setting sun shone obliquely, illuminating his slightly tired figure.

Mr. Liu gently pushed open the door, only to find a strange girl sitting in the yard.

The girl was concentrating on making tea, and the aroma of tea filled the entire yard.

She raised her head and greeted him with a familiar smile, "Mr. Liu, you're back. Try the tea I made."

Mr. Liu was stunned for a moment and looked carefully at the girl in front of him.

She had beautiful features, noble temperament, and exuded an extraordinary aura.

He suddenly realized that this girl was the Empress Yao Chuguang!

Mr. Liu suddenly felt panicky and quickly closed the door, fearing that he would be discovered.

Then, he bowed respectfully to the girl and said with a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I was unaware of your arrival and failed to greet you. I hope you will forgive me."

Yao Chuguang smiled slightly and waved his hand to indicate that Mr. Liu didn't need to be so polite.

She picked up a cup of tea, handed it to Mr. Liu and said, "Mr. Liu, you don't have to be restrained."

Mr. Liu took the teacup, feeling confused and uneasy, and this seemed to be his home.

Yao Chuguang suddenly asked, "Mr. Liu, have you ever thought about taking the imperial examination?"

Mr. Liu's heart tightened, he knew that he was now at a crossroads in his destiny.

He took a deep breath, mustered up the courage to reply, "Your Majesty, I will participate."

Yao Chuguang paused and said, "I thought you would decline, or dare not participate, fearing retaliation from the Wu family."

Mr. Liu gave a wry smile and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, if you hadn't come to see me, I would most likely not have participated."

"After all, my life is more important. I don't want to lose it because of an exam. But since you're here, I'm willing to give it a try."

Yao Chuguang smiled knowingly, noticing that Mr. Liu said 90%, which meant that even if he didn't come, there was a 10% chance that he would take the imperial examination.

Yao Chuguang nodded and said, "Actually, I came to you today to ask you to be the chief examiner for this imperial examination."

Mr. Liu was stunned when he heard this.

He originally thought that Yao Chuguang came to him because he wanted him to take the imperial examination to set an example and encourage more followers to take the examination.

Unexpectedly, she actually asked him to preside over this imperial examination!

Mr. Liu's heartbeat quickened, his breathing became rapid, and his body began to shake.

He tried to calm himself down, but the excitement in his heart surged like a tide and was difficult to control.

In the end, Mr. Liu fainted from excitement.

Li Yinhan, who had just returned to the imperial capital and entered the palace, discovered that Yao Chuguang had left the palace!

After saying goodbye to Mr. Liu's house, Yao Chuguang thought to himself that it was a rare opportunity to go out, so he might as well go find his good friend Lin Wan to reminisce about the past.

So, Yao Chuguang came to the outside of Lin Wan's house with ease.

Yao Chuguang looked up at the high courtyard wall, rolled up his sleeves without saying a word, and started climbing using his hands and feet.

After a while, she climbed up to the top of the wall and was about to jump down when she saw Lin Wan standing in the yard, looking at her in surprise.

Seeing Yao Chuguang's expression, Lin Wan couldn't help but put her hand on her forehead and asked with a puzzled look, "What are you doing?"

Yao Chuguang smiled awkwardly and explained, "I... I didn't want to alarm too many people, so I planned to climb over the wall to get in."

Yao Chuguang's voice became smaller and smaller, and it was obvious that he also felt that this reason was a bit far-fetched.

At this moment, Yao Chuguang's eyes fell on the veil in Lin Wan's hand.

Yao Chuguang immediately changed the subject abruptly and asked, "Are you going out?"

Lin Wan glanced at the veil in her hand, nodded, and said, "Yes, I received news that the heads of the four major families are having a secret meeting at Lai Fu Building tonight. I'm going to go take a look."

When Yao Chuguang heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Yao Chuguang said excitedly: "Then I'll go too!"

Lin Wan looked at Yao Chuguang, hesitated for a moment, but still nodded in agreement.

The No. 1 private room in Laifulou.

Yao Chuguang leaned against the wall, his ear pressed against the cold wall, trying hard to hear the secret conversation coming from the private room next door.

Although she tried her best to concentrate, she could only vaguely hear a few vague words, such as "examiner".

Yao Chuguang turned around to look at Lin Wan, who was sitting and drinking tea, and asked doubtfully, "You are sitting so far away, can you hear what they are saying clearly?"

Lin Wan put down the teacup, glanced at Yao Chuguang calmly, and replied, "I can't hear it."

Yao Chuguang immediately revealed an unprofessional expression and looked at Lin Wan with dissatisfaction: "Your eavesdropping skills are too poor!"

Lin Wan smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, "I'm not a super-hearer. How could I possibly hear clearly through the wall?"

Yao Chuguang: "Then we came here for nothing?"

Lin Wan smiled mysteriously and said, "Don't worry, I've already arranged for someone to hide in the next room. Everyone inside can hear everything they're talking about."

Yao Chuguang's eyes widened, and he secretly exclaimed in his heart: "This is the legendary humanoid monitor!"

In the private room next door, the atmosphere was solemn and tense.

The head of the Liu family finally couldn't hold back any longer and broke the silence, "Everyone, don't you have anything to say about the upcoming imperial examination system?"

The head of the Wu family sneered and said sarcastically, "How can we stop it? Even the imperial edict to promote the imperial examination system was issued by Duke Li himself."

Elder Xiao picked up the teacup and took a sip. His expression was calm and composed.

After putting down his teacup, Elder Xiao said slowly, "The new emperor is an unreasonable scoundrel. If we openly oppose him, who knows what trouble might arise."

The head of the Qing family sat aside and frowned as he asked, "Master Xiao, what do you mean..."

Elder Xiao nodded slightly: "Why don't we just go along with her first? As long as the examiner is one of ours, then we will have the final say on who gets admitted."

After hearing what Lord Xiao said, the other family heads nodded in agreement.

This is indeed a good choice, which can not only avoid conflict with the new emperor but also maintain one's own interests.

As a result, the discussion about the selection of chief examiner became extremely intense.

Each family head hopes to nominate his own candidate to ensure his own interests in the imperial examination.

They argued endlessly, each holding their own opinions, and the atmosphere became very tense at one point.

At the same time, they also realized that in addition to the chief examiner, they needed to place some officials into the imperial examination hall in order to better control the situation.

After long discussions and arguments, they finally finalized two lists.

One is a list of candidates for examiners, which lists the candidates carefully selected by the heads of each family.

The other is a list of officials to be placed in the imperial examination hall, and these candidates are all trusted people of the heads of various families.

Elder Xiao finished his secret talk with the other three family heads and tiredly got on the carriage to go home.

Inside the carriage, the lights were dim, illuminating his slightly old face.

Lord Xiao sat opposite, his brow furrowed and his face filled with worry.

"Father, isn't it a bit dangerous to discuss such an important matter as the selection of examiners in a place like a restaurant where there are so many people?

Lord Xiao: "What if someone hears and leaks the list?"

Elder Xiao smiled slightly, a sly look flashing in his eyes: "We went to the restaurant just to leak the list."

Lord Xiao was stunned when he heard this, and then he suddenly realized.

It turned out that this was a carefully planned drama, the purpose of which was to let Yao Chuguang and others get the fake list.

Lord Xiao analyzed, "Yao Chuguang's selection of examiners this time must have been an attempt to avoid members of our major families."

"So we just go with the flow and give her a fake list?"

Lord Xiao suddenly remembered that Yao Chuguang had transferred Yu Zhijian away from the imperial capital a few days ago.

Yu Zhijian was appointed as a patrolling censor, responsible for investigating and prosecuting corrupt officials in various places, and had the power to execute first and report later.

Considering that local tyrants might not cooperate, Yao Chuguang specially asked General Park to escort Yu Zhijian with the army.

Lord Xiao couldn't help but feel fortunate that Yu Zhijian had left the imperial capital, otherwise the position of chief examiner might very well have been his, and then they would have had nothing to do.

Fortunately, this killer is gone. Now, not only are the playboys in the imperial capital afraid of Yu Zhijian, even Lord Xiao is a little scared.

Elder Xiao nodded, but then shook his head: "Yao Chuguang is unfathomable. This list can't fool her."

Lord Xiao looked at his father in confusion. Since he knew that Yao Chuguang would not be fooled, why did he bother to act out this scene?

At the same time, on the other side, Yao Chuguang was holding the record that he had eavesdropped on from the restaurant.

She opened it and saw at the beginning that Lord Xiao was calling her a scoundrel.

Yao Chuguang couldn't help but frown, thinking to herself: This old fox, he clearly knew that he wouldn't be fooled, but he still came to star in a drama with the three big families. Could it be that he came here just to scold her?

Lin Wan heard Yao Chuguang's muttering and nodded, echoing, "No need to think, it must be true."

Yao Chuguang: "How childish! I just gave him the nickname 'Old Fox', but you're still going after him and scolding him like this."

Lin Wan thought you're not much better.