The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

Perhaps because they had witnessed the tragic situation of the old faction's near destruction, the new-faction officials were almost united as one. Even if they had disagreements on a daily basis, they always formed a united front on major issues.

They saw distrust in the Emperor of Chu and his intention to support another force to confront them, so they secretly tried to suppress and stop it.

The Emperor of Chu did have the intention of re-employing the old school, but it was based on the premise that their descendants had real abilities.

But he did not place all his bets on these frustrated nobles.

After three dynasties and nearly two hundred years of high-pressure attacks, those once majestic nobles had long lost their original arrogance.

Those who can remain in the capital now are those who have managed to survive in the cracks. They don’t have the energy to fight, nor do they dare to gamble.

The most resolute nobles have long been buried in the ground. This is a bloody lesson.

In fact, the death of Prince Huiwen was not the last straw that broke the camel's back for the nobles. King Ping at that time was also considered to be pro-old faction.

The late emperor's empress, the current empress dowager, was the daughter of the noble Zhu family, and Crown Prince Huiwen was her son.

In addition to Prince Huiwen's own charm, because of the Queen Mother, most of the old nobles at that time were his supporters.

Prince Ping's first wife was also a descendant of the noble Zhu family. At that time, he was still an ordinary prince. Because of his bad temper, he was not valued. The Queen Mother gave her niece to him as a princess, which was also an attempt to win him over.

Unexpectedly, this gave the old nobles a chance to breathe.

So after the death of Prince Huiwen, Lord Duan, the leader of the old nobles, also made a decision and chose King Ping, and all the old nobles switched to King Ping's side.

But after Prince Ping ascended the throne, the queen gave birth to a son with difficulty, which harmed her health. The child died at three months old, and the old nobles knew they had no chance.

Therefore, in order to continue the family bloodline, many of them retired quietly, most of them returned to their ancestral land and lived by guarding the family business.

The King of Chu was not killed, but was let off with a blind eye.

There are not many families left in the capital. Either they have their roots in the capital, or they are supporters of the Emperor of Chu in the early days like Lord Luo.

The old nobles who stayed behind also tried their best to integrate into the new environment, just like the Duan Bo family. The eldest son married the Lu family, a scholarly family. The second daughter married the son of the left prime minister who was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Rites at that time. The third daughter directly found a third place in the imperial examination. Even the Ding family today are all involved with the new nobles.

For them, marriage is the most direct way to stabilize the relationship.

The only ones who can quickly balance the court situation now are the princes below. The Emperor of Chu is already thinking about the candidate for the fifth prince's wife.

Now that the Fourth Prince has entered the court, he is subtly different from the Second Prince's faction, which has broken the previous situation of one person having the final say in the court.

The Emperor of Chu sighed countless times that his father and grandfather had left behind such a huge mess. Now he was just using tattered cloth to barely support this empire full of holes.

But there is no other way, the stall has to be kept up no matter how broken it is.

The dispute between the eldest prince and the third prince had weakened the power of a small number of new nobles in the court. The Emperor of Chu took the opportunity to fill the position with suitable talents of his own choice.

Now he has to carefully consider the candidate for the Fifth Prince's wife. After all, the Fifth Prince will soon enter the court.

As for the Sixth Prince, the Emperor of Chu had never thought about this matter. The Sixth Prince did not need to worry about such laborious government affairs.

He would train a team of talented people for him, and he would just tell his subordinates to do anything. He had worked so hard to raise him, and he had already lost his favorite son, and he really couldn't let this one go.

It was a pity that Xiaoliu had no brothers. The King of Chu thought of the child who died young. If only he had grown up safely...

He wiped his face with his hand, immersed in grief and memories.

Xiao Degui, who was serving nearby, stood aside with his eyes lowered.

The room was silent.

In this way, this year's imperial examination began. Cheng Xi packed up his things and went to the Imperial Examination Hall. The day before, Duan Jing'an told him all the precautions.

Today he arrived at the door with his servants, accompanied by his uncle's family. Looking at their expectant and encouraging eyes, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.

But he was more excited, as he had been waiting for this moment for three years.

"Uncle, you guys should go back first. It's still early. We have to wait for the inspection before we can go in."

Cheng Fu was so nervous that his hands hidden in his sleeves were shaking quietly, but he pretended to be calm.

"Brother Xi, go ahead and we'll watch you here. We'll leave once you're inside."

As if worried, he asked a few more questions, and Cheng Xi patiently answered them one by one.

"Uncle, you are taking an exam too. Can I ask where there is a toilet nearby? I need to go to the bathroom."

At this time, a candidate happened to pass by, holding his stomach and looking a little nervous.

He looked for the toilet but couldn't find it. He happened to see Cheng Fu looking nervous and thought he was also there to take the exam. He didn't notice Cheng Xi at all.

Cheng Xi's calm expression didn't seem like he was here to take an exam.

But it's true, looking around, people were either standing together in groups of two or three, or accompanied by their families, and they were all very nervous.

Cheng Fu was about to argue when Cheng Xi pointed. "Go through this alley and turn right. The second house has a toilet. It'll cost a copper."

"Okay, okay, thank you."

The man ran over quickly, fearing that it would be too late and he would miss the opening of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Cheng Fu's beard curled up in anger, and he cursed the man for being ungrateful. He didn't see that the man in front of him was such a grown-up guy, and yet he mistook him for someone else. What kind of look was that?

Cheng Xi smiled and said, "Uncle, this shows that you are becoming more and more elegant. Didn't you see that others thought you were a scholar?"

After hearing this, Cheng Fu felt a little proud. He tugged at his clothes uncomfortably and then touched his beard.

"Really? Oh, this is so embarrassing. If I go out and my old acquaintances see me, they'll say I'm pretending."

Wang was pulling her two children around to look for food. When she heard what her husband said, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Damn it, you speak better than you sing.

"Brother Xi, there's a bun shop in the distance. How about I go buy some and you can eat it, or you'll be hungry later."

Wang felt a little uncomfortable standing among this group of scholars.

Cheng Xi looked at the sincere concern in Wang's eyes, and his heart softened. His aunt has always been a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

"Aunt, that's not necessary. You and uncle can take Cheng Zhang and Cheng Qi to eat something before returning. I think..."

As he was speaking, the Imperial Examination Hall opened its doors, interrupting Cheng Xi.

The bailiffs at the door were shouting and everyone was walking over there.