Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

The carriage sped along, arriving in about half an hour. Li Yuan parked the carriage on the lawn outside. Xiao Lan got out and found that both sides of the carriage were full of carriages. It seemed that, just as Li Wei had said yesterday, there were a lot of students applying to Minglu Academy this year. Fortunately, she was admitted based on her father's official position. Otherwise, with more than a hundred people taking the exam, if she had passed and entered, it would have been just as conspicuous as if she had entered with Young Master Lan's letter in her previous life.

Xiao Lan asked Li Yuan to watch the carriage while she led Dingding and the other girl along the stone path toward the academy.

After walking about two hundred steps, they arrived at the main gate of Minglu Academy. The deep red gate was a full five meters high, with a golden plaque hanging above it. The four large characters "Minglu Academy" were outlined in black paint, distinguishing them from the gold plaque. Xiao Lan knew that this pure gold plaque was a gift from the founding emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the four characters "Minglu Academy" were also personally written by the old emperor. Because of this plaque, Minglu Academy was implicitly considered by the people of the Great Xia Dynasty to have the same status as the Imperial Academy. After reaching the gate and having her travel permit checked, Xiao Lan found Master Cen, who was in charge of registration. She handed over her household registration certificate and travel permit to the master, answered his questions, and registered. She was then told to take the entrance exam in three days. Xiao Lan responded, said goodbye to the master, and picked up her things to leave the academy. Unexpectedly, before she even reached the gate, she ran into Li Wei and Lin Yuxuan. Today, Xiao Lan was dressed as a woman. Li Wei looked like he had seen a ghost, while Lin Yuxuan was particularly calm and called out softly, "Brother Xiao." Seeing his smiling face and confident tone, Xiao Lan knew that he must know about her cross-dressing. Thinking that they would be in the same academy in the future and would see each other all the time, she also said softly, "Brother Li, Brother Lin, let's talk over here." She pointed to the tree next to her. The four men approached, and Xiao Lan spoke first: "Gentlemen, I am very sorry. I just arrived in the capital yesterday and hadn't changed back into women's clothing, which caused the misunderstanding. Please forgive me." Xiao Lan was naturally beautiful with delicate eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and almond-shaped eyes. Yesterday, Li Wei had only chatted with her because of her youthful appearance. Now, dressed in women's clothing, she was not only more youthful but also more charming. He didn't want to blame her, so he said, "It's alright, it's alright. Miss Xiao has traveled all the way from Yuzhou to the capital; we understand." He then gave a sheepish smile. Lin Yuxuan added, "We understand, but perhaps you should reintroduce yourself? The name you used yesterday probably isn't your real name."

"Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Xiao Lan," Xiao Lan replied with a smile.

"From now on, I'll call you Miss Lan," Lin Yuxuan said.

"Brother Lin, please just call me Miss Xiao. If Miss Lan happens to meet someone with an accent and calls me Lazy Girl, I'll lose face," Xiao Lan joked with a smile. Li Wei and Lin Yuxuan laughed as well. Lin Yuxuan said, "Alright, Miss Xiao. Li Wei and I have already found out about what we discussed with Miss Xiao yesterday this morning."

"Oh, do you know who it is?" Xiao Lan thought that Lin Yuxuan was quite capable, finding out the truth in just one morning.

"They say she's the daughter of the Vice Minister of War, named Luo Yuanyuan," Lin Yuxuan told Xiao Lan, then added, "Because she's the daughter of a Beijing official, we both found it suspicious. We'd never heard of Young Master Lan ever coming to the capital, so we went to inquire." At this moment, Li Wei also spoke up, "Miss Xiao, guess what we found out?"

"It should be this Miss Luo. She hasn't left the capital in recent years," Xiao Lan said calmly. Xiao Lan knew Luo Yuanyuan in her past life. Luo Yuanyuan had tried to seduce Yan Linfeng but failed, then turned to Ye Yuandong. It was rumored that she had used drugs, and Ye Yuandong preferred imprisonment to marrying her. If it weren't for the Ye family donating most of their wealth, and the Empress's influence, the Emperor wouldn't have ordered a thorough investigation, and Ye Yuandong would likely have been unjustly executed. However, the Prefect of the Capital later discovered the truth, and Luo Yuanyuan's father was apparently dismissed from his post. Xiao Lan didn't know what Luo Yuanyuan's final fate was. In her past life, Luo Yuanyuan was also her classmate, but she entered the university because of her father's official position. In this life, Xiao Lan couldn't understand why she forged Lan Gongzi's letter to gain admission.

“Miss Xiao is indeed clever. We were afraid of missing anything, so we specifically asked her neighbors and her former servants. This Luo Yuanyuan is a native of the capital and has never been to any other province or prefecture. If a young lady who usually stays at home knows Young Master Lan, then Young Master Lan must be in the capital. However, Young Master Lan has only become famous in the last two years, and there has been no news of him in the capital. So I was planning to go to the vicinity of the restaurant from yesterday's place after registering with Brother Li, to look for you. I didn't expect to run into you here.”

"I forgot to tell you two yesterday, I'm also here to register at Minglu Academy." Xiao Lan didn't mention that she already had a student status. She didn't need to take an exam to get student status. "So, what do you two think about Luo Yuanyuan's matter?" Xiao Lan originally just wanted to know who was impersonating Young Master Lan, and then find a reason to expose them. But this time it was Luo Yuanyuan. In her past life, she was Ye Lanyi's lackey, often helping Ye Lanyi trip her up. Although she had avoided it all, it was still incredibly annoying. Since she had foolishly run into her hands this time, she wouldn't hesitate to be ruthless. After waking up, she had sworn not to seek revenge on those people from her past life, but this fool who had actively sought her out would be dealt with easily.

Lin Yuxuan glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then whispered, "Right now it's just speculation, there's no concrete evidence. Even if we go to the academy's teachers, it probably won't do any good. After all, no one has seen Young Master Lan, he's not in the capital, and we haven't been able to confirm with him personally. So we're going to write an anonymous letter to get the academy's attention and see if we can find anything out." He then exchanged a glance with Li Wei, who nodded in agreement.

“I’m afraid Luo Yuanyuan knows that Young Master Lan isn’t in the capital, which is why she dared to do this. Even if the teacher receives the letter, if Luo Yuanyuan sticks to her story, no one can do anything about it.” Seeing the disappointment in their eyes, Xiao Lan continued, “However, I have a method that might break the deadlock. It just requires someone to personally step forward and submit evidence, but that would offend Minister Luo, the Vice Minister of War.” Most men in the Great Xia Dynasty study for the imperial examinations. Even if they don’t enter officialdom, their families are often noble or powerful, and no one wants to offend the Vice Minister of War and cause trouble for themselves. Therefore, Xiao Lan can only gamble on whether these two have the integrity and character of scholars.

After exchanging glances, Lin and Li remained silent. Finally, Li Wei said, "My family isn't in officialdom. Even if I can't enter government service, I can simply go home and inherit the family business. I won't come to the capital to do business." He then looked at Lin Yuxuan and added, "Your father is an official in the court; he has to deal with many people. You shouldn't get involved in this." Lin Yuxuan looked at Li Wei, knowing he couldn't ruin the Lin family for the sake of loyalty, so he patted Li Wei on the shoulder and nodded heavily.

Then he looked at Xiao Lan and said, "Miss Xiao, please speak."

Seeing the two looking like they were about to part ways, Xiao Lan chuckled and said, "It's not as serious as you think. I didn't tell you yesterday that I know Young Master Lan, which is why I was sure he wouldn't write a letter of recommendation for anyone. I also know where Young Master Lan is. I'll inform him about what happened in the capital and have him write a letter to the academy to clarify things. However, I am, after all, an unmarried woman. If I hand over the letter, it will surely be rumored that I have a close relationship with Young Master Lan, which would be bad for his reputation. So I can only trouble Brother Li. But this round trip will probably take ten days, so let Luo Yuanyuan be smug for a few more days." Xiao Lan thought for a moment and then sincerely said to Li Wei, "Brother Li's fearlessness in the face of power is truly a role model for us all. I think that because of this heroic act, the academy will give Brother Li some preferential treatment."

Li Wei's eyes lit up instantly; he understood. Lin Yuxuan's gaze towards Xiao Lan also deepened.

After bidding farewell to Lin and Li, Xiao Lan went to the carriage and asked Li Yuan, "Uncle Li, shall we go to the human market instead of going back?" In the Great Xia Dynasty, different commodities had their own specialized markets. For example, the vegetable market was for buying and selling vegetables, and the cattle and horse market was for buying and selling livestock. The human market was specifically established for the trade of people. The human market not only allowed the buying and selling of servants but also the hiring of them. Xiao Lan thought it would be more convenient to go and take a look. Li Yuan would be returning to Shaozhou in a month, and with only one woman in her household, many things would be inconvenient. Buying a couple of servants would make things easier.

Li Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Miss, are you looking to buy servants?"

"Yes, Uncle Li, I was thinking that since you're going back next month, and we're all women, there are some things we can't do. I was thinking of hiring two servants and a cook." Xiao Lan and her two companions looked around for a while but couldn't find anything suitable. At this moment, Li Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Miss, actually I have someone who recommends you, but they can't sign a permanent contract." Li Yuan had followed Xiao Lan all this way and had gotten to know her temperament quite well. She was generous and didn't like to cause trouble for herself, so Li Yuan figured Xiao Lan would probably buy servants rather than hire them.

"Then tell me what the situation is. I'm not necessarily a slave who has to sign a life-or-death contract." Xiao Lan smiled faintly. If Li Yuan could introduce someone, it was definitely better than hiring someone from the labor market herself.

"That man's name is Zhang Jiabao, we all call him Da Bao. He's originally from the capital, and used to run escort services with the head of the household. Once, he injured his Achilles tendon and couldn't continue, so he's been doing odd jobs to support his family ever since. However, he can only sign a life contract." In the Great Xia Kingdom, slaves are divided into two types: life contracts and death contracts. A life contract means the master hires the slave, paying a fixed fee based on the contract's duration, and then receiving a monthly stipend. A death contract means the master buys the slave outright, and the slave's life and death are entirely at the master's discretion. Masters can also freely buy and sell slaves, and still pay them a monthly stipend, but it's less than that of someone with a life contract.

"Then Uncle Li can go and ask if he'd be willing to come to my residence. If he knows anyone there, he can introduce him as well." After Xiao Lan finished speaking with Li Yuan, Li Yuan escorted Xiao Lan back to the third courtyard and then went to find Zhang Jiabao.