A crown princess who doesn't do infrastructure construction isn't a good doctor.

Before the Imperial Concubine's birthday banquet, the most important thing is to carry out the palace examination perfectly.

When the day arrived, Yejing was filled with anticipation, everyone waiting to see who would ultimately claim the title of champion this year.

According to past practice, the palace examination was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, presided over by the emperor himself, with the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and each year a different set of temporary examiners composed of high-ranking officials from the Six Ministries jointly conducting the actual examination.

Normally, the Grand Secretary should be present, but now the Emperor intends to weaken the Chu family. Although Chu Yi has basically recovered under Qin Suiyou's treatment, he still claims to be ill and has not left his residence. Therefore, Beitang Zhen has legitimately dismissed him from his position as proctor.

In the Mo Lan Courtyard of the Prince An's Mansion, Chu Yuning got up early in the morning. After having breakfast, she stood in the courtyard and stared intently in the direction of the palace.

"Miss, don't worry, the young master will definitely win the championship."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yuning lowered her eyes.

“I’m not worried about my brother’s exam; I’m just wondering if he’s recovered.”

“You didn’t send a letter to inquire a few days ago, but the eldest young master wrote to you himself to reassure you that there’s nothing to worry about. The eldest young master is the future pillar of the Chu family, and he certainly wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

Whether or not Chu Yuning was comforted by Ling'er's words, she did indeed return to her room. The sun was getting increasingly intense, and if she continued standing there, Ling'er felt that while their young master would be fine, their young lady would get sunburned first.

Inside Yejing City, everyone was busy with their own affairs, and things weren't idle outside the city either.

On a mountaintop, after making inquiries, the two men quietly sneaked into the bandits' den. Looking at the peaceful and tranquil scene around them, they were dumbfounded.

Then, the two boldly removed their disguises, and several people's expressions changed. Just when Du Heng thought a "fight" was about to break out, those people turned around and went back to doing their own thing.

"Brother Du, what's going on?"

Even the oblivious Liu Yao sensed something was wrong. The scene before him was nothing like the place they had heard about, a gathering place of thugs who burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of evil deeds. It looked like an ordinary village.

"I do not know either."

The two then walked directly towards a two-story building located in the center of the area.

Finally, just as Du Heng was about to knock on the door after looking around, he saw a familiar figure around the corner.

"Lu Feng, you brat, come here right now!"

Lu Feng, who was carrying a basket of dried medicinal herbs, immediately raised his head when he heard this familiar voice.

"Brother Du! You're finally here!"

Lu Feng casually placed the basket on the ground and then ran towards Du Heng with his arms outstretched.

After Xiong hugged Du Heng and jumped excitedly for a while, Lu Feng cried out, "Brother Du, why did you take so long to come? You have no idea how I've been getting through these past few days!"

Lu Feng was holding on tightly, and Du Heng was afraid that if he struggled too hard he would push this unreliable guy down the stairs, so he said helplessly, "How have you been getting by these days?"

"My family made me, a socially awkward person, ask for directions all the way. Xu Chi also enslaved me. He didn't bring enough supplies, so he used me as a human backrest to draw maps. That was bad enough. But when we got here, my young master was busy accompanying Xu Chi to the mountain, leaving me to take care of the herbs he had just gathered and watch over these bandits rebuild their stronghold. You have no idea how fierce these bandits are. They are so ruthless!"

Those around them who were described as "fierce" all had twitching lips.

I don’t know who beat up most of them by themselves. When they think that their leader has been taken away to be a henchman and lead the way, who among them would dare to be fierce, slander, or pure slander!

Du Heng finally found an opening while Lu Feng was speaking, raised his hand to separate Lu Feng's slightly loosened arm, and pushed him away with a little force.

"You're strangling me to death."

Lu Feng wiped away imaginary tears, then looked up and saw Liu Yao, asking, "Who is he?"

"Young Master's new subordinate."

"Master?"

"This is the young city lord. Remember to change your address once we enter Yejing."

"Oh."

After nodding, Lu Feng looked Liu Yao up and down and said, "Why does he look so silly? Aren't you afraid of losing him halfway through the journey with him?"

Seeing that Liu Yao didn't refute and was even smiling foolishly as if responding, Du Heng curled his lips and said, "Don't judge a book by its cover. Let me tell you, he's my student. Although he's only been studying with me for a month or so, you might not even be able to beat him."

"Yeah!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Feng's eyes lit up with interest, showing no trace of his pitiful appearance from just now. He even raised his finger and curled it, saying to Liu Yao, "Come on, let's spar a few times."

Du Heng slapped away Lu Feng's provocative hand, "Come on, no matter how talented others are, they can't compare to your cunning."

After saying that, Du Heng asked again, "Did your young master and Xu Chi go out? When will they be back?"

Lu Feng turned around and opened the door that Du Heng was about to knock on, saying, "Come on, let's go inside and talk. I'm getting scorched by the sun."

"You just left that basket of medicinal herbs there?"

Lu Feng paused, his foot already stepped inside, before immediately stepping back out.

"Holy crap, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me, otherwise the young master would have beaten me up when he got back."

After taking a big step forward and picking up the basket, Lu Feng called to the two of them, "Come on in, there's shaved ice inside!"

Upon entering, the first thing you see are two burly men sitting at a table.

Lu Feng explained, "These two are the second and third leaders of this mountain stronghold. They are very kind-hearted and even offered to help me grind the medicinal herbs."

Seemingly having just heard the commotion, the two continued working without stopping. After Lu Feng finished his introduction, they even turned around and gave each other a "kind" smile. However, their expressions were quite mechanical, and their smiles were somewhat numb.

"Third Master, could you please fetch some frozen ice and fruit for me? And please remember to wash the tools for making shaved ice while you're at it."

"Third Leader" Xiong Tian stood up and said with a smile, "No problem, is there anything else?"

Lu Feng waved his hand, "That's all, you can go now."

Then, Lu Feng invited Du Heng and Liu Yao to sit down.

There was only one relatively large table in the room. After the group sat down, Du Heng and Liu Yao happened to sit opposite Xiong Hao, the "second-in-command." Xiong Hao even nodded slightly to greet the two of them.

Seeing this, Lu Feng said, "See, I was right. Don't be fooled by their big, burly appearance; they are all very kind-hearted."

Liu Yao stared blankly at Xiong Hao's physique, which was even more robust than her own, and felt a kind of joy, as if she had found someone similar.

Du Heng was also smiling, but it was a smile that came from seeing through everything, a smile at what he had just seen and at how Lu Feng had forcibly turned these two leaders into great philanthropists.