ordinary people's house

The next day Lin Yulan put on her clothes early, Xiao Yunlang sat up sleepily and asked, "Are you going out again?"

Lin Yulan nodded.

Xiao Yunlang came to his senses, he frowned, but still didn't ask him what he was going out for, Xiao Yunlang thought about it, and said: "Eat something before going out, I'll make spring pancakes for you."

Lin Yulan was waiting in the room. He remembered what the emperor had said yesterday, and the promise he had to make. Last year's Enke, the emperor found out that something was wrong during the palace examination. These new subjects seem to have popped up all of a sudden. And those talents who had long been well-known in Beijing failed the rankings without exception. Zhu Xian thought it was an accident, but he had doubts in his heart. He started investigating for a long time, but found nothing and no evidence. But after doubts slowly fermented, He began to suspect these new Jinshi, and none of them were reused in the end.

In the spring of this year, Zhu Xian started to ambush people in the capital early. The examiner was selected after his discretion. This should be foolproof. He keenly discovered that there are many people in Beijing who should not appear, those who should hide in the shadows all their lives The mouse, smelling the smell of meat somewhere, has already crawled out of the cave.

Zhu Xian thought indifferently, is it my second brother's manpower?The manpower of the third and fourth brothers?Is it because my younger brothers who haven't grown up can't hold back?Or is it that the concubines raised by Zhenrong in the palace don't want to live anymore and insist on sticking out their claws?

He has been a prince for 20 years, but the older the emperor, the more he wants to take back his majesty as a prince, restricting him and suppressing him everywhere, so that he doesn't have any trusted brothers, and everyone in the palace is his enemy. In the East Palace, he couldn't even sleep peacefully. He remained suspicious of everyone who appeared around him. It is poisoned, full of unwillingness and jealousy, the late emperor often said that you should not play tricks in front of me, and I can execute you at any time.

The only place where Zhu Xian felt safe was Jinjiang Bofu, his teacher stood behind him even if he was an enemy of the late emperor, Mu Lang and Du Lang were his brothers, and Yun Lang...

Yun Lang.

It's what he couldn't ask for in his life.

It was the decision he and Mu Lang made together.

Who is the first emperor has already seen it, and he can see that he likes him.

Zhu Xian found Lin Yulan yesterday, and he told him calmly that Feiran Tea House already had his staff.Lin Yulan didn't look too surprised, she seemed to have noticed it a long time ago, Zhu Xian said: "There are only two choices in front of you now, one life and one death, you can choose whatever you want."

……

Xiao Yunlang came out carrying a plate of thin spring pancakes with radish sticks in them. Lin Yulan finished eating in silence and glanced at Xiao Yunlang.

Xiao Yunlang said: "When will you come back?"

"do not know."

Xiao Yunlang was silent for a while, then asked: "Yesterday you said you would go to the south to see, is that true?"

"Well, wait a while."

Xiao Yunlang watched him stand up, not knowing what to say, Lin Yulan said, "Don't worry, I'm looking for big brother."

Xiao Yunlang said in astonishment: "Brother?"

Lin Yulan lowered her head, and said calmly: "I came back yesterday and met my elder brother. I asked my elder brother to find something for me to do, so it's just to pass the time."

"Really?"

Xiao Yunlang stood up with a smile, hesitantly said after a while: "Do you really like these? I don't know the people over there, otherwise you'd better stay and grow vegetables with me, we can go to Zhuangzi, Now is the time for spring irrigation."

Lin Yulan smiled, "You don't have to worry about me being wronged."

Xiao Yunlang didn't speak any more, he thought for a while, if it was the elder brother, he should be trustworthy, so he said: "Well, the elder brother came here yesterday and told me to be more careful in the next few days, the capital may not be under martial law , I don’t know what’s going on.”

"Ah."

Xiao Yunlang sent Lin Yulan out. Lin Yulan was wearing a black warrior robe. Xiao Yunlang sighed softly when he looked at his back, and Lin Yulan turned around to look at him. Xiao Yunlang couldn't explain the sudden sadness in his heart, so he smiled. , "Come back early."

"it is good."

Xiao Yunlang has already taken a fancy to a shop on Qingyun Road. It seems that because the two brothers couldn't figure it out when dividing up the family property, they decided to sell the old father's shop together for the money. Xiao Yunlang asked Brother Zuo to help him pay attention. When will it be received.The shop is not small, the outside can sell dried fruits and gadgets, and the inside can sell tea, Xiao Yunlang is very fond of it.

If it wasn't for the silver bills from his grandmother, Xiao Yunlang would still not be able to afford a shop in such a good location. His grandmother is the most straightforward person. If Xiao Yunlang refuses to let her go, he will be annoyed. Xiao Yunlang only hopes that her old man will come back to Beijing soon, and he will take care Honor her.

People in Feiran Tea House went to the empty building, Lin Yulan walked around the account room a few times, a group of boys outside were all tied up, but none of them could say anything, but it was the private room on the second floor, with a white paper on the table. This time, Lin Yulan finally opened the paper to take a look. Looking at the sentence "Xiaolin Youwei, Yuqing should be relieved" on it, he didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. He looked at the restaurant and suddenly said: "The deed here Can you give it to me?"

Xiao Mulang's subordinate who followed him was taken aback for a moment, and said, "I don't know either."

"Can Xiao Mulang be the master?"

"...This, this should be possible."

Lin Yulan nodded, "Then you can send the deed here to my house in a few days, my husband wants to do some business."

The subordinate was still a little hesitant at first, but after hearing what he said, he smiled and said, "That's easy to say, I will send you the land deed and house deed after I report to our lord."

Lin Yulan nodded in satisfaction, and suddenly she did not resist as much as she did at the beginning when she took on this errand.

Although the second prince in the suburbs of Beijing may be the person behind the scenes, Lin Yulan has no time to go to Qiwang's other courtyard to investigate now, and she will try it the day after tomorrow.

He thought about it carefully, if someone got the problem, what would they do?

Now I can only check the people who have been in and out of the teahouse one by one. Even if I only find one, I can follow the clues. It's just that the Feiran teahouse has an elegant scenery and a high price. In addition to foreign scholars, the young masters of Beijing and China often come. , although they are less prepared to take the exam, but there are some.

Now Lin Yulan was in a mess, there were too many suspects, and he didn't know how to start.

After a while, he made a decision to visit the home of Wu Runjun, the champion of Enke last year.

Wu Runjun is nearly 40 years old. He studied hard for more than [-] years and experienced the disappointment of failing many times. He thought that once he won the first prize, he would become famous from then on. Unexpectedly, the emperor only sent him to the Imperial Academy to help others. The first-ranked candidates and the second-best candidates in several sessions are already fourth- and fifth-rank bachelors, but he is just an inspector, checking typos and so on in the books that the bachelors are repairing every day, and his eyes are getting worse day by day. He had no way and was reluctant to resign, so his temper became bad day by day. These days, he was recuperating at home and did not go on duty.

The concierge gave a pass, and he said impatiently: "I don't have any friends surnamed Lin!"

This small courtyard is much more cramped than the courtyard of the young couple in Nanluo Lane. Wu Runjun's wife also has a vicissitudes of life. Seeing that her husband is going to drink to relieve his sorrows as usual, she only sighed deeply and went to open the door by herself. Lin Yulan was taken aback when she saw this strange man, "May I ask if Mr. Wu is here?"

Mrs. Wu restrained her and said, "Master, he is inside, what's the matter with your lord?"

Lin Yulan bypassed her and entered the door, saying: "Come down and talk to Mr. Wu." As soon as he spoke, a flagon fell on his feet, and Wu Runjun roared: "Don't call me 'Master'! I It’s worse than a cook in the Hanlin Academy!”

Lin Yulan walked in without changing her expression, frowning at the decadent man.

Mrs. Wu said in a low voice: "Sir, please stop talking, this lord has something to say to you."

But Wu Runjun exploded when he heard the word "adult", and roared angrily: "What bullshit, lord! I won't see you if I say no!"

Mrs. Wu bowed her body and looked at Lin Yulan apologetically. Lin Yulan looked at the husband and wife, and suddenly felt a strong shock in her heart.

Wu Runjun pointed at Mrs. Wu's head and cursed: "What I said won't work anymore, will it? You slut, seeing me hook up with young men when I'm worthless! You pretend I don't know! I'll divorce you tomorrow!" "

Mrs. Wu was probably used to being scolded. She wiped her tears and choked up with sobs: "Master, if you have something to say, just say it. I'll pour tea."

Mrs. Wu's face was deeply marked by the years and hardships. She lowered her eyebrows and kept her duty. She was used to listening to the vicious words of her decadent husband, and she didn't have any sense of resistance.

Lin Yulan was almost panicked. He thought of himself and Yun Lang who had just left the Hou Mansion, of the half a year when he was paralyzed by strong alcohol, of the dark shadows under Yun Lang's eyes, and what he was doing when he was drunk. What?Did he look at him from a distance like Mrs. Wu, the eyes were so painful, but there was no way to free himself...

The 40-year-old champion and the 20-year-old Lin Sanlang overlapped unexpectedly.

Lin Yulan took a few steps forward in a daze, and suddenly punched Wu Runjun in the face. Wu Zhuangyuan flew out and fell to the side of the chair, his mind cleared up a bit, and then he was filled with overwhelming anger. Looking at Lin Yulan, he shouted: "Who are you, you dare to hit me!"

Lin Yulan looked at him calmly, the original idea of ​​slowly prattle disappeared, he walked over step by step, Wu Runjun swallowed his saliva, and unconsciously moved back a few times.

Lin Yulan squatted down and asked: "You have passed the provincial examination three times and the general examination five times. You are not outstanding in writing, you have no acquaintances in the court, and even your family's wealth is not much. Why did you win the first prize? "

Wu Runjun poked his neck and said, "It's all because of my accumulation! I got the first prize myself!"

"Is it?"

"of course!"

Lin Yulan looked at him and said, "You should know why the emperor is unwilling to reuse you, because you have no real talent and learning, but the emperor has no evidence, so he can only treat you coldly."

"I took the first prize myself!"

"You took the test yourself. I heard that you recited your test paper clearly afterwards. You know every allusion. There is no similarity between your test paper and others."

Wu Runjun proudly said: "I wrote the test paper myself!" He reeked of alcohol as he spoke, his face flushed, and he repeated excitedly: "I wrote it myself!"

Lin Yulan frowned and said, "How long have you been writing?"

Wu Runjun was dumbfounded all of a sudden, and then said: "How long did you write what?"

"Your exam paper is so well written, with plenty of quotations and exquisite allusions. Every sentence is worthy of careful scrutiny. How long did it take you to write it?"

Wu Runjun shrank back again and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Who gave you the test paper?"

"I wrote it myself... that's what I wrote!"

Lin Yulan murmured: "If that person doesn't ask for money, it has nothing to do with you...why is that?"

Last year, most of these first and second graders were ordinary and unknown people. Zhu Xian also checked that they had nothing to do with the second and third princes, and many of them came from remote areas.

Could it be... Lin Yulan suddenly felt that this was simply unbelievable, could it be that the mastermind behind the scenes was just to...

Lin Yulan felt that there was no need to ask any more questions, so he stepped back and left, only to find Mrs. Wu standing outside the door with her head down, her expression numb.

"My lord," she raised her head and said calmly, "Last year we rented a house, and my husband locked himself in the house all day to study. One day I suddenly picked up a piece of paper in the yard. I couldn't read. , I showed it to my husband, who suddenly drove me out like crazy, and bought a lot of books to read... Later, my husband won the number one prize."

Lin Yulan nodded and left the Wu family.

Now I know that last year's exam questions were leaked, but this year the emperor attaches so much importance to it, Zhu Xianquan who has come into contact with the exam questions can be trusted, and the people around them have also been screened one by one... Why can Shen Mobai still get the exam papers?

their purpose...

Lin Yulan finally figured out some reasons, he just needed further confirmation, but now he didn't want to continue to investigate, he just wanted to go home, visit Yunlang at home, and give him a good hug.