The widowed sister-in-law is embarrassed, she criticizes the villain like he only wants to be a love

Capital

The old emperor lay on the couch with a sick look on his face, and his whole face showed an air of being terminally ill.

"Yang Zhong."

Yang Zhong hurried into the hall and asked, "What do you want, Your Majesty?"

"How many golden elixirs are left by Yuan An?"

"Your Majesty, there are only thirty pills left."

The old emperor suddenly felt a stuffy feeling rising up. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed rapidly a few times. He looked down and saw a large stain of blood on the gray-white handkerchief.

Yang Zhong hurriedly stepped forward to pat the old emperor's back to help him calm down. After helping him lie down, he turned around, walked to the table, poured a cup of tea and brought it to the bed.

The old emperor drank a few sips of tea and felt better.

"At the beginning, Immortal Wuji said that they would be back in half a year at most, but now it's autumn and they still haven't returned."

Yang Zhong said with a worried look on his face: "Your Majesty, the people you sent to Rongcheng have been looking for so long, but still can't find the whereabouts of Wuji Immortal and Yuanan Taoist Priest. I am worried that they may..."

The old emperor glared at Yang Zhong with a gloomy look and said, "There is no one in the world who can rival the Wuji Immortal. They should not be in any danger. Maybe they were delayed by something."

He couldn't keep waiting like this. If his attempt to extend his life failed, he would need to choose a suitable candidate for crown prince from among his sons as soon as possible.

The third brother is undoubtedly the most suitable person, but the bitch Queen and the Zhao family must be dealt with in advance.

Thinking of this, a dark light flashed in the old emperor's deep eyes.

"Yang Zhong, it's been more than a year since Old Seven came back. What do you think of him?"

Under the gaze of the old emperor, Yang Zhong smiled respectfully.

"His Seventh Prince has a gentle and kind personality, and is courteous to others. The great scholars who taught him all spoke highly of him."

The old prince pondered for a moment and continued to ask: "How does he compare with the third, fifth, and sixth brothers?"

Yang Zhong's eyelids twitched, and he wondered what the emperor meant by these words. Could it be that he was preparing to appoint a crown prince?

He has served His Majesty for decades and knows very well that His Majesty has always favored the Third Prince. However, he is wary of the power of the Zhao family in the court. He is worried that if the throne is given to the Third Prince, he will be controlled by Queen Zhao and the Zhao family, thus creating another powerful Feng family. The power of foreign relatives has always been a major concern for His Majesty, so he has been reluctant to appoint a crown prince.

Your Majesty originally wanted to use the Wuji Immortal and Yuan An to extend his life. If the extension of his life is successful, Your Majesty can live for decades more, and the matter of appointing a crown prince will not be so urgent. But now, Wuji Immortal and Yuan An have been in Rongcheng for more than half a year but there is no news. Your Majesty's health is getting worse and worse and he cannot pin his hopes on them, so he urgently needs to finalize the candidate for the crown prince as soon as possible.

As a servant, he cannot show bias towards either side in such matters.

"The four princes are all outstanding, each one is outstanding and has his own strengths."

The old emperor snorted: "You don't offend anyone."

"I am terrified. What I say comes from the heart. They are all your Majesty's sons. Even if they have only a third of your Majesty's talents and strategies, they are still outstanding in every way."

The old emperor smiled faintly and said, "Go and tell them to summon Prime Minister Zhang to the palace."

"Yes!"

Yang Zhong bowed and retreated, his guess in his heart was confirmed.

Prime Minister Zhang is a veteran of three dynasties and the emperor's teacher. His Majesty summoned him at this critical juncture, most likely to prepare for the appointment of a crown prince.

an hour later

The silver-haired old man walked slowly into the Taiji Hall with the help of his followers. His Majesty dismissed everyone and only left Prime Minister Zhang and him alone in the Taiji Hall to discuss matters.

The heavy red-painted wooden door slowly closed, and the spies in each palace quickly sent the news back to their masters. The undercurrent in the capital city gradually became more intense.

Jiang Qiuchi and Su Ji were sitting in the viewing pavilion in the garden's waterside pavilion.

There was an unfinished chess game in front of them, and the two men sat opposite each other.

Jiang Qiuchi said, "Today, His Majesty urgently summoned Prime Minister Zhang to the palace. Yang Zhong sent a message. Before summoning Prime Minister Zhang, His Majesty asked him about his opinions on several princes. I guess he was preparing for the establishment of a crown prince."

Su Ji raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Qiuchi.

"His Majesty has been doting on you over the past year, but in reality he is just pushing you to the forefront to serve as a shield for his most beloved son. With His Majesty's personality, it may not be that easy to appoint a crown prince."

Jiang Qiuchi frowned and said, "The results of the provincial examination will be out soon. The young master will come to Beijing soon. At that time, everything will be arranged by the young master, and I don't have to worry about it."

"You are quite open-minded. Jiang Ci came to Beijing as a candidate to serve as an official. He may not be able to protect you."

Jiang Qiuchi smiled and said, "Isn't it that Commander Su is still here? Besides, even if we take no action, I was originally sent to the capital by the Xuanzong Sect as a substitute. It is my mission to die for my master."

Su Ji snorted coldly, "Jiang Ci's life is precious, so your life should be cheap? Jiang Qiuchi, people only have one life, and no one is worth your life. You may not want to listen to me, but I hope everything goes well for Jiang Ci after he enters Beijing. I will try my best to protect you during the chaos."

Jiang Qiuchi looked at Su Ji sincerely.

"Commander Su, thank you for protecting me this year."

Su Ji shrugged: "It's my bad luck to meet a fool like you."

Looking at the innocent smile on Jiang Qiuchi's face, Su Ji sighed in his heart. This kid really can't do without him.

-

It is said that Wei Zhao escorted Wei Yang back to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion overnight.

The eldest princess was furious after learning the whole story. She immediately had Ying Lie beaten with thirty sticks and thrown into the dungeon.

Wei Yang was cultivated by her. In her plan, Wei Yang was a chess piece to bind Jiang Ci, so she arranged for Wei Yang to travel thousands of miles to the Qilian Mountain military camp to meet Jiang Ci.

But in the end, not only did this important chess piece fail to capture Jiang Ci's heart, but he was framed and lost his innocence. The resentment lingering in his heart was really hard to get rid of.

The counselor beside the Grand Princess said, "Princess, please don't worry about this. The princess said that the reason why the Seventh Prince was not interested in her was because he had someone else in his heart. The problem is not with the princess, but with that woman."

The eldest princess slowly opened her phoenix eyes, with a cold look in her eyes.

"She's just a country woman. I thought she wouldn't cause much trouble. Xiao Qi grew up in the countryside and had never seen any stunning beauties. It's understandable that he was attracted to her for a while. But I didn't expect that he could fall in love with her again after losing his memory. It seems that this woman can't be kept."

"Princess, do you mean to get rid of her?"

The Grand Princess was silent for a moment. "I'll leave this matter to you. Remember to be careful and don't let Feng Xuanyu and Xiao Qi find out. I don't want to have any grudges against them at this critical moment."

"My subordinate understands."

While the two were talking, a dark shadow on the roof quietly disappeared and headed towards the West Garden of the Yong'an Marquis Mansion.

-

One month after the provincial examination, the day of announcing the results finally arrived.

The provincial examination was the most crucial step for candidates to get into the dragon gate. Students who passed the examination became real juren. Even if they failed in the subsequent metropolitan examination, they could still find a leisurely position in the local county government office with their juren status, or become a teacher in the academy in the provincial capital. In short, after passing the juren examination, their status would be higher than others, and the range of jobs they could find would be leisurely and respectable.

On the day when the results were announced, the sounds of gongs and drums could be heard on the streets early in the morning.

The noise finally stopped outside the Yan family's door. Yan Ersheng, the three brothers of the Yan family and Wen Yutang opened the door to welcome them.

Outside the door, several yamen runners in official uniforms immediately came forward with flattering words.

"Excuse me, is this Wen Yutang's home?"

Yan Ersheng's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly: "That's right, he is Wen Yutang, but are the results of the provincial examination out?"

The yamen runner laughed heartily twice and bowed to Wen Yutang.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wen, for passing the provincial examination. You are the third in the provincial examination. I never thought you are so young. You are really a promising young person!"

Wen Yutang was stunned on the spot, not daring to believe what he heard.

He knew that he had performed well in the provincial examination, but he did not dare to think that he could make it into the top three.

"Yutang, did you hear that? You passed the imperial examination. From now on, you are a juren." Yan Wu was the first to shout happily.

Yan Huai also looked at Wen Yutang with joy on his face.

"Yutang, your efforts over the past year have not been in vain. You really did it."

Wen Yutang finally came to his senses and hurried forward to express his gratitude.

"Thank you for taking the trouble to come here."

He took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the leading yamen runner's pocket: "Just consider it a small token of my appreciation for inviting you to tea."

The bailiff felt the silver in his hand, estimated that there were two taels of silver, and the smile on his face became even brighter.

"Okay, I wish you a smooth career and a bright future."

After saying some auspicious words, the yamen runner said, "I won't bother you any more. It's really a coincidence that two of the top three candidates live on this street. It seems that this area is really a good place for Feng Shui."

Wen Yutang and Yan Huai first thought of Jiang Ci, so they asked, "May I ask who the other family is, sir?"

"Oh, it's the Jiang family that lives in the west. That young man is not simple. I heard that he took a long vacation not long after studying in Bailu Academy. I didn't expect that he would pass the provincial examination in one fell swoop. There are many foreign students in Xinyang Prefecture this year. He can stand out among so many talents. It is very likely that he will become the top scholar in the future."

Yan Huai whispered, "It's really him who won the championship."

He had long known that Jiang Ci was extremely talented, and even though he had not been studying at the academy for more than half a year, it would not affect his strength.

Even if Jiang Ci is not a prince, with his knowledge, he will sooner or later become a powerful official in the court.