Chapter 7
Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou stood at the edge of the crowd, too afraid to move.
Ji Qingzhou kept his head slightly lowered and felt a sudden chill approach. In the next moment, a corner of a dark-colored robe embroidered with subtle patterns appeared before him. He smelled the faintly cool and woody fragrance emanating from the person, and his heart tightened abruptly. Memories of that night at the Fengxian Pavilion flooded his mind.
That night, his thoughts were in chaos. Besides the sharp pain in his body afterward, all he remembered was the searing warmth of the person and the faint woody scent that lingered in his nostrils.
Li Zhan lowered his head slightly, looking at the youth who was about half a head shorter than him.
He noticed the slender fingers hanging at the boy’s sides clenching into fists, while the pale neck had turned slightly pink, making the new wounds from the fight appear even more vivid.
“You…” Li Zhan spoke, his voice betraying no emotion.
He looked at the youth before him, his Adam’s apple moving imperceptibly, but he did not continue.
Yao Chang’an, seeing the regent’s slightly somber expression, couldn’t help but feel a jolt of anxiety.
He had served in the palace for many years and had seen all kinds of people, believing that he could almost always judge others accurately. He valued Tu Dayou and knew that although Tu Dayou was not very shrewd and lacked certain skills, which made him seem somewhat out of place in the deep palace… he didn’t care about that.
After all these years of scheming, Yao Chang’an found himself most appreciating Tu Dayou’s genuine and warm-hearted nature.
When Tu Dayou asked him to take in Ji Qingzhou, Yao Chang’an hesitated but still agreed.
He had never had much affection for scholars. Especially after years with the late emperor, witnessing the deceit and treachery of the officialdom, he believed that those who grew up with books were often hypocritical and untrustworthy in the end.
He hadn’t expected that this young master Ji would cause such a commotion in the palace in just a few days, even running into the regent. In the palace, if an attendant got into a fight and hurt a master, it was usually overlooked unless the master took it seriously, in which case the attendant could be punished and expelled from the palace.
“Those two young rascals have offended the regent. Kneel and apologize immediately!” Yao Chang’an said sternly.
Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou, realizing what was happening, snapped out of their daze and both knelt before Li Zhan, bowing their heads.
As the youth knelt, he unintentionally aggravated his most hidden wound, causing him to gasp in pain. Tu Dayou, noticing the sound, froze for a moment. He forgot that they were supposed to be enemies in front of everyone and instinctively reached out to help Ji Qingzhou, only to remember halfway and quickly withdrew his hand.
Tu Dayou’s movement was not very noticeable, and ordinarily, others would not pay attention to it. However, Li Zhan, standing above them, saw every little action of Tu Dayou and even heard the boy’s faint gasp of pain clearly.
“Old servant has not disciplined these two rascals properly, offending His Majesty and the regent. Please, Your Highness, punish them as you see fit,” Yao Chang’an said, then also knelt down, lifting his robe.
Li Zhan withdrew his gaze from the youth and glanced at Yao Chang’an, saying indifferently, “I have no time to discipline your apprentices.”
With that, he turned and walked back to the little emperor’s side.
Yao Chang’an breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the regent had no intention of pursuing the matter further.
At this moment, Dong Dong announced today’s arrangements to everyone, which was similar to what Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou had heard earlier. They were to select attendants for the little emperor. However, the method for selecting attendants seemed quite straightforward and blunt…
“Those… who can read and write, stand on my left. Those who cannot, stand on my right,” Dong Dong instructed.
As soon as he finished speaking, the attendants began to move to their respective sides. Ji Qingzhou observed that out of all the attendants, less than one-third could read. However, he realized that most of those who entered the palace as attendants were poor children. If they could afford to learn, they probably wouldn’t have taken this path.
“Those who consider themselves presentable stay on the left; those who think they are unattractive go to the right,” Dong Dong told the one-third who could read.
Since they were selecting attendants for the little emperor, it was reasonable to have some requirements regarding appearance. However, there was no clear definition of what constituted “presentable,” so many among the one-third hesitated, unsure whether they qualified or not.
Seeing their indecision, Dong Dong grew impatient and went among the crowd, personally dragging those who were unsure to the right.
Ji Qingzhou hesitated for a moment. With his current swollen face, one eye bruised from Tu Dayou’s punch, he hardly looked presentable, even quite unattractive. Moreover, he didn’t want to be an attendant to the little emperor, so he planned to slip to the right under the guise of blending in. Unfortunately, Dong Dong grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him back to the left.
Ji Qingzhou: …
After getting beaten up, can’t his attractiveness be a factor?
Ji Qingzhou’s appearance now was almost identical to how he looked before he entered the book. To be honest, his face was quite striking. But with his current disfigured and bruised state, could anyone still perceive his attractiveness through his swollen and discolored face?
Before he could ponder this, Dong Dong spoke, “Since you can make His Majesty smile, you should stay.”
Dong Dong then casually pulled Tu Dayou over as well.
Tu Dayou, who was already serving in front of the emperor and held a relatively high rank among the attendants, had no intention of competing for this opportunity. Yet, by a twist of fate, he ended up being included.
“Tomorrow, Mr. Lu will set the questions, and the attendants will conduct the examination. The top three will serve the emperor with pens and ink,” Dong Dong said. Mr. Lu, mentioned by him, was Lu Tingyi, the little emperor’s current teacher. However, due to the recent disgrace of the previous grand tutor, Lu Tingyi had not yet been officially given the title of grand tutor.
The remaining attendants were instantly delighted upon hearing this. For those at the lower ranks, this kind of selection process, which did not consider rank or experience, was a tremendous opportunity. Many had toiled for years without ever getting a chance to serve at the emperor’s side, let alone handling such a prestigious task.
Among all those selected, perhaps only Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou were not in the mood to celebrate.
“Do you think this method will really help you escape the regent’s suspicion?” Tu Dayou asked Ji Qingzhou on their way back.
“Not sure,” Ji Qingzhou replied. “But by going to such lengths to cover it up, at least we can show him our stance.”
“What stance?” Tu Dayou asked.
“Our fear of him… and our desperate effort to keep the events of that night a secret,” Ji Qingzhou explained.
Tu Dayou understood immediately. At first, he found Ji Qingzhou’s approach of adding injury to injury to conceal the truth somewhat strange. After all, the regent was not a fool, and it was obvious that only the two of them from the inner palace were injured.
However, with Ji Qingzhou’s explanation, it became clear to him.
If the regent genuinely wanted to find and silence those responsible for the incident that night, his primary concern was likely to prevent the matter from damaging his reputation.
By going to such extremes to hide the truth, Ji Qingzhou was effectively showing the regent that he would go to any lengths to protect the secret. While it might not completely ease the regent’s worries, it was certainly better than doing nothing.
“One more thing…” Ji Qingzhou added. “Making your backers believe that you and I are at odds might actually be beneficial for you.”
Ji Qingzhou had not pursued the issue of the poisoner behind the palace banquet, but he suspected it must be an adversary of the regent. In the eyes of others, Ji Qingzhou was the son of the Grand Tutor, and since the Grand Tutor and the regent were teacher and student… Ji Qingzhou might already be perceived as affiliated with the regent.
Tu Dayou, being close to him, might attract trouble.
Ji Qingzhou, considering their friendship, wanted to leave a way out for him…
“Qingzhou… you’re really smart,” Tu Dayou said sincerely.
“Don’t get too pleased,” Ji Qingzhou said gravely. “Haven’t you noticed that someone is missing today?”
Tu Dayou was taken aback and then realized.
Gao Liang had not appeared today…
He was missing!
On the streets of the capital, Dong Dong rode alongside the regent.
“Your Highness, in my opinion, the most suspicious people today are the two apprentices of Chief Eunuch Yao,” Dong Dong said.
Li Zhan’s eyes flickered slightly, but he did not respond.
Dong Dong continued, “Instead of guessing, why not just capture them and strip them to check…” He was saying this when he felt a sharp, cold gaze from Li Zhan. Dong Dong then realized that the person he was suggesting to capture and strip was the Young Master of the Ji family…
Given the regent’s principled and emotional nature, he would likely not be so blunt with his teacher’s young son.
“Heh…” Dong Dong laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. “But this Young Master Ji is quite ruthless. He’s only been in the palace for a few days and already dared to beat up Chief Eunuch Yao’s most favored apprentice. Chief Eunuch Yao will surely have trouble with him now.”
Li Zhan recalled Tu Dayou’s instinctive attempt to help the young man.
The two clearly had a close relationship, yet they staged a scene of sibling rivalry in front of others…
“This Young Master Ji is not as rugged as the other. With injuries like these, he’ll probably need a few days to recover,” Dong Dong said.
Li Zhan remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Postpone the written exam to three days later.”
Dong Dong was momentarily stunned and did not immediately understand.
Why wait for three days?
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