Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 671: Spring and Summer
The second year of Longxing was a year of recuperation and adjustment for the Song Dynasty.

The trade between the Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty was basically fully restored.

The Song State was still secretly funding the Northern Jin State, and seemed unaware that the Northern Jin State had shifted its strategic focus to plundering the Tatars.

The Jin Kingdom began to be patient and build up its strength towards the Song Kingdom, just like the Song Kingdom had done before, and seemed to be unaware of the Song Kingdom's secret military aid to the New Jin Kingdom.

The State of Song pacified the Lianghuai region, managed the western region, promoted production, and great changes also took place in the academic and ideological circles.

New Shu School has become the most mainstream doctrine in the Song Dynasty, and the mysterious Mr. Mu Yi has become a recognized master of Confucianism.

It is conceivable that as his academic thoughts become more and more popular and accepted and believed by more and more people, it is very likely that he will be promoted to the status of semi-saint or even sub-saint in the future.

In the end, Guo Yuxiu took the imperial examination obediently and did not make any trouble from beginning to end.

Because Yang Yuan told her, I will send people to keep an eye on you. If you make trouble again, you will be stopped at any time. You have seen their skills.

As for the matter of your Guo family, I have reported it to the court, and the court is investigating. But the process of finding out the truth cannot be done in a high-profile manner, and I think you should understand this very well.

In view of this, perhaps the biggest reason was that Old Man Song stood in front of her with a limp on one leg. In the end, Guo Yuxiu had to accept it and took the exam obediently.

Although her original purpose of participating in the scientific examination was just to build momentum for herself, the influence had already been felt, and Yang Yuan was planning to use this incident to promote further social development.

During this period, Yang Yuan submitted two memorials: one was about the sale of government land, and the other was about the women taking the imperial examinations and how to place them.

The sale of official land was widely anticipated and was approved smoothly.

It is relatively difficult for women to take exams and find jobs.

However, this matter has now been linked to the debate between Neo-Confucianism and Shu School, and Neo-Confucianism has been labeled as "pseudo-learning" and classified as an unorthodox school, which is equivalent to indirectly creating momentum for Yang Yuan.

In addition, in Yang Yuan's proposal, the "assignment destinations" for women taking the exam were palace ladies, government-run orphanages, government-run pharmacies, and government offices, which would not shake the basic base of the scholar-official group at all, and it was finally passed.

However, although it was passed, there were actually only a handful of women in the whole country who could actually take part in the imperial examination and pass it.

Without a drastic revolutionary change in ideology, it would inevitably be a long process, which was also within Yang Yuan's expectations.

On the day when the results of the imperial examination were announced in the second year of Longxing, many powerful and wealthy families still rushed to Donghua Gate to "catch a son-in-law from the list."

Most families sent the household manager or a clever servant, who carried a small notebook and a charcoal pencil in his arms.

After the imperial edict was posted, they would write down the names, native places, ages and other information of some of the successful candidates and take them back for their masters to consider.

When the master sees a suitable person, he will find the new scholar and discuss the marriage with him.

However, Li Fengniang went to see the imperial edict on her own.

Not only did she go herself, she also invited her four best friends, Zhao Ning'er, Ata, Xiao Qingtang and A Man.

The burly Ezhou soldiers pushed through the crowd and made room for them. The five little girls rushed to the list with shining eyes.

They all knew that the Li family was going to choose a son-in-law, and girls seemed to be naturally interested in this kind of thing, even the youngest Zhao Ning'er was no exception.

They didn't even bother to look at the second and third class hospitals, and went straight to the first class on tiptoe.

"I see, I see. Number one scholar Wang Shipeng was born in the second year of Zhenghe. Which year is the second year of Zhenghe?" Zhao Ning'er tugged at Qingtang's sleeve in a cute way.

Xiao Qingtang counted with his fingers and said in surprise: "Wow, the top scholar is 45 years old."

When Li Fengniang heard this, her face became as red as a dumpling: "He is only one year younger than my father, so he must have grandchildren..."

Zhao Ning'er, who had the best relationship with her, hurriedly comforted her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. If the top scholar isn't okay, the second place will also be fine."

Ah Man said, "The runner-up is Yan Anzhong, from Chongzhou, 27 years old, and he's pretty reliable."

Twenty-seven was already past the age of marriage in that era, but some scholars did consider that once they passed the imperial examination, the level of their marriage partner would be completely different, so they would get married later.

However, whether he is married or not is not recorded on the list, so we have to find out.

"Brother Yan, congratulations, you are ranked first in the exam, and you are the runner-up in the undergraduate program!"

But unexpectedly, the runner-up was right there at the scene. When his friend shouted, all the people who were looking at the list looked at that man with faces full of surprise and admiration.

"Where are the people? Let me see. Quick, let me see."

Li Fengniang was so anxious that she jumped up and down, but she couldn't see it.

When two of the Li family's soldiers saw this, they wrapped their outer robes around their arms, then used their arms wrapped in the robes to lift up one of Li Fengniang's legs and lifted her up.

Li Fengniang looked around the crowd as if she was walking on stilts, and then said unhappily, "Put me down, put me down."

Ah Man asked curiously, "Feng Niang, did you see it? What does that person look like?"

Li Fengniang pursed her lips and said, "She is so thin and small, not even as tall as my second uncle's armpit. Even if he never gets married, I don't want her."

Zhao Ning'er, with the attitude of "It's okay if there's no chicken or duck, it's okay if there's no fish or meat, a plate of green vegetables is enough", continued to persuade: "Don't be afraid, let's take a look at the third place."

Qingtang asked, "The third place winner? His name is Liang Jie, from Shuangliu, Yizhou. He is twenty... or twenty-seven years old."

I didn’t expect that the second and third place winners this year were both from Sichuan.

They didn't know whether the third place winner had appeared, so some of Li's followers spent some money to inquire about the officials under the list.

After a while, the Li family's soldiers came back and reported in a embarrassed tone: "Miss, the third place winner has just looked at the list. The guards below the list said that he came to see the list with his son on his neck and his daughter in his arms."

Li Fengniang: ...

Zhao Ning'er said hurriedly: "Don't be afraid, let's take a look at the second grade..."

"I don't want to watch anymore!" Li Fengniang stamped her feet, feeling so embarrassed: "Let's go, let's go to Xiangji Temple, it's really unlucky." Qingtang remembered the first time she came to Yang's house, she was bossy and wanted to drive Luxi and Danniang away, and regarded herself as the mistress of the Yang family, so she smiled and annoyed her:
"Feng Niang, you are just too ambitious. In fact, passing the imperial examination is a great achievement. You have to be the top scholar and be very young and handsome. You can't meet one in hundreds of years. Not everyone can be my master, don't you think?"

Ah Man also felt superior when he heard this. Although they had a good relationship with each other, he was happy to step on her occasionally.

So Ah Man said, "So, you should be down-to-earth and not aim too high. Even if he is the top scholar, he may not be the top three scholar. Even if he is the top three scholar, he may not be the right age. Even if he is the right age, he may not be that handsome. Even if he is that handsome, he may still be a nobody."

As she spoke, she began to pound her waist: "Oh, I waited on the master too late yesterday and didn't sleep well. My waist is so sore..."

Li Fengniang was so angry that she went mad, but she didn't want to fulfill their wish, so she put on a hypocritical smile.

However, the innocent Zhao Ning'er was a little worried: "Why did you sleep so late? Is General Ziyue feeling unwell?"

"Ah?" Looking at Zhao Ning'er's confused and concerned eyes, Ah Man could only laugh dryly: "He...he, he caught a cold, cough cough..."

Qingtang turned his face away, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Zhao Ning'er said earnestly, "Don't be careless. My father is not in good health right now and is always coughing. You must take good care of General Ziyue."

"Yeah, yeah, take care of it, take care of it. We'll take care of it if we have the chance..."

……

In the Yang residence, Yang Yuan heard the news from Da Zhuang and said to Guo Yuxiu, "It's a pity that you failed the exam."

Guo Yuxiu snorted coldly: "The imperial examination was never my goal, and I never seriously prepared for it. It's no wonder that I didn't pass."

After thinking for a while, she said, "Besides, my family is a military family. It's great that I can pass the imperial examination."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "That makes sense, but... I really hope you can pass the exam. It would be even better if you can get the top scorer. This will be of great help to me in promoting women to take the exam."

Guo Yuxiu did not suspect that he was lying. He was the top scorer in the imperial examination. Even if he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi or even the top scorer, he could not compare with his glory.

There is no need for people to be jealous of others' talents.

But hearing him say that was quite embarrassing for the strong-willed Guo Yuxiu.

Guo Yuxiu snorted coldly and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Lord. But, Lord, you said that the court is investigating the matter of Jinzhou. Is there any result now? Lord, you won't disappoint me, will you?"

"Don't be impatient. This kind of thing cannot be investigated in a short time, and the court needs real evidence."

Although Guo Yuxiu knew that this matter would not have a quick result, the problem was that she was not sure whether the court was really investigating or just trying to evade her.

When I think about how she has been gone for a long time and my younger brother is still in the care of my second uncle, what if my second uncle does something bad to my younger brother during her absence...

Guo Yuxiu immediately became anxious and asked Yang Yuan to allow him to return to Lizhou Road.

Yang Yuan was not sure when the court's investigation would yield results. He had received the petition and only took control of Guo Yuxiu after discovering that she had ulterior motives.

But after all, she had never broken the law, and if she had, I couldn't imprison her privately, so I finally agreed to her request.

However, although Guo Yuxiu is not as popular as before, Yang Yuan is still worried that she will cause trouble again without knowing the seriousness of the matter, so he found Liu Shangqiu.

Since the court's military focus is on the west, the Quefang will arrange a group of personnel to go to Western Shu in the near future to strengthen intelligence work against Western Xia.

Yang Yuan then entrusted Liu Shangqiu to arrange for Guo Yuxiu to be "escorted" back to Kaizhou.

It was such a small favor, so Liu Shangqiu naturally agreed.

Yang Yuan was very touched. Liu Shangqiu was truly a great friend.

It is a matter of reciprocity, so Yang Yuan stayed at Liu's house that night.

Of course, Liu Taigong and his wife and Liu Shangqiu were "unaware".

It is the turn of spring and summer again, and the heat has already arrived in the south of the Yangtze River.

Inside the brocade curtains, beads of sweat oozed out of the beautiful and charming body, sliding down the smooth and white waist and hip curve like jade to the soft mat.

But she clung to her lover like a snake, grinding him tightly, and was unwilling to let go.

After a long time, Liu Yanran finally collapsed on the couch like a deflated ball, but she still struggled to grab a pillow and placed it under her buttocks.

"What are you going to do?" Yang Yuan had a vague guess.

"I want a child."

"Now? You..."

"I don't care, I'm not afraid, I just want a child of ours."

Liu Yanran closed her eyes and murmured softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry for you."

Yang Yuan thought of his promise to her and said softly, "I will find a way as soon as possible. There is still half a year left this year. Within this year, I will definitely... let you stand by my side with dignity!"

"really?"

Liu Yanran suddenly opened her eyes, her heart full of joy.

"Seriously! Yang keeps his word!"

Liu Yanran's pair of beautiful eyes instantly turned into two pools of spring water. She turned over softly and entangled with Yang Yuan like an octopus again, and her pair of jade arms were around Yang Yuan's neck again.

"Erlang, I want more..."

(End of this chapter)