Longevity, starting from traveling and telling stories

Chapter 192 Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan

At noon, the sun was shining brightly. Ye Aniu opened the window of Jieyuan Building, and in an instant, the warm sun poured into the house like a tide.

Perhaps because he felt that he was haunted by ghosts and had bad luck recently, he was hoping that the sunlight would shine in and dispel some of the bad luck.

Suddenly, two butterflies, one red and one blue, came into his sight. They were dancing in front of the window.

The two butterflies flapped their wings slightly and flew lightly towards Aniu.

Ah Niu subconsciously stretched out his palm and looked at the butterfly in his palm, feeling a thousand emotions in his heart. Is it you? Well, this is good.

As if they could understand his thoughts, the two butterflies fluttered their wings gently, as if saying goodbye to him, and then flew towards the sun, which symbolizes freedom.

Watching them fly away, Ah Niu couldn't help but sigh and murmured, "The love between two people is so sweet."

But at this moment, another red butterfly came flying from a distance and joined them. The three butterflies huddled together in the air.

The blue butterfly was sandwiched between two red butterflies, and its flight became bumpy, but it still struggled to fly towards the warm sunshine.

Seeing this, Ah Niu shook his head and sighed again, "Love between two people is sweet, but three people is too crowded. But maybe this kind of crowding... forget it, maybe it's just fine to keep it this way."

On the other side, the Prime Minister sat on the high hall, while Li Zhong below was tremblingly reporting how Li Qingmei had instructed him to kill people.

"So, that Ye Aniu is the murderer who killed Qingmei?" Li Chunfeng said in a cold tone, "Good, very good. The princess seems to be quite concerned about him. I'm sure Cui Mingyuan will be very happy to hear this news!"

After saying this, a sinister smile appeared on the Prime Minister's face.

At this moment, Li Zhong suddenly covered his neck, his body fell limply to the ground, and kept twitching until he died.

"Keep an eye on him secretly. If necessary, you can join forces with Cui Mingyuan to eliminate him." The Prime Minister ordered sternly. Suddenly, images of his daughter's childhood flashed through his mind. He felt a sharp pain in his heart, staggered, and his eyes moistened. He muttered, "Qingmei..."

Two days later, the morning light began to appear.

The Zhongjia Village murder case has come to an end. Everyone is no longer as frightened as before and is now ready to face the exam happily.

As the position of chief examiner was vacant, the court specially dispatched Taifu Yang Ruifeng to preside over the examination, and the emperor's uncle and the prime minister were responsible for supervising the examination.

The candidates hurried to the Imperial Examination Hall, and Ye Aniu was among the throng of people. Everyone was waiting anxiously at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Suddenly, a crisp sound came from the closed door. The hearts of the candidates instantly tightened. They were nervous and full of expectation. After all, this was an important step to change their destiny.

As the door slowly opened, everyone lined up and began to be inspected.

The questions in the second round of exams were quite difficult. In addition to the fixed annotated content from the Four Books and Five Classics, there were also some comprehension questions.

However, this is just a piece of cake for Ah Niu who possesses the divine book.

The key lies in a topic, which is "On the Importance of the Northern Expedition"! It seems that Emperor Zhou has already noticed Beiliang's ambitions and wants to remove this thorn in his side as soon as possible.

The divine book still sparkles with a strange brilliance. I have to say, the feeling of cheating is so great.

While others were still racking their brains and chewing their pens to think of the answer, Aniu was already writing furiously.

"Time's up!" Taifu Yang Ruifeng stood up, glanced at the emperor's uncle and the prime minister, and announced in a dignified tone: "All candidates put down their pens. Those who violate this will be disqualified from the exam and will never be hired again."

After the examiners collected the test papers, the candidates left one by one. Naturally, some were happy and some were sad.

There was a lot of sighing in the Jieyuan Building. All the candidates were dejected and no one claimed that they had done well.

The shopkeeper's face was all smiles, his eyes narrowed into slits. Seeing the calm-looking Ye Aniu coming back, he immediately stepped forward and said with a bow, "Hey! Mr. Ye, come on, come on, the wine is already prepared. Please do me a favor."

This shopkeeper really knows how to do business! Ah Niu replied with a smile, "If you don't take advantage of a bargain, you're a bastard."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, shopkeeper."

"please."

"please."

The private room on the third floor remains the same as before, with the scent of sandalwood curling in the air and an elegant atmosphere filling the air.

The table was laden with sumptuous food and wine. After three rounds of drinks, the shopkeeper, slightly tipsy, said half-seriously and half-jokingly, "Sir! The provincial examination is almost over. You will surely pass the exam and win first place. I'd like to congratulate you in advance!"

"Alas..." Ah Niu said in a long voice, "Nothing is known yet. We can only know the results when the results are announced."

The shopkeeper raised his wine glass, toasted, took a sip, and said, "I'm not wrong... Today, when I saw all the candidates leaving the examination room, not a single one was smiling. Only you, the teacher, remained calm and composed, while everyone else had gloomy faces!"

Then he sighed again and said, "Happy times are always short. If I can have the honor of listening to your story one more time, I will have no regrets in my life."

Hehe! I knew you were up to this, Ye Aniu chuckled inwardly. But it just so happened that during today's exam, when he was communicating with the Divine Book, the Divine Book actually asked him to tell a story, which was something he hadn't expected.

Do you think you can impress me with this table of wine and food? Hehe! Little do you know, even if you don't bribe me, I will still say, just consider it as a little interest!
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Ye Aniu stood up and said calmly, "Well! I have a story to tell today. Shopkeeper, follow me downstairs and listen to my story."

"Okay..." Shopkeeper Dai was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. Indeed, in their line of work, they always say "please" first and "thank you" all the time.

After the two went downstairs, the candidates downstairs were eating in silence, with very few discussions.

Aniu walked to the stage with the square wood, straightened his green shirt, took out the fan he borrowed from the shopkeeper, and patted the square wood.

"Snapped!"

The examinees were startled and trembled all over. When they realized that it was Ye Aniu standing on the storytelling platform, everyone who had just prepared their forty-meter swords silently put away their stances.

"This guy is going to tell a story again."

"Oh! Please don't tell murder stories anymore, otherwise!"

"But I want to hear..."

"Everyone." Ye Aniu, holding a folding fan, bowed and said, "I am Ye Aniu. It is a great honor to meet you all today. Perhaps we will become colleagues in the future."

"Today, I will tell you one last story here in Jieyuan Building."

The candidates stopped using their chopsticks, waiting expectantly for him to continue.

Then, Ah Niu said in a loud voice: "It is said that in a certain dynasty, at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, the Emperor was accepting gifts from his ministers. But as the world changes, news came that the Emperor's wet nurse had passed away."

It’s just a wet nurse who died, what kind of story is this? The candidates were extremely anxious.

Did Ye Aniu perform poorly today?

Seeing the disappointment on their faces, Ah Niu continued, "Upon hearing the news, the emperor rushed to the scene. The nurse was speechless, but she trembled as she produced half a gold locket, calling her 'White Lady' and claiming she was the emperor's biological mother." (From "Iron Teeth and Bronze Teeth Ji Xiaolan")
"Hiss..." The candidates realized that this guy was going to start "making trouble". With just a simple sentence, he instantly piled up the suspense of the story, and it was obvious at a glance that it was a royal feud.

Then, Aniu began to tell the story. In the opera troupe of the imperial city, the most famous actress Du Xiaoyue was preparing to sing when suddenly a woman ran in in a panic.

It turned out that the woman was her sister Mochou. Mochou hurriedly handed an account book to Xiaoyue and told her not to lose it. Then Mochou was captured by the soldiers.

"At the same time, actress Du Xiaoyue disguised herself as a student and wrote the word 'injustice' all over the test paper in blood, hoping to attract the attention of Ji Xiaolan."

At this point, the candidates began to whisper to each other.

"Could it be that Ji Xiaolan is also someone who is not afraid of power?"

"Of course it is. If he wasn't famous, why would he take such a big risk to do this?"

Aniu nodded and continued to tell the story. After Ji Xiaolan learned about this, he quickly found the prefect and pretended to go to the opera with him.

While smoking opium, he pretended to casually ask the prefect if he had caught a woman named Mochou.
However, the prefect said that the woman was a traitor and could not be met casually, so the imperial commissioner Fu Kang'an personally supervised the execution.

"After hearing this, Ji Xiaolan knew that this matter was very difficult, so he had to let it go for the time being."

"But when he looked at the stage, he was suddenly shocked..." Aniu paused deliberately when he said this.

"Can you please stop being so startled? My little heart can't stand it."

"That's right, can't you just say it all in one breath?"

"Tell me more."

"Hehe!" Ah Niu laughed wryly and continued, "Ji Xiaolan discovered that the actress performing on stage was actually the one who pretended to be a candidate in the examination room that day and wrote "injustice" all over the place. He immediately came up with a plan."

"He gave the prefect a lecherous smile and said he had taken a fancy to the actress and asked if she could come down and keep him company."

Ah Niu raised his eyebrows and imitated the prefect's appearance, and continued jokingly, "The prefect laughed and said that Ji Xiaolan was very elegant, and immediately interrupted Du Xiaoyue's performance and asked her to come down and accompany Ji Xiaolan. Du Xiaoyue understood and immediately understood."

"And this scene happened to be witnessed by the emperor and Heshen, who were on an incognito tour." Then, Ah Niu imitated the emperor's tone, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the examinees and said, "Ji Xiaolan, when in court, puts on a sanctimonious front, but among the people, he reveals his true scholarly nature."

When everyone heard this, they were curious about what this "scholar's nature" was. Everyone waited eagerly for his explanation.

Aniu continued to tell the story of Heshen explaining to the emperor that given the current trend, local officials would definitely do their best to entertain officials from the capital.

Then he changed the subject and began to narrate how Ji Xiaolan pretended to hug Du Xiaoyue and asked her what grievances she had suffered, and the two of them whispered to each other.

"The two were discussing their grievances, but in the eyes of the emperor, their behavior was seen as flirting." Then, Ah Niu imitated Heshen's smooth tone and explained to the emperor, "Alas! Master, this was just a social event, a playful affair. You can't blame him entirely. Being an official has its own difficulties!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the candidates immediately split into two groups and started arguing fiercely.

"Nonsense! We are the ones who earn your salary and should shoulder your burdens. How can we just act according to your wishes? We would be betraying your grace."

"You're talking nonsense. If you don't know how to adapt to the situation, no one will want to date you. You won't even be able to get your work done, so why would you worry about me?"

"Humph! It's just an excuse for corrupt officials."

Aniu shook his head. He couldn't say which of them was completely right, nor could he say which of them was completely wrong. He could only say that there were right in some wrong, and wrong in some right.

He ignored the candidates' arguments and continued to tell the story of how Du Xiaoyue stole the prefect's token by toasting and took the opportunity to hand the token to Ji Xiaolan.

"When Ji Xiaolan received the token, he feigned intoxication and, with a lecherous air, asked to take Du Xiaoyue to rest. The prefect, upon seeing this, immediately raised an eyebrow and jokingly agreed." Then, Ah Niu imitated the emperor's angry expression, holding a folding fan and shouting angrily, "This Ji Xiaolan, it would have been fine if he was just playing along, but he actually dared to make it real." Then, Ah Niu suddenly glanced at the other examinees and teased, "This Ji Xiaolan, the so-called scholar's true nature, is actually lustful. Hahahahaha."

"Hahahahahaha."

The whole place suddenly erupted in laughter. Everyone looked at each other, understanding each other tacitly, as if they all understood the "truth" of it.

Maybe this is why there will always be people arguing about any topic, but when it comes to asking for erotic pictures, everyone is surprisingly unanimous.

Then Aniu continued to tell the story. Ji Xiaolan and Du Xiaoyue took the token and went to the prison to see Mochou, but they didn't know that their every move was under the control of Heshen. Soon they were surrounded by officers and soldiers. After Du Xiaoyue was arrested, she cursed Ji Xiaolan as a dog official.

"Ji Xiaolan said he would definitely report this to the Emperor, but who knew..."

"Damn..." A silver note flew over, and Aniu picked it up with two fingers and took it skillfully.

Then he continued, "The emperor suddenly appeared, and Heshen, who was standing beside him, immediately issued an edict to strip Ji Xiaolan of all his official positions."

Then he began to talk about the secret plan of Fukang'an, the prefect and others. They felt that they would not have peace as long as Ji Xiaolan stayed here, so they came to the post house on a rainy day and drove him out on the grounds that he had lost his official position.

"Ah... when the wall falls, everyone pushes it."

"Yes! It's true that even if you're rich, you still have distant relatives in the mountains, but if you're poor, no one cares about you in the city!"

Everyone shook their heads, as if they saw the scenes they might encounter in the future.

Aniu shook his head and continued to tell the story. Although Ji Xiaolan lost his official position, he did not give up. He used the clues given to him by Heshen to fabricate "Lin Xiaoquan".

Then, with this clue, they successfully found the emperor.

As soon as the two met, there was a tacit understanding between the monarch and his subject. Ji Xiaolan immediately reported to the emperor the matter of corrupt officials embezzling disaster relief funds, but the emperor had actually noticed this matter a long time ago.

The emperor explained to Ji Xiaolan that the reason he had publicly dismissed him was to allow him to conduct a secret investigation. After the two discussed it, the emperor returned first to let those people relax their vigilance.

However, things did not go as they wished. They were caught on the spot by Mo Chou and others who were disguised as lion dancers and were locked up in a warehouse full of rotten fish.

As Ah Niu was telling the story, he imitated Heshen, who was as aggrieved as a baby, and patted Ji Xiaolan's back. His funny look immediately made everyone burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha."

"This Heshen is quite cute."

"He's just pretending. How could a first-rank official be so stupid?"

Then, Aniu continued to tell the story, and several people thought about how to escape, but all ended in failure.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Ji Xiaolan discovered that he could get out through the roof. All he had to do was fold up the frames filled with fishy smell and he could get out.

However, the identities of these people were not ordinary, and no one was willing to do this, so Ji Xiaolan proposed to have a competition with fish as the subject.

Ji Xiaolan and the emperor were both able to speak eloquently, but when it was Heshen's turn, he was as aggrieved as a baby and could not answer. Soon, Heshen and the emperor took the opportunity to escape.

"Hahahaha, it seems that Heshen is nothing but a toady!"

"That's right, with such literary talent, he can also be a military minister, then doesn't that mean we can all be prime ministers?"

"Hahahahaha."

Ye Aniu shook his head. Heshen was not as simple as they thought. Even ten Ji Xiaolans would probably not be his match.

He then continued to tell the story, saying that several people escaped but were caught again. Fortunately, Fu Kang'an arrived in time and rescued the emperor, but Heshen and Ji Xiaolan were pushed into the river and trapped on an isolated island surrounded by deep water.

"Seeing the two trapped on the island, Du Xiaoyue taunted them, 'Even if you're fighting against the fish now, you can't escape.'" Ah Niu, his mouth dry, drank a glass of water in one gulp and continued, "Ji Xiaolan, arrogating his status as a Grand Secretary, disdainfully said he had no chance against the fish."

"When He Shen, standing by, heard him being so contemptuous, he immediately said, 'I'm done pretending! I'm coming clean.'" Ye Ah Niu then imitated He Shen's calm demeanor and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Ji, where did the five-colored fish come from?"

"Ji Xiaolan casually said it was from the Water Classic, and Heshen then asked, 'Where is the half-faced fish?'"

At this point, the candidates couldn't help but gasp.

"hiss……"

"Why did Heshen behave so poorly when he was dealing with fish in the warehouse, but now he is so talented in writing?"

"Yes, if he was doing well in the warehouse, there would be no need for him to move baskets."

"Wait a minute, listen to what he says, and you'll know why soon."

Everyone in the audience wanted to know the reason, including the eldest princess and the king's brother-in-law who were hiding aside.

Then Aniu began to explain aloud, and Ji Xiaolan suddenly realized that Heshen was actually very knowledgeable, but why did he behave so rudely with the fish before?
When many students heard this, they were full of questions, their hearts in their throats, and they urgently needed an explanation.

Ye Aniu suddenly imitated Heshen's sly grin and said, "The emperor is here, why should I steal his limelight?"

Then he laughed and said, "The current emperor is known as the greatest emperor of all time. Only a fool would show off his knowledge in front of him."

"hiss……"

The candidates took another deep breath and realized that being an official was not an easy job. Even the smallest trick would take them a lifetime to learn.

"Ah... this is something we all have to learn for a lifetime."

"Why should we imitate him? Just focus on our work. The Emperor will definitely not treat us unfairly."

Aniu nodded. Everyone has his or her own bottom line. There is no need to deliberately learn something, nor to deliberately not learn something. What suits you is the best.

"Snapped!"

He slapped the wake-up stick and continued to tell the story. Ji Xiaolan fell into Heshen's trap. It turned out that Heshen was very good at swimming and actually ran away alone.

After he returned to the base camp, he discussed with Fukang'an and others and decided to kill Ji Xiaolan.

After going through untold hardships, the emperor's identity was finally exposed, and the emperor's biological mother was finally found.

"And Ji Xiaolan was at ease, even running off to pretend to be Heshen, enjoying the best food and the best drinks, and being highly respected."

Many candidates began to whisper again.

"Damn it! Corrupt officials are still popular. If Ji Xiaolan went there, I'm afraid he definitely wouldn't be treated this way."

"So, they are birds of a feather."

"An honest official has no benefits."

Aniu nodded. When it comes to being an official, there are very few truly honest officials. Even if they are honest officials, they are often very wealthy. They don't need to be greedy on their own initiative, people will naturally give them money.

What? You say you don't want to accept it? Sorry, there are plenty of ways to make you accept it.

So it’s useless to just not be greedy, you also have to be smart. Not only must you be smart, but you must also be tactful. Otherwise, how can you beat others?
"When He Shen learned that Ji Xiaolan had impersonated him, he was furious and decided to expose him himself and bring him down from his pedestal."

Aniu continued to tell the story, saying that Ji Xiaolan was being cunning. As soon as he saw Heshen, he pointed at his nose and said that he was Ji Xiaolan. The local officials were unable to tell the difference for a while.

Heshen knew very well that no one could surpass Ji Xiaolan in terms of eloquence, so he cut the Gordian knot and said directly that he had sent a secret letter to the prefect. Whoever could recite the contents of the letter would be the real Heshen.

Then, Heshen recited it word for word, but Ji Xiaolan naturally could not understand it, so he was found out. Heshen arrested him for impersonating an important official and put him in jail.

Then, Aniu continued to narrate vividly: The local official was planning to take the opportunity to take revenge on Ji Xiaolan, but he didn't expect Heshen to come here.

Heshen knew that Ji Xiaolan must not be allowed to get into trouble, but he could not let him go so easily. After a little thought, he decided to adopt a soft strategy first.

"Today, you and I are just like discussing heroes over a glass of wine. Looking around the world, we are the only two heroes..." Ah Niu imitated Heshen and flattered Ji Xiaolan. Then, after slowing down his tone, he continued, "Ji Xiaolan knew Heshen's ill intentions, but he was still comforted by his flattery. So he slowly said, 'Those corrupt officials were so bold as to replace all the grain with bran for livestock...'"

"Who knew..." Ah Niu once again interrupted the passage at the perfect moment, causing the students to stamp their feet in anxiety.

"Here you go! All my banknotes!"

The students learned a lot about the ins and outs of officialdom from this story today, and felt that spending some money was worth it.

Then, Ah Niu imitated Heshen's demeanor, nodded and smiled apologetically, saying, "I know. I am also very pleased to hear about this."

"what?"

"Sure enough! He Shen, the corrupt official, is making excuses for himself again."

"Don't be impatient, let's hear what He Shen has to say."

"To know what happens next, please listen to the next episode." Ye Aniu showed a sly smile and walked straight off the stage.

"Ye Aniu, you bastard..."

"We are ashamed to be in the same class of examinees as you. You are so despicable and shameless. You must be trying to keep us from studying peacefully these past few days."

Ah Niu seemed to have long been accustomed to being scolded. Hey, if you don't scold me, where will I get the money? If someone scolds the story you tell, then it means it is a good story.

Just as he was about to go upstairs, a figure suddenly appeared. It was the butler Cui.

"Mr. Ye, my master invites you."

Cui Mingyuan? Ye Aniu frowned. This guy was not someone to be dealt with easily. If he wasn't careful, he might get into big trouble.

"lead the way."

"please."

(End of this chapter)