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Chapter 452 Eunuch Liu Behaves (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
At noon the next day, I was in charge of the ceremony supervisor.

Click!
The teacup shattered, and Eunuch Liu made a furious entrance.

"That damned Zhang Yong, how dare he! He actually dared to sell joints without permission... and he even sold our own joints!" Although Liu Jin was a eunuch, he had truly experienced the intoxicating pleasure of being the "cheater in front of his husband"...

Although Zhang Yong instructed Sheng Linyouzhong to act discreetly, the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were not to be trifled with. Such widespread distribution of the examination questions reached Liu Jin within half a day.

“They dare to steal food from our bowls, we’ll deal with them!” Ma Yongcheng roared.

"What the hell are you doing?! Did a donkey kick your head?!" Liu Jin grabbed a teacup and was about to throw it at him, but luckily the passive mechanism of 'can't fall more than twice' was triggered, and Ma Yongcheng escaped unscathed.

"What if it was given to him by the Emperor?!"

"Hey, hey." Ma Yongcheng shrank his neck: "But it can't be that bad, this is the emperor's imperial examination."

"Otherwise, with the Emperor just giving us a warning, would Zhang Yong dare to defy the rules?" Liu Jin said coldly.

That makes perfect sense; none of the scribes could refute it…

"Brother, the most important thing right now is to prevent this from escalating. If all else fails... let's try a different word?" Gao Feng suggested cautiously.

"Change your examination room!" Liu Jin retorted irritably. "The examination hall has been locked up for a long time, and the examiners are all inside. How can I change it?"

"Sigh, what a mistake!" Wei Bin slapped his thigh and sighed. "We should have given the Emperor a separate joint from the start, then there wouldn't have been so much trouble."

"You son of a bitch, stop being such a Monday morning quarterback!" Liu Jin cursed.

"When the Emperor asked us for joints, the examiners were already locked up in the examination hall. Where were we supposed to get new joints made?"

"Brother, just go ahead and make it, I guarantee I'll get it in!" Ma Yongcheng thumped his chest loudly.

"What a load of nonsense! Do you think the people from the Western Depot are just sitting around doing nothing? They're watching us closely, and you still dare to act up at a time like this? Are you old folks eating poison—you're tired of living?!"

"There are only fifty spots available, and now I'm afraid five hundred people know those four words!" Ma Yongcheng said anxiously, scratching his head like a cat. "There are too many monks and not enough porridge, what are we going to do?"

"You still care whether they're good or not?!" Wei Bin sneered. "I didn't realize Fifth Brother was such a conscientious businessman."

“That’s right, you have to do the job after you’ve taken the money…” Ma Yongcheng was quite proud of himself.

"Consider them unlucky..." Liu Jin exhaled a long breath and said in a muffled voice:
"His Majesty has already sounded the alarm. If we continue to get involved, we'll really have to go study in the Imperial Academy."

"Big Brother..." Ma Yongcheng wanted to try again, otherwise, once the trial was over, trouble would definitely come knocking. Did he really want to have to vomit up what he had already swallowed?
"Stop messing around. The Emperor forbade it, and we absolutely cannot touch it again, even if it kills us." Liu Jin waved his hand impatiently.
"From now on, no one should ever mention the imperial examinations to us again—this is a murky water that we eunuchs shouldn't wade into!"

"Well... surely we could at least give those candidates a heads-up?" Ma Yongcheng asked in a low voice. "It's one thing if we can't help them, but we can't let them down."

"I told you not to meddle!" Liu Jin suddenly raised the teacup, then forced himself to hold it back and slammed it down on the table, spilling most of the tea.

"Can't you understand human language?! This matter ends here. Nobody is allowed to touch this again, or I'll skin him alive!"

~~
On the eighth day of the second lunar month, the day before the exam, candidates prepare their food for the exam.

Actually, the examination hall provided food and drink during the imperial examinations. However, Zhu Zhishan said that the food and drink were of poor quality and that by the time the more than four thousand candidates received their food, it was already cold. Therefore, he said it was better to just pretend that there was no government-provided food and drink.

Therefore, one should still prepare meals for three days and seven meals with the same seriousness as for the provincial examination.

However, taking the exam in February also had its advantages... there was no need to worry about food spoiling, so the candidates would try their best to prepare three days' worth of food to bring in. This was not only convenient, but also because cooking was restricted in the examination hall, so food had to be prepared in advance and could be heated up later.

With Chef Hu absent, the Su men had to cook for themselves, so they chose simple, portable, filling, and warm foods.

The staple food is steamed glutinous rice and red dates... The glutinous rice and red dates are steamed together until thoroughly cooked, then cooled to lukewarm before being placed in a covered tin can. A thin layer of wax oil is then sealed around the mouth of the can, so it will not harden for three days.

Moreover, it's very filling; one can keep you full for three days!

Two kinds of meat dishes were prepared: braised pork chunks and pork belly stuffed with meat. The braised pork was made by Yongfuhao, a famous restaurant in Beijing. It was very flavorful and was cut into neat squares and packed in a lunchbox, making it very convenient to eat.

The stuffed lamb stomach is from Wanshengzhai. The inside of the lamb stomach is stuffed with finely chopped lamb leg meat, mixed with minced ginger, dried tangerine peel, and Sichuan peppercorn powder to remove the gamey smell and enhance the aroma. It is tied with cotton thread and simmered in old braising liquid until thoroughly cooked. After being taken out, the surface fat is dried out. It is delicious whether eaten cold or heated.

There were also all sorts of eggs... Brother Youcai prepared chicken eggs, duck eggs, and tea eggs for the two brothers, some salty and some bland.

"Cook them all up and put them in bags tomorrow morning. Even if they break, it's okay," Su Youcai said to Su Man and Su Lu. "Two eggs a meal will fill your stomach and put your mind at ease!"

In addition, there are pickles from Liuxinju and dried fruits from Baicaoju, all wrapped in oil paper into seven portions, one portion per meal.

As for tea and medicine, I had already prepared for the provincial examination, so there is no need to elaborate.

Then there's a small bag of grain and a head of cabbage for each person. If they have time, they can cook for themselves. If not, that's fine too; they won't go hungry anyway. After counting all the food for the children, Youcai said with shame, "This is far worse than what you ate during the provincial examinations. Just make do with it."

“This is not a compromise at all,” Su Man shook his head and smiled, “It’s better than what 90% of the candidates eat.”

"Exactly," Su Lu nodded, "It'll definitely last three days without any problem!"

"Hehe, you guys are just trying to comfort me," Su Youcai laughed.

As the men were talking, the chain on the courtyard gate rattled. Little Fish, with his sharp ears, immediately dropped what he was doing and ran to open the gate, then shouted:

"Masters and young masters, look! Who's back?"

Upon hearing the sound, Su Lu and the other three lifted the curtain and came out of the house. They saw Su Youjin walking into the courtyard in a brand-new embroidered gold flying fish robe, with a leather belt around his waist and a short-winged black gauze hat on his head.

"Haha! Brother Xia, Brother Qiu, I'm so glad to see you!" The eldest uncle burst into laughter when he saw Su Tai and Su Lu. His demeanor was much stronger than when he was a centurion in Taiping Town.

"Uncle!" Su Tai and Su Lu's eyes reddened. They rushed forward, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed to Su Youjin.

"Get up, get up!" Su Youjin laughed and bent down, pulling his two nephews up. He patted them on the shoulder and teased, "It's past the first month of the lunar year, so there won't be any lucky money for kowtowing now!"

"Uncle," Su Lu choked up, "you sacrificed so much to save me..."

Su Youjin played a crucial role in rescuing him last year—first, he rushed to Longchang to consult with Master Yangming, then followed Miao hunters into the mountains to capture a panda, and finally, with a panda cub, traveled five thousand miles by land and water to the capital to present it to Emperor Zhengde. Only then did the emperor take notice of Su Lu's case and order Liu Jin to release him.

The price, however, was that Jin remained in the palace, dedicating himself to caring for the emperor's pandas. Although he didn't lose his testicles, he lost his freedom—the sacrifice was far too great…

Now, in Su Lu's heart, his uncle and his biological father are completely the same!
"Hey, what's this sacrifice!" Su Youjin patted the dragon head on his chest, smugly raising his chin. "Now my uncle is a commander of the Imperial Guard! When we go back to Taiping Town, even Commander Ma will have to stand up and answer me respectfully! He won't be sitting in front of me anymore!"

He secretly gloated to himself: "So, he's 'Golden' now? He'll never be called 'Golden' again in his life!"

"Uncle, how long has it been since you came home?" Su Tai asked with concern.

“There’s nothing we can do, being on duty isn’t free…” Su Youjin sighed, then smiled smugly, “We Jinyiwei guard the palace and protect the emperor, our responsibility is paramount! It’s normal not to go home for a month or two, you’ll get used to it.”

He paused for a moment, then couldn't help but boast, "Of course, it's also because the Emperor relies on me so much that I'm busier than others. It was only because my son and nephew were about to take the exam that the Emperor granted me permission to come back and escort them; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to leave me for a moment."

"Oh, big brother, you've changed careers to become a bodyguard?" Su Youcai interjected. "No longer raising pandas full-time?"

"What kind of noble family, a commander of the Imperial Guards, is dedicated to raising pandas?" Su Youjin rolled his eyes at his second brother, who always brought up the most awkward topics, and forced an explanation: "There are many animals in the Leopard House, including pandas, leopards, tigers, and dogs. They are all fed by us imperial guards, but our primary duty is to protect the Emperor!"

He quickly changed the subject, having Youxi bring out two exquisite gilded food boxes, showing them off:
"Look, the Emperor not only granted you leave, but also specially bestowed two imperial meals upon you so you can take them into the examination hall to eat."

"Oh, this was a gift from the Emperor?"

"Of course!" Su Youjin said with even more pride, "Although you can't see the Emperor, being able to see the things he bestows is already a great blessing."

"Indeed," everyone exclaimed in agreement. Even though the emperor had just come to grill skewers yesterday…

Today wasn't the time for idle chatter, so the family briefly reminisced about what had happened since they last met, and then had dinner early.

After the meal, the two candidates went to bed early as usual.

Su Youjin had planned to personally escort the two of them to the examination hall the next morning before returning to his post at the Leopard House. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to rest, Zhang Yong sent someone in a great hurry to urge him on. He said that while things were fine during the day, once it got dark, Qian Ning couldn't manage the panda at all.

"It won't eat unless it sees Commander Su. The Emperor is frantic and has ordered you to hurry back to protect him," the little eunuch said breathlessly.

"Alright, I'll be right there." Su Youjin had no choice but to quickly change his clothes, take the official hat from Youcai, hurriedly ask him a few words of advice, and then rush back to the Leopard House that very night…

Su Lu was still awake. Watching her uncle's hurried departure, she couldn't help but sigh with guilt: "It's all my fault. He loved being free and unrestrained, but now he's trapped in the Leopard Chamber, unable to breathe..."

"Don't overthink it," Su Man said in a deep voice. "This is your father's responsibility as a parent. If you do well in the exam and become a Jinshi, bringing honor to the family, that will be the best way to repay him."

Su Lu nodded, but then remembered Zhu Shou's words and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Of course I will do my best, but this time it's really hard to say. I can only pray to God for protection."

“You should pray to your ancestors for protection!” Su Man said solemnly.

"May our ancestors bless us!" Su Lu readily agreed.

P.S. Exams are starting! Please vote with your monthly tickets!!

Read the next chapter tomorrow morning...

(End of this chapter)