Chapter 387: Torment

Sun Dan: "I didn't ask you to feed everyone in this yard."

Guan Shanyue then patted his head and said, "Well, look at my mind, why can't I turn around? I thought that the gentleman asked me to deliver wine and food to everyone. I was just a small boss with someone in charge of it, but I was not so bold. It would be simple if I only gave food to the gentleman alone. Just wait, let's arrange it now."

After saying that, Guan Shanyue called a confidant and muttered a few words in his ear. The soldier ran away quickly.

Sun Dan said a few more words to Guan Shanyue. In a moment, the soldier came over with a food box.

Sun Dan answered, said thank you, and went back to the house.

As a man of the army, the food prepared by Guan Shanyue is not very exquisite. He only treats roast chicken, two braised pig's trotters, and a small pot of yellow wine. He is hungry after eating this thing.

Sun Dan was happy and was about to start eating, but when he thought of Mao Cheng, he wanted to send him some. But then he thought that this Lord Mao was a pedantic person. If he sent him over, he would be dragged to ask questions and cause trouble and expose Guan Shanyue. Moreover, Mao Cheng's character would definitely distribute this amount of food evenly to all the officials of the Ministry of Rites. There were so many people, one roast chicken and two pig trotters, and the one that could fall into Sun Dan's hands was probably only a piece the size of a fingernail, and he would still have to starve.

Thinking of this, Sun Dan dispelled this idea.

After eating half a chicken and drinking a pot of yellow wine, Sun Dan sat for a while, feeling worried. Judging from the situation in front of him, Shangshu Mao was considered a queen mother, and the two of them could not decide the outcome in a few days. Unfortunately, Sun Dan, I, might as well participate in the palace examination and be confident that I could win the first place. According to time, the test papers for the palace examination should be read tonight and the rankings will be sent.

According to the court system, the top ten test papers in the palace examination should be delivered to the emperor's desk before morning tomorrow for him to take a look. After the emperor finished reading the paper, he circled one, two, and three of the ten test papers and released it. Even the top scorer in this subject, the second place, Tanhua was selected. By noon, the top three should be riding a horse and wearing flowers.

Now, it's too late.

Although Sun Dan didn't like this kind of false reputation, she was not present on this big day, which made her feel a little sad.

Now he can only relax his heart: fame and fortune are all over the world, and I, Sun Dan, don’t care about these things.

That night, Sun Dan was upset and no one was doing well.

His room was facing Mao Cheng. During this period, Sun Dan got up after drinking cold wine for several nights. He saw that Mao Shangshu had not slept, so he sat upright in the middle of the room, holding a book in his hand. His door was also wide open, without any intention of closing. The so-called gentleman must speak to others and show it to others. Mao is an old-fashioned celebrity and has no habit of closing the door.

This is something that is admirable.

He was speechless all night. When he woke up early the next morning, Sun Dan saw that the officials of the Ministry of Rites were all pale and looked hungry.

But no one in the palace brought breakfast.

Until noon, no one paid attention.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites were tough and gritted their teeth and persevered, sitting silently in their room.

This situation is really a bit like the hunger strike in later generations.

Relying on the food I sent from last month yesterday, Sun Dan spent another day. By the evening, the palace examination list should have come out, and the first three parades in the first three had ended. At this time, Sun Dan's study and exam career had finally ended. I just didn't know which place he finally got.

He felt that it was not a solution for him and Mao Shangshu to stand here, so he had to bite the bullet and find Mao Cheng: "Mr. Mao, I just heard from the soldiers guarding the yard that the Empress Dowager did not forbid us to leave."

Mao Cheng was so white that he was afraid of others, but he was still very energetic when talking to others, and his eyes were so bright that he was afraid of others. He touched his beard and said lightly: "Mr. Sun means we are going back to the capital at this moment? But if you see Your Majesty later, you don't know how to reply?"

Sun Tan smiled bitterly: "It's not easy to reply when you see Your Majesty, but we can leave the palace first and go to Tongzhou City to eat before coming back. Everyone is too hungry to bear it!"

"Is it just to satisfy my desire to go to Tongzhou and leave the palace?" Mao Cheng's eyes were full of dissatisfaction, and he looked at Sun Dan with a reproachful look.

Sun Dan felt a little embarrassed: "I would like to ask Master Mao for advice."

"You, you, you can ask others if they are willing to go to Tongzhou for the time being." Mao Cheng's eyes fell on several officials in the room.

Several other officials bowed at the same time: "Mr. Mao, we are also honest and will never bow our heads."

"Haha, yes, that's it!" Mao Cheng laughed loudly: "If we leave the palace now, we will go to Tongzhou for dinner, why don't we let Queen Mother Xing and the others laugh? We are not afraid of power, we are in charge of the ruling and moral integrity, and we have a sense of righteousness in our hearts. We must not lose this morale. I don't believe that Queen Mother Xing dares to starve us to death."

Sun Dan said angrily: "Mr. Mao, you won't be able to starve to death. I'm afraid that the Empress Dowager will starve us half-death. What kind of morale will you have when the time comes."

Before he could finish his words, Mao Cheng closed his eyes.

Sun Dan was also bored and had to go back to his room to have tea. Fortunately, there was still some supply of tea, so the empress dowager did not cut off the water for the people from the Ministry of Rites.

At noon, Guan Shanyue secretly sent another food box, which was also a big meat item, and it made the corner of Sun Dan's mouth oily.

In the evening, there was still no dinner, and officials were already lying on the bed hungry. Sun Dan couldn't stand it and ran to Mao Cheng and said, "Sir, it's not a solution to continue like this. Things should be brave enough. Otherwise, you and I will go to see the Queen Mother again and argue with reason."

Mao Cheng still looked faint: "I am an ambassador sent by the court. If you want to see him, you should see me later."

Sun Dan was so angry that he paused: "Stop, sir, I'll go by myself. If you keep going like this, we can't stand the Queen Mother!"

After saying this, Sun Dan quickly walked to the gate of the courtyard and said to Guan Shanyue who was on duty: "Guan Shanyue, take me to see the Queen Mother and report important things to you."

"Yes, sir, please follow me."

With Guan Shanyue walking a few steps in the palace, she came to the empress dowager's bedroom.

The Queen Mother seemed to have just gotten up from her nap and was dressing up in front of the mirror.

Sun Dan stood outside the house and shouted: "Sun Dan, the magistrate of Fangshan, asks to see the Empress Dowager."

"Bang!" A small lacquer box was thrown out of the window, and the queen mother's voice was very angry: "Oh, it turns out that the magistrate who relied on the power of the emperor came over. Humph, how dare you pretend to be in front of this palace. When someone comes, drag him in to see how I deal with this uneasy slave!"
Chapter completed!