Shen Yuanhe sighed helplessly, took a sip of tea and put it down.

The next moment I heard Shi Ling say: "Your article this time is very good. Even the Imperial Tutor is full of praise for you. The Holy Emperor will probably issue an edict in a few days. You should be prepared."

"It's been ready since I arrived at the Tribute Courtyard."

Shen Yuanhe smiled confidently.

He and Shi Ling met in the academy. At that time, Shi Ling had just been found and was secretly sent to the academy to receive education. To this day, very few people know that he has ever stayed in the academy.

At that time, Shen Yuanhe had left for more than a year before Shi Ling, so he wanted to help him more, but he didn't expect that this person was much more powerful than he thought.

If his homework was not as good as others', he would stay up late at night and read without giving himself any rest. He would learn all the things that others took several years to read and learn in just over a month, and he could still answer questions fluently with his teacher.

The teacher said he was a genius, but as long as Shen Yuanhe knew, he was just trying his best to catch up with everyone.

"You are quite confident."

After Shi Ling finished speaking, he unconsciously wondered if all the Shen family members were so confident?

Shen Yuanhe raised his eyes and looked at him: "What's going on in the court now?"

Shi Ling said seriously: "The body of the Holy Emperor is not as good as before. Many people in the court do evil because they are veterans, but these are all obvious. The most troublesome thing now is that some people are stationing private soldiers, making ordnance, and even want to Disrupt Changyong Pass."

Shen Yuanhe's brows furrowed more and more as he listened.

"Then what do you need me to do?"

"I will let the Holy Lord recruit you into the household department and remove the people I want to deal with step by step, but before that, we will treat you as strangers. It is best if you can get close to the third prince."

Shen Yuanhe frowned and immediately refused.

Somewhat angry, he said: "The third prince has made my Ruan Ruan suffer great shame and humiliation. How can I be on good terms with him? If I get close to him, let alone Ruan Ruan, even my parents will not let me live in peace." After saying this, he seemed to have thought. What's so funny, he said: "Ruan Ruan's temperament is the best, I can't afford to offend him."

Shi Ling raised his right eyebrow.

"Is that girl that scary?"

Shen Yuanhe nodded matter-of-factly and approached Shi Ling: "My sister has been raised pampered since she was a child. Who knows what the world is like? Don't think she is gentle and sweet now, but she is actually a little hedgehog with teeth and claws."

Shi Ling glanced at him coldly, picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

Shen Yuanhe squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Maybe it will come in handy in the future."

"..."

It didn't take long for Shen Yuanhe to stop teasing and start to think seriously about Shi Ling's suggestion, and then said: "It is impossible to get close to the third prince. My family and him have not been in contact with each other since Ruan Ruan broke off the engagement. It’s not like the third prince is suffering from dementia, how could he not notice it if I approached him deliberately?”

Shi Ling nodded: "It makes sense, then let's think of a way."

Shen Yuanhe: "..."

Before he could refuse, Shi Ling suddenly raised his tea cup and looked at Shen Yuanhe with stars shining in his eyes, saying: "You and I have been classmates for eight years. You are the person I trust most in the court. Tonight From now on, you and I will never have the opportunity to sit here drinking tea and talking and laughing, so I wish you a prosperous career in your official career and a higher promotion."

Shen Yuanhe chuckled lightly, also picked up the tea cup and tapped his cup, saying: "Then let's have tea instead of wine and accept the prince's kind words."

After that, the two of them drank the tea that had already become warm.

-

Three days later, the old father-in-law beside the Holy Emperor came to Duke Dingguo's mansion with the imperial edict, accompanied by King Xuan Shiling.

The whole family knew what this meant. Even Shen Yao and Aunt Wei followed to the front hall to receive the order. When Shen Xian saw Shi Ling, she kept winking at him.

Unexpectedly, He Ling only looked down at the edict and didn't even look at her.

Shen Xian angrily scolded him.

I was given ointment a few days ago, but I don’t dare to look at it today?

"Dingguo Gongfu listens to the edict."

Zhong Yuan led everyone to kneel down slowly.

Shi Ling raised her voice and read out the praises and rewards for Shen Yuanhe in the imperial edict word by word. Shen Xian smiled beamingly underneath, and she knew that her brother would be the number one scholar this time!

She wanted to secretly look up at Shi Ling, but as soon as she raised her head, she found that Shi Ling was actually looking at her, and then Shi Ling glared at him.

What? You are only allowed to peek at me, but I can’t peek at you?

She is biased!

The edict stated that he stood out in the imperial examination and that the Holy Emperor liked his article very much and would specially invite Shen Yuanhe and his family to the palace in two days.

Until Shi Ling finished reading the edict, he shouted: "Master Zhuangyuan, please stand up and receive the edict."

Shen Yuanhe stood up and walked up to Shi Ling without being humble or arrogant. He lowered his head slightly, took the imperial edict that represented his future with both hands, and shouted: "Thank you, Your Majesty. From now on, I will die in a state of total exhaustion."

Shi Ling nodded expressionlessly, and then an old father-in-law looked at the Duke of Guo who had already stood up and said diligently: "The Duke of Guo is really lucky. The glory of Duke Ding's Mansion will definitely not stop here."

"Hahahaha, thank you for your kind words, father-in-law!" He said and asked someone to take some money and hand it over.

Shi Ling glanced at Shen Yuanhe, and the two looked at each other secretly, and then said: "I would also like to ask the prince to prepare well for the palace banquet in two days. Don't let the emperor feel disappointed."

"My lord, I obey the order."

Shi Ling turned around to leave, and in a daze he saw Shen Xian looking at him and smiling, and almost rushed over to him and said some weird words. When Shi Ling turned around, he couldn't help but twitching the corners of his lips.

It seems that the injury is completely healed.

After the people in the palace left, Ye Zhen hugged her son and cried. Zhong Yuan patted his son's shoulder with pride. Shen Xian was naturally happy for Shen Yuanhe.

I just don't know why, but the smile on my brother's face doesn't seem that bright, and his eyes are also covered with worry.

When only the brother and sister were left standing in the front hall, Shen Xian stepped forward out of curiosity: "Brother, isn't he happy?"

Shen Yuanhe chuckled: "How can you be unhappy if you win the first prize?"

"But my brother obviously smiled reluctantly."

Shen Yuanhe lowered his head to look at her, raised his hand and rubbed her head, and said: "It's not because of force, it's because I know the heavy responsibilities in the future. From now on, I can't do whatever I want. I have to always think about what's going on with the people of Dacheng and what's going on with Dacheng." .”

Shen Xian tilted her head and said with a smile: "But I know that brother can do it well."

That night, Duke Ding's mansion cooked a table full of delicious dishes for Shen Yuanhe, and Shen Yuan even brought out the pear blossom wine that he had treasured for a long time, saying that he wanted to compare his drinking capacity with his son, and he would not return until he was drunk.

It was the next day after the results were released, and everyone knew that this time the number one scholar was actually the crown prince of Dingguo.

Because of Shen Xian's title as the most famous lady in the capital city, and her subsequent marriage to the third prince, which caused a stir, many people's first impression of the Dingguo Palace was that Shen Xian was annulled, and now the eldest son of the family has won the first prize. That's much bigger than Shen Xian's divorce.

Xiao Hui and Zhao Baolin were sitting in the restaurant, listening to the servants coming to report, with gloomy faces.

Zhao Baolin said angrily: "You are just the number one scholar, but the Holy Master actually entertains you in person. Then Hui'er, don't you have to bump into her?"


Chapter completed!