Chapter 8 Kicking the Ball

  Guests come and go, as the host, one can't help but entertain them a bit. That evening, Xiao Chengyan invited Guo Shi and Ling Yuexuan to have dinner and admire the flowers in the flower hall of the other courtyard. Guo Shi, being a mother, didn't stay long due to the cold weather after snowfall. After dinner, she took her two children and hastily returned home. Xiao Chengyan tried to persuade her to stay but eventually gave up.

  After Guo left, Xiao Chengyan ordered someone to re-arrange the banquet, warmed up a pot of wine, and laid out several exquisite small dishes. The three of them drank and chatted in a relaxed manner.

  In the inner courtyard of Xiao's residence, this small flower hall is located on the east side of the main courtyard, surrounded by plum blossoms, and a small stream meanders slowly. After nightfall, the bright moon is in the sky, and under the moonlight, the flowers' shadows are more sparse, the creek water is clear and shallow, and the fragrance is also floating around, making this not-so-large flower hall seem like an immortal realm, intoxicating people to the point of being unable to extricate themselves.

  Ling Yuexuan saw this scene and couldn't help but praise it repeatedly.

  Xiao Chengxian smiled and said: "If tenth sister likes it, it's no problem to come often in the future!"

  Suddenly hearing this, Ling Yuexuan's expression turned melancholic: "Has Sister Xiao forgotten? I'm afraid that by next year, I'll have to leave Pingjing already?"

  Xiao Chengyan shook her head with a mysterious smile and said: "In my opinion, sister and Pingjing are destined to be together, afraid they can't bear to part!"

  Yan Dai stood by, smiling silently. After their last quarrel, although Ling Yu Xuan had apologized to her, the relationship between the two was still somewhat distant compared to before. This point, in fact, all three of them understood in their hearts, it's just that no one mentioned it.

  What Ling Yuexuan wanted most at this time was probably to cancel the engagement with Lu Weijie and continue to stay by her parents' side. If that couldn't be, then delaying it for a day or two would also be good for her. Therefore, after hearing these words, Mingmou's eyes immediately burst out in excitement, almost instantly reaching out to grab onto Xiao Xianyun's sleeve: "Sister Xiao, do you know something? Tell me quickly!"

  She was so anxious. It was unexpected that Xiao Chengyan would be so surprised, and after a long time she smiled and said: "Sister, don't you know the official system of the Great Zhou?"

  Ling Yuexuan was taken aback, and the sparkle in her eyes was momentarily lost. Her father, Ling Yun, had been struggling in officialdom for over a decade, so how could she be completely ignorant of the Great Zhou's official system? Just now, she was delighted because she had misunderstood Xiao Chengxian's meaning. At this moment, when she came to her senses, she also understood that Xiao Chengxian's words were actually just ordinary auspicious words, wishing Lu Weijie good luck in passing the imperial examination this time.

  Following the usual practice of the Great Zhou, the first-place winner and the third-place winner of the imperial examination would both enter the Hanlin Academy, with the first-place winner being appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. The second- and third-place winners were appointed as associate compilers, while the remaining successful candidates who were young and talented were selected to enter the Hanlin Academy as junior compilers. After three years, they would be re-examined to determine whether they could stay or leave. Ling Yuanshen's father, Ling Yun, was a third-place winner in his year. Although he did not have to go through the junior compiler stage, there were still some people from the same year who had been junior compilers, so Ling Yuanshen also found this quite normal.

  After sighing, Ling Yuexuan said: "Sister is right! Now I just hope he gets a good ranking on the imperial examination. Let me stay in the capital for three more years!" With Lu Weijie's family background and age, as long as he doesn't get second-class honors, but gets a high-ranking third-class honors, there's still great hope for him to enter the Hanlin Academy as a junior compiler.

  Xiao Chengxian was just joking around, but didn't expect to stir up so many words. She couldn't help but also bring up her own thoughts.

  Yan Dai lowered her head and took a light sip of the weak wine in her cup. When she raised her head, she was already smiling: "Now that the snow has stopped, sister, you'd better say something. How do you plan to sneak back to Pingjing? And how will you choose a husband?"

  Xiao Chengyan smiled and said, "Tomorrow I plan to talk to my elder brother first. Once he agrees, everything will be fine!"

  The topic shifted, although it still didn't leave the imperial examination, but Ling Yuexuan suddenly showed interest and interjected with a smile: "I wonder what Sixth Brother would say about this? And... that... Land family's eldest son..." It was unclear whether it was because of her previous argument with Yuandai, but as soon as she mentioned Lu Weiyin, her face became somewhat unnatural, and her eyes also flickered slightly.

  Yan Dai smiled and said, "In my opinion, tomorrow Xiaojie should go and probe Xiao Da's intentions first. This matter is best left to Xiao Da to discuss with Liu Ge and the others! As for today, after all the commotion, I'm really feeling a bit tired, so I'll have to take a rest in my room first!"

  Xiao Chengyan heard this and nodded: "Since that's the case, we'll each go back to our rooms to rest. We can talk again tomorrow!"

  The three of them got up and left the flower hall, but they went their separate ways back to their rooms. After parting with Ling Yuexian, Xiao Chengyan furrowed her brow and said: "Speaking of which, your sixth brother is fine, but what about Lu Weiyin? How are we going to tell him about this?"

  She slightly tilted her head, and with a sly smile, she winked at him and said, "If sister doesn't want to tell him, then it's not going to be told!"

  Suddenly seeing her like this, Xiao Chengyan almost couldn't help but laugh: "If that's the case, then let's just say it's settled?"

  Yan Dai raised an eyebrow, but then covered her mouth with her hand and let out a yawn: "I'm really exhausted at this moment, sister, I'll take my leave, I need to go back to my room to sleep!" As she spoke, she smiled and glanced at Xiao Chengyan, then led Wen Ping and the others back to the west wing.

  She saw her go like that, Xiao Chengxin couldn't help but laugh and shook his head, didn't say anything else, and also went back to the house.

  …………

  The next day, in another courtyard's study.

  With a strange expression, Xiao Chengyan looked at Xiao Chengye and said, "Chengyan, do you know what you're doing?"

  Raising an eyebrow, Xiao Cheng asked in a soft voice: "Big brother, are you thinking of Yuan Dai?"

  A hint of a bitter smile played on his lips, and Xiao Cheng let out a sigh before saying: "Xian Yin, I know you want to choose a husband from the list below. And you also know that I don't oppose this matter. Even Father and Mother aren't completely unaware of it; they just find it inconvenient to openly support you, but they trust that you won't cause any trouble, so they pretend not to know. But now, if you want to bring those two women along, that's absolutely inappropriate!"

  Xiao Chengxian smiled and said: "If Father and Mother and Elder Brother can trust me, then they should also trust Yu Daiyu!"

  When mentioning Yuandai, a faint gloomy color flashed across Xiao Cheng's face: "I naturally believe that she won't cause any trouble, but have you thought about Ruiqin Wang? Ruiqin Wang may not be able to tolerate this matter?" As he spoke, he suddenly remembered someone and said again: "Yuqing is a close friend of mine, so it's no problem, but what about Lu Weiyang? If you want to go out, I won't be at ease if Yuqing and I don't follow. But if we go together, have you thought about how to deal with Lu Weiyang?"

  He didn't mention Lu Weiying, but as soon as he mentioned it, a strange smile appeared on Xiao Chengyan's face: "Lu Weiying's affairs, I have long been prepared! As for Rui Qinwang, you don't say and I won't say, how would he know!" While speaking, Xiao Chengyan stretched out his hand. In the palm of his hand as white as jade, there was a small white wax pill the size of a fingertip.

  "Big brother just needs to think of a way to get Lu Weiying to take this thing, I think he will definitely leave soon!"

  Suddenly seeing the wax pellet, Xiao Cheng Yan couldn't help but jump in surprise: "Poison?" he asked out loud.

  Xiao Chengyan did not expect him to say the two words "poison", and she glared at her big brother with annoyance. She said, "Big brother, you're going too far! Not looking at the monk's face but the Buddha's face, even if I don't like Lu Weiyin anymore, I couldn't possibly have the heart to poison him to death!" As she spoke, she finally pulled Xiao Chengyan's hand over: "Don't worry, it's definitely not poison! Everything is up to you now!"

  As soon as she finished saying this, she immediately stood up and flew out of the house, leaving Xiao Chengyan alone in a daze, staring blankly at the wax pill in his hand, unable to say a word for a long time.