Dòu Zhāo's attitude was extremely resolute, and in the end, Jì Shì returned in disappointment.

  Ji Ling then quietly asked her aunt: "Is the relationship between Diao Mei and Stepmother very bad?"

  Ji Shi brought Ji Ling then to Zhen Ding to attend Dou Zhao's hairpinning ceremony, and also had another intention.

  Ji Lingzhen has already been engaged to the sixth son of the Han family in Huzhou. The sixth son of the Han family has been studying in Kyoto, and Ji Lingzhen's wedding is scheduled for October this year, which is also one of the reasons why she came to Kyoto ahead of time. After Ji Lingzhen gets married, she will travel with the sixth son of the Han family in Kyoto. The Wei family will finish their mourning period next July, and at that time, they will definitely quickly settle on a marriage date with the Dou family. When Dou Zhao arrived in Kyoto, he also had an escort. Moreover, Ji Lingzhen is intelligent and wise beyond her years, having studied with her aunt from the Ji family since childhood, who is knowledgeable and has returned home. She is elegant and refined in her interactions with others, yet not lacking in cleverness. The Han family is also a noble family of officials, currently with two elderly gentlemen serving as officials, one as county magistrate in Huguang, and the other as Langzhong in the Ministry of Works, overseeing the river works of the entire country.

  Dòu Zhāo and Jì Lìngzhēn interact with each other, only benefits and no harm.

  Now, as Ji Lingze spoke, he seemed to have some misunderstanding towards Dou Zhao. She didn't want Ji Lingze to misunderstand that Dou Zhao was unfilial, so she quietly told him about the grudges of those years.

  Ji Ling was stunned and speechless for a moment before sighing: "If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to remain calm either!"

  "Yes!" Ji sighed, "So some things can't be blamed entirely on Shougu." He also said, "It seems that I'll have to come back for a few days next year, and help Shougu with the preparations before her wedding."

  Ji Ling then smiled and said: "Auntie is really good to Di's family's younger female cousin!"

  "Of course." Mr. Ji smiled and gestured, "From that little bit to growing up so big, there's no difference from one's own child." He also said, "She was alone and miserable since childhood, you must treat her like your own cousin in the future."

  "Got it!" Ji Ling then pulled Ji Shi's arm and teased her aunt, "You're also too biased, letting Jian Ming recognize her as a cousin is not enough, you also let me recognize her as a cousin. Fortunately, Meng Chun is not here, if Meng Chun were here, would you also let him recognize this cousin?"

  Ji Mengchun, also known as Ji Yang, was the elder cousin of Ji Yong. Although he did not have a reputation as great as Ji Yong's, he excelled in being gentle and approachable, with a steady and stable demeanor. Among the younger generation of the Ji family, his prestige was even higher than that of Ji Yong.

  "That's natural!" said Ji Shi with a straight face and a confident tone.

  Ji Ling couldn't help but burst out laughing and said, "Do you know that Xian Ming has written a note with the character 'Dong Si' on it and placed it under the big desk in his study? Every day, he would take a few glances at it and mutter to himself before starting to read."

  Ji's family was shocked and asked: "What happened?"

  "It was Thirteen Uncle who saw it when he went to visit Ming," Ji Ling said. "Thirteen Uncle didn't dare ask Ming, so he grabbed Zi Shang and Zi Xi to gather information." She spoke with a gradually solemn expression, "Zi Shang and Zi Xi didn't hide anything either. They said that Ming had made up his mind to participate in the imperial examination after being ridiculed by Di family's cousin. They also said that no matter who Ming met, he never suffered any losses, but was repeatedly frustrated by Di family's cousin. Thirteen Uncle heard that I came to Zhen Ding and asked me to investigate what exactly happened between Ming and Di family's cousin. He's afraid that Ming will get angry and tease Di family's cousin, causing some discord among relatives, making it difficult for you to interact with the Di family."

  "Is that so?" Ji's eyebrows were tightly locked. Back in Kyoto, the first thing to do was to call for Dou Zhengchang and Dou Dechang brothers to ask questions.

  Dong Zhengchang's expression changed as soon as he heard it, and he said: "Should we tell Father about this? Judging from Ming's temper, it's not necessarily the fourth sister who provoked him!"

  Dòu Déchāng, however, did not think so. He smiled and said: "If Ji Biao had the upper hand, why would he have a look of gritting his teeth? I think it's better for us to pretend we don't know for now. Anyway, these days we've been studying at Shuntian Prefecture School, if he makes any moves, as long as we pay attention, we'll definitely find out. It's almost time to take action, if because of this matter Ji Biao has another twist, it would be our fault instead."

  Ji thought that the second son's words were very reasonable, and he nodded slightly, repeatedly reminding his two sons: "You pay attention to this, let's talk about it after the trial tomorrow. If this knot can be untied, it would be best; if not, you will have to go ask your great-grandfather."

  The two nodded and quietly observed Ji Yong every day without making a sound.

  Ji Yong seemed to be completely unaware, studying hard every day, getting up at the sound of the rooster and sleeping only in the middle of the night. He roughly read through all the volumes of essays from the past five years. By February 9th, he didn't even pay respects to his ancestors, but instead, along with his two sons, went out into the streets carrying exquisite baskets for the examination, bringing their usual writing utensils and some snacks before entering the examination hall. By the time Ji Qi and others arrived, Ji Yong was nowhere to be seen.

  Ji Qi stamped his foot in anger and scolded Zi Shang and Zi Xi for being ignorant.

  The children, unaware of the wrongs they had committed, knelt down and begged for mercy, their bodies trembling with fear. However, in their hearts, they were not afraid, knowing that Ji Yong would not agree to punish them unless they had offended the elderly master, and that the other members of the household would not scold them.

  Ji Qi indeed just sighed a few times and let Zi Shang and Zi Xi get up.

  After the three exams, Ji Ke didn't dare to ask him how he did - if his son thought it was good but ended up failing, his son would lose face in front of him and might not want to see him again; if his son thought it wasn't good, all his hard work this time would be for nothing, and his son would still feel embarrassed in front of him... So he didn't mention anything and just said that his mother, Han Shi, knew about the exams and had rushed over from Yixing to cook his favorite dishes at home.

  Ji Yong thought for a moment and followed Ji Qi back to Yubridge Alley.

  Ji Qi let out a sigh of relief.

  Ji Yong was raised by Old Lady Ji from birth, and when he grew up a bit, he followed Old Master Ji. Madame Han had fewer opportunities to see her son than the young servants around Ji Yong, and her feelings towards him were very subtle.

  She takes pride in being the mother of Ji Yong, but sometimes she feels that this son does not belong to her, but to the Ji family, and was only born through her womb. Occasionally, she would have the feeling "if only the child were not so intelligent", but this feeling, she dare not mention to anyone, let alone ask about Ji Yong's affairs, she just held his hand and asked him about his daily life.

  The two of them were like this, and the others in the Ji family would not dare to make a fool of themselves. They all treated Ji Yong as if he had just gone out for a stroll and came back, asking him questions left and right, but never mentioning the imperial examination.

  Actually, Ji Yong thought he did quite well on the exam and should at least be in the top five. He really wanted to talk about it with someone, but no one mentioned it, so he couldn't very well bring it up himself?

  Even if he mentions it, they will only laugh and perfunctorily say something like "You'll definitely be on the golden list".

  It would be great if Du Zhao were here.

  She will definitely ask him what he was tested on, how he answered, and may even ask him why he answered that way.

  Thinking of this, he thought of Du Zhao's bright and shiny apricot eyes.

  Always spirited and never tired.

  His mother's cautious inquiry suddenly made Ji Yong feel particularly uninteresting and also had a deep sense of powerlessness.

  He wasn't one to swallow his pride, so he stood up abruptly and said impatiently "I'm going back home", then strode away.

  Han sighed.

  She and this son really have nothing to say.

  Ji Yong lay on the bed, but thought of the small camphor wood box placed in the study of Shuntian Fu's school house.

  He told his son: "Go and bring that box over."

  The son obeyed and left.

  On the way back, I met Mr. Han.

  Han felt uncomfortable in his heart and called Ji Ling to talk about it.

  It's so late and you're still going out, I just asked.

  The young master was able to accept Ji Yong's words with a serious expression, naturally he wasn't someone who didn't understand the depth of things. Upon hearing this, he hastily and respectfully stepped forward to respond.

  Han felt strange in his heart, but he didn't ask much either.

  The next morning, she went to her son's room to help him pack his things. Her son had already gone to the mansion on the other side of Shuntianfu.

  "How can it be so early?" Mr. Han was very disappointed.

  The maid serving in the house hurriedly said: "Madam, young master said that most of the books at Shuntian Prefecture School are Four Books and Five Classics, eight-legged essays, and he won't be using them in the future. He wants to give all the books to the two young masters of your sister's household, and has invited the two young masters of your sister's household to come and move the books. It's not that he wants to live at Shuntian Prefecture School."

  Mr. Han listened with a pleased expression and asked the maid: "So, did the young master do well on his exam?"

  In that case, the maid did not dare to answer and could only stammer: "I don't know either. Yesterday evening, the young master came back and was wandering around the house until he went to bed after midnight."

  Han listened, stunned, and his eyes inadvertently swept over the green silk pillow on Ji's bed, discovering a corner of a camphor wood box under the pillow.

  She walked over and opened the box.

  Inside is a sandalwood comb.

  Simple and elegant long hairpin style, the whole body is hollowed out with various tea flowers, some are in bud, some are just a flower bud, and others are blooming freely. The workmanship may not be exquisite, the materials used may not be particular, but the shape is very novel. Moreover, many wooden carvings have an air of natural elegance, but the flowers on this hairpin are clustered together, each with a sense of competing to bloom first, giving people a sense of flowing light and color.

  The craftsmanship of this hairpin is quite ordinary, but the person who designed it has exceptional painting skills!

  Han's mind suddenly made such a judgment... Then the scene of Ji Yong using a small stool to prop up his feet, crouching on the large painting table in the garden pavilion, painting the tea flowers at home appeared...

  She involuntarily took a breath of cool air, "slammed" the case shut, and hastily asked the maid: "What is this..."

  The maid smiled and said, "This is the box that was delivered yesterday." As she spoke, a look of confusion appeared on her face. "I clearly saw Master put it away in his trunk last night, so how did it end up under the pillow..."

  Han's head buzzed with a sudden sense of trepidation.

  She put the box back in place and hastily instructed the maid with a few words, "Don't let young master find out that someone has touched his things." She then hurriedly returned to her inner chamber and reminded her wet nurse, Han Nianiang: "You wait at the gate of the hanging flowers, as soon as young master returns, immediately come and report back to me."

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  Today's update!

  o(n_n)o~

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