latelenovela Chapter 158 The Wind Rises
Chapter 158 The Wind Rises
"So, you abandoned your important duties of the Ministry of Justice's imperial examination just to have me do exams too?"
"Hey! Don't talk nonsense."
The Crown Princess, who had slipped away from the examination hall, was now lounging on the couch, legs crossed, enjoying fruit, while a maid diligently fanned her.
Hearing Lu Yuxi's question, he not only showed no guilt, but also presented his arguments with sound reasoning.
"I'm not being irresponsible! My only responsibility is to set the exam questions. I got up early this morning to patrol the exam hall because my father still resents me for complaining about him to my mother yesterday, so he deliberately made me get up early as revenge."
These two are really never going to stop!
Lu Yuxi shook her head helplessly. These two are both adults, yet they're always causing chaos and making a scene. Every day, she and her mother have to stand up for them. When will this ever end?
Suppressing her feelings of helplessness, Lu Yuxi put down the sealed scroll in her hand, walked to the bedside, dismissed the maid who was fanning Lin Shiming, and took the fan to personally serve his Crown Princess.
"What are you arguing with Father again? I may have the upper hand today, but he will win tomorrow. It's a lose-lose situation, so why bother?"
"Hey—don't change the subject!" Lin Shiming automatically activated his ability to avoid the upcoming long-winded speech, snatching the fan away. "Trying to please me won't work. You promised me you'd take the exam too. If I hadn't suddenly remembered today, wouldn't you have had to skip it?"
"Go quickly! I've already had the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone prepared. Today, I will personally supervise your exam. I want to see how true His Highness's reputation for being virtuous, talented, and learned is!"
"...Alright, alright." Interrupted from her spellcasting, Lu Yuxi unsurprisingly succumbed to the evil forces, choosing to sacrifice herself to satisfy the Crown Princess's wicked pleasure. "But I still have some trivial matters to attend to—"
Lin Shiming patted his chest and said, "I'll take your place."
*
It was a sunny day.
To get better lighting and see the writing clearly, Lin Shiming and Lu Yuxi squeezed together at a table near the window.
The two sat facing each other, sharing an inkstone, and could touch each other with their outstretched hands.
Sunlight streamed in through the wide-open windows, illuminating Lu Yuxi's face, which was focused yet occasionally furrowed.
The first half was fairly normal, consisting of standard, straightforward questions.
But what comes after that…
“There was once a young scholar who wanted to go to the capital to take the imperial examination, but he was short of money… So he sneaked into a temple at night and took money from the donation box… He was later caught and said: ‘I have already asked Buddha, and Buddha did not refuse me.’ What does this mean?”
"..."
What kind of strange and unusual questions are these?
Lu Yuxi's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, while Lin Shiming, who was openly slacking off opposite her, was overjoyed.
Dust motes danced gently in the air, some occasionally disappearing onto Lu Yuxi's body. Dressed in white with black hair, her brows were furrowed.
Wow! What a beautiful picture of a woman!
Lin Shiming was already itching with desire from Lu Yuxi's beauty. He would write a word, then look up at her every time, making no attempt to hide his gaze.
The water clock in the corner dripped for a long time. Lu Yuxi had done most of her homework, while Lin Shiming hadn't finished even half of his work.
Then he was caught red-handed by Lu Yuxi, who had been sensing something was wrong.
"If you want to look, just look directly. Doesn't your neck get tired from looking up and down like that?"
Even when caught red-handed infatuated with a beautiful woman, General Lin showed no restraint, shouting, "Insolence! Don't you dare flirt with the examiner. Be careful, or I'll find you guilty of cheating!"
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Lu Yuxi smiled. He couldn't continue with this question. He simply put down his pen, swept the test paper over with one hand, and put it aside.
"What are you doing? You've only made a few dishes..."
"I'm not doing it anymore." Lu Yuxi got up, walked around the table, came to Lin Shiming, bowed her head and bent down, and placed her hands on the armrests of the chair Lin Shiming was sitting on. "Your Highness the Crown Princess is exceptionally intelligent. This question is naturally beyond the ability of a mere mortal like me."
His posture completely trapped Lin Shiming in the chair, his gaze intense, making Lin Shiming's eyes dart around, unable to look directly at him.
But he still wouldn't let it go.
"...So you're going to skip the exam? Let me tell you, your paper will be graded along with the other candidates' papers. If you skip it, you'll lose face big time!"
"What should I do? I don't want to do it anymore, and I don't want to give up the exam. Does the Crown Princess have any way to help me?"
"Get out of my way. There's no other way!"
Lin Shiming reached out to push, but Lu Yuxi caught him red-handed.
"Don't rush to refuse. I can pay you first."
"Ugh—it's broad daylight!"
"Shiming, it's been several days since we last met. Did you really come all this way just to ask me to do some homework?"
"I haven't finished what I'm doing yet!"
Lu Yuxi glanced down at the booklet, which contained only a few words, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's finish our work first, then I'll do it."
*
Lin Shiming slept through his afternoon nap until evening.
The sun had not yet set, and the interior of the hall was warm and bright.
Since their marriage, Lu Yuxi rarely had maids or eunuchs in the room to serve her. So, Lin Shiming, who had just managed to turn over, looked around and only saw Lu Yuxi sitting at her desk, busy with her work.
In the sweltering summer heat, Lu Yuxi changed into a lighter outfit.
Unlike the white dress she wore at noon, Lu Yuxi is now wearing a light blue cloth dress.
The dappled shadows of the trees outside cast a striking resemblance to the handsome scholars I'd read in Lin Shiming's storybooks.
Perhaps Lin Shiming's "help" had taken up too much time, as Lu Yuxi was currently focused on her work and did not notice that Lin Shiming had already woken up.
Unable to bear the loneliness, General Lin got up and walked towards Lu Yuxi wearing only an undergarment.
"Not done yet?"
Hearing the sound, Lu Yuxi, who was focused on reviewing the booklet, suddenly looked up.
"Why are you up? Don't go back to the palace tonight. I'll personally set you up for dinner in bed later."
"I don't want to go back." Lin Shiming couldn't stand or sit down, so he leaned against the bookshelf. "But Father won't allow it."
"When did you become so obedient to your father?"
good question.
Lin Shiming tilted his head and thought for a moment, then nodded decisively.
"You're right, I'm not afraid of him at all!"
At worst, we can retaliate later; it's not a big problem!
Lin Shiming was immediately happy after figuring it out. He relaxed and turned his head to look at the booklet on Lu Yuxi's desk.
"Is this the roster of the Tingyun Army?"
“Exactly.” Lu Yuxi picked it up and handed it to Lin Shiming. “The palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial palace are all ordinary people. If they encounter an army, countless people will be killed or injured. The palace guards alone are not enough. I plan to transfer some people over to replace them.”
"What about the capital? Aren't these people supposed to be sent to the capital to protect the people?"
“It’s alright.” Lu Yuxi’s expression was complicated. “Just now, Father sent a letter saying that Mr. Nan Gu said that the situation has changed and Mother’s illness will require the last dose of medicine in five days. When she wakes up then, Mother should have forgotten the past and gone to Jiangnan.”
"In that case, Father Emperor spread the word that he was preparing a funeral for Mother."
"On this basis, Father Emperor ordered the transfer of three thousand troops from Tongzhou to the capital to serve as the mausoleum guards for Mother."