Dong Zhao called Song Yan to be his second, and he did it so openly.

  "What? Can't do it?" Du Zhao ignored their reaction and said slowly, "Anyway, it's all ghostwriting, who to find is the same? Besides, Song Yan's handwriting is much better than mine."

  Able to help the eight-year-old boy Jie Yuanyi see Ming Jiyong Mr. writing spring couplets, Song Yan had already been excited to blush. At this time, after hearing Du Zhao's words, he couldn't help but cast a grateful glance at Du Zhao, and exclaimed loudly: "Ji Ju Ren, my handwriting may not be as good as the fourth miss said, but I will write it very seriously..."

  "Who knows, but Ji Yong said bluntly: 'Since it's not as good as the fourth miss said, what makes you qualified to help me write couplets?'"

  Song Yan was extremely embarrassed and stiffened there.

  Dong Zhaoqi's face turned pale, and she coldly smiled: "Others are just being modest, saying some polite words, but you actually believed it." She called out to Song Yan, "Since Mr. Ji doesn't need our help here, let's go back first!"

  He Yun smiled with his eyes narrowed beside him.

  Ji Yong's face suddenly turned pale, and he said to Song Yan: "Stop! You write two characters first, let me take a look!"

  Song Yan looked at Dou Zhao and then at Ji Yong, looking very embarrassed.

  Dong Zhao couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart.

  A scholar who has passed the imperial examination looks at a successful candidate as if he were his own son, let alone Song Yan, who has no official title.

  People come on their own initiative, can't just abandon them, right?

  Dou Zhao smiled and said to Song Yan, "Then write a few words for Ji Ju Ren to see." Then he made a gesture of being competitive and said, "Don't let Ji Ju Ren look down on us!" He covered up the awkwardness from earlier.

  He Yu's eyes lit up.

  Song Yan repeatedly responded with "good" and walked somewhat timidly to the desk.

  Ji Yong looked at his slightly flushed face and followed him.

  As soon as Song Yan picked up the brush, he completely calmed down and seemed to have transformed into a different person. His eyebrows revealed a resolute expression. With steady and powerful strokes, his cursive script was written with dignity and correctness, showing great skill. Even Ji Yong let out an "ah" of surprise, wiping away his look of disdain, and watched seriously from the side.

  He Yu glanced at Dou Zhao and also walked over to take a look.

  Dong Zhao scolded Ji Yan with a few words and then turned away in disdain.

  Song Yanfang put down his brush and stood aside respectfully, asking Ji Yong to appreciate it.

  Ji Yong stood still, with his hands behind him and glanced casually at the desk, asking: "Can you make a couplet?"

  His expression was solemn and his tone was calm, exuding an air of superiority, for the first time, Duan Zhao felt that the person in front of him had a few hints of a young man's proud demeanor.

  "Please instruct me, sir!" Song Yan waited anxiously with bated breath.

  "Plum blossoms proudly stand in the cold winter sky."

  .

  How...tacky is this couple?

  He Yu let out a soft "heh" and smiled, saying: "What about 'snow melts under horse hooves'?" A hint of teasing flashed in his eyes.

  Ji Yong gave He Yu a cold glance.

  He Yu raised an eyebrow nonchalantly.

  Song Yan lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

  Dong Zhao also did not dare to show off his elegance in front of him.

  What does "Ji Yong" actually mean?

  He shouldn't have made such an obvious move.

  What kind of content would meet his expectations?

  Does warm wind smell sweet in grass?

  That's too easy.

  Dong Zhao guessed, and then heard Song Yan nervously say a sentence "Spring warmth revives all things".

  "Alright!" Ji Yong said, "You can use this desk to write 200 spring couplets and you'll be done."

  Song Yan Chang let out a breath and happily replied "yes", quickly walking to the desk to start cutting paper, as if afraid of losing this task if he slowed down.

  Dòu Zhāo's bitter smile.

  He Yu suddenly looked surprised and said: "Isn't this pair a bit too plain?"

  Ji Yong said bluntly, "It's not like we're in the Golden Hall for an imperial audience. I'll just say some 'Confucius, Mencius, Laozi' stuff that those people can understand. It's just a street performance to usher in the New Year and bring good luck."

  He Yu's face turned slightly red.

  Song Yan nodded repeatedly, apparently delighted that he had guessed Ji Yong's thoughts correctly.

  "Many people who usually write flowery articles, why do they often fail when entering the scene? It's just that they don't know what the examiner wants to test them on... They want him to write 800 words, but he insists on writing 8,000 words. Even if every word is a pearl, what's the use? So, it's said that the easiest thing in the world is to make a fuss about one's writing skills, just follow the routine and you won't go wrong..." He spoke with great fanfare.

  He Yuer was embarrassed upon hearing this.

  Song Yan was extremely shocked, and in Ji Yong's eyes, a naked look of worship flowed out.

  Dong Zhao saw that there was nothing for her to do here. She said goodbye to Ji Yong, He Yu and a few others, preparing to go to the Ji's place to sit for a while. Just as she had walked a few steps, she saw the window of the east study open a crack, with Dong Dechang beckoning to her from behind the window.

  She didn't say a word and went into the study.

  Dòu Déchāng slumped in his chair and said, "Fourth sister, you're usually so clever, how did Ji Xiǎomíng deceive you too? If it weren't for you bringing Song Yán to help you, I'd have to go out and help him write couplets."

  "What else has Ji Gong done?" asked Du Zhao with a sneer. "Why is everyone acting as if they can't get away from him fast enough?"

  "There's nothing to say." Du Dechang said dejectedly, "We were writing couplets there, and Qi Guang jokingly wrote a pair 'The son of the fish thinks of his father, the heavenly chapter is in harmony with the Yuan dynasty', but Ji Jianming snorted at it, saying it wasn't even as good as 'Old Master, Son, Grandson'...Qi Guang was so angry he ran away...none of us could refute him..."

  Bo Yu, Zi Si and Zi Shang were the son, grandson and great-grandson of Sunzi. Kaiyuan, Tianbao, Zhanghe and Xianheng were the reign names of the founding emperor Gaozu, the second emperor Gaotai, the third emperor Renzong

  Dong Qiguang's couplet was just to flatter the royal family, wishing them a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, forever safeguarding the country. Being ridiculed by Ji Yong without mercy, he naturally couldn't take it. No wonder Ji Yong said something about "Confucius, Mencius, Laozi" earlier, it turns out there's this allusion.

  "This guy is too much, his words are also too venomous." Duan Zhao said, "Just now when he was making a couplet to test Song Yan, he also ridiculed He Gongzi for a while. Fortunately, He Gongzi didn't stoop to his level, otherwise they would have definitely quarreled on the spot." He continued, "I saw He Gongzi's luxurious clothes and thought he was just a spoiled young master, but it turns out he can also be quite calm and composed."

  "Don't think he's some kind of good stuff!" Du Dechang said impatiently. "Do you know how he found me?"

  Dong Zhao was astonished: "Didn't you say you met on the road?"

  "What's the matter!" Dou Dechang leaned back against the large pillow behind him, "Those are words for seniors. He is the one who sang a big play in the Dafang Temple at midnight. Later, I won 500 taels of silver from him again in a cockfight - just for that 500 taels of silver, he sent messages to both the black and white gangs, if not for those few months when I was reading books at home, I would have been caught by him long ago. So as soon as I left the house, I was being watched, otherwise he wouldn't have started with us."

  Dong Zhaohui thought back to the first time he met him. There wasn't much surprise.

  But this situation is quite different from her own speculation, and she previously thought that it was Wu Bo's father who wanted to curry favor with the He family, so He Yong and Dong Dechang and others traveled together.

  "She couldn't help but ask: 'Why did he want to find you? It can't be just for that five hundred taels of silver, can it? I don't think he's the kind of person who would be so petty!'"

  "He didn't care about the five hundred taels of silver, but he couldn't bear to lose face in front of this person!" Dou Dechang said angrily. "He felt that losing to me was shameful and wanted to win back his pride. But I've already stopped fighting chickens... I still want to participate in the imperial examination next year! At first, he didn't believe me. Later, he reluctantly believed me, but he insisted that I sell him the iron rooster from my previous chicken fights. I had long given it away, what could I sell to him? He kept pestering me, insisting that I help him raise a chicken as fierce as the iron rooster... Unfortunately, this matter couldn't be let known to Father and Mother - if they found out I was fighting chickens for prizes, they would make me kneel in the ancestral hall!"

  "This is also true." Dòu Zhāo said, "Then what are you going to do?"

  Dòu Déchāng sighed: "What a pity Wū Shàn is not here, otherwise I would have pushed this matter onto him, and Father and Mother wouldn't blame me!"

  Oh no!

  Their relationship has always been good.

  To frame Wu Dechang for a crime, he probably won't mind.

  I also don't know how he is doing now?

  But after several months of not seeing him, he seemed like a distant memory.

  Dong Zhaoming silently took a sip of tea.

  Dòu Déchāng said with a hint of embarrassment: "I... I didn't mean to mention him..."

  "It's nothing," Dou Zhao said. "Even if the marriage didn't work out, it's not like we'd become sworn enemies. Wu Shan is a good person and has been good to you... In our past life, he even helped you marry your wife, and took responsibility for all the bad things that happened." She couldn't help but advise, "Twelfth Brother shouldn't distance himself from Fourth Brother Wu because of these things."

  "No wonder Wu Shan values you highly." Dou Dechang said with a moved expression, "Fourth sister has a broad and upright heart. A woman's talent is not inferior to that of a man."

  Dong Zhao burst out laughing and said: "I love listening to nice words the most, no matter whether what the twelfth brother says is true or false, I happily accept them all." Extremely genuine.

  Dòu Déchāng's mood improved a lot, he stood up: "Let's go. I'll also help them write spring couplets, can't let Sòng Yán be the only one there facing Jì Jiàn Míng, his body is still a bit thin."

  Only Song Yan felt it was enjoyment rather than hardship.

  Dong Zhao smiled and also stood up: "Then I'll go talk to Liu Bo Mu, it's been some days since I last saw her."

  Dong Dechang shook his head: "You girls' family, you even sent someone to deliver a few pots of plum blossoms to your mother yesterday, have you forgotten?"

  "I didn't come!" Du Zhao cherished the time she could get close to Ji Shi.

  The two of them chatted and laughed as they walked out of the house.

  At night, Dong Shao and Chen Quanshui discussed this matter: "......I'm afraid we misjudged it. It's possible that He Wenda doesn't want to get involved in the struggle for the throne at this time."

  "It's also possible." Chen Quanshui attached great importance to this news, "Although He Wenda was recommended by Zeng Yifen to enter the cabinet, the He family has always been independent and never participated in anyone else's affairs. This is also the reason why the He family has stood firm for so many years."

  Dong Zhao nodded and said: "It's also good to investigate the He family - He Yu is the youngest son, why would He Wenda send him back to his hometown to worship his ancestors?"

  "I understand." Chen Quanshui responded and went down to arrange for someone to investigate He's family.

  After the Laba Festival, news came from Kyoto: "He Wenda was a young man who had passed the imperial examination and married his teacher's daughter. He respected this lady very much, and they had six sons and three daughters together, with no adopted children. He Yu was an old pearl born in his later years, 22 years younger than the eldest son of the He family. Mr. and Mrs. He loved him like their own eyes. This time when he returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, it was originally arranged for the eldest son of the He family to go, but because He Yu insisted on coming, it was temporarily changed to him."

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  Book-loving sisters and brothers, someone in the comments asked about the publication of "The Strategy of a Reborn Lady". There are seven volumes in total, with the first five already published and available on Dangdang.com and other major bookstores. The sixth and seventh volumes have been proofread and are expected to be printed within the next two months due to the decent sales of the first five volumes.

  Thank you for your support all along!

  o(n_n)o~

  Continue to ask for pink votes...

  Tonight's update will be a bit late.

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