Chapter 134 Hello, Princess

Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew his gaze, but his expression became more and more solemn.

Empress Ma saw that Zhu Yuanzhang looked unhappy, so she asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not hide it from Empress Ma and said, "Someone gave Deng Qianqiu a piece of land, and Deng Qianqiu came to report it to me."

Queen Ma said, "Deng Qianqiu is quite popular. Some people still treat him like this."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "The one who gave the land was Hu Weiyong."

Queen Ma was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand something and sighed.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What surprises me most is that the land given by Hu Weiyong was actually the land I gave to the Marquis of Ji'an. This matter...ha...is quite interesting."

Empress Ma raised her eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty, don't you mean... Hu Qing's family and Lu Qing's family..."

"They have had a close relationship for a long time." Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly: "I have known this for a long time. But there are too many questions about this gift of land... Well, regardless of all that, I want someone to pass on a message to let Deng Qianqiu take this land with confidence. If there is a benefit to take, why not take it?"

Empress Ma couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your Majesty hates this kind of interpersonal relationship the most, but today you turned a blind eye to it."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but laugh and said, "This is different. Those corrupt officials made profits in private, but they did it without telling me. They also harmed the people, but the people were in dire straits and they blamed me. But this matter is different. The land belongs to Lu Zhongheng, and it is Lu Zhongheng who suffered. Moreover, Deng Qianqiu quickly reported this matter to me. If I still ask him to return the stolen money, will Deng Qianqiu dare to report it in the future?"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said, "I'll go look for Jing'er. The palace is so big, why is she running around? And what do the servants who serve her do for a living?"

…………

After Deng Qianqiu submitted the report, he waited for Lu Zhongheng to deliver the land deed. So the next day, as time passed, there was no movement from the man named Lu, which made Deng Qianqiu angry.

This guy is really unreliable. He never does anything he promised.

But at noon, someone really came.

Lawrence Lu was beaming with joy. When he saw Deng Qianqiu, he said with a smile, "Captain Deng, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time. I have no choice but to go to the Central Military Governor's Mansion this morning. I brought the land deed with me. Let's make the deal now."

Deng Qianqiu confirmed with concern: "This land...are you really willing to give it up? Don't regret it!"

Lu Zhongheng laughed and thought to himself, you fool, you have never seen the world, if you knew that I have got a piece of fertile land, you would be envious to death.

Lu Zhongheng showed a sincere look and said, "Brother Deng, there is nothing to say about our relationship. Although we are half-siblings, we are not brothers but better than brothers. My land is your land. I am older and luckier. I followed His Majesty and became a founding hero. That's why His Majesty loved me and gave me this farm. But when I think of Brother Deng having no place to stand in this capital, I feel... bad. Come on, sign and seal."

Deng Qianqiu was no longer bothered to be polite and signed his name immediately.

Lu Zhongheng also asked Fei Ju to be the guarantor, and the three of them signed their names.

Deng Qianqiu was so excited that he was about to tremble, but he was still worried: "Even though I said that, I still feel uneasy."

“Hahaha…” Lawrence Lu said, “Brother Deng, tell me, how can we be down-to-earth?”

Deng Qianqiu said, "Why don't you write another document, like... a statement, and write down what you just said in the statement, then I will feel at ease."

Lawrence Lu rolled up his long sleeves. He was in a very good mood today and said without hesitation, "Then I will sign a written agreement."

At that moment, he wrote a handwritten statement and said to Deng Qianqiu, "Are you relieved now?"

Deng Qianqiu smiled: "Brother Lu, there is nothing to say. It is not in vain that I recognize you as my brother."

If it were in the past, Lawrence Lu would have been furious, but now, he was not angry at all, and said with a smile: “This is fate, it is fate.”

Fei Ju said at the side: "Being together is fate, if there is fate, we will meet each other even if we are thousands of miles apart..."

After seeing the two off, Deng Qianqiu felt that there was something wrong with their brains.

However, looking at how happy the two were, it seemed that they also felt that Deng Qianqiu seemed to have something wrong with his brain.

I really can’t figure it out!

However, Deng Qianqiu was careless and ignored it. Instead, he called Niu Shisan and told him, "Go find some people to investigate the area around Hushan in Qixia. Don't spread the news. After you find the people, warn them that if they dare to talk nonsense, they will not get away with it. But if they find out something, let them rest assured and pay them thirty times their salary."

Niu Shisan went obediently.

In the evening, Deng Qianqiu, Zhu Gang and Zhu Su returned to Xianliang Temple to rest.

Zhu Di stayed behind and volunteered to be on night duty, keeping track of Shen Zhiye's night reading and his morning reading at the hour of Mao the next day.

Deng Qianqiu couldn't help but admire that Zhu Di was indeed a man who could do great things. He loved to work so much.

After returning to his residence in Xianliang Temple and pushing the door open, Deng Qianqiu was stunned. He then took a few steps back, subconsciously wanting to take another look at the gate.

He felt that he had gone to the wrong place. After confirming that it was his own courtyard, he went in again and saw that the house was tidy and spotless.

At this time, a figure was seen with his back to Deng Qianqiu, holding a pot of warm water.

She heard the noise and turned to glance at Deng Qianqiu.

Deng Qianqiu said in surprise: "Your Highness...Your Highness..." Zhu Jingjing blushed: "I originally wanted to come to visit my third brother, but I remembered what my mother said...My father seemed to have a prejudice against you, and I thought he had punished you, so I came to take a look on the way, but I didn't expect it to be so messy here."

Deng Qianqiu subconsciously looked at his bookshelf.

Fortunately...the bookshelf is not organized much.

Deng Qianqiu said, "How can I trouble Your Highness..."

Zhu Jingjing smiled sweetly: "What's the big deal? Do you really think that I am a princess and I can live a life of luxury? You underestimate me! When my father was away at war, I lived with my mother and brothers. I also had to clean the house and occasionally help my eldest brother and take care of my younger brothers. You don't think it's vulgar, do you?"

Deng Qianqiu immediately shook his head and continued, "I just don't deserve it."

Zhu Jingjing said, "Okay, I'm relieved to see that you are fine. I boiled some water and put it on the table. You've been tired all day, so you should take a good rest."

Deng Qianqiu said hurriedly: "Yes, yes."

Zhu Jingjing smiled: "Father is right, you are really timid, even I am afraid of you."

Deng Qianqiu said angrily: "I'm not afraid of Your Highness, I'm afraid of your father. Whenever I see Your Highness, I always feel that His Majesty is behind me."

Zhu Jingjing said, "Don't worry, my mother is here. My father won't kill you. I should go back to the palace. I sneaked out."

Deng Qianqiu was shocked and asked, "Has anyone noticed?"

Zhu Jingjing said: "That's fine, I have my own way, you should be careful, the Queen Mother is still thinking about you, she said you haven't written to me recently."

Deng Qianqiu said: "Change it, I will definitely change it."

After seeing Zhu Jingjing off, Deng Qianqiu was already covered in cold sweat.

As expected... a dragon gives birth to a dragon, likewise a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, Zhu Yuanzhang's children... are all talented.

Her Royal Highness the Princess is a nice person, not pretentious, what a pity...

Deng Qianqiu sighed inwardly.

……

By April, the capital city became bustling again.

The imperial examination was launched last year, and since then it has become formalized. For example, the academy examination has become the top priority.

This academy examination is for the title of scholar. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the title of scholar was not very valuable, but nowadays, it is rare.

Because the imperial examination was newly introduced, students who originally had to take the county examination and the prefectural examination were eligible to take the academy examination. However, the academy examination, which is held twice every three years, now does not have so many procedures. One only needs someone to act as a guarantor to take the exam.

After all... the imperial examination has just been launched, so we should keep it simple for now.

Of course, another reason is that this was a time of war, and most prefectures and counties had small populations, and even fewer scholars. Especially in the Yuan Dynasty, people did not attach much importance to studying to become officials. Coupled with years of war, people willing to study were even rarer.

Therefore, after the results of the academy examination were posted, many people started discussing it heatedly. In other prefectures and counties, there might be few scholars, but in the capital, the situation was quite different.

Deng Qianqiu was eager to try. He had been eyeing this college entrance examination for a long time. The difficulty of the college entrance examination was not high. Shen Zhiye studied almost day and night, not wasting a single stick of incense. In addition, with the eight-part essay writing method, if this guy could get the hang of it, he could pass the exam and become a scholar...

and so……

Shen Zhiye suddenly found that his treatment was much better than before. Even Zhu Di was friendly to him and always touched his head and said, "Junior brother, I am usually strict, but it is for your own good. I didn't mean it. Don't worry, I won't kill your whole family."

Shen Zhiye: “…”

He felt very uncomfortable.

During these days, Deng Qianqiu assigned a huge amount of homework every day. After that, his three senior brothers watched him day and night like thieves, and he almost read even in his dreams.

This feeling is really worse than death!
But... strangely enough, humans seem to be animals that can adapt to the environment very easily. Over time, Shen Zhiye seems to have become numb to this kind of pain.

It seemed as if the happy young man back then had already become a distant memory, and Shen Zhiye at this moment had become a completely different person.

Deng Qianqiu brought a crucian carp and stood in front of Shen Zhiye, smiling and saying, "Zhiye, look at the fish that your master bought for you. This fish is good for your brain. I'll have someone cook it for you later and you can eat it all by yourself."

Shen Zhiye said hurriedly: "I...I...Teacher...I need to study. I also need to study while eating. It's not good to eat fish. It's easy to get stuck in the throat when eating fish while reading."

Deng Qianqiu said with great sorrow: "Oh my God, Zhiye, you work so hard and make such an effort. It breaks my heart to see you become so thin."

Shen Zhiye's eyes suddenly turned red.

His mentor treated him so well.

This was definitely not just a momentary emotion, because... compared to his three senior brothers, he found that here, his mentor was like his relative.

He wiped his eyes with his hand and tears fell.

(End of this chapter)