After rebirth, I became a national teacher

"You are worrying too much, Madam Shufei. Husband and wife are bound together by honor and disgrace. Madam did not make any mistakes intentionally. It was the person behind the scenes who was too cunning that made her fall into the trap. How could I blame her so harshly?"

Eunuch Liu flattered:

"My uncle is really broad-minded!"

"Don't worry, after we return to the capital this time, Concubine Shu will definitely try to find a chance for you to atone for your crime."

Pei Xiao felt relieved.

The title has been lost and it is difficult to recover. What he fears most is being abandoned by His Majesty. With Concubine Shu's words, he has nothing to worry about.

Eunuch Liu added, "To avoid criticism from the people, before returning to the capital, please be patient for a while, my Lord and Madam. I will be responsible for all the purchases in the mansion. If there is anything I have not considered carefully, please let me know."

Eunuch Liu did not stay in the Jingnan Marquis's Mansion for too long. Before leaving, he specifically asked Zhang to see him off.

On the way, Eunuch Liu whispered to Zhang:

"Madam, rest assured. Both the Concubine Shu and the little prince are in good health and there won't be any accidents. Moreover, after this incident, the relationship between the Concubine Shu and His Majesty is even better than before."

Only then did Zhang feel relieved.

He also understood that the dangerous words just now were said intentionally for Pei Xiao to hear.

Basically, she wanted Pei Xiao not to look down on her or neglect her.

My sister really has good intentions for her.

"Whether it's true or not, you must never let your Majesty take risks like this in the future. I will also be careful with my words and actions outside, and never bring trouble to your Majesty again."

From then on, Jingnanbo finally recovered his previous living standard and no longer had to eat coarse grains every day and still feel full.

Yan Tongzhi was well aware that the Zhang family had the upper hand now, and he was mentally prepared for this. After learning about this, he reported it to Cihang Temple.

Seeing that Cihang Temple had no other instructions, he only ordered the yamen runners to pretend he saw nothing and let anyone enter and leave Jingnan Marquis's Mansion as they pleased.

*

Seeing that all affairs of the Bo's Mansion were taken care of by Eunuch Liu and his nephew's condition was relatively stable, Zhang Jinghong devoted himself to government affairs.

As the chief examiner, after interacting with local officials, he closed the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall and began to prepare for the provincial examination in full swing.

Outside the posthouse, the scholars who had originally wanted to pay their respects and try to make themselves familiar to the examiner had all their plans go to waste and returned home in disappointment.

Therefore, everyone could only work hard to dig out Zhang Jinghong's previous articles and poetry collections, trying to figure out the direction of this year's exam questions.

Qin Zhenniang's husband, Qiao Shiyou, came back from outside the inn holding the gift that Zhenniang had spent a huge amount of money on, full of resentment.

"If your family weren't just a merchant family, why would I be turned away by Master Zhang?"

He then gave the example of a former student in the same academy, whose wife was the granddaughter of the Minister of Personnel in Southern Capital. She accompanied the Minister to attend the welcoming banquet hosted by the chief examiner and even had a conversation with the chief examiner.

His tone was so righteous that Qin Zhenniang felt wronged and ashamed, and she lowered her head involuntarily.

She came from a merchant family, and was already inferior to her husband who was a scholar. Now she was complained that her family could not provide help at the critical moment, and she seemed unable to refute it.

After a while, I could only advise:

"Sir, now that Master Zhang has entered the Imperial Examination Hall, he will not come out again. Why don't you just focus on preparing for the exam? Master Zhang is a fourth-rank official. With our family background, I'm afraid we have to be at least a Juren to be in his eyes."

It was unknown what was going on in Qiao's mind. After a moment, his expression softened and he said to Zhenniang:

"Mr. Zhang's father is a cabinet minister, and he himself is also a fourth-rank official. He is about to be promoted. If he can use this relationship with his master to become his student, his career in the officialdom will be smooth."

"This will be of great benefit to both my future and my father-in-law's business. Go back and talk to my father-in-law and ask him to help me this time and prepare a generous gift so that I can be the first to visit Master Zhang after the exam."

His father-in-law, Qin Dafu, is one of the largest cloth merchants in Jiangnan. If he can lend a helping hand and prepare an extremely generous gift, it may be possible that Lord Zhang will look at him differently.

Qin Zhenniang thought what he said made sense, so she said:

"My husband, please prepare for the exam with peace of mind. I will go back to my parents' home in a few days to talk to them about this."

After hearing this, Teacher Qiao turned around and went back to study.

In his heart, he couldn't help but blame his father-in-law. He was obviously a shrewd man, but at this critical moment, he didn't take the initiative to send him the bribe money, and asked him to find a way to get it back.

Could it be that he wanted to make him bow his head on purpose?

Humph, using his few bucks is a sign of respect for him, yet he still treats him like this!

Fortunately, Zhenniang was gentle and obedient, and she did whatever he said. Otherwise, it would have been so humiliating for him to go to her house and ask for it in person.

Teacher Qiao thought that the matter was a sure thing, so he went to prepare for the exam with peace of mind.

Unexpectedly, Qin Dafu and his wife, who had always loved their daughter, rejected Zhenniang without hesitation when they heard that they had to please Zhang Jinghong, the chief examiner of the provincial examination.