Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"The list is released! Let it go, let it go!" Rong Kaiji was very excited and extremely nervous, and followed the surging crowd to the red wall of the Gongyuan.

"Father, be careful—ah!" Rong Youtang was stepped on by someone, he tried his best to protect his adoptive father, and wanted to avoid the side temporarily, but the crowd was so huge that he couldn't retreat at all, he could only move forward.

The guards of the nine gates under the city guard did their best to maintain order, bang bang bang bang bang, and shouted sharply: "Quiet!"

"No congestion!"

"No crowding!"

It's a pity that more than a hundred guards roared hoarsely, but they couldn't stop the candidates and their relatives and friends who were anxious to know the results of the exam!

——It is about ten years of hard study, a lifetime of wealth and magnificence, and eternal lintel glory. Who can restrain it?

What kind of gentleman's dignity and etiquette and demeanor should be put aside for now!

"Oh, don't, don't push." ​​Rong Kaiji was overwhelmed, fortunately he had his son to protect him.

"Brother, hold your feet high!" Rong Youtang reminded loudly, not knowing whether to save the corner of his adoptive father's robe from being trampled on.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." A candidate in a blue shirt hurriedly let go of his feet, his lips were gray and bloodless from nervousness, and he hurried away.

Noisy, chaotic, noisy, all kinds of beings gathered into one face at this time: panic and panic.

From time to time, joyful shouts could be heard from the front:

"Hahaha, seven!"

"Our son has won, No. 80 second place!"

"I've won! You're on the young master's list!"

……

Those who announced the good news were not the examinees themselves, but their book boys or servants.

Rong Kaiji pricked up his ears and listened carefully, anxious, but he couldn't squeeze in for a while, it was really embarrassing!He frowned tightly, swallowed hard his saliva, and comforted his son in a trembling voice: "Tang'er, don't be impatient, Lao Li must have gone in, and he probably won't be able to squeeze out for a while."

"Okay." Rong Youtang was uneasy, helping his adoptive father to move forward with difficulty. Based on King Qing's expression and tone, he guessed that he should be on the list, but how many places?His whole heart hung high, almost to the mouth of his throat.

Fortunately, there are saber patrols in front of the red wall, otherwise the wall of the Gongyuan will be pushed down by the crowd!

The long list of joys, in regular script with gold powder on a red background, is arranged in order of rank.

Li Shun Kaimeng has studied for several years, and there is no problem with simple reading and writing. He worked hard to squeeze to the front, struggling to stand on tiptoe, poking his neck to look, and muttering nervously: "A total of 270 students have been admitted by Enke this time—oh, don't Push me, little brother, calm down!" Li Shun was suddenly bumped from behind and almost fell down.

"Uncle, are you okay? I, I didn't push, it was the crowd behind." The young scholar hurriedly explained.

"It's okay, let's watch together." Li Shunti raised his trouser waist and stood up again. Unfortunately, he had been squeezed to the side, so he had to start looking at the end of the list in front of him.

Where is the young master?

Where is our young master?

Rong Youtang, Rong Youtang, Rong Youtang...

Li Shun held his breath, did not dare to take a breath, opened his eyes wide, and looked forward carefully.

At this time, Rong Youtang and his son were finally pushed forward by the crowd, sweating profusely from exhaustion, and their robes were wrinkled.

"Old Li! Old Li!" Rong Kaiji caught sight of the butler at a high place, and hurriedly called: "Old Li, brother, brother...how is it?"

Rong Youtang watched on tiptoe, his mouth was dry from nervousness, but unfortunately they were at the bottom of the steps, their line of sight was tightly blocked by a wall of people, and they couldn't even see the corner of the happy list.

"Master, please rest easy, I'm looking, I'm looking." Li Shun hastily turned his head to comfort him, but he kept clapping his hands and stamping his feet in a hurry—I've read most of it, why is there no name of the young master yet? !

Could it be... failed?

Li Shun gasped, not only comforting himself that he hadn't finished it yet, but also wondering whether he had missed it. He looked up for too long, his neck was sore, and he scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, like ants on a hot pot.After a while, due to the angle of his sight, he had to move to the left to see the first half of the happy list, but he was caught in front, back, left, and left, unable to move, so he could only plead: "Little brother, have you read the left side? Exchange the two?"

"Not yet." The scholar obviously won, his brows were brimming with joy, he was paying attention to the same rankings as himself, and he was full of ambition. He saw Li Shun dressed as a relative and friend, anxious but polite, so he kindly asked: "Where did you take the exam?" Mr. Ling? Let me help you find it, how about it?"

"Oh, it's my young master who took the exam." Li Shun was very grateful, and quickly explained: "Our young master's name is Rong Youtang, and Rong Youtang is on the list?"

Rong Youtang?

The dozen or so people occupying the high platform on the left looked at Li Shun in unison, with complicated and unpredictable eyes.

"Rong Youtang?" The scholar raised his eyebrows in astonishment, and the joy on his face faded for a moment. He gave up his position and asked Li Shun to move to the left. "Look, this time Enke will try No.3, Rong Youtang, but is your young master?"

Li Shun widened his eyes, opened his mouth wide, grinned happily, clapped his hands in ecstasy, and exclaimed: "Oh! No.3?!" Li Shun was overjoyed, staring at the word "Rong Youtang" intently, back and forth more than ten times , after confirming that he read it correctly, he turned around and tried to squeeze out of the crowd, shouting the good news: "Master, you have won, young master has won, No.3!"

Rong Kaiji was shocked and asked: "You won? No.3?"

"Really?" Rong Youtang was overjoyed.

"It's absolutely true! I can see it clearly." Li Shun panted and squeezed off the high platform, his eyebrows beaming.

"Father, you and Shunbo stand here for a while, I'll go and have a look!" Rong Youtang didn't see the happy list with his own eyes, and he was always worried. If he wasn't worried about his adoptive father being pushed, he would have squeezed to the front uncontrollably.

At critical junctures in life, no one can remain calm.

"Tang'er, be careful!" Rong Kaiji warned with a smile on his face, his heart sank, and he finally boldly walked towards the vermilion wall of the Gongyuan—in fact, he was not in a hurry just now, for fear that his son would be sad when he failed the ranking, so he intentionally asked the housekeeper to visit first.

Rong Youtang was tall and thin, quick and flexible, and saw every stitch. Not long after, he was standing in front of the happy list. He held his breath, his heart beating like a drum, and quickly found his name in the first column and third on the happy list!

"Ah—" Rong Youtang couldn't help shouting in a low voice, without blinking his eyes, surprise and joy rushed from the soles of his feet to the strands of his hair in an instant!

God bless, Buddha bless, mother bless...

The handsome young man looked up at the list, with a smile on his face, under the bright sun in June, his appearance was beautiful and eye-catching, many fellow tributes secretly looked at him, with unpleasant eyes.

"Tang'er, Tang'er, how are you? Let me see." Panting, Rong Kaiji pushed forward, took a closer look, and found his son's name almost immediately!Immediately ecstatic, hugged the child and shouted: "No.3! My son is doing well!"

"Hey, when we got up early, a pair of magpies flew over to our yard, chirping. I said it was the good news, isn't it true? It should be the grand celebration of the young master's high school, hahaha~" Li Shun was elated and extremely proud.

Rong Youtang was elated, surrounded by his family, but besides being happy, he was also very melancholy. He always felt that there was someone missing by his side: If it was a high school student whose identity had not been revealed, His Highness would definitely praise me to my face...

After suffering from many envious, guarded and jealous eyes, the Rong family left Zhu Qiang of the Gongyuan with happy faces.

"Great joy, great joy!"

Rong Kaiji was proud and relieved, he spoke much louder than usual, he was full of vigor, and he arranged with great courage: "Old Li, we should be busy when we go back! Although I didn't pass the imperial examination, it is very rare for my brother to pass the high school exam. It is reasonable to tell your relatives and friends, and invite you to thank your previous masters, the family of uncles who taught you lessons, etc., especially His Royal Highness Prince Qing—”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Li Shun agreed without knowing it, "His Royal Highness King Qing, His Highness Ninth Prince, and Mr. Guo, regardless of whether they appreciate the face or not, invitations must be sent."

Rong Kaiji paused uncomfortably, and after careful consideration for a while, Fang Zheng said: "You are right, we must not be rude, let alone be ungrateful."

"Father, why don't you set up a bar yet? I haven't taken the imperial examination yet, if I'm a top-ranking scholar, wouldn't it be embarrassing?" Rong Youtang hastily dissuaded him, but he had gradually regained his composure.

With Jinshi, such as Mrs.

The reputation is really bad!Gong Shiruo's ranking in the top three in the palace examination is almost as uncomfortable as being in the first place.

"Hey, you can't say that." Rong Kaiji had other considerations, and explained: "Don't worry, Dad doesn't mean to make a big show. He just set up a few tables at home and invites friends to sit down, especially Uncle Yan. You have a Jinshi background and work in the Imperial Academy, so you must respectfully ask him to give you advice on how to prepare for the imperial examination."

The family members were excited, Rong Youtang's persuasive persuasion was fruitless, so he had to obey, and decided to invite only acquaintances of three or five families.

"Hey, it's too hot, let's go back and discuss it slowly, let's go!" Rong Youtang urged repeatedly, but he couldn't do anything to the family members who couldn't wait to discuss everything about the banquet. Almost very uncomfortable.

"Hurry up, I'm going to drive the carriage out."

Rong Youtang ordered loudly, and hurried to find his carriage under the shade of a tree.

There are more than a dozen hundred-year-old trees outside the Gongyuan, tall and luxuriant, sheltering for miles around, cool and pleasant.

There is a row of low walls next to the shade of the tree, and the blue bricks are hollowed out to form a pattern, which happens to be the place where the horses and carriages are ready-made.

"Huh~" Rong Youtang sighed comfortably, raised his sleeves to wipe his sweat, and looked for the carriage from memory, dodging sideways from time to time to make way, passing through many carriages that turned around and left.

Zhou Renlin thought that he would not see the concubine today.

Sitting alone in the carriage, he still looked embarrassed with a bruised nose and a swollen face. He was restless and frequently lifted the curtain to look around.

Suddenly, the corner of his robe fluttered behind the ancient tree on the opposite side, and Rong Youtang appeared in a flash!

The concubine was right in front of his eyes, handsome and handsome, wearing a scholar's robe, he was impeccably handsome, but it was a pity that he walked in a hurry and was about to go far away.

"Hey!!" Zhou Renlin blurted out in a turbulent heart, hurriedly lifted the curtain, and leaned out half of his body to stare.

Rong Youtang stopped naturally, thinking that he was blocking the way of other carriages, but when he looked up——

Zhou Renlin? !

How is he?

Caught off guard, Rong Youtang froze on the spot.

Father and son are several feet apart, looking at each other:

The concubine who thought he had died long ago grew up, completely lost his innocence and youthfulness, tall and handsome, able to pass the high school exam, and has both good looks and good looks... It is very comforting for a father to have a son like this.

There is only one fly in the ointment: Mingtang looks too much like his uncle!Alas, even if one of my facial features resembles me, that would be fine.

Zhou Renlin was overjoyed, his face was full of kindness and comfort, his eyebrows were smiling, and he was a little at a loss. He didn't know how to communicate with his son who had been reunited for a long time. He opened his mouth several times, but hesitated to speak.

It's a pity that Rong Youtang didn't show any excitement or joy at all, his eyes were burning brightly, his figure was upright, his face was frosty, and it was hard to hide his hatred.

"You—" Zhou Renlin turned pale in astonishment, and then became annoyed. He was about to ask, "Don't you recognize your father?" when he saw his eldest son approaching surrounded by servants. Without even thinking about it, he hurriedly put down the curtain and retreated into the carriage to escape.

Rong Youtang sneered: I knew it, you are a complete hypocrite!What a villain!

He was so contemptuous that when he turned around, he bumped into Zhou Mingjie.

When the enemy met, he was extremely jealous.

"Hmph!" Zhou Mingjie snorted, his face contorted in shock and jealousy.

Considering that his adoptive father was waiting outside, Rong Youtang didn't want to get entangled with Zhou's family, so he walked straight towards him.

Zhou Mingjie immediately tensed up all over, taking it for granted that the other party made a move——

Unexpectedly, Rong Youtang turned a blind eye and passed by.

"Stop!" Zhou Mingjie stopped, feeling extremely humiliated, glaring angrily, and taunted angrily, "It's only the third place in the general test, so it's so crazy? The merchants are at the end of the day, and the top three in the palace test is considered to be the emperor's grace."

Rong Youtang frowned in disgust, knowing the nature of the other party, he listened but did not hear, and his footsteps did not stop.

"Stop!" Zhou Mingjie refused to give up, and hurriedly chased after him, calling out names: "Rong Youtang, are you blind or deaf?"

Zhou Mingjie blocked the way, Rong Youtang had no choice but to stop, calmly brushed off his robe sleeves, and said leisurely: "I don't know why Mr. Zhou is in the way?"

"You'd better climb on a high branch forever, don't ask me to say nice things." Zhou Mingjie threatened.He was so confident that he came to watch the list in person, but he found that Rong Youtang was far ahead of him?He can't take it at all!

"Nice?" Rong Youtang took the time to shake his head and sighed, "How can you have good things in your mouth?"

A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory.

"You——" Zhou Mingjie's face was ashen, he sneered suddenly, and lowered his voice to sarcastically: "You have benefited a lot from being close to the nobleman. Try, you can also rank in the top three."

"The imperial court opened the Enke, supervised by the Ministry of Rites, a chief examiner, two deputy examiners, and more than a dozen patrolling examiners, all of whom are well-educated, jointly selected. If you have any objections to the results of the examination, you can question it upwards, but you have to take the exam." Produce evidence. Those who slander and criticize scientific examinations for no reason will be banned for life at least, or thrown into prison!" Rong Youtang pointed out impassionedly, and then asked with concern: "Young Master Zhou lost his composure when he released the rankings today, could it be...?"

"How could I fail the list?!" Zhou Mingjie raised his head proudly, and his followers finally had a chance to intervene, rushing to say: "Of course my son is on the list!"

"Where are the No. 90 eight—" Before this person finished speaking, Zhou Mingjie had categorically reprimanded him: "Shut up! You're the only one who talks too much."

There were so many people crowded just now, Rong Youtang had no time to look at the happy list carefully, after all there were nearly 300 names on the list.Therefore, he really didn't know that Zhou Mingjie had won, so he was stunned unexpectedly.

At this time, Rong Kaiji and Li Shun had already chatted and walked to the shade of the tree. Due to the heavy obstacles of carriages and horses and ancient trees, they did not find any dispute. Rong Kaiji called out: "Tang'er?"

"Master, didn't you find the carriage?" Li Shun cheerfully ran into the carriage, looked around on tiptoe, and shouted, "I clearly remember that it was tied, was, and... over there! Master, our carriage is here!" Li Shun said Not far away, stepped on the shaft and waved.

Rong Youtang smiled and said, "Understood, I'll go right away."

Zhou Mingjie was indignant, and sneered: "After the eunuch!"

Rong Youtang laughed back angrily, and said coldly: "The palace examination on the first day of July, the Golden Palace's countermeasures, it won't be too late for you to show off your tongue when the time comes, maybe you can get a fellow Jinshi."

"The outcome has not yet been decided. Who will be the Jinshi? We will know when the time comes!"

"We'll wait and see." Rong Youtang remained indifferent, striding away with a blank expression, leaving Zhou Mingjie with jealous teeth itching.

after a while

The father and son of the Zhou family sat in the carriage, gratified and praised the eldest son for winning, Zhou Renlin couldn't help but blame: "Mingjie, why are you provoking others in public? It's outrageous." That's your brother Mingtang.

"That's the little eunuch who can't get along with Minghong!" Zhou Mingjie was so depressed that he didn't have any joy in winning. He gritted his teeth and said, "What's so great about an unscrupulous male favorite? How could he be the third? I really doubt that King Qing will bribe him." The chief examiner!"

Zhou Renlin hurriedly gave a stern admonition: "There is no basis, so be careful! Don't even think about it. If King Qing is so obsessed and reckless, would he be able to achieve today's achievements?"

"Hmph." Zhou Mingjie was full of disbelief, but he also knew that it was impossible: the first few candidates in the test were selected after careful consideration by the examiners.Once there is a falsehood, the strategy of the Golden Palace will be exposed in the future, and Longyan will be furious, and he will have to question the examiner first.

At this time, Rong Youtang was a big step closer to becoming an official through the imperial examination.

Needless to say, I am delighted, but I have not passed the palace test, so I still can't feel at ease, and I have to prepare countermeasures for the palace.

That night

The summer night was hot, Rong Youtang studied hard, holding the scroll in hand, pacing up and down, guessing the exam questions that the emperor might ask, asking and answering, muttering to himself.

The family gave full support: Ice trays, cold soup for relieving summer heat, and sweet pastries were all available. At the same time, they went back to the house early to rest, and did not dare to make the slightest noise, so as not to affect their reading.

The door is ajar, the window is open.

Without distraction, he paced to the window, then turned around slowly, before he could stand still, he was suddenly patted on the back of the shoulder!

Horrified, Rong Youtang wanted to shout out instinctively, but his mouth was covered instantly, and he was dragged backwards. When he was struggling desperately, he heard a voice that was not too familiar: "Shh, don't be afraid, it's me."

Seong Fei dragged Rong Youtang into the inner bedroom, let go, and jumped away with a playful smile. Before the other party got angry, he immediately expressed his intention: "I have something important to do with you! It's too late to arrange the time, so don't be angry."

"How dare you find my house?!" Rong Youtang raised his eyebrows, lowered his voice and scolded angrily: "Your court stipulates that you should pay for the work and never disturb the employer's life. I have already paid all the remuneration, and we are done!"

"What do you mean? It's unlucky, bah bah bah." Seinfeld frowned, extremely aggrieved, and said indignantly, "For the sake of the pleasant cooperation, I risked my life and came here to report the letter with good intentions. I won't accept it." Qian, why are you like this?"

Rong Youtang said with a straight face: "You broke into my house, who is dangerous? Are you chasing me?"

"No, I didn't deliberately pursue it. You exposed it yourself. Didn't I follow Zhou's family before? I also saw your uncle and cousin beating Zhou Renlin with my own eyes. After thinking about it, wouldn't it make sense? I'm not a fool, you said Isn't it?" Seinfeld tried to defend himself, he pretended to be a prodigal son, his eyebrows raised and lowered when he spoke, which was a little funny.

Rong Youtang waved his hand: "Stop talking nonsense, talk quickly!" He was completely exposed, and was very afraid of Song Fei's cunning, so he was naturally in a bad mood.

"Mao hastily visited, you should be angry." Sein Fei smiled helplessly, and said concisely and quickly: "Someone bought your life for 5000 taels of silver in the black market."

Rong Youtang was startled, and immediately asked: "Who?"

"I don't know. The other party is very sophisticated and trusts each other."

Rong Youtang fell into deep thought: Could it be the Zhou family?Or did I accidentally get in someone's way?

"Hey, is Hao Sandao folded in your hand?" Song Fei asked lazily. He leaned against the carved Duobao Pavilion, folded his arms, and looked at the real face of the little employer with great interest: Rong Youtang was wearing cream Black pajamas, ironed down and down, all the hair tied up, revealing the slender and fair neck and collarbone, with picturesque eyebrows.

"You know Hao Sandao?" Rong Youtang's expression remained the same, always on guard.

"They are all gangsters. I have never seen or heard of him. He is a killer, and he has taken a lot of lives. He has been paid for three years for one vote, and he deserves to die." Sein Fei said lightly.

"Then do you know Zhen Qianbao?" Rong Youtang asked tentatively.

Song Fei raised his eyebrows in surprise, and when he was about to speak, his face suddenly changed drastically, and he left without saying a word, his movement was so fast that he almost brought out an afterimage, he jumped out of the window, jumped up the wall several times, and disappeared in the blink of an eye !

"Hey?"

Rong Youtang chased to the window, didn't even grab one by the corner of his clothes, and watched the other party slip away.

Immediately afterwards, there was a sound of footsteps from the second door, and the old Zhangtou who was resting in the gatehouse trotted in, bumped into Rong Youtang who came out after hearing the news, hurried forward and said: "Young Master, Prince Qing is coming down!"

Before the words finished, Rong Youtang saw King Qing come into view.

"Do you want to wake up the master?" the old man asked for instructions.

"No need." Rong Youtang stopped and said, "I'll just entertain His Highness, I guess we have something important to discuss."

"Hey, I think so too, it's so late." Old Zhangtou thought it was true, and hurried to make tea.

Rong Youtang went up to meet King Qing, perplexed, and asked with concern: "Your Highness is coming late at night, what's the matter?"

"Come in." Zhao Zeyong quickly stepped into the study room, followed by a dozen elite soldiers who quickly dispersed to guard.

Rong Youtang followed closely behind, and when he entered, he saw Zhao Zeyong standing in front of the open window, thoughtful.

"Your Highness?"

Zhao Zeyong didn't turn his head back and said: "I'm too busy today, when I passed by your house, I heard that Xiaoxiao is haunting, is there such a thing?"

Xiaoxiao?

Seinfeld?

Rong Youtang was a little confused, approached and asked softly: "Your Highness, how do you know that Song Fei is here?"

Zhao Zeyong turned around, his eyes were piercing, he stared at Rong Youtang who was dressed thinly, and asked seriously: "Who is Seinfeld?"

His Highness must have planted people near my house, maybe he knows Seinfeld better than me!

Rong Youtang's expression froze, he made a decisive decision, and told himself the whole story of hiring Song Fei to deal with the Zhou family.

"You are so courageous." Zhao Zeyong was satisfied with the other party's confession, and then severely reprimanded him: "Cao Shangfei is a man of the rivers and lakes, who is good at poison and hidden weapons, and commits crimes and lawlessness. Are you not afraid of being killed?"

Rong Youtang explained helplessly: "It's already settled, but he came here to report the news on purpose. Although he doesn't know whether it's true or not, he still reminded me. Sigh, I was taken aback by him."

"What he said was true."

"It's true that someone paid me to kill me again?" Rong Youtang was dumbfounded.

"That's right." Zhao Zeyong saw that the other party's collar was crooked, so he stretched out his hand to flatten it without thinking twice, stroked the delicate skin with his rough fingertips, and said in a deep voice, "Two things, one is flying on the grass, and the other is Zhou Renlin. Check, Sein Fei may know Zhen Qianbao, and he must be caught in heaven and earth to completely eliminate hidden dangers."

Before Rong Youtang could react, Zhao Zeyong immediately asked:

"Would you like to change your father?"