211-220

Chapter 211

It was not dark yet when Lin Zhen came in from the city gate. People on the street were staring at him intently. When he saw a man bumping into a wall like a fool again, he walked into a shop and bought a veil hat to wear on his head.

Sighs of regret came from all directions. Lin Zhen felt that this was a bit exaggerated. He quickened his pace and hurried home. He just walked to the door of the shop, Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan, who came to Gu Lin to review his lessons, just walked out from inside. Seeing him wearing a veil hat, they saluted and asked: "Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

Lin Zhen took off the veil hat and tucked some hair from his temples behind his ears. "It's your Uncle Lin."

"..."

The three looked at the dressed-up Lin Zhen in front of them, their eyes slightly fixed. This Lin Zhen was very different from what they had seen before. It was like wiping away the dust on a pearl. No matter who it was, they would be attracted by his brilliance.

Suddenly, when the three stood there without saying anything, Gu Lin strode out from the backyard, pulled Lin Zhen who was standing in front of them, and walked inside.

Lin Zhen's hat almost fell to the ground. He said to the three people: "I'll close the door later, you guys go slowly."

The three people didn't come back to their senses until Lin Zhen's figure disappeared behind the door connecting the backyard and the front shop. However, the three of them didn't say anything and walked out awkwardly.

In any case, they were shocked to see Lin Zhen like this suddenly, and they didn't have any other thoughts.

Lin Zhen was pulled back to the backyard by Gu Lin, and before he could even say a word, his lips were held. Just like he did before, Gu Lin's head licked his lips and tightly wrapped around him as if he wanted to swallow him into his stomach.

Lin Zhen could keep up with the rhythm at first, but when the air in his lungs became less and less, his slightly trimmed eyebrows wrinkled, and then he couldn't stand it and tilted his head back. This time, Gu Lin didn't chase him and continue to kiss him, but hugged him tightly, and his lips fell on his neck.

"Gu Lin!" The feeling instantly spread from the coccyx to the whole body. Lin Zhen grabbed the clothes on Gu Lin's arm tightly. Lin Zhen raised his head as if he was waiting to be killed, feeling Gu Lin's mess on his neck. His fair face was soon covered with blush, and his nose made some pitiful and ambiguous sounds.

Lin Zhen had discovered before that his body could not stand being teased at all, and would be inexplicably restless from time to time.

But he was busy with many things, and his mind was not on this, and he often threw away his thoughts as soon as he had a little idea.

But Gu Lin's doing this was tantamount to planting a seed in him, catching him off guard.

Lin Zhen soon felt something pressing against his lower abdomen. He suddenly reacted and stretched out his soft hands to put a little distance between himself and Gu Lin.

Gu Lin seemed to have finally calmed down a little, and his head rested on his wet neck, breathing heavily.

He was too hot, so hot that Lin Zhen didn't know where to put his hands and feet, and he tried his best to calm the restlessness in his body.

The two hugged for a while, and Gu Lin let go of his shoulder and held his face instead, looking at him deeply with dark eyes, and his thin lips fell on his eyebrows, eyes, nose, cheeks, and finally his plump lips.

He ate some of the powder on Lin Zhen's face.

"What's that smell?" Lin Zhen pushed him away this time, and didn't care about the wetness on his face. This little guy was getting more and more enthusiastic about kissing him, and he wanted to kiss every inch of his face, so that Lin Zhen had to wash his face every time.

Gu Lin's lips, which were slightly wet from the kiss, opened and closed: "It tastes like Zhenzhen."

It was as good as asking without asking. Lin Zhen walked around him and went into the house. "It's all your saliva, it should taste like saliva. I'll change my clothes first and then wash my face."

After eating for a while, Gu Lin didn't catch anyone this time. Instead, he went to the kitchen to get the prepared food, bowls and chopsticks. After Lin Zhen washed his face and hands, he came in and saw the hot dishes he liked to eat. He sat on the stool and took the initiative to talk about the interesting people and things he met at the Flower Festival today.

And what he was going to do was also going smoothly. Tomorrow he would start making the powder, flower dew and lipstick that Mrs. Shi and several noble ladies wanted, and he would be busy for a while.

As for being troubled by the maid and what happened to Mrs. He, Lin Zhen didn't say anything.

It's all in the past. It's useless to talk about it except to add trouble.

With a source of customers, Lin Zhen started working early the next morning. He first went to the kiln where he had previously made lipstick caps and lipstick tubes connected to the wooden base and ordered a batch of new ones. The tubes were plain white, and the caps were also plain white, but he asked the master to draw a logo of a flower branch wrapped in a circle on them. He

also remade some of the wooden bases below. The wood had to be good, not painted, just polished to be smooth.

Then he went to the grocery store to buy beeswax and natural pigments for making lipstick.

He went to the flower seller to look around and asked him to send him a few fragrant flowers.

The flower seller was very happy. The flowers Lin Zhen picked this time were all more expensive varieties. Although the quantity he wanted was not as much as plum blossoms, it was not small, and he could make a lot of money.

After finishing these things, Lin Zhen, who was carrying his things and walking home, just walked to the door of his house and met the young woman and the talkative girl he met at the Flower Festival.

The two stood at the door of their house, and they didn't know how long they had been waiting. As soon as they saw Lin Zhen

, the girl ran over and grabbed his sleeve: "Uncle, my mother and I prepared a table of food, and specially invited you and Brother Xiong to visit my home." It was only one day, and Lin Zhen had not forgotten that when the three of them separated yesterday, the young woman said several times that she wanted to thank him for holding the girl when the crowd was in chaos.

Lin Zhen looked at the lovely girl and the gentle woman, and said: "Then I'll put the things down and call my nephew at home."

"Okay, I'll wait here for uncle and Brother Xiong." The girl, who was about to meet her fiancé in other people's homes, jumped up and down, still looking childish.

Lin Zhen carried the basket into the house, washed his hands and wiped his face, and called Gu Lin: "Yesterday I took the girl from the neighbor's house next door. Today, the girl's family invited you to dinner, you can come with me."

As he said, Lin Zhen looked around the cabinets in the kitchen, took two bags of crisp candies and ten salted duck eggs and put them in the basket, ready as a gift for the visit.

Although someone invited you to dinner, you can't go empty-handed. This kind of gift is better, it's not expensive, it's practical, and the girl's family won't refuse it.

It was almost evening now. If Lin Zhen didn't say he was going to the neighbor's house for dinner, Gu Lin would have to cook in a while. He took the bamboo basket from Lin Zhen's hand, stood beside Lin Zhen, and the two walked out together.

The girl and the young woman who were waiting outside saw Lin Zhen and Gu Lin coming out. The naughty girl felt a chill on the back of her neck the moment she saw Gu Lin, and she didn't dare to jump up and pull Lin Zhen's sleeve. She said honestly, "Uncle brother, come into my house quickly, my mother's cooking is delicious."

She added, "Uncle, your cooking is delicious too. Sometimes when I smell the smell coming from your yard, I eat two more bowls of rice."

The young woman pulled her little grandson over and said, "She is just a little greedy cat. She has said several times before that the food you cook is delicious."

"Husband and boy, please come in quickly."

Lin Zhen told her and the young woman yesterday that his last name was Lin, but they knew nothing about Gu Lin, so it was a bit awkward to address him. He said to the young woman, "He is my nephew. His last name is Gu and his given name is Lin. Madam Yu, you can call him Xiao Lin or Gu Boy."

Madam Yu's family is in business, selling roasted nuts, and they are also merchants. Seeing Gu Lin in a scholar's robe, she couldn't help but feel in awe. She couldn't call him Xiao Lin or Gu Boy, so she just called him by his name.

The four of them went in one after the other. When they reached the backyard, they saw the people of Yu Niangzi's family busy. A man in his thirties was sitting under the eaves of the main house, and two young men of about the same age as Gu Lin were moving the roasted nuts in their pockets into the house.

Seeing Lin Zhen and Gu Lin brought by Yu Niangzi and the girl, they all stopped what they were doing and greeted them: "Mom, this is the uncle you and my little sister talked about, hello uncle."

Lin Zhen finally understood where the girl's personality came from. The two brothers treated the person as someone they had known for many years as soon as they met.

Lin Zhen also said a few words to them and introduced Gu Lin to them.

Two young girls who were only in their teens and had women's buns came out and said, "Dad, Mom, the food is already on the table, you can eat."

So Lin Zhen and Gu Lin were warmly invited to sit at the table, one table for the men and one table for the women. Lin Zhen, the husband, was the person who wanted to thank the girl, so he sat at the men's table with Yu Niangzi.

Madam Yu said, "I really have to thank Mr. Lin, otherwise I don't know what would happen to my little grandson. And you came just like that, and brought gifts with you. You are so polite that we don't know what to say."

Lin Zhen said, "It's just a small favor, don't take it to heart, Brother Yu and Madam Yu. We are neighbors, and inviting you to dinner is considered a relationship."

"Yes, in the future, let's help each other and live a better and better life." Madam Yu's husband doesn't like to talk, and it's almost always Madam Yu who talks.

But this Brother Yu will pick up dishes that Madam Yu can't reach, and will turn around and ask the girl if there are enough dishes on the table.

Madam Yu's two sons were afraid that Gu Lin would be bored, so they took the initiative to talk to him.

"Gu Lin, how old are you this year?"

"Fifteen."

"Then how many years have you studied?"

"Seven years."

"Seven years, that means he should be a scholar now. The kid from our Huai Sifang who sells roasted chestnuts studied for seven years. He passed the imperial examination and became a scholar last year. There was a three-day banquet. I heard that one has to wait three years to pass the imperial examination. His father prays to God every day hoping that he can pass."

Gu Lin said in a flat voice: "Yeah."

Madam Yu's eldest son, who asked Gu Lin, did not expect that Gu Lin was really a scholar. He looked at him differently: "So you really passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. That's amazing. Maybe one day I'll see you wearing an official robe."

Chapter 212

Although there are still few people who study in Kyoto, there are even fewer who can pass the examination and become a scholar from a tongsheng.

When the other people in Yu Niangzi's family heard Gu Lin answer Yu Dalang that he was a scholar, they looked at him frequently.

Yu Dalang was still very surprised and couldn't help asking, "You also passed the examination last year?"

Gu Lin said, "No, I was a scholar in the 42nd year of Qianhui."

The 42nd year of Qianhui, that is, four years ago, is a full three years different from the person who just became a scholar last year as Yu Dalang said. Because the feast of the family selling roasted chestnuts was very grand, Yu Dalang heard a lot about the imperial examination.

Knowing that after becoming a scholar, he still has to continue to participate in the provincial examination every three years, Yu Dalang suddenly remembered that when he asked Gu Lin how many years he had studied, Gu Lin said seven years. Four years ago, Gu Lin was only eleven years old and was already a scholar, which means that he passed the examination and became a tongsheng after studying for three years, and jumped from a tongsheng to a scholar.

As for the scholar from the roasted chestnut shop, it is said that he hired a good teacher to teach him at home when he was three years old, and he studied for more than ten years before he passed the examination.

Yu Dalang swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously and tentatively: "Did you take part in the provincial examination last year?"

Gu Lin held the chopsticks with his slender fingers and gave a positive answer: "I took part and won a few places."

"Ka Da--" Yu Dalang's chopsticks fell on the table, and he stuttered. When he thought about sitting with a Juren, he couldn't speak clearly, "I'm really sorry, I didn't know you were a Juren."

As soon as the title of Juren came out, everyone in the Yu family looked at Gu Lin, and the atmosphere instantly changed.

Gu Lin looked at Yu Dalang, "I am just a guest of your house, living next door to your house."

Lin Zhen also smiled and said to the stunned Madam Yu and Big Brother Yu, "This child has some talent in studying. This time I came to Kyoto to bring him to participate in the April college entrance examination. Madam Yu and Big Brother Yu, don't just look at him. His dishes are not good enough."

Madam Yu and her husband felt that Lin Zhen and Gu Lin were not the kind of people who would be so proud of themselves after they became famous and look down on merchants like them.

After a while, Madam Yu finally took her eyes off Gu Lin and said, "If I had known that Gu Lin was a juren, I would not have dared to invite you to my house."

Lin Zhen smiled and said, "Then I would not have the good fortune today and would not be able to eat the delicious dishes cooked by you, Madam Yu."

Madam Yu sighed in her heart, and she couldn't help but feel a good impression of Lin Zhen. She was so beautiful, kind-hearted, and sweet-mouthed. Who could not love her?

When Lin Zhen and Gu Lin walked out of Yu's yard after dinner, Madam Yu whispered to Lin Zhen, "This child is really promising. He should have been engaged, right?"

"Yes." Gu Lin had not spoken yet. Lin Zhen

looked at him, turned his head and smiled slightly and said to Madam Yu, "It was arranged last year."

Madam Yu smiled and said, "It must be a very good girl or boy. If there is a chance, I will go to have a drink with him."

"Okay." The two families were separated by a wall. Lin Zhen and Gu Lin bid farewell to Madam Yu and the girl and walked towards their own homes.

Madam Yu looked at the backs of the two people and couldn't help wondering what kind of background this child Gu Lin had. He didn't even have his parents around him, and only had an uncle with him. If they didn't know, they would have thought that the two... It was not

until she saw the two people enter the house with her own eyes that Madam Yu turned around and went back to her own home.

Lin Zhen said that Madam Yu's cooking was delicious, not out of politeness. Madam Yu cooked authentic Kyoto dishes, which suited Lin Zhen's taste very well. When he entered the house, he also told Gu Lin that he would cook a table of Kyoto dishes someday and invite Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing, Zhong Yan and others to be his guests.

Gu Lin, who was walking side by side with him, held her hand and looked at him in the dim moonlight: "Am I good looking?"

"?" Lin Zhen was confused.

He soon realized that Gu Lin asked this question because of what he had just said that he didn't have good dishes.

He laughed dumbly and looked up at him: "Gu Shuanzi, are you ashamed to be so jealous of a table of dishes and vinegar?"

Gu Lin hugged his waist, "Am I good-looking?"

Lin Zhen laughed: "You are so good-looking, what kind of dishes can compare to you?"

"I think you will never be able to jump over today in the future. Compared with a table of dishes and vinegar, you are just an old vinegar jar." The more Lin Zhen talked, the more he felt that Gu Shuanzi was so cute. He stood on tiptoe to grab his shoulders and pecked him on the chin.

Gu Lin held his waist with one hand, and shook his buttocks directly on his arms to sit. Lin Zhen, who originally needed to stand on tiptoe, was suddenly taller than him.

Lin Zhen, who was almost used to his way of holding, was not as caught off guard as before. He put his hand steadily on his shoulder and pecked him on the forehead.

Before getting angry, Lin Zhen quickly patted Gu Lin, "Go to bed, there are still many things to do tomorrow."

Gu Lin's jaw was tightly clenched, and his Adam's apple moved violently, but he nodded, carried Lin Zhen directly to the bed, and turned back to his room.

Of course, Lin Zhen noticed his throbbing desire, but the two of them were not suitable now, and Gu Lin remembered that they were not married and could not do that even when he was drunk, let alone when he was sober.

Sleep, sleep.

Lin Zhen took off his outer robe and closed his eyes.

Then he heard Gu Lin's bathing sound very clearly...

The next day, Lin Zhen got up and picked out the things he had to do in the next few days and thought about them. The most important thing was to prepare the powder, flower dew, and lipstick for the three customers and send them over, and then write the script and hand it over to the old troupe owner, and give him a gift by the way. There was

a rule, and Lin Zhen got busy. Several kinds of powder were ready-made, and they were put in a porcelain box. In addition to plum blossom flower dew, other flower dews were made, and the lipstick was made in four colors.

Bright red, orange red, red like tomato, and light water red suitable for daily use.

It doesn't take long to distill flower dew, but you need to keep an eye on the heat, and then after steaming one kind of flower dew to prevent the smell from flowing, you need to thoroughly clean the device before extracting another kind.

Lipstick was much simpler, and it took less than half a day to make it all.

He matched the items in full and packed them in a newly customized box.

It is said that one should respect the clothes first and then the person. Lin Zhen changed into the indigo collar that Gu Lin bought, and the main body of the jade-colored dress. He rented a sedan chair and went to Mrs. Shi first.

"Let's go to Shi's house." Lin Zhen got on the rented sedan chair and said to the four people carrying the sedan chair.

When the leading man heard about going to Shi's house, his eyes widened slightly: "Let's go to Shi's house?"

Lin Zhen looked at him: "Why, don't you know where Shi's house is?"

The leading man said: "There is only one Shi's house in Kyoto. If my husband remembers correctly, we know where it is."

As he said that, the man looked at Lin Zhen. He didn't expect that someone who was related to Shi's house would come to rent their sedan chair. It was really strange.

Chapter 213

The sedan slowly came out of Huai Sifang and headed towards the eastern city. The hustle and bustle of the streets seemed to be paused after entering the East City District.

Lin Zhen lifted the curtain of the sedan and looked out a little bit. He saw that the courtyard on the East City District side was completely different from that on the South City District side. The door lintels were extremely exquisite, and the birds and animals carved on them were different.

Lin Zhen had no research on these and didn't know what the different patterns represented. He only felt that the further the sedan went inside, the wider the door of the house became, and the stricter the rules of the gatehouse standing at the door. Occasionally, he would encounter carriages and sedan chairs. At this time, the sedan bearers carrying him would pull the sedan chair to the side to let those carriages and sedan chairs pass.

The sedan carried him for about half an hour before arriving at the door of Shi's mansion.

The sedan bearer put the sedan on the ground gently and said to Lin Zhen, "Husband, we have arrived at Shi's house."

Lin Zhen lifted the curtain of the sedan and stepped down. He saw that the door lintel of Shi's house was very solemn and majestic. It was connected by four red pillars with traces of time. Each pillar was as thick as two people could hug.

There were two servants standing at the door, standing straight, which made them look different from those in other courtyards.

Lin Zhen paid the silver before getting into the sedan chair. He asked the sedan bearer to wait outside and then walked to the gate. "I am Lin Zhen from Huai Sifang. I had the honor of meeting Madam Shi on the Flower Festival. I'm here on her orders to give you some rouge and powder that I made myself."

The two gatekeepers had been watching him secretly since Lin Zhen's sedan chair stopped on the street in front of Shi's mansion. Although he had no servants following him, he was well-dressed and had a noble demeanor, so they took his words to heart. "My husband, wait here. I'll go and inform them."

Lin Zhen thanked him, knowing that he was just going to confirm whether this was true. If they let a stranger in and something happened, both of them might lose their lives.

After half a cup of tea, the servant who had gone to report came back and said in a more respectful tone than before, "Husband, please follow me."

Lin Zhen nodded to him and followed him in through the side door beside the main gate. Pavilions, waterside terraces, flowers, plants and trees, everything he saw was exquisite. When he reached the second courtyard gate, the gatekeeper spoke to the old woman standing at the gate, and the old woman led Lin Zhen to continue walking inside. After they reached a courtyard gate, a maid in her twenties, whose clothes were obviously different from the old woman's and more elegant than the rich ladies outside, led Lin Zhen to the main hall: "Madam, Husband Lin is here."

Madam Shi, who had met Lin Zhen once that day, was sitting on a chaise longue. Her hair was loosely tied into a low bun, and she wore two jade hairpins. She wore a bamboo green jacket, a horse-faced skirt, and embroidered shoes on her feet were decorated with pearls and jade.

Lin Zhen bowed to Madam Shi with his eyebrows lowered: "My humble servant, the jade face powder and flower dew lipstick I mentioned that day are ready and sent to you specially."

Madam Shi looked at him and found that although Lin Zhen's clothes today were not as grand and eye-catching as those on the Flower Festival, his clothes were also very elegant. The most important thing was that his face was still so beautiful.

Madam Shi stood up and asked the maid to bring a stool for Lin Zhen. Lin Zhen handed the things to the maid and sat on the stool.

The maid had already opened the things and presented them to Madam Shi. Madam Shi took a look at the things inside and saw different notes written on the porcelain boxes and porcelain bottles.

White jade face powder, purple jade face powder, jasper face powder.

Plum blossom dew, jasmine dew, peach blossom dew, orchid dew.

Several lipsticks also have their own names.

Mrs. Shi only saw white jade powder and plum blossom dew at Lin Zhen's place that day. Now that she has seen so many, she looked at Lin Zhen and asked, "Are these used in the same way as before?"

Lin Zhen said, "They are all the same, but the effects of purple jade powder and green jade powder are different. For example, if your skin is fair but has some fine bloodshot, it will be better to use jasper powder and white jade powder together."

"Purple jade powder is more suitable for those with slightly dark yellow skin."

"And the flower dew has different effects besides different tastes..."

Lin Zhen talked about several kinds of flower dew. The distilled flower water is not as good as the various essence creams made by modern technology, but it is better to apply it frequently than not to apply it. It is said that the skin is no longer dehydrated, and half of the problems are solved. Lin Zhen agrees with this.

And the four different colors of lipsticks range from bright red to orange red, and then tomato red and watery red, suitable for different makeup and different occasions. When applied on the skin, it is still moist and not dry at all.

Madam Shi played with the tomato-red lipstick and was very satisfied with it. She said to Lin Zhen, "Your craftsmanship is really good. Xiangzi, come and give me your reward."

Lin Zhen suddenly said, "Madam, it is a great honor for my little craftsmanship to be favored by you. I have been thinking about it these days. Even if I am not in Kyoto in the future, I will do business with this Jade Face Pink Flower Dew lipstick. Madam is now my first customer."

"If I accept your reward and then sell it to others at a different price, wouldn't that be taking advantage of you?"

"Why not go by the price of these items? Madam, you won't lose anything, and I won't lose anything either, and everyone will be happy."

This was the argument Lin Zhen had thought of at home. He really didn't want to accept Mrs. Shi's reward, he just wanted to sell the things to her and other people. First, if he accepted the reward, then these things would be like the things offered by a servant to Mrs. Shi. If he used them to do business in the future, it was hard to guarantee that Mrs. Shi would have other ideas. Secondly, although he and Gu Lin were no longer stepfather and stepson, Gu Lin was about to take the college entrance examination. If people knew that he had private transactions with Mrs. Shi and other noble ladies in the future, who knows what people would think and say. The relationship between

a simple customer and a merchant is the best. You sell things, and they buy things, regardless of anyone.

Mrs. Shi didn't expect Lin Zhen to not want her reward, but to sell these things to her.

She deliberately sank her face: "Think it over clearly. The things I give you as a reward are not on the same level as the price of your rouge and powder."

Lin Zhen sat on the stool where she was sitting and said: "It is a great honor for me to have these items in your eyes, but I am taking advantage of you. If I use them to do business in the future, and tell others that they are also things that Madam Shi likes, won't others think highly of me? If I ask for your reward again, I will feel very guilty."

Madam Shi, who was gloomy, did not expect Lin Zhen to say what she meant so bluntly. She smiled: "You are cunning."

Madam Shi certainly thought of what Lin Zhen was thinking, and she looked at Lin Zhen with a new eye.

If Lin Zhen accepted her reward, although he could get some benefits from her, he would be in the position of a servant who offered things, and what she lacked the most was servants.

But Lin Zhen did not accept it. Instead, he told her clearly that he would use these things to do business in the future, and he said he was taking advantage of her.

Madam Shi looked at Lin Zhen. For the first time, her eyes were not on his gorgeous face, but on him from head to toe. "You are smart, and you have a bit of backbone."

Madam Shi instructed the maid again: "Don't take the reward. Ask Mr. Lin to calculate how much silver these things cost, and then go and get them."

"Yes." The maid squatted and walked to Lin Zhen's side.

Lin Zhen breathed a sigh of relief after successfully completing the task. He bowed to Madam Shi sincerely, "Thank you, Madam." Then he was not afraid to settle the bill in front of Madam Shi, and said to the maid, "This white jade powder is three taels of silver per box, and the jasper powder and purple jade powder are more difficult to find, three taels and five cents of silver per box." "

The price of flower dew is the same, five taels of silver per bottle, and the shelf life of flower dew in cold weather is about ten to twelve days, and only seven or eight days when the weather is hot. Before using it, you should smell it to see if the smell has changed, and whether there are other foreign objects in the flower dew."

"Lipstick is two taels of silver per tube."

"A total of thirty-eight taels of silver." Lin Zhen gave the total price to the maid.

Mrs. Shi, who was sitting on the chaise longue, said, "You are really good at arithmetic."

Lin Zhen raised his lips slightly, "I have a little trick. When I was doing business in the town, I had to do accounts every day. I would be exhausted without this little trick."

Mrs. Shi looked at him and found that he was not tense when talking to her. Although he was respectful to her, he was not afraid of her. It was like talking to someone familiar, and he could even see some leisure.

Mrs. Shi's heart moved, and she asked the maid to go down to get the silver. She said to Lin Zhen, "Everything is ready. You put on makeup for me. I will go to a banquet later."

"Yes." Lin Zhen stood up and stepped aside. After Mrs. Shi got up from the chaise longue, he followed behind her and walked to the dressing table on the other side.

Mrs. Shi's dressing table was naturally different from that of ordinary people. The bronze mirror that was as big as a palm was hard to find outside had a diameter of thirty centimeters. There were countless boxes on the table and on the shelf next to it.

Lin Zhen stood by and looked at Mrs. Shi's face without makeup after she washed her face and sat down.

Mrs. Shi had an oval face, heroic eyebrows, a high nose, and lips that were neither thick nor thin. She had a somewhat heroic look. As she aged, her skin became slightly loose, and there were a few fine lines between her eyebrows.

Lin Zhen asked Madam Shi softly, "Madam, was the banquet you went to today private or formal?"

Madam Shi said, "A few old friends came together to appreciate some rare items."

Lin Zhen said, "Then I will put on a more gorgeous makeup for you, what do you think?"

Madam Shi, who had dressed dignified and noble after getting older, looked at her face in the mirror and Lin Zhen standing beside her, pondered for a while and said, "Yes, but time is a bit tight. You only have one chance. If you don't do it well and have to put it on a second time, I will be angry." Lin Zhen, who

had tried it on his face many times in recent days, said, "If I can't satisfy Madam, it's because I'm not good enough in my skills. It's human nature for Madam to blame me." Lin Zhen

first poured some plum blossom dew on his hands, warmed it slightly in the palm of his hand and rubbed it on Madam Shi's face, then took the white jade powder and the jasper powder, mixed them with plum blossom dew and gently patted them on, then drew eyebrows, found a suitable rouge from Madam Shi's previous rouge and powder, and finally picked up the tomato red lipstick...

Chapter 214

"Madam, take a look. Are you satisfied?" Lin Zhen said, holding a small powder-applying tool made of very fine flannel, and applying a thin layer of white jade powder on Madam Shi's face.

Madam Shi, who had closed her eyes, opened her eyes and looked at herself in the bronze mirror. She saw that the eyebrows of the person in the mirror were not as heroic as usual, but rather thin and long, adding a bit of softness but not weakness.

Her skin was white and clear, and her face seemed to have a natural and appropriate blush. The lipstick on her lips was bright and bright. In just a short cup of tea, Madam Shi seemed to be several years younger.

Madam Shi herself couldn't believe it. She moved closer to the bronze mirror, gently stroked her smooth and delicate face, and looked back at Lin Zhen with surprise in her eyes.

The maids who saw the change in Madam Shi's makeup were also shocked and liked it. They were jealous of the things Lin Zhen had used.

"You are really born with a pair of skillful hands." Madam Shi couldn't help but admire.

Lin Zhen thought to himself, thank you for the information explosion era he lives in. Whether he likes it or not, he will be pushed to some girls' makeup videos, so that he can watch some of them in bits and pieces. Isn't this useful?

He said, "Madam, you are too kind."

"I know whether it is too kind or not," Mrs. Shi was very happy. She wanted to give Lin Zhen something, but when she thought of what Lin Zhen had done before, she said to the maid, "I remember there is a tasseled gold crown, you find it." Mrs.

Shi looked up at Lin Zhen and said, "This is a gift for you. Come to the mansion often in the future."

The maids naturally kept her things well, and found them in a short time. They saw that the bottom of the golden crown was in the style of a hair crown, but it was made of gold branches and gold tassels. It could be worn by girls and boys. It was extremely luxurious. He

had already refused her reward, and she clearly said that this thing was a gift, so Lin Zhen thought about it and accepted it.

In the future, when he makes glass, he can just give Mrs. Shi a few things, and he won't worry about not being able to return the gift.

Lin Zhen bowed to Madam Shi: "Thank you, Madam."

Madam Shi looked at herself in the mirror: "I'm going to the banquet soon, so I'll stop here today. I'll ask someone to invite you to the mansion to talk when I have time another day."

"Yes." Lin Zhen followed the maid who brought him the gift and walked to the courtyard gate. Just like when he came, he was first led by a maid, and then led by another servant out of the second courtyard and out of the gate of Shi's mansion.

At this time, the tasseled golden crown in the box was already in Lin Zhen's hands. He walked to the sedan bearers waiting outside and asked: "Which mansion is closer to here, the Minister of Works' Mansion or the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion?"

When the sedan bearers heard that he was going to the Minister of Works' Mansion and the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion after coming out of Shi's Mansion, they did not dare to neglect Lin Zhen in the slightest and hurriedly said: "My husband, the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion is not far from here, and the Minister of Works' Mansion is a little further away."

Lin Zhen sat in the sedan chair and soon arrived at the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion.

After running to three places in half a day, Lin Zhen took a little more tip for the four sedan bearers when he returned to Huai Sifang in a sedan chair. He did makeup for Madam Shi and the two noble ladies, which took a long time, so he felt that he should give them this tip.

Otherwise, they would have done several rounds of business in other short periods of time.

The three powders, rouge and powder, all cost the same price, adding up to 114 taels of silver. Compared with the initial distillation equipment and the capital for custom-made porcelain boxes and vases, rice, flowers and various materials, it was still a long way off. However, the distillation equipment can be used for a long time, and there are still many porcelain boxes and vases. The three kinds of jade powder can also be preserved for a long time. There are still about 100 copies, and only fresh flowers need to be purchased.

After calculating, the profit he can get is actually amazing. Now he just waits for Madam Shi and the two noble ladies to get a good response from the use of the powder.

At the Chengqin Prince's Mansion, the old princess talked with several women of similar age and the maids brought by the women. There was a room full of female relatives, and the topic always couldn't avoid the clothes and things they used.

Suddenly, the maid outside came in and said, "Princess, Madam Shi is here."

The old princess stood up with a smile: "She is here just as we were talking about her. How come she came so quickly today?"

She could say Madam Shi like this, but others did not dare to. Madam Shi's surname was Shi, and she was different from the others present. After marrying into the husband's family, she had to be called Madam So-and-so's wife.

Because she was the only direct descendant of the Shi family, and her husband was the Minister of Works, a second-rank official, and could not suppress the super-rank King. Unless she and the Minister of Works had a boy who could inherit the title of King, she would be called the Minister's wife, or Madam Wu. The

old princess stood up, and everyone else stood up too. Everyone only heard a series of footsteps and the sound of maids and servants bowing, and Madam Shi came in surrounded by servants.

The moment she came in, the old princess and the others were dazzled by her face, which looked seven or eight years younger. They were speechless. Moreover, she had changed her usual dignified and noble appearance. She was heroic and gentle, gorgeous and bright and warm. She was a look that no one had ever seen before.

The old princess took her hand and looked around her twice: "Who is this? Is she Qiu Ling's sister? She is so beautiful."

The sickly lady who appeared with Mrs. Shi at the flower banquet hosted by Mrs. He that day was somewhat energetic: "Mrs. Shi is really radiant today. She looks only twenty-five or twenty-six years old." Mrs. Shi,

who is already in her early forties this year, was delighted by their reactions and said to the old princess: "Even the princess said I am beautiful, so I am really beautiful. Please touch me."

The two had a special relationship. The old princess touched her without hesitation and found that the skin under her palm was smooth and delicate, and was particularly good to touch. It didn't look like the skin of a forty-year-old at all.

Madam Shi winked at the old princess: "Is it different too?"

The old princess said in amazement: "You must have taken some miraculous medicine, give us some too."

The ladies who had been curious for a long time could not help but gather around: "Madam Shi, tell us what is so effective. When you walked in, I really thought you were a young man in your twenties."

Another person stared at Madam Shi's face: "Yes, compared with Madam Shi's face, we spent time on it, it's better not to toss it!"

Madam Shi's temper was famously hot, and there were not many people in Kyoto who could get a few good words from her. Usually, these ladies were trembling in front of her and dared not come close.

At this moment, in order to know why Madam Shi became beautiful, they all gave themselves courage.

Madam Shi looked at the people around her, not serious, with a smile on her face that could not be concealed: "I bought it from a man who is skilled in making rouge and powder. If you want to buy it, I will call him to my house someday and you can go and talk to him yourself."

She was so satisfied with her makeup today that she was in high spirits all the way.

When the ladies heard it, they all said, "Sorry to bother you, Madam."

"We are waiting eagerly, Madam, don't forget me."

The two noble ladies who did not attend the banquet and wore the makeup painted by Lin Zhen were also questioned by their sisters and elders at home. They all asked why they suddenly changed so much today. When they found out that they got it from a man, the anxious people immediately sent people to Huai Sifang to find him.

Not long after Lin Zhen returned home, he heard a knock on the courtyard door. After opening it, he saw four or five well-dressed people standing outside. When they saw him, they were stunned and said, "You are the husband of Yurong Fenhualu."

Before they came, they heard from the master that Lin Zhen was the husband, and he was very good-looking. He told them that they would know it after seeing him.

Now they understand what the master meant by "very good-looking, you will know it after seeing him."

They had never seen anyone who looked so good.

Lin Zhen already knew who they were, but he didn't expect the effect to be so quick. He said, "Yes, may I ask who you are?"

The maid in front said, "I am a maidservant of the wife of the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion. I heard from our young lady that the husband has made Jade Face Powder Flower Dew and lipstick, so I came here specially to buy some." The maid next to

her also said, "I am from the second wife of the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion, and I am also here to buy Jade Face Powder Flower Dew and lipstick."

Then the other people also announced their families. There were a total of four maids from the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion, and the other three were from the residence of the Minister of Works.

Lin Zhen walked aside to let them in and said, "We still have some Jade Face Powder Flower Dew, but I used it for my own use before. If it weren't for sending it to Madam Shi and the young lady of your family this time, I wouldn't have prepared any extra."

Several maids came with orders from their masters. They were a little anxious when they heard this: "How many portions can we have? My madam wants three or four more to give away!?"

Lin Zhen looked at the maids beside the Marquis's wife: "Just enough to give out seven portions. There's no more."

As soon as he said that, several people frowned. It was obvious that the orders they had received from their masters exceeded this number.

Lin Zhen said: "The shelf life of the jade powder is longer, and it can be used for several months without any problem, but the flower dew can only be used for eleven or twelve days in this weather, and it cannot be used if stored. How about each of you take a portion back and come back to get it when the next batch is ready?"

Several maids looked at each other. Although they were not very satisfied with what they received, they thought of what the young lady at home said that they didn't know about this good thing at first, and it was Mrs. Shi who asked Lin Zhen to send it. Knowing that Lin Zhen had a name with Mrs. Shi, they reluctantly agreed to Lin Zhen's statement.

Seven sets of jade powder flower dew and lipstick sets cost a total of 266 taels of silver. The maids all learned the price from the young lady at home and put enough silver in their pockets.

After confirming that the things were correct, they gave the silver to Lin Zhen and left.

Adding the money earned from Mrs. Shi and the two noble ladies, there were 342 taels a day. Lin Zhen weighed the heavy silver in his hand and felt deeply that doing this business was really profitable.

Chapter 215

A few days later, Madam Shi sent someone to call Lin Zhen to her house. Lin Zhen then realized that Madam Shi had attracted several business for him. He took a book and wrote down the names of these noble ladies one by one, and told them that it would take seven or eight days to make it.

Madam Shi saw that these noble ladies liked Lin Zhen, and they all said that there was no rush, and it would be the same if they sent someone to get it after he finished it.

Lin Zhen thanked Madam Shi again for her kindness to him. Madam Shi smiled and said, "If you want to thank me, next time you come up with something new, just send me two copies first, just like the Jade Face Powder Flower Dew, I will accept anyone who comes."

After dealing with her several times, Lin Zhen had a feel for Madam Shi's personality. She was straightforward and could not tolerate any injustice, but just like him, as long as she paid a little attention, she would be nice to people.

Lin Zhen looked at her and said, "Of course, I will personally deliver it to Madam when the time comes."

The direct makeup effect of the jade face powder and lipstick can be seen by anyone with eyes. Since the Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, the Ministry of Works's Mansion, and the ladies introduced by Madam Shi came to buy them, more and more people came to the door. There were people knocking on Lin Zhen's door from morning to night.

Lin Zhen was afraid of disturbing Gu Lin's study, so he simply bought the house behind the yard. He also went to the human traffickers to buy a few brothers, daughters and daughters, as well as a complete family of prostitutes, and let them each be responsible for a step in making white jade face powder, purple jade face powder, and jasper face powder. The flower dew and lipstick were still in his full control, and he threw himself into them every day. He also

took out a little time to get the script for the old troupe owner, but he really didn't have the time to come up with a new story, so he randomly took out "The Legend of the White Snake" from his memory, a story suitable for all ages and almost all Chinese people have heard, and wrote it into a storybook and sent it to the old troupe owner.

Time flies when you are busy. When Lin Zhen was walking on the street with the storybook in his pocket, he found that the weather had gradually become warmer, as if it had suddenly changed from winter to spring. People were wearing less clothes than when the flowers bloomed.

Lin Zhen calculated the days and found that it was already February 14th, almost half a month after the flowers bloomed. Fortunately, the old boss was patient and did not look for him.

Suddenly, when Lin Zhen was heading to the place where Qianhong Opera Troupe lived, a middle-aged man stopped him: "Mr. Lin, our shopkeeper has a business to discuss with you. It's in Sanjiang Building. Come up and sit down."

Lin Zhen looked at the man who stopped him and looked at the Sanjiang Building next to him: "I don't know you, nor do I know your shopkeeper."

The man said: "We were not familiar with each other when we first met, but we will be familiar with each other later."

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry to do something, so I won't go to Sanjiang Building. And I don't think I have anything worthy of your shopkeeper to cooperate with. Excuse me first." Lin Zhen said in his heart that this day has come. He knew this time would come since the day he sold the jade powder flower dew and lipstick to Mrs. Shi.

The jade powder he made was of first-class quality and was quickly promoted in Mrs. Shi's circle. In just half a month, he had already earned more than 3,000 taels of silver, and more orders were still waiting behind and had not been shipped yet.

Moreover, powder and flower dew lipstick are consumables, which can make more money continuously for a long time.

He has taken over so many orders from noble ladies, and the man who monopolizes the rouge and powder business in Kyoto should have noticed it and come to him impatiently.

Lin Zhen will not follow him without knowing who the other party is and what power is behind him.

At least the other party will stop him on the street now, saying that they are discussing cooperation, and they should still be afraid of the power of their customers.

When the man who stopped Lin Zhen saw that Lin Zhen actually refused, his face twitched and looked a little ferocious, "Husband, are you really not going?"

"I have never met you. If I follow you just because of what you said, I would be really stupid."

The expression on the face of the man who stopped Lin Zhen became more and more ferocious, and he even reached out to force him to Sanjiang Building. Lin Zhen said, "If you run into me, I will call for help immediately. See if the people from the Kyoto government who are patrolling the streets over there can get there before you pull me to Sanjiang Building." The

people from the Kyoto government patrol the streets every day. They happened to be patrolling here at this time. Not to mention that the people who stopped Lin Zhen wanted to pull him in, I am afraid that they will run to them as soon as they run into them.

The man who stopped Lin Zhen obviously didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and gritted his teeth and said, "Since Mr. Lin is not available right now, let's talk about it later."

Lin Zhen watched him leave from his sight without blinking, and only walked away quickly after confirming that the man had entered Sanjiang Building.

On the Sanjiang Building, the man who had just stopped Lin Zhen said to the person sitting by the window on the second floor, "Master, Mr. Lin obviously doesn't want to hand over the prescription in his hand. How about we..."

The meaning in his eyes was that he had bad intentions.

If Lin Zhen was here, he would know who the person in front of him was as soon as he saw him. It turned out to be the owner of Furong Pavilion, the first rouge and powder shop he went to with the Jade Face Powder Dew. At that time, he offered Lin Zhen a box of powder for ten cents and lip balm for eight cents.

At this moment, he was looking at Lin Zhen's back, and said, "I didn't expect that what he took that day was actually the Jade Face Powder. I should have taken a look and bought the recipe at that time." "

Don't act rashly for now. I'll report this to the master above first."

"But shopkeeper, most of the noble ladies in Kyoto no longer order our rouge and powder. We have lost a lot of silver!"

"What's the use of you howling in front of me? The silver he earns now is nothing. Give him some more time, and he can get all the orders from the noble ladies in Kyoto!" The shopkeeper of Furong Pavilion was also in a bad mood. He scolded his men, "But don't you see the people he sells to, which one of them is someone you and I can afford to offend!"

"Just let it go?!" The men under the shopkeeper of Furong Pavilion said unwillingly. When had they ever been so aggrieved in these years? In Kyoto, those who wanted to steal their business had no good end. Were they going to bang their heads against this husband?

The shopkeeper of Furong Pavilion said, "I said you are impatient. You haven't reported it to the master above yet. Not to mention that he is not a rich man, but a poor man who relies on those noble ladies to do business. Even if he is a rich man, it depends on whether the people behind him are strong. Who is our master? He is the younger brother of the imperial concubine. There are not many people who can be more noble than him."

It was their master who took a group of famous courtesans in Kyoto to have fun a few days ago. I'm afraid they won't come back for a while.

Lin Zhen left the street with the storybook and walked straight to the place the old boss told him. This piece of land is also in the South City District, but it is a bit far from where he and Gu Lin live, almost on the edge of the South City District.

When he arrived, he heard the sound of singing and warming up the voice from the yard, and the master was talking about the play with the young actor.

After he knocked on the door, it opened quickly and a boy of about eight or nine years old came in: "Excuse me, who are you looking for, husband?"

Lin Zhen looked at the boy and said, "I'm looking for your old boss. Just tell him that Lin Zhen is here."

"So you are Boss Lin. Boss Lin, come in quickly. I'll go call the boss right away!" The boy had a girl's feminine makeup on his face and looked like a girl. He invited Lin Zhen in.

The people who were practicing martial arts in the yard were startled by his voice. Many people who Lin Zhen had seen came over to greet him: "Boss Lin."

"Boss Lin."

"Good afternoon, Boss Lin. Xiaoshu, go call the boss quickly."

The boy who opened the door for Lin Zhen and was called Xiaoshu by the people of Qianhong Opera Troupe laughed and ran into the house.

The girl who played "Mei Niang" asked Lin Zhen to sit on the stone bench in the yard: "Boss Lin, have you done any business recently? You're very famous."

The girl didn't apply the popular white face paint today like she did on the day of the flower sign, but applied a thin layer of powder. Lin Zhen knew from the color that it was the water-glowing powder he had bought and studied a few days ago. It was the same as his jade powder, which cost three taels of silver per box, but the color didn't match the girl's skin color very well, and it looked a bit fake.

Lin Zhen said, "How did you all hear about it?"

The girl said, "There are many girls and ladies who come to watch the show. They will mention jade powder, flower dew, and lipstick from time to time. In addition, the makeup on their faces is different from others, so they naturally know about

it." "But Mr. Lin, your rouge and powder are in small quantities. Many people who have placed orders have not received them yet. We have only heard about them and have not used them yet."

The girl who played "Mei Niang" obviously also wanted jade powder and flower dew lipstick, but she knew that the customers Lin Zhen was selling to were all wives of dignitaries. If she sold them to people like them, she didn't know if there would be any bad influence, so she didn't ask for it.

Before Lin Zhen could say anything, the old boss came out quickly. He first heard "Boss Lin" and then, with a teapot in one hand and a teacup in the other, he sat opposite Lin Zhen and poured him a cup of tea: "Boss Lin, Boss Lin, I wonder what's wrong with your brain. You can make such a big fuss about everything you do!"

"Back in Anyuan Town, everyone knew about the spicy hot pot and milk tea at Zhenyouwei Snack Shop, and everyone knew about "Mei Niang" and "Xun Xian". They all rushed to give you money. I just wanted to try them and read these two storybooks."

"Now we have come up with some new products, such as Jade Face Powder, Flower Dew and Lipstick. Oh my, you don't know. Every girl and lady who goes to listen to our opera will talk about it, but few can buy it. Even if their eyes turn red, they still can't buy it!"

His singing, reciting and acting were just like an opera, and Lin Zhen was a little amused. He knew that his business of Jade Face Powder was doing well. He had sold about a hundred copies, and there were more than two hundred to three hundred orders that had not been shipped, but the grand occasion described by the old boss was still a little beyond his expectations.

The old boss saw what he was thinking and said, "Your current customers are all powerful wives of officials, but there are also a large number of rich but powerless ladies and girls."

"They are all waiting to see whether you will only do business with the wives of officials, or do business with them as well. As long as you take an order from a wife of a rich family, I guarantee that your door will be trampled!"

Chapter 216

Qianhong Opera Troupe is one of the most famous opera troupes in Kyoto. They are invited to perform by dignitaries and wealthy families. Most of the audiences are women. They know what is popular among women.

Just like the water-glossy powder and the new Luo, as long as a few women use them, they will soon become popular in Kyoto.

These days, they hear the most about jade face powder, flower dew, and lipstick. Once they start talking about them, they can't stop. When they ask, they find out that they are new face wipes that have been released recently and are in very small quantities. Many people have lined up but haven't bought them yet. Everyone calls them fairy powder and fairy water.

Lin Zhen said to the old troupe owner: "I can't expand my business yet. It's very difficult to handle the current orders. Let's talk about it in a few days."

He didn't lie. All the people who bought them came back to buy them, and those who didn't buy them kept coming. Even the few people he bought them from were really a bit overwhelmed.

Moreover, he has no intention of increasing the amount, at least not now. He has already touched other people's cake. If he only eats this little, others will still be cautious, but if he eats too much, there will always be someone who will take the risk to pull out this nail of his. He

has to eat away little by little and accumulate enough things behind him, so that people with ideas can make way for him.

The old boss nodded. He has been in Kyoto for a long time and knows the depth of the water here: "Boss Lin has his own reasons for doing things. I don't need to explain in detail. By the way, Boss Lin is back this time..."

As he said, the old boss looked at Lin Zhen with burning eyes.

Lin Zhen lived up to his expectations and put the script in the box on the table and pushed it in front of him: "I'm here to give you the script. This is a story told by an old friend. I sorted it out and wrote it into a storybook. It's not my original work. Take a look."

The old boss also heard this when he bought "Mei Niang" last time. He said that it was written by a friend and put it there to invest, but it turned out that it was not written by him. Now he is saying the same thing again.

The old class owner had an expression of "I know, I know, I know everything" and couldn't wait to get the storybook in his hand. He saw the three words "Legend of the White Snake" written on the first page... The

thin "Legend of the White Snake" begins with a little boy going up the mountain to pick herbs and saving a white snake. Then the white snake cultivates to become an adult and goes down the mountain to repay the benefactor who has grown up. The

following plots are about borrowing an umbrella on a boat, Bai Suzhen stealing the Ganoderma Lucidum, and the broken bridge.

This storybook is a rough draft written by Lin Zhen, and let Gu Lin embellish it. Gu Lin's writing style is not like Zhong Yan's elegant and graceful style of embellishing "Mei Niang". Instead, his writing is as sharp as a knife, concise and clear, so the reading rhythm is a little fast, which makes people want to read more and sink into it accidentally.

Just like the old class owner now, his cheeks are a little red because of excitement. From time to time, he grabs the storybook to ask about the plot, but he can't wait for Lin Zhen to answer, and sinks into it again.

Finally, when he read that Xu Xian was frightened by Bai Suzhen's true form and his soul returned to the underworld, he barely resisted the urge to read on. His eyes were as bright as lanterns as he looked at Lin Zhen: "What a good storybook! What a good storybook!"

"Boss Lin, you are really amazing!"

The old troupe owner was so excited that he almost jumped up and gave Lin Zhen a thumbs up. One thumbs up was not enough, so he gave another one.

The actor who had played "Mei Niang" sitting next to him saw that the old troupe owner was so happy, it was exactly the same as when "Mei Niang" was rehearsed that year, and couldn't help but ask quickly: "Is the script really so good this time!?"

The old troupe owner: "You can disbelieve anyone, but you can't disbelieve Boss Lin."

"Boss Lin, we are not strangers. I will give you a real price, 1,500 taels of silver for this storybook. What do you think?"

"Hiss——"

The people from the Qianhong Opera Troupe next to them took a breath of cold air. Although their troupe was famous, they only made more than 100 taels of silver each time they went out, and sometimes 50 or 60 taels.

After all, this thing is not a necessity, and only a few people can afford it. Seven or eight performances a month is considered good, and fourteen or fifteen performances are considered prosperous. When the Qianhong Troupe was at its peak, it performed twenty-one performances a month.

However, there are many people to support with so much money. The old troupe owner takes the majority, and the popular actors take a few percent. Then, according to the importance of the troupe, the lowest pay for a performance is only a dozen coins, and that does not include those who sell themselves to the troupe and cannot even get money.

In their eyes, the price given by the old troupe owner is really very high.

Lin Zhen looked at the old boss and said, "I can't say no to your price."

The old boss smiled and said, "Knowing Boss Lin's temper, I won't beat around the bush. This is indeed the highest price I can offer. If Boss Lin still thinks of me when he has a new storybook, I will say a few more Amitabha to Boss Lin in my heart."

A storybook costs 1,500 taels, which is a high price no matter where it is placed. Seeing that the old boss was so straightforward, Lin Zhen said, "Then this storybook belongs to the boss, but my last storybook was six years ago, and I don't know when the next one will be. The old boss has let the fishing line go a little long."

The old boss's face twisted when he thought that Lin Zhen had only published two storybooks in so many years. If possible, he wanted to press Lin Zhen to write every day in front of the table. What a good story it is. Hiding it in his head is simply a huge loss. It would be better to show it to more people.

But Lin Zhen is quite capable and doesn't rely on anyone for a living. He can't find a place to suppress it.

But it's not a loss.

The old boss looked at Lin Zhen and felt that Lin Zhen would definitely not stop here. He had also established good relationships in advance. More connections mean more paths.

After delivering the storybook to him, Lin Zhen went home and first went to the newly rented house to check on the progress of the past few days.

As soon as he entered, the servant hired by the gatekeeper immediately bowed and saluted: "Boss."

Lin Zhen asked him: "Have you seen any strange people coming here in the past few days?"

He thought about it and added: "Maybe not here, maybe they passed by our yard, but they looked suspicious."

The gatekeeper said: "There are a few, walking back and forth around the yard several times. I don't know if they are residents nearby, but they are watching the yard from time to time."

"It's the same as before. If they don't move, you don't move, and you must not let anyone get in."

"Yes, I understand."

Lin Zhen went in after asking the questions. As soon as he stepped into the yard, the old woman who was sweeping the floor trotted over and saluted him: "Boss."

Lin Zhen handed her a large piece of pork belly he had bought: "You all work every day, let's roast this piece of meat in the afternoon."

"Yes, yes, I'll wash it and cook it later." The old woman saw the piece of meat and looked at Lin Zhen as if she was looking at a Bodhisattva. She is still dreaming that her family will live such a good life.

They were thankful countless times that their family must have done good deeds in their previous life, which was why they were bought back by a good master like Lin Zhen to work here. Not only them, but everyone in this yard was suffering. Now everything is fine, everything is fine. All they think about every day is that Lin Zhen is safe and sound, makes a fortune, and allows them to stay here forever.

Chapter 217

Lin Zhen bought four men, three women, a man who was the gatekeeper, an old woman, his daughter-in-law, two grandsons, a total of twelve people.

They lived in this yard all day, washing rice, grinding rice slurry, drying rice slurry, and then sending the dried powder to Lin Zhen, who would do the final and most important coloring.

Lin Zhen walked to the two men who were grinding rice slurry and looked at the rice slurry in the bucket: "Is this the second step?"

When the people who were working saw him coming, they all stopped what they were doing: "We just started grinding the second step."

Lin Zhen said: "It's still the same as before, don't rush, grind slowly, and you can get good rice slurry."

"Yes, boss." They were afraid that Lin Zhen would not keep them here to work, so they immediately threw themselves into the process of washing rice, grinding rice slurry, and drying rice slurry.

After watching for a while, Lin Zhen went back to the courtyard where he lived with Gu Lin. He had been busy with jade powder, flower dew, and "The Legend of White Snake" these days. Except for the day before yesterday when he asked Gu Lin to polish "The Legend of White Snake", he had not sat down with Gu Lin to have a good meal and talk.

He was still carrying the vegetables he bought for the two of them. When he walked into the courtyard, he found that the house was quiet. Lin Zhen first went to the kitchen to put down the vegetables, washed his hands, and then went to the study to find Gu Lin.

Gu Lin was sitting behind the table, writing something on the snow-white paper with a brush in his hand. He still had a bit of immaturity, but his face and figure, which had already begun to take shape as an adult, looked like a clay statue of the Taoist god in the Taoist temple

in the warm sunlight, without emotion or desire. Lin Zhen walked over and put his hand on his shoulder: "You were studying when I was out, take a rest."

Gu Lin was still writing his words, with his straight eyelashes drooping, and did not look at him.

Lin Zhen touched his nose, knowing that this brat was making a fuss. In total, he had said no more than twenty sentences to him during this period, and ten of them were said when he asked him to polish.

The rest of the time, he was busy and almost flew away. He also knew that he was tired, so he didn't disturb him.

Lin Zhen held his pen and sat on the table piled with books. Gu Lin, who couldn't write because of the pen being held, finally looked at him, looked at his slender legs stepping on the ground, looked at his hips with amazing curves sitting on the table, looked at his waist that was so thin that it seemed that one could hold it completely in one hand, and looked at his face.

Gu Lin sat on the chair, hugged his waist with both hands, and put his head and upper body in his arms...

Two months seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. The biggest thing recently was that this year's college entrance examination would start in two days. Students from other places kept pouring in. When Lin Zhen and Gu Lin went out to buy vegetables, they could clearly feel that the streets had become crowded, with all kinds of accents mixed together.

Following Gu Lin in the examinations for Tongsheng, Xiucai, and Juren, Lin Zhen was already a qualified family member accompanying the examinee. Three to five days before the examination, he was not allowed to eat spicy or cold food, so as to avoid irritating his stomach and causing an accident in the examination room.

The food brought into the examination room should be simple, filling, and not too smelly.

The water should be boiled and boiled, and a little hot when it is poured in, so that the temperature is just right in the examination room.

In the 46th year of Qianhui, late spring.

The sky was a little turbid, so Lin Zhen got up to make breakfast. After breakfast, the two checked the pens and ink, and after confirming that they were correct, they put the food and water cups into the bamboo basket and walked out in the morning light.

At the agreed street entrance, they found Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing, and Zhong Yan. The three of them had also experienced several grand scenes of imperial examinations, but compared with what was happening before them, they were nothing.

The streets were full of students in long robes, as well as their families and servants. Whenever there was a slight gap, someone would squeeze in and walk towards the Ministry of Rites where the college examination was held.

Those who were driving the carriages at the beginning, seeing that they could not move for a long time, got off the carriages with unhappy faces and joined the crowded crowd.

Huang Yuwen was followed by a servant carrying his basket: "Let's go quickly. It's so crowded now. It's almost time to get to the entrance of the Ministry of Rites."

Several people agreed. The situation in front of them was really too scary. They thought they came out early, but they didn't expect it to be too late.

As the sky got brighter, the students on the road became a little anxious. Fortunately, when they arrived at the Ministry of Rites, relatives and servants were not allowed to enter, so there were more empty places.

Gu Lin looked at Lin Zhen, carrying a basket and Huang Yuwen and the other two went to line up. After the body search, they walked in and ran into Li Quan, the Minister of Rites, who he had met at the Luming Banquet of the Provincial Examination.

Gu Lin took a step back and bowed.

Only half a year had passed since the provincial examination, and Li Quan found that Gu Lin, who had left an impression on him, was taller than when he met him in the prefectural city. He couldn't help but think of Gu Lin's drought policy at the Luming Banquet.

After submitting it for more than half a year, there was finally progress. This year, some places in Kyoto are trying to plant it, and it will be promoted after it is indeed effective.

In fact, according to Li Quan's idea, it is best to promote such a good method as soon as possible, so that the people can taste the joy of a good harvest earlier, and more people can get rid of the edge of hunger.

But the affairs of the court involve a wide range of things. Compared with the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Punishment, which can always appear in front of the emperor and control the center, the Ministry of Rites will only be remembered when major priest ceremonies are held, and he is also powerless.

It is not a good thing for the examiner who is monitoring to be involved with the students. Li Quan pretended that he had never seen Gu Lin and walked in without looking sideways.

Gu Lin didn't seem strange either, and walked to his seat and sat down.

Today was the first exam, and it was about scriptures, which were things that required rote memorization. Those who knew how to answer the questions would write them down immediately after reading the questions, while those who didn't know how to answer them would take a long time to finish.

Gu Lin scanned the test paper and began to answer the questions on the snow-white rice paper.

There were more questions on the test paper for the academy exam than on the provincial exam. As soon as Gu Lin finished answering and walked out of the door of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Yuwen's voice rang out from behind: "Brother Zhong, Chen Xing..."

In the past, it was Wang Qin, and now it's him. The two of them are neighbors who grew up together. They would check the questions at the door before leaving.

Suddenly, Huang Yuwen took a few quick steps and appeared beside him: "Gu Lin, how did you answer?"

Gu Lin had already seen Lin Zhen in the crowd, and his pace quickened a little: "It's about the same as what I did when I was reviewing in the past."

They often reviewed together, and when he heard him say this, he knew that he had probably answered all the questions. Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, who had left two questions blank, were secretly worried about themselves.

The two of them didn't rank high in the provincial examination, so the chances of passing this time were too low, so low that they were a little afraid of the next two exams.

The second exam was in two days, on Yi.

Two days after Yi, the best subject was on Current Affairs.

When Gu Lin got the question, he found that it was still not about last year's drought, but asked the students to answer how to deal with the Che Luo Kingdom that had harassed Dayu several times in recent years.

Che Luo Kingdom was to the north of Dayu, and was separated from Dayu's capital by the sparsely populated and vast Lizhou. Every winter, it would go north to plunder several times. Dayu also sent troops to fight, but the border of Lizhou was too wide, and he could defend one place but not another, so he gradually accepted Che Luo's winter plunder. Anyway, it was still far from Kyoto, and it was a pipe dream to want to attack this place.

I just don't know what happened to Che Luo Kingdom last year. It actually captured several towns in Lizhou one after another, and destroyed the people and animals inside. Only then did the court send troops to check.

Gu Lin, who had been taught by Lin Zhen to always pay attention to changes in current affairs since childhood, could not access many things due to his class, but he was good at collecting and could vaguely guess some things.

He frowned slightly, looking at the question on the paper, and did not put forward the two views of fighting or not fighting, but wrote another one, "If you move troops, you must move food and grass." Where does the food and grass come from? The Ministry of Revenue, where does the food and grass of the Ministry of Revenue come from? It comes from taxes.

Lizhou is originally vast and sparsely populated, so why not make use of it?

Gu Lin first proposed:

First, the court can attract people to Lizhou to take root and cultivate land with policies that are more beneficial to the people than other places, such as not paying taxes within five years after entering Lizhou, and paying the same amount of taxes as other places within ten years, and the court will issue seeds, farm tools, etc., to make use of the vast land of Lizhou.

Second, while making use of the land of Lizhou and attracting people to settle down, the local people can be organized into a more efficient militia to deal with the harassment of Che Luo State.

Third, once the defense line of Lizhou is established, it can not only supply a steady supply of food to Kyoto, but also become the first line of defense between Kyoto and Che Luo State. If Lizhou cannot be taken, Che Luo State will not be able to step into Kyoto.

After writing the three viewpoints, Gu Lin's answer sheet was almost finished. From his point of view, the first half of his answer still concealed his true intention, but the second half revealed a little.

That's right, Gu Lin's point of view has always been "if you want to fight, then fight", there are ways to play when you have more chips, and there are ways to play when you are not well-off, instead of just sitting and waiting to die.

He really didn't understand why the court handed over most of Lizhou to the iron hoof of Che Luo State, leaving the people who could only stay in Lizhou to make a living in dire straits. How was this different from the governor and generals who did nothing that day and let the refugee army enter the city.

But from the little information he collected, most of the officials in the court advocated peace, and even the emperor he was about to be loyal to advocated peace. If he didn't want to fail, he couldn't be too harsh in his words.

Gu Lin hid his true opinion and wrote this policy of current affairs that seemed to solve the problems of Lizhou and Cheluo Kingdom in a peaceful way. This policy of current affairs was soon placed on the desks of several senior invigilators along with the papers of other students.

Li Quan had seen Gu Lin's handwriting in the capital city, and he knew who the answer was when he picked up the paper.

He knew that Gu Lin's policy of current affairs was excellent, and he couldn't wait to read it carefully. The first sentence he saw was "If you move troops, you must move food and grass."

Having read many papers about whether to fight or not, Li Quan frowned when he saw this sentence. He advocated peace. Now the court looks bright on the outside, but it has long been rotten inside. The drought last year hollowed out the last bit of foundation. If they really go to war with Cheluo Kingdom, the consequences will be disastrous.

But thinking about Gu Lin's brilliant strategy last time, Li Quan continued to read.

After reading it for the first time, Li Quan held the paper and pondered, then lowered his head to read it again.

After reading it for the second time, Li Quan couldn't help but put the paper on the table, and drew on the table while reading his fingers.

The third time...

After reading it for the third time, Li Quan was all smiles, and couldn't help stroking his beautiful beard. He took a pen and wrote the word "up" on the paper that didn't have any marks yet.

An invigilator who had some friendship with Li Quan came over and saw the "up" rating he gave, and couldn't help but take a few more glances: "This is the first "up" in the hands of the Shangshu, right?"

Li Quan handed Gu Lin's paper to him, "Take a look."

The invigilator took the paper in his hand, unfolded it and took a look. At first, his brows frowned, but soon they relaxed. Then he said to Li Quan: "This candidate is the first one to put forward this point of view among the papers I read. The others either beat or killed, which gave me a headache."

"Then do you think my "up" is okay now?"

"..." The invigilating official was silent for a moment, "Indeed, it can be admitted."

Li Quan smiled and said, "Then please ask Lord Cui to write the score for this candidate."

The invigilating examiner called Lord Cui looked at Li Quan, "I haven't seen you so cheerful for a long time. How come, who are you now, this candidate?"

Li Quan didn't dare to agree to this statement. If he was not careful, he would be caught by others and get into trouble. He rubbed his forehead pretending to have a headache and said, "I don't believe you don't have a headache reading those current affairs theories. It's not easy to get a share to read, so why don't you pay more attention to it."

"Very, very," the examiner surnamed Cui shook his head repeatedly when he mentioned it, "Why are these students so angry? One or two of them can't wait to roll up their sleeves and beat..."

The examiner surnamed Cui didn't say the three words "Chero Kingdom". Since several towns in Lizhou were occupied by Cheero Kingdom last year, the people below hardly dared to mention Lizhou in front of the emperor.

Lizhou is too close to Kyoto. Although the Che Luo Kingdom plundered and left as in previous years, the emperor was very angry beside his bed.

After handing in the test paper, Gu Lin went home with Lin Zhen without knowing that he was being held in the hands of Li Quan and the examiner surnamed Cui. After leaving the examination room, he did not mention the imperial examination. As usual, he got up before dawn to practice bow and sword, and then read for a while.

The neighbors around did not know what Lin Zhen and Gu Lin did before. They rented a shop and left it there without doing business. The door was closed all day.

Now that they suddenly learned that Gu Lin was actually a juren who participated in the imperial examination this spring, they could not help but cast their eyes on him. Some families even brought gifts to visit him, and tried to get information from Lin Zhen and Gu Lin, asking Gu Lin if he was sure about the imperial examination this time.

They had a good plan. If Gu Lin failed, then the gifts they had given him now were enough to help him find his way. If Gu Lin passed, became a tribute scholar, and was eligible for the palace selection, then they would raise the stakes and try to get on Gu Lin's good side, or even climb aboard Gu Lin's new ship.

Ten days later, the results of the college entrance examination were announced.

Chapter 218

Lin Zhen and Gu Lin, who had already experienced the crowded college entrance examination, were not in a hurry this time. They got up at dawn and then made breakfast. Everything was in order.

Zhong Yan, who came to see them, was the calmest. Chen Xing seemed to be able to remain calm on the surface, but in fact, he was visibly agitated. Huang Yuwen almost wanted to feed the breakfast in the bowl to them personally: "Uncle Lin, Gu Lin, you are really not in a hurry at all." He

asked them to have breakfast, but they all said they had already eaten. Lin Zhen drank porridge with pickles: "There must be a lot of people in front of the Ministry of Rites now. I'm afraid we can't even squeeze in at the street entrance. It's just right for us to wait until they squeeze in before going."

Huang Yuwen almost hit his head on the door when he heard that Lin Zhen and Gu Lin had to wait until they squeezed in before going.

Chen Xing, who was still a little nervous, looked at Huang Yuwen and couldn't help but smile.

Zhong Yan, who looked the calmest but was not so calm in his heart, also felt relieved for a moment because of Huang Yuwen. Since his mother died tragically in the drought, he has devoted himself to taking care of his grandmother and preparing for the college entrance examination. Now he only needs one last step to fulfill his mother's expectations of him since he was a child.

Lin Zhen really didn't want to squeeze in the crowd anymore. Looking at Huang Yuwen and the others, he sped up his eating speed. Squeeze, squeeze, just squeeze this time, hope not to squeeze in the future!

When they arrived in front of the etiquette department, Lin Zhen was really amazed. It was even more exaggerated than the day of the exam. Students without servants went up by themselves, and those with servants let the servants squeeze in. Huang Yuwen, who had servants, forgot about it and pushed in with his small body.

Gu Lin, who occasionally responded to them along the way, called him: "I'll go."

Then, under the gaze of Lin Zhen and the others, he steadily pushed through the crowd that was almost squeezed out and walked to the front. The list had been posted. The crowd became more and more crowded as he walked forward. Gu Lin, who had already walked to the front, looked at the list, starting from the first place and looking down, and saw Zhong Yan, Huang Yuwen, and Chen Xing in turn.

Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing were both ranked very low and almost fell out.

He turned and walked out of the crowd, first saying to Zhong Yan: "Congratulations, Brother Zhong, second place."

Then Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing: "Congratulations, Brother Huang, 143rd place, congratulations, Brother Chen, 199th place."

Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing's feet went weak and they almost fell to the ground. It was so suspenseful!

But they passed!

They became tribute scholars!

The two did not have much confidence after the first exam, and they were ready to come to Kyoto again three years later. Who could have expected that there would be a ray of hope after a dark period, and they actually passed by luck.

Dayu had a rule that no one should be dismissed from the imperial examination, so as long as the candidates passed the academy examination, they could be called Juren. After passing the palace examination, they could be divided into three categories: Jinshi Jidi, Jinshi Chuan, and Tong Jinshi Chuan.

But no matter what, as long as they were Jinshi, they could at least get a seventh-rank post as a county magistrate!

From then on, the status of the Huang and Chen families changed, and they became real aristocratic families.

Suddenly, Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan looked at Gu Lin happily. Huang Yuwen said, "Gu Lin, what about you? Why didn't you say yourself?"

Gu Lin said, "First place."

Although Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing were prepared, they still stumbled. "I... I... first place!"

Huang Yuwen excitedly stepped forward and put his arm around Gu Lin's shoulders. "Congratulations, you are so good every time. We can only look up to you."

Suddenly, Chen Xing said, "Then Gu Lin is the champion of this college exam!"

There are so many people waiting for the results that even ants can't squeeze in. They are extremely sensitive to the results. They noticed Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan when Gu Lin came back to tell them the results. Naturally, they also heard that one of them was second and the other two were more than 100.

Zhong Yan, needless to say, became the object of their scramble to visit. Even Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, who were not ranked high, received a lot of envy and jealousy.

What if the ranking is low? At least others passed the exam. If they can pass, it doesn't matter if they are last.

However, when they heard Gu Lin say that he was the first place, their jaws almost dropped to the ground. What kind of monsters were these? The first and second place were both here, and the remaining two were also tribute scholars. For a moment, no one knew who said that the first and second place were here, and people flocked to watch the excitement.

The stage of catching a son-in-law under the list, which was more exciting than the one in the capital city, came again. Gu Lin looked at Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan, who were surrounded by wealthy merchants in Kyoto, raised his eyebrows, and walked quickly to the outside with one hand protecting Lin Zhen. Many people who were pushed away by him did not react to what happened, and only saw a figure disappearing in the crowd.

Away from there, people on the street didn't know you and I didn't know you. At most, they just looked at Lin Zhen and Gu Lin's appearance a few more times, but they were not as crazy as those wealthy merchants who were catching sons-in-law.

Lin Zhen watched Gu Lin grow from an eight-year-old child to now. He knew him better than anyone else. He said he was second, and no one dared to say he was first. He could see that Gu Lin was in a good mood now and was also happy for his good results.

But he always had a serious face and would not allow anyone to get close to him, so no one could see it.

Lin Zhen walked side by side with him and said, "Congratulations, Gu Lin."

"Congratulations, Zhen Zhen." Gu Lin looked at him very seriously.

Lin Zhen's heart moved, and he took the initiative to hold his hand under the cover of his wide robe. The next moment, his hand was firmly held by Gu Lin, and the five fingers that held a pen or a book every day slid through his fingers and intertwined together.

Gu Lin knew that this was his first real step. When he was young, he saw Lin Zhen being punished with a stick because of Cai Jinzhu's false accusation. From the moment he saw Lin Zhen was punished with a stick because of Cai Jinzhu's false accusation, he vowed to be the one who made the rules, and he would never let such a thing happen again in front of him.

But at that time, he was shallow and ignorant, and thought that being a juren or a county magistrate would allow him to do what he wanted.

It was not until he realized his own feelings and saw the natural barriers and ups and downs on the road ahead that he realized that Juren was not his end, nor was Jinshi. He had to step by step reach the highest point he could reach, and then protect his most important Zhenzhen in it.

No hurry.

Gu Lin held Lin Zhen's hand and looked at Lin Zhen's face.

He was only fifteen years old this year, and Zhenzhen was only twenty-six years old. He still had time.

He would marry Zhenzhen and bring her to his home in a formal ceremony, and announce to the world that Zhenzhen was his husband.

In a blink of an eye, the highlight after the joint examination, the palace examination, arrived. Unlike the previous examinations where officials set questions and supervised the examinations, the palace examination was set by the emperor himself, and the examinations were conducted to determine the final ranking.

This time, Lin Zhen could not send them off. Lin Zhen stood at the door, watching Gu Lin being taken away by the palace's unified green-roofed carriage, and stood for a while before going into the house. Gu

Lin in the carriage had a cold look in his eyes, and his body swayed slightly with the shaking of the carriage. No one knew what kind of questions the emperor would ask, and no one knew how the emperor would ask them.

Poor students like Gu Lin were completely in the dark about the ruler of the world who had been in power for decades.

The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate. After Gu Lin got off, he found that some tribute scholars like him had gathered here. When they took part in the palace examination, everyone wore the scholar's clothes that the court had distributed to them three days before. They had a white base and black edges, and silk ribbons around the waist that reached the ankles. Those who were old enough to tie their hair wore scholar's crowns, but Gu Lin, who was only fifteen years old, could only tie them up with a black hairband. With

the emperor in front of them, no one dared to act rashly, and they didn't even dare to speak. Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing, and Zhong Yan, who saw Gu Lin coming, just greeted him with their eyes and stopped.

Suddenly, several examiners of their joint examination came out from the palace gate next to them. After they saluted, they called out the names according to the list, confirmed that no one was missed, and took them in through the side palace gate.

Gu Lin lowered his eyebrows slightly, as if he didn't see the solemn and majestic palace walls passing by in the corner of his eyes, and stepped into a palace with a very high dome.

"I, with two hundred tribute scholars this spring, kowtow to the emperor. Long live the emperor." The Minister of Rites Li Quan, who was walking in the front, knelt on the ground, and Gu Lin, who was closest to him, and more than a hundred tribute scholars behind him followed suit and knelt and shouted long live the emperor three times.

"Stand up." The emperor, who was sitting high on the dragon throne, said in a lazy and leisurely voice.

Li Quan led Gu Lin and others behind him to thank the emperor before getting up from the ground.

Suddenly, just when everyone was worried about what question the emperor was going to ask, the emperor sitting high above said, "Who is the champion of this college examination, Gu Lin."

Gu Lin, who had just stood up, knelt down again, "I, Gu Lin, pay my respects to the emperor." Just like the white clothes they wore, although they were now tribute scholars, only one step away from the gentry, they were still commoners before the emperor officially appointed them officials. They could only call themselves common people in front of the emperor.

"Raise your head."

Gu Lin raised his head slightly as he was told, but his eyes were still downcast, not looking directly at the emperor.

The emperor on the dragon throne and the other bored old people standing there saw this face that was a little too young, with long eyebrows, sharp brow bones, a high nose bridge, and too thin lips, which looked a little too unkind.

Such a face was too lonely and unfriendly.

"You are so weak and frail. My dear, you should eat more often in the future so that you can work for me." The emperor's voice sounded kind. If he had not called himself "I", it would have been just like an ordinary father-in-law instructing the younger generation in his family.

Gu Lin listened to the emperor saying that he was weak, and said in a steady voice with his eyebrows lowered: "Yes, I will remember the emperor's instructions."

"Okay, get up. I have read your current affairs policy and it is very interesting, so I want to listen to it again today."

"Come here, read Gu Aiqing's current affairs policy again. The ten of you will be divided into a group for today's palace examination. Draw lots. Those who draw the upper ones will use the first, second and third points listed in Gu Aiqing's current affairs policy as their own arguments and refute the other group that draws the lower ones."

"The ones who draw the lower ones are on the side of Che Luoguo. There is no argument. You can refute it however you want."

Some of the two hundred tribute scholars knew that the emperor was angry with Che Luoguo and their faces turned pale. If they drew the upper ones, it would be okay to stand on Dayu's side. If they drew the lower ones, they would be on the side of Che Luoguo. It would be really roasted on the charcoal fire, and it would hurt no matter which side was roasted.

If you lose, the emperor can say that you are trying to figure out the emperor's mind.

If you win, it's even worse.

You are a Dayu person but you let Che Luoguo win Dayu...

Chapter 219

Two hundred people were divided into twenty groups, and each drew lots to debate. Gu Lin, who wrote this current affairs policy that the emperor used as a topic, became a thigh that many people wanted to hug. He was the one who knew the policy best. If he drew the top, he would be sure to pass the palace examination.

The eunuch brought the bamboo sticks for the candidates to choose from. Each of these bamboo sticks was the same, with the head facing up. You could only know what was engraved on it after you drew it.

Gu Lin drew one, and saw that it was engraved with a lucky bird, the Vermilion Bird. The eunuch said, "Gu Huiyuan, take this bamboo stick and find nine other people with the same bamboo stick as you."

"Thank you."

The eunuch bent down and held the stick in front of the other candidates.

Soon, Gu Lin walked together with the other nine people. Except for the ninth place, the rest of them did not rank high in the college examination. When they saw Gu Lin in the same group with them, they couldn't help but show joy on their faces, but because this was in front of the palace, they quickly restrained themselves.

The ninth-placed scholar was very impressive. When he saw Gu Lin, the champion, he whispered, "The next step is to draw the upper and lower lots. If we draw the upper lot, it's good, but if we draw the lower lot..."

Those who were in the same team with him and Gu Lin secretly prayed that they would not draw the lower lot. However, when Gu Lin, who was drawing the lot, told the eunuch the result of the lot in his hand, several people's eyes went dark.

What you feared came true. You drew the lower lot.

The emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne, saw that the teams had been divided. He pointed at one team and said, "You, start." They had

just been divided into teams and had just received their own lot drawing results. They had to decide whether they would use Gu Lin's current affairs policy as the argument or be on the side of Che Luo Kingdom. When they were pointed out by the emperor, they were still a little confused. However, in front of the emperor, it was a big mistake to lose manners. No matter how uncertain they were, the twenty people stood up, one team stood on the left and one team stood on the right, and started.

There were ten debates in total, and no one wanted to lose at this most critical moment, so they took a long time. They didn't finish in the morning and continued in the afternoon. After the end, some people's faces were completely unbearable, some people were still calm, and some people felt that they had won, and their eyebrows were flying.

Gu Lin, who had just finished the last debate, knelt in front of the palace. Chen Xingzhong Yan Huang Yuwen looked at him anxiously and didn't dare to do anything or say anything at this time.

The current emperor Qin Zhong, looking at Gu Lin who was decisive in the previous debate, forced the party holding the current affairs policy he wrote to retreat step by step, and finally swallowed up the whole Lizhou, squinted his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking.

He didn't ask Gu Lin to stand up, but raised his hand to indicate that he wanted to stand up, and walked into the back hall surrounded by the eunuchs and the officials who were marking the papers.

The results of the debate of the tribute scholars and their views in the debate have all been recorded and placed on the emperor's desk. The Jinshi, Jinshi origin, and the same Jinshi origin are selected from here.

The emperor picked up the paper covered with neat official script, took a look at it, and suddenly asked the examiners who came in with him: "My dear ministers, who do you think will be the top scorer, second place, and third place in this palace examination?" The examiners

this time included outstanding scholars from the Hanlin Academy, grand secretaries from the cabinet, as well as the Minister of Works Wu Zong, the Minister of Rites Li Quan, and the Minister of Personnel Feng Jianyi.

They were all old ministers who had been around the emperor for many years. Soon someone said, "The scholar named Zhong Yan has outstanding literary talent and is very extraordinary. He may be selected as the top scholar."

Another person said, "I think Shi Xuan is not bad..."

"Shi Xuan is talented, but he looks a little ugly."

"He is the top scholar, not the third place. It doesn't matter if he is not good-looking."

Qin Zhong looked at the old ministers who were talking about this and that, and said, "Why don't you talk about Gu Lin? You all saw the debate he had in the palace just now. Can't he be the top scholar?"

The person was still kneeling in the palace. How could these old foxes offend the emperor at this time? Most of the ministers in the court advocated peace. Firstly, it was related to the emperor's attitude. Secondly, the court was in deficit and they couldn't do anything even if they wanted to.

Who would have thought that Gu Lin would recreate the several times that Che Luo State had plundered Lizhou in recent years in a debate, and then when the tribute scholars who used that current affairs policy as their argument thought they had won, suddenly the army pressed forward step by step, and finally swallowed up the entire Lizhou in one fell swoop.

Lizhou is the closest line of defense for Jingdu. If Lizhou is lost, Jingdu will be completely exposed to the claws of Che Luo State.

Everyone still remembers the emperor's face after Gu Lin won the debate. The next second, Gu Lin knelt on the ground spontaneously, and the emperor did not ask him to get up. Li Quan also felt

that Gu Lin's debate this time was too murderous, but what Gu Lin said when he knelt down was correct. If he hid his incompetence in front of the palace, it would be deceiving the emperor. If he deliberately lost to his opponent to hide his incompetence, it would be even more deceiving the emperor. Li Quan

looked at the emperor sitting on the throne from the corner of his eye, wondering what the emperor was thinking at the moment.

The tribute scholars walked and stood in the palace waiting. Gu Lin knelt on the ground with his back straight, and his body did not shake for a long time.

Suddenly, the chief examiner of the academy examination, Li Quan, came out with a roll of paper and said in a loud voice: "The emperor has personally selected the candidates who have been awarded the title of Jinshi in this palace examination: An Yao, Gao Qiu, Hong Zhou... Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing..." "

The candidates who have been awarded the title of Jinshi..."

"The third place in the Jinshi is Zhong Yan

." " The second place in the Jinshi is Shi Xuan."

"The first place in the Jinshi is Gu Lin."

There are only three candidates who have been awarded the title of Jinshi: the first place is the champion, the second place is the runner-up, and the third place is the third place.

No one expected that Gu Lin, who was kneeling in the palace, would be selected as the champion. They all remembered the tense atmosphere in the palace after Gu Lin won the debate and the emperor's back when he returned to the back hall.

They even thought that Gu Lin would have to confess here today.

After Li Quan announced the result, he looked at Gu Lin as if he had not noticed the crowd who were surprised by the result, and continued: "The emperor has orally ordered that the new champion Gu Lin be appointed as the governor of Lizhou, and he will take office today."

"Gu Lin, go to the emperor to thank him."

Even though they were concerned that this was the palace, the emperor's residence, the voices of the tribute scholars could not be suppressed. Gu Lin, who was kneeling there, became the champion. Now he was not only the champion, but also directly granted an official position.

The governor of Lizhou was a fifth-rank official, two ranks higher than the previous champion who was granted the sixth-rank official position of the Hanlin Academy editor according to convention. He was directly the highest official in charge of the politics of a state.

As quiet as Gu Lin was, he was a little confused about the position of governor that fell on him. He first thanked the emperor for his grace to Li Quan who read the emperor's orally order, and then stood up and followed Li Quan to the back hall.

The tall palace gate was wide open, and two eunuchs stood solemnly on both sides. When they saw Li Quan and Gu Lin coming, they bowed their heads and led the two in.

"Your Majesty, long live the emperor." Gu Lin knelt down and bowed when he was still a few feet away from the emperor. With the emperor's oral order, he was already the governor of Lizhou, and it was inappropriate to call himself a commoner.

Qin Zhong looked at him, asked him to stand up, and said, "Do you know why I chose you as the top scholar and appointed you as the governor of Lizhou?"

"I don't know."

"I want to see if you, who wrote this essay on current affairs, really have a lot of ideas in your mind, or are you just talking big and talking about war on paper," Qin Zhong looked at Gu Lin's essay on current affairs on the table, and said, "I will give you five years. If you can make some achievements in your tenure, I will not pursue your crime of frivolity in front of the palace. Otherwise, I will take your head."

If the Che Luo Kingdom had not occupied several towns in Lizhou last year and withdrew its troops for unknown reasons, and if Qin Zhong was now in his 60s and was increasingly worried about some things, these two things together would not have allowed Gu Lin, who had just become the top scholar, to be the governor of Lizhou.

The prospect presented in Gu Lin's current affairs strategy hit the spot in his heart. Lizhou is a transitional barrier between Dayu's capital and Cheluo Kingdom, but the land is vast and sparsely populated. Not only does the court need to allocate money for relief every year, but it also needs to spend military manpower and material resources there. However, there are still some troubles every year.

"Yes, I will not let down the emperor's grace."

After coming out of the hall, Gu Lin was led directly to the palace gate by the eunuch. Li Quan, who had no chance to talk to him, sighed and shook his head.

Originally, he thought that this boy would enter the Hanlin Academy like the previous top scholars. At that time, he would accept him as a disciple, let him hone his skills in the Hanlin Academy for a few years, and then recommend him to the other six ministries. Unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly had an idea and made him the governor of Lizhou.

It sounds like an official position higher than the editor of the Hanlin Academy, but the governor of Lizhou is not an easy job. Not to mention Gu Lin, who has never been in the officialdom, even the old fox in the court may not be able to please him.

Because it is a barren land, and humans are not gods, so how can they create something out of nothing.

Li Quan shook his head, it was a pity, if Gu Lin could be polished, he might have made some achievements.

The student named Zhong Yan is also good, if it weren't for the emperor's decision, the student named Shi Xuan was really ugly, and it would be unsightly to be selected as the third place, so he could only be selected as the third place, and there was still room for competition for the ranking of this palace examination.

When he was taken to the palace gate by the eunuch, Gu Lin saw Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan waiting for him there, and most of the other tribute scholars had left.

As soon as they saw him, the three of them strode over, their faces relaxed: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back, you really scared us to death with your sudden change of attitude!"

Then Huang Yuwen quickly said, "Are you really the governor of Lizhou now!?"

"Yes, I will take office after the Qionglin Banquet."

"You are so good, Gu Shuanzi, you are always ahead of us in everything. If I go to you to make a living in the future, you can't sing high words to us!" Huang Yuwen felt like he was dreaming that he was fine and became the governor of Lizhou. No, he didn't even dare to do this in his dreams. He was so excited that he even called out the name Gu Shuanzi.

Chen Xing was also very excited. They knew Gu Lin's talent best. If he hadn't studied with Gu Lin and got his guidance, he and Huang Yuwen would have had no chance of passing the college entrance examination this time.

Gu Lin was very happy that he could become the top scholar and the governor of Lizhou.

Zhong Yan, who was always indifferent to everything, also congratulated Gu Lin.

Huang Yuwen said to Gu Lin, "Go back and tell Uncle Lin the good news. Besides, now is the time when the court sends people to inform the family. Maybe you can run into him."

Chapter 220

Huang Yuwen was right. When Gu Lin got off the green-roofed carriage, the street where he and Lin Zhen lived was blocked. The people at the outermost edge saw him and shouted, "The champion is back!"

"Let the champion in!"

"Our street actually has a champion. I should come to his house more often in the future. Maybe I can get some literary air from him."

"My daughter-in-law is pregnant. I will come here every day in the future. My future grandson will also be a scholar!"

"..."

Everyone made way for Gu Lin at the same time, and Gu Lin saw the person who brought the good news from the court and Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen also saw him, with a smile on his face, happy for him, proud smile, like a pearl hanging high there, he could finally reach out and hold it in his hand for a moment.

After rewarding the person who brought the good news with silver and saying a few auspicious words to those who came to watch the excitement and congratulations, Gu Lin and Lin Zhen went into the house under the envious eyes of everyone.

Lin Zhen said, "When the person who announced the good news came, I was still wondering why your palace examination took so long today. I didn't expect to hear him say that you won the top prize."

"Congratulations."

The kid who was a little tired of studying and only wanted to make money by doing business with himself has now become the top student among many students.

Lin Zhen looked at him and patted his shoulder, "You are an adult now. When you serve as an official in the court in the future, you must be steady and cautious, always alert, and don't be greedy for merit and rush forward."

Gu Lin said, "There is another good thing."

Lin Zhen: "?"

Passing the exam to become the top prize is the best thing. What other good things will happen at this time.

Gu Lin said, "The emperor has granted me the official position of Lizhou Beijia. I will leave Beijing to take office after the Qionglin Banquet."

Lin Zhen paused his clapping hands. He had also watched a lot of film and television works in his previous life. He knew that the top three Jinshi candidates would naturally be different from others and would be awarded official positions, but the top scorers all started as editors in the Hanlin Academy and could move up after several years of hard work.

Those who can move up will move up, and those who cannot will be stuck in this position. Haven't you seen how many top-ranking candidates, second-rank candidates, and third-rank candidates can make it in the imperial examination held every three years? How many can finally stand out? They are rare.

Lin Zhen blinked and thought about the official position of the governor of Lizhou in his heart, "Fifth rank?"

"How did you suddenly become the governor of Lizhou?" It was like riding a rocket.

Gu Lin, who had never thought of hiding anything from him, told Lin Zhen what happened during the imperial examination, as well as what the emperor said when he went to thank the emperor in the end.

Lin Zhen felt like a ship in the sea, calm and sunny at one moment, and thunder and lightning and storms at another. When he heard that the emperor only gave Gu Lin five years and wanted him to do something in Lizhou, his first thought was that the old emperor was too scared of death and didn't care whether it was realistic or not, as long as he could sleep well, he would ignore everything.

He immediately asked Gu Lin: "Tell me everything you are going to do after arriving in Lizhou."

Gu Lin took him to the study, took out a pen and a piece of paper, first drew an approximate map of Lizhou on it, pointed to the northernmost part and said: "Lizhou borders the Cher Luo Kingdom. The closer to the outside of the pass, the worse the weather is. It is frozen for nine months a year, and the people only have three short months to farm. Therefore, there are actually no people living near the outside of the pass. Most of them live here."

Gu Lin drew a line with his pen downwards, at a place a finger's thickness away from the border: "After taking office, the first thing to do is what you often told me before, vigorously develop agriculture, and promote the composting method from top to bottom. Only when the people's stomachs are filled will they have the energy to do other things."

"Secondly, the Cher Luo Kingdom comes to Lizhou to plunder every winter..." Gu Lin was clear and organized, with a clear focus on the priorities. He listed in detail the things he was going to do after taking office. Agriculture, military affairs, water conservancy, roads, and even merchants who would be demoted and suppressed in other places were all within his plan.

He has been with Lin Zhen since he was a child, and is well aware of the huge benefits of business. He does not overestimate any one of the three categories, nor does he underestimate any one of them. Instead, he weaves them together and will use them in Lizhou.

Lin Zhen knows that Gu Lin is very good, but this is the first time that Gu Lin has said this in front of him. In the past, he would tell him about the knowledge he learned in modern times in a scattered manner, which was both complicated and numerous. However, Gu Lin started from one state and integrated everything he learned.

Lin Zhen was relieved and listened to him. Suddenly, Gu Lin pointed to the edge of the southeast of Lizhou and said to Lin Zhen: "This place is called Dongyang County. It is not far from the provincial capital, but it is a place close to the inland river."

"After a little repair, you can go here," Gu Lin's pen went south, "straight down to Kyoto, and then into Yongzhou, Pingzhou, Luozhou and other places. I know that your business has just started. Why don't you settle here? First, I can't leave the provincial capital easily after taking office, so I can see you. Second, Lizhou is under my jurisdiction. What you want is difficult to get up and down in other places, but you can see it here."

"Zhenzhen, come with me to Lizhou, okay?"

Gu Lin was always frank in front of Lin Zhen. When he said this, he looked at Lin Zhen and did not hide his selfishness at all.

He was reluctant to be separated from Lin Zhen for so many years. He wanted Lin Zhen to go to Lizhou with him, and also revealed some things that Lin Zhen would see after arriving in Lizhou.

Lin Zhen was just impressed and amazed by his talent, but he suddenly turned the topic to Lizhou. Lin Zhen was a little stunned.

But he thought of many things, such as cement roads and novel items that could bring amazing wealth but would be coveted by others.

In Kyoto, he had to be careful when doing rouge and powder business, taking into account the backers behind these people, but in Lizhou, he could rely on Gu Lin, the governor of Lizhou, and let go.

The prospect was tempting. Lin Zhen thought about it and found that he had no way to refuse his proposal.

It would take at least five or six years to settle down in Kyoto, and there were many restrictions. To do a business, you must share some of the benefits from your own bowl with others to achieve the desired effect.

Lin Zhen is not a stingy person, but being willing to give and having to give are two different feelings. It is not a good feeling to let others put a rope around your neck and be alert all the time.

Lin Zhen looked at Gu Lin and agreed to his proposal: "I will go to Lizhou with you, but I have my own things to do, so I won't be with you all the time."

"I know." Gu Lin's dull eyes and eyebrows were warmed up. He hugged Lin Zhen and sat him on the table, licking and kissing Lin Zhen's lips.

The top three candidates rode horses in the parade, and then attended the Qionglin Banquet with other Jinshi scholars. Lin Zhen learned from Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing that Zhong Yan was also appointed as an editor of the Hanlin Academy, a rank of the seventh rank.

Although not as famous as Gu Lin's fifth-rank Lizhou prefect, being an official in Beijing, maybe he can be transferred to a high-ranking official in a few years, make some achievements in office, and go a step further after returning to Beijing.

As for Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, who were both Jinshi graduates, they had a rougher life. Unlike the two of them, they were not directly appointed as officials. They had to submit their posts and wait for vacancies to be filled. They also had to wait until the Jinshi graduates had chosen before they could get their turn.

After the Qionglin Banquet, Gu Lin, Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing, and Zhong Yan gathered together, along with Lin Zhen, in the courtyard where Lin Zhen and Gu Lin lived.

The weather was getting warmer, and Lin Zhen made two cold dishes and several layers of stewed food, filling the stone table outside the house.

After filling five glasses of wine, Lin Zhen seriously toasted them with his first glass of wine since coming to Kyoto: "You guys are all great, you all got what you wanted, Uncle Lin congratulates you."

When they first met, they were either teenagers or children, but now they were sitting with him drinking, and they all had achieved fame.

Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, who had not been granted official positions, had to continue waiting for news, but they were already very satisfied. They held their glasses and said, "I wish Uncle Lin's business will prosper and make a fortune."

The five of them raised their heads and drank the wine. Lin Zhen drank it completely as if it were fermented rice wine. He smiled and said to Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing, "Gu Lin and I wrote a letter and asked someone to send it back to Anyuan Town. You two should also write one, and go together to save money."

Zhong Yan's mother was gone, and his grandmother had come to Kyoto with him. The two of them lived together and had no contact with Anyuan Town at all, so there was no need to write letters.

Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing smiled, "Uncle Lin, we both wrote on the way here, and were just thinking of asking you if you want to send the letter to Anyuan Town together."

"I didn't expect that we would want to go together."

Huang Yuwen and Chen Xing took out their letters, and Lin Zhen kept them and asked someone to take them back tomorrow. While

eating, Huang Yuwen said, "I don't know when we will meet again after this separation."

Gu Lin and Lin Zhen were going to Lizhou, and each term was five years. Zhong Yan was in the Hanlin Academy in Kyoto, and he and Chen Xing didn't know where they would go, but they were all appointed to local positions after being promoted to Jinshi. If their political achievements were mediocre, they might end up like a county magistrate in Anyuan Town, staying in one place for decades.

And Wang Qin still had two years before he could take the provincial examination, and he didn't know what would happen in the future.

There were almost no more opportunities to sit together and drink and talk like today.

Gu Lin was always taciturn. Zhong Yan and Chen Xing said a few words. Lin Zhen said, "You are all still young, and there will be many opportunities in the future. By the way, you must remember that Wang Qin came to Kyoto to participate in the college entrance examination. We agreed to give him a gift on that day. If you forget, that kid will yell for the rest of his life."

Huang Yuwen, who had played with Wang Qin the longest, could not hold back his discomfort and said, "Uncle Lin, you are right. If you forget what he said, he will talk about it for decades. I will tell the people below a few more times when I go back, so that they will remember and remind me when the time comes."

When Wang Qin was mentioned, Wang Qin's vivid appearance seemed to appear directly in front of them, and the atmosphere could not help but relax.

When this small gathering ended, Huang Yuwen, Chen Xing and Zhong Yan were all a little drunk, and Gu Lin and Lin Zhen, who were still sober, sent them back one by one.