♂?，，

  Ding Ruo followed Ding Dong to Cheng Song Garden, Ding Dong asked about the physical condition of Tai Furen, and Ding Ruo replied as briefly and respectfully as possible. Seeing that Ding Dong was no longer speaking to her, Ding Ruo secretly let out a breath. When they arrived at Cheng Song Garden, Ding Ruo put down her guard, bid farewell to Ding Dong on one knee, and went straight back to Tai Furen's house.

  Ding Dong watched as Ding Rou left, shaking his head slightly as he went to see the old master. Ding Rou told Madame Liu that Ding Min had voluntarily knelt down and begged their father, it wasn't Ding Dong punishing her. Liu Niang cried, "Madame..."

  "That's enough."

  Liu Yiniang did not dare to say more, and the old lady thought for a moment. Ding Rou saw that she was pursing her lips, obviously annoyed at Ding Min's lack of propriety, "Go get Ding Min yourself."

  "Min'er won't listen to me." Liu Yiniang cried miserably, and the old lady's expression was impatient. Ding Rou helped Liu Yiniang up, "Third sister is just confused for a moment, you are her mother, talk to her properly, third sister will come around eventually."

  Ding Ruo hinted to Liu Niangniang to leave, but Liu Niangniang didn't seem to understand and refused to leave. Ding Ruo had no choice but to lower her voice and say: "Liu Niangniang, if you delay any further, Third Sister won't be able to hold on. She's still kneeling in the snow, and if she startles Mother, Third Sister will be in trouble."

  Madam Liu's face turned even paler, and she looked at Old Madam with red eyes. Ding Ruo and Wen Li escorted her out the door, half-supporting and half-dragging her, finally clearing the air. After returning to the house, Old Madam asked: "Has Father gone to Master's study?"

  "Yes."

  Ding Rou recounted the events briefly, and Tai Furen didn't care about Ding Min's antics, but she was concerned about Ding Dong. She stood up and said, "Accompany me to see Master."

  Ding Ruo thought she would avoid Ding Dong, but Mrs. Tai wanted to go to the study, so Ding Ruo supported Mrs. Tai's arm and walked towards the study. The little servant who had been attending to Old Master Ding stood outside, looking in through the window, vaguely seeing one person sitting and one standing, with only two people in the large study. The little servant reported, and Old Master Ding's hoarse voice came out: "Is it Madame? Come in."

  Ding Ruo originally intended to let go of the old lady's arm, she could wait outside, but the old lady didn't want to let go of Ding Ruo, indicating that Ding Ruo should accompany her. After entering the study door, Ding Dong bowed to the old lady, Ding Ruo obediently lowered his head, bowed his body, and supported the old lady to sit beside Old Master Ding. She hung her head and stood silently by, her eyelids drooping down, staring at the green bricks on the ground.

  Although Old Master Ding was seated, he still held onto his silver-headed cane and tapped it on the ground, producing a dull thud. Ding Dong stood before him with equal respect. The atmosphere was heavy, and Eldest Son's furrowed brow seemed to be troubled by something extremely difficult. Without the joy of being promoted, he asked in a soft voice, "Has something gone wrong?"

  Old Master Ding played with the silver head of his cane, "Dong Er's promotion to deputy chief examiner seems like a glorious thing, but in reality it is fraught with hidden dangers."

  The old lady is indeed astute, after all, she's a woman who excels in domestic affairs, managing the household, getting along with the other wives, and overseeing the ancestral offerings. The old lady is quite skilled at these things, but when it comes to changes in the imperial court, she only has half-baked understanding. Hearing Old Master Ding say such things, and thinking back to Ding Min's unusual behavior, could it be that Ding Min is clever? Or did she receive some kind of divine inspiration?

  "What nonsense is this? Although the imperial examination is the easiest to produce a big case of cheating, there is the iron law of Taizu Emperor. The chief examiner and deputy chief examiner will be concentrated in the Cangcai Pavilion for two days. There are four copies of the exam papers, which are drawn by Your Majesty at random, and no one knows what the questions are. When reviewing the papers, the examinee's name is also sealed. Since the founding of the Great Qin Dynasty, there has been no cheating case. Moreover, I trust my son's character, and the chief examiner Xu Ge is a straightforward and unyielding person, how can he do something foolish? How can you say it's ominous?"

  Old Master Ding narrowed his eyes, and although Ting Rou was hanging her head, she felt his attention, "Go pour the tea."

  Ding Ruo's body slightly trembled, and Old Master Ding didn't mention any names. Only the youngest, Ding Ruo, could do the chores of serving tea and water. She bent her knees: "Please wait a moment, Grandfather."

  As she was about to leave, she instructed the young servant to brew tea. Ting Ruo intentionally lingered for a while, probably not wanting her grandfather to hear. When they had almost finished speaking, Ting Ruo carried a tray with three Qinghua porcelain covered bowls back into the study. She secretly glanced at Ding Dong, whose face was even more solemn. Only Old Master Ding's eyes were shining brightly, making Ting Ruo feel somewhat nervous as she walked up and handed each of them a cup of tea.

  "Grandfather, grandmother, father, have some tea."

  She clutched the tray tightly and retreated to one side. For the first time, Ding Yu felt pressure in front of Old Master Ding. However, the unyielding spirit inside her surged up even more. The more pressure she was given, the more she would bounce back. After experiencing many ups and downs, she saw that the old master had put down his cane, picked up his tea cup, sniffed the fragrance of the tea leaves, and said:

  "Two years ago, the four major academies competed, and I was one of the judges. The Northern academies, Yanjing Academy and Zhili Academy, only had one outstanding student, Yin Chengshan. In contrast, the two Southern academies were filled with talented scholars, far surpassing their Northern counterparts in terms of knowledge and eloquence. Our great ancestor once lamented that the best writings are gathered in Jiangnan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and the two Guangs, where there are many families with a strong tradition of scholarship and numerous readers. Every time we hold an examination to select the top scholars, it is always a fierce competition among the best. Two years have passed, and I imagine that most of the outstanding students from back then must have become successful scholars by now. As for the Northern scholars... I haven't seen Yin Chengshan in two years, and I don't know how much his knowledge has improved, but the ancestral home of the Yin family is in Hangzhou."

  Ding Rou's eyelid twitched, the reason for the big trouble in the imperial examination was not that the questions were leaked, nor was it because of bribery and cheating. The root cause was the struggle between the north and the south? This is not hard to understand, even in modern times there is a saying about "high school immigrants", the admission ratio of higher learning institutions varies from place to place. In the Great Qin Dynasty, I'm afraid there's no such thing as an admission ratio, only the best will be admitted. Once all the places are taken by students from the south, what about those from the north? The scholars from the imperial capital Yanjing have always thought they were superior to others, after failing the exam, who knows they won't make trouble? Who knows they won't complain about the unfairness and partiality of the chief examiner and deputy examiner?

  People's inferiority complex, once unable to pass the imperial examination, most will blame others and rarely reflect on themselves. Even if Yin Chengshan passed the imperial examination, his ancestral home was in the south, which could not alleviate the resentment of the northern scholars. If it were just a small disturbance, it would be fine, but what's feared is that when the situation gets out of control, the emperor will severely punish the chief and deputy examiners. Ding Rou finally understood, so this was the root cause that Ding Min didn't know about. Even if the emperor executed the chief examiner, he wouldn't publicly announce that it was because he couldn't control the students' rioting.

  The emperor can't be wrong, it's just an excuse for the chief examiner and deputy chief examiner to abuse their power. Throughout history, there have been many loyal ministers and generals who were wrongly killed, and Xu Ge is no exception. With his straightforward and unyielding personality, even if he faced a cliff of a thousand meters, he would still persist in upholding justice in his heart, even if it meant sacrificing himself, without thinking of taking a detour.

  Is the Emperor's choice of Xu Ge Lao as the chief examiner right or wrong? No one is more important than the country, and Xu Ge Lao was destined to be sacrificed. Ding Rou let out an unconscious sigh. Old Master Ding had a broad perspective, but he had one disadvantage compared to Ding Rou - he didn't know that Ding Min was a reborn woman, nor did he know that Ding Rou was a transmigrated woman. That he could infer the convergence of the north and south factions at the Spring Examinations was already quite remarkable.

  "Why sigh?"

  Ding Rou raised her eyes and quietly looked at the old man, instantly smiling shallowly: "How would Grandfather know that a Northern scholar who has never entered the Imperial Academy cannot pass the imperial examination? My daughter once met the young master of the Wang family, his talent is not bad."

  Since Ding Min has gone to find him and has a mind to make friends, Wang Gongzi should have great prospects. Ding Ruo didn't intentionally bring up Wang Gongzi, but she couldn't tell Ding Lao Taiye about the turmoil that she had just thought of and inferred, as it wasn't suitable for her identity as a concubine-born daughter. Things going against the norm are considered ominous, and Ding Ruo certainly doesn't want to be seen as an omen.

  "He? I've met the Wang Gongzi mentioned by Liu Yaotou, the eldest son of the Wang family, from a humble background. He does have a diligent and hardworking spirit, I've taught him a couple of sentences before, his talent is slightly better than Yin Fu's fourth son, Yin Chengshan, whom your father praised two years ago."

  Ding Dong took over and introduced Wang Gongzi. Old Master Ding nodded and said, "As you say, he can't compare to Yin Chengshan."

  "My son thinks so too."

  "Two years ago, Yin Chengshan narrowly lost to the most famous young talent in Jiangnan - Yang He. Yang He's mentor is an old friend of mine, and we often exchange letters, full of praise for his talented disciple. I read Yang He's writings and was truly amazed - it's no surprise that he would be the top scholar. The Four Talents of Jiangnan are renowned, with a reputation that implies 'who else could possibly compare?' - just one Yin Chengshan is far from enough."

  Mr. Ding let out a deep sigh, and Ding Dong was in a dilemma. The position of vice examiner had become a hot potato. "Father, what should I do?" he asked.

  Mr. Ding was at a loss for a moment, then thought and said: "Maintaining the original heart, all the imperial examinations and reviewing the papers are under the orders of Xu Ge Lao, from above, when His Majesty awarded the first place in the imperial examination, remember to leave some room, don't force it, understand?"

  "Yes, thank you for your teachings, Father."

  Ding Rou let out a sigh of relief. If Ding Dong followed Grandfather Ding's orders, there was still room for the situation to turn around. There were two more months left, and Ding Rou couldn't continue to do nothing, appearing low-key and mediocre. She needed to slowly bring up some points to Grandfather Ding: what was the admission ratio of each province, what was the North-South ranking? If she rashly spoke out now, it would be a death sentence, scaring many people. Could two months change the course of the massive case that had left a deep impression on Ding Min's memory? Let's try and see.

  Ding Ruo thought about how to get closer to Old Man Ding, only by getting closer would it be easier to talk, and from his attitude towards her today, perhaps he wasn't ignoring her after all.

  "This matter, as long as it's settled in one's heart, it will be fine. It shouldn't be revealed on the outside, maybe I'm just worrying for nothing."

  "My son knows."

  Ding Dong bowed to the ground, and only then did Madam Tai say: "San Yaotou Ding Min has not been happy since she knew that Dong'er became the deputy chief examiner. Does she also have Old Master's thoughts?"

  Old Master Ding said confidently: "With her experience and insight, she can't understand it, let the eldest daughter-in-law take care of her more, Ting Min is not ordinary, just keep her for now."

  Madam nodded, and Ding Rou's back felt a chill; even if she came up with an idea to avoid disaster, she had to be careful, careful, and more careful.

  PS: Added more and sent it over. Seeking rewards. Ding Rou's biggest crisis has arrived, some things are clearly known to have a solution method, but can't be said directly, it's actually quite painful.

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