After Cheng Jisheng left, Wang Pingan looked around and found that many students were looking at him, some even pointing and whispering to each other, he didn't know what they were saying about him!

  Wang Ping'an was puzzled, thinking: "Studying in the academy is a heavy workload, even if they don't hang their heads or pierce their thighs with an awl, they shouldn't be wasting time here till midnight! Even if they want to flatter the teacher, they should wait outside the small courtyard, what are they doing whispering and muttering here, having nothing better to do?"

  The students were acting strangely, he didn't know the reason, but as Cheng said, he went to get close to them, that's completely unnecessary, Wang Jia Dashi's medical skills are solid, and his bones are even harder!

  "Master, if you're too embarrassed to go over and greet them, why don't... why don't you recite a poem here to catch their attention? That way, they'll come over and greet you themselves!"

  The little girl had a clever mind, she understood that Wang Ping'an was definitely thinking about it, but wouldn't take it seriously. He didn't go over to greet the other students, he just felt embarrassed. When he said "standing out from the crowd" earlier, he was scolding them, and if he were to take the initiative now, he might be ridiculed. So she came up with this idea, not only did Wang Ping'an not have to go over to ingratiate himself with others, but instead, others would come over to ingratiate themselves with him.

  Ding Danruo also said: "Right, right, young master, compose a poem, like the one you did in broad daylight, that big dream of yours, I think it's great!"

  Wang Ping'an was delighted in his heart, and thought to himself that while he may not be good at writing poetry, when it came to reciting poetry, he estimated that among the several hundred people in the academy, no one could surpass him. After a moment's thought, he cleared his throat and began to recite: "The beauty of the world is heavy, Xishi is subtle for a long time. In the morning she was a girl from Yue Creek, in the evening she became the queen of Wu Palace." As he recited, he glanced at the two little maidservants, but his eyes did not glance at the students.

  Two little maidservants listened to him recite poetry, Ke Lianwu thought: "Is the young master saying that I am peerlessly beautiful? Ah, it's really embarrassing, if Danruo wasn't by my side, the young master would only be reciting for me alone!" Her small face turned red with pleasure, she glanced at Ding Danruo sideways, implying that the word "peerless beauty" had nothing to do with her!

  Ding Danru didn't understand what the poem meant, but she knew that Xi Shi was a term used to describe beautiful women. Seeing Ke Lianwu's "shy" expression, she thought: "How disgusting, smiling like a ghost, and not even afraid of scaring others in the middle of the night!"

  She also smiled and asked Wang Ping'an: "Young master, is this poem praising Lotus Sister's beauty?"

  Wang Ping An hummed in response, thinking to himself: "When did I ever praise her? With only the two of you in front of me, even if I were to praise someone, it would be both of you together. It wouldn't be just one person, favoring one over the other!"

  Ke Lianwu hastily said: "What are you talking about, Second Miss Dan? Young Master is actually praising you!"

  "No, Young Master is praising you, I'm very clear about it in my heart!" Ding Danruo said with a crisp tone.

  Ke Lianwu felt even more pleased with herself, thinking: "You know now, just you wait and see if you dare say I look like a ghost again, the young master has praised me!"

  But then Ting Dan said even more shrilly: "Elder sister Lian Wu looks like Xi Shi, and from now on you should learn from Xi Shi. What Xi Shi is best at is washing clothes by the river, so in the future our family's clothes will be washed by elder sister Lian Wu, and they must be washed clean!"

  Ke Lianwu was now unable to feel proud of herself, pointing at Ding Danru and said: "You, you, you..."

  Wang Ping'an burst out laughing, these two little girls had been at odds with each other since the day they met, and would argue whenever they had the chance. At first, Ke Lianwu had the upper hand, but Ding Dan was a quick learner, picking up both good and bad habits at an alarming rate. Now, when the two of them argued, Ding Dan often came out on top!

  Not far away, someone applauded loudly, and someone said: "Good poem, beautiful woman!", and someone else said: "The poem is good, the person is also good!" Two people walked over from the crowd of students.

  These two people were both in their early twenties, not much older than Wang Ping'an. They were both tall and handsome, with a dignified appearance. Both of them wore embroidered clothes and were finely dressed, looking like the sons of wealthy families.

  Actually, Wang Ping'an had already caught the attention of many people as soon as he got off the car. If it were at any other time, taking a ride with Qiu Tingxuan wouldn't be a big deal, but now was an extremely sensitive moment, when the list of tributes was being finalized, and people couldn't help but be sensitive about it!

  Don't look at the crowd of people making a fuss when entering, but those are all students who know they won't have their names on the list, anyway, they don't read books for the college entrance exam, so they don't care and aren't nervous, just joining in the excitement and making a ruckus!

  But those students who usually read well and might appear on the list were very disgusted with Wang Ping'an, thinking that Wang Ping'an's appearance at this time was likely to grab a spot. The quota is limited, one goes up, and another comes down, everyone wants to go up, no one wants to come down. No one knew that Wang Ping'an had come to see Qiu Wenpu for medical treatment, they all thought it was Cheng Jisheng! So it's inevitable to have wild thoughts, treating Wang Ping'an as an imaginary enemy.

  That's why the students pointed at Wang Ping'an and didn't come over to greet him. Those who were good at studying didn't come because they weren't pleased in their hearts, while those who were spoiled didn't come because Wang Ping'an had mocked them in front of the gate. However, some students who were both spoiled and knew they would be on the list wouldn't be displeased with Wang Ping'an; instead, they would look for opportunities to get close to him. The fact that he dared to come and grab a spot proved that he had skills and connections, so why not make friends with him as soon as possible?

  No sooner had Wang Ping'an recited a poem than someone came over and took the initiative to make friends with him.

  The two men walked up and bowed to Wang Ping'an. The man on the left said, "I am Lu Xiuzhi, may I ask how you are called?" The man on the right said, "I am Zhao Bi, I saw that you wrote a good poem, so I came over to ask for your guidance."

  Wang Ping'an saw Zhen bring people over, and his heart was delighted. He cupped his hands and, imitating their tone, said: "Two brothers are too polite, I'm Wang Ping'an, I casually wrote a poem, but it's laughable to the two of you!"

  Lu Xiu and Zhao Bi are both sons of wealthy families, and they are both the eldest legitimate sons who support their families. They came to Xiangtang Academy not only for fame but also for connections.

  They had never heard of Wang Ping'an before, and the Xu family in Xuzhou hadn't either, so they guessed that Wang Ping'an was definitely an outsider who came to borrow a place to study, not for studying or doing academic work, but seeking a quota for the imperial examination. Looking at Qiu Tingxuan's politeness towards him, and how he could come and go freely in the small courtyard, it seemed that Qiu asked Pu also valued him highly. He even had the mood to compose poetry here, so it was likely that this quota was already in his pocket!

  The three of them exchanged a few pleasantries, probing each other, and Zhao Bi's impatient nature suddenly led him to ask in a low voice: "Brother Wang, when you entered the house earlier, did my master mention a certain... list?" If he had directly said "list", Wang Ping'an would probably not have told the truth, so he tactfully changed it to "single item", which someone with a discerning ear would understand.

  Wang Ping'an nodded and said, "Yes, I saw a list!" He was referring to the crumpled up prescription that Qiu Wenpu had made into a ball. He didn't know about the list of tribute students, so he wouldn't think in that direction.

  Zhao Bi and Lu Xiu were overjoyed, never expecting Wang Ping'an to answer so decisively!

  Lu Xiu's heart was racing wildly, his voice trembling as he spoke. "Has that list been altered?" He already knew his name was on the list, so he only cared if there had been any changes, lest he be taken down.

  Zhao Bi also looked at Wang Ping'an with a tense face.

  Wang Ping'an said: "Of course there are some changes, if there were no changes, what would I be doing here?"

  Zhao Bi and Lu Xiu's faces both turned green, the person in front of them was indeed a big shot, when it came to changing names, he had an air of being perfectly natural, as if adding your name would cut off someone else's future!

  Zhao Bi swallowed hard and asked nervously: "Which name is it replaced with?"

  "It's still the same, no name change, just added a bit of quantity!"

  Zhao Bi and Lu Xiu exchanged a glance, both of them were overjoyed in their hearts. It turned out that no one had been eliminated, but instead more people had been added! The two of them bowed together to Wang Ping'an, with their heads touching the ground, and said in unison: "Thank you, Brother Wang, for telling us, we can finally put our minds at ease!"

  The two of them hastily sold the trick, said a few more polite words, and ran back into the crowd, saying in a low voice: "We've got the latest news..." As soon as they said this, the students burst out with a loud noise, like cold water splashing on boiling oil, and suddenly the pot exploded!

  Wang Pingan was puzzled and said to the two little maids, "It's just that a few more pieces of cassia twig were added. Why are they so excited? Are they interested in medicine too?"

  Two little girls looked at me, I looked at them, both with a face of inexplicable confusion.

  Suddenly, the students came surging in like a tide, calling out: "Brother Wang, your writing is elegant and refined, I admire you extremely, especially come to ask for your guidance..."

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  Additional: Thank you to book friends monikacao, happiness is just good, book friend Awen 2006, book friend Ya Juan, for their continuous enthusiastic rewards. Thank you to book friends Feng Yiyangyang, @GYD@, Arthur.world, and 100114122717088 for their enthusiastic rewards. Thank you all for your support, I am grateful here a million times.

  Yellow Hen Soup

  Prescription: 1 yellow hen, 30g red adzuki bean, 6g grass fruit.

  Method: Wash the yellow hen chicken clean, and boil it with grass fruit and red adzuki bean until the chicken is cooked through.

  Warming and diuretic effects.

  Usage: Drink soup and eat chicken meat. Take with meals once a week.