The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

"Your Excellency, the Minister! Your Excellency, the Minister!"

Sheng Yuan saw that the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue had been almost dealt with and prepared to return home early.

But before she could take a step forward, she saw her subordinates trotting towards her from afar.

Seeing that his rare opportunity to leave early was ruined, Sheng Yuan scratched the wing of his hat and sighed.

"What are you yelling about?!"

The subordinate reported with a slightly hurried breath: "The scholars from the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Mansion have come to look for you in a group. Judging from their momentum, they seem to be looking for trouble!"

"Huh? Who? A group of scholars came to the Ministry of Revenue to cause trouble?!" Sheng Yuan's hand, which was adjusting the brim of his hat, slipped down to his ear. He couldn't help but rubbed it gently and looked over in disbelief.

"I don't think I've offended them recently! I haven't delayed their funding recently. Could it be that they think their finances are too sufficient?"

Thinking of this, Sheng Yuan waved to his subordinate and asked him seriously, "You have been in the Ministry of Revenue longer than I have. When Minister An was in charge, did this happen?"

The subordinate shook his head without hesitation: "I have never seen such a situation! And...Minister, you know it well, no matter who comes, as long as they ask for money, Minister An will not welcome them. If they can afford to offend, he will not give them a good face, and if they can't afford to offend, he will just avoid them...I have seen no one get angry with him."

"Well, that's the case." Sheng Yuan thought about it carefully, nodded slowly, and couldn't help muttering thoughtfully, "Could it be that they are bullying me because I am a low-ranking official?"

The official's mouth twitched when he heard this. He looked up and found that his chief officer actually believed her guess without any reason. He was speechless and could only remind her in a low voice: "Sir, the most senior person in the Hanlin Academy and the Zhanshi Mansion is on the same level as you... Today, he hasn't come yet."

"Oh, they haven't come yet? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Sheng Yuan suddenly realized, "Humph, if the chief officials haven't come, then the so-called scholars who came are just honorary titles. Are they the great scholars selected by the emperor and empress?"

The subordinate said, "I deserve to be beaten, but I shouldn't have forgotten to mention the key point first," and then answered Sheng Yuan's question, "It's that group of great scholars."

Then, he asked in a low voice: "Sir, is it possible that the young men and women in their family have had the honor of being taught by you recently?"

When Sheng Yuan heard his words, they automatically translated them into: "Did you hit someone's child again recently? That's why you hit the younger one and offended the older one?"

Although the official's words were purely nonsense, Sheng Yuan didn't have time to feel offended for the time being. She actually recalled it for a moment as if it was true.

"You're asking this question. Am I such an idle person? I don't even have time to help others educate their children!" After confirming that he had been very obedient recently, Sheng Yuan waved his hand and said confidently, "Forget it, I won't guess... Where are they? Where did you arrange for them to go?"

"It's in the side hall of the conference room in front. It's very spacious and can accommodate those people."

"A few people make you so flustered?"

"…The main reason is that each of them brought students with them!"

This time it was Sheng Yuan's turn to be speechless: "This field teaching has even come to the Ministry of Revenue? Let's go! Let me see what they can do."

……

"Young Master Yang, before we came, the Chancellor specifically instructed me to remind you not to cause trouble with Sheng Wenzhen!" After the Junior Chancellor of the Chancellery came to the side hall, his first reaction was to remind the leading scholar in a low voice again.

This Yang Daru was the recently conferred Prince's Guardian. He had served as the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi for more than ten years. During his administration, he developed education and his reputation as a great scholar spread throughout the south. Therefore, he was valued by the Emperor. When he submitted a letter of resignation, he was transferred to Kyoto and given a higher title. "Don't worry, Mr. Cen. I just want to see the future imperial tutor identified by Princess Zhaode. I won't embarrass you!" Yang Daru stroked his beard and said calmly.

But when Cen Shaozhanshi heard this, he did not feel relieved at all.

He didn't believe what the other party said at all.

Don't be fooled by Yang Shaobao's nonchalant words. If he was really so nonchalant, he wouldn't have called so many friends to come here.

But no matter how you look at Sheng Wenzhen, he doesn't seem like a person who would uphold the virtues of respecting the elderly and loving the young.

If he is really provoked, he might even punch his octogenarian colleague!

Thinking about the fact that he had given up his day off to avoid the trivial matters of quarrels among his wives and concubines at home, Junior Secretary Cen couldn't help but feel regretful. Originally, this task should have been given to Junior Secretary Qin, who had exchanged vacations with him!
Young Master Cen, who was getting more and more troubled the more he thought about it, sighed and glanced at the old scholars around him who were ready to take action, hoping that Sheng Wenzhen could calm down.

……

"Young Master Yang, the Ministry of Revenue is Sheng Wenzhen's territory now, right? We have come here with such a large force... She must know about it! What's the matter? Is she treating us coldly like this, hoping that we will give up on our own?"

Hearing this, Yang Shaobao looked at his old friend who was still using his remaining energy in the Imperial Academy and said, "Brother Yunji, please wait patiently. I don't believe that a dignified Minister of the Ministry of Revenue would dodge orders."

A scholar nearby snorted when he heard this: "Young Master Yang, don't think too highly of her! She is just a girl who was lucky enough to get a good reputation. She became a third-rank official by virtue of her family background. She squeezed out her superiors and exercised the power of a minister in the name of a minister... How can such a person have integrity and bottom line? She is just a villain who seduces young children!"

"Don't dare to say that! Don't dare to say that! Scholar He!" Cen Shaozhanshi, who was eavesdropping on the side, waved his hands and tried to persuade him. "Scholar He has a great reputation. Even Minister Sheng has to bow and call you Sir. Don't make personal attacks on your juniors!"

Mr. He was interrupted before he could finish his words. He was dissatisfied and wanted to reprimand him, but he felt that there was some reason in the other party's slightly flattering words, so he just snorted coldly, giving face to Yang Shaobao.

"Young Master Yang, do you really just want to have a debate with Sheng Wenzhen today?" Young Master Cen dismissed Master He and looked at Young Master Qi who remained silent.

"I have something to say. After thinking about it, I still want to tell you something. According to our Zhan Shi, Sheng Wenzhen is really capable of smashing the office by herself and then blaming you for coming to her door!"

Shao Zhanshi Cen originally wanted to exaggerate a bit, but after thinking it over, he chose to be realistic.

"Although your reputation as a good person, Young Master Yang, is well known to the world, as the saying goes, three people make a tiger! You have been careful about your reputation for most of your life. If you are influenced by the words of fools... You know, people love wild history, jokes, and nonsense. If you are labeled as a tyrant, what will happen?!"

Shao Zhanshi Cen looked at Shao Bao Yang's expression while talking to him, silently sighing that he had endured everything and spared no effort to remind Shao Bao Yang.

As expected, Yang Shaobao's originally cold face showed a bit of seriousness.

At the same time, the scholars who had just looked indignant seemed to have calmed down a lot.

Just when Shaozhan Cen wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, footsteps were heard outside the hall.

Just by listening to the arrogance in the footsteps, I knew who was coming. (End of this chapter)