Her guards

Chapter 29 Miss's Solution

Mo Zheng led the horse through a maze of turns to a bustling street, then followed Yang Luo's instructions to "find four alleys." Upon arriving at the four alleys, Yang Luo got out of the carriage and walked straight in, seemingly knowing exactly where to go.

But Mo Zheng followed behind and felt that Yang Luo didn't seem to know where she was going, because she was looking left and right in the alley and sniffing around from time to time, as if she was smelling something.

“You…” Mo Zheng couldn’t help but ask.

Yang Luo stopped in front of a door, seemingly having noticed something. He waved to her, then took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Aunt Yang, Aunt Yang!" she called out loudly.

Mo Zheng raised her eyebrows slightly upon hearing this; Yang Luo spoke with a Beijing accent.

She pursed her lips slightly, thinking to herself that this young lady was indeed formidable.

Footsteps sounded from inside the door, and a moment later someone peeked through the crack in the door. Yang Luo crouched down so that the person inside could see more clearly.

"Aunt Yang, my mother asked me to come and get the flower pattern. Is it ready?" Yang Luo continued.

Perhaps because of her Beijing accent and the fact that she was a young girl, the person behind the door opened it.

This was a maidservant of about sixteen or seventeen years old, looking puzzled: "Miss, you must have come to the wrong place. There is no Aunt Yang here."

Yang Luo stared wide-eyed: "Isn't this the home of Yang Niangzi, the flower seller?" As she spoke, she looked past the maid and into the house. Mo Zheng followed her gaze and saw that the courtyard was not large, and at this moment, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out from the open door...
A woman's cough came from inside, accompanied by a weak question, "Biyun, who is it?"

The maid Biyun turned around and said, "Miss, you're looking for the Yang family's flower seller, but you've come to the wrong house." Then she looked at Yang Luo again and said, "We're not from the Yang family's house."

Yang Luo was surprised and confused: "You've got the wrong person? Then whose wives are you?"

The maid Biyun subconsciously answered, "Our surname is Liu..." but then stopped abruptly, looking at Yang Luo warily.

Yang Luo didn't look at her, but at the doorway: "Liu? Not Yang? They said it's in the third alley of Chang Le Street..."

The maid suddenly realized and hurriedly said, "Miss, there are four alleys here."

Yang Luo was shocked and quickly apologized, stepping back hastily. He then scolded the guards behind him, "How did you lead the way?"

Mo Zheng lowered her head and argued softly, "Miss, you initially said four alleys."

Yang Luo got even angrier and stomped her foot: "I never said that, you just led me the wrong way." With that, she strode away.

The guards hurriedly followed with their heads down.

The maid at the door smiled helplessly, and a young woman came out of the room, coughing behind her. "Biyun, what's wrong..."

The maid hurriedly turned around and said, "Miss, please go inside and lie down. Someone came to the wrong door and has already left. You mustn't be exposed to the wind because of your illness."

The door closed, and the voices of the master and servant gradually faded away.

Yang Luo stopped at the alley entrance and looked back.

"Ah Sheng," she whispered, "remember this place, right?"

Mo Zheng nodded.

Yang Luo looked at him, took out a piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to him: "Find this at her house and bring it to me."

Mo Zheng didn't take it, raising an eyebrow: "Miss, you're being too polite. Is that what you call taking it?"

That's called stealing!
Yang Luo forced a smile and said softly, "Let me explain. If we don't take it, this thing will be gone too."

"What is this?" Mo Zheng asked curiously. She took the paper and opened it, and saw that it depicted an invitation, praising the Liu family of Fuzhou for founding the Zhiyong Academy, which had a far-reaching reputation. Finally, her gaze fell on a pattern.

Yang Luo didn't say what it was, but Mo Zheng recognized it.

This is the Emperor's Seal.

This is the emperor's invitation, equivalent to an imperial edict.

Mo Zheng looked up at Yang Luo.

She understood. This was about stealing someone else's application and impersonating them to take the exam for the princess's companion. Good heavens, was this young lady studying hard? Or was she going mad!
……

.......
Yang Luo looked at the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone laid out on the table.

I seemed to hear my cousin Yang Hui's voice in my ear.

"Look, look, this is the invitation the emperor gave me when I took the exam to become a companion scholar."

At that time, she greatly admired and envied Yang Hui for being a princess's companion, being able to study at the Imperial Academy, and being able to enter and leave the palace.

Yang Hui was happy to enjoy her envy and told her in detail how she was selected through the exam, what the exam was about, what articles she wrote, and some interesting stories from that time.

"Many people come to take the exam."

"But besides talent, one also needs to consider luck."

"A young lady from Fuzhou was unlucky. She fell ill due to the change in environment in Beijing, which delayed her exams. To make matters worse, her invitation was chewed up by rats."

"She was terrified. Even after she recovered, she didn't dare go home and almost starved to death while hiding in the capital."

"Her family came looking for her, unaware of the details. They thought their daughter had been stolen, robbed, or murdered, and they made a scene at the Imperial Academy, which alarmed His Majesty. Only then were they able to find her and learn what had happened."

"His Majesty personally tested this young lady's knowledge, and it was truly impressive. His Majesty intends to have her serve as a companion to the princess and enroll in the Imperial Academy, but..."

Yang Hui chuckled, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice.

"The Empress Dowager forbids it, saying that her birth chart is unlucky and brings bad luck."

Compared to Miss Liu, she was quite lucky, managing to get the Emperor's invitation before the rat.

The candlelight flickered, and Mo Zheng tapped the table, interrupting Yang Luo's reverie.

Yang Luo looked at Mo Zheng's hand, where an invitation was pressed under her fingers.

She reached out, picked it up, and opened it. Compared to the crude sketch she had drawn from her vague memory, the real imperial invitation was magnificent and imposing.

Please affix the translucent dragon pattern.

“As you said, I threw some scraps of paper next to the mouse hole,” Mo Zheng said. “However, those papers are completely different from this invitation. If they can tell it’s not, there’s nothing I can do.”

Yang Luo smiled.

Although the young hunter looked very strange when he heard that he was asked to steal something, as if he had gone mad, he still went out at dusk and returned before curfew, successfully "getting" the invitation back.

"You guessed what this is, right?" Yang Luo asked.

The young hunter could read, probably taught by the old hunter. She had also told him that she wanted to take the exam to become a princess's companion at the Imperial Academy.

Mo Zheng raised an eyebrow: "The qualification for the exam, right? It was given by the emperor." He pointed to the invitation, "I saw the bright yellow dragon pattern."

This time, Yang Luo's eyes turned strange: "You're really bold."

Knowing what it was, they still dared to steal it.

No wonder he could become the leader of the bandits in Yunling, and even oppose the government, seizing cities and occupying government offices...

Is this what they call innate rebelliousness and audacity?

Mo Zheng chuckled, "Miss, I'm eating your food now, so of course I'll listen to you. But if something happens, you'll have to take responsibility yourself. I'm going to save my own life."

Yang Luo chuckled, picked up the invitation, looked at the dragon pattern on it, and his smile became complicated: "Don't worry, it's just an invitation. Even if something happens, it's not a big deal."

Mo Zheng raised an eyebrow again. Impersonating someone else to take the exam, and even stealing this invitation—which was supposed to be a gift from the Emperor—and this was no big deal? This young lady was truly more formidable than she had imagined.

What kind of secret is hidden here?

(End of this chapter)