Yes, Madam Prime Minister

He's come all this way for a long time, and it wasn't for nothing; he already had contingency plans for all sorts of problems.

Whether you are a king or a father, he can answer the question.

"Are you an ordinary person?" the king asked.

“Compared to Your Highness, I am very ordinary,” Ronan replied, still methodical.

“I don’t think so. You’re better than I expected to be able to handle such an unexpected situation calmly.”

"It's a great honor."

"you can go now."

Ronan then left the palace.

Chapter 165 Notice, Interrogation—You Taught Them All

After leaving the palace, we returned to the inn.

Ronan's mood at this moment was neither tense nor relieved, but rather confused.

The king's attitude was puzzling. Logically, if a kingdom official like him had a conflict with someone who was likely a potential royal consort, the king should at least give him a warning, if not reprimand him, and hint that he shouldn't get too close to Ambrina.

After all, Ambrina isn't married yet.

However, that wasn't the case. Instead, the king praised him and even asked him what he thought of Ambrina.

Three more days passed in the blink of an eye. Ronan and Gawain's duel did not cause any repercussions. The king did not contact him again, Ambrina did not reach out to him, and Isabel did not look for him again. No one came to him to inquire about anything, and no one took the opportunity to do anything.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Given the calm, Ronan was certain that His Majesty the King must have done something.

That day, the central government notified the secretaries-general who came to the capital from various cities to resubmit their reports, requiring them to reduce the total word count to within three hundred words and to include a summary and discussion.

How did more than two hundred secretaries-general, staying in different hotels and inns in different areas, receive this notification?

The answer is simple: according to the plan, everyone was to stay at the cathedral, so the notice could be sent directly to the cathedral, and the secretaries-general only needed to go to the cathedral to find out.

Of course, Ronan didn't need to, because he already knew about it from Ambrina.

At this very moment, he was in Ambrina's villa, using a frying pan and the local specialty oyster sauce he had brought with him to cook a classic Cantonese dish for Ambrina: beef slices with oyster sauce.

A large plate of beef slices with oyster sauce was served, along with fried chicken cutlets and fried mushroom slices that had cooled down a bit and were ready to eat. We added a simple cucumber salad with mustard mayonnaise and a tomato oxtail soup that had been prepared in advance. With two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup, lunch for two was completed.

After the meal was prepared, the servants served it. Ambrina was considered frugal; the plates were imitation porcelain imported from Venaia. Truly luxurious nobles used Seres porcelain, where a small plate could be exchanged for a horse.

Ambrina used a silver fork with an ornate pattern and a golden eagle relief to pick up a slice of beef and put it in her mouth to chew. First came the sweet, savory and salty flavor, then the tender and juicy texture, and finally the original flavor of the beef itself. Even though she had eaten many royal dishes, she still found it very refreshing.

“Ronan, you always bring us new and delicious dishes,” Ambrina praised.

"As long as you're happy," Ronan said.

After eating for a while, Ambrina put down her fork. "Can you tell me why you're afraid of me?" This question had been bothering her for many days.

Ronan took a bite of the cucumber with mayonnaise, which he disliked completely. "I'm not a blockhead. There are some things I understand. It's just that I'm still too far removed from Your Highness, so I'm a little afraid."

Ambrina gave a wink to the servant beside her, who understood and left.

Soon, apart from Lucia in the distance, only she and Ronan were left in the courtyard.

"I see." Ambrina understood and smiled. "Don't worry, I can make my own decisions."

Ronan’s eyes flashed with surprise. How could this be? Did the king not only have physical problems, but also mental problems?

Seeing that Ronan seemed somewhat skeptical, Ambrina added, "Anyway, that's how it is. I don't really understand why, but that's what my father told me a long time ago."

Although she didn't understand politics very well, she knew that, by all accounts, she absolutely could not decide her own marriage.

However, her father, King Lucien, had told her before she left the capital with Dinah that she could choose her own husband in the future.

Ronan could hardly believe that the king had really given Ambrina the power to choose for herself, but the facts forced him to accept it.

Three days ago, the king met with him, and during the conversation, there was not the slightest hint that he should stay away from Ambrina. On the contrary, the king seemed to be implying, "You're not bad, you can give it a try."

Ambrina rested her chin on her hand, looking at Ronan with an expectant smile. "So, Ronan, what do you feel about me?"

"Ambrina, you are a beloved princess."

Ronan replied in this way.

Ambrina pouted, her eyes fixed on Ronan. She was unhappy, but she didn't say anything.

Ronan took a sip of diluted lemonade to calm himself down. Ambrina's expression made it clear that she wouldn't be leaving today unless he gave her an answer.

"I have no experience with this kind of thing, and I don't know what to do. But I can't stay in the capital; I have to go back to Xinhai City." That was all Ronan could say. Whether it was politics or enemies, nothing had ever made him feel so powerless as he did at this moment.

Ambrina smiled. "It's alright, we have time."

"Hmm." Ronan could only reply with a "hmm" at this point.

“In a few days, an exam will be held, with subjects including literature, history, law, politics, and mathematics. The top ten will be qualified to study in the central departments,” Ambrina said.

"Oh," Ronan replied casually. Anyway, he could just write whatever he wanted and he was sure he'd improve his ranking in the top ten.

“You have to come in first,” Ambrina added immediately.

"Huh?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

Ambrina covered her mouth with one hand, chuckling to herself, "Don't worry, even if you get first place, there will be people spreading rumors that you cheated, and then you'll have to be investigated and naturally you'll lose your qualification. After everything is over, your innocence will be cleared."

"That was a decent move," Ronan nodded.

Ambrina was quite pleased to hear Ronan's praise, which wasn't exactly a compliment. "Right? This is the idea I came up with. He said if you can't even get first place, you might as well get lost. But if you do get first place, it would be bad to refuse the qualification. I thought about this idea for two days."

"Impressive," Ronan praised, noting that this was a huge improvement for Ambrina.

Ambrina was a little embarrassed by the praise. "It's all because you taught me so well. Mrs. Antari wrote down some of your things in New Sea City in a booklet. I read it every day, and it's as if you are teaching me in front of me. It was the part about you using rumors that inspired me. However, that's all I learned."

Ambrina's words almost made Ronan choke.

“I’ve already thought of the specific rumors. I’ll say that you got the exam questions from Isabel and that you two colluded to cheat.”

“Isa really went too far this time. It’s one thing for her to be disrespectful to me as her older sister, but she shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

Ronan was at a loss for words and could only smile and remain silent.

After a long while, Ambrina suddenly asked, "By the way, can you write poetry?"

"Huh?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

"The last question in literature and history is to write a poem. This kind of useless question is just to make sure that some useless people don't get such bad scores. If you don't know how to write one, I can write a few for you. I can guess what the question is."

"Ambriina said."

Good heavens, isn't this cheating?

“Okay,” Ronan agreed.

Cheating is fine, he's really not good at literature and history anyway, and he can't write poetry at all.

Chapter 166 Exams, tutoring, or novels are more interesting.

A week later, a new notice arrived for the city secretaries who had come to the capital: those under the age of thirty-five could register for an exam, and the top ten would be qualified to study in the central government for an extended period.

The exam will officially begin ten days later.

This news surprised many people, especially those who already had connections and had been making moves. However, after a brief period of surprise, most people quickly accepted it with joy, since the exam was a fair selection method for them.

Moreover, this selection process gives them a great opportunity.

Because most of the more than 200 municipal secretaries-general were over the age limit of 35, only about 50 people were actually qualified to apply.

So, with a pass rate of nearly one-fifth, how could we not be overjoyed?

This is especially true for some of those who come from humble backgrounds and do not serve as secretaries-general in important cities. For them, although they become secretaries-general of a city at a young age, their future is already clear: after a few years, they will become deputy heads of departments in the state and work in that position until retirement. If they are unlucky, they may have to make way for someone else and be transferred to a sinecure.

This was the case in an era when feudalism still existed. When you were young, you could get promoted based on your abilities, and your superiors liked to appoint young people from common backgrounds who were capable and willing to work hard. They were willing to give them a position. But once you reached that threshold, it wasn't just about ability anymore.

Even the best positions in the state are like carrots hanging in front of the horse's head—you can see them but can't reach them, let alone the central positions.

Now, an opportunity to enter the central government has arrived. Even if the pass rate is only one in five, let alone one in five hundred, it would make them feel like they've been injected with adrenaline.

Others can just get through, but Ronan is being forced to take first place.

"Even if Ambrina helped me cheat, I probably wouldn't rank high in literature and history. The original owner wasn't good at this, and I didn't study literature and history in detail."

"Law? I should be okay with that. The law in this era is still relatively rudimentary. I have a basic understanding of the laws in various fields. At most, the examiners will create some complicated case questions, which won't be difficult for me."

"Politics isn't a big problem, but I doubt I'll rank very high. Who knows what kind of feudalistic ideas the examiners have in their heads?"

"Mathematics, that's what you need to get first place. Although I'm not that good at math, mathematics is currently in a revival phase across the entire Western Continent. I'm still pretty good at elementary geometry, algebra, and trigonometry."

After analyzing the situation, Ronan realized something.

He relied on math to climb the rankings. To be honest, if the civil officials of this era weren't magicians, their math skills might not even be as good as those of the artillerymen.

The weakness lies in literature and history, but this is something that cannot be made up for in a short period of time, which is very frustrating.

"Forget it, I'll just go to Ambrina, the exam prediction expert, for extra tutoring."

Ronan made a decision.

At the same time, the other "test takers" were in even more pain than Ronan, because their weakness was math, and if they got it wrong, they would get zero points. The key was that math was impossible to improve in a short time.

Even Abelard, a Ju'an native who is said to have money in his blood, is only good at arithmetic and can calculate interest rates. If you give him a difficult geometry problem, he'll be completely stumped.

So, I can only do some practice questions. If I happen to get a good answer, that's lucky; if not, I'll just have to accept it.

Basically, apart from Ronan, all the other candidates focused on the law subject, memorizing legal provisions to try not to lose points in this subject.

For a group of people who are over thirty and whose memory is no longer at its peak, this is truly a torment.

Only a few people around Ronan's age were in slightly better condition.

Afterwards, Ronan moved directly into Ambrina's villa. Ambrina agreed to come every morning and leave every evening to tutor Ronan.

"For the history section, there are two main parts: one is the history of the old empire, and the other is the history of the Golden Eagle Dynasty starting from Oranz. Ronan, you don't even need to study this part. After all, you've already written the book 'Musketeers, Mages, and Civil Servants.' In the current Kingdom of Fas, the previous and the dynasty before that won't have many questions. Studying it would be a waste of time."

"Therefore, the part of history that needs to be supplemented is the history of the old empire."

Ambrina immediately highlighted the key points for Ronan.

"No church history?" Ronan asked.

“I don’t think so. Our family started out opposing the church. According to you, this is an important source of our family’s legal rationality,” Ambrina said with a smile.

Orans, the founder of the Golden Eagle Dynasty, established a civil service system and a magic academy, which was tantamount to uprooting the Church. You must know that at the height of the Church's power, it was precisely because of its dual role as the de facto ruler at the grassroots level and the transmitter of magic that it commanded the entire Western Continent.

After saying that, Ambrina took out a thick book from the side and slammed it on the table with a bang. "Reading this book, 'The Rise and Fall of Empires,' will be enough."

Ronan opened the book, and wow, it was written in the Old Imperial language.

“I’ll read you the key points, and you can memorize them yourself.” Ambrina is a genius when it comes to languages, if not a genius. In addition to her native language, she is also fluent in the Old Empire language, Welande, Northland language, and the Derek language spoken by the Empire to the east.

“Okay,” Ronan agreed.

After three days of catching up on history, Ambrina began to tutor Ronan in literature.

History was alright; it was interesting to listen to, and interesting things are naturally easy to remember. But literature was truly Ronan's downfall.

These days there are novels and plays, but they don't fall into the category of classic literature. Classic literature is all just long, rambling poems, and the kind that are both tedious and tedious. After hearing them so many times, Ronan wanted to tell Ambrina, "Stop reading, stop reading."

To be honest, when listening to Ambrina recite poetry, Ronan basically only managed to stay focused by looking at her chubby, white-stockinged legs that made him want to pinch them.

In fact, Ambrina herself didn't particularly like these poems; she found novels and plays more interesting. She even showed Ronan her treasured complete copy of "Knight Miguel."

Ronan only read the first half of this novel. It was written by a Belial, and the title sounds like a silly knight novel, but it's not.

The male protagonist is a young knight who boasts of unparalleled martial arts skills but is actually just an invincible knight in his village. He has a mad servant who claims to be possessed by an angel and is highly intelligent. The two of them board a ship to kill a sea monster, but they encounter a shipwreck and drift to a new continent. Once there, they are kidnapped by the local tribes and forced to be their prostitutes, which leads to a series of hilarious events.

The male protagonist, who prides himself on his superhuman strength, is actually incredibly cowardly, while the servant, who considers himself very intelligent, is reckless. The two bicker and go on adventures together.

It is said that the latter half of this novel satirized the atrocities committed by the Belials in the New World, resulting in its banning. The author was also assassinated by officials of the Belial Kingdom. Of course, this is all the Belial Kingdom's version of events, and Ronan does not know the truth. However, judging from Ambrina's statement that many people in the capital actually have the complete version, the kingdom has clearly cheated its old neighbor.

Chapter 167 Taking First Place, Rumors Arise; If You Can't Speak, Don't Speak at All

Time flew by and the day of the exam arrived.

The exams will be held over two days. The first day will cover literature and history, and politics, while the second day will cover law and mathematics.

The question types and scope of the literature and history exams were similar to what Ambrina had analyzed, but Ronan still didn't do very well. He guessed on a third of the questions, and for the final poetry writing section, he simply recited a poem that Ambrina had prepared for him.

Ronan thought he did well on the political section, since it was all subjective questions. If he couldn't get a high score, it would only mean that the examiner was really bad.

The first subject on the second day, law, was exactly as Ronan had predicted. It mainly consisted of complex case studies, because the legal code of this semi-feudal, semi-civilian dynasty had too few articles.

The kingdom's current legal code contains very crude civil law, commercial law, and even tax law, but the criminal law, noble law, and even magician law are very rich and diverse. All of this stems from the "tyranny" of the Reversing King Lawrence, who came to power a hundred years ago, during his decades-long reign.