With Bai Xiaoshan's achievements, some officials secretly wanted to win over him. After all, Bai Xiaoshan was young and had no backers, but he was valued by the emperor. It was possible that he would skyrocket in the future.
The people who made the list also held various banquets every day.
Under the guise of discussing knowledge, they form cliques in private.
Especially the banquets held by the children of high-ranking officials are all about showing off their superiority in order to attract more talents to their side.
Bai Xiaoshan and Liu Xusheng lost interest after attending a few banquets.
Unless they really can't refuse, they find reasons to shirk it and would rather stay at home and read a book or talk with their family.
"Second sister, doesn't the court not allow officials to form cliques? Why are those people not afraid that the emperor will blame them if they recruit people openly or covertly?" Bai Xiaoshan was extremely depressed. There were some things he still couldn't figure out.
Liu Xusheng also said with a bored look on his face: "Many students from poor families have already joined the camp and read so many sage books in vain."
"What others do is their business. What you do is your business. The world is like this. Since you have embarked on this path, many things cannot be done completely according to your own will. Sometimes when you choose a camp, you will
Your future is good, but if you make the wrong choice, you may be in doom."
Bai Ling was open-minded, after all, he had seen a lot of people in his two lifetimes.
However, Bai Xue also understands that although the two younger brothers are complaining now, some things are unavoidable and will have to be faced sooner or later.
"In officialdom, whether you are hostile or friendly, you should always smile at each other. But in officialdom, it is more of an alliance of interests. Once your own interests are touched, there is no friendship at all. These are my
Please take a look at the information I asked people to collect first, and come back tomorrow to tell me your plans."
After handing the information collected by Haitang to the two of them, Bai Ling said with a smile: "Don't say it's you, even if dad is doing business, it's the same thing. The second sister can't avoid dealing with all kinds of people in the capital. Sometimes,
Even though you know you are your enemy, you still have to face it with a smile. You must not be soft when you need to take action, and you must not be vague when you need to help.”
Bai Xiaoshan pursed his lips, and the little man suddenly regretted taking the exam so early.
The water in the world is too deep, and Bai Xiaoshan thinks that he is not strong enough to wade into it now. There are some things that he needs to hone through before he can understand the truth.
Liu Xusheng thanked him and left with Bai Xiaoshan, but judging from his frown, he didn't like the behavior of those students from poor families who followed others' influence.
But Liu Xusheng also knew that having a cousin like Bai Ling gave him a lot of confidence. Otherwise, would he be like those people today and take the initiative to curry favor with senior officials?
No!
Without Bai Ling, the Liu family might no longer exist. How could he afford to attend a good college and pass the imperial examination in such a short time?
In fact, Bai Ling has been secretly protecting Bai Xiaoshan and Liu Xusheng, and he also knows who wants to win over them, and the purpose is similar.
Not to mention those officials, even the Crown Prince and the Third Prince's Mansion also extended olive branches, but they were rejected by the two of them with an ignorant attitude. It made people think that they didn't understand at all, but it was not easy to directly deal with them.
They took action.
The main target of these two people was Bai Xiaoshan, who was obviously targeting Bai Ling.
"Haitang, give these three thank-you gifts to the examiner, the governor of Jingzhao, and the minister of punishment." Bai Ling pointed to the three brocade boxes on the table, paused and said, "There is no need to go through the gift list.
.”
In the examination room, Bai Ling was grateful to the three people for protecting Bai Xiaoshan and the two, and he didn't mind sending a token of his gratitude.
But the fraud case is not over yet, so it is not easy to be high-profile about giving gifts at this time.
The Third Prince's Mansion.
Because Xuelan is the only concubine who has been pregnant in many years, even if she has a miscarriage, as long as there is still a possibility of giving birth, the third prince will pay special attention to her, and will come over to sit for a while and show concern for her when he is free.
.
But the third prince refused to take Bai Xue's life for Xue Lan. Although Xue Lan felt wronged, she did not say anything to embarrass the third prince, which made the third prince even more satisfied with her.
Bai Xue had lost most of her life, so the third prince asked a doctor to treat her. This was the first time he set foot on her since he punished her.
"Master." Seeing the third prince coming in with a cold face, Bai Xue hurriedly dragged her wounds and stood up to salute the third prince.
The wound had been lingering for too long, and Bai Xue's slap was so hard that even if he applied medicine yesterday, it had no effect. The thick water and blood were mixed together, soaking his inner clothes with every movement.
His painful forehead was dripping with sweat, but Bai Xue didn't dare to make any mistakes in the rules.
"Do you know where you went wrong?" the third prince asked in a gloomy tone.
Bai Xue trembled, bowed her head and said: "Master, I really didn't bump into Concubine Lan intentionally, and I didn't know she was pregnant. I swear on my life that it was an unintentional mistake, and I will definitely deal with it in the future."
Sisters, go away and don’t let this happen again. I’m useless as a concubine. I also hope that the sisters can work for my master!”
Bai Xue was uncomfortable to begin with, and she deliberately showed her loyalty by being weak, which made people feel a little bit pitiful.
But the third prince was a womanizer, but he was not the kind of master who cared about women. Hearing this, he kicked Bai Xue on the shoulder and knocked her down.
"This is just one of them. It seems you still don't repent!"
The third prince lifted his robe and sat down, and said angrily: "You know clearly that this prince wants to take Bai Ling, but you still dare to secretly attack that peasant woman! If this prince hadn't cleared your tail for you, wouldn't Bai Ling hate me to death?
?
Bai Xue, don’t think that just because you are of some use to this prince, you can do it in disguise. If you do it next time, I will kill you with a stick and quarter you!"
Bai Xue's body trembled suddenly, and her lips trembled as she replied: "I don't dare to do it anymore, please forgive me!"
Bai Xue has been with the third prince for a long time, and he knows very well that he doesn't like people who quibble. If you are guilty, you have to admit it, but you must also leave yourself some room, otherwise you will have to die.
Only then was the third prince satisfied. He looked at Bai Xue condescendingly and said, "Remember, my patience is limited, and I will only give you this one chance. Take good care of yourself and don't leave this courtyard in the near future, and you are not allowed to make any small moves."
"Yes, I, my concubine, will obey my master's arrangements in everything." Bai Xue got up, knelt on the ground and spoke softly.
The third prince looked at Bai Xue's open coat, revealing her graceful lines, and immediately became interested.
Things were not going well during this period, and the third prince rarely asked his concubine to sleep with him, so naturally there was a need for her.
Although the third prince has many women, he has never slept with an injured woman. Thinking of Bai Xue's miserable scream, he immediately thought it would be very interesting.
"Take it off!" the third prince said impatiently.
Bai Xue was stunned for a moment, then raised her head to look at the third prince, and immediately understood what he meant. There was no blood on her face, but she didn't dare to say no.
The existence of concubines is just a tool to warm the bed.
Seeing that Bai Xue was scared, the third prince's interest only intensified. He couldn't wait for Bai Xue to change clothes, so he pulled her up and threw her on the big bed. It can be seen that Bai Xue will experience nothing.
But this is Bai Xue's own choice, and she can only bear the consequences. (To be continued)