After today's morning court ended, Li Mu did not leave the palace directly.
Outside Ziwei Hall, Lord Mei was waiting for him.
Just now when she was facing the court, she received a look from Li Mu. When she saw Li Mu coming out, she asked, "What's the matter?"
Li Mudao: "It's nothing serious. How is Cui Ming's matter?"
These days, Li Mu was delayed by the case framed by the Minister of Rites, and did not pay attention to Cui Ming's matter.
Ever since he escaped from the Divine Capital and Shangguan Li led people to hunt him down, there has been no news about him.
Master Mei shook his head and said: "There is no response from A Li for the moment. Cui Ming is wanted by the Thirty-sixth County and must not dare to show up. He should be hiding somewhere."
It's only a wonder that Li Mu didn't anticipate this incident earlier. If he had had the sound-transmitting conch with him at that time, Cui would be out of his mind by now.
Now that it was too late to regret, Li Mu asked again: "How is the undercover investigation by the Demon Sect going?"
Master Mei shook his head and said, "I found nothing."
Even the fourth-rank officials were infiltrated. It is naturally impossible to say that the Great Zhou court did not have undercover agents from the Demon Sect. Perhaps they were hiding in the court, but no one knew about it.
What the Demon Sect is plotting is the Great Zhou Dynasty. It has been infiltrating the imperial court since a hundred years ago and constantly stirring up trouble in various places.
Those who can be selected by them as undercover agents are not ordinary people. They have extremely strong minds and can lurk for several years or even more than ten years without revealing any flaws. The soul-stirring technique is difficult to work on them, and searching for souls is not easy.
In reality, even if a ten-year-old minister in the court seems to be conscientious and dedicated to his duties, there is no guarantee that he has no evil intentions towards Zhou Dynasty.
The entire city of God looked calm, but under this calmness, there were still unknown undercurrents.
Master Mei said: "If there are undercover agents from the Demon Sect or other forces lurking in the court, there will be no way to find them for a while. The most important thing now is the imperial examination. We must ensure that there are no problems with the people participating in the imperial examination in each county.
.”
Li Mu had already discussed this matter with everyone when he was in Zhongshu Province.
The imperial examination talents are recommended by each county. The advantage is that it can break the monopoly of the academies on officials and reduce the omission of talents. The disadvantage is that the people recommended by each county are mixed, and if they are not talented, they will not be able to pass the imperial examination.
Or simply they are undercover agents sent by various forces with evil intentions, but the harm to Dazhou is continuous.
Therefore, when formulating policies for the selection of imperial examination talents, Zhongshu Province also made regulations.
The people selected by the local government must be from the local area, have household registrations that can be checked, and must not commit serious crimes within three generations. After passing the imperial examination, they will be further reviewed by the Ministry of Punishment, which can eliminate most of the criminals.
Just block it out.
If it is still penetrated under such high pressure, then the court will have to admit it.
You can't search everyone's soul, and even if you search the soul, you can't 100% guarantee that there will be no problems. In order to prevent the spread of Taoism, the Taoist sect will let the core disciples practice some secret techniques to avoid being found out about the secrets and magic.
Zong Da probably also has this secret technique.
That day at the Golden Palace, Cui Mingneng confidently proposed to let the Queen search for souls. There was a high probability that he would not be discovered. Unfortunately, he met an unreliable teammate.
It can be seen from this that the fewer people know about such secretive things, the better.
After leaving the palace, Li Mu returned to Beiyuan. There was still some time before the imperial examination, and he still had enough time to prepare.
Walking on the quiet streets of Beiyuan, when passing by a certain mansion, a woman got out of the carriage parked in front of the mansion.
This woman did not expect to meet Li Mu here, and she stared at him with deep hatred in her eyes.
Li Mu and Zhou Chu's mother looked at each other. This woman with a crazy look in her eyes was the mastermind behind this frame-up case. If it weren't for the Zhou family's death-free gold medal, she would be the same as the former Minister of Rites.
In the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
The woman looked at Li Mu with crazy eyes and said, "I let you escape this time. I don't know if you will have such luck next time."
Li Mu also looked at her and smiled: "This is what I want to say to you. This time is your luck. Next time, do you think the Zhou family can still come up with a death-free gold medal to protect you?"
?”
Although Li Mu was smiling, his eyes made her feel cold.
The woman did not dare to look at him again, looked away, and hurriedly walked into the mansion.
In the mansion, a woman came up to her, supported her, and said: "Mom, you are coming, why didn't you tell me in advance, I asked Zhuang Yun to send someone to pick you up..."
A man also came up to her, saluted her and said, "My son-in-law pays homage to my mother-in-law."
The woman said: "I came here because I have something to ask Zhuang Yun for help."
The man raised his brows, but the smile on his face became brighter, and asked: "If your mother-in-law has any instructions, just tell her."
The woman gritted her teeth and said: "You also know that Chu'er died tragically at the hands of that villain Li Mu. Your father was cruel and refused to avenge Chu'er. Unfortunately, I am weak and can only watch the villain in God's hands.
Du Xiaoyao, Zhuang Yun is the young minister of Dali Temple, there must be a way to avenge your brother..."
The man smiled and said, "My mother-in-law is here. Come and rest in the inner courtyard."
The woman asked: "What about your brother..."
The man said: "My mother-in-law speaks, how dare my son-in-law not listen? This is not the place to talk. Let's talk after we go in."
He welcomed the woman in, and when he walked into the inner courtyard, his lips moved slightly, but he made no sound.
After entering the inner courtyard, the woman looked at the man and was about to speak when a servant suddenly rushed in from the outside and said, "Sir, it's not good. Someone from Dali Temple said that something urgent happened in the temple. Sir, the minister of the temple."
Let you go there immediately..."
The man looked at the woman and said, "It's not convenient for me right now..."
The servant said: "I see that the man's expression is in a hurry. It seems that he really has something important to do. If he delays the important matter, I'm afraid the temple minister will blame him..."
The man looked helpless and had no choice but to look at the woman and said: "Mother-in-law, what a coincidence, there is an emergency in Dali Temple and I need my son-in-law to deal with it. I will come back as soon as I go..."
After saying that, he strode out of the inner courtyard.
It wasn't until he walked out of the house that he slowed down and said to the servant: "You stay at home and let me know when she leaves and when she comes to Dali Temple."
The servant asked: "What if she doesn't leave?"
The man said: "In a while, I will ask someone to buy a quilt on the street and send it to Dali Temple. Dali Temple has too many old cases. I am afraid that I will have to live in Dali Temple next time..."
…
When Li Mu returned home, he saw the queen was there and Xiaobai was teaching her how to make dumplings.
This was something he envied the Queen very much. They both went to court at the same time, but she always got home earlier than Li Mu. Li Mu had to cross two streets from the palace to his home, and she only needed one thought.
The Queen is a spiritual genius, and her learning ability is naturally extraordinary.
Li Mu taught her chess, but it only took her half an hour to kill him. Xiaobai showed her how to make dumplings several times, and she was able to make them well.
After she learned it, Xiaobai seemed to have a sense of accomplishment and said, "I will teach Sister Zhou how to cook dumplings later. If you want to eat them, you can make them at home."
Zhou Wu put down the dumplings in her hand and said calmly: "Sister has no home."
Xiaobai was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile: "Sister Zhou, you can use this place as your home from now on. When Sister Liu and Sister Wanwan come back, we can make dumplings together..."
Li Mu can understand the Queen's feelings. To a certain extent, they are the same kind of people.
They all have a home they can't go back to.
The Queen's home is still there, but that home, to her, is not a home without family ties.
Li Mu really can't go back to his own home.
Feeling Li Mu's sudden depression, Zhou Wu glanced at him doubtfully and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Li Mu shook his head and smiled: "It's okay."
The sadness only lasts for a moment. If he were given two choices now, to go back to the familiar world or stay here, Li Mu would choose the latter without hesitation.
In another world, he has no worries for a long time. This world not only allows him to realize his childhood dream, but also has many people who make him care.
In the past few days, the number of times the Queen came here has increased significantly, and her stay has become longer and longer.
In the morning court, she was a high and majestic queen.
After the morning court, she was the sister next door, Zhou Wu. She and Xiaobai cooked together, went shopping together, and trimmed the garden together. I'm afraid even the courtiers who saw her couldn't believe that it was Her Majesty the Queen they saw on the street.
As the day of the imperial examination approaches, the atmosphere in the capital gradually becomes tense.
Students from all over the world gather here. They are about to take an exam that may change their destiny for the rest of their lives. Everyone cherishes this opportunity.
Especially for those who do not come from famous families or noble families, this is their only chance to change their destiny and benefit their descendants.
This is the opportunity Her Majesty the Queen has given them.
At a certain inn in Shendu, Li Mu was doing pre-exam training for Li Si.
Although he participated in the imperial examination and was suspected of being dismissed by the referee himself, if he did not participate in the imperial examination, he could only serve as the chief catcher and censor, working for the queen in the court, and there were many restrictions.
During these days, because the imperial examination was approaching, many inns in Shendu were making a lot of money.
Even with several price increases, rooms are still in short supply.
In a remote inn far away from the imperial city, in a room on the second floor, four figures gathered around the table, staring at a bronze mirror placed on the table.
A person wrote a complex rune on the bronze mirror with blood, and then used magic power to activate it. The bronze mirror flashed with brilliance, but there was no change.
There was a look of doubt on the man's face and he said: "It's impossible. The gentleman clearly said that when we arrive in the capital of God and activate this magic weapon, he will contact us immediately. In the past three days, we have tried many times.