Chapter Thirteen: On the Way Up the Mountain, They Encounter Guan Shen

  A gentle breeze blows, birds chirp in unison, under the reflection of the morning sun, the waters of the Yangtze River are majestic and powerful, with waves crashing and surging.

  Zheng Yao and Liu Yan followed the main team, running forward at a steady pace, everyone chatting and laughing, joyful and harmonious. From time to time, they could see contestants taking advantage of the opportunity to recite poems and compose essays, which was quite charming.

  Ning An and Xiao Xi had somehow managed to rent a horse-drawn carriage, leisurely following the main troops. From time to time, Ning An would pull open the curtains, casting her gaze at Liu Yan's lithe figure with an infatuated expression, as if she had spotted some rare treasure that only appeared once in a thousand years. But whenever she looked at Zheng Yao, Ning An would reveal a disdainful look, muttering: "This idiot, can't he run any faster? He's obviously holding Liu Gongzi back!"

  Xiao Xi couldn't help but smile and said, "Miss, you're worrying too much. It's just the beginning, why rush so fast? I think Li Gongzi and Liu Gongzi already have a plan in place, they're just building momentum now."

  It's not obvious, but this little Xi is actually quite clever and smart, compared to that "heartless" princess, she is much stronger.

  "According to you, that's right! However, it's still that stupid guy's fault, always opposing me. Looking at him like that, I reckon he'll need Master Liu's help in the end."

  Ning An waited quietly for Zheng Yao to speak.

  "Miss, aren't you being too...?" Xiaoxi originally wanted to say "one-sided", but as soon as she saw Ning An shift his gaze onto herself, she immediately didn't dare to continue speaking.

  "Alright! I'll let it slide this time and won't make a fool of you," Ning An said, pointing at Zheng Yao.

  At this moment, Zhang Cheng and Yuan Haiyun didn't have much to do, good brothers were quite righteous, and they actually followed Zheng Yao and Liu Yan to run together.

  As time slipped away, the crowd gradually pulled apart, while Zheng Yao and Liu Yan remained unchanged, running forward at a steady pace. Only now, compared to others, Zheng Yao and Liu Yan's speed was clearly accelerating.

  Gradually, Zheng Yao and Liu Yan had caught up with the First Legion, but to their surprise, they saw someone they didn't want to see.

  "Gentlemen, look at them—" At this time, the man in yellow clothes on the far right among the three people running in front whispered to the relatively younger man in yellow clothes in the middle.

  The young man in yellow was about twenty-eight years old, with a national face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, strong and powerful physique, really a **one. And the middle-aged man in yellow was none other than Guan Dao's son, Guan Zhen, the county magistrate of Guan County.

  "Isn't that the idiot from the Li family who suddenly became smart? How did he end up attending this conference too? Does he think he's still the genius boy he used to be? Hahaha..." At this point, Guan Zhen couldn't help but burst out laughing. Whether intentionally or not, that idiot spoke particularly loudly, and even Rong Yao and Liu Yan leaned in slightly to listen more clearly.

  Insult, it was an insult to Zhēng Yáo. However, today was not the usual day. Even if Liu Yan didn't stop Zhēng Yáo, Zhēng Yáo didn't want to cause more trouble, so he ignored Guān Zhèn and continued running forward.

  "What's Guan Zhen doing here? Does he also want to take the imperial examination?" Zheng Yao couldn't help but wonder, looking at Liu Yan.

  "As far as I know, Guan Ping is idle and has nothing to do. If he were asked to recite the Four Books and Five Classics, it would be strange if he could. Moreover, with his writing skills, it's impossible for him to pass the exam. I reckon his father wants him to enter the imperial court as an official, but is afraid of others gossiping, so he had him participate in this conference instead. I guarantee that even without Jing Wang's recommendation, Guan Ping will still take part in next year's imperial examination."

  Liu Yan's analysis is very thorough. Those rich second-generation and official second-generation people will eventually inherit their parents' mantle and take the shortcut to becoming officials, which is the simplest and most effective method.

  "I think so too. But let's just ignore him for now and let him be arrogant. With General Jing here, he wouldn't dare to go too far."

  As they spoke, Zheng Yao and Liu Yan still didn't pay attention and continued to run forward. As long as they passed through the mountain forest in front of them, they could reach the final station, and the distance was not too far away.

  Guan Zhen saw Zheng Yao and Liu Yan completely ignoring his intention, instead continuing to jog slowly as usual, which made him feel very displeased, as if the two were deliberately scorning him.

  "Guān Fú, Guān Shòu." Guān Zhèn panted heavily as he ran and said: "You guys go make arrangements, I want to make it so these two little brats can't get past the mountain forest ahead."

  "Master, this is probably not suitable, after all Jing Wang he..."

  The relatively short and slender man on the left, wearing a yellow robe, who was called Guan Shou, said with some difficulty.

  "Yes, young master..." Guan Fu also said with difficulty.

  "You're really stupid! I didn't ask you to kill people and set fires, do I need to teach you this too? Come here! Listen to me." Guan Zhen said irritably, then jogged slowly while panting heavily, and muttered something to the two of them.

  After finishing, Guan Fu and Guan Shou both ran to one side, leaving Guan Zhen alone. At this time, Guan Zhen started jogging slowly, but Zhang Yao and Liu Yan didn't know what he was up to, and they didn't pay much attention to him either. Soon, the two of them rushed to the front, and in about a quarter of an hour, Zhang Yao and Liu Yan had already arrived at the front of the mountain forest.

  "The competition rules require us to go through the mountain forest, and we can't take the mountain road. It seems that we need to prepare ourselves mentally." Zheng Yao looked at the dense forest in front of him and didn't dare to rush in for a while.

  "That's right, the mountain forest has many withered branches and weeds, making it difficult to walk on the road. If you're not careful, you might get lost in the mountains. We must follow the instructions and move forward." Jing Wang had already explained the details of the first phase earlier, so Liu Yan naturally understood them clearly.

  After a brief pause, the two of them charged into the mountain forest as planned. From then on, Zhang Cheng and the others could only walk along the mountain path and couldn't see what was happening to Zheng Yao and the others in the forest.

  Because the mountain path is narrow and not suitable for horse-drawn carriages, Ning An and Xiao Xi also had to get off the carriage and walk on foot along the mountain path.

  "Emperor uncle is really something, how can he come up with such a ridiculous idea? He asks people to go up the mountain but doesn't allow them to take the mountain path. What if something happens to Young Master Liu in the mountains?" Ning An said with some indignation, clearly not giving any face to Emperor Uncle.

  "Miss, speak softly, beware of walls having ears..." Xiaoxi reminded immediately.

  "Right, right! I'm a miss now, not a princess, but a miss! Hehe."

  “……”

  Xiao Xi couldn't help but be speechless for a moment, when would this princess ever truly grow up?

  Yan Jian Zheng Yao and Liu Yan-chong rushed into the mountain forest, Guan Zhen didn't panic, until a man in gray clothes walked out of the mountain forest, after making a gesture to Guan Zhen, he started to speed up, proudly rushing into the mountain forest.

  And Guan Zhen's performance was very confident and composed, as if his plan had already been laid out.

  Not long after Guan Zhen entered the mountain forest, the large troops behind also slowly ran over, one by one heading into that dense mountain forest.

  The once serene mountain forest was suddenly bustling with people, which actually added a touch of peace. However, the ones who suffered were those carefree birds and butterflies. When the participants rushed into the forest, the birds flew out in droves, covering the entire sky, creating another spectacular sight.