Chapter Nineteen Branching

  Yahuan snorted in anger.

  But however you think about it. Yu Ping heard many rumors about Song Jiu, true and false, virtual and real, overall, Song Jiu is more devoted to his emotions, whether it's for that little girl or Liu's little girl, this kind of person is actually more reliable than those charming and elegant young masters.

  The mother saw that she was already twenty years old and had not found a soulmate, so she kindly introduced Lu Sheng, the son of a wealthy family. He was rich, handsome, and good at sweet talk, and he also knew a thing or two about poetry and music. At first, she thought Lu Sheng was quite good, and her heart was moved a little. However, it turned out that Lu Sheng immediately wanted to steal her red pill, and she pushed him away in alarm. After that, Lu Sheng didn't come again, and she felt some regret at first. Later, it was said that Qingniang, the famous courtesan from another brothel, had an affair with him, but soon after, there were rumors that Qingniang wanted to hang herself. She wasn't familiar with Qingniang, so she didn't know what happened, but something bad must have occurred.

  Mom called it a narrow escape.

  Jade Petal herself felt even more fortunate, this line of work was not good to eat, and the guests who came were nine out of ten who coveted her body, it was too humiliating, she was unwilling to accept it. She wanted to entrust someone, but the person she looked up to might not look up to her, and the one who looked up to her might not look up to that person, both parties had to be willing, otherwise she might end up like Qingniang or suffer the same fate as Ho Xiaoyu (a poem written by Jiang Fang of the Tang Dynasty, how poet Li Yi abandoned the famous courtesan Ho Xiaoyu).

  Song Jiu didn't know what was going on in her mind, but he wasn't stupid and sensed that something was wrong, so he bowed his head.

  Yu Ping said: "Jiu Lang, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but even if I did, it would be useless. She is the daughter of a great general of the Song Dynasty, and there is a big gap between you two, she is not a good match for you."

  "What achievement?"

  "Is it Gong Yang, or is it I, Song Dynasty's top martial general."

  This answer is a bit vague, the top generals of the Song Dynasty are too many, Shi Shouxin, Wang Shenzhi, Gao HuaiDe, Han Chongbin, Han Lingkun, the recently deceased Murong YanZhuang, Fu Yanzheng, Guo Chong, Yang Tingzhang, Song You, Xiang Gong, Wang Yanchao, Zhang Yongde, Wang Quanbin, Kang Yanze, Wang Jitao, Cao Bin, Pan Mei, Li Chao...

  Yu Ping said, "Jiu Lang, in my opinion, you should be more realistic. Your future prospects are boundless, but it's essential to have self-awareness... With your talent, if you were paired with me, we could make do, but that little girl is not a good match for you."

  Xiaoyuan's eyes widened in surprise.

  Yu Ping gave her a look, pursed her small mouth and sipped tea, watching Song Jiu's expression change.

  She had her own ideas, and the three math problems came out, not necessarily what he thought of, maybe from that old book found difficult questions, but in front of his face to break, the method of breaking still many places do not understand, but their own piano chess books paintings are all refined, also understand a little about poetry, arithmetic has also learned some, seems to be a kind of novel and effective problem-solving method, plus he is a scholar, relying on these two points, will become an official in the Song Dynasty sooner or later. Moreover, his character is not too frivolous, as for singing songs on the river embankment, that young man has no love for beauty, after experiencing the Lu Sheng affair, she thinks that Song Jiu is a good match. It's just that Lu Sheng is devoted, with his family background, it's still difficult to enter the Lu family gate. Entering the Song family door, there is not a problem at all.

  However, for now, there is still a slight gap between their identities, so she said it's okay to compromise.

  But she was watching, and if Song Jiu came rushing over like Lu Sheng, he would be driven away immediately. However, to her disappointment, Song Jiu chuckled and said: "Thank you, Yu Niangzi, for your hospitality, it's getting late, I should head back."

  Let him sit here, take a look, have some tea, listen to the little tune, what's the good match, the lifelong event, can't be careless, can't you not go?

  Xiaoyuan said strangely: "The sun has just begun to set."

  "There's a lesson at home," Song Jiu stood up and bowed his head before leaving.

  "How can you be so clueless?" The maid was furious and trembling with rage. Yu Ping sighed, "Cui Er, it seems that good families look down on us."

  "Is he from a good family?"

  "In two years' time, you'll see. I'm going to send him off." Yubing also stood up and chased after him, shouting: "Jiulang, don't be in a hurry, I'll send you off myself."

  It didn't matter about seeing him off, Song Jiu stood at the doorway.

  Two people walked shoulder to shoulder, Yu Ping said: "Jiu Lang, don't you look down on me? I am a real Qing Nu."

  "That one, that one, Yu Niangzi, he's too impatient, we don't understand."

  "My family is just a metaphor, may I ask, which household does that little Ping belong to?"

  "Jade girl, there is no such person, to be honest, today is my first time entering a brothel."

  Yu Ping couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh heartily, this one smile was so charming that it was like a spring flower swaying on its branch, extremely radiant and captivating, attracting countless passersby to watch. Yu Ping smiled again and said: "Jiu Lang, you have ruined many good things for people."

  "This is a poem and can't be taken literally, for example the line written by Li Taibai, 'Flying waterfalls, straight down three thousand feet', but it's not possible that Lushan Waterfall is actually three thousand feet high."

  "It's also this sachet that I wear, can Ninth Brother accept it?"

  "Is this a token of engagement? Song Jiu hesitated, but with many people watching, he finally accepted it and bowed his head: 'Thank you for your kind intentions, Yu Niangzi.'"

  She handed over a sachet, a spice bag with spices inside, smelling like orchid and musk, wafting a faint fragrance. On it was embroidered a yellow oriole perched on a branch, with several peach blossoms blooming on the branch. Yu Ping bowed slightly and made a courtesy call: "In the future, Ninth Master, if you have time, come and sit down, our humble home will welcome you at any time."

  After finishing speaking, the beautiful figure turned back.

  Song Jiu played with the sachet, unsure whether she was telling the truth or lying...

  ……

  Time flies like an arrow, and days pass one by one. Song Jiu continued to think about his plan to get rich, but some officials in the court were getting headaches. It just so happened that someone accused Gao Xi of being corrupt and lawless, and the accusation reached the hands of the imperial censor. Last spring, Gao Xi's younger brother Gao Xuan took part in the imperial examination for jinshi degree, and Gao Xi deliberately visited Shi Hezai, the prefectural judge of Kaifeng Prefecture, hoping that Shi would recommend Gao Xuan. The position of zhizheng, or chief minister, was a prestigious one with real power, equivalent to a national secretary who could draft imperial edicts and even veto unreasonable decrees from the prime ministers and the emperor. Shi Hezai knew that he couldn't afford to offend Gao Xi, but Gao Xuan's literary skills were too shallow, unlike Song Jiu who could write decent parallel prose and poetry, and had some understanding of classical texts. In the Song dynasty, there was a rule of collective punishment for officials, so Shi Hezai didn't dare recommend someone like Gao Xuan. From then on, Gao Xi bore a grudge against Shi Hezai and repeatedly used his official position to speak ill of him in front of Zhao Kuangyin.

  Gao Xi did not expect Shi Xizai to be behind his back, he was openly the Push Officer of Kaifeng, but in reality, he was Zhao Kuangyi's staff member and had been under Zhao Kuangyi for a long time. Zhao Kuangyin planned to replace him, and Zhao Kuangyi would take over after going through all the formalities. In fact, there were more stories behind this, but at that time, the two brothers had a good relationship, and Zhao Kuangyin could not lead the army out on that day, with an intelligent elder brother sitting in the capital, the story of the orphaned children of the Chai family being usurped by their own mother would not have occurred.

  At that time, neither of them was dealt with. This year, Gao Xi went to Qingzhou for work and privately accepted bribes from Jie Shuai Guo Chong. In the places he passed through, he also did some illegal things. Some people were dissatisfied and accused Gao Xi. Zhao Kuangyi secretly instigated and fueled the fire. Zhao Kuangyin thought of last year's affairs and summoned several ministers to ask how to deal with it.

  Not only is there Gao Xi, but also Guo Chong.

  Zhao Pu said, "Your Majesty, I think Guo Chong has made contributions to the country. He is just a military general, far away in Jingdong, not by Your Majesty's side. Gao Xi is familiar with imperial decrees and sending some gifts is also hoping that he will speak well of him in front of Your Majesty. If we execute Guo Chong because of this, it will chill the hearts of the generals."

  "Very well, let's demote Gao Xi then. The imperial edict demotes Gao Xi to be the Administrator of Laizhou."

  "Ah."

  "Then flat, there are only eleven days left in this month's period. Can any of you officials solve the three questions below?"

  "Your Majesty, the first question is that someone used three pillars inserted into the ground, two pillars replaced trees, one pillar replaced a young child, and then hung a rope. The lowest point of the rope was measured to be six inches from the ground."

  "This is called measurement, not solution. The imperial examination does not include arithmetic, if it did, would you still need to leave the examination hall, go home and fetch a ruler and rope to measure before re-entering the hall to fill in the answers? No harm done, that kid only asked for geometry, didn't say whether it's measurement or calculation."

  The big shots behind all laughed together.

  "What about the remaining two questions?"

  "The second question is not well quantified, it's a hypothetical scenario that assumes three cars can maintain a uniform speed, resulting in multiple possible answers, and I don't know which one is correct. As for the third one, I still have no clue."

  Zhao Kuangyi said: "Imperial brother, both I and my younger brother have obtained a mathematical formula."

  "Second brother, come and listen."

  "It's not what I thought, but it's been passed down from Beiwu."

  "How did you go to North Wa?"

  "That young man, Lin Jiangxian's Xiao Bi, is actually the head of a brothel in Beiwu, named Yu Bi. The other day, Yu Bi summoned that young man to meet again in Beiwu. That young man wrote down how he solved the second question and gave it to the head of the brothel. Because there were rumors circulating outside that the three questions were intentionally made difficult by that young man, the head of the brothel probably wanted to make a name for her lover, so she spread this solution method out."

  "Bring it over and let me take a look."

  In Kaifeng Prefecture, the Kaifeng Prefecture is outside the Imperial City, and the Politics Hall is inside the Imperial City. Someone was sent to retrieve it, and it took some time to come back. A few people chatted about national affairs while waiting. The eunuch brought it back from Kaifeng Prefecture. Zhao Kuangyi opened it and saw ABCXY, five letters, plus a bunch of Arabic numerals and various symbols. Fortunately, Song Jiu didn't want it to become heavenly script either. To make it easier for Yu Ping to understand, he added notes below, explaining what each letter, number, and symbol meant. He also drew a straight line, marking the starting points of three cars and their convergence points together.

  A few people are extremely intelligent and although they look confused, they can still see some clues.

  Zhao Kuangyin smiled: "This algorithm seems to be a good method."

  Zhao Kuangyi said, "Imperial brother, the one-month deadline is approaching. Why not grant this little brat a minor official position and buy his loyalty with a thousand pieces of gold? This way, we won't lose face in front of the imperial court."

  "Your Majesty, I don't think it's a good idea, I still believe that this child cannot be used." Zhao Pu said.