The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

Chapter 192 This is not a Qujiang Banquet, this is a melon field

Gu Jianchu's action scared the people around her so much that they instantly became nervous and wanted to help her. Fortunately, Xie Ci'an was quick to hold Gu Jianchu's slender waist and prevented her from falling.

The people around him felt relieved.

This made Zhu Xia and Zhu Xi pay more attention to Gu Jianchu, fearing that she would slip again accidentally.

Because the palace is close to the mountains and forests, it is particularly cool in this hot summer. The Qushui Liushang banquet was set up under the banyan tree, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs also set up more than a dozen tables of ordinary banquets.

Xie Ci'an and Gu Jianchu sat at the main seats, followed by the ministers who sat according to their status.

After all the ministers were seated, there were not many seats left. Dean Wu naturally came over, after all, it was a chance to sit at the same table with the emperor and empress. The rest were occupied by the second, third and first place candidates. Finally, there were a few seats left at the end. Everyone sat at the table according to their ranking, and Lin Qi, who was ranked behind the second place candidate, naturally sat at the table as well.

Minister Lin glanced over there through the crowd with an ambiguous expression.

The palace servants brought the prepared food and placed it on the running water, and the food floated with the circulating water.

But if the emperor didn't pick up his chopsticks, no one else would dare to do so.

"Everyone, eat, don't be so restrained." Following Xie Ci'an's order, everyone picked up their chopsticks and started eating. There were musicians playing outside, and those who were nearby started chatting in groups of three or four.

While eating, Gu Jianchu did not forget to use the system to eat melons.

This isn't a Qujiang banquet; it's a melon field for melon eaters, filled with large melons.

Xie Ci'an put the piece of fish he picked up directly into Gu Jianchu's bowl.

He narrowed his eyes and scanned everyone.

For some reason, everyone who was eating in silence felt a chill on their backs.

But when they followed his gaze, they found that the emperor was picking up food for the queen again. Could it be their illusion?

If it's an illusion, then just continue eating in silence.

Lin Ting, the newly crowned top scholar, had a peculiar habit: whenever he felt stressed, he liked to eat paper. He often hid in his study to do so. Previously, when his wife was helping him clean up his study, she asked him why he hadn't seen any waste paper, but he made up a vague excuse to get by.

During the scientific expedition, he was so nervous that he almost performed a trick in front of everyone. In the end, he had to prick his thigh with a needle to get through it. His thigh is still swollen.

[The new top scholar's little habit is a bit embarrassing.]

[That third-place winner, Zhou Han, was a true domestic abuser. His wife was beaten to death by him. How did such a man become a third-place winner? Or does the imperial court simply not consider people before hiring? He already has a criminal record.]

[Well, even if it was just a character test, it was highly likely that it wouldn't be discovered. Zhou Han claimed that his wife had fallen to her death while collecting herbs in the mountains. His wife's family didn't report it to the police, so her body was covered in bruises. He was fooled like this.]

[Goodness me! Zhou Han, because he's good-looking and has decent academic performance, was actually chosen as a son-in-law by the Minister of the Central Secretariat. Was it the Minister of the Central Secretariat who favored his concubine over his wife, or was he chosen for his concubine's daughter? This makes it difficult for me to judge. Otherwise, I'll just give my blessing. Although Zhou Han's character is not good, the Minister of the Central Secretariat favored his concubine over his wife, letting his wife be tortured by her mother-in-law. He's not a good person either. If these two bad people get together, it would be really lively, torturing each other.]

Xie Ci'an's brows furrowed even tighter.

It’s better not to keep a candidate with such a bad character.

The Minister of the Central Secretariat sat closest to Xie Ci'an. While he was eating, he felt a chill all over his body, as if he was being stared at by something.

Zhou Han felt the same way.

【There is actually a big melon. 】

Gu Jianchu threw his chopsticks down in excitement, and the noise was so loud that everyone looked over.

Gu Jianchu reacted and smiled awkwardly, "My hand slipped accidentally."

Zhuxi helped Gu Jianchu buy a new pair of chopsticks.

Yan Cheng actually cheated to get the second place. All of his previously renowned poems were plagiarized from a friend. Because his friend's family was relatively poor, he exploited his status to trick the poems into his own name, having them circulated. Not long after, his friend found out, and they severed ties. His friend had considered getting the poems back, but Yan Cheng spread rumors, claiming that Yan Cheng was jealous of his talent and was spreading this everywhere. With such rumors in the air, no one believed his friend, and the matter ultimately fell through.

Yan Cheng didn't just plagiarize his friend; many other children from disadvantaged families were also plagiarized by him. Those children from disadvantaged families even banded together to cause trouble, but the incident never escalated and was quietly resolved.

[After all, his father was the Governor of Zhejiang. He didn't wait for the incident to get out of hand. He just jailed those people for a few days and gave them some compensation, and they behaved themselves.]

[Isn't this another local tyrant, dominating the people and exploiting them?]

[Yan Cheng only copied the best. If he wasn't famous, who would be?]

Yan Cheng and his father, the Governor of Zhejiang, bribed a young eunuch who worked for the invigilator. While the invigilator wasn't paying attention, the eunuch swapped Yan Cheng's essay with that of another poor student. The second-place finisher, who should have been the poor student, was taken by Yan Cheng. After failing the exam, the poor student, disheartened and ready to return home to farm, was devastated.

[This operation sounds familiar, as if someone has done it before.]

Xie Ci'an's expression had turned extremely cold.

How could it not sound familiar?

The former Minister of Rites had stolen his friend's results in this way, but he didn't expect that the imperial examination cheating would happen right in front of him. Not only that, he even took up the second place. It was really ridiculous.

Gu Jianchu, who was quietly eating melon, only felt that the air pressure around her was a little low. When she turned around, she saw that Xie Ci'an had a very ugly expression. She glanced around hesitantly, but saw that everyone was eating with their heads down and did not dare to look over here.

She secretly ate a melon, wondering if she had missed something or if someone had offended the emperor.

Why does the emperor look so unhappy?

Gu Jianchu quietly called out the system.

[Tongzi, has someone offended the emperor?]

【no. 】

[Why is your expression so grim without the Emperor? ]

How would I know? I've seen that no courtiers have offended the Emperor. So it's impossible for the Emperor to suddenly be in a bad mood and act like this.

[It's unlikely. The Emperor's emotions are quite stable.]

Unless someone makes him angry.

Not to mention Gu Jianchu's confusion, even the ministers were puzzled by Xie Ci'an's anger. They even thought carefully about whether they had done anything to offend Xie Ci'an. Not only that, they even considered whether they had offended the queen.

After all, the emperor is very protective of the queen now, and you might get into trouble if you offend her.