"What does Lord Wei want us to do?" Bai Erlang asked.
Bai Shan replied, "It should be said that it's the Emperor who wants us to do something." The quota for the Highest Institute is obviously requested from the Emperor; could Wei Zhi possibly give away his own limited quota to them?
The three huddled together and guessed but couldn't figure it out; however, they felt it must be related to the Prince of Yizhou.
Unable to come to a conclusion, they decided to go back and ask their grandmother, but Old Madam Liu was feeling unwell and had already retired to her room.
Bai Shan hadn't even entered the house; he stood outside the courtyard and thought for a moment, then said, "Grandmother must have been tempted. It was a great effort for my dad to get into the Imperial Academy, and he was among the top four scholars. Let's not ask her, lest we make her feel sad again."
Manbao suggested, "Then let's ask Lord Yang."
