The three Wu Hous, Ye Fan, Ling Qingshan and Hao Ziming, left the Imperial Academy and came to the lively main street of the royal city together.
In the most prosperous area in the middle of the street, I found the most famous luxury restaurant in the royal city and ordered a private room on the second floor facing the street.
Hao Ziming is an old Wuhou who has been in the Imperial College for more than 20 years. He has a wide range of contacts. He knows many Wuhou who attended the previous imperial examinations. He met many other princes and officials in the Wangcheng restaurant and kept saying hello.
Ling Qingshan is also well-known in the royal city. He is a rising star in the royal family. Many people greeted him along the way.
In comparison, Ye Fan is relatively unknown in Wangcheng, and no one is familiar with him. Only a few of the Imperial College's supervisors had met him once, but they didn't have a deep impression.
When they arrived at the private room facing the window on the second floor, the three of them took their seats.
"Three adults, please use it slowly!"
Several maids brought fresh fruits and melons of all kinds, poured them good tea, and then left.
The three of them were chatting in the private room, all about cultivation matters.
"The next time the Star Tower opens, there is still one month. How do you two plan to practice this month? In retreat at the Imperial Academy, or go out to practice?"
Hao Ziming asked the two of them.
"I major in the metal system, but there are few places suitable for practicing the metal system. I guess I will just stay in the Imperial Academy for a month."
Ling Qingshan shook his head.
"I haven't thought about it yet! Where is Brother Hao?"
Ye Fan said.
"There are some places near Li Wangcheng that are quite suitable for cultivation, such as the Misty Forest, Ice Lake, Poisonous Mist Swamp, etc. I estimate that I will go to the Misty Forest and practice for a month and come back. For Marquis Wu, just rush to the nearby cultivation place, just It's convenient for a day or two. There are other counties further away, and you need to ride a flying beast to make it easier to travel. If Brother Ye goes out for training, he can rent a flying beast from the Beast Control Pavilion in the city, which will be convenient for him next time. Come back when the Moon Star Tower opens."
Hao Ziming reminded.
"Well, thank you Brother Hao for reminding me. I'll think about where to practice later."
Ye Fan nodded.
The places around the royal city that are suitable for Wuhou to practice have been occupied by many Wuhou for a long time. He didn't want to compete with them for space. If he wanted to find a place to practice, of course he would go to a place far away with few people.
If there was a suitable place for training, he wouldn't necessarily have to rush back and enter the Star Tower to practice.
This Star Tower is good, but the training time is too short. Moreover, the most precious time stone in the Star Tower only appears once every three years. It will not appear again in the past few years, and the meaning of the Star Tower is much smaller to him.
Ye Fan was thinking about finding a suitable place to practice for a year and a half, so as to save time and travel back and forth on the road.
"Boom!"
Just when the three of them were talking.
A rumble and the unbridled sound of horse hooves were heard in the distance.
As soon as they heard the rapid sound of horse hooves, all the pedestrians and carriages on the streets of the royal city immediately reacted and hurriedly hid on both sides of the street, not daring to stop them.
Flying horses are prohibited in the city of Canglan King. No matter the princes, dignitaries, court ministers or Lord Wu, they are not allowed to gallop on the bustling streets of the city. If you are discovered by the Royal City Guards, you will be severely punished.
But there are exceptions to everything.
There was a man who dared to gallop on his horse in the royal city, and no one could control him.
Although this voice had not sounded in the royal city for a long time, when this voice appeared again, everyone in the royal city immediately became alert and retreated to both sides of the street.
"Princess Jiaojiao is back?!"
Hao Ziming's face changed slightly and he blurted out almost instinctively.
All three of them looked out the window at the street.
I saw a small group of female cavalry in fiery red light armor cloaks in the distance. The leader was the Princess Ling Jiaojiao, who was wearing a delicate red armor and holding a red whip. A group of six cavalry were galloping on the bustling streets of the royal city. Enter through the city gate, cross the street, and head towards the palace.
Not even the general guarding the city gate dared to stop him, let alone others.
"It's strange! Princess Ling Jiaojiao committed a crime last time. Wasn't she sent to Donglai County by the monarch? Why did she come back to the city? I heard before that the monarch ordered her not to return to the royal city before she became Wuhou. ! Her cultivation level is not as high as that of Wuhou?!"
Hao Ziming couldn't help but be very surprised.
"Brother Hao doesn't know that the monarch's birthday is in one month. Now that the princess is back, she must be back in advance to prepare for the monarch's birthday. Members of the royal family will go there to celebrate the birthday."
Ling Qingshan drank wine and said in a dull voice.
Everyone in Canglan City knew that Ling Jiaojiao was the king's apple, the most favored, and even a big mistake was only a small punishment. The last time she was demoted to Donglai County by the monarch, it was because she wanted to see the Imperial Library, but was stopped by the library people. In anger, she sent people to burn down the Imperial Library, almost destroying many thousands of years of history. The ancient books were burned.
This aroused the anger of all the ministers in the court and caused a great uproar. They wrote to the king to severely punish her.
In order to appease the public anger, the monarch sent her to Donglai County and punished her not to return to the royal city until she became Wuhou. But this is just a small punishment to avoid disaster.
Fortunately, the Canglan royal family is the only one who dares to cause trouble. The other princes and grandsons were not favored, and no one dared to cause trouble like this.
After Princess Jiaojiao was driven out of the royal city, the court ministers stopped pursuing her.
The monarch is celebrating his birthday, and she cannot be absent. Before he became Wuhou, he made an exception and returned to the city.
Ling Qingshan, who was also a descendant of the Canglan royal family and was named "Qingshan Hou", did not dare to compare with Ling Jiaojiao. Besides, he is a member of the royal family and his status is awkward. Although he is already a Marquis of Wu, he is not as good as an ordinary royal prince.
Six cavalrymen in red armor were galloping down the street, crossing the street towards the palace.
Suddenly, Ling Jiaojiao's sharp eyes saw Ye Fan, Ling Qingshan, Hao Ziming and others sitting by the window of the private room on the second floor of the most famous restaurant in the royal city.
"Huh!"
Ling Jiaojiao looked surprised.
She didn't expect to see Mark just after she returned to the royal city.
Last time in Xiayang County, after the 30,000-strong army conquered the desert ghost tribe and won the battle, Ye Fan left the three-county army without saying goodbye and left a letter. After that, she never heard from Ye Fan again, and she didn't know which county he went to to practice.
However, she was not in a hurry.
She knew that Ye Fan was practicing very quickly, and he also had a martial soul awakening pill, so becoming Wu Hou was a certainty. Once he becomes Marquis Wu, Ye Fan will definitely go to the royal city to enter the Imperial Academy, participate in the Canglan Palace Examination, and become one of the most important figures in the Canglan Kingdom.
So sooner or later she would see Mark in the royal city.
But she didn't expect that only a few months later, she would actually meet Mark in the royal city, much faster than she expected.
Ling Jiaojiao immediately reined in her horse, stopped, reined in her horse at the bottom of the restaurant, and looked upstairs with surprise on her face.
The five female knights in red wearing red masks behind her also stopped instantly, guarding her like cold sculptures.
"Princess! You have returned to the royal city!"
Ling Qingshan was stunned. He didn't know why Ling Jiaojiao stopped below and looked at them with a smile. He was puzzled and quickly stood up and saluted. Could it be that you have something to do with him? However, he didn't have much friendship with the princess.
"Well, Lord Qingshan is fine!"
Ling Jiaojiao nodded lightly, but didn't say much to him. Instead, she smiled at Mark and said, "Mark, when did you come to the royal city?!"
"Princess, I broke through to the realm of Marquis Wu last month and came to the Imperial College to report! In the past month, I have been practicing in the Imperial College."
Ye Fan stood up, held his hands towards Princess Jiaojiao, and said.
"You broke through Wuhou last month? No wonder you and Qingshanhou sat together to congratulate Ye Wuhou!"
Ling Jiaojiao was surprised, laughed, and then said: "If I had known you would come to the royal city last month, I would have returned to the city last month! My father will have his birthday next month, and I will come back this time to prepare for his birthday. Yes. Come on, you should also go to my father's birthday banquet. Many people will attend. I will introduce you to my father and make you familiar with him. It will be more convenient in the royal city!"
"Attending the monarch's birthday banquet?... The whole process of preparing birthday gifts and entering the palace to celebrate the birthday will probably take a long time, at least ten days or half a month. I just came out of the Star Tower of the Imperial College and was preparing for this. If you go out to practice for a few days, I'm afraid it will take a long time to come back, maybe half a year or a year."
Ye Fan thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Oh, that's how it is!"
Princess Jiaojiao looked a little disappointed, but she quickly smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, cultivation is the most important thing. There are only more than a year left before this palace examination, and the time must be very tight. I guess you must take part in this There are a lot of things to be busy with during the next imperial examination. With your strength, you might really hope to win the exam in one go. In this case, you don't have to waste your time. I will tell my father at the birthday banquet and give you a message. Just say hello."
"Thank you princess!"
Ye Fan felt a little moved and said thank you.
Princess Jiaojiao sends a greeting and looks familiar in front of the monarch. This is no ordinary generous gift.
…
Princess Jiaojiao and Ye Fan said goodbye, and six red horses galloped towards the palace.
Ling Qingshan and Hao Ziming both looked stunned.
The three Wu Hous continued chatting in the private room for a while, talking about a lot of cultivation matters, but they did not mention how Ye Fan met Princess Jiaojiao.
After half an hour, Ye Fan said goodbye and left, preparing to go out to practice.
Only Ling Qingshan and Hao Ziming were left, sitting in the private room in silence for a long time.
"It seems that Brother Ye's connections are not as deep as those of you and me!"
Hao Ziming took a sip of tea and let out a long sigh.
I originally thought that he was at least far better than Ye Fan in terms of connections in the royal city, and knew many of Wuhou's supervisors and court ministers. But I never expected that Ye Fan would actually have a friendship with Princess Jiaojiao, and it seemed that the friendship was not ordinary.
What kind of person is Princess Jiaojiao? She alone can surpass countless other princes and dignitaries. Knowing this person is more useful than knowing a lot of people in the royal city.
One word from her can make a lot more sense than a hundred words from other princes.
"I competed with Ye Fan before, and I left some strength behind. I thought that with Ye Fan's solid basic skills, he had an 80-90% chance of breaking into the top ten in the palace examination. But now it seems that in the Canglan palace examination a year and a half later, , the possibility of Ye Fan being on the list is already 100%, and he has made up for the weakest connection. If Princess Jiaojiao is really willing to say a few kind words for him, the monarch will definitely treat him Looking at it from another perspective, the top three in the palace examination are not out of the question! In this palace examination, I am determined to be in the top ten. There are many top ten places, so there is no conflict with Ye Fan. But I am planning to rush for the top three, and I will definitely meet Ye Fan. With the sudden appearance of Ye Fan, a strong competitor has been added to the top three! How difficult it is!"
Hao Ziming said with a worried look.
You must know that in addition to those who entered the Star Tower, there are also some people in the Imperial Academy who have not returned from their experience outside. They are quite strong and can compete for the top three.
"Yan Xiuzheng, the leader of the last palace examination, only accidentally made some insinuations when he met with the monarch, and luckily guessed the monarch's thoughts, so he took the lead with a policy essay "On Water". But this method cannot be used at all. Moreover, it is easy to make mistakes and guess the monarch's thoughts wrongly. But where does Princess Jiaojiao need to guess the monarch's thoughts? She can just ask directly. Then pass the word to Ye Fan, and Ye Fan will naturally be prepared. If he doesn't move forward Top Three, that's a weird thing! From the look on Princess Jiaojiao's face today, there is a high probability that she will speak kindly to Ye Fan in front of the monarch, or even help him in other ways."
Ling Qingshan shook his head.
The two of them were drinking tea, both worried.
Although Ling Qingshan belongs to a branch of the royal family and is honored as a Marquis, his status in the royal family is far inferior to that of Princess Jiaojiao, and he cannot gain much advantage in the palace examination. Instead, he has scruples and does not dare to be too public. He was determined to compete for the top three, but he was worried that the monarch would be suspicious of him because of his strength, and he was in a dilemma.