The servants respectfully showed the two adults around the circle. The place was spacious and much more elegant. One courtyard was used as a place to store books, and the front yard was used for offices. Now that the adults had not arrived yet, Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin went to their respective office courtyards.

　　He reviewed it and Brother Yan edited it.

　　Gu Zhao asked the servant who was pouring tea for him, what time do the adults usually come?

　　The servant then said, “Master Gu, look at the position of the crabapple flowers in the yard. If the sunlight shines on the crabapple flowers, it will be almost there.” After saying that, he bowed and asked Master Gu if he had any other instructions.

　　“Can you read the books in the backyard?”

　　”Your Excellency, except for the books in the library, the keys here are kept by Master Shi.”

　　Lord Shi is the head of the Hanlin Academy, and he is a fifth-rank Hanlin scholar. As mentioned before, only officials above the fourth rank are qualified to attend the morning court and enter the palace and the cabinet to do business, except for the Hanlin Academy.

　　The reason why the Hanlin Academy is close to the main entrance of the imperial palace is because the emperor often summoned him to the palace to draft documents, memorials, and write imperial edicts.

　　Gu Zhao was reading a book at his desk and drinking his second cup of tea – the servant was diligent in refilling the tea. He went to the toilet and when he came back he saw the light of the crabapple blossoms in the yard had brightened, and he saw the legendary Lord Shi.

　　Gu Zhao bowed, “Master Shi, this is your first day at the post.”

　　Lord Shi was about sixty years old, wearing an official uniform, very thin, with a neatly trimmed beard, and a slightly serious look, a bit like Second Brother Yan. Gu Zhao thought. Just that kind of upright and solemn temperament.

　　”Yeah.” Shi Mingwen nodded and went back to the main courtyard.

　　Gu Zhao went back to the office. When he entered, he was the only one there, but now all three of them were there. It must have been when he went to the toilet. The other party was obviously an experienced old employee and knew when Master Shi would arrive, so he just arrived early.

　　After that, there were greetings and introductions.

　　There were a total of sixty officials in the Hanlin Academy, forty servants, four reviewers, four editors, three editors, and below them were the classics, the secretary, the imperial edict, the secretary, and so on.

　　The other three reviewers who shared the same room with Gu Zhao, the oldest one was named Liang, who was the third place winner in the imperial examination in the 43rd year of Kang Jing. He became famous at a young age, and won the third place in the imperial examination at the age of 20. As a result, he sat in this position for 13 years without any change. He is now 33.

　　Mr. Tian was a top 2 student in the last term, and he passed the exam to become a Shujishi.

　　Another Mr. Zhao is from the same class as Mr. Tian and is twenty-eight.

　　Gu Zhao: …He is twenty-five.

　　After everyone sat down and chatted a little, they each went about their own business – reading.

　　They have bookshelves in their house, and if they are not satisfied with reading, there is a yard of books in the backyard. After working for a day, Gu Zhao finally understood why Emperor Kang Jing asked him to come to the Hanlin Academy to hone his skills. The main job in the Hanlin Academy is to read books, study, and write articles.

　　Work a five-day shift with one day off.

　　After more than ten years of hard study, he finally passed the imperial examination and got an official position. He should have been excited and wanted to show his talents, but he ended up entering the Hanlin Academy and returning to his school days. It was very nourishing and tested his concentration.

　　Although Gu Zhaoyi was reading a book in the morning, he was not really absorbed in it.

　　The Hanlin Academy holds an examination every five years, and random checks are conducted during the examinations. Those with poor results are directly eliminated and sent to other places. Someone like Lord Liang has stayed in this position for more than ten years, but because his essays are neither good nor bad, he has no prospects for promotion. This is considered a black Hanlin.

　　There are also red Hanlin scholars, such as Chu Daren, who is famous in this dynasty. He was a runner-up in the imperial examination and came from a poor family. He started out as an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and was promoted from the seventh rank to the fifth rank as a lecturer in three consecutive years. He then entered the cabinet as a scholar, a fourth rank, and is now promoted to the second rank.

　　Gu Zhao was originally puzzled. Everyone in the Hanlin Academy, from top to bottom, had nothing to do. They were late and left early. They clocked in at around nine in the morning and were released at around four or five in the afternoon. Why weren’t they afraid of being summoned by the emperor?

　　Isn’t it said that it has functions such as drafting imperial edicts?

　　Now Gu Zhaocai realized that it was true in the early days. The first two emperors loved to use the Hanlin Academy. During the reign of Emperor Kang Jing, the procedure changed. Those with outstanding grades and good writing skills in the Hanlin Academy were first selected to the cabinet and became cabinet scholars.

　　The cabinet is in the palace. If the emperor wants someone to write a document, isn’t he closer than someone from the Hanlin Academy?

　　The Hanlin Academy supplies top secretarial talents to the cabinet. As long as you can be close to the emperor, you write well, see the emperor every day, and you can be promoted quickly by stepping from a secretary to another position.

　　This is why it is said that the Hanlin Academy is noble and has a future.

　　Leisure and preciousness do not conflict.

　　At 4:30 in the afternoon, Master Shi left. As soon as Master Shi stepped out of the courtyard gate, a servant came with a teapot to add tea to the masters, but only half of it was filled.

　　The other three adults packed up and went home early. Gu Zhao and the others were packing up when they realized what was happening. They looked at the half-empty cup of tea on the table and couldn’t help laughing in their hearts, but they didn’t show it on their faces.

　　We are all skilled workers.

　　Get off work at five o’clock.

　　”Master Tian has left? See you tomorrow.”

　　”Master Liang, take care. OK, see you tomorrow.”

　　After greeting his three colleagues, Gu Zhao stretched himself, tidied up his desk, and thought about taking the book he was reading halfway back home – it could be taken away.

　　After leaving his office, he stayed in the yard for a while and saw Brother Yan and his colleagues coming out, as well as the runner-up Du Ruoqi. If Gu Zhao was considered young, then the runner-up Du Ruoqi was even younger.

　　Twenty-two this year.

　　He is from the Du family in Lu.

　　Before the Dali was established, the Du family had already been passed down for hundreds of years. As an aristocratic family, times changed and emperors changed several times, but these aristocratic families remained the same. They had a profound foundation, passed down from generation to generation, and had learned a lot of skills that could be sold to any emperor.

　　Although Gu Zhao was the most talked about person in their class, those were just gossips circulating among the common people and were not something that could be made public. His colleagues in the government were more optimistic about Du Ruoqi.

　　The one who entered the cabinet and became a close minister to the emperor was none other than Du Ruoqi.

　　This man was obviously ranked second in the first class, and had the best family background, but he was very introverted and low-key. When he was riding a horse in the parade and attending the Qujiang Night Banquet, Gu Zhao always felt that this man was deliberately keeping a low profile to let them take the limelight.

　　Actually, it’s right.

　　A tall tree attracts the wind. The Du family has a rich heritage. Their ancestors were great scholars and published books. Half of the scholars in the world have read the books published by the Du family’s ancestors. Among the civil servants in the court of Dali, how many people have ever listened to the lectures of Du Ruoqi’s grandfather.

　　It’s complicated anyway.

　　Besides, it is better not to have such false limelight. If you are a bit of a nouveau riche, you will be despised, laughed at and looked down upon. But Gu Zhao had no choice. People in Beijing looked down on him and used him as a topic of gossip. They knew that he had no ability and no backing to fight back.

　　What can he do? He just doesn’t take it seriously.

　　Not having a good background will make life more difficult, but you can’t give up because of that.

　　”Lord Du.” Gu Zhaoxian bowed and saluted.

　　Du Ruoqi and Yan Erge were both of the seventh rank, one level higher than him.

　　”You’re welcome. Let’s go out together?” Du Ruoqi spoke gently and made a gesture of invitation. Gu Zhao returned the gesture. Du Ruoqi smiled and went ahead. Gu Zhao walked aside without saying anything.

　　He called Du Ruoqi Lord Du, and the other party agreed to treat him with official courtesy. Then don’t flatter him and call him brother. Gu Zhao understood.

　　After leaving the gate of Hanlin Academy, the Du family’s carriages were lined up on the side. When the carriage boy saw them, he hurriedly pulled the reins and walked forward, saluted to the third young master, and stood aside waiting without saying a word.

　　”Then I will go back first. See you tomorrow, my lords.”

　　”I’ll see you tomorrow, Master Du.”

　　Du Ruoqi got in the car, and the car disappeared into the distance. Gu Zhao and Yan Jinxin smiled, and then walked out. Yan Jinxin asked, “Did you take the book back with you?”

　　”I was restless today, so I read this book and said I had finished it, but in fact I didn’t get into it. I read it again in the afternoon, and I got into it and found it interesting, so I went back to read it again.”

　　The two of them felt much more comfortable talking to each other. Yan Jinxin hummed, “Me too.”

　　”Second brother, don’t lie to me. Are you so impatient that you can’t concentrate on reading?” Gu Zhao didn’t think that was possible.

　　Yan Jinxin: “I’m not born knowing everything. I’m not as good as you in being an official and getting along with others.”

　　This is because I am not used to the new place and new colleagues. Gu Zhao is also a little bit upset. He said, “When I was studying, we all sat in the same classroom. During breaks, we talked and got along with each other freely. We would not get close to those who we couldn’t play with. We would say a few words to those who we didn’t like. But now it’s different. We have to think carefully when we speak and do things, and we can’t offend people.”

　　”If we do practical things, we don’t have to worry about offending people,” Yan Jinxin said.

　　Gu Zhao hummed, “Of course, but if reading, drinking tea, and chatting can offend people, it would be a loss.”

　　In fact, it is not about being afraid of offending people, but whether it is cost-effective. You see, everyone is reviewing, all from the seventh rank, and Lord Liang has been sitting in this position for more than ten years without being shaken. You think his background should not be powerful? If it was not powerful, he would have been transferred to another place long ago.