Chapter 27  

When Tao Sheng came to Beijing from Qin County to live with her aunt the year before last, Su Jia specially renovated a pavilion outside the corridor to welcome her niece.  

This pavilion is the most beautiful and romantic place in the entire Su Mansion. The Su family thought very well when renovating it. It is a rare opportunity for a girl to be born in the family. It would be a very happy thing for her to drink tea and play the zither with Tao Sheng here when she has free time in the future, feeling the peace of time.  

As a result, after Tao Sheng came to Beijing, Su Jia was busy with the shop and seldom had the time to sit here and drink afternoon tea.  

When Ji Yanming returned home, he saw this scene.  

The sky gradually darkened, and the new moon was appearing in the sky. Tao Sheng sat in a pear tree with two small lights lit in front of her, casting a warm orange-yellow glow that made her delicate and beautiful profile even gentler and softer.  

Ji Yanming felt a tenderness in his heart and walked towards her slowly: “Are you so leisurely today?”  

Tao Sheng gently shook the jade cup in her hand, revealing a snow-white wrist: “Aunt wants to move to a new house to be closer to your government office. I think it took a lot of effort to build the pavilion, and it’s a pity to leave it like this.”  

So, she came over to have something to eat.  

Tao Sheng also noticed that Ji Yanming had been staring at the wonton noodles on the table ever since he entered the pavilion.  

This kind of food is rare in the capital nowadays. Tao Sheng remembered having a drink tonight and thought of the wonton noodles made by Master Xu in the university town in her previous life. She missed it very much, so she asked Mrs. Liu in the kitchen to make Cantonese-style wonton noodles with river shrimp and pork, and had a bowl of it before having a drink.  

Tao Sheng couldn’t ignore such a direct look: “You haven’t had dinner yet?”  

Ji Yanming said “hmm.”  

Tao Sheng pushed the Kuixing Dot-Dipper-Pattern celadon ^[1]refers to a type of Chinese ceramic. bowl towards him and said, “Sister Liu from the kitchen just came up and I haven’t touched anything yet. I think it tastes good, but these wontons are probably a little hot right out of the pot. You try it first.”  

Ji Yanming usually ate slowly, but he took the noodles and gobbled them up quickly, leaving Tao Sheng stunned.  

Tao Sheng was surprised and asked, “How long have you not eaten?”  

“It wasn’t that long.” Ji Yanming recalled, “Just one day.”  

Isn’t one day long?  

Tao Sheng felt helpless.  

You have a bright future ahead of you, so don’t die young here.  

“You haven’t eaten all day, what have you been doing?”  

Ji Yanming explained that he had been summoned early in the morning and had to wait for the emperor in a side hall of the Xuanzheng Hall. He wasn’t able to see the emperor until after midafternoon.  

Tao Sheng smiled bitterly and shook her head.  

It is not easy to be a worker. Although Ji Yanming has passed the imperial examinations twice, he has not yet been granted an official position. He is a small clerk with no rank. It is normal for the emperor to forget such a person.

Then she heard from Ji Yanming that after the afternoon, the emperor finally remembered him. After a short chat, the emperor gave him a new job and sent him to the King of Chu.

Tao Sheng frowned.

This was very different from the story in the book.

Tao Sheng’s own storyline was already messy, but now Ji Yanming’s storyline was changing too.

In the original story, Ji Yanming passed two imperial examinations but was not the top scorer. Later, he was forced to choose sides and joined the prince with his mentor.

When the crown prince lost power and was deposed, Prince Rui valued Ji Yanming’s talent and did not hold a grudge against him. Instead, he recruited Ji Yanming to help him. With Ji Yanming’s support, Prince Rui became emperor.

In this version, there was no link between Ji Yanming and the King of Chu.

In this world, all characters and events match the book, except for one major change: Tao Sheng, who has traveled through time.

Tao Sheng thought about how she might have influenced Ji Yanming.

The first time was when she played the zither for him when he was feeling sad. The second time was when she moved him to a new place to live right before his exam.

The third time, Luo Xin asked her uncle to help Ji Yanming with the examination. Besides these, she hadn’t done much else.

As a result, Ji Yanming became the top scholar. Because of this, the emperor remembered him and assigned him to work with the King of Chu, whom he admired.

Looking at the storyline, the biggest change was keeping Ji Yanming away from Shi Zongnian, and nothing else seemed too targeted.

Could Ji Yanming’s previous low rankings in the exams really be linked to Mr. Shi?

Mr. Shi seemed like a minor character, but he was an important part of Ji Yanming’s story.

Ignoring the palace intrigues described in the book, the King of Chu can be seen as one of the minor villains. He was the prince who lasted the longest but died in an accident.

Tao Sheng asked Ji Yanming, “What kind of person is the King of Chu?”

Ji Yanming remembered the day he met the King of Chu and said slowly, “The King of Chu… is…”

He spoke more slowly, as if he was choosing his words, and finally said: “He seems a little unintelligent.”

Tao Sheng remembered that the King of Chu in the book was a major character. The original text said he was well-read, clever, and resourceful.

If such a person seemed unintelligent to Ji Yanming, then he might appear even more confused.

After spending over a year together, Tao Sheng felt they were quite familiar with each other and understood each other well. However, after hearing Ji Yanming’s opinion of the King of Chu, she felt a bit let down.

She stood up and said to Ji Yanming calmly, “I’m going back now. Enjoy your meal, cousin.”