Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

For two consecutive days, Fang Zheng Yi hadn't seen Li Yuan Zhao in Banshan Ward.

It seemed he was too discouraged and had withdrawn into himself.

Fang Zheng Yi didn't mind; he enjoyed the two days of leisure. He wasn't about to eagerly educate that guy with such a strong paternal vibe; he wouldn't do that.

Besides, young people are forgetful. He would probably recover in a couple of days, so there was no need to rush.

He wasn't completely idle during these two days. He took advantage of the time to quickly cram some knowledge related to the imperial examinations and arranged for Xiao Tao to help him prepare some work.

He had to avoid exposing his ignorance; his 'scholar' persona couldn't collapse! Otherwise, if someone caught him, it wouldn't be as simple as losing face!

He didn't dare to ask directly, so he could only wait until after the court session to subtly probe others for information.

Fortunately, he gained something. He roughly understood the process, so he wouldn't be completely clueless when the time came.

He had taken the college entrance examination, but compared to the imperial examination, it was utterly insignificant!

He had no memory of the imperial examinations and never cared about such things.

Once he closed the county gates, he was always doing his own thing.

There were scholars in Taoyuan County, but he suppressed them tightly, preventing anyone from participating in the examinations!

Now, the new generation of school-age students didn't even have a single Xiucai (a degree in the imperial examination system). Besides plain language, it was all plain language, nothing presentable...

The county magistrate was illiterate, and the people under his rule were also illiterate; it was perfectly reasonable!

One day at noon, white clouds filled the sky, and a gentle breeze blew.

The Fang family gathered in the courtyard for lunch, with servants and guards setting up several large tables.

Fang Zheng Yi's table was for close family and friends, sitting in the shade of a tree.

Each table was filled with numerous dishes, mainly meat dishes.

Taoyuan County sent several milk-fragrant pigs. They originally planned to wait for the evening to eat them, but they couldn't resist everyone's cravings, so they decided to prepare them all at noon.

The aroma wafted far and wide on the breeze, attracting many people on the street to sniff the air.

After Fang Zheng Yi took the first bite, everyone began to feast heartily.

As they were eating happily, an uninvited guest barged in.

A flustered figure appeared in the courtyard, looking somewhat disheveled, as if they had come in a hurry.

Fang Zheng Yi was amused when he saw the person: "Liu Jin? Why aren't you in the East Palace? What are you doing at my house? Coming to freeload?"

Liu Jin looked at the delicacies on the table, swallowed, and said loudly and resentfully, "Master Fang, please don't joke around."

"Please go... please go to the East Palace and have a look. His Highness hasn't eaten or drunk anything for two days and refuses to leave his room! What should we do!"

"We've consulted the imperial physicians, and they all say he's not sick!"

Fang Zheng Yi raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.

Two days without eating! That wasn't like the Crown Prince!

Could heartache really starve him to death? Maybe he was secretly eating.

Forget it, never mind him!

"Liu Jin, have you eaten? Want to eat something together?" Fang Zheng Yi asked.

Liu Jin said with a wry smile, "I wouldn't dare! Master Fang, please go and see His Highness... This servant is afraid he'll get sick from hunger."

Fang Zheng Yi pondered for a moment before saying, "His Highness just doesn't have an appetite. The food in the palace is unpalatable, so he can't eat it!"

"Here! Take this pork knuckle and send it to His Highness, tell him it's from me, this pork knuckle is incredibly delicious, he must try it!"

Liu Jin looked at the tempting pork knuckle on the table and licked his lips: "Is... is that okay? Master Fang, what exactly is wrong with the Crown Prince? Why don't you go there yourself?"

"Hey! His Highness is fine, send it quickly! Don't waste time, don't let it get cold on the way!"

Fang Zheng Yi pointed at the pork knuckle with his chopsticks, and Xiao Tao immediately got up to get a food container to fill it, adding several more dishes along the way.

Before Liu Jin could react, the food container was already thrust into his hands.

Fang Zheng Yi got up and grabbed a handful of melon seeds and walnuts from the table, stuffing them into Liu Jin's sleeves, then waved his hand: "Go!"

The muscles on Liu Jin's face twitched!

You're testing a eunuch with this!? Which eunuch can withstand such a test!

You're treating me like a three-year-old, aren't you!

Originally, he thought that since the Crown Prince hadn't eaten for two days, inviting Fang Zheng Yi over would be easy. The two of them usually had a great relationship, so he should be able to convince him with just a word. He didn't expect Fang Zheng Yi to not take it seriously!

Liu Jin immediately said anxiously: "Master! Good food is useless! I'm afraid the Crown Prince will have a big problem if this continues!"

"He hasn't even been reading these past two days!"

Books? The Crown Prince reads books?

Fang Zheng Yi laughed heartlessly: "What kind of books does His Highness usually read?"

Liu Jin's old face flushed red, and he leaned over and whispered a few words into Fang Zheng Yi's ear.

The people at the table could vaguely hear some indescribable book titles.

After listening, Fang Zheng Yi was immediately filled with respect!

It was amazing that he could read these boring things every day! Now that he wasn't even reading books, it was clear that there was a big problem!

He didn't even read the Cao Liu Community (referring to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms forum) that diligently back then!

"Wait a moment! I'll go with you right away!"

With that, Fang Zheng Yi got up and ran back into the house. Before long, he changed into his official robes and told everyone in the courtyard: "You guys eat! Don't wait for me."

Liu Jin was overjoyed and hurriedly grabbed the food container with one hand and Fang Zheng Yi's sleeve with the other.

When they reached the outside of the door, they realized that Liu Jin had already prepared a horse.

"Let's go! Tell me on the way, what has the Crown Prince been doing these past two days!"

........