Testing the Waters

Zhao Ruyu knew that even if she managed to buy the Beauty Pill, she would still need to rely on her connections at the Women's Academy to attend banquets and make contact with powerful and influential people. Accumulating points was important, but she couldn't give up the academy either.

Seeing that she had returned to normal, Zhao Jing'an and Fushu both breathed a sigh of relief.

However, this also slowed down Zhao Ruyu's rate of accumulating points.

Zhao Ruyu was trying to do two things at once, but she was still thinking about Zhao Ruxi.

That day, as she counted the days, she asked Zhao Jingli, "Big brother, has fifth sister finished her exams?"

Zhao Jingli nodded. "We just finished the last exam yesterday."

"Then let's go see Fifth Sister and offer our condolences," Zhao Ruyu urged.

Zhao Jingli looked at her suspiciously and said, "She must be exhausted these past few days. Let's talk about it in a few days."

Zhao Ruyu had no choice but to be patient.

Two days later, Zhao Ruyu went to the main house with Zhao Jingli and Zhao Jing'an.

The three encountered Lady Su, Zhao Jingning, Zhao Rushan at the main gate.

"Third Aunt." The three women bowed to Lady Su.

Lady Su nodded. "You've all come to pay your respects to Grandmother?"

Lady Su knew that without Lady Zhu's help, the matter wouldn't have been so easily concealed. She had caused Lady Zhu a lot of trouble in the past, but when it came to the crucial moment, Lady Zhu still lent her a helping hand, and she was very grateful to Lady Zhu.

Furthermore, they are widows and orphans; if they don't maintain a good relationship with the first wife and can't rely on her for survival, it won't be long before someone sets their sights on them.

Therefore, ever since Zhao Yuankun's seventh day memorial service, Lady Su has been bringing her two children to the Earl of Suiping's Residence every few days under the pretext of paying respects to the old Lady Zhu.

"Yes. I'll also visit my fifth sister; she's been working very hard preparing for the provincial examination," Zhao Jingli said.

"That's right..." said Lady Su.

The two families went together to pay their respects to the old lady.

The old lady was usually impatient with them, so after saying a few words, she served tea and saw them off. Lady Su led her children to Lady Zhu's place, while the three members of the second wife went to Zhao Ruxi's place.

"Fifth sister, how did you do on the exam?" Zhao Jing'an asked as soon as he entered.

Zhao Ruxi, having received a report from her maid that the three of them and Lady Su had come to pay their respects to the old lady, had already changed her clothes and was waiting for them.

As soon as she heard that Zhao Ruyu had also come, she knew what Zhao Ruyu had come for.

Zhao Ruyu has always been impatient. If she hadn't been busy participating in the provincial examinations the past few days, Zhao Ruyu probably would have come over to inquire about the system long ago.

She put down the newspaper she was holding, gestured for the three of them to sit down, and stood there smiling, saying, "We don't know yet, we're waiting for the results."

Despite saying that, she was quite confident about the provincial examination.

The intensive training the teachers at the Imperial Academy had given her recently hadn't been in vain. She felt that her writing, both in terms of style and other aspects, had improved significantly.

She had read the essays of the top ten candidates in the provincial examinations over the years, and she believed that her own essay was no worse than theirs. But her final ranking would depend on luck and the preferences of the examiners.

"Will it pass?" Zhao Jingli asked.

The ancients valued humility, and one shouldn't make empty promises. Therefore, Zhao Ruxi vaguely replied, "I hope so."

Zhao Jing'an inquired about the provincial examination questions, and upon hearing that some questions combined mathematical and legal knowledge, he immediately frowned. "This is too difficult!"

They were discussing the imperial examination questions, Zhao Ruyu stood to the side, unable to join the conversation. In her mind, she asked the system, "System, does Zhao Ruxi have a system?"

She had no idea that the system could gather information. Not to mention Zhao Ruyu, even her system hadn't expected to earn points in this way.

It was Zhao Ruxi who, facing a system that was always trying to earn points from her and never suffered any loss, wanted to squeeze them back, which is why she developed this feature.

The system's problem was a minefield, Zhao Ruyu's problem, and her system naturally answered it. It simply ignored her.

Zhao Ruyu didn't get an answer, but she didn't mind. She had just asked casually.

She just felt that since she and Zhao Ruxi were sitting face to face, if Zhao Ruxi had a system, then the two systems being in such close contact would be like relatives meeting, and there would definitely be some kind of reaction, right? That's why she asked.

Seeing that the system remained silent, she guessed that Zhao Ruxi did not have a system.

She saw the newspaper placed in front of Zhao Ruxi, her eyes darted around, and she stood up, pointing at the newspaper and asking Zhao Ruxi, "Fifth Sister, may I take a look?"

Zhao Ruxi was discussing with Zhao Jing'an how to answer a provincial examination question when she saw Zhao Ruyu asking about the newspaper, and she nodded.

Zhao Ruyu read the newspaper for a while, and during a pause in Zhao Jing'an and Zhao Ruxi's discussion, she suddenly uttered two words: "System."

Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but her enunciation was extremely clear. Her eyes were fixed on the newspaper, as if she were talking to herself or reading the contents of the newspaper, but her eyes were glancing at Zhao Ruxi out of the corner of her eye.

Zhao Ruxi was prepared. Although she seemed to be talking to Zhao Jing'an, her attention was actually on Zhao Ruyu.

Upon hearing Zhao Ruyu's words, she instinctively looked over, her eyes full of confusion, as if asking Zhao Ruyu what she was talking about.

The same applies to Zhao Jingli.

Only Zhao Jing'an was pondering the topic Zhao Ruxi had mentioned, and he did not hear Zhao Ruyu's words.

Zhao Ruyu seemed to sense their gazes. She put down her newspaper and smiled apologetically, "I was engrossed in the newspaper. Sorry to have disturbed you."

Zhao Ruxi waved her hand dismissively and turned to ask Zhao Jing'an, "Well? How do you solve this problem?"

Seeing Zhao Jing'an scratching his head and looking distressed, Zhao Jingli said, "Second brother, your familiarity with the Four Books and Five Classics is still insufficient. If you can't even figure out the source, you won't be able to answer the questions, and you won't be able to write an essay at all. You'll end up handing in a blank paper. So you need to study even harder when you get back."

"Yes, I understand," Zhao Jing'an said, head bowed.

After failing the preliminary examination, he had been working hard. He thought that he had studied diligently for the past six months and had a good grasp of the Four Books and Five Classics. But now he couldn't even solve the problems, which made him very frustrated.

Seeing Zhao Ruxi's reaction, Zhao Ruyu guessed that Zhao Ruxi did not have a system. Otherwise, she would not have reacted this way upon hearing the word "system".

Thinking about it this way, she was secretly delighted.

She didn't know what a "golden finger" was, but that didn't stop her from wanting to be the only one with one. That way, she could be more outstanding and more likely to succeed than others.

Zhao Jingli knew that participating in the provincial examination was very energy-consuming and physically demanding. Seeing Zhao Jing'an looking dejected, he knew that the desired effect had been achieved and did not want to bother Zhao Ruxi any further.

He got up to take his leave.

Zhao Ruyu followed her two brothers and turned to slowly descend the steps, hoping Zhao Ruxi would call her back and ask about the system.

If Zhao Ruxi had a system, she would definitely ask. After all, she had already started the conversation, so Zhao Ruxi would naturally have to ask if she also had a system.

To Zhao Ruyu's disappointment, she didn't hear Zhao Ruxi calling her to stay until they walked out of the Slender Bamboo Courtyard gate.