The Legend of the Farm Girl

The next morning, before Li Muwen and Yun Fang got up, they heard someone knocking on the gate. Liu Zhanpeng's servant had already gone to open the door.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of the servant boy running away was heard in the yard, and soon after, Yun Feng's voice was heard.

Yunfang was a little curious after hearing the sound, so she got up with Li Muwen. After a simple wash, Yunfang and Li Muwen went to the yard together.

I saw that the gate was open and a young woman was standing at the door with a lunch box.

She was graceful, as light as a willow in the wind. Her long black hair fell down her back like a waterfall, and a delicate hairpin was inserted in her hair, which added a bit of agility and beauty. Her skin was as white as snow, and her eyebrows were as black as distant ink. Her eyes were clear and moving, as if they hid the sea of ​​stars. Her small and upturned nose, coupled with her cherry-like red lips, made her look like a blooming spring flower with a slight smile, so bright and beautiful that it was beyond description.

The woman was talking to Yunfeng, and Yunfeng's face was visibly red.

Yunfang called out softly, "Yunfeng, is there a guest?"

Yunfeng then realized that his sister and brother-in-law had come out, and blushed as he said, "It was Miss Yue. She said she wanted to bring us some breakfast so we can't study on an empty stomach."

Yunfang immediately understood the Yue family's plan, but if her brother was interested, she would not stop him.

Yunfang smiled and said, "If you are willing to eat, please invite Miss Yue in!"

Yun Feng nodded slightly. He had never seen a woman like Yue Yanmei, whose conversation and temperament were extraordinary. Thinking of what Yue Renshou said yesterday, he actually felt that if it was the girl in front of him, it would be acceptable.

Yue Yanmei was secretly happy to see that he agreed to let her bring in breakfast, but she did not stay for long after bringing it in. She just brought him breakfast early every day thereafter.

Her approach not only showed her sincerity but was not overly flattering. Yunfang approved of her approach. Needless to say, Yunfengli was already looking forward to Yue Yanmei's arrival every morning.

Yue Yanmei would come every morning, when everyone would get up and have breakfast, and then Li Muwen, Liu Zhanpeng and Yunfeng would practice martial arts.

Liu Zhanpeng decided to practice martial arts every day like Li Muwen and Yunfeng, rain or shine. He felt that his failure to pass the imperial examination had a lot to do with the fact that he was not as strong as Li Yun and the others.

He would study with them for a few days, and after they separated, he would have to work hard on his own.

After practicing martial arts, they would study together to ensure that they would not fall behind in the examination and would be in the best condition to participate in the palace examination. After the Ministry of Rites sent people over, Yunfeng and Li Muwen added a daily practice of the etiquette of meeting the emperor to ensure that there would be no mistakes during the palace examination.

Finally, on April 16th, early in the morning, Yun Feng and Li Muwen did not eat anything, just drank two sips of water, and then set off for the palace.

When the time came, the one hundred new tribute scholars entered the palace hall in order of their ranking, and everyone could not hide their inner nervousness and excitement.

Following the instructions of the Ministry of Rites, everyone knelt down and bowed in the main hall.

When they first met the emperor, no one could look him in the face until the eunuch in charge shouted, "The palace examination begins. Please take your seats, candidates."

Everyone took their seats one by one, and everyone kept the Ministry of Rites' instructions in mind. Although there were many people, there was no sign of panic at all.

It was not until everyone was seated that the emperor's voice was heard: "You are all pillars of the country. I hope you can show your true talents today and serve the court tomorrow."

Everyone dared to look up to the high seat. In the palace, the majestic emperor was sitting on the dragon throne. He was nearly forty years old. The years had left some traces on his face, but it made him more mature and steady. He was tall and straight, his eyebrows revealed determination and wisdom, and his narrow eyes flashed with sharp light, as if he could see through everything. Although his face was majestic without anger, he could vaguely see his former heroic appearance. His every move showed the demeanor of an emperor, exuding an awe-inspiring aura.

Everyone agreed in unison.

The emperor waved his hand, and the eunuch in charge said loudly, "Give the questions, start the timer, one hour."

The only sound in the entire hall was the sound of a hundred people writing. The topic of this palace examination was "virtuous, upright, and able to speak frankly and make extreme suggestions", and students were allowed to speak freely on the topic.

It can be said that this time the topic can be written without straying from the topic, but it is difficult to write well.

Li Muwen pondered over it and finally decided to start with the topic of the provincial examination many years ago. At that time, the last policy essay was set to be about diplomatic relations. However, in the past four years, Li Muwen had not heard of any movement from the court.

Li Muwen felt that the test question at that time was not aimless. Later, Yunfang gave him a lot of suggestions in this regard. He felt that he should have some confidence in writing this.

Write whatever you think of. Time is precious and you can't afford to waste it.

Finally, within an hour, he handed in his answer sheet.

He looked up and found that the emperor had left the throne at some point. After they handed in their papers, they waited in their seats. There was no one to watch over them. Apart from them, there were only a few eunuchs left in the entire hall.

Everyone was waiting for the final result in tension and anticipation.

In another room, their test papers were being ranked busily. The people grading the papers included the prime minister, the ministers of all ministries except the minister of rites, and the prince's tutor. Although there was no prince, he had been teaching the princes and was a great scholar of the dynasty.

Seven people marked the papers together and after a quick look, they felt that three of the candidates could enter the first place, two could enter the second place, and one could enter the third place.

Finally, the ten people with the most circles will be selected and presented to His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty the Emperor will select three people as the first-class No. 1, second-class and third-class candidates, and then select fifty-seven people as the second-class Jinshi, and the remaining forty people as the third-class Jinshi.

The people were not allowed to communicate with each other, and the ten finally selected were sent to the emperor by the prime minister.

Among these ten, there is Li Muwen’s answer.

The Minister of Personnel felt familiar with Li Muwen's content and was very fond of it, so he gave him three circles. The Minister of Revenue also felt that his opinions were very useful and gave him three circles.

The others also gave him two circles, and thus he was lucky enough to become the tenth one.

His policy papers were seen by the country's ruler for the first time.

The emperor looked at the ten answer sheets. He liked reading articles, and he thought that all those who were selected were talented. They quoted from classics, and their essays were very interesting.

Especially the first one, which read in the same style as he always liked, he immediately picked it out and found that it was the answer sheet of Lu Yunze, the son of Lu Shangshu.

Over the years, the Emperor had met with Lu Yunze many times because of his poems and essays. Minister Lu also did not participate in the palace examination because Lu Yunze was the top scorer of this year's exam. He knew all this.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yunze's policy paper also touched his heart.

Then he read them one by one and found that his trusted ministers' comments on the papers were very much to his liking.

It was not until he read the last one that he found the suggestion written by this tribute scholar was really novel. Many years ago, he had thought about further communicating with foreign countries, but later he shelved the idea due to some reasons.

The emperor looked at the name on the scroll, which was Li Muwen. The emperor had some other ideas.

He took out Li Muwen's answer sheet, put it together with Lu Yunze's, and then took out the second place selected by the ministers.

He handed the remaining answer sheets to the consul eunuch. After a while, the list of the second and third class Jinshi was sorted out, and the emperor came to the hall first.

He gave the three answer sheets to the consular eunuch.

The consul eunuch said loudly: "Lu Yunze, Li Muwen, and Shen Jiaming, please come forward and listen to my order."

"In the palace examination of the 15th year of Qianyuan, the emperor personally selected Lu Yunze as the first place in the first class and conferred him the title of No. 1 Scholar, Li Muwen as the second place in the first class and conferred him the title of No. 2 Scholar, and Shen Jiaming as the third place in the first class and conferred him the title of No. 3 Scholar. Thank you."

The three were extremely surprised and immediately stepped forward to express their gratitude.

Especially Li Muwen, who soared from the 38th place in the imperial examination to the second place. You should know that the first-class Jinshi can be directly appointed as the sixth-rank Hanlin Academy editor, while the second-class Jinshi is not sure whether he can enter the Hanlin Academy. He still needs to go through many tests.

Even if you enter the Hanlin Academy, you still have to start as an editor.

After that, 57 people were awarded the title of Jinshi in the second class, and 40 people were awarded the title of Jinshi in the third class. No miracle happened to Yunfeng, and he ranked in the third class.

On the bustling streets of Beijing, the newly crowned No. 1 scholar Lu Yunze sat high and proudly on a tall and vigorous white horse. He was dressed in a gorgeous No. 1 scholar robe, a golden crown on his head, and looked as if in the spring breeze, with a heroic look. Behind him followed the No. 2 scholar Li Muwen and the No. 3 scholar Shen Jiaming, as well as a group of Jinshi scholars, who also rode on horses and wore glorious clothes.

The streets were crowded with cheering people, who were eager to witness this glorious scene. The gongs and drums were loud, the firecrackers were blasting, and the festive atmosphere filled the air. The top scholar smiled and bowed to the crowd frequently, showing his humility. There was constant discussion among the crowd, especially many people were praising the handsome looks of the top and second place.

The horses marched in neat steps, and the sound of their hooves echoed through the streets, as if telling of their brilliant achievements. The entire parade was lively and solemn, becoming a beautiful scenery in the capital, and will also become an unforgettable moment in the lives of these students.

Yunfang was also in the crowd. She saw Li Muwen at a glance. She was surprised that Li Muwen was the runner-up in the high school entrance examination. But when she saw that Li Muwen was ranked behind Lu Yunze, she felt uncomfortable. She always felt that everything Lu Yunze had was stolen.

Her feeling was not wrong. He had already expected the questions for the palace examination used by the emperor. His sister, Lu Yunze's aunt, was also the empress of the central palace and gave birth to two legitimate princes. Both princes were already adults, and their maternal family would definitely help them.

They found out what the princes had written. This time, Minister Lu did not ask someone to write for him, but wrote it himself according to the emperor's preferences. He wrote a lot and asked Lu Yunze to memorize it one by one.

Lu Yunze was enjoying everyone's attention so much that he didn't notice Yun Fang. Li Muwen didn't want Lu Yunze to see Yun Fang, so he didn't communicate with Yun Fang when he saw her.

Only when Yunfeng passed by, he saw his sister and waved his hands excitedly. Yunfeng not only saw his sister, but after walking a few steps, he saw Yue Yanmei. He made up his mind and mouthed in the direction of Yue Yanmei: "Wait for me."

Yue Yanmei's eyes were red. She had finally gotten such a good marriage.

After the new scholars rode their horses through the streets in a parade, they returned to the court to express their gratitude, and then attended the Qionglin Banquet.

At the Qionglin Banquet, the hall was full of colors and lights. The newly-appointed scholars were dressed in their best clothes and gathered together, laughing and talking. The hall was filled with delicious food, and the aroma of fine wine and delicious food filled the air. Everyone toasted each other, their faces filled with joy and pride.

The musicians played cheerful music, and the melodious sounds of stringed instruments intertwined with the laughter and joy at the banquet. The top three candidates sat in the upper seats, attracting much attention. They were in high spirits and shared this honor and joy with their classmates.

At the banquet, everyone talked about their ambitions and aspirations for the future, and the atmosphere was warm and harmonious. The scholars were full of vigor and boundless aspirations as they drank and chatted.

This banquet was also the first time that Li Muwen and Lu Yunze had a head-on confrontation.

Lu Yunze raised his glass first and said, "Brother Mu Wen, Brother Jia Ming, the three of us will be in Hanlin together in the future. I hope you can help me. I, Lu Yunze, will not treat you unfairly."

After saying that, he drank the wine in the glass.

Shen Jiaming also drank it all, but Li Muwen said, "I can't drink much. I can't drink this wine. I will follow my heart in the future. Seeking truth and being pragmatic is what an official should do."

Lu Yunze just thought that Li Muwen was a fool and laughed in his heart, but he still pretended to be gentle and said, "Brother Muwen has integrity. I admire him."

Li Muwen couldn't break off relations with him, so he had to pretend to be nice to him and sometimes would say a few polite words in reply.

Fortunately, seeing that Li Muwen was not easy to approach, Lu Yunze no longer took the initiative to talk to him, but instead focused on chatting enthusiastically with Shen Jiaming.

The banquet ended only when the moon reached its zenith.

Finally, the eunuch consul informed him that the appointments of the three people in the first class would be announced soon, and if the second class wanted to join the Hanlin Academy, they would need to register for another examination.

Those who don’t sign up will wait for appointment, and so will those who don’t pass the exam.

The third class is even slower, as the second class of Jinshi will be appointed only after all the third class of Jinshi are appointed.

When Li Muwen and Yun Feng returned home, Yun Fang had not rested yet. Upon hearing the sound of them returning, Yun Fang immediately went out to greet them. Liu Zhanpeng also went out to greet them.

Liu Zhanpeng asked first: "Mu Wen, how did you become the third place in the imperial examination? What was the question in the palace examination? How did you answer it? You actually caught the emperor's eye!"

Li Muwen could only answer one by one

Liu Zhanpeng couldn't help but sigh: "You are really lucky and courageous. If it were me, I would never dare to write about something that no one dared to mention in recent years based on speculation alone."

Li Muwen didn't know what to say, so he just nodded, then looked at Yun Fang tenderly and said, "Whether it's courage or luck, they were all given to me by Fang'er!"

Liu Zhanpeng couldn't help but think of his wife. He had been away from home for more than a month and had already written to her to tell her that he had not passed the imperial examination, but she must still be worried. Perhaps he should go back.

Yunfeng thought of Yue Yanmei, who was smiling, and said to Yunfang, "Sister, I want to marry Yanmei. Do you think it's okay?"

Yunfang nodded and said, "I definitely respect your idea, but you still have to discuss it with mother."

Yun Feng nodded and said, "Sister, my brother-in-law's appointment will be issued in the next two days. I have to wait for a while. I can go back to my hometown to visit my relatives one month after the appointment. You don't have to wait for me anymore. Go home first and help me talk to mother. Mother listens to you the most."

Yunfang looked at Li Muwen to confirm whether what Yunfeng said was true. Seeing Li Muwen nod, she said, "Okay, I will tell my mother."