Come on, Your Highness

Li Yuechan's words reminded He Xichao that he regarded Xia He as a subordinate and never thought about her lifelong affairs.

But in this era, the slave's marriage is in the hands of the master. If the master thinks it is appropriate, he can just squeeze the two together. It doesn't matter whether they like it or not.

However, He Xichao didn't have the idea of ​​randomly gathering people together, and always asked the parties for their opinions.

Xia He blushed when she heard this, this girl has always been calm, as the servant girl in charge of the He Mansion, there are very few things that make her appear like a little girl.

He Xichao said: "You can't compare to Chunxiang in this regard, your young master is busy with other things outside, so how can you get your side? If you don't make plans for yourself, maybe you will become a real old girl when I remember. , what should I do if I can't marry at that time?"

"Then don't get married. The servant will concentrate on serving the young master. It will be good to serve the young lady as a nanny in the future." Xia He said with a smile.

He Xichao looked at her and said seriously: "If you really think so, then I really don't care. If not, tell me quickly while I'm still in the capital, or I don't know when I'll come back from the northern border."

It's not easy for women these days. Once married, they have to serve men, parents-in-law, and children without complaint. It's far less easy than being a girl.

Anyway, as long as He Xichao is around, even if Xia He doesn't marry, she won't be desolate in her later years, so she might as well devote herself to working for him.

But when he said this, Xia He fell silent.

He Xichao was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Xia He bit her lips: "Master, is Ah Fu going with you too?"

"He's my boy, so naturally we go together, wait, you won't be..."

Xia He then knelt down.

He Xichao was surprised and asked, "Then does he like you?"

Xia He didn't speak again.

He Xichao had only been in love once in his entire life, and it was the first time he had seen Xiao Hong chasing him with a stern face.

After thinking for a while, he got up and called someone: "Call me Ah Fu."

Ah Fu hurried into the house, but when he saw Xia He kneeling on the ground, he immediately slowed down and called out, "Master."

He Xichao said: "Mother decides to marry Chunxiang in the house to Fan Jiang, the commander of the nursing home. I think Xia He is not young anymore, so she should find a suitable person."

Ah Fu stood where he was, looking at Xia He, who was looking at him resentfully.

He Xichao frowned, somewhat unable to understand what was going on.

"You two, don't be a fool. Do you mean that? No, I will marry Xia He to someone else?"

Ah Fu then knelt down, and seemed to muster up the courage to say: "Master, I have to go to the north with you. I don't know why I will come back, and I don't know if I can... come back. Isn't it delaying Xia He?"

As he spoke, his voice lowered.

But Xia He's eyes turned red: "But I'm willing to wait for you. Anyway, if the young master doesn't come back, I won't get married either."

Come on, Lang has love and concubine intentions, but he is separated by his galaxy.

He Xichao said helplessly: "Let's do this, let's talk about it first, and we will hold a happy event for you when we come back from the northern border, how about it?"

Xia He gave a "hmm", kowtowed and said, "Thank you, young master."

"Thank you, young master." Ah Fu also kowtowed.

After bumping, the two of them looked at each other and smiled, as if the little bump before was just to promote their relationship.

He Xichao looked a little envious, and it was a happy thing to be able to say that he liked it openly.

After He Xichao settled the affairs of the He residence, he devoted himself to the exam without any worries.

It was still dark on the second day, and the officials to be examined were already waiting at the gate of the King's Mansion.

They carried the exam baskets, as if they were taking part in the exam, but this time some of them also carried a bag of counting chips or an abacus in case of emergencies.

Although He Xichao's public class has already taught the method of multiplying and dividing by writing, but if you bring more things, you can always be more practical. After all, the exam clearly stipulates that you can use these tools.

There is a long table in front of the King's Mansion, and You Ziqing and Shao Yuan are sitting behind. They have a list in their hands, which is the officials who took the exam. It also states the birthplace, age and other brief information for convenience. Verify identity.

At dawn, the door of King Ying's Mansion was opened wide. Huang Qi came out with a team of guards and stood in two rows on both sides of the door.

As soon as these guards with knives came out, the noisy crowd suddenly quieted down. Huang Qi said loudly, "Candidates are requested to bring their admission tickets, line up to verify their identities, and prepare to enter the examination room."

The identity verification was quick, but a body search was required before entering the mansion. It was not for cheating, but for fear of bringing a dagger and blunt weapon to hurt someone.

There are 84 tables and chairs placed in an empty hall, each separated by a certain distance. Under the leadership of the guards, the candidates sit according to the number on the admission ticket.

Then he walked into the four guards one by one, stood at the four corners, and his eyes fell on these candidates. Obviously, these four were the invigilators.

After everything was ready, He Xichao walked in with You Ziqing and Shao Yuan, the two behind each held a box in their hands, and Ah Fu at the end was holding an incense burner with two long sticks of incense sticking out of it.

He Xichao looked at the candidates below looking at him with nervous and expectant eyes, couldn't help smiling slightly, then bowed and said: "Good morning, everyone, thank you for taking the time to take part in the selection exam for the first session of the Prince's Mansion. This exam is divided into two sessions, the last one is maths, which takes an hour, and the next one is strategy theory, which takes half an hour, without a break in the middle, if you need relief, please raise your hand to apply, and someone will accompany you."

"Please complete the exam independently. In the principle of good faith, all cheating or helping cheating is prohibited. If found, not only will the exam be disqualified, but also the current position in the court will be removed. If any problems are found during the exam , but you can raise your hand to signal that someone will come over to deal with it. Everyone, do you understand?"

They all went through various exams, big and small, all the way to the Golden Luan Hall. The examinees said in unison: "Understood."

He Xichao nodded, then turned to motion to the three people behind him, "Let's start handing out the test papers."

You Ziqing and Shao Yuan then tore off the fire seal on the box, took out their respective math papers, and distributed them to candidates at intervals. Besides the papers, each gave three blank sheets of paper for drafting.

This method looks a bit strange, but those who have experienced the high school entrance examination and college entrance examination of later generations will understand that this form is similar to the AB paper, with the same questions, but the order is different, just to prevent cheating.

Especially for exams with standard answers like mathematics, after all, there are too many cheating methods, and it is easier to steal the answers.

This phenomenon generally occurs in collective cheating where there are forces behind the scenes and the wisdom of many people is gathered in one person in order to make it stand out.

"The question is illegible, or those who have doubts can raise their hands to ask questions. For the rest of the time, please keep silent to do the questions. You can use counting chips or abacus, but unnecessary actions are prohibited. Now, the exam begins, Ah Fu, light incense .”

Mathematics is the subject that most tests logical thinking. In fact, as early as the open class, He Xichao already had a rough idea of ​​who could get good grades in the exam.

An hour seems to be a long time, but the exam passes in a blink of an eye, especially when you can't solve the questions and think hard, it feels like flying.

"It's time." Suddenly, Ah Fu shouted.

"Please put down your pens, sit where you are, don't make any noise, and don't make any movements."

As He Xichao spoke, You Ziqing had already finished and closed the papers one by one.

The guards in the four corners looked at the examinees in the field without moving. In such an atmosphere, no one dared to say a word, but watched with reluctance as their papers were taken away.

But soon they didn't bother to focus on math anymore, they were entangled with one or two answers, because Shao Yuan followed You Ziqing to hand out the papers on policy theory.

After all the math papers were collected and the policy papers were handed out, He Xichao said, "The policy discussion is only half an hour long, so the time is relatively tight, but before that, please read the papers first."

Listening to He Xichao's words, the candidates looked at the questions first, but frowned involuntarily.

He Xichao continued: "There are three questions and answers on the test paper, all of which are about the simulated decision-making of current affairs. So this does not require you to write a long speech, but to give a solution according to the description of the situation in the question, and just discuss your own point of view. Please follow the Questions are answered in the corresponding answer sheet in order."

"Everyone present here has been baptized by the imperial examination, and their literary talents must be outstanding, so we will not examine them here. Please answer as accurately and concisely as possible, so that the examiners can understand it at a glance. The test is your ability to handle common affairs."

In fact, one can know through the math test that this policy theory will not be the same as the imperial examination, but it was this way unexpectedly.

Candidates have some headaches, but they can understand that only when they become officials, do they know that what they really do in daily life is far from those in the Four Books and Five Classics, especially those who are already in charge of the Six Departments. Let you talk freely.

The incense ash fell, and the last bit of red light went out. Ah Fu shouted at the moment of burning out: "It's time."

He Xichao said casually: "Everyone, please put down your pens and sit quietly where you are."

You Ziqing and Shao Yuan used this method to wrap the scroll inside from both sides.

When the last test paper was put away, He Xichao stood in the middle: "This written test is just over, thank you for your hard work, in His Highness the next prince, thank you again for your participation and support. To express our gratitude, the mansion has prepared a thank you gift To everyone present."

The silver medal with the word "English" printed on the back and the date and the name of the exam printed on the front was made during the last recruitment of accountants in the British Palace, and was delivered to everyone.

"This test is not used to distinguish between good and bad, nor to evaluate your talents. It is just to select candidates who are suitable for the current vacancies in the Prince's Mansion. So even if you are not selected this time, if there is a suitable position in the future, you are welcome. Please sign up again for your reference.”

When He Xichao said this, the expressions of the candidates present couldn't help but ease up. At least this scene made the unsuccessful candidates not look bad.

"It's already noon, and everyone should be hungry. The King's Mansion has a banquet. If you are not in a hurry, you can eat before leaving. The math papers and answers will be pasted outside the hall, on the notice boards in the book alley and the Gongyuan later. , you can check it if necessary. As for the shortlisted candidates for the interview, a notification will be sent today and tomorrow, please wait patiently."

After He Xichao finished speaking, he smiled and left with the papers.

He had to go back quickly and mark the papers out as soon as possible.

This is the first time that such a short-term high-intensity exam has been encountered. The candidates who are acquainted can't help talking to each other, shaking their heads and sighing with sympathy.

Everyone stayed for lunch at the same time, and then hurried back to the entrance of the examination room to check the answers.

In addition to the first ten chapters of "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", this paper also involves some of the later content, but not much, and it is also very simple. If you understand a little bit, you can make a little bit.

At this stage, there is a difference between frustration and happiness, obviously.

Although He Xichao was young, his calmness from beginning to end was impressive.

This exam was unique, and a lot of thought was put into the exam questions. It can be seen that he handled it all by himself.

With this kind of ability to handle affairs, it is no wonder that His Royal Highness has placed such a heavy responsibility on him.

The author has something to say: Yao: Come on, let’s recall the fear of being dominated by the college entrance examination.