Placid Chang'an

Su Cen didn't stop until the first lantern came on, and looked around. It wasn't the way home. Ah Fu followed behind with his head down. He must have called him several times and he didn't respond. In desperation You can only follow along.

As twilight gradually dawned, the coolness of early spring diffused through the thin clothes. Su Cen walked towards the lamp, and saw Tian Ji Tangshui written in official script on the flag. It could be seen that the handwriting was a little blurred due to the age.The shop is just a simple shed built with thatch, with a few tables and stools placed underneath.There is a strict curfew system in Chang'an City. An old man in his sixties is busy putting the stools on the table, and it is obviously closed.

Su Cen took a step forward. Originally, he just wanted to find out where this place was and how to get back to his Changlefang house. When he got closer, he saw that there were still two steaming bowls of pear water on the table. Two copper coins are needed to buy these two bowls of sugar water.

When the old man saw it, he hurriedly moved the stool off the table again. Su Cen said in a hurry, there is no need for them to just stand here and finish drinking.

After drinking a cup of warm sugar water, the hands and feet regained some warmth. Su Cen looked at the dark mansion not far away, and couldn't help asking: "Where is that?"

The old man followed people's eyes and said with a smile: "You look like you came to Beijing to participate in the scientific examination, right? Why don't you even recognize the gate of the Gongyuan?"

Su Cen was startled: "Is this the Gong Yuan?"

The old man smiled kindly and said: "It can be seen in the daytime, but it can be seen in the daytime. Tomorrow's scientific examination, martial law has already been imposed in the Gong Yuan, so it's no wonder you can't see it when it's dark."

"There's no place to look for when you walk through the iron shoes. It doesn't take much effort to get here," Su Cen said with a smile. Seeing that the shop was closed, he didn't stay any longer. What does the Gongyuan, which thousands of officials aspire to look like, look like?

There are three gates standing in front, which are now tightly closed. The plaque on the top reads Chang'an Gongyuan, and there are couplets hanging on the red pillars on the left and right:

Fighting against each other without any kind of pen and ink

The title of the White House Gongqing Gold List

It was signed by Lin Zongqing, a Hanlin scholar of the current dynasty.This person was once the teacher of the first emperor, and he is a model for scholars and officials all over the world.However, since the death of the first emperor, he resigned from office and returned to his hometown because he couldn't get used to the atmosphere in the court. He started a private school in the village.

Su Cen couldn't help feeling a toothache seeing his teacher's handwriting. At the beginning, it was this handwriting that criticized his articles as useless. The old man, Xianfeng Crane Bone, changed into a different person as soon as he picked up the pen. His words were sharp and sharp, and his eyes were shining.Waiting to find him the next day with the new article, the little old man narrowed his eyes, and then said that your article yesterday also has merit, the two sides weigh it, and submit another article tomorrow.

Su Cen hurriedly avoided the main entrance and looked around the outer wall of the courtyard. The wall was more than two feet high, and there were thorn walls on the wall, and there were turrets at intervals, which showed the strictness.

Su Cen walked all the way along the east wall. The Gongyuan, which can accommodate ten thousand people, is only a mile away, and it takes only half a stick of incense to walk from the south to the north of the courtyard.Just as he turned to the north wall, Su Cen turned around and stood still.

Immediately afterwards, cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his scalp tingled for a while.

I saw that the flame was extinguished one foot in front of me, and three or four people knelt on the ground and burned the paper while muttering, the flames hit those faces without a trace of blood, and the atmosphere was extremely strange.

The two sides looked at each other in blank dismay, and after a while, howling from both sides suddenly broke out.

After a while, a fat man stood up and made a silent gesture to the two of them. From the strange firelight, Su Cen could see that these were people.

"What are you doing?" Su Cen asked with a frown.

The fat man pulled the man aside and asked in a low voice, "Are you also going to take the scientific examination tomorrow?"

Su Cen didn't answer, but the fat man didn't mind. He divided half of the paper money and handed it to Su Cen, "Go and say goodbye, and I will guarantee your title on the gold list tomorrow."

Su Cen didn't answer, and only asked: "You are burning paper here for the title of the gold medal."

"You must have never inquired about it when you first came here, right?" The fat man leaned into Su Cen's ear mysteriously: "There are ghosts in this palace."

Su Cen was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but rolled his eyes. He thought in his heart that you are just like ghosts. Fortunately, the fat man didn't care because of the darkness. As a result, he died of hemoptysis in the examination room, and his resentment turned into a ghost wandering around inside, and came out to harass those officials before the scientific examination. But if you come to pay homage to him the day before the scientific examination, he will not embarrass you," said Then he stuffed paper money into Su Cen's hand, "Hurry up and pay your respects, otherwise it won't work."

Su Cen returned the paper money to the fat man, "No need, I don't believe this."

"It's better to believe what you have or not to believe what you don't have," the fat man was still persuading: "Young people still have to be in awe. I only tell you this because I have a relationship with you. I won't tell others."

Didn't you greet the other three who dared to kneel?

"Thank you." Su Cen smiled, turned around and backed out.

The fat man shook his head helplessly, and continued to kneel down to burn the paper money in his hand.

The two finally returned home before the curfew. The inns in the city near Chunwei were already full. Fortunately, the old man bought this house for him. Even a ruined temple has to be discussed with someone.Instructing Ah Fu to lock the door, Su Cen sat on the chair and became dazed. For a while, it was Qu Linger's delicate face, and for a while, it was the fat man burning paper money under the fire, and finally it all turned into those bottomless pair of eyes. eyes.He claimed to be a person who had seen the world, but no one had ever given him such a strong sense of oppression.

If it was said that he was like a cat with teeth and claws before, in front of that person, it was as if the back of his neck was pinched, and the hairs all over his body were blown out but he couldn't move an inch.

And the man just looked at him.

Ah Fu picked up the lamp and brought it up, carefully tentatively asked: "Second Young Master, are you still studying?"

Su Cen looked at the pile of scriptures on the table, and said, "Put down the lamp, you can step back." He copied a copy of Zhongyong, flipped through two pages and threw it back.

He used all his strength in his usual way, this kind of impromptu cramming is really not his style, he turned his head slightly, and saw Ah Fu still standing where he was, carefully speaking his words: "Second young master, otherwise I'll burn some paper for you, I know the Second Young Master doesn't bother to do this kind of thing, but like the fat man said, I'd rather believe it or not, I'll go for the Second Young Master, and the Second Young Master can just rest at home."

This Ah Fu was originally a man under the old man's command. Su Cen originally thought that this man was sent by the old man to supervise him, but now it seems that he is really thinking about him, so he couldn't help but joked: "You are not afraid that you will go there by yourself in the middle of the night. , was dragged in by that ghost and eaten?"

Ah Fu was startled, his face turned pale, and he insisted: "This...but..."

Su Cen said with a smile: "Don't worry, your second young master has some real skills, you don't need the protection of ghosts and gods, you should go back to rest now, don't make any noise to disturb my sleep, I will drag you to feed the ghosts."

Ah Fu grinned, bowed and backed out.

The next day, Su Cen prepared books, lamps, three candles and followed the mighty army of officials to the gate of the Gongyuan. Looking at his teacher's big characters, he bared his teeth and entered the main entrance.

Seeing that his young master finally entered the door without any risk, and did not make any moths until the door was closed, Ah Fu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The examination place in the Gongyuan is a room, five feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet high.There are three exams in total, each for three days, that is to say, you have to sleep in this small cage at night, it is freezing cold, and you can't straighten your legs.Su Cen couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth when he saw it, he just wanted to finish the article quickly and go out early, so he didn't want to stay overnight if he could.

After finding her own dormitory, Su Cen just entered, but heard a few yells from behind, turning her head slightly, she saw a tall and thin man pointing at a fat man who was yelling at him.

Su Cen raised her eyebrows, it was a coincidence that this fat man was the one who burned the paper last night.

"You, a butcher's son, are already smoked from the ancestral grave, and you dare to come to participate in Chunwei. Don't you know your background in a private school? How dare you come out to embarrass yourself!"

After a while, a circle of people surrounded him. The thin man tended to become more courageous as he fought, while the fat man just lowered his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead from time to time.In February, if someone scolded him for sweating and didn't return his words, this person was either too cowardly or too deep in the city.

It wasn't until the patrolling soldiers in the tribute courtyard were alarmed that the thin man walked away cursing, the fat man wiped his sweat, and turned his head to meet Su Cen with a meaningful smile.

The fat man obviously recognized Su Cen, forced a smile, cupped his hands, and entered the dormitory next door.

Only then did Su Cen turn around, and bowed into his small cage. As soon as he entered, someone locked the door. Su Cen put the pens, utensils and inkstones one by one, stretched himself, closed his eyes and concentrated, and once again When he opened his eyes, his eyes were suddenly clear and sharp.