The daily routine of the ancient imperial examination

After probably making a preliminary plan, Nan Xing knocked on the outside door.

"Uncle, someone from the Wu residence has arrived."

Hearing this, Lu Xiuyuan suddenly remembered that there was something else going on, and hurriedly got up to open the door.

Seeing him coming out, the other party explained his intentions: "Master Lu, our master asked you to come over when you have time."

"Well, I see, you go back first!"

Asking Nan Xing to see off the guests, Lu Xiuyuan went back to the house and put on his coat, ready to go out.

"What's the matter, let's go now? Are you in such a hurry?" Shi Yunchen followed up in confusion.

Speaking of this, Lu Xiuyuan was also a little embarrassed: "Before entering the test, my senior brother specially asked him to go to his mansion to read the article silently after the test, so that he could help me read it. As a result, I left the gate of the Gongyuan. I forgot about this and went straight home with you."

Ah, it turned out to be this, and the other party was also a little worried.

"Then do you still remember what you wrote?"

"It's okay, I remember." He took the cloak next to him and wrapped it around, and said to Yun Chen when he turned around, "I'm leaving first, I probably won't be home for dinner, so you don't have to wait for me."

When Lu Xiuyuan came to the Wu Mansion, Shen Congzhi had already written all the answers silently in the study, and Master Wu was looking through them when he entered.

Seeing his belated figure, Shen Congzhi couldn't help asking in a low voice, "Why did the uncle come here so late?"

Lu Xiuyuan also whispered back: "Ah Chen came to pick me up today, and accidentally forgot about it."

The other party smiled teasingly at him, and pointed to the pen and paper beside him, "Shut up the content quickly, otherwise it will be easy to forget after a long time."

He took the pen and paper, found a quiet place, picked up the pen and began to write the answers to his Four Books classics and theory.

Not long after, Mr. Wu had finished reading Shen Congzhi's article, but he hadn't commented yet, but waited for Lu Xiuyuan to finish writing, and finally commented.

Each question is a few hundred words, although the number of words is not too much, but it still took him a lot of effort to write silently in three rounds. After he finished writing all the questions, it was dark outside.

Master Wu ordered his servants to deliver the food, and let Lu Xiuyuan and Shen Congzhi eat first, and he himself used this spare time to read the article.

After all, the other party is the head of the Imperial Academy, and the level of marking is still very reliable. Knowing that the evaluation will be issued soon, Lu Xiuyuan is also anxious to eat, and the two of them gobbled up their dinner and hurried back to the study.

Standing behind him, Lu Xiuyuan noticed that Mr. Wu was reading his paper on whether the charcoal basin should be cancelled, and his heart ached.

After all, I saw a real person in the examination room at that time, and because of this kind of thing, my heart fluctuated a lot, so I couldn't help but write my true thoughts.

Now that I think about it, I am still quite nervous. If I touched the bad luck of those fellow examiners or other graders, and just dismissed his papers, wouldn't he be miserable?

But if he was really given another chance, maybe he would still write like this. After all, that poor family member who froze to death is also the hope of other family members. If this situation is not corrected in time, similar tragedies will definitely happen in the future.

It didn't take long for Master Wu to finish reading all the content. When the other party turned his head to face them, both Lu Xiuyuan and Shen Congzhi couldn't help but slow down their breathing.

Seeing them like this, the other party couldn't help but smile kindly: "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, I've already read the papers, and I've passed the test with a normal level or even a super performance, I'm sure I can pass."

call

The two breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's just that junior brother, your remarks in the last part of the policy are really bold." Master Wu pointed to the suggestions he made above.

"Although the idea is good, this test is sponsored by the Ministry of Rites. If those people hold the test paper, your ranking will probably be suppressed."

Lu Xiuyuan bowed his head and nodded. He also knew his problem, but the situation at that time was completely out of feeling, and he felt uncomfortable if he was not allowed to write.

"Brother doesn't know something..."

He told the story of the child who was frozen to death.

"Just because the fire prevention measures are not in place, instead of modifying the Gongyuan, but directly canceling the charcoal brazier, isn't this a waste of food because of choking?"

"The candidate was wearing thin clothes, but he persisted for at least six days. If there was a charcoal basin in the field at that time, I'm afraid it wouldn't be like this."

Hearing this, Master Wu also heaved a long sigh: "I also know that it is not easy for a poor family to support a scholar, but things in the court are complicated, and sometimes it can't be changed with passion."

The other party seemed to have seen his original shadow in Lu Xiuyuan, and helplessly patted him on the shoulder and said: "Junior brother, you should pay more attention to writing articles in the future, and when designing for the government, you must be more tactful, and your words should not be too sharp. Otherwise, it is easy to turn over when you become an official in the future."

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly said: "Thank you, brother, I understand."

"Huh? What do you know?" He didn't seem to say anything, did he?

Lu Xiuyuan's eyes were firm and he began to express his position: "Don't do things beyond your ability before you don't have enough self-protection."

Instead, write it down in your heart and draw it slowly in the future.

"I didn't mean that, but forget it." Master Wu rubbed the center of his brows, "We are getting older, and our mentality is indeed different from yours. In the future, if you still want to do something, you can do it boldly. Master and I are you backing."

Unexpectedly, his senior brother would say such a thing, Lu Xiuyuan's heart warmed when he heard it.

"Brother, don't worry, the younger brother will do things properly."

After all, the current general environment is to emphasize the Four Books and despise the Five Classics, let alone the following policies.He also made sure that he would not fail the ranking before writing such a bold suggestion in the last policy commentary. If this was the content of the previous four books, he would definitely say it differently.

After estimating the results, Master Wu said that both of them might be in the top [-], and it was late at night.

It was so late, thinking that the young master might still be waiting for him, Lu Xiuyuan couldn't help but put forward the idea of ​​going home first.

Master Wu smiled and shook his head after hearing this: "You bastard, why are you still being controlled by your husband?"

"Isn't it normal that Fulang doesn't stay outside when he's at home." Lu Xiuyuan looked complacent, "I do this very well."

Seeing the person in front of him, the other party inevitably thought of his wife, the relationship between young couples is good.

"Okay, I won't be poor with you. Master and his old man have been left in the palace to prepare the exam questions. It is estimated that they will not come out in the next half a month. You remember to come to the class tomorrow morning. I will help you predict what questions you may be tested. "

There is such a good thing?According to his senior brother's understanding of his master, it might be possible to bet directly on the topic. After all, the first assistant and the others came up with the topic and the emperor chose it.

When we returned to the General's Mansion, the lights were on in the courtyard, but Shi Yunchen was still awake.

"It's so late, why don't you rest?"

Lu Xiuyuan stepped forward and found that the other party was sketching on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing?"

Seeing him coming back, the other party moved the paper in front of him: "I'm sorting out new codes, since I want to pick them up again, I must be more careful, so as to avoid being searched."

He still trusts the young master's ability to work. This organization has existed for so long, and it is indeed necessary to set up a new code and reshuffle the cards.

"But it's so late now, let's wait until tomorrow for the rest."

When Shi Yunchen heard this, as if thinking of something, he hurriedly put down the brush in his hand, hooked his hands mysteriously at his face and said: "I discovered a great event!"

"Is there any reason for the second prince?" He listened to him.

"No, no." The other party denied, "It's about the news about the fourth prince who drowned before. The spies below came to report today, saying that there was something hidden about the fourth prince's drowning."

"Huh? Fourth Prince?"

Only then did Lu Xiuyuan realize that this is the "brother far" that King Ming said.

"Didn't he fall into the water by mistake?"

The young master curled his lips, and said closer: "It is said that the eldest prince was jealous of the fourth prince's talent, and he pushed the impermeable fourth prince into the water while there was no one around the pond."

Hearing this, Lu Xiuyuan was a little dazed, did the eldest prince kill his younger brother himself?

"Is this news true?" Don't get fake melons, after all, their current camp is just following the First Prince.

Shi Yunchen's expression was serious: "The fourth prince also has an older brother, who is the current King Ming. After the fourth son drowned, King Ming became the knife in the hands of the second prince, specifically against the first prince."

That would make sense, but

"Our focus now is to inquire about the news of the second prince and the head of the Zhao family. The fourth prince is a thing of the past, so don't waste manpower..."

While talking, Lu Xiuyuan suddenly thought of a possibility.

"To be honest, is it because you were curious about this before that you are planning to recruit these intelligence organizations again?"

Shi Yunchen's eyes widened slightly, and he blinked innocently.

"Am I that kind of person?"

Lu Xiuyuan directly stretched out his hand to scratch the opponent's nose, and gave him a look you know: "I think it's very possible."

The other party laughed directly and fell into his arms: "Erlang still understands me. There is no good talk here in the capital, so I have to inquire about some news and have some fun by myself."

Lu Xiuyuan shook his head helplessly: "Listen, just listen, as long as you don't forget the business of spreading the news."

"This young master likes to watch fun the most, how can he forget this kind of thing?"

Therefore, during the period when the results of the general examination were released, some rumors spread inexplicably on the street.

Someone witnessed the second prince having dinner with the head of the Zhao family in the Yingke Building, acting intimately like a father and son.

He even gave an example that the shape of eyebrows, nose and mouth are very similar, and then he said that the only son of the head of the Zhao family was driven to a remote town, and even his death was so silent that not many people knew about it.

The head of the Zhao family doesn't care about his only son, but he is so devoted to the second prince who looks like him. If the other party supports the second prince so hard, could it be that the second prince is his own son? !

From this inference, people on the streets of the capital are rumored to be crazy, and they can't stop it.

Tube?What to do?Arresting anyone in this place in the capital may be a royal or noble that you can't afford to offend, Jing Zhaoyin and the others can't control it at all.

The public opinion could not be controlled, and the second prince in the palace was about to go mad.

Originally, he was quite irritable, but recently because of these gossips, he became even more violent. As a result, when he returned to the palace just now, his good brother kept rubbing his old face in front of him.

What's so great about looking like the old emperor?Have you never heard of Xiaoxiang's mother?

Another precious vase was violently smashed to the ground, and the expression of the second prince Qi Wen was distorted.

"Qi Yan! My good brother! I will kill him sooner or later!"

The teacup vase on the ground was broken, and the head of the Zhao family was still dripping blood, but he couldn't care less now, and continued to keep his body upright and kneel on the ground.

"Check! Find out who spread the rumors for me! If you find out, the prince will kill him!"

Hearing this, the head of the Zhao family immediately stood up with relief and prepared to leave to search.

When the other party was about to go out, the second prince suddenly made a sound.

"and many more!"

"What else is there for Your Highness?" Patriarch Zhao turned his head and asked cautiously.

"In order to avoid suspicion, you'd better not come to the palace these days. What's the matter, we'll talk about it in the past time."

"Understood, the old minister will not hold His Highness back." The other party hurriedly nodded and bowed in response.

After the head of the Zhao clan left, not long after, King Ming who went out to inquire about the news also entered this room.

The other party was wearing a mask and a black black robe, and there was a strong smell of blood on his body.

"Brother Huang, Brother Yu is incompetent. I haven't found out who the final spreader of the news is."

In front of King Ming, the second prince restrained his temper a bit, the other party didn't throw the teacup this time, instead he patted King Ming on the shoulder in a very good temper.

"Amin, don't blame yourself. It's thanks to you that the news didn't reach the ears of the king this time. What kind of reward do you want? As long as I have something, I can give it to you!"

King Ming directly refused: "Brother Huang, I don't want any rewards. The rumors this time must have been spread by the First Prince. Do you want me to directly..."

As he spoke, he gestured to wipe his neck.

"No, no, no." The second prince hastily stopped King Ming's hand, "Amin, don't be impulsive, I know that the first prince murdered you during the flood relief before, and I have a grudge, but this kind of thing can't be solved by killing people."

"What's more, the defense over there is tight. My brother can't bear Amin to take risks."

"What did the emperor say to do?" The other party was straight and serious, coupled with the lingering bloody smell, he was a ruthless humanoid weapon.

"The old man of the Zhao family has more success than failure. I don't worry about what he does. The real culprit who spreads rumors, you have to find me." The second prince encouraged Ming Wang to pat him on the shoulder.

"I'll leave this to you."

The author has something to say: King Ming is not stupid, he knows that he looks like the old emperor, so he wears a mask when meeting the second prince.