[Red House] Ban'er's Road to Imperial Examination

February 25th is the day when the test results are released. This day is different for most of the students. It is like a carp jumping over the dragon's gate and becoming an official. It has been different since then.

If it fails, it will be another three years of wasted time and bad luck.

From the emperor's courtiers down to the common people, they are all paying attention to this day.

Early in the morning, as soon as the door of the examination room was opened, officials who were going to report the situation to the emperor went straight to the palace with lists in their hands, while hundreds of yamen servants from all over Shuntian Mansion wore new clothes and hats, waiting outside the examination room, waiting When the list came out, they went to announce the good news with drums and gongs.

And the streets in the city have already been sorted out by the patrol department, for fear of delaying the journey of the announcer.

And not only thousands of candidates came to the entrance of the Gongyuan, but also countless people who watched the excitement, and some who wanted to catch a son-in-law under the list, to see if they could find a rich husband for their family.

Undoubtedly, Wang Yue was a good choice. At such a young age, she must have never been married. Maybe she has a marriage contract, but in comparison, retiring the engagement is better than a wretched wife and children who suddenly appear from nowhere in the future.

Fortunately, Lin Qing had experience, so he sent someone to tell Wang Yue early, which saved him from being taken away in disorder.

But the other candidates were not so lucky. They either cried out for help, hoping that someone would come to rescue them, or they shouted "I already have a wife at home", and then they were thrown away in disdain.

In short, most of the candidates who passed the exam were in a state of distress, but even so, it was difficult to dissipate the joy in the candidates' hearts. The children of the family.

Wang Yue was protected by his servants, and he got into the carriage carefully all the way. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the servants rushed forward to congratulate him. Wang Yue was in a good mood, and smiled and took out the reward that he had prepared a long time ago. Once distributed, he did not forget to tell people to go home to announce the good news.

But when he thought about the situation he had to face when he returned home, Wang Yue resisted the desire to go home, and ordered his servants to turn their horses around and head for Princess Shuxian's mansion.

As soon as he entered the door, servants from the Princess Mansion came to congratulate him. It was obvious that someone had already come to report the news.

Wang Yue can be regarded as the third owner of the princess mansion. Although he is only a student of the son-in-law, the attitude of the son-in-law and the princess is similar to that of his own son.

The princess and the son-in-law have no sons, and the two daughters have already been married. In the future, the huge princess mansion will still be passed on to the little apprentice of the son-in-law.

Wang Yue took a familiar turn all the way to the small building where Lin Qing usually stayed. As soon as he entered the small courtyard, he saw Gao Yi, the official from the Princess Mansion, walking out with a smile on his face.

Seeing Wang Yue, Gao Yi stopped the smile on his face and became much more serious. He hurried ahead of Wang Yue to salute and say hello: "My little one, please greet Master Jinshi, and hello Master Jinshi!"

Wang Yue smiled brightly and said, "Brother Gao, don't make fun of me here, I can't bear this."

Gao Yi said with a smile: "Such a young Jinshi master, where can he be taken away by others? If you are young, you can't congratulate him too much."

When Wang Yue said that, he couldn't help showing an embarrassed smile on his face, and hurriedly said: "Uncle Gao, don't say that, those who don't know think I'm so frivolous!"

Gao Yi smiled more kindly at him. He grew up with the young master. Everyone said that the young master was hit by a pie from the sky before he married Princess Shuxian. Thinking about it, I still feel that his young master has been wronged, so what about the princess, with his young master's talent, appearance and character, it is not unworthy, not to mention that the princess has never given birth to a son for his young master.

Poor his young master was gifted and intelligent since he was a child, and he forced himself to earn the title, but no one can inherit it. Now, even though his apprentice can't inherit the title, but with his apprentice's company, his young master's knees are finally not so desolate. Recently The young master laughed a lot more every day, and even his appetite improved a lot. I only hope that what the second uncle promised back then can come true, and then he will have no regrets in his freshman year of high school.

Wang Yue knew that her teacher didn't think of the executive's family as a current person. The two grew up together. Whether it was traveling for academic exams or struggling through the most sluggish period, the teacher always followed the senior executive by his side.

So the senior executives are the people Lin Qing trusts the most in this world, even the princess.

Naturally, Wang Yue would not put on the posture of a master and young master in front of him, he only regarded himself as an ordinary junior, and when he saw Gao Yi making fun of him, he also made fun of it, and hugged Gao Yi's arm pretending to be wronged, like a child She said coquettishly: "Uncle Gao, please forgive me, don't make fun of me!"

Gao Yi stretched out his hand and patted his back affectionately, and carefully straightened his sleeves, then said with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'm not kidding you, go in quickly, the master and the princess are waiting for you inside Woolen cloth!"

As he spoke, he lowered his voice again, and said in a low voice: "The master has just ordered that everyone in the house will be rewarded with three slings, so that everyone can rejoice!"

Hearing that, the smile on Wang Yue's face was even worse. This is because he regarded himself as his own child to have such an order, just like Jia's mother once ordered to reward Jia's servants in order to show how much she valued Wang Yue. tips.

"Teacher's kindness to me, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it in my life!"

Wang Yue couldn't help sighing in a low voice, Gao Yi became more and more satisfied with him when he heard that, raised his hand and patted him, urging him to go in.

Wang Yue cupped her hands towards him and went inside.

Probably because the news of the additional reward money spread, when Wang Yue went inside, the servants he met all came up to congratulate him with smiles on their faces, and there was a bit of joy mixed with the flattery and flattery of the servants in front of him. The servants who serve the teacher and mistress closely will get more generous rewards.

As soon as he entered the small building, there were already courteous servants coming over to open the curtains. In the past, there were very few people here, and Lin Qing always liked to be quiet, but today is naturally different. The servants guessed the master's love for Wang Yue, and knew that once there was good news, Well, it's definitely good to be right in front of you, and naturally you don't want to miss such a good thing.

Moreover, although Lin Qing was confident that his apprentices would be on the list due to their outstanding abilities, he could not help feeling a little worried. It happened that these subordinates were the best at speaking nice words, which eased his nervousness, so Lin Qing made an exception and did not Drive them away.

The news of Wang Yue's title on the list had spread long ago, and the servants had indeed received the reward, so they naturally wanted to accept Wang Yue's favor, so they waited even more attentively.

It was very warm in the small building. It was still terribly cold in Beijing in February. Wang Yue was wearing a thick cotton coat and was carefully wrapped in a cloak. As soon as he entered the room, he was blown by the heater, and his body became a little hot.

Two little maids rushed up to help him take off his cloak and cotton coat, and another maid took the clothes the princess ordered to make for him and changed them for him.These clothes were hung by the smoker early in the day, they were warm and had an elegant fragrance, making them very comfortable to wear.

After changing his clothes, Wang Yue ran upstairs excitedly. Although he was very confident in himself, he was still very excited when he thought that he had finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish and ten years of hard study was not in vain. of.

He still needed to carry it outside just now, and he couldn't be too rude, but he didn't care about it in front of trusted elders.

"Master! Master! I passed the exam!"

Wang Yue yelled loudly and rushed into the room, bouncing up and down excitedly. Fortunately, the small building was covered with thick carpets so that it would not make too much noise. Even so, the sound Wang Yue made was enough to disturb human.

But Lin Qing and Princess Shuxian didn't take it seriously. At their age, what they were most afraid of was loneliness. This kind of noise made them feel more at ease in their hearts, so that they would not feel lonely.

What's more, it's interesting to tolerate the occasional nonsense of the younger generation, isn't it?

The husband and wife looked at each other silently, both saw the smile in each other's eyes, and found the tacit understanding with each other, the smile on Princess Shuxian's face became bigger, but Lin Qing turned her face away awkwardly, coughed, and said yes Looking at Wang Yue, he said: "Okay, what will it look like! It's just a Jinshi. When you become a Tanhualang tomorrow, I'm afraid you will jump into the sky happily!"

"Tanhualang? Really?" Wang Yue became even more excited when he heard this. He hurried to the teacher and asked happily, "Teacher, is what you said true? But I'm only No.5!"

Before Lin Qingxian regretted that he couldn't resist revealing the result of his secret thinking, he was a little unconvinced when he heard his apprentice's unconfident question, and couldn't help but refute: " What's wrong with No.5, you are no different from the previous ones, if someone didn't mention the so-called elders first, how could you be put in the fifth place!"

Speaking of this, Lin Qing was very angry. Speaking of it, outsiders often thought that the relationship between Lin Qing and the Imperial Academy would be very bad.

It is inevitable that outsiders will think so. After all, compiling the dictionary was originally the responsibility of the Hanlin Academy, and the Hanlin Academy has actually done more than half of the work of compiling the dictionary, but there were twists and turns in the middle, and it was delayed for several years before it was shelved.

However, the matter of compiling a dictionary has never been forgotten by the Hanlin Academy. Even if the older generation retired, they did not forget to ask the younger generation to remember this matter. Unfinished business continues.

In fact, if we had to wait another two years back then, it would have been imperative for the Hanlin Academy to bring up the dictionary again, and if it went smoothly, not to mention that such a huge contribution would be enough to make them get promoted and make a fortune, and become famous all over the world. Enough is enough.

But such a good deed has been cut off halfway. Not only will most of the credit for this promise be given to an outsider, but the good name will also be taken away by others. It is hard for anyone to not hold grudges when encountering such a thing.

Not to mention how much manpower the people of the Imperial Academy spent on it, and how many people's expectations were placed in the dictionary.

But contrary to what outsiders think, people in the Imperial Academy don't actually hold Lin Qing in resentment.

In fact, the reason why they don’t bear hatred for Lin Qing is of course not because they are so noble that they don’t care about them at all. It’s hard for even saints not to care about the fame in front of them and behind them. It's an ordinary mortal.

The reason why they don't care about these is because they owe Lin Qing.

The people outside didn't know what happened back then, they just thought that the people in the Hanlin Academy didn't know what they did to offend Emperor Tianzheng, so that a great event that was originally a great achievement in the present had to be suspended, but they didn't know what happened back then That incident was the direct cause of Emperor Tianzheng's abdication.

Emperor Tianzheng might have been angry because of this at first, but later he thought about it, so he stopped being angry. He thought about ordering the Imperial Academy to continue compiling dictionaries, but Emperor Tianxi was unwilling.

Emperor Tianxi was raised by Emperor Tianzheng, and his deep affection is rare in the royal family. He was not surprised by getting the throne that thousands of people dream of. He was able to complete his grand strategy with his own hands, but had to quit the Imperial Academy with regret.

Everyone in the Imperial Academy knew the reason, although they were worried that they would not be able to participate in such a good event that can be passed down through the ages, but this group of dull and pedantic scholars finally understood it for a while, and did not dare to mention it again in the office of Emperor Tianxi thing.

Or they mentioned it, but Emperor Tianxi called it back without hesitation, so that no waves were caused, and future generations don't know.

It was so easy to wait until Emperor Tianxi abdicated and Emperor Yongning succeeded. The Imperial Academy thought that the time had come, but they didn't expect that Emperor Yongning was also raised by Emperor Tianzheng himself, and he was closer to his loving grandfather than his own father.

Emperor Tianzheng was open-minded and never mentioned this matter to his grandson, but anyone would be curious about why Emperor Tianzheng suddenly abdicated back then, and Emperor Yongning was no exception.

So when he started to investigate this matter, Emperor Tianxi didn't hide anything, and Emperor Yongning's impression of the Hanlin Academy became worse.

When Emperor Yongning began to know some more profound inside information, he hated the Imperial Academy even more, and he couldn't even arouse interest in compiling a dictionary.

It is also good that Emperor Tianzheng taught, his son and grandson never angered others casually because of this, and did not punish other innocent people in the Imperial Academy because of someone's fault back then, otherwise with the emperor's authority, I don't know how many innocent people would have lost their lives because of this.

However, the emperor never blamed it, but the people in the Imperial Academy always remembered their mistakes, and wrote them down in some obscure way, and passed them on to later generations, so that they could remember the lesson.

The people in the Imperial Academy were actually ready to pay the price with their lives. They knew that if they offended the emperor, not to mention the future, they might even lose their lives.

It's just something that the seniors never forget, and the juniors always want to fulfill their wishes for them.What's more, some things are worth paying for.

But he didn't expect this to be discovered by the clever Lin Qing. Lin Qing had just become a son-in-law at that time, and he often went to the Imperial Academy to borrow books when he had nothing to do. He got a glimpse of the truth of the year in hiding, but he couldn't bear the waste of the hard work of those ancestors in the Imperial Academy, so he went to the emperor to intercede.

The Hanlin Academy prepared for a long time, even risking their name, but Lin Qing took the lead.

The emperor didn't say anything at that time, he just called the people from the Imperial Academy, and then they talked about something, and the compilation of the dictionary was able to proceed, but most of the credit was given to Lin Qing.

Otherwise, no matter how smart Lin Qing is, it is impossible for one person to compare with the years of kung fu of the entire Imperial Academy.

Outsiders didn't know that they had made an agreement long ago, but only saw that Lin Qing had taken the credit of the Imperial Academy, so they thought that Lin Qing and the Imperial Academy were at odds.

So this time, some people suggested that the elders should be the first in the ranking, and said that Wang Yue was young and vigorous, so he was arrogant. If he went on the wrong path in the future, he should be suppressed and tempered. Those people thought that The examiners from the Hanlin Academy who came to take the exam should have been eager to agree, but they did not expect that the people from the Imperial Academy not only did not approve, but were extremely opposed.

On the contrary, people from other departments agree with this argument. The two sides are evenly matched, and neither can convince the other.

Those people originally thought that as long as the examiners agree, the law does not blame the public, even if His Highness the Crown Prince is angry, there is nothing he can do to them. Besides, how could His Highness the Crown Prince blame them for a small classmate? At most, he would feel that he lost face. It's just that I can't hold back my face and get angry, just praise His Highness the Crown Prince in front of His Majesty a little bit.

This is not to say how these people abolish the public due to private reasons, or that they are not loyal to the emperor. In fact, they are not. They attach great importance to this exam, and they are extremely strict, fearing that their own negligence will ruin the major reform , missed His Majesty's plan.

They are loyal to the court and the emperor, but they have their own ideas about the prince.

Some people simply want to suppress Wang Yue because their children have been suppressed by Wang Yue, and some want to accept Wang Yue to test the prince's reaction.

After all, the prince was raised in a deep palace for the first few years, and outsiders could not see him. Later, he went to the Imperial College to hide his identity and study. How is he? have no idea.

Whether the country can be entrusted to the prince, and whether the prince is worthy of their loyalty and entrusting their wealth and life is undoubtedly a process of continuous understanding and mutual testing.

Suppressing Wang Yue is only the first step, it depends on how the prince reacts.

Of course, there are also some ambitious people who want to suppress Wang Yue, suppress the prince, and then support other princes, so as to gain success from the dragon. As for whether there are other princes and their mothers behind them, only God knows. .

Everyone has their own little ideas, Wang Yue just suffered an unreasonable disaster, but since he wanted to find a backer for himself at the beginning, since he has already enjoyed the convenience brought by the backer, he naturally has to bear the disadvantages caused by it up.

Since Lin Qing's relationship with the Imperial Academy is not as bad as it appears on the surface, it is not surprising that someone secretly sent him news, and he knew something about it.

Lin Qing is a solid scholar, he is confident that no one can compare his knowledge, but when it comes to politics and controlling people's hearts, he is not as good as Wang Yue, so he only sees those people who are jealous of his beloved little girl. The disciple is talented and intelligent, and he has achieved extraordinary things at a young age and wants to suppress him. As for the deeper ones, he naturally can't guess at all the secretive thoughts of everyone.

However, although Lin Qing is naive in politics, he is extremely experienced when it comes to imperial examinations.

Moreover, he has many friends who work in the Imperial Academy. The Imperial Academy is responsible for the general examination every three years. There are also people sent by the Imperial Academy to the provincial examinations in various provinces. It can be said that they have rich experience, so some friends have already analyzed it for him.

Moreover, he also knew from Princess Shuxian that Wang Yue was really valued by the crown prince. Not only did the emperor like him, but the emperor also appreciated him, so he was very sure of his analysis.

"Just let me analyze it for you. Speaking of it, your level is not far from theirs. If you say it's good, it's not much better. If you say it's bad, it's not much different. And the palace test is more of a test of mentality. You can play your usual level. Half of them are already excellent, so you are all about the same in terms of knowledge. As for the mentality, I am not worried about you, you will definitely perform well, that is to say, your ranking in the palace test has no influence here, it depends on you. What do the emperor and court ministers think?"

"Then what if those ministers also want to suppress me?"

"Don't worry so much. The people who can intervene in the palace examination are ordinary people. They have no grievances or enmities with you. They won't embarrass you in front of His Majesty for nothing. They don't have to appear petty and embarrass a child."

Lin Qing thought that Wang Yue knew something, so he was worried, so he comforted him: "Although your majesty admires you, he doesn't like you very much, so you don't have to think about the number one scholar and the second place, but Tanhualang is very likely. "

"How do you say that?"

Wang Yue fell into deep thought because of Lin Qing's words, so she didn't speak immediately, but Princess Shuxian was a very cooperative person, so she asked immediately.

Lin Qing naturally would not hide it, and said directly: "The reason for this is very simple, it is nothing more than a name. Just like the Lin family back then, it was a good story, and it was passed down to future generations. Of course, everyone praised it. The two brothers are certainly admirable, and those who made this decision are also worthy of admiration."

As soon as Lin Qing's words fell, Wang Yue, who reacted quickly, immediately understood the reason, "So after the Lin family's double exploration, there will be a master-student double exploration?"

Lin Qing nodded approvingly, "Isn't it nice to hear about it?"

This is naturally pleasant to hear. People from all ages love to hear this kind of story. It is the era of information explosion in the later generations, when nothing is surprising. Not to mention the ancient times when information was not circulated and there were few rare things!

It is conceivable that after the palace examination, if Wang Yue really becomes the candidate for this examination, his name will spread along with this story.

This can be regarded as another kind of propaganda.

I didn't expect this kind of operation, but Wang Yue felt that the possibility was really great, and what Lin Qing said was very likely to come true.

I didn't expect that he could become Tanhualang. If it is true, it would be worthwhile to go through this life in the world!

After Lin Qing analyzed it with Wang Yue, he pointed to the answer sheet he had just sent someone to transcribe and gave him guidance before urging him to go home.

Although Lin Qing wanted to keep Wang Yue, but no matter how ignorant he was, he knew that his little disciple should go home today.

Wang Yue reluctantly bid farewell to Master and Mistress, and was surrounded by several servants as soon as she walked out of the backyard.The leader is Gao Yuan, the youngest son of the executive family. He has just received an errand this year and is working outside. He is out of character and has a good relationship with Wang Yue.

Seeing Wang Yue, he rushed forward, hugged Wang Yue, and said with a smile: "My good brother, give me your purse quickly, and make me feel happy."

As she said that, she was about to reach out to grab the purse at Wang Yue's waist, but Wang Yue hurriedly dodged it, and said with a smile: "This is the purse of the Jinshi master, if I take it out, I have to exchange it for more than a dozen taels of silver. You just took it away so lightly?"

Gao Yuan hurriedly smiled and said, "Good brother, you just reward us, and you will always benefit later."

Wang Yue was held by them, unable to walk or push, so she had to put on a casual posture and said, "Just take it!"

Before they could make a move, there was a loud shout from the corner: "You bastards, what do you want to do again!" Hearing this, the boys who were still smiling at first immediately changed their expressions and fled in all directions. Not forgetting to take away the purse, Wang Yue laughed when she saw the person coming, and said, "Uncle Gao is still so energetic!"

Gao Yi couldn't help frowning, and said disapprovingly: "Young master's temper is too good, those bastards are the best at climbing poles, you must not show them any good looks, see you next time, young master They just ask someone to beat them out, there is no mercy."

"It's just a joke, why take it seriously!" Wang Yue smiled and didn't care, but seeing that Uncle Gao still didn't agree, he could only ask about the carriage with a smile, and diverted the conversation, and Gao Yi had to send him off. After getting into the carriage, he gave careful instructions to the servants who followed him, and then sent Wang Yue away.

The author has something to say: It’s really enough, I smoked again, I don’t know if I can publish it! !