Celebrating the Year of the Fish: A Princess is Not a Concubine[GL]

[98]

The next two days of scientific examinations actually went much smoother. Perhaps it was the words of Mr. Meng who helped. The dog invigilator Liu Zaiyang never showed up again. Zhou Jinyu handed in the examination papers early in the two rounds. The earliest one left the gate of the Gongyuan.

But to Zhou Jinyu's surprise, Little Baozi never came to see her again.

After she finished her scientific examination, she has never been out of the Zhou Mansion, and the outside world has become uneasy again in the past two days. People outside are spreading rumors about Khitan spies, which makes people panic.

There are heavy troops patrolling Chang'an City, and everyone is saying that General Han is going to go to war soon.

Zhou Jinyu and Zhou Ling'er were banned from leaving the mansion by the Liu family. Naturally, Zhou Jinyu couldn't be disobedient. After all, she had nothing to do when she went out, so she might as well wait in the mansion for the little bun and his wife to come over.

But after waiting for several days, when the rankings were announced on April [-]th, the little bun and his wife were nowhere to be seen, and Zhou Jinyu couldn't sit still.

Where did the two of them go?

At that time, it was clearly agreed that when she finished the exam, the little bun lady would send the little bun to the house, but she had been waiting for several days, but no one came.

In fact, thinking about it carefully, Little Baozi Niang never seemed to tell her where she lived, and the only time she sent someone to follow her was the only time she lost her.

The more Zhou Jinyu thought about it, the more anxious he became, and finally he called Jin Fenglai and asked him to go out and find out where the two of them had gone.

Without even thinking about it, Jin Feng took his orders and retreated.

On April [-]th, it began to rain lightly, and today is the day when the rankings began to be posted on the high wall outside the Gongyuan. Zhou Jinyu only felt that it was a bit strange that the little bun girl disappeared without a sound, so strange that she even looked at the rankings The mood is gone.

When I arrived at the gate of the Gongyuan, I saw that some of the candidates had umbrellas in their hands, and some came directly to see the list in the rain.

At this time, the top three have not yet been released, but those who are on the list are enough to shine on the lintel. Some people are happy and some are worried, and some even cry on the spot when they don’t win. Zhou Jinyu comforted an old candidate who was wiping his tears with his sleeve and asked him : "Did the old man fail? Isn't the top three still out?"

The old examinee said: "How can an old elm like me get into the top three? I've been through nearly ten rounds of exams, and I haven't passed a single one. Alas, Xiaocui from the next village is still waiting for me to marry her in high school. It’s definitely out of play this time.”

Zhou Jinyu was a little moved. How old are these old candidates?Didn't Xiao Cui from the village next door to him have been waiting for him for most of his life?Just as she was about to continue to comfort her, she heard the old examinee cry with great emotion: "I have already prepared the place to put the memorial tablet for her, but unfortunately I didn't win again this time, Xiaocui will definitely not be willing to marry me now .”

Zhou Jinyu's heart skipped a beat. It turned out that the person named Xiao Cui was no longer there.

The old examinee had already run out in the rain. He staggered all the way and fell down several times.

Zhou Jinyu thought, he didn't give up after so many exams, probably because of the obsession in his heart, as long as he can get in, he can marry Xiaocui, whether Xiaocui is a person or a ghost, in the end is a promise.

So Zhou Jinyu thought, he will definitely show up in the scientific examination this winter.

Because the rain was getting heavier and heavier, the ground began to slippery. I don't know who accidentally pushed who. The two people started arguing with each other. Someone stood up to persuade them to fight, and they were scolded by two people. In the end, it developed into a multi-party melee.

Zhou Jinyu was dumbfounded watching them quarreling. After all, these people were all well-educated, and even the quarrel began to quote scriptures. Zhou Jinyu stood outside the crowd, holding an umbrella while watching the fun, and she was short of a handful of melon seeds.

Xu Shi made too much noise, and quickly alerted the people from the Ministry of Rites, who quickly controlled the situation.

At this time, a red-robed official had already come out with the list of the top three. Everyone was calm and holding their breath, waiting for the result to come out.

After the list was posted, everyone suddenly exclaimed, and there was a trace of restlessness in the crowd.

Immediately afterwards, a sound was heard: "I hit it! I hit it!"

Zhou Jinyu looked in the direction of the yelling person, and saw that he was a young man in a fine attire with a fair and pleasing handsome face, who seemed to be about the same age as himself.

Zhou Jinyu and him were not in the same examination room, and had never met him before, so they didn't know each other.

But the exclamation of everyone just now was obviously not for him, because he kept yelling "I've been hit, I've been hit" all the time, and the servants around him held umbrellas for him. They were all splashed with water, but no one would answer him.

Zhou Jinyu pushed away the crowd, stretched his neck and looked forward, only to see the name of the third person, Lu Yao.

Zhou Jinyu was startled, Lu Yao, could it be the Lu Yao she was thinking of?

The son of Lu Xunnian, the richest merchant in Nanling, the reason why Zhou Jinyu knew about Nanling was because the Lu family had a wide range of businesses. One of the businesses was that the Lu family contracted a large paddy field to grow rice. The Liu family has always had business dealings with the Lu family in Nanling, once said that once the Lu family stopped the supply of pearl rice for Qingfengnian, Qingfengnian's business would not be able to continue.

So Zhou Jinyu clearly remembered that Lu Xunnian had an only son named Lu Yao.

However, it is not certain whether these two people are the same person, after all, there are so many people with the same name and surname in the world.

Right now, everyone's eyes are on the red list, because at this time only No. [-] has been announced, while the No. [-] and No. [-] columns are empty.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, wondering which game Long Live Lord was going to play this year.

At this time, Lu Yao had arrived at Zhou Jinyu's side at some point, and called her, "Hey, brother, I've hit it, I've hit it."

Zhou Jinyu looked up at him and smiled, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Brother?"

Lu Yao grinned: "Yeah, it's a brother, everyone is a brother, brother, what's your name?"

Zhou Jinyu smiled: "Next week Jinyu."

Lu Yao patted his chest: "I'm coming to Lu Yao, a native of Lingnan."

Zhou Jinyu thought to himself, this person is quite familiar.

Lu Yao said happily: "Brother, you said that I won Tanhua this time, it's amazing!"

Zhou Jinyu arched his hands and cupped his fists, and said, "You are amazing brother, congratulations."

When Lu Yao heard this, his happy eyes narrowed with a smile, and he said childishly, "You think I'm great, too, and I think I'm great too, and I got all the difficult exam questions right."

Just now no matter who he told that he had won the prize, no one answered him, which made him sad for a while, and it was rare that someone was finally willing to talk to him.

Zhou Jinyu couldn't help laughing and said, "Did you?"

Lu Yao shook his head: "Actually, it's not a fool."

After he finished speaking, as if telling Zhou Jinyu a secret, he whispered: "Brother, let me tell you the truth. When I came to the capital, I dreamed of a white-bearded grandfather. He claimed to be an old fairy in the sky. Tell me the exam questions, let me be the number one scholar in high school, and he also said that when I come to the capital, I will meet the noble person in my destiny, and let me listen to her."

The more Zhou Jinyu listened, the more mysterious he became, and asked him, "Brother, have you found that noble man?"

Lu Yao shook his head, a little disappointed: "Not yet, I didn't recognize anyone after I came to the capital, all of them were sent by my father to meet me, so I don't see any noble people."

When Lu Yao said this, he glanced at Zhou Jinyu resentfully, and in an instant, Lu Yao's eyes suddenly lit up: "Brother, the white-bearded grandpa in my dream is talking about you, right? You see, I recognized you after I came to the capital, brother, isn't this fate?"

Just as Zhou Jinyu was about to deny it, Lu Yao said to himself, "But the grandfather in my dream told me that it was a girl. Brother, are you a girl?"

Zhou Jinyu was almost choked by his words, and quickly shook his head: "No, then you must have admitted the wrong person!"

Lu Yao nodded: "Yes, brother, although you are not my noble person, I am very glad to meet you as a friend. To celebrate my being a candidate... no, to celebrate that I know you as a brother, I will treat you to a drink. Let's go!"

Zhou Jinyu pointed to the list on the wall and asked, "The first two haven't come out yet, so you're not wondering who they are?"

Lu Yao blinked and said frankly: "I'm not curious. I'm already very satisfied with winning Tanhua. My father must be so happy that he jumped three feet high and wants to marry me ten daughters-in-law."

Zhou Jinyu: "..." This reward method is truly enviable.

Lu Yao urged: "Brother, let's go to the bar first. Anyway, the boss and the second child haven't been released yet, so let's go drink first, and it won't be too late to come back and see."

Zhou Jinyu nodded: "Okay, let's go."

The two of them were just about to leave.

At this time, an older official came out of the tribute courtyard. As soon as the official came out, everyone asked in unison: "My lord, what is going on?"

"Yes, my lord, why haven't the champion and the second place been announced?"

"Can my lord announce it now? I've been waiting so impatiently."

The official squinted his eyes and smiled, and said loudly: "Everyone, please be safe and don't be impatient. This time, the former second-class Long Live Lord has his own arrangements."

"My lord, what is the arrangement of Long Live Lord? Can you tell us about it?"

The official didn't answer, but just winked at the accompanying official. With a pen in his hand, the official walked up to the wall where the list was placed, and wrote two names on the first place: Feng Weizhi, Zhou Jin fish.

Everyone was shocked, this is...

Tied for first place?

While everyone was guessing, the official raised his pen again and wrote two names on the second place: Feng Weizhi and Zhou Jinyu.

Zhou Jinyu frowned, what does this mean?

Lu Yao smiled and exclaimed from the side: "Oh my god, brother, I am the third child and I haven't run away now, so are you my eldest or my second?"

Zhou Jinyu didn't speak, she tilted her head, and saw that Feng Weizhi was leading two people towards this direction. When he walked in, he was obviously taken aback when he saw the ranking on the list.

Feng Weizhi asked the official of the Ministry of Rites: "Master Zhao, what is the meaning of this?"

The official surnamed Zhao didn't intend to explain the situation at first, but when Feng Weizhi asked, he replied with a smile: "Mr. Feng, this time it's an examination paper jointly reviewed by the Minister of Rites and the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Zhongshu. The two adults follow the crowd. Three people were selected from the list and presented to His Majesty, and His Majesty will decide the top three rankings, one of them is you, one is Zhou Jinyu, and the other is Lu Yao."

"Long Live God has decided that Lu Yao is the candidate. As for the champion and the second place, the decision will be made after Long Live God meets you two in person. The imperial decree will probably be announced immediately."

Just as he was speaking, a shrill voice suddenly sounded outside: "The imperial decree has arrived."