An old lady's life

Since the implementation of the imperial examination system, the provincial examinations have been held in August/September. The previous county examinations were held on the ninth day of August. After the founding of Dafeng, due to the consideration of the Mid-Autumn Festival on August [-]th, the rural examinations were postponed for one month. The ninth day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the rural examination.

However, September [-]th happens to be the Double Ninth Festival. People who are leisurely in Beijing will go to the outskirts of the capital to climb mountains on this day. Beijing has a lot of people, cars and horses.

After Jia Hu made a covenant with Princess Pinghui, the two met outside from time to time. Festivals like the Double Ninth Festival are also very suitable for dating between lovers. However, because of Jia Zhu's exam, Jia Hu met Pinghui very early The princess agreed that on the day of Double Ninth Festival, he could not accompany her to the suburbs to climb mountains.

Princess Pinghui doesn't care. She is a home-type person. Since the two made a covenant, Jia Hu's younger siblings also came out to meet her. After getting acquainted with each other, they knew each other's family. She did not allow her to love her younger siblings.Compared with Yijun Prince's Mansion, Rongyang Hou's Mansion is not as harmonious as the rich and powerful families in Beijing.

The current Yijun King is her concubine brother, born of the side concubine Liu Shi. When her father was still alive, Liu Shi and her mother were at odds with each other. Of course, all of her father's concubines were at odds with her mother. Disagreements, especially the three side concubines, the other concubines don't have such a heavy heart for their mother, and the mother is the well-deserved princess of the Yijun Palace, blocking Liu's way, and the Yijun King treats his mother only because of face That's all.

Early this morning, before dawn, candidates were already waiting in line at the gate of the Gong Yuan. Jia Zheng invited his son to take the exam at [-]:[-] am today, and Jia Hu sent him off with him.

"Second brother, don't be nervous. According to your current level of knowledge, it is not difficult to be in the top few places." After Jia Hu said, Jia Zheng also said: "Now the court is much more humane than before, and the house will no longer leak rain. Gong Fang It will no longer be installed near the numbered room, and it will be cleaned every day, and it will no longer be as smoky as before..."

Jia Zhu had already heard it many times, but he had to take advantage of the kindness of his father and elder brother.

The carriage soon arrived at the Gongyuan. Seeing the long queue, Jia Zhu felt a sense of urgency. He was only 14 years old, and he was considered a young candidate in the provincial examination.

Jia Zheng and Jia Hu were in the carriage, watching Jia Zhu's team gradually shorten, seeing Jia Zhu enter the gate of the Gongyuan, the two uncles and nephews left separately, one went to the government office and the other returned home.

The nine-day exam time passed quickly. After the exam, no one in the house asked Jia Zhu how he did in the exam, as if it was not important, but Jia Zhu couldn't wait to write down the exam paper silently. Then I asked Mrs. Zhang for advice. Jia Zheng felt that his son answered very well, much better than he did back then. Jia Hu also thought that his younger brother answered very well, so Mrs. Zhang commented on each question one by one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages one by one.

"Although all these theories are in place, the details are still relatively vague. You really lack experience. Go out and study like your elder brother, learn more about different customs and customs, and learn to deal with various emergencies. It will grow."

Jia Zhu's eyes lit up instantly. He knew that no matter whether he passed the provincial examination or not, he would go on a study tour next year, just like his elder brother three years ago, but he had already planned the route secretly. He doesn't intend to go the old way of big brother, he wants to start from the north, detour through the southwest, and then go to the coastal area, he can see any scenery here!

"If you can pass the exam this time, the ranking will not be too low. Even if you can fight next year, it depends on how you choose. Why don't you compete with your elder brother?" Mrs. Zhang is also narrow-minded.

Jia Zhu shook his head quickly: "No, I want to go out to study!" His heart was already ready to move.

Old Master Zhang twisted his beard and smiled. Several of his grandsons have already grown up. In the generation of great-grandsons, the eldest Zhang Ruiqian is in the military academy with his little grandson. There is no one for my family to go on a study tour with my grandson.

"When Ruiqian grows up, he should go out to study like you and Hu'er."

Jia Zhu was full of doubts: "Grandfather, isn't Ruiqian in the military academy? Doesn't he plan to take martial arts?"

Old Master Zhang shook his head: "Ruiqian won't have much achievements in martial arts, it's better to wait for him to quit the military academy and take the imperial examination, Lian'er is more suitable for the army."

Jia Zhu thanked Mrs. Zhang and left the Zhang family. Regarding Zhang Ruiqian, this was the Zhang family's arrangement, and he would not comment. However, in his impression, Zhang Ruiqian was indeed lacking in activity, especially young and mature.

When Jia Zhu returned to the mansion, he learned from the butler that the eldest brother was not at home, so he immediately pursed his mouth. The elder brother valued sex and despised his younger brother, so he asked him to accompany him to Zhang's house to meet his grandfather, but the elder brother directly refused and let him Just go by yourself, didn't you never go to Zhang's house alone?

"Did the eldest brother go out to meet the future sister-in-law?" Jia Zhu couldn't help laughing, butler Lin laughed and said: "Second young master, how does this old slave know the whereabouts of the young master?"

Walking to the second gate, Sister Shan suddenly appeared, "Second Brother, I know where Eldest Brother is? Take me with you, and I will take you to find Eldest Brother!"

Jia Zhu rubbed her sister's head and said with a smirk, "Have you finished all the daily homework your grandmother assigned you?"

Sister Shan raised her head and said triumphantly: "It's done naturally, second brother, don't look down on others!"

The siblings left and said, "Okay then, I'll ask my grandmother and mother, and now I'm going to see Fifth Sister."

"You all have newcomers and forget the old ones, the poor old ones are crying in secret!" Sister Shan complained, since her younger sister was born, her status in the mansion has plummeted!

"Say this, don't you blush? How old are you, how old is Sister Qiong?" The siblings bickered, and after a while they came to the West Courtyard, where they saw their mother handling government affairs, and Sister Qiong sitting in a rocking car beside her, concentrating on Stare at the jigsaw puzzle in front of you.

Now Dafeng is developing better, and children's toys are not as boring as before. Many educational toys have been developed one after another. All children's toys on the market are available in Rongfu, but the most popular one is the jigsaw puzzle. , the brighter the color, the more I like it.

Seeing the big from the small, Sister Qiong has been a quiet girl since she was a child, and she is only seven months old. If the adults don't care about her, she can stay there quietly by herself.

"Mother, I'll take Fifth Sister to my grandmother!" Jia Zhu hugged Qiong, who was startled, seeing that it was a familiar face, a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Ahhh—" Sister Qiong was also very happy seeing her brother and sister, and Sister Shan pinched her cheek, "I don't understand what you are talking about!"

Wang took a moment to glance at her son and daughter, and when she heard her son's words, she nodded her head and said, "Take her away, this child has been silent for a long time, I've forgotten her when I get busy!"

Jia Zhu and Sister Shan had black lines on their faces. Their mother was spoiled by the family and became more innocent.

Seeing the three brothers and sisters coming together, Hongye asked a few words, Jia Zhu and sister Shan showed their true colors, Hongye didn't stop them, let them go out, and then looked at sister Qiong, thinking of Wang's frequent complaints, this daughter So well-behaved, very worrying!She couldn't help but want to laugh. She had always heard people complain about children being mischievous, but she had never seen anyone complaining about children being too well-behaved.

"Our grandparents and grandchildren are companions, how is sister Qiong feeling today?" Hong Ye hugged Qiong and said, of course she didn't expect her to talk, remembering that although Yingchun in the original book was good at chess, his temper was too weak, but for another Sister Qiong thought that although she was quiet, she would not develop a character like Yingchun.

Sister Qiong stood on her grandmother's lap, buttoned her clothes with her fingers, jumped twice, sat down again, and grinned at her.

"It seems that Sister Qiong is very happy today. What were you doing with your mother just now?" Hongye carried her into the house, then took out the jigsaw puzzle from the rocking car and spread it on the couch. The grandparents and grandson played with it. The puzzle is over.

When Jia Zhu and Sister Shan found Jia Hu, he was at a poetry competition, and there were quite a few people watching the excitement. This poetry competition seemed to be a grand competition between students from other places and local students.

Sister Shan looked at the crowd and saw that her elder brother was on the field. She went around and saw Princess Pinghui, so she asked her second brother to clear the way. The two brothers and sisters finally came to Princess Pinghui after all the hard work.

Princess Pinghui saw that it was Sister Shan and Jia Zhu, and said with a smile, "You are here."

Jia Zhu silently cupped his hands and bowed, then retreated to the side, and turned his eyes to the field again.

Sister Shan smiled, greeted Princess Pinghui, and then asked: "Princess, what's going on? How could elder brother also participate?" Isn't elder brother always like to keep a low profile?

Princess Pinghui smiled, turned her eyes to Jia Hu again, and glanced at everyone, before saying, "It's about the honor of the capital, your elder brother has to go out to fight."

play?Such a horrifying word?Only after Princess Pinghui explained, did she know what was going on.

It's just that at the beginning, I met a few students arguing, and they refused to give in to each other. Then more and more people participated in this debate. If the students fight with each other, they will know which side is the best.

"That's right, for the honor of the capital, brother must fight to the end!" Sister Shan clenched her fists, and then looked at the other onlookers, who had a geographical advantage. There were so many people in the capital, and they were basically cheering for the representative team in the capital.

There are seven people from each side, the first team is the capital, the second team is Jiangnan, and the third team is the representative of Chowder.On the side of the capital, there are five other well-known handsome sons, Jia Hu and Yao Feng are the second, and the other two are the sons of the Liang family and the prince of Dongping County.As for the other two teams, Jiangnan has always been a place where literary style is at its peak, and there have been many students with literary talent. Regions include those in the Northeast, those in Haicheng, and those in Shu... In short, it's a hodgepodge.

The Liang family is a family of censors, and the wife of the Liang family still taught her daughter the three obediences and four virtues. The festival between Sister Shan and Miss Liang came from the fact that Ms. Liang always had the Four Books of Women on her lips. I can't understand it very much, they are in the same situation as each other.

When Sister Shan saw Ms. Liang's elder brother, she pursed her lips. If it was any other time, the elder brother would not be with the Liang family.

Princess Pinghui also knew about the festival between my sister-in-law and Miss Liang's family in the future, so she smiled knowingly: "Ms. Liang's family will not participate in such an occasion."

Sister Shan scratched her head, couldn't help but also smiled, and then said in a low voice: "There are so many stinky men here, she claims to be a holy and elegant person, so she wouldn't come to such a filthy place."

Princess Pinghui was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, the two of them glanced at the field from time to time, and started chatting again in a low voice.

While the two were talking, a master of ceremonies came out to host. The master of ceremonies is very capable. In such a short period of time, five respected elders were invited to judge. winner.

The first item is the pairing of poems. Whoever puts out the best poems is the best. Of course, the pairing poem is not just one poem. There are ten poems in total. Whoever gets the most number of the best poems will win.

Afterwards, the entire Poetry Competition was full of enthusiasm, and more people came after hearing the news!

With the progress of the wonderful poetry competition, many people have almost forgotten the purpose of the poetry competition, and when there are good poems coming out frequently, there will be constant applause, regardless of whether it is the capital, the south of the Yangtze River or the northeast?

After finishing the ten poems, I checked the results again. I saw that the first team in Beijing had a tie with the second team in Jiangnan.

The onlookers applauded, but the people on the field were aroused to fight.

Sister Shan blinked, and then whispered to Princess Pinghui: "Princess, brother's eyes are shining, do you see that? Brother looks at the two people opposite him..." She paused, and thought about her words, " ...remarkably warm."

Jia Zhu couldn't help sweating on her forehead, and glanced at Princess Pinghui, who also covered her mouth and smiled: "Yes, your elder brother is usually very gentle, and it was the first time I saw him so high-spirited." Woolen cloth!"

The second item is to write poems. There are ten topics in total. The topics are all-inclusive. Each question only takes a quarter of an hour, including the time for writing. One person can write poems, one person can write, or the poet can write by himself.

The atmosphere of the following poetry competition became even more enthusiastic. As the poems were read out, the crowd applauded endlessly, and the five senior judges whispered to each other from time to time. The longer the time passed, the closer it was to the end.Finally when the tenth question came out, the appreciation results of the first nine poems came out. Coincidentally, the results of the evaluation by the five elders were that all three parties won the three best, so the last question is to decide the winner. when.

However, the five elders didn't know about it, and neither did the three parties who fought Shishi.

The last question is based on the theme of the four seasons. Write a poem, whether it is five-character or seven-character, or something else.

This short quarter of an hour felt like a long day, and finally the master of ceremonies shouted: "It's time!"

The three parties presented their respective answer sheets and handed them to the master of ceremonies. The master of ceremonies turned around and folded the three sheets of paper in his hands several times before handing them to the desks of the five elders.

It took a long time for the five elders to judge this time. There are many poems with the theme of the four seasons. Spring, summer, autumn and winter are also the topics often chosen by poets. It was difficult for a while.

"Old man and others think these three poems are very good, it is really difficult to make a decision, if you read it out and let everyone comment on it." An old man cast his eyes on the crowd.

After the master of ceremonies finished reading the three poems, the crowd burst into applause.

"All good, all good!"

"Then choose the best one, which one?"

"Anything is fine, I think the three capitals are good!"

For a while, there was a dispute in the Poetry Association, and in the end they had to ask for foreign aid. The head of the Imperial Academy who happened to pass by was invited in to comment. He listened to the cause and effect of the incident, carefully reviewed the three poems, and his face was also troubled.

"The three capitals are excellent, and I feel that it is difficult to let go of any one of them. How about if all three poems get the best?" He said with a smile: "I think the results of the other poems will be the same."

The crowd erupted into extremely warm applause this time, and the five elders also agreed with the evaluation of the bachelor in charge. The master of ceremonies cheerfully took the words and announced the next results.

As the final results came out, the crowd was once again a sensation.

"It turned out to be even!"

"It's amazing!"

"It would be great if my family had daughters for these outstanding sons. If I just grab one as my son-in-law, I can sit back and relax!"

The face of the bachelor in charge was full of surprise: "It's even?" He looked at the crowd with a smile, "No matter where you come from, all of you are talented and talented, and the imperial court needs talents like you. I saw all of you in the Hanlin Academy."

The bachelor in charge encouraged everyone, and then left on the grounds that he was busy with business, and then the crowd gradually dispersed.It was already past noon, everyone was still hungry for this poetry competition, Jia Hu said goodbye to a group of friends, and together with Princess Pinghui brought his younger siblings to a restaurant.

Princess Pinghui said with a smile, "It's a coincidence that Zhangyuan Liu came here!"

Jia Hu smiled back: "Yes, it's a coincidence." Turning to her younger siblings, Jia Zhu was thoughtful, but Sister Shan was completely ignorant, "What would Sister Shan want to eat? Don't be dazed, order. The princess said before that she wanted to eat the stewed duck in this restaurant, what else do you want to eat?"

"You know my taste, just help me." Princess Pinghui smiled slyly.

As for Jia Zhu, I didn’t even ask. Jia Zhu felt that the eldest brother was really sexist, so he looked at the menu with Shan and ordered a few expensive dishes.

After the meal was over, Jia Hu sent Princess Pinghui home, and then the three brothers and sisters returned home together. He is an examinee after all, and will not play outside all day. This time, the appointment with Princess Pinghui was only because of Jia Zhu's exam. , The two have never met, of course letters are indispensable.

Hongye listened to her grandson and granddaughter talking about this poetry competition, it was really exciting, knowing that her grandson was brilliant today, she raised her thumbs up: "It's great!"

It was rare for Jia Hu to be modest and shy. Out of the ten poems, he was accepted for two, and the last one was written by him.

"They're all amazing!" This was the first time Jia Hu felt the level of knowledge of other people intuitively. Instead, he was aroused to fight, and he also expressed the strongest enthusiasm for Chun Wei after the next year.