In front of the mountain gate, it is not as good as before, and now there are some people standing bustlingly. Fortunately, after the construction of this academy, it was repaired one after another, and a fairly spacious place was leveled in front of the mountain gate, which is just convenient for today's work. The principals in the academy were also used to doing it, and two articulate boys were assigned to guide them.

There used to be a pavilion not far from the door, and now there were seats in the pavilion, and there were three or four shrewd and capable principals, and two of them were decent scholars, but they were scholars in the academy. They have their own duties, and the directors are responsible for registering and sequencing, making records, and the gentlemen have to ask some questions in person and take the school examination first.

It's no wonder that this academy has high specifications, and the entrance test is difficult, but there must be those who are lucky, or they don't know the height of the sky, so they only know a few words and catch up to register. This registration is not informal, but if a straw bag also comes to make a fuss, it must not be passed, and there are many people in the academy who have a lot of energy to prepare for this entrance exam. It's better to look at the student's background first, ask a sentence or two if you have doubts, and then ask him to record his name himself...... This method is not very strong, and it also leaves out the people who fish in troubled waters.

Hongzhuyuan was also worried that there were many people and things, and they would have to delay the time. But after asking the boys, they knew that as they had thought, there was another person who had a letter of recommendation.

Second Uncle Li asked where he understood, and they went straight to the guest house in the most remote room. Outside the Hongzhu Gate, I saw a wealthy couple standing outside the door, looking like family members, and guessed that only the students were allowed to go in by themselves.

Not long after, a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy came out of it, and Second Uncle Li gave Li Nanxing and Cheng Wenhan a look, and then he and Hongzhu also waited outside.

As soon as the rich family left, Hongzhu took two steps forward. She couldn't peek into the house, but she still saw something in the afterglow.

At the head of the inn sat a gentleman, and beside him was a boy serving. saw the letter of recommendation handed over by Li Nanxing and Cheng Wenhan, and glanced at it. According to the process, they were summoned to come forward for questioning.

There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Cheng Wenhan and Li Nanxing are not straw bales, and after a while, the two of them came out, each holding a skewer. Hongzhu looked at it, and the faces of both of them showed joy.

Cheng Wenhan came over and said first: "We guessed right, this recommendation is straight ahead." It's just that there are still a lot of people this year, and even today's exam will have to be delayed for a lot of time. ”

Second Uncle Li said: "It's okay, I've been waiting for a long time, it's a big deal, let's go down the mountain first to rest, and then come up again." I couldn't help asking: "What did Mr. ask, how was this year's exam arranged?"

Li Nanxing shook his head, but Cheng Wenhan said: "There is Mr. Hu in the Fangcai, who teaches the fourth book class, and Xu will be our main lecturer in the future." He was kind, and gave two more instructions, saying that there were a few empty rooms this year, and if we didn't want to move around, we could go inside and wait. He paused, looked at Second Uncle Li and Hongzhu in embarrassment, and said, "But Mr. Hu also said that the academy is small, and it is not easy for the family to follow up, which saves the crowd and mess, and also disturbs the senior brothers next to him to study." ”

Second Uncle Li also felt that this was the case, thinking for a while that the two of them were going to take the exam, and it was too tiring to toss back and forth, and he was not worried about the two of them for a while, so he hesitated immediately.

Hongzhu simply said: "When you go in for the exam, we can't follow, we rely on yourself." I think I can get in the exam room now, so it's good to be more familiar with it. She went straight to eat and drink with them, thought about it and said, "If you find a place, you can sit and rest, even if you sleep." If you encounter something difficult, don't be ashamed, find someone to find Brother Boxiu, or ask Mr. Jiang Yecheng. ”

Cheng Wenhan obediently responded.

Second Uncle Li saw that Hongzhu was like this, and his mother-in-law was not delayed, so he told them not to walk around and not to make trouble, "You go in, look at yourself, you are hungry, thirsty, cold, you can do whatever you want." Hongzhu and I will go down the mountain first, and then come back in the afternoon to pick it up. He also said Li Nanxing: "How old are you Da Wenhan, take good care of your brother, don't embarrass your father and me." ”

Li Nanxing's eyes flickered, and he didn't say anything else, so he should go.

After saying these words, there were many students outside who were in front of the queue and went straight to the academy, while others booked a room in the inn at the foot of the mountain early, and chose to go down the mountain to be alone and then study hard.

When going down the mountain, Second Uncle Li's face was a little uneasy, Hongzhu was relieved, and he felt that he had done everything he could, and he was just one foot away from the door, and it was known today whether it would succeed or not, and there was nothing to worry about.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Uncle Li went to look for them, and it turned out that their coachman was capable, and he found a place for them to settle in, and also gave them a table in an inn. They don't have to run the wagon anymore.

Second Uncle Li is used to doing business, knows a lot of people, and actually met two old acquaintances in the inn, and when asked, they came because there were children in the family who went up the mountain to take the exam, and Second Uncle Li couldn't be idle for a while, so he went to talk to them.

For a while, there were more and more people in the store, and the shopkeeper came to ask Hongzhu if he could set up a platform, and the second uncle Li heard it, so he called Hongzhu to sit together.

Hongzhu was not the kind of lady who couldn't see the living, so she called her uncle twice in the past, and then sat down calmly.

However, the older uncle surnamed Liu asked her two sentences with a smile, and when he saw that she was generous and well-behaved, he praised her twice.

Then the three of them talked, Hongzhu didn't have anything to do, and it was not good to close his eyes and rest here, so he rummaged through the luggage they had prepared for the overnight before, and found a book from Cheng Wenhan's bookcase and flipped through it.

It turned out to be the manuscripts they had found in her father's old belongings. Previously, for Zhu Boxiu's want, they had to rely on him to help ask for a recommendation, because they wanted to keep her father's handwriting, Hongzhu was only copied by Zhu Boxiu, and later she and Cheng Wenhan hurriedly copied a lot more for him. Later, when they encountered a series of incidents, they moved out of Zhu's house again, but they couldn't make a complete copy of Zhu Boxiu.

At the moment, Hongzhu has this book in his hand, and he has never copied it. Thinking that the entrance exam of this academy could not be passed like this, Hongzhu didn't know why Cheng Wenhan thought about it for a while, so he brought this book with him. But even if I brought it, now it's cheaper to pass the time with red beads.

This is her father's handwriting, the font is upright and beautiful, and occasionally there are small notes written on the margins of the book, and Hongzhu only thinks it is very good. Secretly, as far as his father's temperament is concerned, if he has a better background and has been writing all his life, he will not be able to understand some affairs, but it will not matter.

It's nothing, and Hongzhu doesn't chew and chant like today's students when she reads books, and soon she sees the back of a thin book. After reading it, I turned the front page again, and after reading it, I couldn't even remember the title of the book, wouldn't it be ridiculous.

This book is made by his father, it is inevitably worn, wrapped with a layer of thick paper, the title of the book is written on the title page, the red beads look at it, and the four words of "Shanxi Xiaoji" are written in the middle, and then a side sentence is written at the bottom: Shen Shizhi, Cheng Guitang book.

Hongzhu was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that she had read an old letter from his father before, which was written by this Mr. Shen, but in that letter he left his own name, called Shen Yue. Now the book written by his father is the book of his words, the time.

Hongzhu didn't recognize Shen Yue, but this Shen Shizhi's name sounded very familiar. After thinking about it for a while, I suddenly remembered that it seemed that the scholars had been called by this name in the previous two years, and the temple had won a good ranking that year. But do you really want to say whether she remembers this name, the same name and surname, or is it just such a person? Or what rank did that person get, is it from Yuezhou...... Hongzhu is really unclear.

Speaking of which, even if Hongzhu thought more about it than the little girl next to her, she never had the foresight or heart to pay attention to the results of the palace examination. After all, she doesn't take the imperial examination, and her younger brother has just started the foundation, so she really wants to go to the palace to take the exam, it's too far. And two years ago, her family was in difficulty, where could she take care of the highest level of things. She had listened to it in her spare time, and now she still remembers it faintly.

Looking at this name now, Hongzhu also had some doubts, and when she looked up and saw that Second Uncle Li was still happy, she was not easy to disturb, and thought that Second Uncle Li might not know about it, but Cheng Wenhan had been studying in the school for a few years, and he had listened to some of the words of his predecessors on weekdays, and he probably knew. She thought, when Cheng Wenhan went down the mountain after the exam, she would ask, and it would be done.

But if it's true, then her father has a powerful old friend.

Hongzhu sighed in her heart and flipped through the book again.

At noon, it was the guest invited by the uncle surnamed Liu, and the dry food of the second uncle Li and the red beads did not need to be taken out. Hongzhu saw that he was well-dressed and spoke heroically, and he guessed that his family was also in business, which was much more powerful than the Li family's Cheng family opening a small food shop.

Hearing that he had a treat, Second Uncle Li had nothing else to say, and said with a smile: "A few of them stayed on the mountain, but they didn't have my blessing, so they had to drink cold tea and eat dry food." ”

The uncle surnamed Liu said: "If you want to study and improve, what is this hardship, but my old mother insisted that I send it, otherwise, my kid is thirteen or fourteen years old, how can he still run away from him when he goes up the mountain? ”

Look at him like that, he almost made it clear that his son is not angry, he is too weak and incompetent.

But Hongzhu listened to his words for a long time, and he didn't understand his details. The father and son of the Liu family also came from Tong'an City before dawn, and they were the same as Hongzhu. If this Uncle Liu is really unhappy, he will send a steward and a small servant, and he can also serve his son well, why bother with his own family, and now he is waiting at the bottom of the mountain. Hongzhu only felt funny.

They talked again, and Uncle Liu said: "I didn't know that your son and nephew were going up the mountain before, but now they have a fate, and they will be in the academy together, so they can help each other." He smiled and said, "It's late for them to finish the exam today, and they must be tired and hungry, so why don't we pick up someone and come here together, and we will have dinner together." ”

Second Uncle Li naturally responded, and Hongzhu also felt that there was no harm in knowing a few more people, so she also responded for her younger brother.

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