When Zhou Fuxiang saw her like this, he only thought that he was reckless in asking, so he hurriedly stepped forward and patted her on the back, and smiled awkwardly: "If you don't want me to go, then I just don't go, how did you bluff like this?" ”

Qiao'er was still coughing and wheezing, and she was in a hurry to open her mouth, and she choked in her throat with a cold breath, so she had to hold on to the edge of the table and cough and say, "Who bluffed?" I'm just in a hurry to eat, and you're going to make fun of me."

Zhou Fuxiang smiled and didn't argue with him, Qiao'er was glad that he didn't continue to ask, and his heart was as good as ever. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Soon, when Zhou Fuxiang went back to rest after reading the book, Qingping looked at the bright moon and blew out the candle, and then returned to Qiao'er and quietly climbed into bed. Qiao'er hadn't fallen asleep yet, lying there on her side, a pair of eyes shining, which startled Qingping, nodded her forehead and said, "Why don't you sleep?" ”

Qiao'er shook her head: "I can't sleep." ”

"Something?" Apple spread her hair in a bun and lay down, leaning sideways to her, "Tell me about it, maybe I can give you an idea,"

Qiao'er's eyelashes fluttered, covering half of her eyes, and she said in a low voice for a long time: "Sister, did I do something wrong, I made a fool of a compatriot sister, and I don't know how to end it up now." ”

Apple was surprised and hurriedly said, "Has anyone seen your identity?" ”

"Not really." Qiao'er shook her head indifferently, turned over and lay down, her snow-white arms resting on the quilt of the big red silk, and a little moon-white light was shining in the night, "It's just that Yanqing asked where my family lives in the capital, and also asked about the high hall and sisters at home, so I don't know how to answer him." ”

"That's what it was for." Qingping smiled, turned over with her, and lay down flat, her eyes wandering over the lotus-colored tent above her head, her eyes tactful, as smart as the deepest mind, before she exhaled suddenly, covered the back of Qiao'er's hand with one hand, and whispered, "There is a saying, don't worry, girl." ”

Qiao'er chuckled and said, "Sister, just say it." ”

Qing'er said: "I've been watching coldly these days, Uncle Fu treats the girl more affectionately than others, but if the girl has a word and a half, others can't remember it, only he remembers it really." Just ask the girl, what does the girl think of Uncle Fu? ”

"Huh?" Qiao'er looked back suddenly, she couldn't see Qingping's expression in the blurred night, only the residual warmth on the back of her hand, so that she could know that Qingping was sincere when she asked this, and pondered silently for a while, and after a long time, Qiao'er lightly opened her lips and smiled, "Sister is too worried, I am just a gentleman's friend with Yanqing." ”

The corners of Apple's lips twitched slightly, as if she was smiling rather than smiling, as if she was bitter but not sweet: "That's really my worry." The girl is now twelve years old, and it is the year of the golden hairpin. Thinking that the second grandmother was only your age back then, someone came to the door to propose marriage. If it is changed to the usual, those who want to come to our house to propose relatives will also be extremely lively, but people are not as good as the sky, and now they are falling into this step of the field, and the slave maid only has one sentence to tell the girl, and everything is more for herself to find a way back. I think Uncle Fu has also reached the age of marriage, I see that he treats the girl well, gentle and considerate, and the family Master Zhou and Mrs. Zhou are also good at work, if Uncle Ming'er is admitted to the lifting of people again, if the girl and Uncle Fu are together, the second half of their lives can be regarded as worry-free. ”

After she finished speaking, Qiao'er heard that it was like turning over the river and the sea, and she couldn't stop for a long time. She understood that Qingping's words came from the bottom of her heart, but it was precisely because she understood that she felt ashamed, between her and Zhou Fuxiang, was there only this way left?

A bitterness unexpectedly appeared on the tip of her tongue, and even her heart was sour, she turned her head depressedly, Qiao'er turned over impatiently and said: "My sister is becoming more and more confused when she speaks, since ancient times, the marriage contract of children has been from the words of the matchmaker of the parents, how can there be a reason to make the decision privately?" It's just that I heard it today, and my sister should stop saying these words in the future. ”

Seeing that she didn't pay attention to her, and what she said was so indifferent, she couldn't help but smile bitterly, thinking that she was still young and maybe didn't understand the hardships and dangers of the world, so she didn't say anything. After hearing the sound of slow breathing on the pillow, she knew that Qiao'er had fallen asleep, so she lovingly folded the summer cool quilt for her, and closed her eyes.

Since then, because the meeting has become closer and closer, Qiao'er and Zhou Fuxiang have not gone out much, and they have studied in the house. The attackers in the front yard all knew that Zhou Fuxiang wanted to catch up with Qiuqiu, and he had already given an order not to make loud noises when entering the door, and not to move around at will, and the shopkeeper outside also got Zheng Yuehuo's orders, and he didn't dare to let the trader into the backyard at will, so Zhao Si's careful thinking was not what to do.

This day was the ninth day of the eighth month, and before the end of the day, Mingyue was waiting for Zhou Fuxiang to get up and wash, and Qingping Qiao'er was worried about whether he had prepared his things, and she was busy when she heard the movement. After breakfast for a while, Mingyue looked at Kaolan, the curtain, pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and basket were all ready, and Fang called Zheng Yuehuo Zhen's fourth son, Wu'er, and said in detail what his wife had instructed before leaving.

The four sons and Wu'er hurriedly agreed, and Qingping Mingyue Qiao'er watched Zhou Fuxiang go out and board the car.

Along the way, the crowd of people rushing to take the exam crowded the streets and alleys, and for the first time in his life, Si'er Wu'er saw this formation, and couldn't help but secretly speak, no wonder there are so many students who fail to make the list every year. Let Zheng Yue, who was driving the car in front of him, hear it, and sat outside the curtain and laughed and scolded twice, scolding them for not speaking auspicious words. Zhou Fuxiang didn't care about this, half lifted the curtain, and looked out, there were also scholars from all walks of life riding high-headed horses, some walking in the breeze, and many of them came in carriages like themselves.

When the carriage and horse arrived at the gate of the Tribute Academy, Zheng Yue helped Zhou Fuxiang to get out of the car, Zhou Fuxiang looked up and took a closer look, because of the limited financial and material resources at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this Kyoto Tribute Courtyard was inevitably built with a little cold, so it was built into an examination shed with wooden planks and reed mats. It was surrounded by a wall of thorns at first. There are five gates, called "dragon gate", which has the meaning of carp jumping over the dragon gate. There are horizontal plaques on the middle three gates, the middle door is inscribed "Tiankai Wenyun", the east gate is inscribed "Ming Jing takes scholars", and the west gate is inscribed "seeking talents for the country". In these years, thanks to the emperor's grace and the health of the whole country, the original city wall has been overturned several times, and this is the only tribute courtyard, which has cultivated a large number of pillars of the dynasty and preserved as a commemoration.

According to the usual practice, there were two chief examiners, four people in the same examination, one person who was promoted, and several other officials. The examination will be held in three sessions on August 9, 12 and 15. The first test is the eight-strand text, the second test is the officialdom application text, and the third test is the policy question, due to the two changes in the middle, the three exams take a total of nine days and seven nights.

Zheng Yue and Huo Zhen counted the things again and again, and handed them over to Zhou Fuxiang, Zhou Fuxiang looked nervous at the two of them, and couldn't help laughing: "It's me who goes to take the exam, and it's not you who go, why are you more nervous than me?" Don't stand here, the students everywhere have already begun to enter the Tribute Courtyard, I can't delay any longer, tell Sister Mingyue and Sister Qingping when I go back, and also tell Brother Qiao'er, I will be going back for a while, don't let them wait at the inn, go home. When the exam is over, you will come back to pick me up. ”

Zheng Yue and Huo Zhen both smiled and said, "Uncle, come in, we have something to do outside, don't bother with you." ”

As he was talking, Wen Rushui and Fang Da happened to arrive at the gate of the Gongyuan with the two of them, and Zhou Fuxiang didn't say much, so he went in with the two of them. Entering, you will see that the middle road in the Gongyuan courtyard is located in the famous Mingyuan Building, Jukui Pavilion and Huijing Hall and other places. There is an ancient acacia tree of the Yuan Dynasty next to the Mingyuan Building, and it is said that this is the place where Wenguang shoots bullfighting, so it is called "Wenchang Huai". Its roots are born on the east side of the road, and its main trunk is curved to the west, so the crown is on the west side of the road. This acacia grows like a sleeping dragon, and it is said that this acacia is related to the candidate's literary luck. Therefore, when the candidates came here, they all had to worship, in order to climb the dragon gate, and Zhou Fuxiang and others also followed suit.

On both sides of the east and west are low examination booths, which are an independent examination room in the Tribute Courtyard for each candidate, called the "No. 1 House". All southbound in rows, a Yu number long nearly 100 rooms, short also 50 or 60 rooms, the door of the alley door is a big book, equipped with a number of lights and water tanks, for candidates to walk at night, drinking water during the day. A long alley about four feet wide is left between the two rows, the roof of the building is tiled, and each interval is a brick wall, the outer side is six feet high, four feet long, and three feet wide, and there is a small niche on the opposite wall of each number, where a small stove can be placed to heat tea, and the food during the examination is provided by the candidates themselves. Because of the long time of the township examination and the hot and humid weather, the food will spoil quickly, so candidates generally only bring dry food to satisfy their hunger. The brick walls on the left and right walls of the building are one or two feet above the ground, and the upper and lower brick supports are built to place the upper and lower wooden planks on them. During the daytime exam, the upper wooden board replaces the table, the lower wooden board is used as a stool for candidates to sit and answer questions, and the upper wooden board is taken out at night and merged into the lower layer to be used as a sleeping bed. But because the length of the house is only four feet, people can't even stretch their legs when they sleep.

Due to its simplicity, there is no door in the dormitory, and candidates need to bring their own tarpaulin as a curtain to protect them from wind and rain. During the nine days and seven nights of the exam, the candidates answered the questions and ate and stayed in the dormitory. At the end of each row of houses, there is a dung number, in which there is a dung bucket, who goes to the toilet can not speak, can only be represented by a sign, the front and back of the sign have words, one side of the writing "into the quiet", the other side of the writing "out of Gong". The invigilation in the Tribute Courtyard is very strict, and when entering the gate of the Tribute Academy, a strict body search must be carried out to prevent the candidates from hiding "entrainment" on their bodies. The so-called "entrainment" means hiding the answers or syllabus of the exam on the body. If there is entrainment, it will be sent to the Criminal Department for strict handling. When candidates enter the examination booth of the examination room, they must lock the door. It is called the "Lock Courtyard Tribute Test", and the outer perimeter of the Tribute Temple is surrounded by thorns. Therefore, it is also called the "Lock Thorn Tribute Test". Each candidate has an examination booth, a charcoal fire, and a candle. After the test questions were sent, the drums sounded upstairs in Mingyuan, and the test-takers took the incense as a time, and meditated hard to start the eight-strand text.

Let's not talk about how Zhou Fuxiang took the exam, Mingyue Qingping and others outside the single road because of his entrance to the exam, they passed the word back early in the morning and said that they were going to take the exam for nine days and seven nights, and after several people discussed, they followed Zhou Fuxiang's wishes and wanted to take the car back to Zhou's mansion to wait for the list.

Zhao Si heard that Zhou Gongzi's family in the backyard had returned the registration book, and his heart became more and more like fire, and he scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously. After hating Jia Huan since that day, because Jia Lan was transferred to the Gongyuan to invigilate the examination, the old man Zheng remembered that there were few men in the family, and he was afraid that he would take advantage of this to cause trouble, so he took care of him more and more strictly, and asked the little servants to excuse himself and find him back several times. Zhao Si didn't know what was going on here, he just thought that this deal couldn't be done, and then he thought about the cat buried under the bed after being strangled by himself, and he only sighed in his heart that it was better to blackmail the shopkeeper as the little brother said, but he was afraid that he would be caught and not be able to rely on it. I couldn't stop but retreat, and suddenly remembered that Zhou Fuxiang had already rushed to the exam, and there were only two maids and a scholar in the house, and it was getting late, and they had to wait until early tomorrow morning to leave, so it was better to steal him tonight, which could be regarded as worthy of their hard thinking and meditation for a few days. (To be continued.) )