The scholar hurriedly looked at the adjacent table and saw a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. The other party www.biquge.info the pen "Fun" Pavilion is also dressed as a scholar.

The scholar only glanced at him quickly before withdrawing his gaze, and subconsciously twisted his face away slightly.

The young man laughed a few times and said, "It's not very good for a man to be so shy. ”

The scholar ignored him, put the cage behind his back on the table, and took a square towel out to wipe his sweat.

The man saw that the hem and sleeves of his robe were torn in several places, and the toe of his shoes was also torn, so he knew that he was financially struggling.

However, although his clothes were a little torn, they were very clean and tidy, so they did not give people a feeling of rags.

The shopkeeper brought the scholar's wine and food, and the scholar immediately picked up the dishes and chopsticks and ate them in a big gulp.

I guess I haven't eaten a bite of food since the morning.

The young man didn't say anything, and silently handed over the plate of braised pork on his table.

The scholar glanced at the plate of braised pork and said, "No need, thank you!" ”

"I can't finish eating, you can help me eat some, otherwise it will be wasted." Said the young man.

The scholar still calmly drank his liquor and said, "You can pack it and take it." ”

"Hey, you ......" The man simply sat down at the scholar's table, put the plate of braised pork in front of him, and said, "Although I am also poor, I can still afford to eat a meal of meat a day." ”

The scholar looked up at him, smiled slightly, and still drank his own wine quietly.

The man saw that there was not much wine left on his table, so he asked the shopkeeper to add three catties and said with a smile: "If you have wine, friends, and stories, then you can call life a good life." ”

The scholar still only smiled slightly, but did not answer.

The man poured wine for the scholar and his own bowl, and said, "You entered Beijing to take the exam?" ”

The scholar seemed to be finally interested, and asked, "Are you too?" ”

The man's face showed joy, and he nodded with a smile: "Now I finally found a companion." My name is Shen Zhu, what about you? ”

Since the scholar learned that he was also a candidate who entered Beijing to take the exam, his guard relaxed a little, and he smiled: "The surname is Li, and the name is Yuan." ”

"Li Yuan, good name! Come on, come on, don't fight, don't know each other, do it. Shen Zhu picked up the bowl and said.

Li Yuan also picked up the bowl and touched his bowl, and then drank the wine in the bowl.

This bowl of wine was in the stomach, and the scholar's face was slightly flushed.

It seems that he usually doesn't drink alcohol.

Shen Zhu smiled and asked, "Where does Brother Yuan come from?" ”

"Guangxi."

Shen Zhu put down the wine bowl and looked at Li Yuandao: "That place is so far away from the capital, I'm afraid it took Brother Yuan a long time to come here, right?" ”

"No more, no less, exactly thirty-eight days." Li Yuan replied.

"Tut-tut...... Didn't encounter robbers or anything like that on the road? ”

"Yes, but I have nothing to give them to a poor scholar."

"They didn't rob you?"

"I've hidden my coil here." Li Yuan said as he took out a steamed bun from his duffel bag.

Shen Zhu laughed out loud, gave a thumbs up and said: "I've heard of someone hiding money and silver in their shoes, and I've heard of hiding it in their pants, but I've never heard of hiding it in steamed buns, your trick is really high." ”

Li Yuan also smiled and said: "There is a smell of sweat in my shoes and pants, and it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I thought of this method, and I also deliberately found a steamed bun that was a little rancid to put on." ”

Shen Zhu couldn't help but chuckle again, and after laughing, he reached out and patted Li Yuan's shoulder, saying, "I learned another trick today, thank you." ”

Li Yuan smiled and put the steamed bun into the duffel bag and asked, "Where is Brother Shen from?" ”

"Sichuan."

"It's not close to here."

"Uh-huh, I also walked for twenty days, and five of them were on horseback." Shen Zhu replied.

Because he cracked a case of embezzlement of disaster funds by officials during the Sichuan earthquake, the crown prince, who was in charge of disaster relief in Sichuan at that time, rewarded him with a sum of money, so his entanglement was relatively sufficient.

If it weren't for the prince's bounty, Shen Zhu knew that he might have to have the opportunity to enter Beijing in three years to catch the exam.

Therefore, Shen Zhu has always been very grateful to the prince for his kindness, and secretly decided that he must get good results in the exam this time when he enters Beijing, so that he can have an explanation when he sees the prince in the future.

If he can pass the entrance examination this time, Shen Zhu will directly stay in the capital to prepare for the palace examination, and after that, no matter whether he can be admitted to the palace examination or not, he will find a job in the capital.

His relatives had already died in the earthquake, and he had already made plans not to return for a few years after leaving Sichuan, so he especially hoped to make some like-minded friends in the capital.

Now seeing that Li Yuan is also here to catch the exam, and the two sides can talk about it, Shen Zhu's happiness can be imagined.

"What is your ranking in the township test?" Shen Zhu asked Li Yuan.

"Ranked second."

"Wow." Shen Zhu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly: "I'm also the second, what a coincidence!" ”

Shen Zhu laughed as he spoke.

Li Yuan also smiled.

"You said that this time we will try which of us will be a little ahead of the ranking?" Shen Zhu asked again.

Since the rankings of the township test are comparable, Shen Zhu knows that the strength of the two is comparable.

"It's hard to say." Li Yuandao poured another bowl of wine for Shen Zhu.

Shen Zhu pushed the plate of braised pork in front of him again, and said, "Since we are already friends, Brother Yuan should not be polite to me." ”

Li Yuan thought about it, and finally didn't be polite anymore, picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his mouth.

"The examination will not be held until February next year, why did Brother Yuan enter Beijing so early?" Shen Zhu asked.

"In winter, when it snows, the road will be much more difficult, so I came before winter."

Li Yuan had heard that someone had frozen to death on the way to Beijing to take the exam.

Shen Zhu nodded and said, "Yes." ”

"What about you? Why did you come so early? Li Yuan looked at him and asked.

"It's because my relatives are gone, my home has collapsed, and I don't have anything to do anymore, so I want to go to Beijing as soon as possible to find something to do, and then review while doing things."

Li Yuan's expression was slightly abrupt, and he asked, "Your family is gone?" ”

"yes, I'm alone now, so it doesn't matter where I go."

A flash of sympathy flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, and then he covered it up again.

Shen Zhu drank another half bowl of wine and asked Li Yuan, "Who are some of the people in your family?" ”

"It's just my grandfather."

"What about your parents?"

"I died when I was very young."

"No siblings?"

Li Yuan shook his head.

"How old is your grandfather?"

"It's almost seventy."

"Oops, then you're still not as chic as me."

"Yes, so my biggest wish now is to enter the public service through scientific research, which is also my grandfather's wish. I don't want him to die with regrets. When he said this, Li Yuan's eyes were firm, but his expression was a little sad.

Shen Zhu patted him on the shoulder in understanding.

………………

Note: This is based on the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty. The official imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was divided into three levels: the township examination, the meeting examination, and the palace examination. The township examination is held in the local area by the southern and northern Zhili and the political envoys of each country, and the examination time is in the autumn, which is called "Qiuqiu". After the township examination, there is the examination, the examination room is in the capital, and the examination is taken in the spring, which is called "spring fu". The palace examination is personally written by the emperor and held in the Baohe Palace, usually in March. (To be continued.) )