The night is like pine smoke and ink smeared in the water, spreading from the sky, and the snow is still falling, but it falls in the night, as if it is as dark as the night.

As a rule, after the scholars of the world were admitted as jinshi, the emperor would personally hold a banquet to entertain these protégés. It was Ling Zhu and the others who did not wait for Rong Lu to come back to eat together, they had eaten early, and the family sat in front of the stove that was rarely lit on weekdays while chatting and waiting for Rong Lu to come back.

Suddenly, the closed door was pushed open, and a slender and tall figure appeared in front of everyone.

The howling cold wind blew out the brightness of the room, only the charcoal fire in the stove was still flickering brightly, and occasionally there was a few crisp sounds of coal.

Through this light, I can see that it is a handsome and outstanding man, his eyes are like high-grade black jade, even at night, they are still shining brightly, like stars in the sky, he is the eldest son of the Niu Hulu family - Niu Hulu Ronglu.

"Amma, Eniang!" With this choked voice, Rong Lu knelt in front of Ling Zhu and his wife, and kowtowed heavily, "My son has failed to live up to Ama Eniang's expectations, so he has to be ranked seventh in the second grade, please punish the second elder." ”

He has always been very confident in his talents, thinking that with his literary talent and his second place in the exam, even if he can't get the top prize, he should be ranked first. Who would have thought that when the final ranking of the palace examination came down, he was only ranked seventh in the second class, although this ranking was already very high, but he was not satisfied.

He knew his family's situation very well, and he knew that he was the only hope for the whole family to break this predicament, so he studied hard, hoping to revive the lintel one day, but now it is still a little worse......

Ling Zhu slowly walked in front of the kneeling Rong Lu, his broad palm fell on Rong Lu's shoulder, and said in a deep voice: "Get up, the men of our Niu Hulu family don't have the habit of kneeling at every turn, get up!" ”

"Amma, don't you blame me?" Rong Lu asked in amazement.

"Blame you? Ha Lu haha...... "Ling Zhu Da Lu smiled and personally helped him up and said: "Why do you blame you, what's wrong with the seventh place in the second grade?" How many people can't even get a show talent in their lives, let alone a middle jinshi, you have this result, Amma is happy for you and it's too late, how can you blame you! ”

"Yes, just now you Ama heard that you were the second in high school, and she was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth." Fucha wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Whether it's a top or a champion, it's just a temporary scenery, the road ahead is the most important, you need to fight for the future and glory yourself, Amma has confidence in you!" Ling Zhu's words rekindled Rong Lu's confidence, and he said word by word: "Yes! The son will do everything he can to fight for it and never let Amma down. ”

"Good! Good! Good! Ling Zhu patted his son, who was taller than him, on the shoulder and said three good words in a row, obviously very happy in his heart.

"Congratulations, big brother!" Ling Ruo and the others also stepped forward to congratulate, no one knew better than them how much effort the eldest brother had put in for today, and all of this was what he deserved.

This night was jubilant for Ling Mansion, how many years, it has never been so lively as it is today, everything makes them full of hope for the future.

It only lasted ten days, and ten days later, an official document completely shattered their good mood.

On the ninth day of November, the Ministry of Officials issued an official document: Ronglu, the second class jinshi, was selected as the seventh grade according to his experience as a judge, and was released to Jiangxi, in charge of the criminal name and litigation affairs of Jiangxi Province.

When the Ling Zhu family heard the news, it was really like a bolt from the blue, according to the convention, the first three people, the top ten in the second class, and some talented people will be selected as Shu Jishi, and enter the Hanlin Academy as an editor and editor, why Rong Lu was not only not selected as a Shu Jishi, but also released as an official.

Although according to the experience of the judges, they are the same as the editors and revisions, but in fact there is a world of difference, and there is an unwritten convention in the DPRK and China: non-jinshi do not enter the Hanlin, and non-Hanlin do not enter the cabinet. The Gilts are also known as the quasi-prime ministers, and those who become the Gilders have the opportunity to rise to the top.

But now Rong Lu has been released, which is tantamount to a disguised demotion of the official, if he has no chance to turn over in his life, and there are many uncivilized natives in Jiangxi, who are brave and ruthless, uncontrolled, once they are provoked, they may die at any time.

What will take a turn for the worse? Ling Zhu cheekily went to the Literature and Anthology Department of the Ministry of Officials to inquire, and the performance evaluation, promotion, etc. of the officials in charge here will inevitably know some inside information. In the end, an official who usually had some friendship with Ling Zhu secretly told him that Rong Lu had been selected in the list of Shu Jishi, but because of the intervention of one person, he was finally released, and this person was Shi Chongde, who had just been promoted to the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Shi Chongde is going to completely ruin Rong Lu and not leave any chance for the Ling family to turn over.

Ling Zhu was angry and hateful, but what could he do, he didn't have the capital to confront the Shi family at all, even if he couldn't bear it, he had to endure it, otherwise it would only summon disaster.

Rong Lu thought that he could show his talents to serve the country from now on, but who knew that the reality gave him a slap in the face, what about being full of economy? What about the background of the Jinshi? Others can beat you with a word that you can never turn over, and when you are discouraged, you can only use alcohol to kill your sorrows, and a good talent is forced to become a drunkard, people are not like people, ghosts are not like ghosts, sad and lamentable......

Fucha wanted to comfort Ling Zhu, but also worried about his son, and finally fell ill under exhaustion.

The Ling family - defeat is almost a foregone conclusion!