On the ninth day of February, the examination officially began. On that day, Li Xuan got up early in the morning, and went to the tribute courtyard after breakfast, Tong Shuyan looked at him from a distance, and saw him get in the car and leave her before turning around and going back to the house.

After three days of the first test, Li Xuan had a hasty meal after coming back, then rested and slept until the second day. Tong Jinnan asked him how he did in the exam, and he said that he felt average, and it was not much different from what he wrote on weekdays.

Tong Jinnan nodded, telling him to relax and prepare for the next one.

On the 12th and 15th, the remaining two exams were taken, and early in the morning of the 18th, Gui Sheng and the servants of the Tong family were waiting outside early in the morning, and when they saw someone coming out, they hurriedly stepped forward to take the things in his hand.

"Does the second master want to go home directly or play outside?" Gui Sheng asked happily.

"Go home first, and when the teacher comes back, I will talk to him about today's exam questions." He laughed.

And Tong Shuyan, knowing that he came back today, got up early in the morning and was busy, personally cooking a lot of dishes, and waiting for Li Xuan to come back. She calculated the time, ordered the servant to serve the food, and was about to go out when she saw her father and Li Xuan come in together. She couldn't avoid it anymore, and said to him with a smile: "Congratulations to Senior Brother first." ”

"It's never too late to congratulate you when the list is released." Li Xuan also smiled.

She smiled and said, "Hungry, aren't you?" Eat first. ”

During the banquet, Li Xuan kept talking to Tong Jinnan about the test questions, saying how he wrote, and Tong Jinnan nodded again and again when he heard it, so that he could wait for the release of the list with peace of mind.

After Xu is exam, Li Xuan's whole person relaxed a lot, drank more wine, and kept laughing when he talked to Tong Jinnan. Tong Jinnan was also happy, and the words became more, "Although you can't be my son-in-law, but you can be a student, the old man is also very happy, and in the future, in the court, I will have one more person in Qingping." ”

"Teacher, don't worry, I will treat my sister like a sister."

"She has no brothers and sisters, only you are a senior brother, if you are bullied by your in-laws in the future, you must go and make decisions for her."

"It's nature."

Tong Shuyan looked at the two men who had drunk a little too much and was a little speechless, got up and smiled: "The child should go and cook some sobering soup." ”

Tong Jinnan smiled and waved his hand, "Go ahead." ”

After his daughter left, he whispered to Li Xuan: "If you can be admitted, the old man will try to keep you in Beijing, but you have to take your wife over quickly, Yan'er is sincere to you, you must not give her a chance to reverie again." Although my Tong family is not a family gatekeeper, my daughter must not be a concubine. ”

Hearing this, Li Xuan suddenly sobered up halfway from his wine, and said in a deep voice: "The student knows." ”

Tong Jinnan nodded, and didn't say anything more, and in the end, both the master and apprentice were drunk and carried back to the room by their respective entourage.

The days of waiting for the release of the list are torturous, and the tea does not think about food, and it is more serious than hurting the acacia for a few days. Tong Shuyan just smiled when she heard this, she would rather he hurt Acacia.

Half a month later, there was finally movement at the gate of the Gongyuan, and the messenger roared through the dense crowd, lifted the brush and brushed layer after layer of paste on the wall, and finally slowly pasted the red list. As soon as it was posted, there were all kinds of voices in the crowd, some shouted that they were hit, and some cried why there was no me, it was really a few happy and a few sad.

Gui Sheng crowded in the crowd, looking at the names one by one, and finally saw Li Xuan's name after a hundred people, and immediately shouted happily: "Second master! Hit it! One hundred and twelve. ”

When Li Xuan heard this, a hanging heart finally fell, "Go back quickly and tell the teacher and sister the news." ”

Gui Sheng responded with a smile and hurriedly went back to drive.

Let's say that Tong Shuyan is also in a hurry at home, once she hears something outside the house, she has to stand up and take a look, and when she sees that it is not the person who reported the news, she sits down in disappointment.

"Girl, girl!" Yalan's joyful voice came from outside, "Good news, Li Xianggong has passed the exam!" ”

Yalan pushed open the door and saw Tong Shuyan standing at the table with tears on his face. She stepped forward to hold her hand and said softly, "Don't worry, I'm admitted." ”

Tong Shuyan endured the sourness on the tip of his nose and hummed heavily, but tears still fell uncontrollably.

In the evening, Tong Jinnan celebrated Li Xuan, Tong Shuyan just went to take a look, and said that he was unwell and went back to the house. They knew what she was thinking, and they didn't say anything.

And after Tong Shuyan returned to the house, he couldn't talk about sadness and happiness, sitting by the window, looking out of the window in a daze, and didn't know what he was thinking.

Yalan pushed the door in, walked over to her and squatted down, took her hand and comforted, "There are more people who are better than him." ”

She looked at Yalan and smiled helplessly, "Maybe I haven't seen other men, and when I meet him, I only think he's good." ”

"No matter how good he is, it's someone else's."

"Don't all men have three wives and four concubines?"

"The master doesn't have three wives and four concubines, and the lady only gave birth to you, and I don't see him taking a concubine."

"But Li Xuan doesn't love his wife, does he? Unlike the father. ”

"What does it matter to love or not to love? You are the daughter of Tong Shangshu, even if Li Xuan is not married, you are married, how can you be a concubine? ”

Hearing this, she sighed, looked out the window and said lightly: "Actually, I don't care if it's a wife or a concubine, but my father cares, and he cares, so why should I make them unhappy?" And make another woman sad? ”

"It's best if you think like this," said Aran in a harmonious voice, "forget him, and the master will definitely find you a good husband in the future." ”

Tong Shuyan looked at Yalan and smiled softly, "Okay." ”

But if you say so, how can you forget it in your heart? At night, she looked at the top of the tent in a daze, expecting to see Li Xuan's face from the dim night, but she didn't see his face until her eyes were sour. And when I close my eyes, my heart is like being scratched by a ghost, and I can't get a moment of purity.

She sat up helplessly, thinking that she would see him again, and ask him what his attitude was towards her, even if she knew better than anyone else, but she would only feel at ease if she heard him say it with her own ears. Thinking so, she got up and got dressed, and went to Li Xuan's courtyard.

Fortunately, the courtyard door was not locked, and everyone was asleep, so she easily came to Li Xuan's door, the light in the house was still on, she knocked on the door gently, and Li Xuan's voice came from inside the house, "Come in." ”

She was about to push the door in but hesitated, "It's me." ”

Hearing this, there was no reply in the house for a long time, and she said again, "It's me, Shuyan." ”

"It's so late, what's the matter with my junior sister?" Li Xuan asked in a deep voice.

"I have something to ask you."

"It's too late today, let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Senior Brother......

"It's too late, we'll talk about it tomorrow." He said resolutely.

She lowered her eyes and looked at the ground, choked up, "Me and you, there can be no more tomorrow." ”

The so-called tomorrow is to see him in the future, and she is afraid that she will not be able to control herself then, so she must listen to him tonight, so that she can leave him with peace of mind.

"That'...... You say. ”

"You won't see me?"

"It's late at night, it's inconvenient."

She closed her eyes in resignation, tears falling heavily on the ground, "I want to ask you, have you ever been tempted by me?" ”

"No, I didn't."

"You're lying!"

Hearing this, Li Xuan sighed and said in a harmonious voice: "Shuyan, I am a married man, I can't promise you, you will meet better people in the future, I don't deserve you like this." ”

"You tell me that you like me, and I'll leave, and I'll never see you in the future, and I'll do what I say."

"Shuyan, these words are meaningless......"

"Meaningful, probably the most important thing for me in this life."

"Life is long, we meet different people, and in the midst of these differences, we will say the same thing to several people. So, you don't have to dwell on what I said and didn't say. ”

"Even so, you won't even see me? Or are you afraid to see me? ”

"Shuyan, these really don't mean anything to you and me, go back quickly, it's not good for your reputation to be discovered."

When she heard this, her heart ached, and tears fell like beads with broken threads, but she didn't dare to cry, she couldn't bear the headache, and finally couldn't hold back and shouted in great pain, and then said in a deep voice: "Do you really want to be so ruthless? ”

"Go back, Yan'er, get some sleep, when nothing happened."

"When nothing happened?" She smiled bitterly and was silent for a long time before she said slowly, "Thank you, thank you for saving my life, thank you for giving me an empty joy, thank you for taking care of my reputation so much." If there is an afterlife, I hope to meet you sooner. ”

Li Xuan's heart was cut when he heard this in the house, but Tong Jinnan's words were like a knife in his ears, so he didn't even dare to see her, let alone say that he liked it. Tong Jinnan treats him as if he is his own, he can't be sorry for him, and he can't be sorry for Tong Shuyan. So, those words, just rot in his stomach.

If there is an afterlife, he is willing to use her as a cow and a horse, but this life can only be like this.

Without hearing Li Xuan's response, Tong Shuyan breathed a long sigh of relief, maybe this is the only time in her life that she likes someone so humbly.

"I'm gone, and I'll see it forever."

The moment she turned around, Tong Shuyan only felt that her internal organs were already broken, but she forced herself to breathe, thinking that she couldn't fall outside his door and couldn't add any more burden to him. She walked forward indifferently, her eyes like an eternal night, and there was no light in sight.

Li Xuan squeezed the cup in his hand tightly, resisting his urge to open the door and pull her, and suddenly with a bang, the cup shattered in his hand, and the porcelain piece sank into his flesh, but he didn't feel pain. Compared to the heart, shedding this little bit of blood is really nothing.

Before, he couldn't understand why the third sister was martyred for Zhang Jin, but now he really understands, if there is someone in this world who understands your sadness and happiness, can put it on himself wholeheartedly, and has deep affection for you but refrains from daring to exceed half a point, how can he not be moved? However, the reason why people are human is that they know how to exercise restraint, otherwise they are no different from livestock.

The night of mid-spring was no longer silent, but the hearts of two people were as quiet as death.