Lingzhou.

Nearly half a month has passed since the end of the year, and in two days, it will be Shangyuan.

Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, is the most important and lively festival of the year.

Although the Spring Festival has just passed and the spring cold has not gone, the people of Lingzhou, who have been shrunk at home for a winter, have already walked out of their homes a few days ago and began to prepare for various programs in Shangyuan.

After tonight, the major lantern festivals in the city will start one after another, and there are many names such as dragon and lion dances during the day to watch, Lingzhou, which has been silent for a winter, will officially kick off the prelude to the new year after experiencing the boiling of the Lantern Festival.

Bell House.

Qing'er held her chin with one hand, watching Fang Xinyue wielding a wooden sword in the courtyard, and after looking at it for a while, she looked away again, and muttered, "It's boring......"

These days, there is no story about the princess and the talented man told by her uncle, and the Shangyuan Festival that she has been looking forward to for a long time seems to have no meaning.

Tang Yaoyao sat opposite her, also holding her chin with one hand, correcting a few of Fang Xinyue's movements, then turned her head again, and sighed, "It's boring......

Although only ten days had passed, it seemed to her that months had passed, and she always felt that something was missing from her.

If you think about it, you realize that what is missing is not something.

That guy has been away from Lingzhou for ten days, Lingzhou is not far from Jingshi, if he didn't mess with flowers and grass on the way, if the trip went well, he should have arrived in Jingshi by now.

The provincial examination is in early March, and if he can pass the provincial examination, it will probably be in mid-April, so he will not return until early May at the earliest.

If he passes the exam, he will stay in Lingzhou for another half a year at most, and then he will have to go to another place to take up his post, then he will be even more bored in the future...... Tang Yaoyao thought of this, and the thought of not wanting him to pass the exam suddenly rose in his heart.

The next moment, she shook her head vigorously, threw the sinful thought out of her mind, and then became even more depressed.

At the same time, in a certain room, Zhong Yi looked at a book of poems in front of him, and had not turned a page for a quarter of an hour.

On her side, Su Ru, who was originally embroidering, may not have moved in her hands for a long time.

……

Jingshi, the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

During the New Year's Festival, there are many royal ceremonies, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites are the busiest.

After the end of the year, when the officials were routinely resting, the Ministry of Rites still had many affairs to deal with.

The Lantern Festival is approaching, and the Son of Heaven will set up a banquet in the palace on the night of the Lantern Festival.

At this time, it is less than two months away from this year's provincial examination, and this matter needs to be taken seriously by the Ministry of Rites.

Early in the morning, outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, there was a long queue.

After arriving in Beijing, they must first register with the Ministry of Rites, receive their own examination guides, and leave necessary information such as their residential address.

In the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, somewhere in a remote duty room, a member of the Ministry of Rites yawned without raising his head, and asked, "Name?" ”

"Zhang San."

"Origin?"

"Fengzhou, Changhe County."

"Fengzhou, Changhe County, Zhang San."

The official of the Ministry of Rites picked out one of the several thick books, searched for a long time, and then found Zhang San's name, and after confirming it, he waved his hand and said, "Go next door to get your examination guide." ”

The candidate immediately bowed down and said respectfully, "Master Xie." ”

As he exited, another man walked in.

"Name?"

The official of the Ministry of Rites asked without raising his head.

There was no sound from the other side.

"Name?"

He asked again, but no one answered.

The monotonous and boring process already upset him, and a trace of anger appeared on his face, and he raised his head and said, "What's the matter, isn't it ...... to be deaf?"

He didn't finish a sentence, the look of annoyance quickly disappeared, looking at the young man in front of him, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he flattered: "Little grandfather, why did you come in person, you sent someone to say, and we can do it for you......"

The young man waved his hand and said, "Don't talk nonsense, hurry up, I still have something to do when it's done." ”

"Yes, yes......" The official of the Ministry of Rites immediately nodded, turned his head and instructed a messenger behind him: "What are you still doing in a daze, why don't you take the little grandfather over quickly......"

After the young man left, the officer breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in his place.

"Next!" He shouted loudly, heard someone coming in from outside the door, and spoke again: "Name? ”

"Downing."

The officer paused, looked up at him, and asked, "What's it called?" ”

"Downing."

"Origin?"

"Lingzhou, Nghe An County."

The official of the Ministry of Rites took a book, flipped through it, and nodded, "Go next door to get your examiner." ”

The figure turned and walked out of the room, but instead of calling the next person in, the officer waved again at one of the officers behind him.

……

When Tang Ning walked out of the Ministry of Rites, the number of people queuing outside the yamen not only did not decrease, but increased.

I don't know how many people will participate in the provincial examination this time, but if there are not 10,000, there should be about seven or eight thousand, and these people are all outstanding students who have been screened by various state examinations.

He didn't feel anything in his heart before, but when he saw it today, he felt a little more urgent.

There are still nearly two months before the start of the provincial exam, and during this period, he has to practice practice strategy again, but unfortunately Xiaoyi is in Lingzhou, and no one can correct it for him.

Today was the second day of his arrival in Beijing, and this trip was much smoother than he expected.

They hurried unhurriedly, and along the way, it was extremely smooth, without encountering any thieves, horse bandits, nor any trouble, and it only took about ten days to rush from Lingzhou to Jingshi.

This made him regret it a little, if he had known, he could have set off half a month and a month late, and he could have caught up.

However, if you come, you will be safe, during this time, check and fill in the gaps, the old beggar tempted him several times along the way, saying that he wanted to take him to see the girl who was tender in Beijing, he thought about it for a while, and still refused bitterly.

As a family person, he can't outside with his wife behind his back, not to mention, he can't explain in that kind of place so hastily for the first time in his two lives......

Ahead was the inn where he was staying, and he stepped through the door with his feet raised, and a figure stepped out of it.

Caught off guard, Tang Ning collided with the figure.

Tang Ning only took a few steps back, but the man took a few steps back in a row, and almost fell.

After Tang Ning stabilized his figure, he looked at the young woman and hurriedly asked, "Girl, are you okay?" ”

The woman frowned, looked at him, and said, "My foot seems to be ......."

Tang Ning looked at her with some suspicion, he could see clearly just now, she just took a few steps back normally, without any signs of stumbling------ is this to blackmail money?

Tang Ning looked at her and asked, "Can you still go?" ”

The woman tried to move her steps, shook her head, and said, "No." ”

Sure enough, it was a fraud.

Tang Ning didn't expect that there would be such a discordant thing at the feet of the Son of Heaven, this woman looks like she has an extraordinary temperament and looks very beautiful, if you don't learn well, how can you learn to touch porcelain?

His eyes looked at the woman and asked tentatively, "Why don't I take you to the doctor?" ”

The woman shook her head and said, "No need, I'll live here, why don't you help me upstairs and rest for a while?" ”

Tang Ning understood, this is not touching porcelain, this is an immortal jump.

If he helped this woman into the room, I believe that the next moment a few big men will rush in, saying that he has bullied their sister, and he will report to the official if he does not have a few hundred taels of silver, maybe they have colluded with the government, and he is a foreigner, is he not at their mercy?

Thankfully, he'd seen through their routines.

His face changed, and he suddenly pointed to the woman's feet, and exclaimed, "Girl, there is a snake under your feet!" ”

"Ahh

The woman's face suddenly lost color, and her body moved out horizontally almost instantly, and Tang Ning was stunned when she saw it.

He silently took two steps back and stood beside Peng Chen, judging from her reaction just now, this woman, he couldn't beat it, which also proved that she couldn't have broken her foot just now, and it was very likely that she did it on purpose.

The woman looked at the ground, and after being stunned for a moment, she glared at Tang Ning angrily and asked, "You lied to me?" ”

"Doesn't the girl have no broken feet?" Tang Ning looked at her, sighed, shook his head and said: "Qingben beauty, why ...... from a thief, girl, this is the point of no return, turn back is the shore." ”

After that, he didn't look at the woman again, and went upstairs with Peng Chen.

The woman turned her head and watched their backs disappear, the look of anger on her face instantly replaced by a smile.