Under the leadership of King Shin, the group slowly boarded the beautiful painting boat.

This is the first time Ye Qing has boarded the royal exclusive painting boat, and it is also the first time to visit the night beauty of West Lake after coming to the Southern Song Dynasty.

The sound of the orchestra began the moment Nobuo stepped on the boat, and it sounded like a welcome song on the spacious second floor of the boat.

The palace lights are bright, the palace maid is light makeup, a silk dress is dancing, graceful and graceful, multifaceted and soft, the music is harmonious, euphemistic but not complaining, beautiful but not pitiful, its artistic conception is very in line with the liveliness of the Shangyuan Festival, and the prosperity and comfort under the rule of the Zhao and Song royal families.

King Xin obviously knew very well that Ye Qing had just made a marriage with Yan Qingcheng, so after everyone sat down, he first picked up his wine glass and said hello to Ye Qing.

Ye Qing, who got up in a hurry, raised his glass and drank it all to King Xin, and swept over the rest of the people, as well as the two daughters who were whispering with Princess Xin at this time, and then drank three cups in a row at the insistence of King Xin.

Under the orchestra and graceful dancing, everyone either raised their glasses or looked at the palace maid dancing on the carpet, while Ye Qing's eyes were always looking at the lake and the painting boat passing by from time to time.

All of this is new to him, at the beginning of the integration into the life of the people of the Southern Song Dynasty, the freshness is gradually fading, and he was appointed by Zhao Gou inexplicably, and then gradually with the improvement of his status, I have to say that the unique desires and ambitions of human beings also made Ye Qing more and more curious about the life of the upper nobles.

So at this time, looking at the scene in front of him and everything on the colorful lake, he once again felt as if he was in another world, a world completely isolated from the ordinary people of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Comfort, luxury, pleasure, and leisurely are like the theme words of the upper-class aristocratic society, in their world, or in the depths of their hearts, in the context of poetry and poetry and the prosperity of the peace, and everywhere reveal a negative state similar to the Wei and Jin dynasties, the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest".

Ye Qing watched Zhu Xi and Lu Zuqian talking with King Xin, especially when he looked at Xin Qiji, and looked at Zhu Xi with admiration from time to time, Ye Qing couldn't help but wonder, after Song Nandu, so many "laymen" who emerged in the literary world were somewhat similar to the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest" in the Wei and Jin dynasties, like the ostrich mentality?

and the late Tang Luoyin's "Self-Dispatch": "When you get it, you sing and you don't rest, and you are sad and hateful." There is wine today, drunk today, and sorrow tomorrow comes. ”

It is more like a true portrayal of the Zhao and Song royal family's passable and unenterprising state.

Ye Qing, who had been thinking wildly, didn't notice at all that the gossip of King Xin and the others had been transferred to this year's provincial test.

With Xin Qiji next to him, he suddenly picked up his wine glass and asked Ye Qing, when he was interested in participating in the provincial test this year, Ye Qing only reacted at this time.

"Me?" Ye Qing took the wine glass and drank it all, looked at Xin Qiji's serious nod, and said with a wry smile: "The biggest advantage of this person is that I am self-aware, so even if I can skip the state test and directly participate in the provincial test, I have no interest." ”

"But isn't Lord Ye burying his talent like this? Today, Xia Guan made the first half of "Qingyu Case: Yuan Xi", but Lord Ye was able to make the second half of the ...... as Xia Guan thought when he looked back. Xin Qiji wondered.

Since Ye Qing took over the second half of him, although Xin Qiji didn't show anything on the surface, he was still extremely curious in his heart, and while admiring Ye Qing's talent, he also had a little unwillingness and doubt.

He never thought that someone would be able to come up with the same second half as he had in his heart in a very short time, which always made him feel as if a glass of wine that he was going to drink and intoxicate himself was suddenly snatched out of his hand and half poured out, which was both sad and regretful.

Ye Qing smiled mysteriously and said, "Lord Xin doesn't believe it, in fact, I can read minds, so I can quickly pick up the second half of what you think." ”

Xin Qiji shook his head and smiled, then picked up his wine glass again, no longer dwelling on a word, but continued to ask Ye Qing again Doesn't he plan to participate in the imperial examination?

Ye Qing still shook his head, and at this time, he heard the conversation between King Xin and Zhu Xi.

"What do you think the provincial exam should be done this year, sir?" King Shin asked with a smile.

"Naturally, it is the first to believe in the king, and the saint trusts the king of the letter, so that the king of faith has full authority to preside over the provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites this year. Zhu Xi said with a smile.

In Ye Qing's ears, Zhu Xi's statement was more like a letter to the king and an important position.

has no intention of pursuing a career, but has an intention of an official position, this kind of contradiction and entanglement embodied in Zhu Xi's body is like hypocrisy in Ye Qing's eyes.

King Xin didn't seem to care about Zhu Xi's hypocrisy, in his opinion, since Zhu Xi and Lu Zuqian agreed to his invitation very happily, then he would naturally agree, and now he is talking like this, I'm afraid it is still in the position of a bachelor that he aspires to get.

So King Xin smiled and said, "Sir, you might as well serve as an examiner first, and after this year's provincial examination and palace examination are successful, how about this king to perform to the saint again?" ”

"Believe in Wang Yingming, so that Mr. can become famous, and with Mr.'s prestige and influence, I think I will definitely be able to help me in the Great Song Dynasty and admit talented students to the office." Lu Zuqian hurriedly agreed for Zhu Xi.

And Zhu Xi next to him pretended to be helpless, sighed slightly, glanced at Lu Zuqian with seemingly reproachful eyes, and then nodded and agreed.

Seeing that Zhu Xi had agreed, King Xin naturally turned his gaze to Ye Qing and asked, "Scholar Ye thinks it's good to be like this?" ”

As soon as King Xin's words came out, not only Ye Qing was a little confused, but Zhu Xi, Lu Zuqian, Xin Qiji and others were a little confused.

"I ...... I have no opinion, Mr. Zhu is rich in five cars and talented in eight buckets, and the lower officials feel that serving as an examiner is a bit condescending, and it should be Mr. Zhu who makes the questions. Ye Qing didn't think that the imperial examination had anything to do with him.

What's more, he himself was somewhat prejudiced against the literati of the Southern Song Dynasty, so he wished that Zhu Xi would be the examiner to "persecute" the scholars who took the provincial examination this year.

Zhu Xi originally thought that Ye Qing would not agree, but he didn't expect Ye Qing to raise his hands in agreement, but after being stunned for a moment, the smile on his face instantly became much more natural.

King Xin continued to smile, turning his head and not knowing what to say to Zhang Dadao next to him.

There weren't a lot of serious things on the painting boat, not to mention that even if there were, it didn't have much to do with Ye Qing, so after a while, when they began to discuss the details of the provincial test, Ye Qing complained to King Xin and walked around the painting boat alone.

Bai Chun and Yan Chengcheng, as early as when King Xin was talking about the provincial test, they had already been taken down the second floor of the painting boat by Princess Xin, and they didn't know what they were talking about in the hall on the first floor.

Ye Qing, who passed by from the entrance of the first floor, was obviously impossible to enter inside, and the palace maids and eunuchs standing at the door did not know Ye Qing's identity, but in their opinion, since they could become the guests of King Xin, they must be people of noble status.

So after saluting Ye Qing, who glanced inside, he was about to go in to pay respects, but was stopped by Ye Qing, and then walked towards the stern of the boat.

After standing at the stern of the boat, there was a sound of heavy footsteps behind him, and when he turned around and leaned against the side of the boat, he saw Xin Qi, who was not smiling, walking towards him.

"What's the matter, Lord Xin can't sit still on it?" Ye Qing smiled and took the lead in speaking.

"It's inconvenient for the lower officials to listen carefully to the details of the imperial examination, not to mention that Lord Ye also came down to see the scenery because of this?" Xin Qiji's large bones, coupled with the temperament honed in the military in the early years, make him look more like a military general with unique skills than a literati and ink writer.

"Xia Guan once heard that Lord Yu Yunwen talked about Lord Ye, including the beginning and end of the Yangzhou incident, and he also admired Lord Ye very much. What's even more commendable is that Lord Ye's attitude towards Jin Ren made Xia Guan even more admired. Xin Qiji didn't seem to be able to laugh, and said lightly with a straight face.

This made Ye Qing sound more useful than those compliments that accompanied the smiling face before speaking.

"Where is it, if I remember correctly, Lord Xin joined the army in his early years, hoping to be able to fight against Jin like Yue Wumu and kill the enemy to serve the country, right?" Ye Qing said with a smile.

A trace of loneliness flashed in Xin Qiji's eyes, and after a pause, he said: "That's right, Xiaguan's heart to resist gold has never been dispersed for half a minute, but he is helpless...... After all, it is unwilling. ”

"It is not anything else that supervises the impeachment of the imperial historian Yin Sui, but your residence, after your mansion has been built and named Jiaxuan, the two impeachment chapters for you have been in the hands of the Emperor Taishang and the Holy Emperor respectively." Ye Qing was still leaning his back against the side of the boat, looking at Xin Qiji, whose brows were tightly locked, and continued to ask, "Is it Lord Lu Shaoqing who asked you to find me?" Or is it really Lord Xin'....... ”

"Yes, it was Lu Zujian Shaoqing who signaled the lower officials to come down to find you, but it was not the matter of the lower officials, but just let the lower officials tell you that if Lord Ye has free time recently, you might as well read more sage books." Xin Qiji said calmly.

Ye Qing was inexplicable when he heard it, and looked at Xin Qiji's old-fashioned cheeks: "Do you know? Today you are the second person to say that I should read, don't I look so much like a reader? ”

"I can't tell if the adult is a scholar or not, and it's the same for the lower officials, if you don't say the name of the lower official, no one knows that the lower official can write words." The corners of Xin Qiji's mouth twitched, which could be regarded as a smile.

"Drunk to pick up the lamp to look at the sword, dream back to blow the horn company camp. Eight hundred miles under his command...... Yu Yunwen told me, he said that after you separated from your friend Chen Liang, you wrote this poem, but ...... Whether it has something to do with Wei Guogong or not, I don't know. Ye Qing looked at Xin Qiji and said lightly.

Xin Qiji was dismissed several times in his life, and the last time was activated by Han Yanzhou, but at that time, Xin Qiji was already forty out of sixty.

Xin Qiji sighed softly, then looked at the lake and said: "In the early years, Xia Guan once wrote the "Ten Treatises on Mei Qin" and "Nine Discussions", and the imperial court was the minister of Wei at that time, perhaps because of these, so he vetoed Xia Guan's anti-Jin and the discussion of the military system. ”

Ye Qing nodded silently without speaking, he somewhat understood why Xin Qiji appeared in Lin'an, and Yin Sui would impeach Xin Qiji.