Just when there was an endless debate in the palace about the ranking of the top four in the palace examination, Shen Xi, as one of the parties to the incident, was anxiously waiting for news in the Dongsheng Inn......

March 15 is the end of the palace examination, March 16 is the day of the palace examination examination official marking, March 17 should be the day of the release of the list.

According to the previous rules, after noon, the ranking of all candidates should come out, and the list will be released in the afternoon, because the next day is the day of the passing, when all the new science and technology scholars have to enter the palace to worship the Son of Heaven, and some preparations need to be made before worshipping, mainly by the Guozi Supervision to issue champion uniforms and Jinshi uniforms, and candidates should wear a new one to enter the palace.

If you prepare on the day of the passing, it will be too late, so you can only release the list in advance.

Shen Xi got up early this morning, because he really couldn't sleep, not only because the palace test was about to be released, but also because the people in the grain theft case from the treasury yesterday sent a deposit of more than 1,000 taels of silver, which means that the case has developed from the stage of investigation and evidence collection to the arrest of stolen goods.

Zhou Fatzi is in charge of the matter in front of him, as long as the thief confesses the stronghold of storing grain, the court will close the net, because if the case is expanded, it will involve the relatives of the Zhang brothers, even Liu Daxia can't afford to bear such a big responsibility.

Shen Xi had breakfast, just sat down at the desk, and was thinking about what to read today, when Su Tong came to visit, holding an invitation letter from the Li family in his hand.

Yu Niang didn't have a good face for Su Tong, mainly because Su Tong made Shen Xi dangerous the day before yesterday, but today is the day of the palace test list, Yu Niang still allowed Shen Xi's friends to come to visit in order not to make the thieves suspect that Shen Xi lived in the inn for another purpose, just to behave naturally.

As soon as Su Tong arrived at Shen Xi's room, he immediately saluted and confessed: "Brother Shen, the day before yesterday was my fault, I didn't expect it...... Li Gongzi, he is so domineering and unreasonable. But Brother Shen, you really haven't seen Miss Li before? ”

Shen Xi glanced at Su Tong angrily: "Where are I going to see you?" ”

"This is also true, we came to the capital to catch the exam, Brother Shen, you live in a simple place, not to mention ...... The Miss Li family hasn't left the cabinet yet. It's not going to come out and be looked at. ”

Su Tong suddenly had a wicked smile on his face, "But Brother Shen, your painting skills are really good, you hide it but don't reveal it, but you have a good demeanor." It's really ...... Oh, Brother Shen, you saw her true face later, why don't you help me paint two? ”

Su Tong obviously has some interest in Miss Li Er, and wants to rely on Shen Xi's paintings to be obscene.

But if you paint it again, you will really be a prodigal son. Shen Xi shook his head resolutely: "The lights were dim at that time, and I didn't remember her appearance clearly." ”

Su Tong heard that Shen Xi didn't want to help him paint, Shen Xi even painted the people in his dreams vividly, and now that he had seen a real person, the paintings he made must be more vivid, but he felt ashamed and didn't dare to force it, so he had to push the letter over and said: "The Li family knows that I am a lifter and wants to make friends, so they sent an invitation." You and I will each have a penalty, saying that it is to make amends. But I think they want to ask where you came from, or to find out if you've seen Miss Li. ”

Shen Xi didn't even look at it, and pushed it back directly: "Bother Brother Su to help me push it off." ”

Su Tong was a little regretful: "If you go to Li's mansion, you won't be able to see Miss Li, who has a beautiful face and a moon...... Forget it, I'll help Brother Shen push it off. I wish Brother Shen the title of your gold list...... Ranked first, preferably high school champion. ”

Su Tong saw that Shen Xi didn't have the heart to deal with him, and the jade lady next to him had a cold face, and kept squinting at him. I didn't want to be bored here, so I got up and took my leave.

When the people left, Yu Niang said: "It turns out that Shen Gongzi painted Miss Li's Spring Palace ...... the day before yesterday."

Shen Xi's face was slightly embarrassed, Yu Niang was a person in the wind and moon. She didn't know how to shy away from talking at all, or because of her age, she was used to seeing too many things, and there was nothing to avoid, "I guess Shen Gongzi met Miss Li by chance the day before yesterday, so he can draw it as it is?" ”

Yu Niang smiled. She found it very interesting. Shen Xi doesn't paint others. I just drew Miss Li Er, and I almost got into trouble.

Shen Xi didn't answer such an embarrassing question, and asked instead, "Does Yu Niang know about the Li family in the capital?" ”

"The Li family is a big businessman in Beijing, and they have money and grain dealings with the household department, how can they not know? However, it has declined over the years, and it only lives on some real estate, tenant rents, and small transactions, which seems to have the meaning of drawing a clear line with the imperial court......"

Shen Xi nodded slightly, it seemed that the head of the Li family was very cautious, worried that he would get too close to the imperial court and inevitably cause trouble, so he simply relied on renting out fields and real estate, and then operated businesses such as wine shops and tea houses to make a living. Anyway, if you have a house and land in these years, you can rest assured that the landlord will not lose money.

Before Yu Niang went out, she reminded again: "Shen Gongzi had better make some preparations, if it is not bad as expected, after noon, the Ministry of Rites will release the list, and the newspaper will come again." ”

Shen Xi nodded, picked up the book casually to pass the time, and just waited for the results of the palace test list to be released.

……

……

On March 17, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the examiners of the Huagai Hall could finally come out and rest a little.

It was originally a simple ranking of the top ten in the palace examination, but because I didn't know who the exam paper was, it was extremely complicated, and the final judgment of the Tanhua roll and the first place paper of the second class was also very subjective, because the two articles were really indistinguishable, but two sentences in one of the articles were out of place, with a little extreme emotion in it, and he was sentenced to a fourth.

This sentence is tantamount to driving this person out of the Hanlin Academy.

Coming out of the Huagai Palace, Wang Wei, the young Zhan Shi of the Zhan Mansion and the scholar of the Hanlin Academy, walked a few steps quickly to catch up with Li Dongyang and asked, "Why didn't Scholar Li tell His Majesty who the candidates for each paper were?" ”

Li Dongyang glanced at Wang Wei, looking a little impatient. At the end of this morning, Li Dongyang's mouth was dry for a long time, but now it is only the end of the first half. After a simple meal and drink, you will return to the Huagai Palace, and under the supervision of the emperor, you will open the seal of the top ten examination papers of the palace examination, and open the papers in turn.

When the list is released in the afternoon, it is necessary to ask the Shuntian Mansion to assist in reporting the good news, and on the second day, the new branch Jinshi enters the palace, and even needs to be accompanied by the Shuntian Mansion Yin himself. When announcing the good news, it is necessary to distribute the clothes that the candidates will wear in the coming day, because the champion clothes and Jinshi uniforms are ready-to-wear, and if they do not fit, they must be changed as appropriate......

A palace test is actually a test of the relevant functions of the imperial court, and there can be no mistakes in all links.

Li Dongyang didn't say anything, and went directly to the outside of the hall.

Wang Wei was a little resentful in his heart, although Li Dongyang was a cabinet scholar, there was no harmony between the court officials. He was mainly dissatisfied with Li Dongyang's evasion of the Son of Heaven's questioning just now.

Xie Qian smiled and said, "Jizhi, don't be embarrassed, if we know who made those four volumes, won't we remind Your Majesty?" ”

Wang Wei was slightly stunned. Only then did he know that even the chief examiner, Li Dongyang, didn't know who the four exam papers came from. Wang Wei asked in surprise: "Then Scholar Li still recommends the third volume as the list?" ”

Xie Qian spread his hands with a smile, obviously there were some things that could not be said explicitly.

Xie Qian himself has been the chief examiner of the Ministry of Rites, and he knows much more about the unspoken rules of the Ministry of Rites than others, even if the examiner knows which exam paper was written by whom, he must remind the emperor. You have to be as tactful as possible, and if you say it directly, it's about the same as a fixed ranking.

And this time, Li Dongyang was also in a hurry to recommend Lun Wenxu as a role model, in fact, he had already committed a taboo, this is the reason why Li Dongyang's black face is black, it's not that he doesn't want to share the emperor's worries, but he can't do anything before opening the seal.

After lunch, the fourteen palace examination examiners returned to the Huagai Palace, and the next thing was to open the top ten palace examination papers in front of the emperor.

In fact, five to ten are the specific ones. No one cares anymore, just look at where the top four are.

Originally, the top ten rankings could only be known after the opening of the palace examination, but due to the existence of unspoken rules, there have been many palace examinations that have not known the top three rankings after the examination.

In fact, the main reason is that the three exam papers are messed up.

Under the supervision of Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youji, the examination papers were opened by the fang officials, starting from the tenth place, and then going up, the tenth was Wang Shouren, and the fifth was Liu Long. Basically no one cares about the other rankings.

When it came to the fourth place, all the examiners present were angry...... We were tossed by the emperor all morning to determine the ranking, but we wanted to see who these four people were.

Many people want to come, if nothing else. The fourth place should be Yuan Shenxi.

Although Shen Xi won the first place in the Ministry of Rites examination, after all, he was young and shallow, and in the palace examination to answer the question of the Son of Heaven, it was already very good to be able to get the fourth, not to mention that it was obtained in a situation where it was difficult to distinguish between the two, and it was not unjust to lose. It's just a little biased in the discussion.

When the fang official opened the seal, Zhu Youzhu watched intently, and even the emperor wanted to know how these four people were ranked.

As a result, the fourth place was not Shen Xi, but Sun Xu, who was known for his arrogance.

"Gucheng County, Sun Xu, Great-Grandfather ......"

After the examination paper is opened, there is the candidate's place of origin, name and three generations of resumes, and the three generations of resumes must be specially indicated whether they are officials, and some of the three generations are imprisoned for criminal cases, and the descendants are not even qualified to take the imperial examination.

Hearing that the fourth place was Sun Xu, Li Dongyang showed a relieved smile on his face, which showed that his judgment was correct, and in the end, he hesitated for a long time in the third and fourth places, but he deliberately found out the bias in the fourth place article.

In the eyes of others, the bias and radicalism in the discussion should be a common mistake made by Shen Xi as a young descendant, but Li Dongyang realized that this way of discussing is actually more in line with Sun Xu's arrogant character.

As long as the fourth place is certain, in Li Dongyang's heart, this ranking is more reliable.

Fengxi champion, Lun Wenxu Bangyan, Shen Xi Tanhua...... Even if Feng Xi has a little problem with his legs and feet, it should be regarded as the imperial court's selection of people who do not shy away from the disabled, at least it has a certain positive propaganda effect on the reputation of the imperial court.

The fourth place, that is, the first place in the second class of the palace examination, ended with Sun Xu's filling in the list, followed by the third place exam paper.

When everyone felt that this third place must be Shen Xi, the seal was immediately opened.

"Yin County, Fengxi ......"

When the room official announced, there was a dead silence in the canopy hall.

What Wang Wei and the others thought was that Shen Xi, who knew how to test Huiyuan and was once involved in the case, had such a ability to be on the list?

And the three cabinet scholars Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian glanced at each other, and they all saw the horror in each other's eyes, because even they didn't believe it, the champion scroll that made the Son of Heaven admired was actually from the thirteen-year-old boy Lang Shenxi?

**********

PS: The third update is here!

After the code word, the Son of Heaven found out that there were already 176 monthly passes and 100 people to reward today, and I didn't say it, there is still a chapter tonight!

Thank you for your love, the Son of Heaven code word went, continue to ask for subscriptions, tips, recommended tickets and monthly passes! (To be continued.) )