Ning Jiang also went to the Zheng Mansion to visit Bai Zijin's grandmother, Mrs. Feng.

At this time, Mrs. Feng's health was getting worse and worse, especially after a fall in early August, and it was even difficult to get out of bed.

Bai Zijin didn't talk much about the accident of Old Madam Feng, but there was a look of indignation between his eyebrows, it didn't seem to be an ordinary accident, but since Bai Zijin didn't say it, Ning Jiang naturally didn't ask much, and there were some things that he couldn't help.

Seeing Ning Jiang, Old Madam Feng was very grateful.

How can she not know about the cold reception and cold eyes that her grandson received in the Zheng Mansion? Recalling the time when the hundred schools were still in the limelight in the past, Zheng An at that time had not yet been promoted to the rank of Guanglu doctor, and how he was flattering and close to the hundred schools was just a few years.

On the contrary, Ning Jiang, who obviously has no friendship with her family, often helps wholeheartedly, and often instructs her grandchildren in schoolwork.

"Jin'er, the most difficult thing about being a man is not the icing on the cake, but the charcoal in the snow," that night, Mrs. Feng warned her grandson, "No matter whether you can have a career in the future, Ning Gongzi helped you when you were the most depressed, this is the kindness we owe him, I Guan Ning Gongzi, he will be a person with great achievements in the future, but this kindness, no matter whether you can repay him in the future, we must always keep it in mind, this is our duty to be a hundred people." ”

"Grandma, grandma knows!" Baizijin washed his grandmother's feet and said.

Old Madam Feng let out a long sigh: "Jin'er, about your marriage contract with Xiuxiu......"

Bai Zijin said in a low voice: "Grandma, about the marriage contract, the grandson has already promised the Zheng family, if this state examination, can not be admitted to the first class, he will take the initiative to dissolve the marriage, the grandson did not have grandma's consent, I decided to come down without your consent, sorry, grandma." ”

Old Madam Feng said helplessly: "Alas...... That's fine. ”

Bai Zijin dried his grandmother's feet, helped her to the bed, came out of the window by himself, and looked at the moonlight outside: "Grandma, don't worry, my grandson will definitely be able to get into the first class, not to cling to anyone, not to marry anyone, just to ...... No longer to be looked down upon!! ”

In September, after three months of drought, it began to rain wildly.

In the distance, Kongshan was as bright red as a flame in the rain, and that morning, Ning Jiang and Bai Zijin were flipping through books in the academy.

Ningjiang analyzed the past ten or so state examination questions one by one, and then summarized them, summed up the most likely direction of the questions for key review, and at the same time, he was also analyzing the Hanlin who might be sent down by the imperial court to mark the papers, as well as the bias of Tongzhou Taishou and others to take the papers, and then carried out targeted exercises.

Such an opportunistic way will naturally be criticized if it is known by those professors and scripture teachers who read the books of the sages, just because this practice is completely for the sake of exams, and it is not in line with the "way of the sages".

Ning Jiang naturally didn't care so much.

Of course, they won't do this openly, lest those Confucian officials and imperial historians seize this point and criticize it.

Showers continued to fall, and the water level of Lok Pei Lake dropped a lot in the past few months, and it began to rise slowly.

By Luopei Lake, in the courtyard, under the eaves, Ning Xiaomeng practiced swordsmanship in the aisle, with seven stars under her feet, the sword light of the brush, between the rain curtain and the wooden wall, a sword shook open, like a hundred birds throwing into the forest, but only saw the sword light and did not see the figure.

Fast, fast! Suddenly, she put away her sword, held the sword upside down, stood behind the rain curtain, raised her pretty face and looked at the misty dark clouds in the sky, the lightning between the clouds, as if a god was stirring in the black clouds with a weapon.

She thought that after this month, her brother would be able to take her to the capital.

I don't know what the capital is like.

***

At the gate of Tongzhou City, a group of scholars, dressed in robes, rushed into the city gate in the rain, and the soldiers guarding the city checked their documents one by one.

With the approach of the triennial state examination, the county schools of various counties, or the talents who work hard at home, arrive in batches, and the inns in Tongzhou are already overcrowded, and some people's empty houses have also been rented out.

Running through the Xiechuan River in Tongzhou City, the flower boats began to assemble, and the place where the talents gathered was also the best place for their business, especially after the release of the list, the talents in the examination treated each other and held a feast.

Of course, in this kind of land of fireworks and moons, it doesn't matter how many women they want, whether they really know each other or not, they will always make him feel confidant.

On the side of the Xiechuan River, in the luxurious mansion, Dr. Jin Ziguanglu was discussing with his wife.

Huangfu said: "Master, how can you promise the ancestors and grandchildren of the hundred families that if Bai Zijin enters the first class in the state examination, let him marry our family's Xiuxiu?" Even if he is admitted to the first class, he is still a lifter, how can he be worthy of our family's Xiuxiu? ”

Zheng An said: "Madam, do you think, there are three classes in the state examination list, and when Bai Zijin was in the government examination, it was just the end of the epiphysis, just a few months, no matter how hard he worked, I am afraid that he will not be able to win the lift, and if he wants to be admitted to the first class, isn't that a fool's dream?" Then again, if he can really be so motivated and get into the first class, then what if he marries our daughter? has the strength to advance to the first level, maybe he can really get into the jinshi next year, even if he can't get in, with my connections, go through some relationships, let him enter the country, come out in three years, there is always a way for him to stay in the capital to be a Beijing official, and it will not make our daughter suffer. ”

then smiled: "But if he can't pass the exam or can't win, it's because he has no ability, it's not us who forced him, in this way, his marriage contract with Xiuxiu will be dissolved, wouldn't it be simpler?" ”

Huangfu said: "Sure enough, it's still the master, you think thoughtfully." ”

In Tang Yu Academy, Ning Jiang also knew the agreement between Bai Zijin and the Zheng family, he looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and said with a smile: "Wait! ”

Bai Zijin resolutely said: "If it was a few months ago, don't say it's first-class, it's third-class, and I don't think I can do it." At that time, the younger brother was only the end of all lives, but now, I am quite confident and fully resistant to Brother Ningjiang's teachings. ”

Ning Jiang said with a smile: "I didn't help you anything, you can only rely on yourself for such a thing as studying, Zijin, if you don't want to learn yourself, no matter how much others teach, it's useless." However, I also believe that Zijin will definitely be able to enter the first class. ”

By noon, the rain showed no signs of stopping, and the two put away their notes and books and walked outside.

There are only three days left for the state exam, and at this time, there are no more lectures and lectures in the state school, but many students are still studying hard in the college, after all, there is always a more reading atmosphere in the college.

In the corner on the other side, Gan Lie, Zheng Xiang, Lu Zhiyuan and others gathered together and looked at the backs of Ning Jiang and Bai Zijin.

These days, Gan Lie has not gone to trouble Ning Jiang and Bai Zijin again, after all, the state test is approaching, and he does not have that leisure. As for Zheng Xiang, he had already given up this state exam, but he was more leisurely than others.

Lu Zhiyuan said: "Brother Zheng, I heard that after this state test, Baizijin is going to marry Ling Mei?" A month ago, he had given his sister to Zheng Xiang as a concubine, and at this moment, he was naturally more concerned about the affairs of the Zheng family.

Zheng Xiang sneered: "If he passes the first-class exam, the sister-in-law will marry him, and if he can't pass the first-class exam, the marriage contract will be dissolved, and he can't rely on it." ”

Lu Zhiyuan said with a smile: "Bai Zijin was in the government examination five months ago, but it was the end of epiphysis, right?" In such a short period of a few months, where did he get the confidence to be admitted to the first class? ”

Zheng Xiang said with a smile: "He wants to humiliate himself, so it's no wonder that our Zheng family is ruthless and unjust." "Zheng Xiang himself is an enlarged student, and he still doesn't have the confidence to be lifted, how can he believe that Bai Zijin, an epitute who is barely enough to get to the end of the car, can be admitted to the state examination?

Gan Lie glanced at the backs of Ning Jiang and Bai Zijin, and flipped through the books with some boredom, hating that he was not born hundreds of years ago, when the eldest son of a high-ranking official could also be a high-ranking official in the hereditary era when he was a scholar and a high-ranking official.

As for now, relying on his father's status and his status as a showman, spending a lot of money, at most he can shade a petty official of seven or eight grades.

In the final analysis, my father is useless, he has been mixed in the officialdom for many years, and he is only a knowledgeable army in a peaceful place like Tongzhou, if he can establish meritorious service in the frontier or in that kind of riotous place, and be awarded a hereditary reduced national duke or county duke, then he can at least be a founding man or a founding son or something, why is it so troublesome?

The showers are still falling, crazy, rampant, the world is hot and cold, and the world is all kinds of things, just washing over and over again in this torrential rain......

***

Ning Jiang and Bai Zijin, each holding an oil umbrella, separated in front of the academy.

Ningjiang walked to the edge of Luopei Lake, the rain made the oil umbrella rattle, around him, the rain particles densely knocked on the ground, the distant Kongshan Mountain, as if it had been washed in the heavy rain, more bright red, the fields on the side of the road, the rain hit the ditch, converged into a stream, in the criss-crossing field, divided the harvested rice stalks.

On the side of the road in front of him, a man with his back pressed against a large tree, carried a sharp knife upside down in his right hand, with strips of cloth tied to the hilt and a cowhide rope tied to his wrist.

The young man on the edge of the field, holding an oil umbrella in his left hand, slowly passed in front of the tree.

The man turned his head and looked at the young man's back, and the arm carrying the knife moved, almost pounced on him and assassinated the young man.

However, at this moment, he couldn't help but hesitate, just because of this knife, he would die from now on. For the sake of Lord Cao, who once reused him, he did not hesitate to risk his life...... However, is it really worth it to live a life of fleeing for a lifetime, no one is a ghost or a ghost, living a life in fear, and worrying about being arrested anytime and anywhere?

He hesitated, he hesitated, and eventually, the boy walked farther and farther away, until even his back was blurred in the showers.

The original catcher stabbed the tree fiercely, untied the cowhide rope on his wrist, and left Tongzhou in the rain and went over the mountain.

The sharp knife stuck in the trunk of the tree, and the rain ran down the bark, washing its bloodless blade.

The young man who walked towards the lake shrugged his shoulders and quietly put away the mysterious syringe hidden in the sleeve of his right hand, knowing that he no longer had to worry about the man.

Righteousness is heavy on life and death...... It's easy to say, but how many people can really do it?

He came to the shore of Luopei Lake, in front of the house, his sister in an autumn-colored shirt poked her head out under the canopy at the main entrance of the outer wall, and saw him coming back, so she waved to him excitedly.

And at the same time, at a certain wine shop by the Xiechuan River, with a bang, two big men wrapped in a curtain flew out of the inside, fell on the street, and curled up in pain in the shower.

Immediately after two bangs, a simple knife and a meteor hammer were thrown beside them, and a woman in her early teens walked from the middle of the house, only to see her, dressed in red, with arrow sleeves and long boots, and tall.

Glancing at the two of them, who were already in pain, they walked into the rain, untied a horse tied to a stake, and straddled away.

At the moment when she shook the whip, the rain splashed, and the passing boy named Bai Zijin dodged in panic.

He turned around with an umbrella and stared blankly at the back of the woman in red galloping away in the pouring rain. Behind him, a group of people with knives and sticks rushed from the street, some helped up the two men who fell to the ground, and some chased after the red-clothed woman who gradually disappeared into the rain with anger but weakness.

The showers are falling, it is falling crazy, it is falling rampantly, people are warm and cold, fate is scattered, and different people are constantly staging in this rainstorm, called the drama of life.

The days have passed like this, and the state examination has finally arrived after three years......