"Third brother, the Jinshi ...... you participated in" Han Rui's tone was heavy, and he said helplessly: "I inquired, and I vaguely heard some rumors, the ranking has been decided, among which ......"

"How?" Qian Feng asked in a trembling voice, full of bitter taste.

There is no way, the scholars of the Tang Dynasty want to win the champion, the imperial examination and the first, unlike the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, first by the county, state, government screening, and then by the provinces screening, and then participate in the examination hall examination, hand-picked by the emperor, relatively fair, but elected by the locality, directly to Beijing to participate in the provincial examination presided over by Shangshu Province, the examination system is not perfect, the rules are full of loopholes, sometimes the examination has not yet begun, who is the leader, who is in the ranking, have already set the list, the exam is just a formality.

In particular, there is no restriction on the identity of the reference scholars, the families of the big families, the children of high-ranking officials and magnates do not need to say much, and even the children of the royal clan also come to join in the fun, and the number of places admitted every year is limited, which is not enough for them to share, like Qian Feng, ordinary people who have real talents and learning, but do not have much background, it is also very normal for people to be squeezed out of the list.

Thinking of this, Qian Feng was disheartened, stunned, his hand slipped, and the scroll fell and he didn't pick it up, but the results came out, what kind of book did he read, his heart was sour, tears slowly overflowed his eyes, and when he was about to drip, he heard Han Rui smile brightly: "Among them, don't be delusional, it's probably at the end of the list, more than thirty." ”

What, from heaven to hell, and then from hell back to heaven, the speed of change was too fast, Qian Feng couldn't react, looked at Han Rui blankly, a tear passed from his cheeks, dripped on the silk, swayed, slowly melted, and there was no trace.

Han Rui smiled and said: "Third brother, calm down, calm down, just cry with joy, don't get too excited, become Fan Jin's ......"

Consciousness drifted away, and slowly pulled back, stunned for a while, Qian Feng came back to his senses, and quickly stretched out his hand to wipe away his tears, with a look of anger and anger, and scolded: "Twenty-one Lang, when is it, you actually make such a joke on me......"

After complaining, Qian Feng said strangely: "By the way, who is Fan Jin?" ”

"A poor man." Han Rui smiled, his tone was serious, and he slowly said: "I heard that there was a poor scholar who began to participate in the imperial examination during the Great Cause year, until the beginning of Zhenguan, the poor Shouhao had been a lifetime, and he had not been successful, for a year, the examiner took pity on his old age, was kind, and admitted him, but he didn't expect that when he heard the news, Fan Jin actually ......."

"What's wrong with him?" Qian Feng asked, a little stunned in his heart.

Han Rui's expression was normal, and he said lightly: "...... Overjoyed, confused, and crazy. ”

"Isn't it?" Qian Feng doubted, his face was a little unsightly, it was just the imperial examination, and it was nothing if he failed the exam, it was a big deal to find another way out, there was no need to spoil himself like this.

"Fake." Han Rui replied simply, and said with a smile: "Lie to you, if there is such a thing, the world will already spread it, why do you need me to tell you." ”

"Twenty-one Lang......" Qian Feng was a little annoyed and asked, "What do you mean?" ”

"What do you mean?" Han Rui's voice was high, and he directly pulled Qian Feng to the front of the mirror, and said angrily: "Look at yourself, what has become of you, no one is a person, no ghost is not a ghost, you are in a trance, you look haggard, this is the case before the exam, if you really win, I am afraid you will end up in the same fate." ”

Ah, Qian Feng looked forward to the mirror, stroked his swollen eyes twice, he was startled, thinking of the serious consequences, he couldn't help but shudder, he was really crazy, what is the meaning of living in the world.

"You know, I'm scared." Han Rui sighed and said: "Seeing your current appearance, my uncle and aunt are anxious, for the sake of fame and future, they have caused their parents to worry about fatigue and unfilial piety. ”

I have to say that the ancient people's hearts were simple, and their understanding of filial piety was far greater than that of later generations, Han Rui just sighed casually, but he didn't expect that these words were like ten thousand arrows piercing his heart, making Qian Feng feel painful and remorseful, and he ran ......away, "Third brother, where are you going." Han Rui was puzzled, and he was about to hurry, when he heard Qian Feng's howling and crying outside the house, words of repentance, and Qian Xuzheng's consolation, one after another.

It seems that the problem has been solved, Han Rui breathed a sigh of relief, and did not go out to disturb, after a long time, a family of three walked in, Qian Feng's eyes were red, a little shy, solemnly saluted, and before he could speak, he let Han Rui help him up, and said first: "The family doesn't talk about the two families, and between the brothers, they don't like this." ”

Qian Xu and Zheng looked at each other and smiled, carried Qian Feng back to the bed, and covered his body, Han Rui said softly: "Third brother, you don't need to say anything, what you need to do now is to have a good rest, sleep for a few days and nights, and recuperate, otherwise you will really enter the examination room, let alone answer, I'm afraid you won't even be able to hold the brush." ”

Qian Xu and Zheng deeply thought so, now Qian Feng is very weak, and he even needs to be supported when he walks, and he really has to recuperate, in the final analysis, it is still the son who is important, as for whether he is in the middle or not, after this toss, they are downplayed. Qian Feng was as good as a stream, closed his eyes, and muttered: "Twenty-one Lang, the last question, is it fake that I am on the list?" ”

"Absolutely." Han Rui said categorically.

"Only fools believe it." Qian Feng muttered, twisted his body, and the even snoring sound slowly floated out, and he fell asleep in an instant, a happy smile hung on the corner of his mouth, very peaceful.

Quietly walked out of the room, and when he arrived in the hall, Qian Xu said with relief: "Twenty-one Lang, thanks to you, otherwise ......"

"The third brother is also more serious for a while, just think about it, it's okay." Han Rui said, he didn't dare to take credit, but Qian Feng himself could figure it out, otherwise no matter how much others persuaded him, it might not work.

"You talk, I'll go to the kitchen and prepare the meal." Zheng smiled, Ying Ying left, thinking about what dishes to make for her son, they were all thin and skinny, and they must be made up...... Every once in a while, I went to observe Qian Feng's situation, and after an hour, I made sure that he was sleeping peacefully, and there was no sign of waking up, and everyone was relieved, after all, he still had to go to work, so when the twilight was approaching, Han Rui returned to Zheng's mansion, and for several days, all he got was the news that Qian Feng was healthy, energetic, and safe, which was completely reassuring.

Finally, the much-anticipated imperial examination, as scheduled, the sky is not transparent, the capital candidates gathered, because there is no ready-made tribute academy, the examination sites are temporarily designated, a year to change places, there is no quasi, so they will be concentrated in the imperial city of Shangshu Province, unified security checks, check identity, confirm the number...... Fortunately, at this moment, the candidates are either nervous and confused, or calm as usual, and some people are more confident, nine out of ten, and they don't feel tired, but this kind of thing naturally has nothing to do with Han Rui, he is in the secretary and supervisor, and he is not on the edge of the imperial examination.

However, while a few chief officials were listening to the government, a group of colleagues also chatted with great interest.

"It's also sad, thousands of people refer to it, about 1,000 people get the first 112, the Ming Jing is doubled, the 11th and 2th, the talent and the handsome are the most difficult, and sometimes no one has taken the test." Someone chuckled and said: "Counting, the simplest is the children's department, but unfortunately only children under the age of ten are allowed to refer to it, which makes people sigh bitterly, back then, I also wanted to participate." ”

In fact, among a group of officials, there are very few who are really born in the imperial examination, and the same is true for the hundred officials in the imperial court, most of them are officials through other means, and the imperial examination officials have not yet formed a climate, but with their own efforts, the officials of the Jinshi and Denglongmen are naturally respected by the world, and Shangguanyi is like this, Zhenguan Jinshi and the first in the first year, and now he is a six-grade official, and the speed of promotion is not slow.

"Let's guess, who will be the flower this year?"

"I heard that it has been decided, but I don't know who it is, but I haven't seen the news come out."

"Does anyone know which son-in-law of the court family will participate in the imperial examination this year?"

Everyone speculated, Han Rui listened carefully, but he didn't participate in it, others asked, just vaguely responded, but his hand did not stop, he took a brush to copy and write, and it was good to pretend, it turned out that Han Rui was right, only to hear a heavy cough, the author Lang Xiao Deyan walked in, his face was silent, just stared at everyone silently, all kinds of voices stopped abruptly, a group of officials immediately bowed their heads, the official office was silent, and the needle drop could be heard.

Looking around, Xiao Deyan said lightly: "Han Xiaoshu ......"

No, he was criticized for not opening his mouth, Han Rui was stunned, and found that Xiao Deyan had named other people's names again, so he was relieved, and only heard Xiao Deyan say: "You come out with me." ”

Everyone was puzzled, so did Han Rui and the others, they went out with them, only to see Xiao Deyan just walking forward, and it was not easy to block the way to ask, so they had to follow all the way, out of the secretary and prison, and around the corner, they came to the vicinity of Shangshu Province.

At this time, the Confucian scholars gathered here, and thousands of military guards were transferred to maintain order, which was also quite lively, but in the imperial city, everyone did not dare to be too noisy and disturbed, but it also seemed orderly.

"There are a large number of tributes, and the Ministry of Rites is understaffed, so I seconded a few of you to come here to help invigilate the exam." Xiao Deyan gave an explanation, took them into the official office of the Ministry of Rites, explained a few words, and left.

"Proctoring?" Han Rui looked weird, this is okay.

After a while, the arrangement of several ceremonial officials shattered some of Han Rui's thoughts, and through the method of drawing lots, they determined the examination room for their invigilation, and then explained some rules of invigilation, and then sent them to work.

Under the guidance of the officials, Han Rui came to the room where he invigilated, there were about thirty or fifty people inside, a plan, a straw mat, sitting in the open air, it was also quite hard, Han Rui sighed, walked in, turned around twice, quietly looked carefully, and found that he didn't know anyone, so he completely gave up.

After a while, a drum sounded, and the officials rushed over, presenting the test questions, Han Rui took them to watch, and found that he was invigilating a history subject, and Qian Feng reported a Jinshi department, so naturally he was not among them, Han Rui sighed, shook his head slightly, read the questions out loud, and conscientiously performed his duties.

(To be continued)