The palace examination is already the last pass of the imperial examination, and all scholars have come to this point, and their merits are complete. In fact, at this moment, the candidates who have been on the examination list are already considered authentic Jinshi, but the final ranking has not yet been determined, as well as the future of the officialdom.

This can be seen from the attitude of outsiders towards Wu Jie.

Before taking the exam, the neighbors often came to visit, either to congratulate them, or to beg for a drink and to borrow something. After Wu Jie officially won the Huiyuan, others did not dare to come to the door.

The division between the officials and the people in the Ming Dynasty was clear, and Wu Jie would be an official sooner or later, and the Wu family had also become a high-ranking family in the formal sense.

In the past month, Wu Jie has been wondering why the house has suddenly become clean.

The day before the palace exam, the family members were no longer as close to the enemy as before the Wu Festival exam, and they all seemed relaxed, which made Wu Jie very depressed.

"Master Ben is going to take the palace exam tomorrow."

"Yes, sir, I know, by the way, the weather has been dry in recent days, and my lord's vegetables and fruits are a little less."

"I'm taking the exam tomorrow."

"Master, the government issues several pairs of official boots every year, or make a few pairs at home. Please stretch your legs and measure the size. ”

"I'm going to take an exam!"

"Master, it's May, is the ice hidden in the cellar added to the bed to break the cotton wool, carefully melted."

"I'll ...... tomorrow"

The moth has gained a lot of weight, and its body is heavy, and its belly looks like a big leather ball, and it is time to get out of its arms. When the weather was hot, she only wore a thin shirt, but there was still a layer of sweat on her white and full forehead.

She fanned the cool breeze with a fan, and a maid carefully wiped the sweat from her forehead with a silk scarf.

Seeing that Wu Jie was anxious, the moth said: "I'm going to try it in the palace tomorrow, do you want to eat something?" By the way, the master said that he would go back to Nanjing in the future, and he was afraid that he would not be able to go to see the concubine's body. ”

Wu Jie was a little frustrated: "Forget it, when I didn't say anything." And he got up, and went back to the house.

Moth: "Flutter! A laugh burst out: "I know, the master is going to take the palace exam tomorrow." In fact, didn't the old man who had nothing to prepare say, the palace test was only one day, and he did it quickly, and he hurried home to eat. Besides, the four treasures of the study have royal systems, so there is nothing to prepare for. As she spoke, she reached out to prop herself up.

Wu Jie hurriedly helped the moth up from the chair.

Moth said again: "Actually, when the master used to take the exam, the concubine was nervous several times. But sir, you must pass every exam, and you are the first place every time. This time should be no exception, what else is there to worry about the concubine? How you should have lived before, how you should live today, in the eyes of the concubine, there is no difference from the past. Sir, don't you say? ”

She looked at Wu Jie with a smile, and Wu Jie was very helpless: "It's no difference, moth, you should do gymnastics." ”

"I forgot." Moth was busy doing gymnastics in the house with the help of the maid.

In order for his son and wife to be safe, Wu Jie taught the set of pregnant women's health gymnastics to Mozi early, and ordered her to practice once a day in the morning, noon and evening.

At the beginning, Mozi was very unimpressed, but after hearing Wu Jie say that learning this gymnastics would not cause dystocia, she was afraid when she thought of so many people dying every year because of dystocia.

After practicing for a few months, Moth only felt refreshed and energetic, and he liked this kind of sports.

Dinner is very simple, just one fish, two plates of vegetarian dishes and a bowl of soup. This is also the rule of the Wu Mansion, every day before the exam, you can't get greasy.

After dinner, Wu Jie did not go to bed early as usual, but sat in the courtyard with the hungry man for a long time. While enjoying the coolness, while looking at the stars in the sky, the mood is peaceful. …,

Although he had already found out the questions of tomorrow's palace exam from historical materials, he had memorized Fan Wen early. But there may be some changes, and after the great change in the examination room, the history of this time and space has become unrecognizable.

But Wu Jie didn't have any fear or confusion, isn't it just a strategy, even if he writes it himself, it's not too difficult. In my heart, there is a vague expectation: it would be good if the topic changed, so as not to finish the paper early and have nowhere to spend the remaining time. If not, how can I show that I am a modern person who surpasses the insight of the ancients?

"That star is so bright, it's still moving, so fast!" The moth suddenly screamed in surprise.

"Auntie, that's not a star, it's a firefly." The maid who was waiting next to her laughed softly.

Only then did Wu Jie discover that a firefly flew in from outside without knowing when it was and was floating faintly in the courtyard.

"It's a firefly!" Kure was also pleasantly surprised, as this cute little insect usually lives in the shade near the water's edge. Beijing has a dry climate, which is really rare in such an ancient metropolis.

"It's a firefly!" Moth sighed and said quietly: "When I was in Nanjing, in summer, the city was all over the city. My brother and I went to catch it, put it in a mosquito net, and watched it all night. Those fireflies flickered and flashed overhead, and it was as if we were sleeping in the heavenly river. ”

The voice was full of aftertaste.

Wu Jie knew that Mozi was homesick and missed the Jiangnan water town.

Wu Jie stretched out his hand to grab Mozi's hand: "Moth, when the exam is over, I must take an envoy to Nanjing and take you back to your hometown to take a look." ”

"Really!" Mozi was overjoyed, and then lonely: "Didn't the master say, when you get into the Jinshi, you will go to the Hanlin Academy on an errand, but I am afraid that I will not have the opportunity to go to the south." ”

Wu Jie: "No, the new branch jinshi can also go to the local patrol, and then please have a purpose." "However, this thing is not easy to handle, if you are in the top three of the first class and are in the center, you really have no chance to go to the place.

He sighed, patted the back of Moth's hand gently, and said no more.

I sat down for a while, ate two slices of melon, and waited until it was late at night, and then went back to sleep.

Only then did the moth ask, "Master, do you need to wake up tomorrow?" "This old man is ambitious, but lazy, if there is nothing to do, he will sleep until three strokes a day every day, and he must be called early by the family.

"No, you don't."

"Isn't there an exam, and you're going to enter the palace ...... when you're in the middle of the day?"

"Someone will come to invite you, don't worry."

The students who can participate in the palace examination are already officials in the real sense, and the palace examination is a triennial ceremony in the Ming Dynasty, so candidates will naturally enjoy special treatment.

Sure enough, at three o'clock in the morning, Wu Jie heard a commotion outside in the haze, and someone shouted: "Please enter the examination room." ”

Wu Jie got up lazily, got dressed under the service of the kid, washed his face, and then went out to look.

The courtyard was full of people, and the leader of them was an official wearing an eight-grade official uniform, who came up to give a salute when he saw Wu Jie, saying that the imperial court had specially sent him to deliver newspapers and take candidates into the palace.

Outside the courtyard gate, there was an official sedan chair parked and a few officials who cleared the field.

It turned out that every candidate who participated in the palace examination had someone to pick them up, and there was no need to go to the examination room to report by name.

The examination room is set up in the palace, and ordinary people can't get in, so there needs to be a special official to guide it, so there is such a system.

Everyone in the family also got up, and Wu Jie hurriedly waved his hand at the moth: "You have a body, go back to the house and sleep." ”

Moth was still hesitating, Wu Jie had already gone out and got into the sedan chair.

Unlike the last time I participated in the exam, there were neighbors who went out to see off or watch the excitement, and no one dared to go out in such a big formation, and even the lights were not lit. ..., the street is very clean, and there is not a single figure in sight.

The entire city of Beijing is quietly waiting to the side, waiting for the emergence of the new champion, Bangyan, and Tanhua.

I walked all the way very fast, and when I arrived at the noon gate square in front of the palace, the other eighty-one candidates had already arrived, and they lined up in two rows at the city gate. An official took a roll call in front of him, and checked the identity of the candidates with a serious face.

Unlike Wu Jie's casualness, the other candidates buried their heads in a panic, not daring to take a second look at the front.

"Has Shen Shi arrived?"

Hearing this voice, Wu Jie looked up, but saw Shen Shixing responding, then glanced at Wu Jie and smiled.

When the official saw Shen Shixing, his expression softened, and he said, "I heard that there are two famous people in this hall, one is Wu Jie, and the other is you. By the way, is there Wu Jie? ”

Wu Jie hurriedly said: "Wu Jie is here. ”

"Well, you come to the front, you and Shen Shi walk in front of the line."

Wu Jie and Shen Shixing are the most famous among the candidates, and it is estimated that the champion will be produced among these two. They are already vaguely the banner of this group of people, so they naturally want to go to the front, so that the court and the emperor can see it at a glance.

Seeing Wu Jie and Shen Shixing standing at the forefront of the team, the official was happy in his heart, and said secretly: Although this Shen Shixing is from a middle-class family, he can be born handsome and beautiful, and he is like a good son; And this Wu Jie, with long heights and arms, well-proportioned posture, and five official positives, although not as handsome and chic as Shen Shixing, he has a righteous and calm bearing. Not bad, not bad!

just waved his sleeves: "Follow this official, let's all go in!" ”

Then he walked first inside, followed by a few scribes, and then next to the candidates.

After a long time, the sky was already bright, and the palace was shining golden under the same illumination, and the weather was grand.

When did the other candidates see the majesty of the heavenly family in the palace, they all trembled and walked quickly, only to feel that the square bricks on the ground were so smooth that they seemed to trip people, and occasionally there were dragons, cockroaches, and Jiao carved on the marble steps, which made people panic.

Shen Shixing used to be very famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and he was a famous man who was not afraid of heaven and earth, but today was the first time he entered the palace, and he was inevitably flustered.

Wu Jie is no stranger to this place, thinking that when he was in the modern society, he did not come here to travel at public expense.

Most of the leaders in the library are from liberal arts, and there is no separation between literature and history, and they have more love for history than ordinary people. When Wu Jie's leaders encounter the opportunity to travel at public expense, most of them will take their men to Xi'an and Beijing, which are cities with deep history.

Wu Jie has been working for so many years, and he has been to the Forbidden City four times, and there is nothing new about the scenery here, and he walks briskly under his feet.