Hangzhou Gongyuan is located in the northeast of the West Lake, south of the canal, the street next to the Gongyuan is called Qingyun Street, in the provincial capital without relatives and friends to borrow candidates will generally choose to live on this street, close to the Gongyuan, it is convenient to do the relevant procedures, and this street is auspicious, the name is on the B list, and it is not the wish of the person who goes to the exam?

In Hangzhou in August, the business of large and small inns is prosperous, needless to say, the households with idle houses often paste a red paper in front of the door, and write auspicious words such as "Anyu Qiuyuan" to attract scholars to move in, if the scholar is young and romantic, and the host has a beautiful wife and concubine or a young girl, sometimes there will be some dewy marriage, if the affair is accidentally revealed, or the ugliness of the family can not be publicized, or make a lawsuit to lose money, or simply elope away and fly away, this is a common thing, after each township test, There are a lot of amorous topics in the market, and there are more novelists who interpret them, and make money by compiling erotic novels such as "Apricot Blossom Days" and "Wushan Yan History" - Zhang Rulin's acquaintances in Hangzhou are very old, Zhang Yuan and Zhang Dai only need a letter to borrow and live, but the two did not plan to borrow, nor did they go to Qingyun Street to join in the fun, they planned to live on the boat, it was more convenient on the boat, Zhang Dai prepared a four-Mingwa white canopy boat, Shang Zhoude borrowed a three-Mingwa white canopy boat for his sister-in-law Zhang Yuan to go to Hangzhou to catch the exam - July 27, Huang Zunsu, Ni Yuanlu and others came to Shanyin to meet Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan, as well as Qi Biaojia, Zhou Menong and Wang Binglin, Ni Yuanlu prepared his own white canopy boat, Qi Biaojia and Huang Zunsu lived on Zhang Dai's Siming tile boat, Wang Binglin and Zhang Yuan were on the same boat - before noon on the 28th, three white canopy boats left the Bashi Bridge, and the relatives and friends who saw them off on the shore blessed in unison "Xiangyu Jie and Xiden Xianke", and the bridgehead "crackled" and set off the magnificent firecrackers - Zhang Yuan stood at the stern of the boat, looking at the firecracker smoke rising from the bridge head under the noon sun, and said in his heart: " The imperial examination is the beginning, and the previous candidates are only to obtain the qualification to participate in the township examination, and the township examination can be called a gentry. He thought again: "I have a good reputation, and I can't wait for time, so I can't afford to lose this township test——"

Zhang Yuan is very confident in his eight-strand text, if there is no accident, the middle move is not a problem, the ancestor Zhang Rulin looked at the exam questions he made in Tianwa Nunnery and thought that he must win this time, but there are many factors that determine a person's fate in the examination room, Zhang Yuan does not dare to have any carelessness, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is trembling and walking on thin ice, self-confidence is indispensable, but a cautious attitude is the guarantee of success - Mu Zhenzhen stood beside Zhang Yuan, pursed her lips, as if she was afraid that she would laugh out loud, she liked to follow the young master out the most, this time to Hangzhou, The young master didn't plan to take her there, but Mrs. Lu ordered her to go with her to wait for the young master, telling her to be careful and not to let the young master be hurt - in Zhang's mother Lu's opinion, her son has really caused a lot of trouble in the past two years, the Yao family and the Dong family are all sons' enemies, didn't the Yao family hire a bluff at the canal dock in Hangzhou to break Zhang Yuan's legs, and the mother of the child is worried, so she must let Mu Zhenzhen follow, and the small dragon stick is also brought, so that she can rest assured - "What are you laughing at, Zhenzhen, have you picked up the copper coin?" ”

Zhang Yuan turned his head to look at Mu Zhenzhen, this seventeen-year-old girl was tall, with a tailoring ruler of more than five feet and an inch, about one meter seventy-four, about the same height as him, at this time, she looked like she was smiling out of her heart - Mu Zhenzhen heard Zhang Yuan say about picking copper coins, and she couldn't help it, "Ge" laughed out loud and said: "It's okay to pick up gold, give it all to the young master." As he spoke, he spread out his palm, and there were really two yellow copper coins in his palm-Zhang Yuanqi said: "I really picked up the money-no, you felt it out of your waist on your arm, so fast hands and feet." ”

Mu Zhen smiled and diverted the topic: "Is the young master going to the capital after taking the exam this time?" ”

Zhang Yuan smiled "hey", he knew what Mu Zhenzhen meant, Mu Zhenzhen really wanted to go to Beijing to see her father Mu Jingyan, Mu Zhenzhen thought that Yan'anwei was on the edge of the capital, and said: "If the township tries to fall into Sun Mountain, then what else do you want to do in the capital." ”

Mu Zhenzhen said: "No, how can the young master fall to Sun Shan, the young master will definitely be able to go to high school." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Well, I'll take you to the capital when I get high school, but it's impossible to say if I can see your father, Yan'anwei is also three thousand miles away from the capital." ”

"Ahh Mu Zhenzhen opened his mouth wide: "So far!" "But it's very fast, the young master promised to take her into Beijing, and she will always be closer to her father, isn't it."

Because Zhang Yuan brought Mu Zhenzhen, Zhang Dai also brought Su Zhi, saying that he was accompanied by Mu Zhenzhen - the boat arrived at the small pier of Huiji Xinghua Temple, Wang Binglin brought an old man and a young servant who were already waiting on the dock, and his wife Feng and Wang Jingshu and Wang Yingzi sisters all sat in a sedan chair to see each other, and people came and went on the dock, so as to avoid it in the sedan chair, there was a nurse next to Feng's side holding a baby, this is Wang Binglin's son born last year - Zhang Yuan jumped on the shore of the port, saluted Wang Binglin, looked at the two sedan chairs, Wang Binglin said: " Sister Jing Shu and Sister Ying Zi are over there. "Pointing to the sedan chair on the left.

Zhang Yuan walked to the side of the sedan chair and saluted the sedan chair, the sedan drapery was lifted from the inside, revealing the melon seed face of the infant sister, and sure enough, the face was reduced a little, and the chin was pointed, but the spirit was very good, the two hanging big eyes were bright like spring, I remember three years ago after the Obon Festival, he saw the baby figure behind Mr. Wang for the first time in the garden, wearing a Confucian shirt and pretending to be a young scholar, looking forward to it with big eyes, and asked him to borrow the "Golden Vase Plum", the baby posture at that time was like a lively boy, there was no feminine charm, and now three years have passed, Although the appearance of the infant sister is not very beautiful, but the demeanor is beautiful, the temperament is excellent, and the speech and demeanor are very attractive - "Is the junior sister good?" Zhang Yuan waved to the sisters Wang Jingshu and Wang Yingzi, who were sitting side by side in the sedan chair.

It's not good to return the etiquette in the sedan chair, Wang Jingshu and Wang Yingzi are slightly underwhelmed, making a gesture of ten thousand blessings, Wang Jingshu smiled silently, Wang Yingzi said: "It's just a little sick, it's already healed - Senior Brother Jiezi, don't let Xie Yuan fall aside." Wang Yingzi's smile was pure.

There were many people on the dock, and Zhang Yuan said: "Inherit the auspicious words of senior sister, dare not work hard." Bending back, the sedan curtain was put down, just a moment's work.

Laifu and Wang's servants carried Wang Binglin's luggage onto the white canopy boat, Wang Binglin said a few more words to his wife, touched his son's delicate little face, and turned to get on the boat.

Three white canopy boats head to tail, through Qianqingyan, Xiling, Xiaoshan, on the morning of the first day of August across the Qiantang River into the Grand Canal waterway, sail north for several miles, turn to the west, and go three or four miles, just see the left bank of the black canopy boats, white canopy boats are dense, are the boats of the candidates, there is almost no place to moor, Zhang Yuan's three boats continue to the west, in the canal turn to the north of the bay to find a bank to moor, there is a row of maple trees and laurel trees on the bank, the cinnamon is fragrant, the maple leaves are golden, Ni Yuanlu stands at the bow of the boat and looks up at the riverbank, praised: "This place is very good, can be put into the painting." "I went to get a pen and polish ink to paint, Ni Yuanlu's calligraphy and painting are among the best among the young generation of scholars in Jiangnan.

The boat is only two miles away from Hangzhou Gongyuan, four or five miles away from the Yamen, the next morning, Zhang Yuan, Zhang Dai, Qi Biaojia, Wang Binglin, Huang Zunsu, Ni Yuanlu six people went to the Yamen to sign up, the professors and teachings of the eleven provinces of Zhejiang Province are here, the professors of Shaoxing Mansion and the teachings of the eight counties naturally also gathered in the Yamen, the list of candidates has been sent to the Dao, the candidates are now coming to the Yamen to learn the Dao, they must report before the fourth day of the first day of August, otherwise they will not arrange the number and prepare the examination papers, the township examination is not guaranteed, The township test has not yet heard of the matter of asking someone to take the exam, after all, the people who go to the exam are all students, and they are also well-known figures in the local area, and it is not good to ask someone to take the exam, and there is no eight-share master who will not take the exam but take the test on behalf of others, of course, it is also necessary to name and recognize people, this is the duty of the professors and teachers of the prefectures and counties, if something goes wrong, only the professors and the professors are asking - the professor of Shaoxing Fuxue told Zhang Yuan to go to the gate of the Gongyuan on the seventh day of the first month to see which gate the candidates of Shaoxing entered, and the Gongyuan has three doors, and the candidates of which prefecture and which county will be announced on the seventh day of the first month. This is to avoid the confusion of people when there are many people and miss the entrance - Zhang Yuan Hangzhou to participate in the township test, I don't want to deal with other people, I just want to wait for the moment when the dragon gate of the Gongyuan is opened, but reputation is a double-edged sword, he, the leader of the Han Society, now wants to be quiet and unobtainable, living on the boat, there are endless visitors, some are members of the Han Society, some are members of the Han Society, admiration, talking, from morning to night, Zhang Yuan can not be idle - on the seventh day of the first month, Zhang Yuan six people went to the gate of the Gongyuan to see the notice, and the candidates of the eight counties of Shaoxing Mansion will enter from the east gate of the Gongyuan, The roll call and search time starts from the third watch at midnight, and the door is closed at the fourth watch.

Zhang Yuan and the six people returned to the canal boat, it rained in the sky, on the eve of the big competition, it rained again, and finally no one came to visit, Zhang Yuan could relax, with dinner, to the eldest brother's white canopy boat and the eldest brother played a game of Go, with Go to relieve their pressure, this river bay is now also crowded with candidates' boats, wait once in three years, there are many candidates who are too stressed before the exam to lose their temper, drunk and singing - the autumn rain beats the tent window, the sound of the chess table falling, Zhang Yuan makes his slightly impetuous heart calm down with blindfolded chess, He took the initiative in the chess game, and did not play a killer when he attacked the white dragon of the eldest brother, so that the white dragon escaped from death, and when he heard the eldest brother doing the big dragon, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then opened his eyes and said: "This dragon is alive, I am afraid that I will lose this chess, big brother, let's go down here." ”

Zhang Dai also knew that Zhang Yuan was tolerant, nodded and said: "It's okay, then let's rest early, we will enter in the early morning, we have to recuperate." ”

The two of them were packing up the chess pieces, and suddenly heard the "bang" of the bow of the boat, as if they had been hit by a stone, and the servants of Nengzhu and Huang Zunsu immediately jumped out, stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the shore, the rainy night was misty, and they didn't see anyone on the shore, and then looked at the bow of the boat, there was a stone wrapped in white cloth rolling in the corner

(To be continued)