In front of the two streets at the entrance of the Provincial Trial Tribute Institute, tokens of "avoidance" and "silence" were erected. Although the examination has ended, the number of guards at the gate has not decreased, but has increased, all of them are armed with swords and guns, and they are vigilantly staring at passers-by.

The marking day after the spring is still an extremely important link.

Song Qi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and a group of officials of the Ministry of Rites, all sat in the inner hall of the Tribute Courtyard, all with nervous and serious expressions. More than 6,000 examination papers and tasks of more than 40 million words are all placed on these examiners, and for these examination papers, they must be careful about every word, and they must not look at things at a glance and ten lines.

As soon as the hour came, Song Qi stood up and said in a loud voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, the provincial test is a national talent ceremony. The official once personally issued an edict to the official, saying: "The scholar holds the lead in his arms, and the three-year competition is great, and once he is suppressed, he must take the examination for three years". This official received the edict, and he was sincerely afraid, and he also hoped that all of you would read the file strictly and diligently. ”

The work of marking the papers is very hard. Several examiners with an average age of nearly 60 years, the test papers are not separated from the eyebrows and eyes, and the hand towel frequently wipes the sweat and oil. At the end of the day, when the sky was so dark that I needed to light an oil lamp, I was already dizzy, and the lights were blurred.

The fatigue of this day made several elderly examiners beat their shoulders and old waists one after another, and stood up, barely breathing.

Song Yi read the paper for a day, and it was also extremely hard, he had just walked to the door of the inner hall, about to take a breath, when he heard the soldiers outside running in to report, "My lord...... Someone is at the gate of the Gongyuan and wants to see you......"

Song Qi's face was a little unhappy, and he said: "During the Spring Reading, the outside of the Gongyuan was completely blocked. For the sake of fairness in grading, no matter who it is, it will not be seen. ”

When the soldier heard this, he still did not leave, and seemed to have a sad face.

"What's wrong?" Song Qi asked, "Don't you want to leave?" ”

The soldier hesitated and said, "My lord, it was my lord's wife who asked to see you." ”

"Huh?" Song Yi frowned, thinking that he was touching the tigress, and he remembered something, and was ready to teach himself a lesson. Just because of the reason for reading the papers, Song Yi didn't want to see him, and said, "Locking the courtyard is Song Law, no matter who it is, it must be treated equally." ”

The soldier received the order, and not long after he arrived at the gatehouse, Song Qi heard a noise outside in the courtyard.

Two doorkeepers ran in with their faces covered and said, "Your Excellency...... The lady is going to break in, and she has the princess with her. Her Royal Highness the Princess, as soon as she entered the door, she couldn't help but say something, and slapped the villain in the face. The villain is really a little unbearable. ”

When Song Qi heard this, he was silent. His wife is a relative of the emperor, not to mention the power, and she also mixes with the princess Qiyang all day long. That Princess Qiyang has been spoiled since she was a child, and even the official family loves her very much, which is really rude.

Before the two could say a few words, they heard a loud shout in the Gong Courtyard: "Song Qi, you old immortal, come out for me!" ”

This roar was really a thunderclap on the ground. The soldiers who were guarding all looked at each other when they saw Mrs. Song and Princess Qiyang breaking in, and no one dared to come forward to stop them.

"Song Itch, you come out for me!"

Mrs. Song shouted again.

The classic roar of Mrs. Song was getting closer and closer, and the waiters and outsiders of the Ministry of Rites who were in charge of reading the papers, seeing this scene, found reasons to leave in order to take into account Song Qi's feelings.

Song Qi sighed, moved a chair, and sat in the courtyard, just waiting for Mrs. Song and Princess Qiyang to arrive.

"Song Qi, you old immortal thing, I finally found you here." Mrs. Song ran over menacingly.

Song Qi stood up, looked at Mrs. Song, and said sternly: "You are a woman, you came here to make a big fuss on the day of the spring reading papers, and you were known by the imperial history, so you still don't join me?" If the emperor gets angry and dismisses me, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, do I think you, Mrs. Shangshu, have you done it? ”

Although Mrs. Song was a tigress, she was stunned for a moment when she heard that her father-in-law might be affected by this, and her tone softened a little and said, "I don't want to make trouble......

"Yo, I think who dares to join my uncle?" A delicate female voice rang out.

When Song Qi saw the young girl standing behind Mrs. Song, she had to bow down and kneel, "Weichen see Her Royal Highness the Princess." ”

"Uncle, please get up." Princess Qiyang smiled, "It's all a family, it's all a family." You talk, I'll go play for a while. With that, he ran away like a breeze.

Song Qi saw Princess Qiyang scurrying around in the Tribute Courtyard, and remembered the bad deeds of playing with fire and almost burning down the East Palace last time when she was a child, and she felt her blood pressure surge. hurriedly urged the doorman next to him, and told the princess not to enter the reading room.

"Okay, don't bite a princess." Mrs. Song sneered, "If you can really take the princess and our Guo family in your eyes, you won't do such a shameless thing." ”

Seeing that Mrs. was about to have another seizure, Song Yi immediately took her to the side room and closed the door.

"You're about to lose all of my old face......" Song Itch trembled with anger.

"Don't do bad things, don't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door." Mrs. Song glared at Song Itch, "Tell me, what ridiculous thing did you do last time you went to the Golden Boudoir Tower?" ”

Song Yi understood that he had not caught any evidence, so he could not say it, so he insisted on it, "Madam, the old man just went to meet a friend that day, and he had no other ideas." The old man has been in politics for more than ten years, and he is a ...... person."

"Upright?" Mrs. Song shook her head and sighed, "It seems that Lord Song, you will never admit it if you don't have key evidence." You men...... It's all the same. ”

Seeing that Mrs. brought up the old matter again, Song Qi had a bad premonition in her heart.

"Song itch!" Mrs. Song said with a gloomy face, "That Liu Gatekeeper told me everything...... I know how he took you to the Golden Boudoir and which girl he was looking for! ”

This sound, like a death sentence, made the Ministry of Rites scholar dizzy for a while, his knees weakened, and he knelt on the ground.

When Mrs. Song saw her father-in-law kneeling on the ground, she sneered even more: "Lord Song...... Lord Song, please get up! I, a woman, how can I be willing to accept the great gift of you, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites? ”

Song Yi hung his head and said, "Madam...... It's all my fault. I only have one sentence, when this spring reading is over, you can do whatever you want...... If we continue to make trouble here, we miss the big matter of reading the file, and the official family will blame it, and I'm afraid that Princess Qiyang won't be able to protect us. ”

Mrs. Song sneered: "I'm just a lady of Shangshu, how can I de, naturally I don't dare to destroy the Chunyu reading papers." I just wanted to come over and say a few words to you - tell me that you, as a man, are really incompetent, right? ”

Song Yi knew that he was ashamed, and he also knew that his wife was indeed a knife mouth, so he responded, "Yes, yes, yes." ”

"I'm also a lady of Shangshu anyway." Mrs. Song said, "The amount of qi is not small to that extent. What is most annoying about me is not that you secretly visited the Golden Boudoir Building, but that you were treated as a thief by others and tripped by a stinky scholar! You are a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, except for the prime minister and the privy envoy, you are the biggest. In the imperial court, all the officials still want to look forward to you, but they capsized in the gutter of the Golden Boudoir Tower. ”

Mrs. Song's words, like a knife cut, led out the memories that Song Yi had tried to forget.

Song Yi was upset, but he could only admit that his wife was ridiculed, and responded: "That is purely a misunderstanding." ”

"Misunderstanding?" Mrs. Song slapped the table violently, shaking the tea bowl and shifting, "Did you fall in the Golden Boudoir Tower and fall into a daze?" Other scholars tripped over you, causing you to fall and eat. Now you're better off defending others. I'm telling you, you can swallow this breath, but I can't. I checked that person for you, his name is Liu Ming, and he is also a lifter. The family is doing some business in Qingzhou, so you will send a letter to Wang Su, the governor of Qingzhou, and ask him to check on this Liu family. ”

As soon as Song Qi heard this, he knew that his wife was angry and had random ideas. This visit to the Golden Boudoir is a very humiliating thing, so I am afraid to avoid it. How could he send a letter to Wang Su, the governor of Qingzhou, and continue to expand the scope of his humiliating behavior?

Regardless of Mrs. Song's scolding, Song Yi made up her mind not to reply.

Mrs. Song crackled and scolded for a while, and when she saw that Song itch didn't reply, most of her anger disappeared. Seeing the list of files on the table, she casually asked, "These are the tributes you took?" ”

"Yes, it's the thirty tributes taken this year." Song Qi replied.

"Oh, these people have been ranked by you, so naturally I will thank you in the future. Perhaps, I will invite you to the Golden Boudoir a few times. Mrs. Song casually took out one of the exam papers and said while flipping through it.

Song Qi was begging his wife to change the topic, and hurriedly said a lot about how hard it was to read the papers. Suddenly, his heart was depressed, and as soon as he patted his head, a bad premonition immediately hit.

"Madame...... Don't mess with these papers. Song Yi reached out to grab the scroll, but unexpectedly it was already a step too late. After seeing the content of the test paper clearly, Mrs. Song's eyes became extremely angry, and she slapped the test paper on Song Qi's face, "Are you really confused old thing!" This Liu Ming's answer sheet can also be included in the top three? ”

Song Yi lowered his head without saying a word and picked up the scattered test papers, and he responded: "Madam, these are two different things. Liu Ming's article is indeed well done, and it is generally smooth. This young man has a particularly unique opinion on how to maintain long-term peace and stability in the country. ”

Song Qi is also a minister of the humerus, two Jinshi, and now he is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and he is an example for the world's scholars, and he does not dare to make a mistake in recruiting talents.

Mrs. Song covered her ears and shouted, "I don't listen, I don't listen!" This Liu Ming once insulted you, which is equivalent to insulting Shangshufu. Now, you want to let such a person go to the Jinluan Palace to participate in the emperor's interview, this is really ridiculous and generous! ”

Song Yi persuaded bitterly: "Madam, as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, I am an example for scholars all over the world to learn. The official family once talked to me personally and reminded me of my responsibilities as the chief examiner of the provincial examination. If I don't take Liu Ming, I want to make the world laugh and be generous. ”

Mrs. Song sneered: "Lord Song, it's your turn to tell the truth, I can't talk about you." But I know how to maintain the dignity of the Song family. Today, you can let this kid ride on your head, and in the future more people will not be afraid of you, how can your prestige be established? ”

Seeing that Song Itch was still silent, Mrs. Song understood that her father-in-law still hadn't changed his mind. She asked, "Song Qi, do you listen to my words?" ”

Song Yi still bowed his head and remained silent.

Mrs. Song's eyes showed a fierce light: "Okay, if you don't listen." I'll tell the queen about your trip to the Golden Boudoir Tower! Let her take care of you! ”

Song Qi has been pushed to the limit by his wife, he is also a dignified person, so he held back his anger and said, "My book of the Ministry of Rites was granted by the official edict. The East Palace can't control the ministers at this point. ”

"Can't do it?" Mrs. Song said contemptuously, "Then I'll try." The queen's words, will the emperor still not listen? ”

On the second day of the reading of the papers, officials such as Lang Lang and Lang of the Ministry of Rites felt that the atmosphere was a little wrong. Since Mrs. Shangshu left, Lord Shangshu has been like a frosted eggplant, unable to lift his spirits. What's even more shocking is that Lord Shangshu actually deposed Liu Ming, a top three lifter, inexplicably.

This made a group of officials deeply puzzled, this Liu Ming, not only did a good job in the article, but also had a broad mind and a high demeanor, and it has been passed down as a good story that he gave up his clothes and stove in the exam. Such a talent is only produced in hundreds of years, and any examiner who holds the name of the country will appoint him as a tribute.

Several waiters and Lang Zhong of the Ministry of Rites, after hearing the news of Liu Ming's dethronement, immediately discussed with Song Qi as soon as possible. It's just that the officials found that Lord Song, who can speak well on weekdays, was completely speechless this time. just blindly smoked a cigarette pouch, and waited until he was forced to be in a hurry, and then used official authority to oppress people, saying that he had his own considerations, and as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he didn't need to discuss with others.

All this made the examiners feel strange, but seeing that Song Itch was not looking good, he seemed unwilling to talk about it more, so he had to give up. Actually, they didn't know that Song Qi himself was also in extreme contradictions. Since his wife left, he had almost kept his eyes open and had not slept all night. I am also extremely guilty of making this decision.

Song Qi was already extremely tired, and just wanted to get through this spring soon, so he went to call himself sick and not go to the court, and went to the countryside to relax.

On the night of the third day of spring, there was heavy snowfall. Snowflakes flutter in the air, reflecting the light in the distance, making it hazy and cold.

Late at night, there was silence in the Gongyuan. The examiners, who were quite tired from reading the papers during the day, had already rested in the room with charcoal fires.

The two soldiers guarding the gate of the Gongyuan stomped their feet and breathed away the cold, hoping that the long night would pass soon, so that they could change the guard and rest.

Suddenly, the two soldiers tensed their nerves, heard the sound of small footsteps, and creaked in the snow.

"Who?" One of the soldiers asked nervously.

(Mrs. Song: Come to Zhang to recommend, otherwise I will marry you!) ）