Shuntianfu Gongyuan East Archway "Ming Jing Scholars" these four Wei stele font characters were reflected by the bright and dark lights on the square to be crumbling, under the archway parked a wide sedan chair, the sedan chair was just heard his high school members Shen Tonghe, sitting next to him was his cousin-in-law Zhao Mingyang - Shen Tonghe did not have the joy of high school Huiyuan at all, but pale, trembling hands pulled a corner of the curtain of the car window, looked out, the square was in chaos, those angry candidates were shouting Shen Tonghe cheating, demanding strict investigation, The examiner in charge of sending the list was forced to return to the Gongyuan - Shen Tonghe put down the curtain, stared at Zhao Mingyang, who was sitting silently in the dark, and said in a dry voice: "Boyong, why did you get the Huiyuan exam!" "In the exam, Huiyuan is still so sad, Shen Tonghe should be unprecedented.

Zhao Mingyang was extremely bitter in his heart, this Huiyuan should have been his, and he said weakly: "This is the examiner's business, how do I know, I don't know if I can win." ”

Shen Tonghe also knew that Zhao Mingyang couldn't be blamed for this kind of thing, and he also asked Zhao Mingyang to answer the questions for him first during the Gongyuan exam, sighing and saying: "It would be nice if the ranking was not so high, but now I have become the target of the public, and the grievances of those who have fallen behind have come to me." ”

Zhao Mingyang said: "No matter what others say, we can't mess up ourselves, etiquette is related to the face of the court, how can we change the ranking because of the candidates' trouble, we wait and see how it changes, in case we want to investigate, we must also bite the nail on the head." ”

Shen Tonghe nodded again and again.

…… The promotion officer who was ordered to send the official to the Ministry of Rites was driven back to the Gongyuan by the angry candidates, and ran back to the public hall to report to Wu Daonan, Wu Daonan worked hard for a day and a night, and was exhausted at this time. "Immediately ordered the official to lead the 1,500 open road, and sent the list to the front of the hall of the Thousand Steps Corridor outside the Imperial City to post it.

The battalion soldiers got the order, no longer polite to those who blocked the way, holding sticks, pushing and shoving, the candidates in the square could resist these sturdy battalion soldiers, one after another, the promotion officer, the supervisor and a group of scribes escorted the yellow silk pavilion and rushed out of the crowd, towards the west of the Daming Gate, 8,000 candidates and tens of thousands of relatives and friends servants followed behind, scolding, scolding, complaining - from the Gongyuan through West Chang'an Avenue to the Qianbu Corridor of the Ministry of Rites Yamen there are four or five miles of road, tens of thousands of people holding lanterns, The fire burned on the dark street before dawn, silence and hustle, light and darkness, intertwined into a strange scene, the Jin Wuwei guarding the gate of heaven has long been in strict formation, there will be this kind of scene in every subject list, but the current department is extraordinarily inflated and vast - Zhang Yuan and others followed at the back, Zhang Dai saw that Zhang Yuan frowned and didn't talk much, and said in his heart: "Jie Zi has been the first in the examination all the way, and this time he fell out of the top five, so he is naturally unhappy, hey, Jie Zi still hasn't suffered much from the setbacks of the field house, I returned from the last township test." Kuan explained: "Jie Zi, don't care about the ranking of the exam, Shen Tong and those others can pick the top, and these examiners are really mediocre." ”

Zhang Yuan said honestly: "I'm not annoyed that I didn't get into the Five Classics, but I'm worried about falling into the first place." ”

"There's no chance you'll be wrong."

Huang Zunsu and Wen Zhenmeng on the side said in unison, and other members of the Han Society also said that it was impossible, they had seen the three crafts of Zhang Sheshou, and they could be used as eight-strand model texts to learn.

Wu Ling saw that the young master and the group were walking at the back, but he was anxious to see the list, so he said to Zhang Yuan: "Young master, I'll rush over to see the list first." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "There are too many people, you can't squeeze through." ”

Wang Dazhui said loudly: "Young master, I can squeeze through." "Two arms and one shoulder, five big and three thick.

Zhang Yuan smiled: "What's the use of you squeezing through, you can't read." ”

Wang Da Hammer suddenly wilted and drooped, many things are useless with strength alone.

Wu Ling said: "Sledgehammer, when you go down to a crowded place, you will carry me and squeeze over, and I will come to see the list." ”

"Okay."

Wang Dazhui came back to his strength, and the two of them ran with Wuling, and the servants of Zhang Lianfang, Zhang Dai, Wen Zhenmeng and others also followed.

The Yamen of the Ministry of Rites is at the southernmost end of the west side of the Thousand Steps Corridor, just at the west end of the Daming Gate, the one-word wall in front of the lobby is solemn and concise, there are already two hundred forks and knives from the five military camps waiting here, He Zongyan, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, led a group of subordinate officials to welcome the Bingchen Branch to test the yellow list, and saw that the promotion officer, the supervisor and others who escorted the arrival of the Yellow Silk Pavilion were a little embarrassed, and they were busy asking why?

The re-escalator shook his head and said: "Today's section will not be peaceful, Wu Ge is so angry that he trembles, alas, let's not talk about that, after dawn, Wu Ge Lao and Dean Liu will go to the cabinet to do something, wait and see, there is a big event that will cause a sensation in the officialdom of the capital - Lord He, first make a list, first make a list, these moves are crazy, which is like reading a sage book, hurry up and post a list." ”

The positive list is taken out from the color pavilion, posted on the wall from left to right, the list is more than two zhang long, more than six feet high, the words on the list are Wu Ge Lao's handwriting, the face is in large letters, each word has the size of a cup, the font is full and powerful, the ink is black and shiny, and it is very eye-catching under the light.

There are ten loud voices of the Ministry of Rites scribe singing list, starting from the last one: "The three hundred and forty-fourth, Fang Yingxiang, the son of Qu County, Jinhua Prefecture, Zhejiang." ”

Someone shouted, "Fang Yingxiang High School in Jinhua Mansion." The voice was transmitted all the way, and Zhang Yuan and others, who were a mile away, heard it.

Zhang Dai smiled: "Why do you need to squeeze closer, don't you hear it clearly." ”

Ruan Dacheng said: "Hearing is false, seeing is believing." ”

When singing the charts, it was passed over again - "Sun Jike of Songjiang Mansion is in high school, the penultimate place." ”

Everyone in the Han Society was overjoyed and congratulated one person one after another, this person is Sun Jike, a member of the Han Society, together with Hong Chengchou, who is in fifth place, there are two people in the Han Society on the list.

Later, more than ten Chinese scholars Zhang Yuan and others were not familiar with it, all of them were Beijuan Juzi, and when they reached the third and twenty-fifth, the name passed over was "Shaoxing Mansion Zhang Lianfang High School-"

Although Zhang Lianfang has been telling jokes, it seems to be very leisurely and relaxed, suddenly hearing this sound, the jade Ruyi in his hand fell to the ground with a "snap", but it did not break - in the congratulations of everyone, Zhang Lianfang looked up to the sky and laughed, and stepped on the jade Ruyi, the jade Ruyi was broken into several pieces, and the sound of breaking was very crisp - Zhang Lianfang said loudly: "Look up to the sky and laugh and go out, how can I be a Penghao person." "I went back with two servants, I can imagine the drunkenness and singing, as for the two nephews, it was the nephews' business, he Zhang Lianfang ended the hard journey of the imperial examination in this life and this life, how can he not drink and indulge in lust?

As more and more names were announced on the list, the mood of the crowd in the square gradually began to be anxious, and they had not yet reported their names, could it be that Lao Tzu was going to have a talent again, so he was not in the mood to pass the list to others, and he was in a noisy and messy manner, and he wanted to rush to see the list, and those candidates and servants who were crowded in the first few rows were trying to report the list first, so Zhang Yuan, who was a mile away, could not hear the scribe's list, and only heard all kinds of vague and broken names flying all over the sky, and they could not hear it clearly-...... Just after the promotion officer and others escorted the Yellow Silk Pavilion to the Ministry of Rites, Xu Guangqi also rode out of the gate of the Tribute Academy, he was ordered by Wu Ge Lao to go to the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division to immediately hunt down Zhuo Xiaosheng, a third-class student of Wanping County, and the nine gates of the inner city should strictly investigate a man about forty years old, medium height, white face and slight beard out of the city - at this time, the crowd outside the gate of the Tribute Courtyard has dispersed, empty and a white land, the fourth watch day of February 27, a waning moon hangs in the sky, the stars and moon are faint, the road is slightly discernible, and the capital road is spacious, In the dark night, you can also ride a horse and trot, to the West Chang'an Street, Xu Guangqi did not go west to the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, but turned all the way north to the East Fourth Archway, and found Shang Zhouzuo's courtyard, just got off the horse and did not come forward to knock on the door, the golden pillar gate opened inward, the light in the door poured to the ground, and an old man's voice said happily: "Is it good news, my Aunt Zhang is in high school?" ”

Talking is the old man of the Shang Mansion, but also did not sleep all night, just waiting for the official messenger to come to the door to report the good news, heard the sound of horses' hooves stopped in front of the door, thought it was the official who came to report the good news, Xi Zizi opened the door first, saw Xu Guangqi couldn't help but be stunned, the old man has lived in the capital for a long time, and he still understands the color of the official's clothes. ”

Xu Guangqi said: "Hurry up and ask your master to come out, Xu has something important to say, go quickly." ”

The old man saw Xu Guangqi's solemn expression and urgency, how dare he slack off, please Xu Guangqi sit in the hall, he went to knock on the second door, the door soon opened, it was Shang Zhouzuo who opened the door, Shang Zhouzuo was worried about his sister-in-law's examination ranking, and he only slept for more than an hour in the first half of the night, got up on the third watch, and waited for the news, but he saw Xu Guangqi, he knew that Xu Guangqi had entered the tribute institute as the examiner of the examination, and today is the period of the list, why did Xu Guangqi come here at night, what happened?

Xu Guangqi went out of the hall, made a gesture and held Shang Zhou Zuo's hand and said: "Brother Ming, Jiezi is not in the house." ”

Shang Zhouzuo was shocked and replied: "Go and see the list, Brother Zixian, what's wrong?" ”

Xu Guangqi asked: "This matter is a long story, and I don't have time to talk about it in detail for the time being, can Brother Ming remember how the first question of the first game of Jiezi was solved?" ”

Shang Zhouzuo said: "Is it the question 'Only benevolent people can be good and evil'?" ”

Xu Guangqi nodded and said, "Exactly." ”

Shang Zhouzuo said: "After Jie Zi appeared, he wrote it out to me, and the first art broke the question of 'the saint determines the standard of likes and dislikes, and only for the benevolent'." ”

When Xu Guangqi heard this, his tense heartstrings suddenly relaxed, showed a smile, and arched his hand: "That's right, very good, very good, Jie Zi was really cut off by someone to cut the exam papers, Wu Ge Lao can rest assured that he will defend Jie Zi - he will say goodbye, and he will rush to the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division to arrest the suspect." "Hurry out and get on your horse.

The night was thick, the neighborhood was silent, and the sound of Xu Guangqi's horse's hooves gradually disappeared - Shang Zhouzuo stood in front of the door, his brows furrowed, this Xu Guangqi came and went in a hurry, and the news he brought shocked him, the first volume of Jie Zi was cut and replaced, Xu Guangqi should be investigating this matter, so did Jie Zi win or was dethroned?

The footsteps were broken, and the two sisters, Jinglan and Jinghui, came out and said in unison: "Daddy is early." ”

Shang Zhouzuo returned to the door and looked at his two daughters: "Why did you get up so early?" ”

Jing Hui said: "I was woken up by a knock on the door - Daddy, Uncle Zhang Gongzi and Qi Huzi's brother-in-law Zhongjinshi?" ”

Shang Zhouzuo said with a calm face: "Don't talk a lot, go back and go to sleep." ”

Seeing that their father's face was stern, the two sisters didn't dare to say more, so they hurriedly went back to the inner courtyard, walked to the big lotus pot, and Jinghui said softly: "Sister, Daddy is not in a good mood." ”

Jing Lan sighed: "I'm afraid they didn't pass the test." ”

Jing Hui asked, "Which of them?" ”

Jing Lan said: "What does it matter to us if others are not involved." ”

Jing Hui said: "Sister is saying that Brother Zhang Gongzi and Brother-in-law Qi Huzi didn't pass the exam?" ”

Shang Jinglan was silent, just looking at her father's calm face, I was afraid that there was bad news.

Jing Hui said: "Brother Zhang Gongzi really wants to pass the exam, every time he reads books and writes late at night, if he can't win, he will die of sadness, Qi Huzi's brother-in-law is only fifteen years old, don't be afraid-"

"Why aren't you afraid of fifteen?" Shang Jinglan was not convinced.

"You can take the next exam again, Qi Huzi's brother-in-law is only eighteen years old when he succeeds in the next examination, and he happens to marry his sister." Xiao Jinghui's eyes were bright and innocent.

Shang Jinglan's face flushed, and before she could argue, Jinghui suddenly "shh The two of them hurried back to their rooms and went to bed.

Jing Hui couldn't fall asleep at first, but when it was almost dawn, he fell asleep in a daze, and was woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside the gate, so he quickly sat up and called: "Fanghua, Fanghua-"

The maidservant Fanghua ran in from outside, and said happily: "Aunt Zhang is in high school, sixth place." ”

"Sixth."

Jing Hui was originally looking forward to Zhang Yuan's first place, but he was frightened by his father before, thinking that Zhang Yuan had fallen first, but now he learned that there was a sixth place, he was overjoyed, and asked: "What about Qi Huzi's brother-in-law." ”

Fanghua's voice softened: "I didn't pass the exam, Miss Jinglan is very unhappy." ”

Jing Hui said "oh" and said, "Wait for me to comfort my sister." ”

Jing Hui freshened up, and saw his father and Zhang Gongzi's brother talking in the hall, the two of them spoke in low voices, and their expressions were very serious, Jing Wei was strange: Didn't he win the sixth place, why are he still so unhappy?

…… Wu Daonan got Xu Guangqi's reply, and he was sure that at the beginning of the morning, he and Liu Chuxian, the deputy chief examiner, left the Gongyuan with Zhang Yuan's ink scrolls and Zhu scrolls, and went to the Forbidden City Cabinet Straight Room.

The scribe went and returned, and said: "The name of Huiyuan, the first place on the list, was pasted with mud, and the sergeant guarding the list caught the person who stained the list, but many people stopped him from arresting him, and he was making a lot of trouble. ”

Wu Daonan and Liu Chu glanced at each other and shook their heads together, they really didn't expect that there would be so much trouble in this subject examination.

(To be continued)