Liu Baoen was grateful to Pudu, and he had been staying in the Daxiangguo Temple for several days to eat fast and chant Buddha with the monks, and he had a further understanding of Buddhism in his heart.

On this day and night, he had nothing to do, and he missed Master Pudu in his heart, so he asked Miyuan for pen and ink, and wrote a eulogy in front of Master Pudu's former residence.

In the early morning of the second day, Liu Baoen was still asleep, and heard Mi Yuan calling himself, "Master Liu, wake up quickly, someone wants to see you." ”

Liu Baoen rubbed his eyes, "Master Miyuan, who wants to see me?" As he spoke, he put on his clothes and stood up.

"Amitabha, it is the saint who wants to see Lord Liu today." Mi Yuan said in a hurry.

"What, the Holy One wants to see me?" Liu Baoen couldn't have imagined that it was the Great Zhou Emperor Chai Rong who wanted to see him early in the morning, and he was shocked.

Mi Yuan said: "Master Liu, hurry up!" The saint never entered the temple, only because he had an old relationship with Master Pudu, so he came to mourn, and he must not let the saint wait for a long time! ”

"Okay, Master Miyuan, lead the way." Liu Baoen said with some panic.

The two were about to go to the living room, when a voice said: "Liu Jushi, don't panic, I admire your talent and want to talk to you." ”

Liu Baoen and Mi Yuan hurriedly knelt down.

Soon, Chai Rong brought Zhao Kuangyin and several other important ministers to the two of them. Chai Rong personally stretched out his hand to pick up Liu Baoen and said, "Liu Jushi, you don't have to be like this, hurry up." Liu Baoen was flattered, lowered his head and said tremblingly: "Thank you, Lord Longen." ”

Chai Rong smiled, "Raise your head." Liu Baoen said, "The grass people don't dare, for fear of shocking the saint." Chai Rong said: "I forgive you for your innocence." ”

Liu Baoen slowly raised his head at this time, Chai Rong saw that Liu Baoen was extremely outstanding, and couldn't help but be happy, and said secretly, "I originally came to mourn the deceased, but I happened to see this eulogy written by Liu Baoen, just this eulogy feels extraordinary, and now I see that his appearance is even better, if it can be used by me, wouldn't it be wonderful." ”

"Liu Jushi, the world often says, learn literature and martial arts, sell goods to the emperor's family, I see that your writing is very high, and I want to invite Liu Jushi to the court to share my worries, I don't know what Liu Jushi wants?" Chai Rong Road.

"Your Majesty has won the award, the grass people are only shallow in learning, and now I heard that Your Majesty is going to open a science and take a scholar, and I want to give it a try, if I can make the list, I will definitely use what I have learned in my life to repay Your Majesty." Liu Baoen said.

Chai Rong smiled, "Liu Jushi, since you intend to go to the court, why do you have to pass the imperial examination, I will give you an official position." Chai Rong looked at Zhao Kuangyin and said, "Zhao Aiqing, what kind of official do you think it is appropriate for me to give Liu Jushi a title?" ”

Zhao Kuangyin pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that Wenyuan Pavilion University Scholar is more suitable, I don't know what Your Majesty thinks?" ”

"Righteousness and Harmony." Chai Rong said happily, "Liu Baoen listens to the ......"

"Your Majesty, the grass people dare not be sealed." Liu Baoen said busily.

Chai Rong was stunned, "Liu Jushi, what do you mean?" ”

Your Majesty, this eulogy is just a momentary feeling, not the real level of the grass people, the grass people hope to pass the imperial examination, and the world of insight to compete with the low, if you can really make the list, then it is not too late to be crowned official. Liu Baoen said sincerely.

"Hahaha, good!" Chai Rong couldn't help but praise: "Liu Jushi is really talented!" I am waiting for you in the Golden Temple. After saying that, he left with a group of people.

Seeing that the Great Zhou Emperor appreciated his article so much, Liu Baoen was very happy. Even the sadness brought to him by Master Pudu has been forgotten for the time being, and he is only waiting for the opening day to be able to be named on the gold list.

The next day, Liu Baoen had nothing to do, wandering around the city alone, Zhao Fu came to Liu Baoen's side, gave a salute and asked, "This son is surnamed Liu?" ”

Liu Baoen came back to his senses and saluted: "I am indeed surnamed Liu, my name is Liu Baoen, I don't know if my brother has something to do with me?" ”

"Our lord invited the son to the mansion for a while." The old housekeeper Zhao Fudao.

"I don't know who the lord of your mansion is?" Liu Baoen asked.

"Our lord is inspected in front of the palace, forgive me for the sin, Lord Zhao Yuanlang." Zhao Fu said respectfully.

"It turned out to be Lord Zhao." Liu Baoen had long heard that Zhao Kuangyin was a celebrity in front of Chai Rong, and he thought, "Zhao Kuangyin can say that one person is below and above 10,000 people, and now he actually sent someone to find me, I don't know what happened?" ”

Liu Baoen followed Zhao Fu for a while, and when he arrived in front of a large mansion, Zhao Fu asked Liu Baoen to wait at the door, and he instructed the little man at the door to report to Zhao Kuangyin. Soon, a hearty laughter came out of the courtyard, and Zhao Kuangyin arrived at the door with the laughter.

"See Lord Zhao." Liu Baoen hurriedly knelt down and said.

Zhao Kuangyin hurriedly helped Liu Baoen up and said: "Liu Jushi has been away from home for a few days, and it must be difficult to sleep and eat for the imperial examination. ”

During the banquet, Zhao Kuangyin kept using words to get closer to the relationship between him and Liu Baoen, Liu Baoen was flattered, and the two drank until late at night.

Liu Baoen lived in the Great Xiangguo Temple for more than a month, and it was the day of the imperial examination. Liu Baoen got up early in the morning, and after a hasty meal, he went to Nangong Courtyard to prepare for the exam.

It took a long time to hear the deputy chief examiner of the Gongyuan Academy, shouting, "Li Hui, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, Master Li has arrived." Liu Baoen looked at the gate and saw an elderly minister, surrounded by a crowd of people, into the tribute courtyard.

As soon as Li Hui entered the Tribute Academy, he frowned, thinking, "It's you who helped the damned young literati, making it difficult for us old ministers to protect each other, it's really hateful!" But he said: "Everyone, I am Li Hui, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, the chief examiner appointed by the saint, I hope that all the lifters can be named on the gold list and share the worries of His Majesty." Come on, ask questions for everyone! ”

Li Hui gave an order, and his subordinates got busy and distributed test questions to the crowd.

It took a long time to send it to Liu Baoen, he took the question, thanked him, and unfolded the question paper. The topic turned out to be the Three Religions and the Way of Governing the Country, Liu Baoen's heart moved, and he said secretly, "How is this question so similar to my eulogy that day, could it be that Your Majesty did it intentionally?" ”

Liu Baoen has a bottom in his heart, with a stroke of the pen, in one go, the article is written smoothly, the literature and Taoism are all high-class, rare in the world, and it is not much higher than the eulogy of that day, it is not inferior to the four heroes of the early Tang Dynasty.

After a while, he handed in the answer sheet, walked out of the examination room with a smile, and said in his heart, "Even if my article can't be the champion, it will definitely be the title of the gold list, and this time I will finally get ahead!" ”

As soon as Liu Baoen returned to the temple, Mi Yuan greeted him, "Amitabha, how did Lord Liu answer, but you are still handy?" ”

"Little Master Miyuan, I, Liu Baoen, will definitely be on the rise, and in a few days I will be an official in the court, and I will definitely reshape the golden body of the Buddha statue in the temple and repay the grace of Master Pudu's reconstruction." Liu Baoen said happily.

Mi Yuan said: "Master Liu must be tired, let's go to the house and rest." ”

Liu Baoen nodded, "It's really a little tired." Saying that, he went back to the backyard and rested in his room, probably because he was really tired from getting up early and answering the questionnaire, and he fell asleep as soon as he pillowed his head on the bed.

A month later, when it was time to release the list, Liu Baoen happily went to the front of the Gongyuan to see the list.

There are a lot of people watching the list, and the huge streets are crowded, some people are cheering on the list, and some people are sad when they fall off the list, and they are very noisy.

Liu Baoen secretly used his internal strength, squeezed away everyone, and came to the top of the list. He thought that there must be his own name in the top three, but he didn't see himself from the first place on the list to the last place. Liu Baoen said in his heart, "What's the matter, could it be that I missed it?" ”

He read it three times again, but he didn't see his name, he felt a chill in his heart, maybe there was something wrong with his article, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it after recalling it for a long time, and he couldn't help but feel confused in his heart.

Just thinking about it, Zhao Fu came to Liu Baoen's side and gave a salute and said, "Our master invites the son to the mansion for a while." ”

Liu Baoen thought, "I have long heard that Zhao Kuangyin is a celebrity in front of Chai Rong, but it can be said that one person is above ten thousand people, and now he is sending someone to find me, I don't know what is going on?" ”

Liu Baoen followed Zhao Fu to Zhao Kuangyin's mansion.

"See Lord Zhao." Liu Baoen hurriedly knelt down and said.

"What is this doing, Liu Gongzi hurry up." Zhao Kuangyin picked up Liu Baoen and said with a smile; "Today's list is released, Liu Gongzi must be in high school. In the future, he will be a minister in the same palace, and today he specially congratulates Liu Gongzi. ”

"Alas," Liu Baoen sighed after listening to Zhao Kuangyin's words, "Lord Zhao, I didn't lift in the middle. ”

"What, Liu Gongzi didn't get lifted?" Zhao Kuangyin couldn't believe it, "With Liu Gongzi's talent, the saints are all appreciative, how can he not win?" ”

Zhao Kuangyin said and led Liu Baoen into the house, all the way through the corridor to the back garden, through a moon gate in the back garden, to a very luxurious cottage, next to this hut stood a stone tablet, on which the words "Yiyuan Xuan" were written. The two of them sat down in the room, and the next man brought tea.

Liu Baoen said confusedly: "Don't hide it from Lord Zhao, I don't understand why I didn't win, according to the following, the essay for the exam is several times stronger than the eulogy that the adult read in the Great Xiangguo Temple that day!" He memorized the essay he had written in the exam room word for word.

Zhao Kuangyin listened to Liu Baoen's silent recitation, nodded constantly, and couldn't help but praise, "Tang Li Taibai is a poet immortal, I think Liu Gongzi's article can be called a literary immortal!" ”

"Lord Zhao praised it falsely, and I knew that it was not so good, but there was no name on the list, I really don't know why?" Liu Baoen said.

"Liu Gongzi, don't worry, you live here today, and tomorrow morning you will meet my Golden Palace, and you will be able to seek justice for you." Zhao Kuangyin said.

"Thank you Lord Zhao for that!" Liu Baoen gave a deep salute and said excitedly.

On the same day, Liu Baoen went to Daxiangguo Temple to say goodbye to Miyuan, took his things, and went to live in Zhao Kuangyin's mansion without saying anything all night.

In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Kuangyin took Liu Baoen to the Golden Palace.

As soon as Chai Rong sat down on the dragon chair, he saw an elegant young man standing next to Zhao Kuangyin, the head of the martial arts class in the hall, who was Liu Baoen, who had met in the Great Xiangguo Temple that day. Chai Rong saw Liu Baoen standing under His Royal Highness, and his heart was overjoyed.

"Everyone, Aiqing, what's the performance?" Chai Rong Road.

Li Hui took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, this imperial examination has recruited a lot of young talents, and now it can be said that there are no sages left behind." ”

Everyone knelt down to congratulate Chai Rong when they heard Li Hui's words, Chai Rong was overjoyed in his heart, "Li Aiqing, this time the credit is not small, now the position of Pingzhang is still empty, it is better to ......"

"Your Majesty, no!" Zhao Kuangyin hurriedly went out of work and stopped: "Your Majesty, Li Hui has misled the country, please give the death of the national thief Li Hui!" ”

Chai Rong was stunned for a moment, Li Hui squinted at Zhao Kuangyin, and said in his heart, "I just suppressed the volume of your henchman Liu Baoen, it is impossible for His Majesty to know, what can you do to me?" ”

"Zhao Yuanlang, you Hugh is here to deceive long live, don't we know your calculations?" Li Hui said angrily.

"Hahaha, long live my Zhao Kuangyin?" Zhao Kuangyin laughed and said, "Your Majesty, do you still remember Liu Jushi that day?" ”

Chai Rong was even more confused, "Of course I remember, isn't Liu Jushi standing beside Aiqing?" I still expect him to share my worries. ”

"Long live the grass people!" Liu Baoen stepped forward and knelt down, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the grass people can't share their worries for Your Majesty." ”

"What does that mean?" Chai Rong only thought that Liu Baoen intended to become a monk, and couldn't help sighing, "Could it be that Liu Jushi intends to escape into the empty door?" Then I will make you the protector of the country. ”

"Your Majesty is wrong, he didn't mean to become a monk, but his name is not on the gold list at all." Zhao Kuangyin said: "The reason why the minister said that Li Hui misled the country is like this. ”

"Your Majesty has clearly investigated, this Liu Baoen's article is really unbearable to be on the list!" Li Hui argued.

"Li Hui, are you questioning Your Majesty's ignorance of talents?" Zhao Kuangyin asked.

Chai Rong also said: "Li Aiqing, I have seen Liu Jushi's articles before, if he can't be on the list with his talent, then I really want to see the literary brilliance of the undergraduate champion." ”

"What, the emperor has seen Liu Baoen's article? Wouldn't that be self-defeating! Li Hui thought about it, but said: "Your Majesty, Liu Baoen must have been ghostwritten, long live the hoodwin." ”

"Okay, find the champion, if he can write a better article than Liu Baoen, I, Zhao Kuangyin, will leave the court immediately, and from now on I will be an ordinary person, and I will no longer care about the affairs of the court!" Zhao Kuangyin said loudly.

"Okay, you wait." Li Hui's body trembled slightly, not knowing whether he was nervous or angry.

"Zhao Aiqing's intention is to be with me, quickly announce the champion into the hall, I want to personally come up with the question to try the level of the two." Chai Rong Road.

Soon the champion of the new branch was taken to the top of the Golden Palace, and after saluting Chai Rong, he said: "Cui Song, the grass people, see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live." ”

Chai Rong looked at Cui Song, and couldn't help frowning, only to see that this Cui Song was tall, dressed very luxuriously, with a face full of meat, a pair of leopard eyes, a beard, dark skin, very ugly, like a judge in the underworld. Chai Rong couldn't help but look at Liu Baoen, Liu Baoen was already extremely handsome, and now compared with Cui Song, he was even more like an immortal.

"Cui Zhuangyuan, I heard that your writing is extraordinary, and this Liu Jushi is also an immortal genius, I want to see your writing with my own eyes, and today in front of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, I will try the essay that day again, and let me and the Manchu Dynasty civil and military make a judgment." Chai Rong Road.

"Grass People's Command." Cui Song and Liu Baoen responded.

The little eunuch in the palace had already brought two Nanmu square tables to the two of them, and the ink on the table had been ground and covered with rice paper.

Liu Baoen said in his heart: "Whether it is success or failure, it all depends on this article!" ”

The two of them arrived at the table, rolled up their sleeves, and after a little groaning, they both began to write. It didn't take long for the two of them to finish writing and present it to the emperor.

Chai Rong saw that the articles of the two had their own characteristics, Liu Baoen's beauty and heartiness, Cui Song's depression and frustration, but he couldn't tell the high and low just by the article. Chai Rong thought to himself, "Liu Baoen is outstanding, but Cui Song is really ugly, so it is better to sentence Liu Baoen as the champion and Cui Song as the role model." ”

Li Hui said tremblingly at this time: "Your Majesty, what is the holy will?" Zhao Kuangyin saw Chai Rong's expression, knowing that the gap between the two was not big, and he couldn't help but sink in his heart.

"According to me, Liu Baoen is slightly stronger than Cui Song, the undergraduate champion should be Liu Baoen, and Cui Song is indeed a talent, so let's set an example." Chai Rong Road. The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty also responded one after another.

"Your Majesty, the minister has not wronged Li Hui, he deceived Your Majesty, and he must have received a lot of benefits from the lifters, he really deserves to die!" Zhao Kuangyin saw that Chai Rong was a little hesitant and hurriedly said.

"What Zhao Aiqing said is very true." Chai Rong said angrily to Li Hui: "Li Hui, I miss that you are old, the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime cannot be escaped, and Shuozhou will never be hired." ”

Li Hui didn't dare to say much at this time, he knew that all this was Zhao Kuangyin's ghost. But His Majesty trusts Zhao Kuangyin so much, it is useless for him to say more, he can only bring death to himself, so he can only accept his fate!

Chai Rong also named Liu Baoen as a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, and Liu Baoen hurriedly kowtowed to thank him. In his heart, he said, "This court is by no means as simple as I thought, it seems that it is really as the world says, and the king is like a tiger!" ”

At this time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty kowtowed one after another: "Thank you, Lord Longen!" ”

Although they speak in unison, their moods are different, and they are all in plain sight.