"Isn't this Brother Yi Jiuxiao, how did you do in this exam, can you get the first place?"

Yi Jiuxiao didn't want to pay attention to these two people, especially that Shanhui, but he still paused slightly, said hello, and continued to walk towards the carriage outside the door.

"Is he Yi Jiuxiao?" Shanhui's shout, the nearby candidates heard it, and all of them gathered around, Yi Jiuxiao practiced and studied in Wanfu all day long, and he didn't know how famous he was, and he didn't know that his poems had spread all over the alleys, becoming a good story among scholars and a topic in the boudoir.

Usually no one recognizes him, but once he is recognized, the people around him gather more and more, and before he reaches the side of the carriage, there are already hundreds of people in front of him and behind him, these people are pointing along the way, and some people even take the initiative to greet Yi Jiuxiao and ask to get acquainted. Fortunately, these candidates are all men, and it would be even more lively if there were female candidates as in later generations.

Yi Jiuxiao was helpless, so he had to stop his hurried steps, hugged his fists to the people around him, said "Fortunately", and then continued to move forward. It's not that he doesn't want to be good friends with everyone, it's just that there are too many people here and too mixed, and he is simply overwhelmed.

At this time, a voice sounded behind Yi Jiuxiao, and it was Shanhui who spoke: "Brother Yi's shelf is so big, we can't afford to climb it! This one next to me is Zhu Chen and Zhu Gongzi, who was second only to Yi Gongzi in the last county examination. ”

I saw Zhu Chen restrain his past arrogance, pretended to be amiable, hugged his fists to everyone, and said: "Brothers, Zhu Chen in Xiakaicheng County, fortunately, fortunately!"

His behavior seems to be humble, and at the same time, it reflects Yi Jiuxiao's arrogance. Just when Zhu Chen and Shanhui were singing and harmonizing, the crowd was already talking about Yi Jiuxiao's wrong, saying that Zhu Chen was good.

"Second place is not much different from first place, sometimes it's luck. ”

"The first place, it's vain, just have talent to learn, it's not good if your character is too poor, and you won't go far. ”

Most of the candidates don't know the truth, and they feel very reasonable when they listen to these words, and they generally believe that the first and second are similar in strength, and the difference is not very great. Therefore, everyone began to look at Zhu Chen with admiration, and a few people stepped forward to greet and get acquainted with Zhu Chen, and then more people came to Zhu Chen, but they left Yi Jiuxiao aside.

These Yi Jiuxiao saw it in his eyes, including Shanhui's sinister smile not far away, he was teased by this person for no reason today, and made a stepping stone for Zhu Chen, and he still had to guard against such villains in the future. But these thoughts were not revealed, and they were unwilling to entangle with them, so they indifferently got into the carriage and returned to Wanfu.

On the sixth day of the first month of April, it was the day when the state examination list was released, and Wan Shufang accompanied Yi Jiuxiao to see the list together. Originally, you can also not look at the list, the state exam is different from the county exam, the state exam is on the list, the state government examination institute will arrange personnel to report the good news, and the good news personnel will send the good news documents of the examination institute to the homes of each candidate, but because of the large number of candidates, many people are far away, and the news of the good news is relatively lagging behind, so many people still choose to come to see the list and get the latest and timely news.

Anyway, the examination institute is also very close to Wanjia, so it is better to go and see it directly, so the two of them shared a carriage and rushed to the examination institute. There was nothing to do on the road, and when he started chatting, Wan Shufang asked: "Jiuxiao, I don't know what your state exam ranking will be, and those who rank high in the state exam can be an official directly." ”

"It's hard to say, the state exam is different from the county exam, and there are many talents, so I can only do my best. ”

It is true that although there are only a few thousand candidates in the state examination, they are all elites in the county and county examinations, among which there are many talented people, although Yi Jiuxiao's works draw on the masterpieces of his predecessors, but it also depends on whether it meets the taste of the examiner, if the examiner does not like it, then it is helpless, so he is not sure of the ranking Yi Jiuxiao at all, and even the possibility of falling off the list exists.

As for Wan Shufang's statement that those who are at the top of the state examination can directly become officials, this is really true. Each state has an official staff, the main officials are appointed by the court officials, and the remaining officials can be selected and appointed by the state officials. The state capital has a lot of power, and he has the right to select some talents from among the outstanding people in the state examination to enrich the various departments and departments of the state capital.

Serving in the state capital is not Yi Jiuxiao's pursuit, his ideal is to go to Bozhou and seek a future in the imperial court, so that he can go higher and further. But Yi Jiuxiao often asks himself, is all this possible, is there a chance?

After the state examination, there is the national examination, and the winners of the national examination have the opportunity to stay in the six departments of the imperial court as officials, and the rest of the people are still delegated to all states and counties across the country, if they can't get a ranking in this state examination, what's the point of participating in the national examination, thinking of this, Yi Jiuxiao couldn't help but feel a little gloomy.

Seeing him like this, Wan Shufang patted him on the shoulder, and hurriedly comforted: "It's okay, Jiuxiao, I believe in you!"

The release platform of the Kaizhou Examination Institute is larger than that of the county examination, and the results of the state examination are also publicized on the release platform. Although the number of candidates for the state exam is not as high as that of the county exam, the number of people who look at the list far exceeds that of the county exam. The candidates for the county exam are uneven, some people are mixed, and those who are particularly poor in the exam simply don't look at the list.

Generally speaking, candidates for the state examination have a certain foundation and are conceited and talented, and they all have very ardent hopes after the exam, and almost no one does not look at the list. Therefore, the public's attention to the state examination is far greater than that of the county examination, and at the scene of the release of the list, thirty percent are candidates and their relatives and friends, and seventy percent are idle people watching the excitement.

By the time Yi Jiuxiao and Wan Shufang came to the examination institute, the place where the list release platform was 100 zhang away was already impassable, and the two of them could only squirm with the flow of people, and it was difficult to walk to the list release table in a short time.

Although the two of them are cultivators, they are separated by a distance of 100 zhang, and they can't see the list clearly. What should I do? Squeeze over or jump over, as a cultivator, neither of these is advisable, that will disturb the candidates and ordinary people, and even cause some people to be injured.

Congestion is congestion, but the crowd is still flowing slowly, people are constantly entering and some people leaving, just when the two of them are at a loss, in the flow of people who come out, someone shouted: "Look, isn't this Yi Jiuxiao? ”

The two looked at each other, and the person who spoke was the examinee, who should have just come out of the list, and was pointing at Yi Jiuxiao with his finger. As soon as he shouted, everyone present stopped, and their eyes focused on Yi Jiuxiao.

"This is Yi Jiuxiao, Yi Jiuxiao, who ranked first in the state exam. "There are a few more people talking in the crowd that was about to come out just now.

"It's Yi Jiuxiao, I promise he's Yi Jiuxiao, I saw him on the day the state exam ended. ”

Wan Shu glanced at Yi Jiuxiao madly, as if to say: Yi Jiuxiao, when did you become so famous, so many people know you. Usually Yi Jiuxiao doesn't go out, he stays in the courtyard with Wan Shufang to study and cultivate, except for two exams, it is difficult to go out once in a few months, which Wan Shuluo knows best, so he is curious.

Yi Jiuxiao was not surprised, he remembered that this person should have seen him when Shanhui and Zhu Chen were looking for him when the state exam was over, this person said that he was the first, is it true? So he hugged his fist at him and said: "In Xia Yi Jiuxiao, dare to ask Brother Tai has already seen the list just now? Did you see my name?"

"yes, we've looked at the list, we're getting ready to go out, you're number one. ”

"Yes, you are the number one, we have all seen it, this is true, let's let Yi Jiuxiao go in and have a look. Another candidate who had read the list was talking.

"Let's let go, the first place Yi Jiuxiao is here, let him go in and have a look. Another candidate shouted at the crowd. Last time, under the singing and harmony of Shanhui and Zhu Chen, although some candidates had a bad impression of Yi Jiuxiao, they still couldn't help but show respect in the face of absolute strength.

"Let's give a way to the first place, Yi Jiuxiao, and let him go in and have a look. Someone in the crowd began to respond, so a path slowly appeared in front of Yi Jiuxiao and Wan Shufang, and it extended to the front of the list.

Yi Jiuxiao and Wan Shufang followed this path to the top side of the list under the gaze of everyone. This time, the two came directly to the top side of the list, that is, the place where the top three were announced, and it was really good at first glance, it read: Yi Jiuxiao in the first place, Ji Hai in the second place, and Teng Buyue in the third place.

"Ji Hai is actually the second place?" Wan Shufang looked at the release platform, muttering in his mouth.

"Do you know him?" Yi Jiuxiao asked.

"He is from the Kaizhou Ji family, I am not familiar with him, but I heard his name very early, he is a cultivator, and he actually came to refer to the scientific examination, and he also won the second place, which is really strange. ”

In the Qi country, most cultivators are dedicated to cultivating, and when they cultivate to a certain level, if they want to be born as an official, whether they are in politics or in the army, they are easy to come by, and they don't need to pass the scientific examination at all, the scientific examination is just to open up a channel for those mortals who have inferior spiritual roots and cannot cultivate.

Yi Jiuxiao was also very curious when he heard Wan Shufang say this, thought for a while, and asked, "Is it because his spiritual root is average, and his cultivation is slow, so he chose the imperial examination." ”

"No, his spiritual root is very good, he is the best water spiritual root, and he is also one in a million cultivation geniuses, if I guessed correctly, now he has built a foundation. Wan Shufang put his hands behind his back and said to Yi Jiuxiao with certainty.