That night, Gu Ming and his entourage drank until midnight before returning happy.

The next morning, someone came to the inn.

"Gu Gongzi!"

As soon as they met, the visitor respectfully gave a salute.

Gu Ming looked surprised: "Hey, Steward Lu, how did you find here?" ”

At the beginning, in order to concentrate on the exam and avoid disturbance, he and Ma Yun deliberately chose an inn with a relatively remote location, but they were still found.

Steward Lu smiled and did not respond directly, but said: "The prince specially ordered the villain to invite the prince to the palace, I don't know if the prince is inconvenient?" ”

"Oh?"

Gu Ming was stunned.

What's the matter with this Qing Wangye?

"Gu Gongzi doesn't have to worry too much, my prince just admires Gongzi's talent, and said that he didn't have a good time last time, so he set up a banquet today and drank a few cups with Gongzi."

"The prince is really too polite, even so, naturally I can't brush off the prince's kindness."

"Haha, Childe is really a cheerful person, please!"

"Please!"

The two politely left the inn together and took a carriage to the palace together.

"Hahaha, Gu Jieyuan, come, come, sit!"

As soon as he saw Gu Ming enter the hospital, Prince Qing smiled heartily and said hello first.

"Thank you, Lord Wang!"

Gu Ming bowed, then walked to the table and sat down.

Then, a girl brought tea and put it on the table: "Son, please use tea!" ”

"Gu Xie Yuan, please!"

Qing Wang Ye picked up the tea bowl and signaled.

"Lord Wang, please!"

Gu Ming smiled and picked up the tea bowl, and suddenly there was a refreshing fragrance of tea, the soup was green, and the roots of the tea leaves were firm, half floating and half sinking, like slender tender bamboo leaves.

At first glance, you can see that it is the best bird's tongue tea.

Tea of this quality is almost unavailable in the market, and most of them are tribute teas.

Another product, sure enough, it is the entrance is shengjin, the lips and teeth are fragrant, and there is a faint orchid fragrance between the breath.

Among the royal tribute teas, there is a more special, the elegant name daughter tea.

The production of this tea is very small, and the tea pickers are all young girls who have not left the cabinet.

When picking tea, you should not use your hands, but gently hold it with your lips and take it off, and then lower your head to let it fall into a small willow basket hanging from your neck.

After the harvest is full, the willow basket is placed on the chest and the tea leaves are roasted with body heat......

It is said that this tea has an incomparably unique fragrance, and there is a poem: if you want to compare the West Lake to the West, it has always been like a beautiful woman.

"Good tea!"

After tasting it, Gu Ming sighed heartily.

As a result, when Prince Qing heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "Since Gu Jieyuan likes it, I will bring a pack and taste it slowly when I go back." ”

"No, the prince, as the so-called merit is not rewarded, the king's kindness is ......"

Without waiting for Gu Ming to finish speaking, Prince Qing said: "Gu Xie Yuan doesn't have to excuse himself, just a little tea." ”

Saying this, Gu Ming couldn't push it back, so he had to thank him.

After chatting for a while, Prince Qing suddenly asked: "By the way, I don't know if Gu Xie Yuan wrote an article called the Three Character Classic when he took the exam this time?" ”

"Huh? Where did the prince find out? ”

Gu Ming suddenly looked surprised.

According to the rules, the examiner cannot see the relevant information of the candidate during the marking period, which is also a means to prevent cheating.

There are even cases where all the test papers are transcribed again and then marked, so that the examiner does not identify who the candidate is from the handwriting.

Qing Wang Ye couldn't help but smile and said: "This is not a secret, I believe that many people in the capital know about it...... Or rather, there is speculation. ”

"This ...... It's really unclear below, and I ask the prince to make it clear. ”

"Didn't you hear the rumors, Gu Xie Yuan? When the bells of the whole city rang in unison that day, many butterflies and bees flew from the east wall outside the Gongyuan to form three big characters of the three-character classic.

There are a few small words below, at the beginning of people, the nature is good, the sex is similar, and the habits are far away......"

"Huh? And so on? ”

Gu Ming really hadn't heard of this.

"I can't believe you're really in the dark...... This king is a little curious, is this Gu Jieyuan's work for the exam? ”

"It's true that I wrote it below, but I didn't expect such a strange thing to happen."

"Hahaha, I didn't expect it to be really written by Gu Jieyuan. This is not a strange thing, but a good omen, presumably Gu Xie Yuan will win the championship again this time, and the future is immeasurable! ”

"Thank you for your good words......"

You can be modest in other things, but no one will be humble to say where and where you are in the exam, and the kid is only a shallow learner, and he may not necessarily pass the exam......

However, at this time, Gu Ming finally understood why Prince Qing invited him so warmly to the palace as a guest, obviously wanting to win him over in advance.

Of course, it may also be that Cihang Pudu was used by the old demon and wanted to find out his details.

After all, this time the test was quite noisy, presumably, it has been secretly targeted by the old demon.

You have to be careful.

After chatting for a while, someone hurriedly came to report, saying that Master Fang was visiting.

King Qing couldn't help but get up and said, "Gu Jieyuan, why don't you drink tea first, and this king will go out to socialize." ”

"It's okay, the prince will be busy if he has something."

As soon as King Qing left, Gu Ming got up and walked around the courtyard, enjoying the scenery in the courtyard.

After all, it is a royal mansion, and the layout in the courtyard is quite exquisite, and many precious flowers and plants are planted.

As he was spinning around, a sudden breath of heat blew in his ears......

Gu Ming remained silent and walked slowly to the nearby bamboo bushes.

"Come out!"

As soon as the words fell, Xin Jiuniang's figure appeared in front of her out of thin air, and she said pretendly: "Yo, what a coincidence, Gu Gongzi, we met again." ”

"Come less, did you trick Prince Qing into asking me to come to the palace?"

"You really wronged the concubine in this matter, it was the old guy's own idea."

"Could it be that Lord Qing is helping that old demon test my details?"

Xin Jiuniang shook her head: "No, King Qing's identity is special, and the old demon will not easily move this card until the critical time."

Even if you really want King Qing to do something, it is instigated through concubines, and under normal circumstances, the old demon will not come forward directly. ”

"That's ...... so"

"He invited you to the palace just to be optimistic about your future......

After talking a few words, Gu Ming subconsciously sensed the surroundings and confirmed that no one was there, so he asked, "Ask you something, more than a year ago, a strange case happened in the harem......

"Oh? Where did you hear that? ”

Without waiting for Gu Ming to finish speaking, Xin Jiuniang couldn't help frowning.

"You don't care where I heard it, how much do you know about this strange case?"

As a result, Xin Jiuniang said with a rare solemnity: "I advise you not to touch this, at least, don't touch it now." ”

Saying this, Gu Ming felt that there must be a lot of articles in it.

So, I couldn't help but ask the guess in my heart: "Could it be that this case is related to the old demon of Pudu Cihang?" ”

Xin Jiuniang hesitated for a while, and couldn't help but sigh faintly: "That's right, in fact, that Concubine Ning ...... It's exactly what I told you last time, the demon lurking in the harem is the most trusted disciple of the old demon.

Therefore, when you don't have enough strength to confront that old demon, don't try to uncover it, don't even mention it. ”

"That's ...... so"

Gu Ming nodded thoughtfully.

"Childe, you put this matter aside, don't think about it too much, so as not to cause trouble."

"Well, I understand."

"Okay, I have to go, I guess the prince will be back soon......"

Sure enough, it didn't take long for King Qing to return to the courtyard and continue to chat with Liao Ming for a while, so he warmly invited him to sit down.

This stay is a whole day, allowing Gu Ming to fully appreciate the luxurious life of the palace.

Not to mention the sumptuous feast, during the banquet, the musicians, kabuki, and maiko of the royal palace appeared one after another to perform their performances, which was an eye-opener.

In the afternoon, the two troupes took turns to stage Du Shi Niang and Farewell My Concubine.

In the evening, it was drinking, singing and dancing...... Hi until midnight.

If it weren't for Gu Ming's repeated refusals, there would still be two carefully selected maiko in the guest room waiting to serve him......

……

The next day, many well-informed people visited the inn all the way.

I don't know that they have pounced on the air.

Because Gu Ming checked out early in the morning and left, he quietly left the capital with Ma Yun and the three of them and went to play around the capital.

I didn't return to Beijing until the afternoon of the first day of the list.

That night, it was another sleepless night for countless candidates.

Before dawn, many candidates flocked to the outside of the Gongyuan to wait to check the list.

The government also sent many officers and soldiers to the scene to maintain order in case of any accidents.

Although the probability is very small, it cannot be ignored.

At dawn, Gu Ming also came to the outside of the Gongyuan with Ma Yun, Xu Jiaying, and Liu Qiangxi.

After waiting for about half an hour, the crowd suddenly began to stir......

"Coming, coming......"

Not far away, several officials strode over under the escort of a group of officers.

The answer is about to be revealed.

The hearts of the candidates also began to "pound".

Although they have already experienced the township test, the specifications of this test are too high, who doesn't want to go to the next level?

In a look of anticipation and apprehension, the list ...... Finally posted on the east wall.

Almost everyone's eyes are on the most striking parts of the list......

"Great, Brother Gu, you are Jinke Huiyuan!"

As Ma Yun shouted, the scene instantly boiled.

After all, Gu Ming's name is too loud.

In this examination, there are still many candidates who bet on whether he can pass the high school entrance examination in private.

There's no suspense anymore.

Those who are admitted to the examination are called Gongshi, and the first place is Huiyuan.

Gongshi can only be regarded as a deputy jinshi, and he must wait until after the palace examination to be officially promoted to jinshi.

In principle, the palace test will not be on the list again, but only a ranking, such as champion, tanhua, and list.

Unless some of the people on the list cheat and perform too poorly in the palace exam, then the consequences will be serious, not only will the cheater be severely punished, but the behind-the-scenes co-examiner will also have to find out and deal with it strictly.

Therefore, cheaters are rarely involved in the trial because the risk is too great.

"Congratulations to Gu Xie Yuan...... No, no, no, it's time to call Gu Huiyuan. ”

"This is going to be the champion again, that is, the three yuan in the middle of the line, which will create a precedent for this dynasty......"

Lianzhong Sanyuan, which means that the township test, the meeting test, and the palace test have won the championship in a row, and won the merit of Xie Yuan, Hui Yuan, and the champion.

Since ancient times, there are not many people who have been in the three elements of the company, at least in the hundreds of years since the founding of the dynasty, there has never been a situation in the three elements of the company.

There are a few people who even win the two yuan, and some of them are the middle and the yuan, but they miss the champion.

Some of them were in the middle of the yuan, but they didn't win the yuan, and then they won the champion.

Some of them didn't win the solution, but they won the meeting and the champion.

Now, Gu Ming has won two yuan, plus he was the hand-picked Xie Yuan before, so in the eyes of many candidates, the winning champion is estimated to be a big problem.

It's really contradictory, envious, jealous, and hateful!

Especially Xie Yuan from various provinces like Qiao Yongjin and others, when they saw Gu Ming winning the championship again, their mood was even more complicated.

After all, they are also ambitious.

Although there is still a chance to fight for the palace examination, the ambition before coming to Beijing has been annihilated by most of it.

The important thing is that they now know that the vision at the time of the test was caused by Gu Ming.

That alone makes them unreachable.

It's just that the candidates couldn't guess that the process of marking the papers this time can be described as twists and turns.

According to the rules of the imperial examination, after the papers are collected, the "vague name examination school" will be implemented.

In other words, the candidate's name, place of origin and other personal information should be covered with blank paper, and then stamped with a seal to avoid fraud by the examiner.

If necessary, you even have to transcribe all the test papers, so that even if you want to read them, it is useless to read them.

However, there were almost no rules for transcription in the current dynasty, and only vague names were implemented.

But even if he was vague, Gu Ming's test paper was still recognized by a group of examiners and fellow examiners.

Mainly because of the three-character scripture.

This matter has already been spread in the capital, and they were in the examination room at the time, so they felt more intuitive, and they decided that the three-character scripture was made by Gu Ming.

In this way, those examiners who were dissatisfied with Gu Ming naturally had the opportunity to suppress him, and deliberately pressed his test papers and did not recommend them.

According to the consistent rules of grading, it is generally necessary to be reviewed and recommended by the marking personnel first.

It will then be handed over to the same examiner for marking.

If the examiner is satisfied, he will mark the word "take", and finally hand over the "take" test paper to several examiners.

If the examiner is also satisfied, he will mark a "medium" on the test paper, which means that he has been admitted.

As a result, Gu Ming's test paper happened to be assigned to a fellow examiner who was dissatisfied with him, and he was directly suppressed.

However, the chief examiner Feng Yun has been paying attention to Gu Ming's test papers, and seeing that the marking is almost over, but he has not seen Gu Ming's test papers, he guessed that most of them were pressed down.

As a result, he proposed to review the file.

This is a reasonable request, after all, the examiner has the right to review.

Who knows, Qiu Yonglin made an obstacle and deliberately asked people to take out other failed test papers to delay time......

Unexpectedly, at this time, the emperor sent someone to pass on the oral message, asking for the test paper with the three-character scripture written on it, saying that he would check it in person.

At this time, Qiu Yonglin had no choice but to obediently hand over Gu Ming's test paper.

After the test paper was sent to the palace, it was not sent back...... After that, the emperor sent another oracle and signaled that Gu Ming should be selected as the Huiyuan.

Of course, this time is not hand-picking, it is equivalent to meddling in the marking process.

Although there are violations, but are the rules big or the imperial power?

If someone dares to say that the rules are big, the emperor can issue an order to change the rules on the spot, and then pull the people who raise objections to cut them down......