Zhou Dongping was stunned, and the hand on his forehead was also put down, and he looked at Zhong An and said, "How can he have so many industries?" Isn't he a poor kid? ”

Zhong An shook his head: "The time is too short, and that's all the villain can find." If the lord wants to check this, the villain will send someone to the county to investigate. ”

Zhou Dongping waved his hand: "Okay, I'll just ask, these things are irrelevant, you don't have to spend effort on it." ”

"Yes, sir."

Zhou Dongping thought for a while: "I remember that in the past two days, there was a candidate who was disappointed in the second game, was brushed off the list, complained, and scolded people indiscriminately in the inn, and it is estimated that he scolded me a lot in private." I think he hasn't left yet, you find someone to contact him and ask him to summon Du Jinning to the tavern for a drink. ”

"Yes." Zhong An agreed, hesitated for a moment, and said, "But what if Du Jinning doesn't agree?" ”

Zhou Dongping squinted at him: "You have been with me for so long, why do you still ask such words?" What does it matter if you say yes or no? Even if he doesn't agree, he will inevitably appear in the Qinglou tonight, and tomorrow morning, there will inevitably be a scandal. What we want is just an introduction. ”

Master and servant for decades, Zhong An couldn't be clearer about Zhou Dongping's temperament: self-righteous, rigid and self-serving; On the surface, he is fair and upright, but there is no lack of means in private. It's just that he covers it up well and knows how to manage his official reputation, so his reputation is excellent.

"The villain knows what to do, and the villain will do it." He bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Naturally, Zhong An couldn't do these things in person, and he had to call people. As soon as he called like this, the news leaked out and reached the ears of Yao Shuqi and Du Jinning.

Du Jinning sighed: "Go and call Lianniang." ”

The time of the release of the list was in the afternoon, Zhou Dongping was woken up by Zhong An after sleeping at home for most of the hour, and after arranging this, he continued to sleep for half an hour, and was woken up by Ah Yan again.

When he opened his eyes, he was a little angry, stared at Ah Yan angrily and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"Master, Master Xuezheng has sent someone to call you over." Ah Yan said.

Zhou Dongping was stunned for a moment, and slowly sat up, thinking about what Lord Zhao asked him to do.

It stands to reason that Xuezheng is the most aware of the hard work of the examiner. He only released the list in the afternoon, and there was no major event for Lord Zhao at this time, so he would not come to disturb him to make up for sleep. What will happen if someone is sent to call him now? Unless...... Lord Zhao is leaving this place.

"What time is it?" He rubbed his face and got off the couch.

"It's been two moments." Ah Yan said, but his hands were not slow, he first twisted a cloth towel and washed Zhou Dongping's face, and then took a clean official uniform to serve Zhou Dongping to put on.

There had been an affair between Zhou Dongping and the maid before, and the Wang family never put the maid in front of Zhou Dongping again. The only people who served in the outer court were this little man and the manservant.

Dressed neatly, Zhou Dongping didn't call anyone to say a word to Wang, and went out directly to Lord Zhao's residence.

"Here, sit down." Lord Zhao's name is Zhao Liang, and when he saw Zhou Dongping, his attitude was quite gentle, he pointed to a chair for him to sit down, and let people serve tea, "You have worked hard these days." ”

Seeing this, Zhou Dongping's heart suddenly settled down, and he smiled and said, "Lord Zhao is tired of driving and horses, and it is hard work. ”

Zhao Liang smiled, didn't answer the words again, was silent for a moment, and said, "Someone sued you for embarrassing the candidates for personal grudges, but is there such a thing?" ”

Zhou Dongping was shocked, looked at Zhao Liang, and asked, "What do you say?" ”

Zhao Liang only raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Dongping quietly, without speaking.

Zhou Dongping became more and more flustered by him.

He retracted his gaze, looked away, shook his head, and looked righteous and stern: "I, Zhou Dongping, have been an official for more than ten years, and I am upright and never selfish. Even if the candidates are tested in the examination room, it is a matter of love, and it is not difficult to know what the real level of the candidates is, let alone any personal grudges. ”

He looked at Zhao Liang, this time his eyes were clear, without a trace of dodge: "I think Lord Zhao also knows that I am a person from the suburbs of Beijing, since I hit the Jinshi, in the past ten years, I have been an official in various places, and I only came here two years ago in this Gui Province, I am not familiar with the place, and I don't have much contact with the local squires on weekdays, I have no friendship with anyone, and there is no personal grudge against anyone." If anything, it was also because I offended some people because I enforced the law impartially when adjudicating the case, and those people still have resentment towards me. ”

Zhao Liang smiled, noncommittal, and reached out to point the test paper on the table: "Let me ask you, you are not a difficult candidate, why are the questions in your second exam so difficult?" ”

When asked this question, Zhou Dongping did not panic. As early as when he came up with the question, he thought of the reason for the prevarication: "The adults of the household department ......" He repeated what he had said to Li Tongtong, and finally said, "The lower officials are also out of the consideration of selecting talents, so the difficulty of the arithmetic problem is increased." And the exam questions are all the same, and the candidates are doing a set of questions, not to mention who is embarrassed and who is not embarrassed. ”

Because the two trial poems did not require that they must write eight-strand poems, and Zhao Liang couldn't grasp his handle, he didn't explain it.

"Twenty years ago, in Jingzhong, I also heard about your grievances with the Gu family and the Guan family."

Zhao Liang's words were smooth and not loud, but they were no less than a thunderclap in Zhou Dongping's ears.

He slowed down for a while before calming down the fluctuations in his heart, and said calmly: "If Lord Zhao doesn't mention this matter, I will almost forget about it." I don't know what Lord Zhao meant by mentioning this, and what does it have to do with this government exam? ”

"Du Jinning is Guan Lehe's disciple, I think you know this, right?"

Zhou Dongping was panicked again, but his face was not shown at all, and he nodded: "I know." It is precisely because of this knowledge that it is even more impossible to talk about the affairs of the lower officials who embarrass the students due to personal grudges. If the lower officials really had a personal grudge, they would not have taken Du Jinning as the head of the government. ”

Zhao Liang stared at him, smiled, and didn't ask any more questions on this topic, but asked another question: "Do you recognize Lianniang?" ”

Zhou Dongping was stunned, and his face gradually became difficult to see. What happened before, even if he denied it, it was useless, Zhao Liang could find a neighbor of Lianniang and ask him.

"Acquaintance." He admitted bluntly, "But this is a family and private matter of the lower officials, and it has nothing to do with this government test." ”

Xuezheng is only in charge of examination matters, and has no right to interfere in other government affairs of magistrates, let alone family and private affairs. So even when asked about Lianniang, Zhou Dongping was not too flustered.

"Half an hour ago, a woman named Lianniang begged to see the official and accused you of embarrassing the candidates in the examination room because of personal grudges." Zhao Liang looked at Zhou Dongping quietly, "Otherwise, why would your wife make a fuss at home, causing you to be late for the third exam?" ”