At this reunion dinner, Shen Ao spent most of his time drinking with Zhou Zheng, Zhou Zheng had a lot of things on his mind, and he drank quickly and urgently, an hour passed, he was already drunk, he was full of alcohol, and he no longer had the calm and calm before, pinched Shen Ao's shoulder, and said sharply: "Shen Ao, I will hand over Ruo'er to you, if you dare to treat him slowly, don't blame me for being unkind to you, do you hear?" ”

Zhou Ruo was so ashamed that he hurriedly got up and left his seat, and said, "Dad, mother, I'm full, go back and rest first." Her steps were messy, and she hurried away like a frightened fawn.

Shen Ao said: "No, no, I don't bully women, let alone my own wife." ”

Mrs. went to persuade Zhou Zheng and said, "I told you not to drink so much, come on, quickly help the grandfather to rest, and go to the pot of tea to sober him up." ”

The moon was round, hanging high in the sky, it was very beautiful, Shen Ao was also drunk, got up and went back to rest.

In the Mid-Autumn Festival, they are all running around alone, in order to relieve loneliness, most of them called a few fellow villagers to go to the wine shop to drink, although it was lively, but it was inevitable that it was still a little lonely.

To August 20, the inn guy Xiao Er got up very early, immediately took hot water and began to take care of it, today is the release of the list, in previous years, if you meet the autumn season, encounter this day, the candidates who live in the inn often get up very early, so you have to get up in advance, ready to serve the guests.

Before dawn, countless lamps were lit, and the merchants who sold cooking cakes on the street got up early to sell along the street, and those candidates went out of the inn, holding the cakes in their hands, and hurriedly went to the holy oracle pavilions of the various yamen to wait for the list.

Shen Ao didn't go to see the list, his head hurt a little when he got up, and after cleaning his face and rinsing his mouth, Liu Wen took Liu Sheng over, and when he saw Shen Ao, he scolded Liu Sheng and said, "Kneel down and kowtow to the young master." ”

Liu Sheng plopped down and knelt down honestly, and really kowtowed heavily; Shen Ao hurriedly went to help and said, "Master Liu, what are you doing." ”

Liu Wen said very gratefully: "Young Master Cousin, someone Liu has lived to the end of his life, yesterday my grandfather asked me to serve you, and I have no complaints." The young master doesn't want me to go, but also promotes my unsuccessful son, Liu is grateful, and I will hand over Liu Sheng to you in the future, if he does something wrong, he will be scolded by the young master. ”

Shen Ao smiled and glanced at Liu Sheng up and down, in fact, Liu Sheng is a person, he has already dealt with him, he is indeed kind, but he is not as capable as Liu Wen in doing things, this kind of thing still needs to be experienced, and slowly he will be able to take charge of himself, what Liu Sheng lacks is an opportunity.

Shen Ao smiled: "This is what you said, don't be heartbroken when the time comes!" ”

Liu Sheng said: "Don't worry, my father won't be heartbroken." ”

Shen Ao laughed and said to Liu Sheng: "Okay, then you go to the Holy Oracle Pavilion for me now, show me the list first, the list is out, and report it immediately." ”

Liu Sheng got the errand and went happily, Liu Wen said a few words of gratitude, and went back to work.

Today is the release of the list, Shen Ao's mood is also quite excited, sit in the room for a while, simply go to find Zhou Heng to pass the time, Zhou Heng came back from patrolling the street all night, he is already a little tired, he is just a Yu Hou now, but the front of the palace has already released the news, saying that he is going to be promoted to the general Yu Hou, this is still the news that Deng Long passed to Shen Ao, Zhou Heng has not said.

The prince of the country, the promotion is naturally much faster than others, and Zhou Heng has entered the front division of the palace, and he is also diligent in the division, and he is also very polite when he sees the official, a young master, he has changed, in fact, it is the easiest to get along with those Qiu Ba, with the opportunity to be promoted, the first thing that the Marquis of Du Yu thought of was naturally him, on the one hand, he was to show goodwill to the government, and on the other hand, he also liked Zhou Heng and was willing to take care of it.

Zhou Heng has been on duty at night these days, and every time he comes back tired and sleepy, his body has lost a lot of weight, but he has developed a lot of strength, and he has a little more momentum when he walks, he was just about to sleep, and when he saw Shen Ao coming, he beat his spirits and said, "Why is my cousin here?" ”

Shen Ao sat down and asked some things about the front of the palace, Zhou Heng didn't feel sleepy, talked with Shen Ao, and said to Shen Ao: "These days are all about my cousin, many brothers who have entered the palace on errands have said that Your Majesty has mentioned you in front of people several times, and the last time the official Shangshu Jin saw him, he also specially asked if there was a vacancy in Hangzhou Mansion, listening to that tone, it seems that he wants to arrange you to go to Hangzhou." ”

"Hangzhou?" Shen Ao was not surprised, the status of Suzhou and Hangzhou in the Great Song Dynasty was equivalent to Shanghai in later generations, but all promising officials started from there, such as Su Shi, who had been the prefect of Hangzhou before entering the court, and Cai Jing, who was immediately given a Qiantang County order after the pilot test, Wang Anshi served as the governor of Changzhou, Changzhou is only a stone's throw away from Suzhou and Hangzhou, and it is also an extremely important state and county; Most of these people rose to prominence, and eventually became famous.

Shen Ao has some understanding of some appointments in the imperial court, but all the officials in the emperor's phase, even if they are Jinshi and the first, they have to be released, on the contrary, those officials who directly enter the court are some emperors who don't care too much, and the release is actually a bit of a teaching you to the place to sharpen the meaning, the time is almost over, and then a paper edict is summoned to the court to appoint, with this experience, it is reasonable in terms of qualifications, and it is often faster than the promotion of court officials.

For going to Hangzhou, Shen Ao is not rejecting at all, Hangzhou is good, in the sky, Hangzhou at this time is not much better than Bianjing, but I really want to see it.

After talking to Zhou Heng again, Shen Ao said goodbye, and then heard Liu Sheng's excited voice from a distance: "Hit, the young master is in high school, Jinshi and first, it is Jinshi and first." ”

Shen Ao vaguely heard it, overjoyed, and when Liu Sheng came to Shen Ao's side, Liu Sheng told him truthfully, saying: "What the little one saw with his own eyes was the Jinshi and the first, ranking first on the list. ”

Shen Ao asked again which others entered the Jinshi and the first at the same time, Liu Sheng said: "There are seven or eight, one is Wu Bi, who seems to be a classmate of the young master, and there is also Cheng Hui, one is Xu Wei, and one is interesting, also called Zhou Heng, I almost thought that the young master was also in high school." ”

Shen Ao nodded, and couldn't help thinking, seven or eight places, Taixue and Guozijian accounted for half, and the Central University was really unusual, so he took out a piece of money to attract it, and said: "Go to the street to buy some gifts and distribute them, whether it is your father or the head of the foreign government, even the rough girl and the husband should not be missed." ”

Liu Sheng took the money and went busily.

After a while, someone in the mansion came to congratulate, Shen Ao laughed with them, and wanted to send someone to Suiya Mountain House, Yang Mansion, and Tang Mansion to report the news, but then he thought about it, Tang Yan was the prince of the country to supervise the wine, but he was afraid that he knew the news earlier than himself. As for Yang Jian, he is even more of a hand-eyed figure, I am afraid that this news has been known for a long time, that is, it is the side of the Yashan House, I am afraid that I will also send a guy to see it. Therefore, he didn't do much, he went to report to his wife in person, and wanted to see Zhou Ruo, but he called twice under the attic, but there was no movement, and he pulled a girl to ask, and the girl smiled and said: "It's useless to call the young master, the young lady won't come out." ”

"Why is that?"

This girl had a very good impression of Shen Ao, and said in a low voice: "Don't you know that Young Master Cousin?" Miss is ashamed to death when she sees you, where can I still see you, hey, Bi'er is here, I'm leaving, otherwise Bi'er will see it, and she will definitely tell Miss. After that, he ran away in a hurry, and giggled like a silver bell when he left, as if to say: Young Master Cousin is really a nerd.

Shen Ao had no choice but to go back, and then he heard the porter say: "The person who reported the good news is here, and there are many classmates of the young master, all of whom are here to say hello." ”

Asked someone to distribute the reward, and welcomed the classmates in, these classmates are purely big eaters, one by one elated, drank tea, and counted the number of Guozi invigilators with their fingers, in addition to Shen Ao and Wu Pen, it is said that there are two more people on the list, but it is the Jinshi origin and the Jinshi background, but Taixue is on the list this year, it is said that there are eleven, and Taixue has already celebrated.

After sitting with his classmates for a while, everyone drank tea, and then they were about to leave, saying that they were going to give Wu Bi a good farewell, Shen Ao was interested, and simply said: "Then I will go too." ”

It is said that there are seven or eight relatives who are still officials, and there are more than 40 people who have passed the imperial examination in the past dynasties.

Everyone coaddled in, the door of the door saw them and did not stop, led them to the hall, Wu pen is said to have also gone to see the list, has not come back, but the old lady of the Wu family came out on crutches to welcome the guests, Wu Wencai accompanied the old lady, busy calling people to see the tea, the Wu family is also elated, although there are many people in the past dynasties, but there are only a few people on the list, Wu Bi is angry, and the Wu family is honored.

Wu Wencai recognized Shen Ao at a glance, called Shen Ao aside, and said, "It is said that Shen Gongzi also won the Jinshi and the first, right?" ”

Shen Ao nodded, Wu Wencai congratulated happily, thought about it, pulled Shen Ao aside, and said in a low voice: "Ming said that it is the palace to ask for advice, you and Wu Bi are best friends, I have news to tell you." ”

Shen Ao said: "Please show Shibo." ”

Wu Wencai said: "Ming's question, Your Majesty's question must be related to the two countries of Jin and Liao, Shen Gongzi should prepare as soon as possible." ”

He revealed this, but it surprised Shen Ao, after all, Wu Biming said that he was also going to participate in the palace examination, Wu Wencai said to himself, wouldn't it make Wu Bi have a few less opportunities to shine in the palace examination?

As if seeing Shen Ao's question, Wu Wencai chuckled and said, "Actually, the reason why I said this is just speculation, Shen Gongzi is self-respecting." ”

Wu Wencai was in charge of welcoming guests in the Ministry of Rites, and Shen Ao suddenly thought of something, and said, "Is it that the envoy of the Jin people has arrived in Bianjing?" ”

Wu Wencai couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then said, "How did Shen Gongzi know?" ”

Shen Ao sighed and said, "With Shibo's official position, when it comes to the affairs of Jin and Liao, how can students not guess. ”

Wu Wencai nodded: "The envoy of the Jin people has settled down, and is discussing with us the matter of jointly destroying Liao, I think Your Majesty has been weighing this matter these days, maybe Ming's question will be based on this matter, which can be used as an examination school, and Your Majesty has a little more reference." ”

Shen Ao nodded: "The student understands, thank you Shibo." ”

The two went back to the main hall, just when they saw Wu Bi coming back, it was a lively scene, and it was noon, everyone gave up, and the old woman Wu wanted to teach everyone to keep food, and these classmates were not polite, but Shen Ao knew that the lady in the house must be looking forward to going back, after all, he also won the test today, and he could be regarded as the protagonist, how could he go to someone else's house for too long, so he said goodbye and went back.

This day passed quickly, and in the early morning of the second day, Liu Wen had already come to call, and today it was a palace test, and it should not be delayed.

already had the experience of the art examination hall test, Shen Ao was not nervous at all, he got up step by step, went to wash and bathe first, dressed up, heard that the lady had gotten up, went to ask for a peace first, listened to some peace instructions, and then boarded the carriage and entered the palace directly.

There are not many people who participate in the palace examination in the early morning, there are seven in total, all of them have won the Jinshi and the first, and when they arrived outside the Zhengde Gate, the carriage stopped, and Wu Bi greeted him, and said: "Brother Shen, why did you come so late, I didn't sleep all night last night, and I went out when I was ugly, and the wind blew here for an hour, hey...... I knew this earlier, and I also learned from Brother Shen to come later. ”

Shen Ao knew his excitement, and said with a smile: "You are in pain and happy, others don't have the qualifications to blow the wind here." ”

Wu Bi couldn't help but smile, and hurriedly said yes, with a smug look on his face.

Shen Ao looked outside the Zhengde Gate, Cheng Hui and Xu Wei also came, and whispered on the other side, except that they were young people, the other three were bad old men, and the youngest was forty years old, one of them was actually white, which made Shen Ao speechless, this old gentleman was also unlucky, his grandson was going to marry a wife and have children before he became a younger brother, and he became an official in the court, and he was afraid that he would be a master in two years.

He couldn't help but slander in his heart, but he also felt a little sad, he and Wu Bi were lucky, and behind this luck, I don't know how many people were sad.