After Fan Xian left the Tongfu Inn, the four scholars in the room looked at each other, as if they couldn't imagine that such a big baked cake would fall on his head.

"How is this good?" Yang Wanli sat on the bed a little stupidly. After Cheng Jialin and Shi Yanli congratulated him, they said with a smile: "From now on, Brother Yang is tantamount to climbing to Xiangye and Hubu Shangshu, and I am afraid that this career will be smooth sailing." ”

Yang Wanli's honest face revealed a sense of bitterness: "I have always admired Xiao Fan's talents, and this Spring Festival is also thanks to the accommodation of adults, and I want to come behind the scenes to read the papers, this Xiao Fan has also made a lot of efforts, but ...... I wish Lord Fan hadn't made such a trip today. ”

Cheng Shi and the others were speechless, knowing that Yang Wanli felt that Fan Xian seemed to have a sense of gratitude.

Hou Jichang, who has always been hidden as the leader of everyone, shook his head with a smile and said: "If Lord Xiao Fan is a city favor, you don't have to come here in person, you have to worry about it, I have decided that from now on, I will think of Lord Xiao Fan in the court, and I will definitely make a career." ”

Shi Yanli was stunned, thinking to himself why Brother Hou, who had always been high and self-grateful, suddenly changed his temper.

Yang Wanli shook his head and said: "I also know that for every exam, it is a common practice for students to be a teacher, but Brother Hou knows that I have always respected Xiao Fan's talents, and because of the entrainment on my body, I like Xiao Fan's temperament very much, so I always hope that Xiao Fan can be a little different from these court officials." ”

"Perfection, perfection. Cheng Jialin reproached: "Although Lord Xiao Fan has the immortal material in the poem, after all, he is also an official of the DPRK and China, and the son of a powerful person, so he can come here in person." It's not easy. Brother Wanli, does he want Lord Xiao Fan to be a true immortal who does not eat fireworks? Not to mention that a true immortal is not necessarily better than a capable official who is good at planning in this poor mortal world. ”

Shi Yili clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Although Brother Jialin has few words, he has spoken thoroughly today. He turned to Yang Wanli and said, "If you talk about worship." Wanli, you are definitely not as good as me, I often read the poems in my hand, and the more than 100 poems in it can be memorized backwards, but today I saw Xiao Fan, I was not disappointed at all. Why? It's all because of the poet's heart, this little Fan is indeed a free and easy person from my generation, and how can he talk about it together with such corrupt officials as the DPRK and China. ”

He smiled and continued, "When I came here with roast chicken. There are not many people with umbrellas in the alley, and I like to play around, looking at the young man under an umbrella with a delicate face and a fresh and lovely breath. The arguments are somewhat novel and frightening. So recklessly got under his umbrella and walked all the way, if I were an ordinary powerful official, how could I be so rude? The inn knew that he was Fan Xian, to be honest, the foolish brother was really a little surprised. Fan Xian Fan Xian, sure enough, did not disappoint me. ”

At this time, everyone knew that there was such a thing before, no wonder Fan Xian just said that he had a half-umbrella relationship with Shi Xianli, and he felt when he thought of it. I couldn't help but smile. Yang Wanli touched his head a little embarrassed: "Maybe...... I always feel that Xiao Fan should be the kind of noble person who lies on the grape trellis, wakes up to write thousands of poems, and ignores the dirty affairs of the DPRK and China. ”

Hou Jichang shook his head disapprovingly, and said coldly: "That kind of character seems to be clean and dusty. But it is really useless for the country and useless for the people, if Lord Fan is really like this kind of minister, I will look down on him. ”

"Not necessarily, not necessarily. Yang Wanli sighed.

Hou Jichang smiled faintly and said: "I'm not afraid of your jokes, how can a scholar serve the country, there is only one way to enter the court as an official, and the difficulties and affairs of the court are deep and terrible, how can outsiders like you and me understand? Therefore, Lord Xiao Fan came today, in fact, it is not that he needs us, but that he knows that we need him." ”

He paused, and said: "Although I am a little arrogant, but I am not a sour person who does not know how to advance and retreat, since we have this opportunity, of course we must seize it, if we must follow a certain figure in the court, then I think that Lord Fan should be the best object, and if I want to act in the officialdom in the future, it will not conflict with our ideals and talents on weekdays." ”

Everyone said in unison: "Why?" Everyone was already a little surprised by Hou Jichang's resolute attitude, but when they heard him emphasize again, they were even more curious.

Hou Jichang picked up the teacup from the table, looked at the leftover tea that Fan Xian drank next to him, and was a little distracted, and only said after a while: "A popular person who travels on a rainy day will actually pay attention to the stagnant water on his umbrella when it falls, don't drip into the pot of the roadside hawker who is sheltering from the rain, and would rather be wet on his body, and go to the outside side." Such a careful and benevolent character, if it is not a great traitor, it is a great sage. ”

He smiled and said, "It is impossible for a seventeen-year-old young man to be able to hide so well anytime and anywhere, so I believe that Lord Xiao Fan is a great sage, and my judgment is so simple, because I was moved by the scene in the rain." ”

There was silence in the room, and after a long time, there was a sigh.

――――――

On the second day, on the vermilion wall on the left side of the examination hall, the yellow paper that the candidates had been looking forward to was finally posted. The rules of Qingguo Chunfu are not complicated, after the township test is the examination, and after the examination, the top three candidates will be taken out, but the ranking is not determined, and they are arranged on the emperor list according to the strokes.

The number of top three varies over the years. Because there was an additional Enke in the third year of Qingli, the number of scholars in the last two years was a little small. There are only one hundred and eight names on this year's list. It is precisely because of the small number of achievements that both the students of Taixue in Beijing and the tribute students from various counties who come to Beijing to take the exam are a little nervous.

There is a bridge to the west of the examination institute, if you want to go to the vermilion wall to see the list, you have to cross the bridge, at this time the vermilion wall is already surrounded by students wearing long robes, crowded, nervously looking for their names on the big yellow paper.

And on the other side of the bridge, Hou Jichang, who had already taken a reassuring pill in his heart, walked slowly with Yang Wanli, there were still rain stains left on the bridge deck from yesterday, and the moss between the stone bricks looked particularly slippery. Cheng Jialin laughed at himself, although his and Shi Yanli's steps were as slow as those of their two friends, they were inevitably nervous in their hearts.

Coming to the bottom of the Zhu Wall, the four of them finally squeezed into the crowd, starting from the left-hand side, I don't know how long they watched, and suddenly heard Shi Yanli shout with joy: "Brother Hou, Brother Hou!

The other three listened to the voice and rushed to Shi Xianli's side, and sure enough, they saw Hou Jichang's name written in the third row above their heads, and couldn't help but be excited, Yang Wanli gently punched Hou Jichang in the shoulder, with a smile on his face.

Hou Jichang smiled slightly, wanting to show a trace of self-restraint, but what a big deal this is! Although he claimed to be high-minded, when he thought of the suffering of ten years of cold windows, his father at home did not have high expectations, and many of the scholars beside him looked at him with envy, and he couldn't help but be a little fluttering, and his lips couldn't help but grin, revealing a very happy smile.

At this time, the names written by the three gold powders of "Hou Jichang" on the imperial list seem to be shining in the sun, looking extremely expensive and with an unlimited future.

......

The four of them were no longer separated now, they simply looked carefully to the right, and they didn't know how long it took, and finally succeeded in finding Yang Wanli's name in the imperial list, and only then did they really believe the words of Lord Xiao Fan yesterday. Yang Wanli was very excited when he saw that his name was indeed on the emperor's list, his eyes were a little red, and he said to himself: "It's really hit, it's really hit." ”

With a strange scream, he rushed out of the crowd, ran to the edge of the bridge, and roared loudly at the water below the bridge, the sound echoing through the hole in the bridge, making a buzzing sound.

The three friends looked at him with a smile and knew why he was so excited - Yang Wanli lost his mother at the age of eight, grew up alone in Quanzhou since he was a child, and it was thanks to his father who endured hunger and cold to buy him a lot of books, and urged him to join the clan to study with white eyes, and passed the township examination with great difficulty, and then came to Kyoto.

But in Kyoto January, Yang Wanli found that his talent should be there, and his own reasoning was more practical than that of the scholars next to him, but he had no choice but to be remote in Hejiashan and poor in ethnography, and he always did not learn the prosperous rhetoric of the students in Beijing.

So even close friends such as Hou Jichang and Shi Xianli thought that it was impossible for him to win, and Yang Wanli himself didn't have any hope, so he spent the last money to buy the most popular jacket among students, and sandwiched Shi Yanli's article in it, wanting to gamble.

At that time, Yang Wanli was heartbroken, thinking that he had wasted his time in the past ten years, but he didn't expect this little Fan to give him a second chance.

After the examination and discharge, he didn't dare to use the cheat sheet in the jacket, and the natural strategy and poetry he made were not glorious, so he also gave up all the thoughts in the record, just drinking and having fun, and only when he heard that Guo Shangshu was arrested and imprisoned did he have a little more joy. Unexpectedly, Lord Xiao Fan came to Tongfu Inn to see him in person yesterday, and secretly pointed out that he might enter the top three.

After sorrow is joy, after despair is hope, the impact of this emotion has continued to today's daytime, after Yang Wanli crossed the bridge, standing under the Zhu Wall, more and more felt that yesterday's visit by Lord Xiao Fan was a dream, and it was impossible for him to get in.

...... But, I really hit it!

Yang Wanli looked at his somewhat distorted face in the slightly dangling river, calmed down a little, and naturally understood why he was able to achieve such cultivation in just a few days, and he was grateful to that young adult in his heart.