April 28, the day of the monthly exam.

Because the last mid-year break was occupied by the dispute between the four houses, this time there is an extra day.

In the valley with an elegant environment, the students of the old children's class were smiling, and they were able to enter the Youlan Valley, and everyone took advantage of Qin Mo's light.

Qin Mo single-handedly led the Calligraphy Branch to become the champion, and with a one-point advantage, it had already spread throughout Xiayi County.

Among the fourteen points in the Calligraphy Branch, he alone scored thirteen points, which was really not easy.

Gu Meng walked through the flowery corridor, stepped into the classroom, cleared his throat after standing firm, and said, "Are you all ready for today's routine monthly exam?"

"Ready!" the students were excited.

Gu Meng smiled and nodded, then turned his gaze to Qin Mo's location, and said in a very meaningful tone: "It's just the title of the first place in this month's exam, do you have the confidence to compete for it?"

Except for Qin Mo, everyone said in unison: "No!"

Gu Meng smiled again, the students were by no means without fighting spirit, but very self-aware.

Sun Yi, as the representative of Lao Tongsheng, stood up and said: "The strength of Qin's case leader is obvious to all, and several pre-test showmen have fallen in front of him, and we are not opponents, so there is no need to compare at all, he can directly win the first place." ”

Qin Mo immediately stood up and said modestly: "Brother Sun is polite, the charm of the game is that because there is uncertainty, any result may happen, how can I directly give the first place title because I have a good performance in the game, or follow the rules." ”

The two pre-test showmen said together: "The Qin case deserves the first place." ”

Ma Chongming also echoed and said: "If the champion of the battle of the four academies can't be the first in the monthly exam, it will be intolerable. ”

The smile on Gu Meng's face was even bigger, and he said, "Since everyone is desperately requesting, Dr. Ben now announces that Qin Mo is the first place in this monthly exam, and he can not participate in the assessment, and the rest of the people will compete for the ranking after the second place." ”

Qin Mo shrugged his shoulders and accepted it a little helplessly.

By the time it was close to noon, the assessment was over, and the students left happily and went home for a break in the middle of the year.

The next day, Xu Hao held a private banquet in the county government, inviting Qin Mo, Gu Meng and He Chang, and the guests and hosts were happy.

The fifth day of the fifth month of May, Duanyang Day.

There are two two-horse flying cars parked side by side outside Youlan Valley, one belongs to the county Zun Xu Hao, and the other belongs to Xuezheng He Chang.

The two of them came to pick up Qin Mo and Gu Meng, and the four of them discussed going to Nanjing City together today to make an appointment for the Dragon Boat Festival.

A moment later, Qin Mo and Gu Meng walked out of the branch gate.

Xu Hao immediately beckoned to Qin Mo and shouted, "Ziyi, you share a car with this official." ”

Qin Mo hugged his fists and said: "The junior Xie Xianzun is very loving. ”

He Chang next to him flashed a trace of displeasure in his eyes, and his heart let Xu Hao take the lead, he deserved to be a disciple of the gate valve, and his means of recruiting talents were first-class.

But he was quickly relieved, he was a student of the county school, and Qin Mo was a student of the county school, and he had the advantage of being close to the water and getting the moon first, and he would have the opportunity to win over him in the future.

The four people boarded the train separately, and the carriage was extremely spacious, more than enough for two people.

Xu Hao sat down cross-legged and put a small case in front of him, with a ready-made pen, ink, paper and inkstone on top of it, and he dipped his pen in ink and wrote: The desert sand is like snow, and the moon in Yanshan is like a hook. How to be a golden brain, walk quickly and step on Qingqiu.

Qin Mo praised sincerely: "The county is worthy of being a calligrapher, and the writing is like flowing water, which is admired by the younger generations." ”

Xu Hao waved his hand and said modestly: "It's just an ordinary little poem, after Ziyi is admitted to Xiucai, you can learn war poems." ”

Xiucai learns war poems, lifts people to use war literature, and cultivates war endowments.

With the gradual increase in the rank of scholars, the strength of the scribes will also rise in a straight line.

As the two spoke, the handwriting on the paper turned into a glimmer of light and quickly dispersed in the carriage.

At the same time, the two horses outside neighed, and the wheels slowly flew off the ground into the sky.

This is Qin Mo's first time riding a flying car, and it is full of freshness.

Xu Hao put away the four treasures of the study, took out a pair of beast fighting chess, and said with a smile: "There is no boredom on the road, why don't you and I play against each other?"

"Okay. Qin Mo readily agreed.

Near noon, the flying car arrived at the city of Nanjing, landed on the ground outside the city gate, and entered the east gate in the normal way.

The Dragon Boat Festival will be held in the evening, and after lunch, the four of them will have a tour in the city, and then go to the garden after dinner.

Located in the south of the city and bordered by the canal that runs through the city in the east, the garden is blessed with a unique geographical location and is the first choice for literati and scribes to gather.

After the Shangsi Festival, the garden will be closed, and it has been more than three months now, it is said that it is to prepare for the Dragon Boat Festival, which shows the importance of the garden owner to this cultural meeting.

The four of them walked into the gate of the garden, and dozens of people gathered around the shadow wall, many of them were from the imperial court, although everyone was wearing civilian clothes, they could still be judged to be from officialdom.

Xu Hao has only served as the county magistrate in Xiayi County for only one year, and he is not familiar with the officialdom of Nanjing Prefecture.

He Chang whispered: "The first person from the left is He Xuan, the scholar of Fuwen Taoist College, and the person who has a conversation with him is Yang Qi, the supervisor of the hospital, and the third person from the right is Li Sui, the judge of the court. Ying Tian Academy's sacrificial wine Shen Cheng and Fu Yin Ren Minxue have not yet appeared, and they are the highest official ranks of the academy and the official office here, and they usually appear in the finale. ”

Xu Hao nodded slightly, although the Dragon Boat Festival is a folk event, but it still can't get rid of these habits of officialdom, even if the officials are idle and have nothing to do, they have to make a busy appearance, how can they wait at the door with everyone.

The four of them chose an inconspicuous corner and stood up, and heard someone next to them making a big statement: "Have you heard, Miss Xin'er will preside over this literary meeting." ”

Someone chimed in: "I have also heard that she has become the new owner of the garden last year. ”

"Since last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Miss Xin'er has rarely shown up, I remember that she only appeared once on the night of the Lantern Festival, and the time was so short that no one could even say a word to her. To be able to see her face today, you and I are definitely worth the trip. ”

"According to reliable sources, Miss Xin'er has been practicing in retreat and has gained in the four ways of chess, piano, calligraphy and painting. ”

"The four ways of cultivation can make a woman look more dignified and beautiful, and presumably today's Xin'er girl is more radiant. ”

Hearing such remarks, Qin Mo frowned slightly, and whispered, "Are they here to participate in the literary meeting, or are they here to see the beauties?"

Xu Hao smiled and said: "My Fair Lady, good gentleman, this is human nature, there is nothing strange." Talented and beautiful women have been what everyone yearns for since ancient times, and it is not a conflict to be able to make a splash at the literary meeting, or to be favored by beautiful women. ”

Qin Mo shrugged his shoulders and said, "But these guys are obviously here for beautiful women." ”

Gu Meng chuckled and said, "Don't underestimate them, if I expect it to be good, these people are all prepared." Two months ago, someone asked me to help write a poem at a high price, with the Dragon Boat Festival as the proposition, apparently to participate in the Dragon Boat Festival. ”

Qin Mo raised his eyebrows and said, "You mean, these people are all ready to write poems, just waiting to show off in front of beauties and talented people today?"

Gu Meng nodded, and He Chang added: "It's not unusual at all, three months ago, at the Qushui Liuzhen Conference, dozens of literati competed to chant poems, most of them were prepared in advance, and there were very few people who could really make poems on the spot, and the possibility of producing fine works was even smaller." ”

Qin Mo said that he understood, so it was.

At this time, the sound of another group of people talking confirmed this.

"Brother Ren, seeing that you look like you are ready to make a masterpiece, you must be ready to win the position of the leader of this literary meeting, right?"

"Don't dare, don't dare, just a little prepared. ”

"Brother Ren is polite, I heard that you have been preparing since the early spring, and you have accumulated at least a dozen poems by now, right?"

"I'm ashamed, it's just seven songs. ”

At three o'clock, the moon gate behind the shadow wall opened left and right, and five maids in sky-blue long dresses carried lanterns and walked towards this side.

Everyone stopped chatting and looked at the five maids with beautiful faces.

A few young scribes had straight eyes, and the older guests were smiling, and even the maids were so beautiful, the master here must be a stunning beauty.

The five women bowed to everyone, and the leader said in a nice voice: "You guests have been waiting for a long time, my master has set up a tea and wine banquet in the inner courtyard, please move inside." ”

Everyone lined up to enter, Qin Mo and the four of them were all calm people, walking at the back of the line.

Before they could enter the moon gate, the four of them heard exclamations from inside.

"How so...... This, this is too ......"

"Duanyang in May, how can there be chrysanthemums?"

The four of them were suspicious and couldn't help but speed up their pace.

When they entered the door, they saw countless people with surprised faces, as well as chrysanthemums and flowers all over the garden, and the purple and red flowers were beautiful.

As we all know, chrysanthemums bloom in autumn, but now it's just summer.

Gu Meng smiled and said, "No wonder the garden has been closed for three months, and no guests are allowed to enter or leave. ”

"Maychrysanthemum?" He Chang and Xu Hao asked at the same time.

Gu Meng was very knowledgeable, nodded and said: "That's right, it is the May Chrysanthemum, legend has it that this thing comes from the Western Regions, the growth habit is different from the Central Plains Chrysanthemum, it blooms at the end of April and early May every year, and the flowering season lasts all summer, so it is named May Chrysanthemum." ”

Qin Mo also smiled, looking at the embarrassment on the faces of the talented people, it could prove that the poems they had worked so hard to prepare for months were useless.

Writing poems at the literary meeting, the most important thing is to meet the occasion, who would have thought that the garden is full of May chrysanthemums, there is no such thing in the prepared poems, even if the artistic conception is beautiful, it cannot achieve the effect of the situation, it is also not a masterpiece.

It seems that the new owner of the garden is not simple, and she deliberately makes problems for the talents, which is interesting.

(To be continued.) )