Seven days after the palace test, outside the palace gate.

The three hundred tributes who had completed the palace examination wore brand-new jinshi uniforms and gathered together happily, waiting to be dragged into the palace by the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Although the current scene is very similar to that of seven days ago, the state of mind of the scholars is very different.

Seven days ago, the scholars were still nervous about the last imperial examination, for fear that they would accidentally lose their manners and anger Long Yan. And today they are relaxed, all of them are high-spirited, and the moment they walk out of the palace gate again, they are the real new science and technology jinshi.

Regarding the rumor that Gu Yunji may even be in the third yuan, everyone has more or less heard about it in the past few days, because as soon as he appeared at the meeting place, he instantly attracted the attention of many people and became the focus of attention.

A young scholar was bold and tentatively accosted Gu Yunji: "Gu Gongzi is good, I don't know if Gu Gongzi still remembers it?" ”

Gu Yunji smiled slightly: "Of course I remember, the younger brother of Master Zhang Xiang, the outer lang of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Ji Gongzi, we have seen it in the examination room where the examination is avoided." ”

Zhang Ji's eyebrows rose, and a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes: "At the beginning, we just met briefly, and it has been so long, I am such a nobody, I didn't expect Gu Gongzi to remember it." ”

Gu Yunji said with a smile: "Today, I am the same as you as a new science and technology scholar, we all have the same identity and the same starting point, what is the difference between fame and fame?" What's more, I still remember that Zhang Gongzi will take the seventh place in the second grade, and he is also an excellent existence among all the candidates for the exam this year. ”

was praised by him like this, Zhang Ji, who had a straightforward temperament, was still a little embarrassed, and his good impression of him in his heart increased a few points. Seeing that Gu Yunji was quite kind to others, other scholars also came over to greet him and introduce themselves, and there were many people in front of him for a while.

But fortunately, these scholars who are about to become new science and technology scholars are all measured, just politely and briefly get to know Gu Yunji, and then walk away with interest, without letting him fall into the embarrassing situation on the street on the day of the palace test again.

When Gu Yunji finally got empty in front of him, Cheng Yan couldn't help but say: "It's just that the people are talking about each other, even these eunuchs are like this, could it be ...... What inside information did they really get? ”

Gu Yunji shook his head: "I don't know, but I think this possibility is very low." The marking of the palace examination was carried out in secret, and the final Jiadi was determined by His Majesty. Especially the first and third places, they have to fill in their names on the emperor's list in public in today's palace, and others have no way of knowing before this, and it is difficult to have any news to come out, maybe it's just chasing the wind and catching shadows. ”

Cheng Yan said: "Since there is such a rumor circulating, it should not be completely groundless, what if you are really the champion?" Don't be too pessimistic. ”

Gu Yunji showed a helpless smile: "It turns out that I feel that I can't get the top prize in the exam, is it already called pessimistic?" When did you demand so much from me? ”

Cheng Yan explained: "It's not that the requirements are high for you, but that you have this strength, the township test Xie Yuan, the Hui Yuan, the county test of the year is still the head of the case, you really deserve our expectations." ”

"Then I also said that you also have this strength." Gu Yunji raised his eyebrows and threw a narrow look at him, "The county test is second, the township test is second, and the meeting test is third, and you have never fallen into the top three along the way, are you worse than anyone?" Don't be too pessimistic, Cheng Gongzi. ”

Cheng Yan was stunned, and then shook his head and smiled: "Okay, okay, then let's see later, who is the champion and who is the leader." ”

As he spoke, the officials of the Ministry of Rites began to count the number of people to maintain order, so the two stopped talking, stood in their places, and waited to enter the palace.

Entering the palace for the third time, Gu Yunji felt a little familiar with the road, although the twists and turns in the palace city made him unable to distinguish the direction, but on the whole, his whole state of mind and state were much calmer than the previous two times. After he was awarded the official, he would enter the palace every day, thinking that he would be more calm than he was now.

Passing through the palace gates and bypassing the palace walls, the scholars followed the leading officials all the way inside, and finally came to the place where the palace examination rankings were announced today - the Huagai Palace.

Huagai Hall is the Zhonghe Hall of the Forbidden City in the previous life, is located on the central axis of the palace pattern, is one of the three major halls of the Imperial Palace, the importance of its status is second only to the Fengtian Hall in the south, it is the place where the emperor holds major ceremonies and receives foreign envoys.

Although the architectural momentum of the Huagai Hall is slightly inferior to that of the Fengtian Palace, because there is no need for an examination today, the scholars stood much closer than the palace test seven days ago, and stood on the palace majesty next to the entrance of the palace, but felt the magnificent and majestic atmosphere in the hall more clearly, and for a time everyone was both excited and worried, and they were a little more nervous than the day of the palace test.

The first half of today's process is similar to the palace test, all of which are 300 scholars standing in their positions first, then 100 officials entering the palace in court clothes, and finally the Honglu Temple officials who preside over the ceremony invite the emperor to the palace.

After everyone took their places, they immediately took out the gold list of the temple test and filled in their names in public.

The names of the second and third are written in advance, and only the first and third places need to be filled in on the spot, which happens to be the three most eye-catching rankings. Under the scorching gaze of everyone, Cai Zhichuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, methodically opened the sealed first-class test papers, and filled in the names on the gold list in turn according to Emperor Jingfeng's Zhu batch.

At this moment, the three hundred scholars outside the hall held their breath and stared at Cai Zhichuan's movements without blinking. Although it is too far away to see the name on the list, everyone is still nervous and looking forward to it, guessing who the champion will be, and on the other hand, they can't help but hope that the high-profile number one is themselves.

Gu Yuanhui stood at the forefront of the team of hundreds of officials, and the distance from the gold list was just enough for him to see the words on it clearly. When he saw the three names filled in by Cai Zhichuan, his eyes paused, and the corners of his lips were slightly hooked as expected, and then he quietly closed his eyes, and his complexion quickly returned to calm.

No matter how nervous others are, for Cai Zhichuan, the entire process of filling in the name is just a few breaths. After putting the pen and ink back into the hands of the eunuch standing aside, Cai Zhichuan took a step forward, bowed to Emperor Jingfeng and said, "Your Majesty, the ranking of the top three in the palace examination has been filled in. ”

"Hmm." Emperor Jingfeng responded, and then nodded to the officials of Honglu Temple, "You can start." ”

The officials of Honglu Temple immediately stood in the hall and said loudly to the hundred officials and scholars: "On the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifth year of Jingfeng, the emperor tried the world's tributes in the Fengtian Palace. Among them, three of them are given Jinshi and the first; One hundred of the second class, born as a jinshi; One hundred and ninety-seven of the top three are given the same Jinshi background. ”

"Roll call now!"