Hearing the man say that he wanted to buy the test question book, the shopkeeper of Rongfa Bookstore was startled at first, and then quickly returned to normal, pretending not to understand anything: "What...... Question set? I haven't heard of it, I don't, you can ask elsewhere. ”

The man was obviously not fooled by him, and his expression was determined: "How could it not be?" I've heard others say that this book is only sold by your Rongfa Bookstore, not anywhere else. ”

The shopkeeper was very cautious and said, "Heard someone else's story? Where did you hear that? ”

The man said, "Wenchang Lane knows, right?" I am the one who is taking the examination this year, so I temporarily live in the imperial examination hall over there, and I heard from my fellow villagers that you are selling very useful books for the entrance examination, so I came here. ”

"You look quite sturdy, not like a weak reader." The shopkeeper was vigilant, and looked at him suspiciously, "Since you are an examiner, can you have an identity ticket?" ”

"Of course there is." The man took out the float from his bosom and handed it to the shopkeeper.

The identity ticket for the imperial examination is similar to the admission ticket in the previous life, which contains the candidate's name, place of origin, and physical characteristics, etc., which is formulated by the government and cannot be forged by ordinary people.

The shopkeeper took the floating ticket and compared the man's appearance, confirmed that there was no problem, and immediately lowered most of his vigilance, but he still had doubts: "It's no problem if you want to buy a book some time ago, the key is that the test is over now, what's the use of you buying it again?" ”

The man said calmly: "Haven't you heard of the shopkeeper?" The imperial court wanted to depose the 150 tributes after this admission, and hold a new examination, and only admit scholars from the north. I'm from the north, and I finally had another chance to hug Buddha's feet temporarily. ”

The shopkeeper didn't speak, and his heart struggled. Some time ago, the imperial court investigated the fraud of the imperial court, and although they were not found in the end, they were still frightened and ordered to suspend business. In the past two days, the rumors have gradually slowed down, but after all, the court has not yet made up its mind, and it is not a small risk to sell books at this time.

The man saw his hesitation and smiled slightly: "That's it, shopkeeper, I'll pay three times the price, how about it?" ”

Triple price? Isn't that when you repay the owner, you can still hide some of it?

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he instantly changed into a warm attitude and welcomed the man in: "Come on, come on, please come in." ”

After entering the store, the shopkeeper took out a book from the inside and said to the man: "The distinguished guests are still a little behind, in fact, the "Jingfeng Eighth Year Examination Mock Test Question Collection" was not very popular before the examination, and the most popular one is the new one-Luxi Sanjie Special Edition. ”

Next, the shopkeeper introduced the members of the so-called "Three Heroes of Deer Creek", the origin of the name, etc., and praised the book by the way. The man didn't say a word from beginning to end, and listened silently, while observing the shopkeeper and taking in his various movements and demeanor.

At the end, the man nodded, ready to take out the silver: "Well, that's it, how much is it?" ”

The shopkeeper smiled and stretched out two fingers: "Two hundred taels of silver." ”

"How much?" The man made a move, his eyes widened, "Even if I say that I will pay three times the price, then your original price will be more than sixty taels of silver a piece, what kind of broken book is so expensive, grab money!" ”

The shopkeeper was not annoyed, and said unhurriedly: "Distinguished guests also have to understand us, the imperial court has been investigating the examination of fraud in the past two days, isn't it a crime to sell you books now?" If the price is high, if the owner asks afterwards, I will have an explanation. ”

Committing crimes against the wind?

The man keenly caught this word, and quietly said: "Shopkeeper, but after all, it is not as good as before the exam, and the next exam is not the same as the previous one, the best time has passed, and the selling price is still higher than before, is it not appropriate?" ”

The shopkeeper smiled all over his face: "That being said, although there is no information on the exam questions for the new conference exam in this book, there are articles that imitate the writing styles of Cheng, Fang, and Gu, which comprehensively introduce how to get close to their grading preferences and improve the acceptance rate." ”

"Moreover, the last time I tried to get married, I just happened to get married, and I didn't participate in the grading. This time, after he took his marriage leave, he will definitely serve as the same examiner with Fang Zigui and Gu Yunji, so that the probability of your paper being recommended to the deputy examiner has increased, and the price is reasonable to be a little higher. ”

Hearing this, the man's eyes flashed, his eyes changed several times, and finally he hid his mind perfectly, made a very painful look, gritted his teeth and took out a silver ticket to buy a book.

The shopkeeper took the money, was so happy that he couldn't see his teeth, and sent the man out of the door with a smile.

——

Outside the Gongyuan, the scholars who had been making trouble for several days were still enthusiastic and gathered here with righteous indignation. Some of them were especially provocative and made an impassioned speech, denouncing the court for being a traitor, blinding the saints, and manipulating the imperial examination to do whatever they wanted.

On the teahouse on the side of Gongyuan Street, Fang Zigui drank tea slowly, and watched the whole farce for a long time before retracting his gaze and sneering disdainfully: "A group of rabble who are stupid in reading." ”

The attendant glanced downstairs, shook his head and smiled: "Look at them like this, there is still trouble." His Majesty has not expressed his position, the cabinet has pretended not to be a director, the three law divisions have found out the results and dare not announce them, the Ministry of Rites is busy with the appeal every day, but their chief Shangshu is still in prison, the capital has not encountered such a thing for many years, and the court is about to become a pot of porridge. ”

Fang Zigui played with the teacup in his hand, his eyes were leisurely: "Yes, it's a rare chaos, it's a pity not to take the opportunity to step on people in this troubled water." ”

As soon as the words changed, he turned his eyes to his entourage: "Bai Xingjia, this person, has the investigation been clear?" ”

The entourage said: "The investigation is clear, Bai Xingjia is from Songjiang Mansion, and Gu Yunji and Cheng Yan are in the same year, and they won the top three in that township test." Later, when they came to the capital to take the exam, the three of them often corresponded, but three years ago, Gu Yunji and Cheng Yan were admitted to the Gongshi, but Bai Xingjia failed to make the list. ”

"Before the exam of this session, Gu Yunji and Cheng Yan also went to see him, which shows that the relationship is good."

Fang Zigui thoughtfully: "He is a fellow villager with Gu Yunji, he was admitted to this year's Huiyuan, and he was born in Jiangnan. ”

As he spoke, he laughed lightly, with a chill in his eyes, and said to himself: "Gu Yunji, Gu Yunji, over the years, I have watched you enter Hanlin in high school, get married and have children, have a happy family, and live so comfortably, have you forgotten that there are still accounts between us that have not been settled clearly?" ”

The fingers pinching the teacup tightened, as if to crush it, Fang Zigui's eyes were gloomy, and a touch of cruelty flashed on his face: "You forgot, I haven't forgotten." After all these years, it's time to collect debts from you. ”