When the talents who went to the exam were bored, it was a busy scene in Wuchang Gongyuan.

According to the scientific examination regulations of the imperial court, in order to prevent cheating, it is necessary to "change the name and change the book" before reading the papers. The so-called "obfuscation" means that after the on-site invigilator receives the test papers, he first hands over the test papers to the sealing officer, folds and covers up the names and places of origin of the candidates on the test papers, seals them with blank paper, and then stamps them with a seal. After the "obfuscation", there is a more important procedure, that is, "easy book". It is to arrange for a transcription staff to faithfully recopy the sealed test papers. The transcription of the test paper uniformly uses cinnabar red pen to distinguish it from the original test paper of the candidate, so the test paper of the candidate's response is called the "ink roll" and the transcription test paper is called the "vermilion roll". The color of the paper and ink used in the "red scroll" should be the same to prevent the marking officials from cheating. After the transcription is completed, it is necessary to read it, and the reader will hand over the ink scroll and the red scroll to the person designated in advance for proofreading, and after the proofreading is correct, the name and place of origin of the transcriber and the student should be marked at the end of the ink scroll for inspection, and then the reader will stamp the test paper. Only after the name is changed can the real marking procedure be entered, so the real marking time is quite tight, the name is seven days, but in fact it is only three or four days.

Under the supervision of the chief examiner Liu Jian, all the officials did their duty day and night, and finally completed the marking, recommendation, and admission of papers late at night on August 24, and tomorrow they could transcribe and release the results and ring the gong to report the good news.

......

On August 25, the front of the Gongyuan Temple, which had been silent for several days, began to be lively again. In accordance with the old practice, the political envoy of Hu Guangbu ordered people to set up thorns at the gate of the Gongyuan to prevent those who had fallen behind from breaking into the Gongyuan and harassing the roll-call transcript; on the square between the two squares of "Tengjiao" and "Qifeng," more than a dozen newspapermen wearing red-tasseled hats stood quietly holding a high-headed horse in one hand and a gong in the other; groups of idlers in the market had already chosen the terrain and scattered around the square, for nothing else, just to catch a glimpse of the triennial imperial examination.

The candidates who have been waiting impatiently for a long time, approaching the day of the list, suddenly have a feeling of "being more timid in their hometowns", and lose their usual composure: some people toss and turn, sleepless all night, some burn incense and worship, chant sutras and chant Buddha, some fidget, look at the neck, and some mutter, like obsession.

Although Shen Lingshan did not participate in the township examination, she remembered the fame of her righteous brother. On August 25, before the end of the day, he took Rui Zhu, dressed in a son's costume, and came to the "Juyuan Hotel" early to accompany Chen Wenqi to spend this day that I don't know whether it was joy or sorrow.

Although Chen Wenqi is full of confidence and is very sure of his answers, he also imagines that if he does not enter the eyes of the examiner, even if it is a splendid article, he will not be allowed to "recommend the paper", and it is not impossible for Sun Shan to fall into the name. Although the imperial court stipulates that candidates who have fallen into the first place can check the papers, it is a yellow flower of tomorrow and will not help. Thinking that after all, it was only the first time to take the exam, and there were still many opportunities in the future, and I didn't care about the gains and losses of one thing at a time. Therefore, although there was also a little expectation and uneasiness, he was still calm as usual, and used to kill time by discussing fist and foot kung fu with Shen Lingshan.

In the same year that Weng Junding and others lived in the "Juyuan Hotel", they successively gathered in Chen Wenqi's room. Since that day of boating on East Lake, Chen Wenqi has become the leader of everyone, and he always likes to talk to him when he has nothing to do.

"Brother Chen, why didn't you even burn incense? I burned high incense three times. Qin Lan said.

Chen Wenqi said with a smile: "Brother Qin Nian, if you want to burn high incense, you have to burn it before the exam, isn't it too late to burn incense now?"

Weng Junding lived in the same room with Qin Lan and said: "He, he burns it every day: burn incense before the exam and pray to the Bodhisattva to bless the question and not deviate; burn incense and pray to the Bodhisattva to bless the taste of the paper after the exam; The crowd burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at? It's not uncommon for you to fall out of place because of a misnamed name. In the 22nd year of the Yongle palace test of this dynasty, the first place was originally planned to be Sun Yuegong, and the old emperor of Chengzu looked at the list and said again and again, no, no, how can Sun 'violence' be the champion? Do you say that Sun said that Gong is a loss or not? Oh, I still have to go to the incense, and the Bodhisattva bless me not to mistake my name for Qin Shanfeng. Then he hurried out of the room.

Everyone was happy again, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed when he made a fuss.

"It's the end of the day, why is there no movement?" Wei Chaopeng, who had been sitting on the side for a long time, muttered to himself, got up and walked to the door, and looked in the direction of the Tribute Courtyard.

Brother Wei Nian was a little breathless. Weng Junding said jokingly.

"Can you calm down?" Wei Chaopeng said: "How many years have my generation sat in the cold window, isn't it just for today's dragon gate jump? To tell the truth, today's list, I hope it will be released, but I am afraid that it will be released, which makes people worry about it. ”

Indeed, the court is Tian Shelang, and the twilight is in the Tianzi Hall. In one day, there are two heavens of ice and fire, and no one can be calm.

"Alas, what do you say is that everything is inferior only reading is high, in my opinion, everything is inferior only reading is bad. Qin Lan, who had turned the incense, echoed and said.

"Brother Qin Nian, how can he express this emotion?" Weng Junding asked puzzled.

"It is said that it is difficult to sit in the cold window for ten years, but who knows that it will be difficult to release the list for a day? Before the list is released, one by one is so anxious that they scratch their ears and cheeks, worry like a pound, and look forward to releasing the list as soon as possible; when the laurel list hangs high, and he is also known as Luosun Shan, his heart is suddenly like ashes, and he is ashamed of himself, where is there still the pride of 'reading high'?"

"Brother Qin Nian doesn't have to be too pessimistic, even if he can't make the list in this department, he will start again after three years. Year after year, there is always a time for high school. Meng Jiao of the Tang Dynasty, repeatedly failed the examination, and only became a jinshi at the age of 46, he wrote 'the spring breeze is proud, and he sees all the Chang'an flowers in one day', which is to describe his mood of finally being lifted; and like Yin Shu, the champion of Xinweike in the Tang Dynasty, and was over 70 years old at the time. Taking 10,000 steps back, even if you repeatedly fail the exam, it is not a waste of reading poetry books. In the previous dynasty, many celebrities who read poetry and books and had talents such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Meng Haoran, etc., although they did not enter the scholar and the first, but they were passed down in poetry and books and went down in history.

Just as everyone was talking, the shopkeeper ran in from outside like a gust of wind and shouted: "Come, come, start the roll call." ”

Everyone listened attentively, and vaguely heard the horse's hooves "Dede" and the gong "Bang", and the newspaper began to report the good news, and sure enough, it was already roll call.

According to the scientific examination system, on the day of the release of the list, the chief and deputy chief examiners, supervisors, room officials, promotions, and invigilators must gather in the public court, unseal the "ink scrolls" against the "red scrolls" of the middle test, and verify the names and places of origin of the test takers; after verifying that there are no mistakes, hand over the roll call to the scribes, and the two transcription officials fill in the newspaper slip and the other fill in the main list according to the roll call. After the newspaper was written, it was passed to the newspaper waiting in front of the Gongyuan Gate, and the newspaper took the newspaper and rode a horse and struck a gong to the house of the Zhongju (the scholar of the boarding house went to the hotel to announce the good news). The main list is written from the sixth place, and the top five are written after the last name is written, and the top five are written from the fifth place to the first place, which is called the "Five Classics".

The sound of horses' hooves gradually sounded, and the scholars of the "Juyuan Hotel" were both excited and nervous, and they didn't know who was the first to report, so they all blushed and stared at the door to wait.

"It's coming, it's coming. Someone said in a suppressed voice. A snow-white steed with colorful silk tied on its head, with a long mane flying, four hooves churning, and an arrow rushing towards the "Juyuan Hotel". Everyone held their breath, for fear of missing the name of the person who was lifted. Unexpectedly, the horse did not stop, galloped in front of the "Juyuan Hotel", and stood neighing in the "Tongfu Inn" not far away, the newspaper turned over and dismounted, reported the note in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Good news——, Fang Weicai, the old man of Fangfu, should announce the political envoy Si Township Test, and the sixth place in high school is raised-". As soon as the words fell, there were loud shouts and applause, followed by the deafening sound of firecrackers, "crackling, crackling", and the red dots like stars exploded one by one, high and low, jumping happily.

The sound of firecrackers at the "Tongfu Inn" has caused countless resonances. Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves, gongs, firecrackers, and cheers in Wuchang City came and went, endlessly, and the pungent smell and sandalwood fragrance filled the streets and alleys. Judging from the sound of firecrackers, the roll call was very fast, and in less than an hour, it is estimated that dozens of people have received good news.

It is strange to say that Wuchang City is very lively everywhere, but the "Juyuan Hotel" is surprisingly calm, until now, there is not a single newspaper sent here. At the moment when everyone was sitting on pins and needles, there was the sound of horses' hooves and gongs outside the door. However, this time it was a little different, the sound of horses' hooves and gongs stopped abruptly at the door, and then the voice of the newspaper was heard: "Good news——, Qin Lan, the lord of the Qin Mansion, announced the political envoy Sixiang Examination, and the thirty-seventh person in high school was raised-".

When everyone heard this, they jumped up as if they had exploded, pulled Qin Lan and ran out. Qin Lan was even more excited, her hands trembled and she took the newspaper in her hand, stared at the newspaper with wide eyes, and said in a loud voice: "Qin Lan, that's right, it's Qin Lan who is written on it." "Look at that look, it doesn't matter if the ranking is in the front row or the back, the name is right Amitabha.

When everyone saw that he was only happy and forgot about anything else, someone reminded: "Brother Qin Nian, stay for the future and be happy slowly, the good news official is still waiting for the silver reward." ”

"Yes, yes. You see me, patronizing and glad, almost forgetting to get down to business. Qin Lan said, ran back to his room, took five taels of silver and stuffed it to the newspaper, the newspaper took the silver, said "Master Xie Qin", and crossed the horse.

At this time, the shopkeeper took out the firecrackers that had been prepared for a long time, hung them on the tree in front of the door, and set them off "crackling". Everyone stepped forward to say hello to Qin Lan, and Qin Lan returned the courtesy.

Weng Junding pulled Qin Lan and said humorously: "It seems that Brother Qin Nian's high incense is still good to burn, and if I want to burn incense again, I'm afraid that it will be too late on August 15 to pass Duanyang." ”

"Where, where, Brother Weng Nian is full of economy, climbing Xiangui and Bu Qingyun are not a problem, and it is unknown to enter the 'Five Classics'. Qin Lan said humbly.

As he spoke, the sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and two fast horses galloped and stopped in front of the "Juyuan Hotel".

"Good news——, Wei Chaopeng, the old man of Wei Mansion, announced that he was the political envoy of the Township Examination, and the sixty-sixth person in the high school was raised-".

"Good news——, Weng Junding, the old man of Weng Mansion, should announce the political envoy of the Huguang Cheng to announce the political envoy Sixiang test, and the sixty-ninth person in the high school raised people-".

Wei Chaopeng, who admitted that he couldn't hold his breath, immediately danced with joy when he heard that he was in high school, and shouted loudly: "I'm in, I'm in." Then he knelt on his knees, kowtowed like pounding garlic, choked and said: "Father, mother, the child is lifted, the child is lifted today." After saying that, tears flowed for a long time, and everyone saw it, both happy and sad.

Weng Junding, as usual, did not show too much joy, respectfully took the newspaper from the newspaper with both hands, took out five taels of silver to reward the newspaper officer, and then returned the salute one by one to the same year who came forward to congratulate. He did not return to his room like the other scholars, but stayed in the lobby of the hotel to gossip with Chen Wenqi. He knew that the scholars who had not yet received the good news were likely to be famous outside Sun Shan and the 'Five Classics' in high school, so he was very tormented, and he accompanied them to gossip to relieve their boredom, which was where the friendship between them was.

Soon, everyone found that the sound of horses' hooves, gongs, firecrackers, and cheers gradually faded away, and finally fell silent.

Could it be that the roll call is over? Everyone secretly pondered that there were more than 7,000 scholars from the four prefectures and fifteen prefectures of Huguang and Guangzhou, and if one in a hundred was selected, there were almost 80 people who were selected, and they thought that it should be over.

Since the roll call transcript is over, it's time for the Dragon and Tiger List to be released. So someone suggested going to the gate of the Gongyuan to see the list. Everyone responded and left together.

Weng Junding and Shen Lingshan felt uncomfortable. Since the list is released, it means that Chen Wenqi and others are not recorded, and at this time, everyone is roaring away, but Chen Wenqi is still sitting upright, so it is very difficult for them to go or not.

When he was hesitating, Chen Wenqi stood up and said in a normal tone: "Brother Weng Nian, Brother Xian, let's go, let's look at the list." After that, he walked out of the door. Shen Lingshan and Weng Junding looked at each other, did not speak, called Shangruizhu and Jingxing, and followed Chen Wenqi behind Wanggong Courtyard.

When Chen Wenqi and the others arrived at the Gongyuan, the square in front of the Gongyuan was already full of people, and it was very lively. Looking around, there was no place where the laurel list was posted, the thorns placed in front of the gate of the tribute courtyard had not been removed, and the newspaper with a red tasseled hat was still waiting outside the door with a horse and a gong, all of which showed that the roll call had not yet been completed. Sure enough, this speculation was immediately confirmed: a person who was familiar with the newspaper and watched the excitement learned from the newspaper that the roll call had reached the "Five Classics", and that the good news of the fifth person had been sent out not long ago, but until now, the newspaper of the fourth person had not been handed over, and the newspapers only got a sentence from inside: "Don't wait." ”

Some people began to speculate about what was going on inside? Some people said that it might have been a disagreement among the officials on the admission ranks, so they had not been able to do so for a long time; some people said that it was perhaps a high-ranking official of the imperial court who had temporarily "greeted" him and wanted to include his heirs and relatives in the "Five Classics." Some people "did not buy it" because some of the officials were upright, so a dispute broke out; others said that it was perhaps because they had discovered that there was a cheating paper, and that "inside" was discussing how to revoke their fame and how to rank and replace them. And so on and so forth.

Just when people were talking, the gate of the Gongyuan opened, and more than ten soldiers walked out from inside, and the thorns at the door opened a narrow passage, and a group of people surrounded an old man wearing a three-grade official uniform walked out of the gate of the Gongyuan, and boarded the platform in the middle of the square, and saw that everyone came to the stage, coughed lightly and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Hu Guangcheng announced that the political envoy Si Jinke Township Examination is coming, and the candidate is in the roll call list, and it is found that there are duplicate names among the test takers, and the invigilator is pressing" The scholar's origins on the ink scroll will be screened, and it will not take long to complete the screening. Please return to your respective residences before taking the exam, so that the invigilator can come to your door for inquiry. After speaking, he walked down the stage and returned to the Gongyuan, and the soldiers also restored the thorns to their original position.

After listening to the words of the prisoner, all the students who took the examination began to know the reason for the postponement of the release of the list, and they could not help but be entangled in their own names: Is there anyone with the same name as themselves? If they really have the same name as themselves, is it a good thing or a bad thing? For a while, those who received the good news were faintly uneasy, while those who had not yet received the report had expectations. But no matter what the outcome is, they have to go back to their residences and wait for the invigilators to come to their homes.

Going back to the Gongyuan Grading Hall, the roll call was carried out smoothly. There are a total of 7,763 candidates in the four prefectures and 15 prefectures of the undergraduate township examination, and 79 of them are recorded according to the regulations of the imperial court, which can be described as "one in a hundred". After singing the names of the seventy-ninth lifters, the roll call scribe took over the "ink scroll" of the fifth lifter from the hands of the invigilator and began the roll call of the "Five Classics". After the fifth person finished singing, the invigilator handed over the fourth place "ink scroll", and the roll call clerk was familiar with the road, smoothed out the original "name" of the paper, and said when he saw the candidate's name: "Weng ......" suddenly stopped.

The chief and deputy examiners, supervisors, room officials, promotions, and invigilators in Hengjian Hall were unaware at first, thinking that the roll call clerk had a dry mouth, and choked for a while, but they didn't care. After feeling that it had been a long time, I hadn't seen him continue to report, and I felt something different. The supervisor was the most sensitive, and when he felt that something was wrong, he asked, "Why don't you keep singing?"

"My lord, this ...... The man seems to have sung ......," said the roll caller, hesitantly.

"It's already sung? impossible, absolutely impossible!" The proctor and examiner, who was in charge of checking and verifying the "Zhu Juan" and the "Ink Scroll," shook his head as if he had heard the "Arabian Nights," and his face was in disbelief. You must know that the test papers that have been called have been placed in another place, and it is impossible to return to the test papers that have not been removed, not to mention that the rankings are not the same.

"Yes, I did report the name. At that time, I thought that this surname and this name were very rare, so I was very impressed. The roll-call scribe recalls some details and affirms.

At this remark, the chief and deputy examiners, supervisors, and room officials, who had been relieved and thought that they were about to be completed, were taken aback, and gathered around one after another, and saw the ink scroll in the hands of the roll call scribe read:

Name: Weng Junding, born: July 18, 6th year of Chenghua, hometown: Baling County, Siyue Prefecture, political envoy of Huguangbu.

"Are you sure you reported this name before?" asked a scrivener on roll call.

"Back to my lord, the lower official is sure. The roll-call scribe replied.

Then the scribe who wrote the newspaper interjected: "Yes, I remember writing this man's newspaper as well." ”

"In that case, let's see if there is such a person on the list. The deputy examiner turned to the scribe and said.

The scribe who wrote the list began to look behind him from the sixth place, and soon found the name of "Weng Junding", looked up and said: "My lord, it is indeed on the list, the sixty-ninth place, but the birth and origin are different. Look, here—" He pointed to one of the lines and read: "Name: Weng Junding, born: 24th day of the winter month of the fifth year of Chenghua, hometown: Yunmeng County, Si De'an Prefecture, Political Envoy of Huguangbu. ”

"That's it, the same name and surname and the same subject, although KitKat, but it's normal, there's no fuss. The deputy examiner breathed a sigh of relief and said to his colleagues.

Everyone nodded and walked back to their seats.

"Wait. Did you verify your place of origin when you reported the good news?" said the examiner Liu Jian.

"The newspaper only went to the residence where the test paper was left to report the good news, and did not verify the place of origin. The official in charge of reporting the good news replied.

"Then where are the two of them staying?"

"Back to my lord, it is a coincidence that the residences left by these two people are all 'Juyuan Hotel'. ”

"Oh, since the two of them live in the same hotel, when the good news is announced, did the two of them agree in unison?" Liu Jian frowned.

"This ...... , never heard of it. "The official in charge of reporting the good news is not very sure.

"Call the newspaper in and answer. Liu Jian waved his hand and said unhappily.

Soon, a tall and thin newspaper man trotted to the Hengjian Hall. The official who was in charge of reporting the good news said to him: "Lord Liu asks, you have to answer truthfully." ”

"Yes. The newspaper replied angrily, still unsure of what was going on.

"Weng Junding, do you remember this name?" asked Liu Jian in a gentle tone as much as possible.

"Remember, sir. He is the villain's third annunciation. The newspaper replied cautiously.

"When you went to report the good news, how many people came out to agree?"

"Alone. ”

"When the man took the paper, did anyone fight him?"

"No, only many people congratulated him, and no one competed with him for the news. The newspaper was a little inexplicable, and looked at the official in charge of the newspaper with an inquiring gaze.

"Alright, you go down, and then follow to the 'Juyuan Hotel'. After the newspaper retreated, Liu Jian said to the officials: "The two Weng Junding live in the same hotel, and the newspaper did not report their place of origin when they reported the good news, so it stands to reason that both of them should come out to receive the newspaper." Why was there only one person, and where was the other person? The mystery of this has to be figured out. Lord Wang, you can take two people to the 'Juyuan Hotel' to see what is going on?"

"Yes, sir. The deputy chief examiner agreed, called a promotion officer, a supervisor and an examiner, and took the newspaper waiting outside the door, and the soldiers temporarily dispatched by the Huguangbu Political Envoy Department opened the way, and the group came straight to the "Juyuan Hotel".