Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

"Okay, now that we have decided on a place to stay, there is no need to worry. Sit down and talk to Brother. After lunch, let Chen Qiu take you there."

Now that we have settled on a place to live, we can sit down and have a good chat.

Talking about Mr. Gu, Gu Zhi couldn't help but joked, "I heard that father gave you the ink of Master Mei Zekai that he had treasured for many years?"

"Yes. I won the first place in the college entrance examination, and the teacher said he would reward me..."

"Haha, this old man, when I won the second place in the provincial examination, I wanted to take advantage of his happiness, but he didn't want to let me. I didn't expect that you would get the chance in the end."

Qin Yunhe was suddenly embarrassed and a little frightened, and said at a loss: "I, I also said it was too expensive, but the master insisted that it was a 'gift from the elders'..."

Seeing that Qin Yunhe was serious, Gu Zhi patted his shoulder to interrupt him and said casually: "Hey, Senior Brother is joking with you. What's a piece of ink? Senior Brother is not a petty person. In recent years, I have been working far away from home. Thanks to the company of you disciples, father will not be too lonely.

Especially you, who was young when you joined the sect, smart and well-behaved, and who accompanied my father the longest, bringing him a lot of joy, and fulfilling my filial duty for me. I can’t thank you enough.”

Qin Yunhe felt ashamed of what was said. Thinking about the wasted years and hiding from his teacher, he didn't know how much he had hurt his teacher in the past two lives.

Qin Yunhe remembered that the teacher had mentioned before that Gu Zhi would be transferred to another position after his term of office was over, and he might be promoted, so he asked.

"Brother, how is your transfer going? Has it been finalized?"

"Not so fast. I didn't arrive a few days earlier than you."

"The teacher said you'll probably get a promotion this time?"

There was no need to be too modest with Qin Yunhe, so Gu Zhi said calmly: "It's about right."

After they talked for a while, Gu Zhi remembered something.

"Are you ready for entry?"

"Everything is ready, just like the provincial examination, but it's cold in February, so we prepared extra bedding."

"What about food? Have you decided what to bring?"

The imperial examination is different from the provincial examination. It is far from home and it is not convenient to bring too much food from home.

"I brought a stove, some rice, dried meat, and dried sweet potatoes, and planned to buy some dry food locally before entering the venue."

Gu Zhi nodded and said, "Well, I'll ask Chen Qiu to show you a place later. You can buy the dry food you need to bring into the venue there, so that it will be easier for you to enter the venue when the time comes."

Qin Yunhe and the others were a little confused: "What kind of dry food is this? Why can it be easier to enter the venue?"

"Uh..." Gu Zhi groaned for a moment before saying, "It's not that the dry food is so special. The main thing is... if we buy the dry food there, it will be smoother for the officials to come in for inspection."

Qin Yunhe and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. Lin Zhaotang was the first to react: "Could it be that the dry food store was opened by an official?"

Gu Zhi looked at Lin Zhaotang with some approval and said, "It's not that the officials opened it, but there are some connections, and there is indeed profit to be shared..."

A few people didn't expect that there was such a trick to buy dry food, and they also felt that such behavior was a bit inappropriate...

"Brother, does this... count as... invisibility..."

Gu Zhi understood what Qin Yunhe meant, and before he could finish his words, he asked, "You mean the implicit bribe?"

"Yeah." Qin Yunhe nodded hesitantly.

"How should I put it?" Gu Zhi said patiently, "It doesn't matter where you buy dry food. The dry food here is not much more expensive than elsewhere.

If you ask whether it is compliant or not, then this dry food must be compliant. They would never dare to allow any smuggling in this dry food.

It is just that buying here will benefit the officials, so they will be more lenient when checking. "

"The affairs of the imperial examination are extremely complicated, with countless details and all kinds of twists and turns... It is inevitable. In fact, the officials did not get much from these dry rations. How could the superiors and subordinates not know this? They just acquiesced."

Gu Zhi then said something serious: "The present is a clear and bright time. It is not a matter of right or wrong, so don't get too hung up on it. It is beneficial for the officials and convenient for the examinees, so why not do it?"

Qin Yunhe and others knew that if they didn't tell it, it would not have any impact on Gu Zhi, but if they told it, it would bring a lot of convenience to Qin Yunhe and others.

Gu Zhi told them all this because he was truly open with them, otherwise, how would they know these tricks on their own.

If they keep dwelling on these things, they would be letting Gu Zhi down.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother. I now understand."

Qin Si and Lin Zhaotang also hurriedly expressed their thanks.

After they had lunch with Gu Zhi, he called his followers to take them to the inn.

"I have some business to attend to so I won't send you there. I will be here during this period of time. If you have any questions, you can come and find me here."

Qin Yunhe and his companions bowed and thanked Gu Zhicai before leaving with the attendant.

Gu Zhi's attendant Chen Qiu first took them to the place where they could buy dry food: "Gentlemen, you can buy two first to try. Remember this place and come back to buy before the exam. But don't wait until the last day to buy, because there will be a lot of people there and it might be hard to get a spot."

This place is not far from the Imperial Examination Hall, so it is quite convenient to find.

When they arrived, there were quite a few people gathered there buying things, and most of them looked like they were dressed like scholars.

Qin Siliu had a few people waiting, so he went over alone, waited in line for a while, and bought some dry food.

In fact, it looks like an ordinary pancake, just slightly smaller.

Chen Qiu took a few people to the inn. As soon as they entered the door, the innkeeper recognized Chen Qiu and asked the waiter to take a few people to the guest rooms.

This inn is indeed not too close to the Imperial Examination Hall. Fortunately, after entering, I found that although the room was not big, it was indeed clean and tidy.

"If you have time these days, you should take this walk first, so as not to miss the time and delay the exam."

Qin Yunhe and others thanked Chen Qiu again and sent him away.

After they looked at the two rooms, they settled Qin Yunhe and Qin Si in one, and Lin Zhaotang in another.

Although this place is quite far from the Imperial Examination Hall, it is actually populated by candidates who have passed the imperial examinations. From time to time, you can hear them reciting or discussing essay topics with each other.

After putting away their luggage, a few people went out together and planned to walk the road to the Imperial Examination Hall.

After all, this place was quite far away, so a few people walked towards the Imperial Examination Hall while memorizing the way. It took them more than half an hour to reach the gate.

When we walked back, although the place was much more familiar than when we went there, it still took us about half an hour to get back to the inn. By then, it was almost evening.

After walking for half a day, the few people were too tired to move when they returned to the inn.

"It seems that we still have to set off early."

As it got dark, a few people took out the dry food they bought and wanted to have it as dinner. After taking a bite, they found that the dry food was very dry and hard. Fortunately, they were young and their teeth were still good.

"No wonder they say this cake is easy to get in. It's so hard that it's not easy to break it open for inspection."