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

Although I promised my brother to return alone, I still felt uneasy.

Qin Yunhe insisted that Qin Si stay and find a companion for the return trip before going back.

Qin Si also didn't understand why his brother was so worried about him.

Not to mention that the place along the way didn't seem to be too remote or dangerous. He was a grown man with limited money on him, so what could possibly go wrong?

However, seeing that his brother was so worried, he did not want to force himself to leave alone and let his brother worry about him during the palace examination.

So he asked many people in the end, and finally found a few failed candidates who also came from Xu Ning's mansion. After they agreed to return together, they left.

After seeing his brother off, Qin Si took some time to visit his senior brother Gu Zhi and informed him of the news that he had passed the imperial examination.

Gu Zhi was very happy for Qin Yunhe, and told him about the rules and etiquette of the palace examination and the process of the court examination.

The brothers exchanged some words before saying goodbye.

After returning, Qin Yunhe and Lin Zhaotang moved into a room together, and the two of them were just waiting for the palace examination ten days later.

The palace examination was scheduled to be held at the Baohe Hall at 7:00 am on March 28th. Compared with the joint examination, the examination time was much shorter, only two hours, and there was no need to prepare meals by oneself.

However, Qin Yunhe and Lin Zhaotang did not dare to take it lightly. After all, the palace examination was hosted by the current emperor himself.

If you rank high, you will even be summoned to the palace to meet His Majesty in person and have conversations with the Emperor.

Early in the morning of March 28th, Qin Yunhe and Lin Zhaotang, together with other candidates, arrived outside the palace gate at dawn to wait.

At 12:00 a.m., an official called the roll outside the palace gate. After the roll call was completed, the 384 tribute candidates were led into the palace by officials and palace servants and finally arrived at the Baohe Hall.

Desks have been set up on the east and west sides of the Baohe Hall.

These newly promoted scholars had been arranged according to their names and rank, and each had their own number. Now they entered the hall and sat down in front of their desks.

Not long after he sat down, an eunuch sang in unison: "Your Majesty has arrived—"

The candidates had all been taught the etiquette of the palace examination, and when they heard this, they all stood up and kowtowed.

Qin Yunhe's seat was close to the aisle. He kept his body stiff in a kneeling posture and felt extremely nervous.

Soon, footsteps were heard outside the hall, and someone walked slowly into the hall. Then, Qin Yunhe saw a bright yellow piece of clothes passing by out of the corner of his eye.

After a while, a calm voice came from the platform: "Students, please stand up."

Qin Yunhe stood up like everyone else, not daring to look up at the people on the stage.

"Please sit down." The voice from above was very casual.

Qin Yunhe sat back in his seat with the other tribute scholars.

Then someone asked the emperor for instructions, and the voice said, "It's OK."

Soon, rows of palace servants came into the hall carrying things, and then placed the trays on each person's desk one by one.

There were a few sesame cakes, a plate of side dishes, and a bowl of egg drop soup on the tray.

"The palace examination is exhausting. I have ordered people to prepare breakfast for everyone. Don't go in on an empty stomach."

At this time, at the Qin family, Yu Ru had just finished breakfast and called her daughter and mother-in-law to get up for breakfast.

These days, the family was busy with spring sowing, while looking forward to news of Qin Yun and his brother passing the exam or returning.

Spring sowing is simple. The family is still well off, so we hired a few temporary workers and with Chen Er keeping an eye on the work, we have already finished the work.

As for the test results of Qin Yunhe and He, their family only knew roughly how long the test would take and when the results would be released, but they were not sure about the exact time.

Now it has been more than two months since they set out, I think the results should be out by now, right?

She was not too worried about Qin Yunhe failing the exam, but she was worried that he would get sick in the dormitory. He was unfamiliar with the capital, and what would he do if he got sick?

Especially when I heard that once the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was closed, it would not be opened even if someone died of illness, so we had to wait until the exam was over for the gate to be unsealed.

She was worried about this alone and didn't dare tell her mother-in-law, for fear that she would also worry if she heard it.

"I don't know how Ah Wen did in the exam. I guess it's time to announce the results now?" Mother Qin brought it up again.

"The results of the imperial examination should be announced soon, but I don't know if anyone has passed. After passing, there will be another palace examination."

Mother Qin was optimistic: "There is still no news of his return. Ah Wen and Ah Si must have won. It's just that it's been so long. I don't know if the money is enough."

Yuru originally thought that the travel money prepared for their brothers was enough, but now that Qin's mother mentioned it, she became a little hesitant. Would it not be enough?

But she tried to comfort her mother-in-law: "Awen said that Mr. Gu's son, Senior Brother Minqian, is reporting in the capital. Even if it's not enough, I'm sure I can borrow some from Senior Brother Minqian."

"That's what I said, but it's not a good idea to borrow it from someone..."

After cleaning up after breakfast, Yuru thought of taking out the bedding to dry it in the sun while the weather was good. Ruyi was also running around to help Yuru pull the quilt.

I remembered that yesterday Yuger came to ask Yuru when her master would be back, and Ruyi also followed suit and asked when her father would be back.

How would Yu Ru know?

The palace examination consisted of only a few questions on classics, history, and current affairs, and two hours was more than enough.

Before noon, the examiner announced that the examination time was up and the candidates stopped writing.

After the test papers were collected, palace servants served the candidates some sesame cakes, side dishes, egg drop soup, and a pear.

After lunch, the candidates taking the examination left the palace under the guidance of the officials.

The next day, everyone was led by the supervising officials to wait outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and ten tribute scholars, including Lin Zhaotang, were selected to enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Qin Yunhe knew that Lin Zhaotang was summoned into the palace to answer questions in front of the emperor, and he must be among the top ten.

Soon, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the emperor personally selected the top three candidates in the imperial examination and awarded them the title of Jinshi.

Then the top seven in the second class were named.

Finally, Lin Zhaotang won the first place in the second class and was admitted.

Qin Yunhe sighed, Lin Zhaotang was not only well-educated, but also calm and composed. He must have been able to answer questions fluently and clearly before the emperor, so he was selected as the second-class candidate.

Afterwards, another official read out the names of the other second-class candidates. Qin Yunhe was finally ranked 58th in the second class and was granted the status of Jinshi along with other second-class candidates.

After the top three were announced, the officials announced that His Majesty would congratulate the new Jinshi with a banquet.

Thank you everyone.

At the Qionglin Banquet, the chief examiners of this year, Hanlin Academy Bachelor Pan Tingjian, and Minister of Rites Tao Kaiyuan encouraged the new Jinshi and drank happily.

Although the current Majesty did not attend in person, he also gave rewards to the new scholars according to their rankings.

The Qionglin Banquet was a great opportunity to make friends. All present were future colleagues, and under the influence of alcohol and the atmosphere of the banquet, they began to chat like brothers, as if they were close friends.

"My name is Qin Weilai. I wonder what your name should be to me, my younger brother?"

A scholar who looked to be in his forties came over to Qin Yunhe's side and started chatting with him.

Qin Yunhe quickly bowed and said, "Brother Qin Nian, I am Qin Yunhe."

When the man heard this, his eyes immediately lit up with joy: "It turns out that you are from the same family. I must have a drink with you."

As he spoke, the man came over with the cup in his hand.

Seeing that he was older than himself, Qin Yunhe quickly raised his cup with both hands and clinked it with his.

"How come my dear brother has passed the second place? Your results are not bad. Will you take part in the imperial examination in three days?"

In fact, Qin Yunhe's results were not bad, but they were only slightly better than Qin Wei's.

"My grades aren't very good, but I still want to give it my best."

Qin Weilai said sincerely, "We must give it a try. The government has been stable in recent years, and there are too many Jinshi candidates. I heard that there are not enough vacancies this year, and many people will probably have to wait for a long time."

At this time, someone nearby came over and interrupted: "I've heard that before getting a real job, you have to first learn to walk in various departments, which may take a few months or even a few years..."

Qin Yunhe and Qin Weilai looked at the man, who immediately bowed and said, "I am Feng Baochu, from Henan. I wonder what your names are, brothers?"

Qin Yunhe and Qin Weilai quickly returned the greeting and exchanged their names before returning to the previous topic.

"...We all know that the top 100 are the chosen ones, and they will be admitted directly to the Imperial Academy. The top 200 will also be given priority, but we are not ranked high enough."

Qin Wei waved his hands and said, "I don't know when the waiting period will end. It is said that there are still candidates waiting for the position of Jinshi in the last session..."

Qin Yunhe also knew that he had to wait for his official position after passing the imperial examination. However, he had asked his teacher and senior brothers before, and they did not wait for a long time.

Now it seems that they had enough vacancies at that time, but in recent years, there have been many candidates and the number of Jinshi has also increased, so the vacancies are actually calculated on an annual basis.

Qin Yunhe felt a little depressed.

Unexpectedly, Qin Weilai continued, "So, you still have to take the imperial examination. What if you pass it? Wouldn't that solve the problem of the job vacancy?"

Yes, if you pass the imperial examination, you will become a Shujishi, and you won’t have to worry about waiting for a vacancy.

It seems that I must take the exam this morning.

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Regarding the examinations, palace examinations, and the appointment of Jinshi officials, the situations in each dynasty are different, and the author did not write completely according to the situation of a specific dynasty. The author combined the various different situations found and the settings needed for the subsequent plots. The settings serve the plot, so please do not study them too much.