Madam, protect me!

The fifth day of March.

Inside and outside Chang'an, the entrances of various examination halls were crowded with imperial examination candidates.

The calligraphy class has been over for four days, and today is the day to publish the results.

Only candidates who are on the list will be eligible to take tomorrow's math and etiquette exams.

As the examination hall staff posted the red list, countless candidates rushed forward to find their examination numbers. Several examination hall staff were squeezed inside and could not get out.

"One hundred and thirty-eight, I'm here!"

"One thousand six hundred and fifty-two, including me!"

"His grandma didn't pass the first subject. Come back in four years!"

…

After the completion of the book subject, the results will not be ranked.

Only when all subjects are finished and the results of thirty examination halls are compiled, can we know who is the top scholar in calligraphy.

This is also a sense of mystery that the court deliberately maintains.

However, almost everyone feels that the top scholar in this imperial examination will be born in the first examination hall.

Although the specific results have not been announced yet, according to rumors, in the first examination hall, three people were born with excellent calligraphy, one was excellent in painting, and one was excellent in writing.

In most cases, none of these three small subjects is perfect.

As for other exam halls, there was no news about anyone getting excellent results.

This imperial examination coincides with the twenty-year cycle of reincarnation, and talented disciples from all the major academies gather together, but their advantage lies in the last three subjects. Calligraphy has always been the strength of students from the four major academies.

In the First Examination College, some incidents occurred during the examination paper review process.

For example, three excellent calligraphy examination papers highly recommended by everyone at Wei were rejected by the chief examiner.

The Wei family fought with the presiding judge for the sake of justice for their disciples.

Later, the imperial court re-sent several examiners and sent censors to supervise, and finalized the excellent grades of these three examination papers. The chief examiner deliberately lowered the scores of the students because of a personal vendetta, and was deprived of the qualification of the chief examiner by the court and was permanently banned. Not enabled.

Although the court did not impose severe penalties, the reputation of the Huang family was completely ruined.

His disciples and students immediately drew a clear line with him.

Originally, one of his calligraphy works could be sold for hundreds of taels of silver. After this incident, the price of his works plummeted, and countless people who collected his works suffered huge losses.

Some shops and private houses that had been inscribed by the Huang family had their plaques removed. Some people picked them up too late and immediately picked up rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs all over the walls.

On the contrary, because of his fairness and impartiality, Mr. Wei dared to stand up for his students. He was the good teacher expected by all students. His reputation skyrocketed, and the price of his calligraphy works also rose again and again...

This legendary incident gradually spread among the students.

Those candidates who are on the list don't have time to gossip about this. They still have to prepare for tomorrow's mathematics and etiquette subjects.

Of course Song Yu is not among them.

His imperial examination has ended.

There are 2,000 candidates in the first examination hall. After the calligraphy test is over, there are still 1,600 people left.

Not surprisingly, he failed.

But he didn't have much hope, so he couldn't be said to be disappointed.

The family has planned his future path for him. Song Yu hugged Zhou Yu and Pei Jun at the same time and said: "Let's go have a drink. Finally, we don't have to read those crappy books. I'm treating you tonight. How much sleep do you want?" One sleeps a few..."

Pei Jun waved his hand and said, "No, I have something else to do."

Zhou Yu also shook his head and said, "I have something to do, so you can go alone."

Song Yu frowned and asked, "Are we brothers? What do you have to do that is more important than drinking with me?"

Pei Jun lowered his head and said, "I have an exam tomorrow."

Zhou Yu looked away and said, "Me too."

…

Song Mansion.

Song Yu walked into the courtyard dejectedly and said to Li Nuo: "Brother-in-law, you are on the list."

Li Nuo nodded. He had never doubted this, so he didn't look at it at all.

Song Yu sighed and left. How could this happen?

In fact, he used to say that Zhou Yu was able to get the top prize in imperial examinations because of the support of his brothers. In his heart, he felt that Zhou Yu could not even pass the calligraphy examination.

But he got through.

Not only did he pass, but Pei Jun also passed.

Among the three heroes of Yunmeng, he was the only one who failed the list.

This made it difficult for him to accept.

Obviously everyone was doing the same thing before, did they secretly learn it behind his back?

Not long after Song Yu left, Li Anning walked in from the outside in a sneaky way. As soon as he entered the small courtyard, he couldn't wait to ask: "The spring breeze is so good that the horse's hoof is sick, and I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day... Is this written by you?"

Before the end of the imperial examination, it is impossible for outsiders to see the students' examination papers.

But Li Anning has her own channels for obtaining information.

This time, in the article section of the first examination, the only excellent test paper has this line in the opening poem.

Li Nuo nodded.

Li Anning shook his fist violently, his chest shaking, and said happily: "I knew it was you, and I stole those files for you in vain!"

She looked at Li Nuo and asked, "You are also the best in painting, right?"

Li Nuo said: "I don't know."

Before the results came out, he couldn't give her a definite answer.

Li Anning said firmly: "It must be you!"

Li Anning did not ask any more questions. He had confidence in Li Nuo's legal studies. He was a legal practitioner. Even if his legal studies were not excellent, they would not be far behind.

Thinking of calligraphy, she sighed inwardly.

I heard that the three best calligraphers were all disciples of Mr. Wei.

There were no students who wrote hairpin-flowered small regular script in the A-level and A-class exams.

This means that his calligraphy is at best only A-level.

He had already established enough advantages with excellent performance in two subjects, but the calligraphy eliminated this huge advantage, making the position of the top scholar in the book exam more uncertain.

She did not say these words that might affect Li Nuo's mood, but just said: "I won't bother you anymore, you should prepare well for tomorrow's exam..."

When she left, she ran into two figures head-on.

Song Jiaren held Mu'er's hand and looked into her eyes, and then separated again. There was no verbal exchange until Li Anning left.

However, when she walked into the room, Song Jiaren looked back at Li Nuo who was sitting in the courtyard.

There seemed to be a choice in her eyes...

Song Yu failed the book exam, and Li Nuo came to the examination hall alone the next morning.

It was indeed an imperial examination. Li Nuo remembered that during the spring exam, more than half of the candidates were eliminated after the book exam, but the book exam in the imperial examination eliminated less than a quarter of the candidates.

This quarter, probably like Song Yu, entered the four academies through connections and money.

Those who can enter the four academies by themselves are the best who have been selected through the spring examination and will not be eliminated so easily.

As they waited at the entrance of the examination hall, they were still whispering.

"In one examination hall, three excellent calligraphy papers were produced. This is the first time."

"There is also a genius in the painting department. I heard that even the examiners are ashamed of themselves."

"And the essays can also be excellent. Essays have never been given excellent marks."

"The spring breeze is full of pride and the horses are galloping. I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day... Damn, this poem is so well written. Why can't I write it!"

...

As the door of the examination hall opened, the candidates filed in and came to their own examination rooms.

Today is the second session of the imperial examination, but there are two subjects.

Like the spring examination, the students need to complete the answers to the mathematics and ritual subjects within one day.

Almost everyone would choose to answer the math subject first, because this subject requires a clear mind. If you wait until the afternoon to answer, your mind will be muddled and it is easy to make mistakes.

Li Nuo also chose to answer the math subject first.

Although there are still 20 questions and the types of questions are similar, the difficulty of the imperial examination questions is much greater than that of the spring exam.

Take equations as an example. The spring exam tests two variables, and the first question of the imperial examination is five variables. In terms of the amount of calculation, they are completely different levels.

If you encounter carelessness, when calculating, a number is wrong, and it is difficult to check it.

Li Nuo relies entirely on himself for math. He first calculates on rough paper, and only after verifying that it is correct will he copy it on the official test paper.

Time passed by minute by minute. When writing the last two questions, Li Nuo glanced at the questions and was slightly stunned.

It’s not that these two questions are too difficult, but...

Aren’t these two questions the questions he gave to his wife and asked her to use to embarrass the four old gentlemen?

One is a variation of the general’s watering horse problem, and the difficulty has increased.

One is the optimal strategy question.

Although it is not the original question, they belong to the same category.

Mr. Chen seems to have said that in order to select mathematical talents in this imperial examination, the questions of the mathematical subject will be slightly changed. Originally, he was referring to these two questions.

If you want to say it is difficult, these two questions cannot be said to be difficult, and the problem-solving process is not complicated, but you must have the correct thinking. If you only know how to study the nine numbers, you probably can't solve these two questions.

There are 20 questions in the mathematical subject, and you can only calculate the valid score if you answer 10 correctly.

After that, each correct answer will increase a rating. All 20 correct answers are excellent, and one wrong answer will be reduced by one.

After answering these two questions, Li Nuo took a short break and opened the envelope containing the questions of the etiquette subject.

This subject is not difficult. He lit up the portraits of Zheng Zhi and the doctor of the Ministry of Rites at the same time and started writing without thinking.

When Li Nuo had finished answering the two questions of the etiquette subject, most of the candidates in the first examination hall were still answering the mathematical subject.

I don’t know how many people looked at the last two questions of the mathematical subject with a confused look on their faces.

Both questions were related to the military formation.

One was about the drinking water for war horses, and the other was about the supply of food and grass. They seemed very practical, but they had never learned such questions before, so they were completely confused and didn't know how to solve them.

After thinking for a while, they still had no clues, so they could only put it aside and start answering the questions of the ritual department.

They didn't know how to answer those two questions, and others might not know how to answer them either.

At this time, in a certain examination room, Zhou Yu looked at the two questions with a surprised look on his face.

Although the teachers had not told him about these two questions, he had heard Brother Li tell them about one of them in Song's house, and he vaguely remembered how to solve this kind of question...

He quickly wrote down the solution for the question he knew.

He had no idea for the other one, so he skipped it and took out the question of the ritual department.

Looking at the piece of paper taken out of the envelope, Zhou Yu was happy at first, then stunned again. The next moment, his hair stood up all over his body, and he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp...

Two months ago, he saw an old fortune-teller at the door of his house.

The old man brought a granddaughter with him. He felt sorry for the old man and the young girl, so he gave them a silver ingot.

The old man took the silver and insisted on telling him a fortune.

Zhou Yu never believed in these things, but he was in a good mood at the time, so he asked the old man to tell him a fortune.

The old man randomly pinched his fingers and said that he could become a prime minister in the future.

Zhou Yu almost laughed when he heard this. His father was only a fifth-rank doctor in the Ministry of War. He couldn't even pass the imperial examination, so what was he doing as a prime minister?

Seeing that the old man made him laugh, he rewarded the old man with a silver ingot.

Then the old man wanted to tell him a fortune.

Zhou Yu didn't think much about it at the time. He just joked that if he really had the ability, he would tell him which questions would be on the ritual test of this year's imperial examination.

There were too many contents in the five rituals, and Zhou Yu didn't even look at them.

Unexpectedly, the fortune-telling old man actually knew the five rituals. He pinched his fingers randomly and told him five kinds of etiquette, which were:

Auspicious ceremony: offering sacrifice to the God of Agriculture.

Guest ceremony: the king of the barbarians pays an audience.

Military ceremony: watching archery in front of the archery officer.

Auspicious ceremony: the princess marries.

Ominous ceremony: the crown prince mourns and offers sacrifices.

In the examination room, Zhou Yu looked down again. The ritual test paper of the imperial examination was exactly the same as the one calculated by the old man.

The Five Rites include hundreds of ceremonies.

Auspicious ceremonies include offering sacrifices to the Five Emperors, offering sacrifices to hundreds of gods, offering sacrifices to the Taishe, offering sacrifices to the Five Mountains, the Four Towns, offering sacrifices to the Four Seas, the Four Rivers...;

The guest ceremonies have different ritual regulations for the monarchs and envoys of different countries;

The auspicious ceremonies include the ceremonies of food and drink, marriage, the ceremonies of capping, the ceremonies of archery for guests, the ceremonies of feasting, the ceremonies of eating and drinking, and the ceremonies of celebration;

The military ceremonies include going to war, hunting, etc., and the funeral ceremonies are more particular. Not to mention the differences in the royal family, the funeral ceremonies of officials of each rank are different, and the details are outrageous.

Each ceremony has different procedures and regulations, and it is impossible to memorize them all, but for the same kind of etiquette, most of the procedures are the same. As long as you can answer these, you can at least get a B in the ceremonial subject.

But if you want to get a higher score, you have to work ten times, dozens of times, or even a hundred times harder.

This is naturally not worth the loss.

It is not so easy to get below B in this subject, and it is equally difficult to get above A.

Sometimes, it depends more on luck.

Zhou Yu was very lucky. He passed the imperial examination with all the rituals he memorized.

He didn't know why, but after returning home that day, he spent several days, and somehow, he memorized the five etiquettes that the old man said, exactly...

Now thinking back, he himself felt puzzled.

What's more terrifying is.

That was two months ago. At that time, the examiners of the imperial examination had not been determined, and the questions of the etiquette section would naturally not be determined.

Not to mention that the old man was not an examiner, even if he was an examiner, these five questions were not directly set by him, but randomly selected from hundreds of etiquettes...

He could actually calculate the questions of the imperial examination two months in advance!

Zhou Yu's heart was in turmoil, and he even forgot that he was in the imperial examination room. When he thought of the old man's face again, he felt a little chilly...

At this moment.

Outside the examination room.

Steward Wu leaned on the carriage, holding a dogtail grass in his mouth, and suddenly remembered something.

The fortune-teller said before that the young master had several other destined marriages.

He was dismissive at the time.

Now think about it, if the young master is like the old master, and wins the first place in six subjects, he may really marry the princess, which is exactly what the old man predicted...