Madam, protect me!

The First Examination Hall.

During the Imperial Examination, a huge exclamation erupted from a certain lane.

The sudden sound even scared the candidates in other lanes, causing some of them to shake the reins, and the carriages either hit the narrow gate or deviated from the lane.

A candidate was shooting arrows, and was startled by surprise. The arrow missed the target and almost hit the examiner next to him.

Although they all appealed successfully and got the opportunity to retake the exam, they couldn't help but look in the direction where the sound came from, wondering what happened there.

At this moment, beside a certain lane.

Whether it was the candidates or the examiners, the expressions on their faces were full of shock.

‘Minghe Luan’ didn’t feel any bumps, and the music was neat and rhythmic; ‘Zhu Shui Qu’ vehicles always stayed in the center of the lane while passing at high speed; ‘Guo Jun Biao’ didn’t scratch any narrow gates; ‘Wu Jiao Qu’ passed the fork in the road quickly and accurately; ‘Zhu Qin Zuo’ arrows hit the bull’s eye.

This was a wonderful performance.

Not only shocked the candidates who were watching, but even the examiners gave an excellent evaluation.

Originally, the results of the candidates in the imperial examination were to be kept secret.

But the imperial examination was not like the literature, mathematics and rituals. In such a public occasion, there was no way to keep it absolutely confidential.

The performance of the candidate was really wonderful. All the examiners were impressed. The excellent results could not be hidden.

Zhou Yu had finished the imperial examination and was attracted by the movement here. When he learned that someone got an excellent score in the imperial examination, he was shocked. When he saw the person jumping off the carriage, he was so surprised that his mouth couldn't close.

Brother Li?

It turned out to be Brother Li!

Half a year ago, he didn't know how to do the imperial examination. In such a short time, he actually practiced the imperial examination to an excellent level?

It really deserves to be Brother Li!

Zhou Yu was shocked for a moment before accepting the reality. After all, he was the son of the top scholar in six subjects. He might have just been hiding his incompetence in order to make a splash in the imperial examination...

Li Nuo walked over from the driveway and saw Zhou Yu standing there, and asked, "How did you do in the exam?"

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Above the A, not as good as Brother Li... Fortunately, Brother Li was there, otherwise the top scholar in the imperial examination would have been taken away by that black boy."

Although Zhou Yu himself did not become the top scholar in the imperial examination, he was also very happy that Brother Li won the championship.

Originally, Li Nuo felt a little guilty for snatching Zhou Yu's top scholar title for Li An Ning. After learning that even without him, Zhou Yu would not be the first in the imperial examination, this trace of guilt quickly disappeared without a trace.

Li Nuo was actually quite surprised that Zhou Yu could get here. He always thought that he and Song Yu were equally matched, but now it seems that the gap between the two is more than a little bit.

He patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder and said with a smile: "There is one last subject, try to get on the list!"

Zhou Yu bowed and said: "Thank you, Brother Li."

A trace of doubt emerged in his heart.

For some reason, when facing Brother Li, he actually had a feeling that he only had when facing his father...

At the same time, some doubts also emerged in the heart of Zhou Ting, the doctor of the driving department.

Why is his driving technique so similar to his own?

This is the unique driving technique of the Zhou family. Did Zhou Yu teach him?

He has taught his son for more than ten years, but he is not as good as others in half a year. He is really worthy of being the son of Lord Li...

...

After the screening of the first four subjects, more than 70% of the candidates have been eliminated.

The six arts are not something that ordinary people can learn, especially those students from poor families. If they pass the music subject, they will be blocked from the imperial examination.

The imperial examination has already been held for five subjects, and only the last subject tomorrow is left.

After the end of the shooting subject, this session of the imperial examination will be settled.

At present, the test papers of the book subject, the calculation subject, and the ritual subject have been sent to a special place for sealing.

These test papers will be kept for several years, and the court may conduct random inspections of some of them at any time during this period.

If there are problems with the test papers, such as a test paper that should have been low-scoring but was rated high, everyone from the examinees to the examiners will be held accountable.

The champions of the first three subjects will not be announced until the end of the imperial examination.

As for the champion of the music subject, it must be one of the two best.

Li Nuo, the son of the Dali Temple, and Gong Zheng, the heir of the Jinzhou music family.

Li Nuo's father was the champion of six subjects, unprecedented in history.

Gong Zheng's family is a music family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. It is said that his ancestors had a genius who entered the Tao through music.

Many people in Chang'an are looking forward to the final showdown between the two.

After the end of the imperial examination today, the champion of this subject has also appeared.

Among all the examination halls, the only one who is excellent in the imperial examination is the son of the Dali Temple.

A month ago, he won the first place in six subjects in the spring exam. Although it also caused some shock, the difficulty of the spring exam is not comparable to the imperial examination. No one thinks that he can replicate the legend of the spring exam in the imperial examination.

But at least so far, he has locked in one of the six subjects, and the other subject is also in the 50-50 range.

Judging from these two subjects, it is inevitable for him to get his name on the gold list.

Ministry of Personnel.

Within three days after the end of the imperial examination, the list of Jinshi will be announced.

Time is extremely tight, so before the end of the imperial examination, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites will summarize the results of the subjects that have been completed.

Each examination hall has already sent the results of the first few subjects.

The clerks of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites are busy summarizing the rankings.

The Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel have been in the Ministry of Personnel these days.

Just wait until today's archery subject is over and add the results of the last subject to the list of Jinshi.

Although the list of Jinshi has not yet been determined, the number one scholar in each subject has already appeared, just waiting to be announced.

Every step of the imperial examination has strict regulations. The invigilator is only responsible for invigilating the examination, and the examiner is only responsible for assessing, recording, and publishing.

Except for special circumstances in the latter three subjects, during the imperial examination, the candidates' information is strictly confidential.

Once candidate information is leaked, relevant personnel will be held accountable.

So even if they are the chief examiners of this imperial examination, they still don't know who the number one winners are.

In a certain office of the official department.

The Minister of Rites and Zuo, the Minister of Officials, were enjoying tea leisurely.

The Minister of Civil Affairs took a sip of tea and said with some emotion: "Only during the imperial examination can I have such leisure. Today the archery exam is over, and our comfortable days are over..."

The Minister of Rites took his words seriously and said, "Yes, after the imperial examination is over, the Rites will have to start preparing for Princess An Ning's marriage..."

As ministers, both of them are busy with official duties on weekdays.

During the imperial examination, all affairs in the court had to make way for the imperial examination, so they had more leisure.

Speaking of Princess An Ning's marriage, the Minister of Etiquette remembered something and said: "By the way, the top candidate in the Etiquette Department of this imperial examination, please arrange for Mr. Chen to join our Etiquette Department."

The Minister of Civil Affairs thought for a while and said: "Isn't it the turn of Taichang Temple to be the number one scholar in the Etiquette this year?"

Taichang Temple and the Ministry of Etiquette both need talents in the etiquette department.

In previous years, students who excelled in the ritual subjects of the imperial examinations were usually given priority in these two yamen. The top candidate in the ritual subjects last time was given to the Ministry of Rites, so this time it should be Taichang Temple's turn.

The Minister of Etiquette waved his hand and said: "The number one scholar in the Music Department can be given to Taichang Temple. The number one scholar in the Etiquette Department will be determined by our Ministry of Etiquette. I have read his examination papers. This person was born to enter the Ministry of Etiquette. He is very knowledgeable about Etiquette." He is as familiar with the system as the doctor of the Ministry of Etiquette. This time we are preparing for Princess An Ning’s wedding. I am going to let him prepare it, just to see his ability..."

The Minister of Civil Affairs smiled and asked, "What if the princess chooses him as her consort?"

The Minister of Rites smiled and said jokingly: "Then let him prepare for his own wedding..."

This possibility is too small. The best choice for the prince-in-law must be the number one scholar in the imperial examination, and then the number one scholar in calligraphy. The other number one scholars cannot be compared with them.

If the Ministry of Rites chooses a consort, the top two will definitely be given priority.

But this time, Your Majesty has spoken so eloquently that Princess An Ning is allowed to choose her consort. If the imperial examination champion and the calligraphy champion are not good-looking, and Her Royal Highness happens to care about the appearance of the consort, it is not impossible for the other top candidates to become the consort. .

While talking, an official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs stepped forward and said, "Two adults, the results of the first five subjects have been compiled."

In his hand, he held a tray.

On the tray, there were five envelopes.

In addition to announcing the Jinshi list, the imperial examination will also announce the top 100 in a single subject. Those with excellent scores in a single subject can find a good job in an academy or elsewhere even if they do not win the Jinshi.

In addition to the music subjects, there are still variables, the four subjects of calligraphy, mathematics, etiquette, and imperial studies have been settled.

The Minister of Etiquette took over the envelope with the word "Li" written on it. After opening it, he looked at it eagerly. He had been curious about this top scholar in the Etiquette Department who had excellent test papers for a long time.

The next moment, the expression on his face froze.

"hiss……"

On the other side, the official doctor who had just opened the mathematics envelope took a deep breath.

The two looked at each other and silently exchanged the envelopes in their hands.

"hiss!"

"hiss!"

They both gasped at the same time.

Li Nuo is the top scholar in Etiquette, Li Nuo is the top scholar in Mathematics, plus the top scholar in Imperial Examination who was confirmed yesterday, he has won the top spot in six subjects in the imperial examination, he has already won three subjects, and he is also a strong contender to be the top scholar in Leke.

There is no need to read the envelope from Yuke.

The two of them looked at the envelope with "book" written on it.

The Minister of Rites realized a very serious matter. He stretched out his hand several times and retracted it several times. Finally, he could only signal to the Minister of Officials and said: "Master Chen, please remove it..."

The Minister of Civil Affairs took the envelope, slowly opened it, and took out a piece of paper with names written all over it.

The Minister of Rites glanced at him and asked, "How is it?"

The Minister of Civil Affairs looked away from the piece of paper and said with emotion: "As expected of Master Li's son..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Minister of Rites already knew the result.

There is no doubt that he will be the top scholar in this imperial examination. The only uncertainty is whether he can be the top scholar in six subjects like his father.

There was a long silence in the government office.

Not long after, an official walked in and said: "Two adults, the archery exam has ended. Each examination center has sent the candidates' archery scores one after another. It is said that an excellent archery student has appeared in the first examination hall... …”

The two looked at each other, and the doctor from the Ministry of Rites looked at him, moved his lips, and asked: "This guy who is excellent in archery is called Li Nuo?"

The official was stunned when he heard this and said in surprise: "Sir, you already know?"

The doctor from the Ministry of Etiquette did not answer. He sat on the chair and slowly covered his face with his hands.

He and Li Nuo had no grudges, and Li Nuo won the top prize in several subjects, but it had nothing to do with him.

But Princess Anning's consort is related to the Ministry of Rites.

His Majesty asked the princess to choose one of the seven champions to be the prince-in-law.

If any number one pick doesn't meet the requirements, just replace him with another.

But who could have thought that the seven champions would be the same person, and a married man?

If the final champion of the music exam was also him, would the princess marry him?

Marry her, there is no precedent for a royal princess marrying a married man.

Don't marry her, that was said by His Majesty in front of all the officials, which is equivalent to an imperial decree, how could he take it back?

This was an outcome he had never expected.

His heart was in a mess, and he scratched his hair hard.

Even though he had been the Minister of Rites for so many years and had dealt with countless unexpected situations, he didn't know what to do in this situation...