Be a master through ancient times

"The Emperor is here."

Did not test for a while, suddenly someone announced loudly.Because this is the first imperial examination for the new emperor, the chief examiner of the examination is the present majesty.

After finishing court, Emperor Tianhe led his ministers to inspect the examination room.All the students put down the pens in their hands, knelt in the number room and shouted long live.

"Don't be polite, everyone, and continue to answer the paper. You only need to treat me as the chief examiner, and you don't have to be cautious."

Tianhedi's voice sounded very kind, and all the students present were very moved.All of them were lying on the desk, writing vigorously, hoping to let the emperor notice their diligence.

Because they couldn't look directly at Long Yan, everyone lowered their heads when they saw the bright yellow figure, and only dared to raise their heads slightly when the bright yellow figure passed by, watching the figure go away.

Chu Ci was the same as the others. He only looked up when he saw Ming Huang's figure walking by, and only saw a slightly clearer figure from the back.

……

On the ninth day of February, the first game entered, and on the seventeenth day of February, the last game ended.

During nine days and six nights, Chu Ci worked hard in the Gong Yuan, giving all of what he had learned all his life to these thin sheets of paper.

The moment he stepped out of the gate of the Gongyuan, Chu Ci felt infinite emotion in his heart.His road to the imperial examination was fairly smooth, and he had entered the highest examination institute in just two years. If he could pass this time, then his imperial examination career would come to a perfect end.

Compared with other people's wasted time for three years and three years, he is already satisfied.

The examination list will be released on April [-]th, which is called the apricot list.Then during this period of waiting for the release of the rankings, Chu Ci can relax a little bit.

At the end of February, Chu Ci received several letters.These letters were sent to the Xijiang Guild Hall, and the uncle took advantage of Chu Ci and came to deliver the letters.

Chu Ci took out another money and handed it to the uncle.His residence is rented, and he may not be able to live here anytime soon. It would be more reliable to send letters to Xijiang Guild Hall.

These letters are from his family, husband and close friends.

Because he was concerned about the situation of the two classmates, Chen Zifang and Jiang Huai's were the first to be dismantled by Chuci.

The reason why Chen Zifang didn't come to the test was because he had a falling out with his family.What was the reason? Chen Zifang was very vague. Chu Ci guessed that it should be because of his mother.

The reason was indeed similar to what Chen Zifang had guessed.Seeing that Chen Zifang was promising, the people on his aunt's side changed their minds.First, he proposed to let Chen Zifang marry her natal niece, but after being rejected by Chen Zifang on the grounds that he had not established a career and had no family, he proposed to change Chen Zifang's background, and put him under the name of his aunt, as a foster son.

Chen Zifang was sent to another hospital with his mother when he was still a baby.In order to bring up the child, her mother has suffered a lot.Now that he is promising, those people want to take away her only thing, which is too hateful!

Chen Zifang refused again.Who knew that they had nothing to do with him, but they took the opportunity to coax his mother, intimidating and luring her, and scaremongering her, so that she would recognize her identity and not hold him back.

His mother believed it, thinking that Chen Zifang would lose his bright future if he did not record it under the name of his aunt.She secretly bought arsenic and wanted to commit suicide by taking the poison.Fortunately, she was noticed by the maid beside her and saved her life.Chen Zifang couldn't bear it anymore and made a big fuss at home.

The head of the Chen family saw that Chen Zifang and Chen's father couldn't get along, and if the quarrel continued, both parties would suffer. It would not be a good thing for the family, so he decided to separate Chen Zifang from his mother and set up his own family.Because this happened in the early stage of rushing for the exam, by the time everything was settled, it was already too late.

Chen Zifang's letter was full of relief. For him, keeping his mother and leaving that sad family made him happier than his success.He couldn't imagine how hopeless it would be if he left early that time and came back only to see his mother's lonely grave.

Jianghuai's situation is even simpler than Chen Zifang's. His grandfather died of illness. According to the court's law, those with meritorious deeds need to observe filial piety for three years before re-entering the examination room.Jiang Huai's letter was a little regretful, but he also understood that the provincial examination had already ranked last, and it was still unknown whether he could get into high school in this examination. He just took advantage of these three years to study hard and strive for the next examination in one fell swoop become famous.

He looked at the photos of his husband and his family, which were full of care and love for him.What made Chu Ci happiest was the letter written to him by the two younger ones. Both the handwriting and the choice of words were much better than when he left.It seems that Mr. is more powerful.

……

In March in Yangchun, even though the morning and evening are still very cold, people can already take off their thick cotton clothes for a while when the sun is at its maximum at noon.

There is a river near Wenxingfang. The river is not wide. Every few meters, a bluestone slab can be seen, which is used for washing clothes by the women nearby.

There are some willow trees planted on both sides of the small river, and new leaves have emerged at this time. After a barren winter, that touch of fresh green is obviously a very precious thing.

Walking up the small river, you can see a large pool. There are not many people coming and going here, the water in the pool is clean and clear, and the environment is quiet.After Chu Ci wandered here occasionally, he fell in love with it.Every afternoon, he would come over with a book in his arms, sit on the nearby rocks, and enjoy this rare quiet moment.

On this day, Chu Ci was reading a book, and when he saw the place where he was fascinated, he suddenly heard footsteps coming towards him.

He looked up and saw an old man and a young man walking towards here with bamboo baskets and fishing rods.

Seeing that Chu Ci noticed them, the old man smiled slightly and said, "Young man, have we disturbed your leisure?"

"Where is the old man? Everyone can come here, so why bother?" Chu Ci also laughed.

The old man was kind and kind, but also revealed a hint of majesty.The clothes on his body seemed simple, but in reality they were hidden secrets. Chu Ci guessed that the master of a rich family probably brought his grandson to go fishing on a whim.

The two exchanged a few words of pleasantries, but no more words.Chu Ci shifted his gaze to the book again, letting his thoughts continue to wander in the sea of ​​books.

Those two people were very polite, because someone was reading a book, and their voices and movements were very soft.

When Chu Ci was tired of reading, he would occasionally look far away and observe the two people. Although they were strangers to each other, the atmosphere was very harmonious.

In the evening, Chu Ci was about to leave.After thinking for a while, he walked up to the two of them and greeted them softly: "Old man, little friend, Xiaosheng is going to take a step first."

The old man nodded and smiled. Although the young man was still the same as when he came here, with a slightly gloomy expression, he nodded slightly to show he understood.

Since that day, Chu Ci met the grandparents and grandchildren for several days in a row. Sometimes they arrived early, and sometimes Chu Ci arrived early. When they met, they would nod and smile, and occasionally talked about the weather.But the two sides tacitly did not exchange names and origins, and only maintained this unfamiliar familiarity.

The seventh day of March is Zhang Hu's birthday, and Chu Ci didn't go to read a book that day, but fulfilled Zhang Hu's simple wish and took him around to eat and drink.

When he was going to read a book the next day, the boy who hadn't spoken all this time suddenly spoke.

"Yesterday...why didn't you come?"

Chu Ci raised his head in surprise, seeing that the young man turned his head immediately, with his ears turned towards this side, and said, "Yesterday was my book boy's birthday, so I played with him for a day."

"The book boy... also celebrates his birthday?" the boy asked seriously.

Chu Ci laughed, which family raised this "why not eat minced meat" baby?

"Of course, everyone is born by their mother in ten months of pregnancy. The day of birth is the birthday. This thing, no matter ordinary people or high-ranking officials, must be celebrated."

"Why didn't I..." Hearing this, the young man was a little puzzled and said to himself.His voice was too low, Chu Ci sat far away and didn't listen to him clearly, and when he turned his head away, he stopped talking.

The old man next to him heard it and gave him a thoughtful look with a complicated look on his face.

Since that day, the exchanges between the two sides have become more frequent.Occasionally the boy would sit near Chuci with a book in his arms to read, and sometimes he would come over with a chessboard in his arms and invite him to talk about a game.

Chu Ci never saw the grandfather and grandson again.He guessed they had changed places since he had never seen them catch a fish.

By March and a half, the weather was already very warm.Everyone changed into spring clothes, and there were a lot more people going out for outings.

Chu Ci didn't go there to read because he was quarreled several times by the children living nearby.

……

On this day, Zhang Hu came back from shopping and told Chu Ci a news.

"Master, there are many people gathered around to bet!"

"Are you passing by the gambling house again? Didn't I say you can't go?" Chu Ci frowned. Some time ago, a servant saw that Zhang Hu had money, so he urged Zhang Hu to see the world. So he told Chu Ci, and followed Chu Ci's teaching, and dared not go again.

"No!" Zhang Hu immediately denied, with a bit of grievance on his face. "In the restaurant over there, many people gathered around to bet, and I seem to have heard your name, young master!"

Although the Great Wei Dynasty couldn't help gambling, it was limited to gambling inside the gambling house. If it was brought outside to break the rules, the punishment would still be very strong.But there is an exception, and that is the test every three years.

Each restaurant has a list, which lists the top candidates they are optimistic about.It is up to the common people to place their own bets and vote for the person they are optimistic about. The odds range from one to fifty.

There is a limit to the silver taels for betting, and it cannot exceed five taels at most.But some people will go to multiple places to bet, and if there is an upset, the rewards will be considerable.

Last year's examination was the most unexpected, because Zhang Gan, a world-renowned talent, happened to participate in this examination.

It is said that he could write poems at the age of three, compose Fu at the age of five, and was famous all over the world for his essay "Talent and Strategy" at the age of 12.

Last year, when he turned 17, he went to Beijing to take the exam. Everyone thought that the champion was in his pocket, and he had little interest in betting.Only a few diehard fans chose some people with decent names to make a few bets.

Who would have thought that he would lose the ranking because he was young and frivolous, saying in restaurants many times that the top scorer in high school was like picking something out of his bag, and he seemed to take the imperial examination very seriously.The examiner who went to the interview was a scholar of the Hanlin Academy promoted by the left minister, the backbone of the retro-style school, who disliked these self-righteous and arrogant young people the most, so they refused to admit them on the grounds that they were young and arrogant, and they were embarrassing.

Last year's No. 40 candidate was given to a candidate in his [-]s, and none of the most popular students on the list was among the top three.Let those few people who happen to invest in it earn a lot of money.

Because of last year's accident, many people also wanted to be a surprise, and abandoned the popular candidates one after another, and turned to other students who were a little less popular.

It was at this time that Chu Ci came into their sight.

This person is Xie Yuanlang, a province, and he should have some strength. Because he has passed more than 300 people in the scientific examination, he is not among the popular candidates.But for the imperial examination, three points depend on strength, and seven points depend on luck. Is there any guarantee that his articles will not please the emperor?

Hearing such an analysis, the others also felt that it made sense, so they lowered Chu Ci's odds by a lot just in case.

The banker took a look and put Chu Ci among the favorites.So some people thought, how can it be unpopular every year?The more opportunistic people there are, the less likely it will happen, so I went to the bottom to look for candidates I was optimistic about. The hot spots on the list change every day, and it is a scene of a hundred flowers blooming.

"Oh? What are my odds?" Chu Ci also became interested.

"It seems to be... one to fourteen!"

"You think highly of me, have you placed your bet?"

Zhang Hu shook his head.

Chu Ci took out a coin and tossed it to him, and said with a smile: "This coin is used to make a bet. If the master wins, this coin will be rewarded to buy snacks for you."