Tranquility

Tangning was very unlucky this time, and was assigned to the innermost cubicle next to the toilet.

After entering the cubicle, Tangning first took out cooling oil and rubbed it under her nose, feeling better, then arranged the bedding, water glasses, etc., and finally took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and rubbed the ink while waiting for the examiner to issue the paper.

After receiving the examination paper, Tangning untied the paper tube, pulled out the examination paper, and opened it to take a look: Scholars have achieved what the former sages have achieved, but without the ability to question and discern, there is no basis for them to get a teacher and a home. ...

A dark cloud floated overhead, and the sky darkened instantly.

Tangning's heart was beating like a drum, and there were only two words in her mind: venting the question.

What should he do? Tangning was struggling in her heart. It was obvious that Jin Yongfu had obtained the test questions from somewhere. After seeing the test questions, he came up with an idea. The only thing he was grateful for was that he was extra careful and didn't write it down directly. So, is he pretending not to know, or reporting it?

If you don't report it, it's okay if nothing happens. If something happens, he will be counted. At least he is a person who knows and doesn't report the crime. He will never get fame in this life; if he reports, Jin Yongfu will suffer, and he He may not be able to escape himself, Jin Yongfu showed him the test questions, did he guess that he would be soft-hearted and would not report him?

Tangning closed her eyes, sat on a chair, tried to calm herself down, and thought about how likely it was that this matter would be discovered. Jin Yongfu's score in the township test was very bad. If this test is below the middle level, there are 300 people after all. Few people should have noticed. Besides, the results of the provincial examination are not satisfactory, but the general examination has been successful. A lot of people have it, is there any conspiracy involved...

Suddenly, a white light flashed across the sky, and Baolei remembered it in his ears. Tangning opened her eyes suddenly, and looked at the examiner who was about to go back to get the coir raincoat not far away. She suddenly leaned forward and shouted, "My lord, I'm letting go of the question—"

There was another thunder, and the sky began to rain heavily in spring. However, Tangning was dragged away from the examination room by someone covering her mouth in the rain that nourished everything...

In the rows of cubicles around him, countless candidates ignored all of this, only thinking that he was another candidate who was caught cheating, and the only leak he yelled out was drowned out by the rumbling thunder, and only a few candidates next door He glanced anxiously, then fell silent.

Tangning's heart sank to the bottom. He knew he was finished, at least this exam was over. He never expected that he would be dragged out of the exam room in such an ugly way and taken to prison.

Prison Zhang yawned, stretched his waist, and patted the little jailer beside him vigorously, "Here comes Li Tou, he's quite dead!"

"Did you two drink a lot yesterday? It's bright daylight today, and the candidates have all entered the venue. How many people have entered?" Li Baotou, who took over, carried the food box and trotted and said, "It's really unlucky. It suddenly rained halfway, this year's spring rain is earlier than usual, yo, someone is here again."

The others turned around and looked, but it wasn't true, the soldier in the examination room escorted a man dressed as a scholar towards this side, and everyone greeted him with smiling faces.

However, when they got closer and saw the scholar's face clearly, they all opened their mouths and remained motionless.

"Am I dazzled? Grass, pour your old lady's yellow soup!" Zhang Laotou slapped himself.

"Slap!" Li Laotou also slapped himself, "No, it's not Mr. Lin, it scared me to death, oh my god, I'm sweating."

"It's so beautiful!" The little jailer next to him was just stunned.

The two soldiers put Tang Ning at the door and left. Tang Ning followed the cell boss slowly into the cell. The damp passage became darker and darker, and the smell became more and more unpleasant. Tang Ning's footsteps unconsciously slowed down.

The two cell bosses were very polite to Tangning and didn't rush him, and finally arranged for him a clean private room facing the sun.

"Tang Juren, I will wrong you to live in this room. If you are not satisfied, just tell us, and we will try our best to do it." Li Baotou said with a smile.

"Thank you for taking care of the boss, this place is very good." Tangning was flattered.

"I see your clothes are wet, why don't we find you some clothes to wear." Zhang Laotou added.

Tangning also felt that his body was sticky and wet, and the cell was cold and cold. No matter how bad the situation was, he had to be in good health. So he nodded his head and watched the two cell bosses leave the cell door, the chains were not locked.

"Let me say, Zhang Tou, should we tell the superiors about this?" Li Laotou lowered his voice as he walked.

"It's okay if we guess right, but what if we guess wrong?" Prison Zhang hesitated.

"Anyway, every time someone comes, we have to report it. It's just a few extra sentences. We didn't lie, so we can't be blamed at that time." Li Baotou made up his mind.

Due to the special situation of the fraud case, Dazhao stipulates that Dali Temple will take over the case. Generally, the candidates for fraudulent imperial examinations are sent to the prison of Dali Temple first, and the evidence is first handed over to the examination room for preservation. Just arrive, and after the exam is over, the Dali Temple Chancellor will jointly handle it with the witnesses at the time.

So this matter was reported layer by layer and passed to Dali Siqing.

At this time, Tangning was sitting on a bed made of straw, leaning against the mottled wall, looking through the gap in the fence, looking at the neighbor without focus.

He was curled up, wrapped in wet clothes, feeling cold and uncomfortable. The prison boss hadn't returned yet. Tangning didn't have any hope for it. It was abnormal for the prison boss to be warm to him, but he had no time to think about the prison boss right now. His mind was full of why, why the test questions were leaked, why Jin Yongfu wanted to show him the test questions, and why the examiners in the examination room heard the leaked questions and wanted to hide it instead.He didn't know how the test questions were leaked, but Jin Yongfu probably showed him the test questions because the test questions were too difficult, or the time was too short, and he didn't have time to find other people to write for him. Besides, other people are not as reassuring as his long-time friends. The corner of Tangning's mouth curled up. Sneer, is he sure he won't report him?It's a pity that he made a wrong calculation, and he really reported it. Although the result was unexpected, Tangning didn't regret it at all. This was his choice, and he had no regrets.If he kept it secret, then this secret would accompany him for the rest of his life. He would be worried day and night, for fear of being caught. Besides, the imperial examination is the foundation of his official career. If there are hidden dangers at the beginning, then he would rather not.

The sound of the cell door opening and closing at the end of the corridor was extremely ear-piercing. Tangning came to her senses and looked outside, only to hear the sound of hurried footsteps. A few seconds later, a man in a magenta official uniform appeared in his sight Inside……

Tang Ning was stunned, staring intently at the person who was walking, that person was very beautiful, the eyebrows, the bridge of the nose, the corners of the lips, and the face were the same as Tang Ning's, except for his temperament.

Er Yue's cell was very cold, but Tangning seemed to see the fog that formed from the sudden cooling of the air around him, making the man look like a fairy in the sky, even his anxious eyes couldn't hide the coldness.

Tangning stared blankly at the snow-like person. The moment they looked at each other, they could see the shock in each other's eyes, as well as the subtle familiarity behind them.The man anxiously opened the cell door, stepped in front of Tangning in two steps, grabbed Tangning's hand, and rolled up his sleeves. The sandalwood bracelet that Tangning never left his body suddenly appeared in front of him...

Two drops of clear tears fell on Tangning's hands at the same time. Tangning came back to her senses. He thought that such a person wouldn't cry. The teardrops burned Tangning's heart unconsciously.

The man raised his eyes, his gaze was like water, as if the hot tears melted the ice in his eyes, "You are Wanyu's child, where is your mother now?"

Tangning wanted to withdraw her hand, but he grabbed it tightly. He could only say, "My mother passed away during labor when she gave birth to me."

The man suddenly let go, fell to his knees, and lowered his head. Tangning saw two more crystal drops of water falling to the ground.

"My father is a carpenter surnamed Tang in Cangping County. I heard that he picked up my mother by chance. The next year, my mother gave birth to me. Unfortunately, my mother had a difficult childbirth. When she left, she always said the word Ning, so my father named me It's Tangning."

The man held his legs with his hands, buried his face in his arms, his shoulders trembled slightly, the cell fell into silence, and the people following outside had already left with interest.Only Tangning and him were sitting silently in this small prison cell. Tangning watched the sunlight coming in from the narrow window, slowly shifting direction, gradually becoming dim.

"Your mother and I are twin siblings. I gave this bracelet to her. She loves to make incense. One day, she got an ancient recipe from a book, which can infuse the fragrance of epiphyllum into sandalwood, which lasts for a long time. So I got this bracelet, took her to watch the epiphyllum bloom secretly in the middle of the night, and finally let her make this bracelet, and this fragrance has become her smell since then, and I have never forgotten it." The man suddenly Opening his mouth, his cold voice was hoarse.

"Then, how did mother appear in Cangping County?" Tangning recovered from the shock that she had an uncle.

The man raised his head, looked at Tangning, and said in a daze, "Your mother and I come from the Lin family in Jiangnan. My name is Lin Qingyu, her name is Lin Wanyu, and we have a concubine sister who is the same age, named Lin Jinru. The three of us grew up together. Big, deep affection, until the mother passed away, they returned to their hometown to keep filial piety for her mother, and because I had to prepare for the imperial examination three years later, my father was worried that I would stay in the south of the Yangtze River and waste my studies without supervision, so he let me take the filial piety and follow him to take office Three years later, my father took me back to Beijing to report on my duties. At that time, because the empress had not been seen for many years, the emperor issued an edict to let all the family members of officials above the fourth rank enter Beijing to choose concubines. Jinru has been active since she was a child and can ride a horse. Wanyu is not in good health, but she can't. She didn't want to drag her sister down, so she let Jinru take her aunt away, but unfortunately she was taken away. Later, Wanyu's nurse escaped. I came out and led the officers and soldiers to find the bandits. A fire broke out somehow during the extermination. We could only confirm her identity by jewelry and bits and pieces of fabric. At that time, I was drowning in pain, but I never searched again. Search, now it seems that she did not die at that time, but escaped, and I should have persisted in looking for it back then."

Speaking of this, Lin Qingyu suddenly punched the ground, and blood flowed immediately.

On the other side, Mo Yi suddenly appeared in the examination room, wearing a green straight gown, and shouted: "The question is leaked—"

In fact, ever since Xie Baiyun left, he followed his master's orders and guarded Tangning every step of the way. Even the Gongyuan, which was the most difficult place to hide, let him find a blind spot and followed her in.Who would have thought that he just came in, and saw Tangning yelled to let go, and was quickly dragged out...

This is terrible, he hastily ordered his subordinates to notify Xie Baiyun and the eldest princess separately, and he left the Gongyuan. The prison cell of Dali Temple is not easy to enter. Go, so he found a dude who had just come out of a brothel outside the red alley, and beat him up in front of everyone.

Then, Mo Yi was dragged towards the prison by the officers and soldiers with a face full of pride. Unexpectedly, when he reached the door, the officers and soldiers spun around and walked towards the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice opposite. struggling to reach the opposite prison gate, but his body was dragged farther and farther...

Half an hour later, Mo Yi successfully escaped from prison, thinking that Dali Temple was in charge of major cases involving the royal family or officials, this time he found a son of a higher-ranking clan to beat him up...

Half an hour later, a certain shackled hand trembled again towards the opposite cell door.

Finally, Mo Yi, who had been defeated repeatedly, decided to copy Tangning's "criminal" process. He found a green straight jacket from somewhere to put it on, sneaked into the examination room, and shouted, "Let's leak the question—"

Sure enough, a group of officers and soldiers rushed towards him like wolves and tigers. Even so, there was a small commotion in the examination room, and it took the examiner a lot of effort to calm him down. Besides, those students were at a critical moment in their lives. Wait until the exam is over.

Of course, these were beyond Mo Yi's consideration. At this moment, he was being dragged into the cell door of Dali Temple contentedly. When he reached the door of Tangning's cell, he was about to open the door to enter when he was strangled by two guards next to him. One pulled his arm, "That's a single room, and you can live in it? It's a good idea!"

"Yes, but..." Mo Yi tried his best to reach Tangning's cell with his remaining hand.

"But what's the matter, go in!"

Mo Yi looked at the thin back in the cell diagonally across the fence, and burst into tears again.

Diagonally opposite, Tangning had already changed into a clean cotton coat, and the bed was covered with three layers of new quilts, which looked extremely warm. There was a small desk by the bed, on which were neatly arranged pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and a stack of books. A small square table was set up. There were four dishes and one soup on the table. There were meat and vegetables. Tangning was holding a bowl to start eating. She only glanced at the person who had just locked in before returning to the rich dishes in front of her.

Earlier, after Lin Qingyu's mood stabilized, he briefly asked the reason for Tangning's imprisonment, called the cell boss to give him instructions, and then left with a solemn expression.Tangning knew that he was in a bad mood at the moment, so she didn't want to stay any longer. Anyway, there would be plenty of opportunities to get along in the future.

After the eldest princess got the news, she asked people to find out the ins and outs of the matter, and at the same time ordered people to find the jailer of Dali Temple. The prisoner of Dali Temple didn't dare to neglect, so she hurriedly visited Tang Ning in person, and then pulled the jailer out to give him instructions.

With the support of Lin Qingyu, the official of Dali Temple, and the covert protection of the Eldest Princess, Tangning blatantly lived a comfortable life, and her worries about the future were greatly reduced.

Tangning was eating happily, when suddenly, his hand holding the food stopped, and then gently put down the chopsticks.Fingers slowly protruded towards the side of the soup bowl, a small black, furry head.

That little thing was very small. Its head was as big as the tip of Tangning's thumb. Its slender paws were grabbing the edge of the bowl. Its round, wet eyes looked at Tangning flatteringly. It was not afraid of people at all. Fingers caressing its little head.

Tangning was a little at a loss. She wanted to drag this little guy out, but she was afraid that her fingers would be too strong.So he got up, walked gently to the other side of the soup bowl, and finally saw the little guy's true face.

I saw a little monkey with the size of a thumb, hanging on the edge of the bowl, with both feet trying to kick the smooth bowl wall, very cute.

The author has something to say: [-]. I originally wanted to post a picture of a little monkey, but the code broke, so forget it. The little monkey is a black monkey. Ancient Chinese literati liked to raise it very much, but unfortunately it has become extinct so far.It is said on the Internet that the thumb monkey is as big as the black monkey, but it is not as cute or smart as the black monkey.

[-]. In this article, Dali Temple is set as a yamen that specializes in major cases and nobles, while the Ministry of Punishment is in charge of small cases, small officials or civilians.As for cheating in imperial examinations, even if only one person cheated, it is considered a major case. The nature of imperial examinations is different, and if one person is not careful, hundreds of people will be involved.

[-]. The character Mo Yi is very interesting, a little exaggerated, and some of his ideas are also weird. Although he is a hidden guard, he is not omnipotent. If he wants to enter the prison of Dali Temple, it will take at least two hours Infiltrating, and Tangning will be locked inside for several days, it is impossible for him to spend four hours a day in and out, just to eat.

Fourth, Tang Ning didn't recognize Mo Yi. It was mentioned earlier that Mo Yi contributed a kind of incense that lures the turtle to probe. In fact, Mo Yi gave it to Xie Baiyun first.

[-]. The members of the direct branch of the Jokhang imperial family were withered, and the clan that Mo Yi found was actually far away in blood relationship and had a low status. They stayed in the capital to depend on the emperor for survival.And clans that are closely related by blood, such as the emperor's younger brother and nephew, will be driven to fiefs and cannot return to Beijing.