The emperor's heart alone

The examination site for the rural examination is located in the Gongyuan in the southeast of the capital city. As early as the beginning of August, the Gongyuan has been completely blocked and the examination room has been arranged.

On the seventh day of August, several examiners rushed to the Tribute Court to arrange corresponding matters.On the eighth day of August, candidates enter the venue and wait for the exam.On the ninth day of August, the first exam officially began.

The southeast of the capital, because of the exam, added a bit of solemnity.Loud noises are not allowed within a three-mile radius, vehicles and horses are not allowed to pass through this place, and no one is allowed to stay outside the examination room for a long time.

But none of this had much to do with Xu Yunjin. When Xu Yunjin woke up with a yawn on the morning of the ninth day of August, it was already approaching noon. Go in the direction of the back door.

When passing by the garden, Xu Yunjin stopped in his tracks, and his gaze stayed on the pavilion that was still some distance away from him: "Have you been waiting there since morning?"

Qingpei said softly: "Miss San got up early this morning, and after having dinner with Madam, she has been waiting in the pavilion."

"Looks like a good thing is coming." Xu Yunjin smiled, "What do you think of that kid?"

Qingpei leaned over: "You, the second young master, chose that person yourself, so it's naturally good."

"I also think it's pretty good." Xu Yunjin rubbed his chin, "But if I don't pass the imperial examination this time, I have to say sorry to him."

"I see Miss San..."

"Are you trying to say that my sister already has deep roots in him?" Xu Yunjin squinted at Qingpei, "It's okay, since I have a way to make the two of them see each other, I will naturally have a way to make my sister like someone else." Dust off the non-existent dust on the clothes, "Let's go."

Xu Yunjin took Qingpei out of Xu's mansion through the back door, and went straight to Donglaiju.After eating in Donglaiju, Qingpei took the packed meals and walked to the Gongyuan in the southeast with Xu Yunjin.

No matter the examinee or the examiner, they all have to live in the tribute courtyard and cannot come in and out at will. To say that the examiner is better than the examinee is nothing more than living, eating and traveling.

Candidates can only live in the numbered room, and even the outside of the numbered room is locked. Eating, drinking and drinking are all carried out in the numbered room, and there is not much room to stretch their legs and walk two steps.Compared with the examinees, the examiners are much better. They can move their legs and feet when they go round and round, and they can whisper a few words with other examiners. Of course, they live in the Gongyuan. The conditions are not very good, but the best At least there is a room for one person, and there are complete beds, tables and chairs inside, and the food is also provided by the Gongyuan. Don’t worry about this. Compared with the examinees drinking cold water and eating steamed buns, the examiners have a mouthful of hot food. Not bad.

But speaking of it, if your family is strong, it doesn't matter if you get someone to bring you meals every day, at least Xu Yunting has the ability.But because it was too ostentatious to do that, Xu Yunting didn't think about anything else, but Xu Yunjin came to deliver food to Xu Yunting, Xu Yunting couldn't stop him.Anyway, there are many advantages to having a dandy at home. If someone like Yu Junzi does anything out of the ordinary, he will be pointed at his nose and scolded, but the dandy is different. No matter what he does, Others would say at most, "Oh, he did it, no wonder."—Look, what a convenience this is, and Xu Yunjin is also happy about it.

When Xu Yunjin and Qingpei rushed to the entrance of the Gongyuan, it was time for lunch. They wanted to let the people guarding the entrance of the Gongyuan send them in, but they stopped Qingpei when they saw a group of people around the Gongyuan.

In the imperial examination, the winners will reach the sky in one step, and the losers will have to start all over again, or they will never recover. For the highly hierarchical Daping Dynasty, the imperial examination is the best way to change the identity of the common people.Therefore, for the imperial examinations, there are those who put their heads down and study hard, and there are also those who have broken their bodies and even sacrificed their lives.No matter whether it is the provincial examination or the general examination, there will always be someone who is passed out in the examination room and someone is forced out. This not only means that the candidate cannot get a good rank in the provincial examination this time, but even means that the efforts of the past three years have been in vain.

The rural examination, also known as Qiuwei, started on the ninth day of August and lasted until the fifteenth day of August.Although it is autumn, the weather is still sweltering and hot, not to mention staying in a small numbered room for nearly ten days. It's unpalatable, it's not easy to persevere in such a situation, it's not surprising if someone passes out and is carried out.

"This is the first day of the exam. Could it be that someone fainted?"

"Oh, no one fainted."

"Didn't someone faint?" The person who spoke was curious, "Then why are there so many people around here? Didn't you say that too many people are not allowed to stay outside the Gongyuan for a long time?"

"I don't know about this. I just came here, and I heard a few words from the people in front of me. I didn't hear them clearly, but it's definitely not because someone fainted."

Xu Yunjin backed away calmly, directly to the opposite side of the Gongyuan, stood in the shade, and whispered to Qingpei who was standing in front of him: "Go to the front and inquire about it, and then deliver the food to you." go in."

Qingpei agreed, Xu Yunjin waited at the same place, and Qingpei went forward to inquire about the news.

After a quarter of an hour, Qingpei returned to Xu Yunjin's side again, still holding the food brought for Xu Yunting.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone cheated in the examination room and was discovered by the examiner, and it is now being dealt with." Qingpei's voice became softer, "Because of this matter, no one is allowed to enter or leave the tribute courtyard, and food cannot be delivered."

Xu Yunjin smiled in satisfaction, and glanced at the Gongyuan still surrounded by many people: "Go back."

On the first day of the rural examination, someone cheated and was caught. This made the news spread in the capital at an extremely fast speed. Before the evening, almost no one didn't know about it.This is what almost everyone talks about when they go out.

News of cheating candidates quickly spread in the capital.

"Hey, do you know? The cheating examinee is the son of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials!"

"Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials? Oh, you are talking about the Zhao Mansion, what? Isn't the Minister of the Ministry of Officials' son Zhao Ershao, one of the five young masters in the capital? Did I hear correctly, Second Young Master Zhao actually passed the exam?"

"It's not the Second Young Master Zhao, you said it was the Second Young Master and the Second Young Master, then there is still an Eldest Young Master in the Zhao Mansion, and it was Eldest Young Master Zhao who had an accident this time."

"No, I've heard about it too." Another person interjected, "It's not me who said, is this Mr. Zhao not good enough to do something like this on the first day of the exam?" By the way, do you know what kind of fraud law this fraud is?"

"I know this, I heard that they brought a cheat sheet in."

"Cheat sheet?" Someone asked suspiciously, "Didn't someone search you before entering the examination room? How could you bring a cheat sheet in?"

"Oh, let's talk less about these things. I'm the Minister of the Ministry of Officials." One of them lowered his voice and looked around, "I also heard that the contents of the cheat sheet are exactly the contents of the provincial examination questions."

"What?" This person's words caused a person to exclaim, "Isn't this the same as missing a question?"

"Hush! Don't talk nonsense, let's go, let's break up."

Xu Yunjin was sitting on the first floor of a tea house by the window, casually picked up the tea bowl, and the most common thing in his ears was people talking about people cheating in the examination room.

"Second young master, the master told you to go home."

Xu Yunjin gave an "en" and stood up holding Qinghuan's hand: "Did you say what it is?"

"No, the master told Er Shao to go home quickly, but the master's face is quite ugly."

Xu Yunjin frowned: "Let's go."

"Father, are you looking for me?" Xu Yunjin strode into the study, but the door was closed by Qinghuan from the outside.

"En." Standing by the window, Xu Tao turned his head when he heard Xu Yunjin's voice. He sat behind the desk and looked into it. This matter."

Xu Yunjin obediently said "Oh", and then wondered: "Father, why are you telling me this?" After thinking for a while, "Brother is the deputy examiner of this township examination, so this matter should be related to my brother, not to me. I'm okay, right?"

"...The candidate who cheated is the eldest son of the Zhao family you mentioned that day." Xu Tao paused, "Do you have anything else you want to tell me?"

Xu Yunjin suddenly realized: "It's him." Then a touch of disdain appeared on his face, "I knew that his reputation as a scholar was bought at the beginning, and it would be strange if he didn't do some tricks in this provincial examination."

"So, do you know what Mr. Zhao did in private?"

These words were meant to be probing, Xu Yunjin widened his eyes, and made an expression of "I don't know anything about this, but there is something wrong no matter how you look at it": "Father, it's just Mr. Zhao That idiot, if you say that he bought the test questions from someone else, I don't believe it, no matter how you look at it, it should be him..."

"Nonsense!" Xu Tao yelled angrily, interrupting Xu Yunjin's words, "Master Zhao did this by himself, no matter what the subsequent charges are, he should bear it himself!"

Xu Yunjin stopped talking, lowered his brows and eyes, but snorted coldly in his heart, so the imperial court wants to protect the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials?Putting all the responsibility on Mr. Zhao's body, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials would at most be reprimanded and deducted a few months' salary. They thought well.

But in this way, Xu Yunjin recalled what Zhao Ershao said to him some time ago, and the corner of his mouth curled up into a smile without leaving any traces. Mr. Zhao is completely finished, right?That's great, I don't know if Zhao Ershao will accept this result.

"Did you hear me talking to you?" Xu Tao frowned and shouted, finally brought Xu Yunjin back to his thoughts, seeing Xu Yunjin raised his eyes full of blankness, Xu Tao repeated angrily, "You are not allowed to meddle in this matter, do you know that! Otherwise, even I can't keep you!"

Xu Yunjin nodded obediently. Although Xu Tao was worried, he had no other choice but to repeatedly ask Xu Yunjin not to go into this muddy water. Young Master and Xu Yunjin are good friends, and he still knows about the feud between Second Young Master Zhao and Minister of the Ministry of Officials and Young Master Zhao.The emperor also intervened in this matter, Xu Tao didn't want his son to get involved in this matter.