Practical Life in the Red Mansion

It's starting to get a little cooler in August.

On the day of the eighth day of the lunar new year, it was just dawn; the Lin family’s mansion in Jinling was already brightly lit, but the people in the mansion came and went in whispers, for fear of disturbing Lin Yang, who was about to rush for the exam, and Jia Min, who was in the Buddhist hall, not only Only the Lin family, those who participated in the rural examination in Jinling City all got up early, breaking the silent dawn

The autumn is divided into three sessions, and the dates of the three sessions are also set on the eighth day of August, the twelfth day of August, and the fifteenth day of August; each session is entered one day earlier, and the test papers and answers begin at the middle of the day, and the exit is postponed one day later. , a total of nine days and seven nights.Today is the eighth day of the eighth day, and it is the day when candidates enter the field.

Last night, Jia Min was preoccupied and restless. Not long after falling asleep, he got up and first checked whether the things in Lin Yang's basket were ready, then went to the kitchen to see if the ingredients for Lin Yang's food were ready tomorrow, and then Called Chunyi to ask the boy who called Lin Yang up if he had made arrangements and if the carriage was ready.

Jia Min also went to Lin Yang's room in person, and heard the slight snoring sound from inside through the window. It is certain that Lin Yang slept very soundly, and Lin Yang naturally slept soundly. Even if it was the college entrance examination, he was never nervous. Secondly, he was still somewhat confident in his talent and ability. Even if he failed, he was young and had another subject to attend.

Early the next morning, Lin Yang didn't wait for anyone to call, so he woke up naturally at the usual time, punched a set, and went to Jia Min's room to invite Ann to have breakfast.

Jia Min waited until Lin Yang came to come out of the Buddhist hall. His lower eyelids were blue, and he could see that he hadn't rested well, and he was absent-minded when eating. Lin Yang had a good appetite, and he picked out everything to eat. Under the influence of calm and composed emotions, he came back to his senses.

After the meal, Jia Min took Lin Yang's hand and told him carefully, and when he was about to leave, Jia Min looked hesitant, and after careful consideration, he said: "Your father and I naturally hope that you can seek fame, Glory to the ancestors, glory to the lintel. But victory and defeat are unpredictable, and many people are ruined every year in the autumn, you have to take care of yourself first."

Lin Yang's heart warmed when he heard the words, Jia Min naturally thought of Jia Zhu, wanted to tell Lin Yang, but was afraid of bad luck, so he hesitated again and again.

Lin Yang held Jia Min's hand and said, "Don't worry, mother. Although I study hard, I haven't lost some of my fists and kicks on weekdays."

Jia Min's expression softened slightly, he sent Lin Yang to the gate all the way, checked Lin Yang's basket again, and then let Lin Yang board the car and leave.

When Lin Yang arrived at the Gongyuan, the streets were already crowded with people. The Jinling Gongyuan had 1 examination numbers, and 1 children participated.Looking at the crowd of people, Lin Yang was a little dazed, as if he had seen the college entrance examination in his previous life. He thought to himself, it would be great if his father arranged for him to be a supervisor of the Imperial College, so that he could go to Shuntian Mansion to take the exam, but this Just think about it.

Some of the examinees gathered together in twos and threes, whispering to ease their mood, some talking proudly, and some muttering to themselves, but Lin Yang sat in the carriage safely. He did not enter the academy, so naturally he had no classmates. Moreover, most of the people he knew were the sons of Lin Hai's colleagues, and their origins were not in Jiangnan Province, so he gave up talking to acquaintances.

But some people didn't let Lin Yang go. Sanqi saw it with his own eyes and had a good memory. From a distance, he saw Zhen Yingjia's nephew Zhen Lin leading a few servants to squeeze over. Seeing this, Sanqi reminded Lin Yang. Dazed, but instantly understood that the Zhen family has a great career, naturally there are scholars, and even a dude can afford to buy a child, I don't know which type Zhen Lin belongs to.

Because of participating in the provincial examination, Zhen Lin only wore a moon-white fine cloth embroidered, which looked ordinary, but was expensive.He didn't look bad, and behaved politely. Lin Yang didn't like the Zhen family in his heart, and he was also resistant to the people of the Zhen family, so he just bowed his hands slightly as a return gift.

Zhen Lin's smile didn't change, instead she became a little bit brighter, and said: "Brother Lin was taught by Mr. Yang Ziqi, and your father is Tan Hualang, this qualification is just a bag to pick something from Brother Lin, I congratulate Brother Lin for winning the prize in one fell swoop."

Only then did Lin Yang become vigilant. Zhen Fu also stared at Lin Fu when he thought about it, and knowing that he was Yang Xi's student was no exception. He laughed, and said with the unique publicity and vigor of young people: "Thank you, Brother Zhen, for your good words. I don't dare to think about being the top one, but being on the list, I'm still a little confident." It was a compliment from Zhen Lin.

Zhen Lin was a little taken aback, but soon came back to her senses, and exchanged a few words with Lin Yang.Then I saw the gate of the Gongyuan opened, and a servant lit firecrackers at the gate.

Lin Yang and Zhen Lin were not exchanging greetings either, cheered up, and the crowd quieted down. They waited for the deafening firecrackers to end. An old official held a roster and shouted out the candidate's birthplace and surname. This roster is checked one by one by officials from various places according to the statistics of children's births in their own hands.Candidates whose names are called will go forward with their test baskets, and the yamen servants will go forward to check, first to verify their identities, then to search the body and check the baskets to see if there are any cheat sheets. He came to his examination number, but the number army did not leave, but kept monitoring the candidates until the examination was over.

As the sun rose higher and higher, the examinees outside the tribute courtyard also entered one after another. Sanqi and Ai Cao didn't dare to leave when they saw that Lin Yang had entered. They waited until the gate of the tribute courtyard was locked before returning to Lin's house.

The township examination and general examination are divided into three sessions. The first session is about classics and meanings. There are three questions in the Four Books, each with more than [-] characters, and four questions in the Five Classics, each with more than [-] characters, all of which are stereotyped essays.The content of the second session is an essay, that is, an argumentative essay for later generations, and the judgment is the five sentences of the judgment of the case, and one of the three styles of imperial edict, imperial edict, and table, which is equivalent to the practical style necessary for officials. up.The third exam is to try five ways, which is the theory of later generations.

After Lin Yang got the title, he glanced at it roughly, and found that he was familiar with it, and his heart was a little at ease, but he saw an intercepted title unsurprisingly, which split the "Mencius" "Wang quickly issued an order, but it turned out to be different", and came out. After finishing the top and bottom cut-off questions "Wang Su issued an order to counter", Lin Yang couldn't help complaining about this kind of question, which reminded him of Ge Jun's math question in the college entrance examination of later generations.

Although the weather turned colder, the summer heat had not been completely eliminated. After staying in the tribute courtyard for a few days, Lin Yang felt as if he had come out of the latrine, but he did not dare to be discouraged in the slightest. People fell down in the tribute courtyard every day. Yang was filled with emotion, no matter when one's health is the greatest capital.

On August [-]th, the exam was over, and candidates could leave the Gongyuan. Lin Yang was in good spirits, but he hadn't washed his hair and face for a few days. He didn't let Sanqi and Ai Cao help him, and walked quickly to Lin's carriage. Lin An, the housekeeper, came to pick Lin Yang up. Seeing Lin Yang's appearance, Lin An smiled and said, "As expected of you, you are still in good spirits. I just met the Zhen family. They look thin and weak. Even the carriage was helped up by the servant." There was a bit of schadenfreude in his tone.

Jia Min waited for Lin Yang to come back at the door early, and when he saw Lin Yang, he hurriedly arranged for Lin Yang to wash and eat. After washing Lin Yang carefully, he felt that he was alive. After eating, Jia Min drove him to go. Resting, Lin Yang was so relaxed that he slept for a day and a night.

Lin Yang was very sure about his essay. After the exam, he felt very relaxed. He talked to Jia Min with a smile all the time. Seeing this, Jia Min also discussed the subject of the scientific exam with Lin Yang. Lin Yang wrote the title and article silently, and wanted to send a servant back to Yangzhou.

Lin Yang stopped him. What Jia Min meant was that their mother and son waited until the announcement of the list, but Lin Yang felt that it was unnecessary. He just let the servants look at it. For his participation in Qiu Wei, Lin Yun's grasping week did not matter. It's just that the family surrounded Lin Yun to catch the week, but thinking of Lin Yun's performance, the Lin family was also glad that they didn't do it. When Lin Yun caught the week, he fell asleep on the case. The two most important things in the life of the one-year-old, eating and sleeping, are not allowed to be disturbed by others. Between letting Lin Yun continue to sleep until he wakes up and catching Zhou and waking Lin Yun up to make him cry, the Lin family chose For the former, the grasping week ended hastily.

But August [-]th is the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Yang is taking exams, his family is separated in two places, Lin Hai is busy with business in the mansion, Lin Yun and Daiyu are still young, Lin Yang is worried that he and Jia Min have been living in Jinling, and He was also afraid of meeting people from the Zhen family.

Jia Min hesitated for a long time, wanting to let Lin Yang stay and wait for the announcement of the list, and go back first, Lin Yang naturally refused, and said pitifully: "Mother is going to reunite with my father and younger siblings, do you want to leave me outside alone?" Jia Min Only then did Min agree to return to Yangzhou with Lin Yang.Jinling is not far from Yangzhou, and it takes only one day to get home.

Lin Hai and the others were naturally happy that Jia Min and Lin Yang were back, and the family had a lively family banquet to make up for the regret of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although the moon was missing a piece, the family was in high spirits.Watching the moon and tasting wine in the garden, smelling the scent of sweet-scented osmanthus that comes with the wind, on the table are various melons and fruits from Zhuangzi, homemade moon cakes, and big crabs. wine.

Lin Hai drank a few cups, his poetry flourished, and he recited a few poems. Jia Min and others were able to sing along. Lin Hai ordered Lin Yang and Daiyu to compose poems. Daiyu thought for a while and said, "The drunk moon stay Su Ying, the Milky Way falls lightly. Without this brilliance, a year of autumn will be wasted." Lin Yang couldn't help but admire his sister's quick thinking, but when it was his turn, he poured himself a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Let me recite poems No, there is no need to write a sour poem to spoil everyone's interest, but it is okay to let me write stereotyped art."

Lin Hai wanted to say something to Lin Yang, but was stopped by Jia Min, she said with a smile: "People have different talents and talents, Brother Yang is only good at imperial examination articles, it's okay, but you have to have fun at the family banquet. "

Lin Yang figured it out, he didn't have much talent to show off, so why should he tell jokes by himself? It was rare for Daiyu to see her brother in distress, and she was overjoyed. I'll play a piece for my brother." Lin Yang just escaped.

Daiyu said with a smile: "First, I learned a piece of music "The Introduction to a Good Night".

Daiyu was young and was a beginner at learning the guqin. Although she was not proficient in fingering, she had reached the artistic conception. Although Lin Yang could not play the piano, under Yang Xi's guidance, she finally knew how to appreciate it. When Daiyu finished playing, Lin Yang praised : "The beauty of the cool breeze and the bright moon, the beauty of the silver waves in the Bitan. My sister caresses a good piano."

Daiyu was a little embarrassed: "Brother didn't hear it, I made several mistakes."

Lin Yang shook his head and said: "Playing the piano only pays attention to the artistic conception. If you are not skilled in fingering, you can just practice, but the rhyme of the piano is not something that hard work can make up for. Listening to my sister playing the piano is like enjoying the bright moon under the bright moon. The stagnant water below is clear, and in the middle of the night, there are occasional crows and cicadas humming."

After the family banquet, the Lin family returned to calm, and Lin Yang still nestled in the mansion reading books and practicing calligraphy, waiting for the results of the provincial examination.