The clerk had no choice but to go to his superior, but it was no use even if his superior came. The top three officials insisted that they would not wear the clothes without an imperial edict or a written order, so they had no choice but to go to Liu Tan.

At that time, Liu Tan was helping Liu Che adjust his crown. Today, Liu Che wore court clothes to show his solemnity.

Naturally, there were people serving him, but because Liu Che had so many small things on him, the young eunuchs were inevitably distracted. After giving orders twice, he decided to take action directly.

Liu Che sat there, letting Liu Tan help him adjust the golden hairpin on his nine-feathered crown. He said, "It's almost time."

Liu Tan looked up at the hourglass and said, "It's still early. Let's wait a little longer. It's cold outside."

Liu Che smiled slightly and was about to say something when he saw Miao Rui walk up to Liu Tan and say, "Your Highness, the top three are refusing to wear their crowns and robes."

Liu Tan stood up straight, somewhat puzzled: "What happened?"

Miao Rui said, "They said they wouldn't wear it without His Majesty's imperial decree and His Highness's handwritten instructions."

Liu Tan laughed after hearing this: "They were careful, it was me who was careless."

Liu Tan looked at Liu Che and said, "Father, please recruit someone to write an imperial edict."

Since Liu Che is here, he should not write any handwritten notes. He should pay more attention to the details.

Liu Che was also a little surprised: "They have already arrived at the palace, are they still afraid of being deceived?"

Liu Tan spoke for them: "This is unprecedented, so it's normal for them to be cautious."

After all, these days, there are strict regulations on identity and social status. If you accidentally wear clothes that do not belong to your class, especially official uniforms, you will not only die but your entire family may also be implicated.

Liu Che naturally would not object. Instead, he thought that Liu Tan's way of motivating people was really special.

Giving them the official uniforms of the Nine Ministers on the day they pass the exam is a reward for their hard work and is also for the people of the world to see. This is likely to spark a trend of love of learning in the Northern Territory.

The top three students waited for a while and finally received the emperor's edict. In the edict, the emperor encouraged them and emphasized that today was a special day for them, so they were allowed to wear the robes. If they wanted to wear them again after today, they would have to work hard on their own.

Inspired by these words, the top three regained their previous enthusiasm, and after putting on the crowns and clothes specially prepared for them, they felt as if they had reached the highest position in the country.

Especially after they walked out, facing the shocked gazes of other students, they felt as if they were floating in the clouds.

The top three students walked to the front of the team, and the students behind them couldn't help but whisper, "What are they wearing?" "Are you stupid? Can't you see that's a crown worth 2,000 koku?" "This... does being in the top three mean you get 2,000 koku directly?" "Impossible?"

Originally, everyone was discussing in low voices, but because there were too many people discussing it, the voices became louder.

The clerk who had just led the top three candidates to change clothes said loudly, "The top three candidates are outstanding people from the northern border. Your Majesty has specially allowed them to wear these crowns and clothes for one day today, and the same will apply to all future imperial examinations."

The students were silent for a moment, and looked at the three people in front of them with even more envy and jealousy. Even wearing it for just one day was something they had never thought of before.

Some even began to regret why they did not study hard before, otherwise they might be the ones who are so successful today.

Now I can finally express my gratitude.

Liu Che was sitting in the main hall, and Liu Tan was standing beside him. When he saw the students coming in, he suddenly realized that he had neglected one thing - he was only concerned about giving treatment to the top three students, and forgot to set the treatment for other tribute students.

Uniform robes should be designed for these tribute students. Now everyone wears them and it looks so dazzling at first glance.

But it's too late to regret now. Fortunately, the imperial examination was a new thing, so it's normal to have some imperfections, and no one will complain about it.

Liu Che sat in the main hall, watching the high-spirited students bowing to express their gratitude, and he also had some different feelings.

It feels really good to have all the talented people in the world in your pocket.

Especially since this is not considered a world-class talent, but just a place in the northern border country.

He thought about it and realized that if they were in Chang'an, these talented people would be assigned to various departments, which would give him a sense of increasing his control over the court.

For a moment, Liu Che really wanted Chang'an to do the same.

However, it was only for a moment, and he still had to wait and see. Even if he wanted to do it, he had to wait until the Northern Border Country was fully operational, and then Chang'an could just copy it.

After the students expressed their gratitude, the top three students were paraded through the streets.

The three horses selected for the parade were all beautiful white horses, without a trace of other colors. The brand new official robes and the beautiful white horses, plus the top three were in high spirits due to good fortune, so even those with average looks could look a bit extraordinary at this time, not to mention that these three people were good-looking - those who were not good-looking were not sent by the county governors at all.

The top three were sitting on their horses because they were all relatively young. The oldest, Zhu Shanfu, was only 26 years old now and looked quite handsome.

Because there were gongs and drums leading the way in front of the Sanjia, the place was extremely lively for a while. The people of Shuofang were attracted by the noise and gathered on both sides of the road, curiously looking at the three people riding on tall horses.

Zhu Shanfu held his head high and observed the city for the first time.

When he came to take the imperial examination, all he was thinking about was how to make a name for himself. Although he was shocked the moment he saw Shuofang City, he almost thought it was the residence of immortals. Even after entering the city, he felt it was unreal and thought he had arrived in the fairyland.

But soon he no longer had time to think about those things and focused his attention on the exam.

Now when he looked at the city again, his mood was completely different.

Even the height was different. He rode on his horse and looked at the smiling people on both sides of the street, and some children clamoring to take the imperial examination in the future. The smile on his face couldn't help but deepen.

Even the life of a god would be just like this, Zhu Shanfu thought.

But their surprise was yet to come: there was a banquet after the parade.

However, Liu Che did not show up at the banquet, because both he and Liu Tan felt that giving these students too much preferential treatment was not a good thing. This was just the Northern Border Country, and Liu Che was worried that doing so would make Liu Tan feared by others, while Liu Tan felt that other students who went to Chang'an to seek their future would be dissatisfied and easily target the Northern Border Country.

In order not to disturb Liu Che, Liu Tan even changed the dinner into a lunch.

At the lunch, Liu Tan looked at the students talking and laughing, and thought with a sense of mischief in his heart: You guys are just happy, because tomorrow you won't be able to laugh anymore.

However, what he didn't expect was that he would be the first one to stop laughing. After the banquet, Liu Tan was ready to go to Liu Che to report, but when he arrived at the bedroom, he was told that Liu Che was not there.

Just as Liu Tan was puzzled, the young eunuch lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty has gone out incognito."

Liu Tan: ...