If Yan Shirui knew what she was thinking, he would probably laugh.

What's so strange about recommending yourself?

If she really meant this, the candidates outside who wanted to take the first place in person would line up from the gate to outside Chang'an City, and they could even compose poems while queuing!

Yan Shiyue imagined a peacock spreading its feathers, and was immediately embarrassed. He really didn't go out much and just directed the business remotely.

At this time, there were all kinds of poetry gatherings, drinking parties and hometown gatherings everywhere, so Deshan Garden, which was associated with the word "Deshan" and focused on chess and card entertainment and was relatively elegant, immediately became their first choice.

Xu Wenqu and Tang Shirong did not like socializing. Even if they entered officialdom in the future, they would not take the high-slung socializing route, so they never attended such gatherings.

But Xu Wenqu was still okay, he never went out. But when Tang Shirong went to the Imperial College, he was stopped several times... He just kept mumbling and refused to leave.

After all, transportation was inconvenient back then, and the imperial examination was held every three years. Only one in ten would be selected. If one failed, he would have to go back and wait for another three years. It's no wonder that these people tried every possible way to get ahead.

As Yan Shiyue received more and more invitations, he did as Yan Shirui said and asked someone to send some hero wine to the Qinzhou Guild Hall, and then said a few nice and polite words.

But what I never expected was that as a result, more people came to submit their contributions, but they didn’t submit visiting letters, they submitted articles, and some even submitted legendary novels!

...

...

She may not understand anything else, but she can have novels!

But she had no idea what these people were trying to do, and she couldn't specifically ask them to submit novels.

After asking Yan Shirui, I learned that there was a "general list" in Dayan's imperial examination, which was drawn up according to the candidates' usual works, moral character, reputation, etc., and served as a reference for subsequent admission.

Therefore, candidates would write their best essays into scrolls and present them to prestigious ministers, wise men, or high-ranking officials in the hope that they would be appreciated and then recommended to the chief examiner. This was called "xingjuan".

When submitting the paper, you should also attach a letter expressing your desire to learn. If you submit the letter and paper after a period of time, it is called "warm paper".

By the way, high-ranking officials can also recommend talents to the examiner, which is called "public recommendation."

There are so many tricks! Why does it feel like open fraud? If the person who applied for public recommendation is a high-ranking official, would the examiner dare not accept him? Then should Xu Wenqu and Tang Shirong find a place to apply? Will they be missed if they don't apply?

Yan Shiyue ran to ask Yan Shirui again.

Yan Shirui laughed and said, "Can you stop worrying about this? Don't you see that Mr. Xu and A Rong are not in a hurry at all?"

She said, "They don't understand! I wasn't in a hurry before I asked you!"

Yan Shirui thought for a moment and said with a smile, "You can think of it this way. Xu Wenqu was recommended by the emperor to the examiners, and Tang Shirong was recommended by you, the popular princess, to the examiners."

He smiled and coaxed her: "Look, other people can only vote for one person when voting for public recommendation, but you voted for everyone at once, so there will be no danger."

Yan Shiyue glared at him: "But I don't want this to happen. Sir and brother, you are obviously talented and you can pass the exam on your own! If this happens, wouldn't it mean that in the future, when they pass the exam, people will think it's because of the public recommendation? Rather than their own ability?"

Yan Shirui has always been smart and observant, but he has lived in a group that has received special care since he was a child, so he really didn't understand her idea for a while.

He laughed a little, and after a while he said, "All the essays in the imperial examination will be published as the final papers, and the quality will be known at a glance."

She asked, "Since the quality of an article can be known at a glance, why do we still have public recommendations and lists? Whether an article is good or not is a very subjective matter."

Yan Shirui said helplessly: "As long as their articles are worthy of their reputation, isn't that enough?"

She still felt unhappy, but this was the current situation and there was nothing she could do about it.

After the Lantern Festival, the capital city became more and more lively day by day. Everywhere there were candidates in elegant clothes, truly handsome men, a moving landscape.

Yu Wenche, who offered "free access to Deshan Garden", drove back and forth on the streets every day, filling up all the inns, restaurants and courtyards in Deshan Garden, and boosting the business of the surrounding restaurants.

More and more people submitted articles, even Yan Shirui was surprised.

Because normally, there is a selectivity in submitting papers, and most of them are submitted to famous scholars. A young lady like Yan Shiyue is so popular... It can only be because of "Empress Fu". These people should think of submitting papers here as burning incense, right?

Yan Shiyue was very happy. He would read the novels he received every day, and send the articles he received to Xu Wenqu and others to read, so that he could see the level of other people.

The third prince and the fourth prince both lived outside the palace, and they also sent her scrolls. Knowing that she loved reading storybooks, they would give them to her whenever they received them.

Until one day, the fourth prince brought the Lady Fu to her and asked her, "Who wrote this book? The words may seem simple, but every word is as precious as a pearl."

When Yan Shiyue took it, she was stunned: "The Biography of Empress Fu? It can't be about me, right?"

The fourth prince was also stunned: "You don't know?"

She really doesn't know.

Although there were storytellers even in Deshan Garden, she had been staying at home these days and didn't know anything about it. She was a little excited at first, thinking that finally a fan had made peripherals for her... but when she looked at it again, she was speechless.

The author wrote "neighbors within a foot of each other", and when others saw it, they naturally thought it meant something like "a world apart yet a small family". But when Yan Shiyue saw it, she turned around and went to find Xu Wenqu.

Xu Wenqu was reading a book when she came in excitedly. She passed Fu Niangniang to the table and slapped her hands, "Sir!"

Xu Wenqu coughed and was just thinking about how to deny it when he heard her say, "Sir, a Qinzhou scholar came here today and he actually wrote a book for me! Take a look! I must tell my father to promote him!"

Xu Wenqu was stunned for a moment, then he opened the book and saw that it was the one he wrote.

It is not surprising for someone to impersonate someone, but if someone really does it in front of the king, that would be deceiving the king, and that person's life would be in danger.

Xu Wenqu said tactfully: "Have you asked clearly? Don't tell me someone is impersonating you."

"How could it be?" She said, "How can someone pretend to be someone like that? He can recite the whole thing by heart." She turned her head and said, "I'll go to the palace right away!"

"Yuer!" Xu Wenqu really couldn't beat her, so he had to take the initiative to confess: "I wrote this book."

Yan Shiyue turned back and looked at him with a chuckle. Xu Wenqu coughed and said, "It was really written by me."

She raised her eyebrows. "Then why did everyone know about it? There are storytellers on the street, but I didn't know anything about it! Why didn't you show it to me when you wrote it? Why can't I participate in the discussion?"

Xu Wenqu coughed twice and said, "I didn't think it through. I will ask Yue Er to correct me next time."

Yan Shiyue snorted and reluctantly let him go: "Sir, this book is not thick at all."

"Well," Xu Wenqu coaxed her in a gentle voice, "Yu'er hasn't reached the age of marriage yet, so naturally it's not thick. I'll write more slowly when Yue'er grows up."

She then took the book and left. The Fourth Prince was waiting outside with his hands behind his back, frowning and asking, "Is this person Xu Siyuan?"

Yan Shiyue nodded, and the Fourth Prince said, "I have heard a few rumors about him, saying that he has an extremely eccentric and perverse personality. I didn't expect that he is such a flattering person."

Yan Shiyue stared at him speechlessly: "How can you talk like that? What do you mean by flattery?"