Chapter 85 Chapter 85 In the Shen family's carriage, Madam Shen...
In the Shen family's carriage, Madam Shen said to Master Shen, "Shen Xuan does look a bit like my sister-in-law. Wasn't he raised in the countryside since he was a child, with no one to teach him? How did he learn to read? I wonder who taught him!"
"I think he is the same as his cunning father!" Master Shen snorted coldly and said, "His father was fostered by the old lady back then, and the family didn't hire a teacher for him. Later, he learned literacy and martial arts from nowhere. After that, he left home to join the army. No one at home could control him!"
"I think Shen Xuan has found the Ye family as his backer? Today, the wife of the Ye family came over and supported him in every word." Madam Shen said with some doubt: "I heard that the Xue family treated Shen Xuan very well before, but the Ye family didn't like this country boy. Now it seems that the situation is the other way around!"
Upon hearing this, Master Shen said, "Although the Ye family is the prince's mother's family, they are still outsiders after all. The prince's surname is Xue, so in the end, the Xue family will have the final say on this important matter of marriage, right?"
"I think the Xue family is quite satisfied with the children of our Shen family. Especially Xin'er, she is a girl and easy to raise. Although she is a concubine's daughter, she was raised in a wealthy family after all. She is better than a country boy, right?"
"That's true." Madam Shen smiled upon hearing this and said, "That's why Madam Xue deliberately left the children at home. When the prince comes back and sees them, he might fall in love with one of them and a beautiful thing will happen."
While the Xue and Shen families were planning this big game outside, Xue Fenglin was answering questions very smoothly in the examination room.
The Spring Examination lasted for three days. On the first day, the basic knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics was tested. A few passages from the classics were randomly selected and the candidates were asked to write down their meaning and express their own opinions.
This is not difficult for most candidates who have studied hard. After all, those who could reach the Spring Examination had at least passed the Autumn Examination and were considered a Juren.
The most important thing for candidates in this exam is to write well. After all, there are thousands of test papers put together, and only those with neat and outstanding handwriting will be noticed at first glance.
The handwriting is poor and there are many corrections. Even if the answer is good, the examiner may give you a B grade and directly kick you out of the qualified test paper.
Xue Fenglin's calligraphy has always been good, and it is the most popular Yan style in the Jin Dynasty.
The most important thing is that he entered the palace when he was a child and wrote poems at palace banquets, and his handwriting was praised by Emperor Wu of Jin.
Since Emperor Wu of Jin had praised it so much, the examiners below naturally did not dare to say a bad word. Therefore, he would definitely have no problem at all on the first day of the exam.
The second day's test was about poetry. The questions on poetry were much more flexible than those on the first day. Those who did not have neat parallelism and artistic conception would be inferior to others.
This was not a difficult task for Xue Fenglin. As a child of aristocratic family, he had attended various banquets since childhood. In order to show off his elegance, he had to practice writing poems and lyrics during the banquets.
Among the noble families in the capital, even many young ladies and young men are able to compose poetry and lyrics, let alone a prince like Xue Fenglin?
He answered the questions faster this day than the first day, and handed in the paper early before starting to rest.
In order to keep his health in good condition, Xue Fenglin had been eating dry food every day in the examination room these days, and the taste was really not that good. I can only wait until after the exam tomorrow and then go back to have a good meal!
The third day's test was about general affairs, and candidates were required to write a policy paper to explain how to control and prevent locust plagues.
Last year, there was a locust plague that affected the entire Jin Dynasty. Many candidates and teachers in the academy also guessed the questions for this year's policy essay exam in advance.
But guessing is one thing, but whether you can write well is another matter!
The candidates also prepared a lot of articles and truths about the locust plague in advance.
Most of the candidates usually only know how to talk about military affairs on paper, and when they hear the word "locust plague", they start to talk about the Four Books and Five Classics. Sometimes he mentions the way of heaven, sometimes he mentions the way of man. The paper is full of empty and pretentious advice on how to govern a country, but there are no ideas that can be put into practice.
You should know that the annual general affairs examination questions are set by the emperor himself.
The reason why Emperor Wu of Jin set such a test question was not to see what advice a mere scholar could give him on how to govern the country, but to learn some practical lessons from it.
Xue Fenglin thought about it carefully before starting to write on the manuscript paper.
He had guessed the test questions before, and naturally he had also studied the methods of preventing and controlling the locust plague.
For example, there was a locust plague last year. In order to avoid it again this year, all the land must be burned to kill the insect eggs buried in the soil. Once the insects are born and there are signs of locust plagues, large numbers of chickens and ducks are needed to eat the larvae early to prevent them from forming in swarms.
In addition to the prevention and control methods that have been used in Dajinli, Xue Fenglin also wrote in detail about the post-disaster livelihood construction work.
For example, the county magistrate took the lead and led the village heads to encourage the victims to focus on preventing and controlling the locust plague, and how to ensure basic farming and this autumn's harvest in the case of food shortage.
Previously, the Second Prince was in charge of the post-locust disaster relief work in the northwest region. Xue Fenglin had mostly explored and participated in these affairs in private.
Today, I feel very comfortable writing this policy paper on the locust plague.
After the third day of exams, Xue Fenglin handed in his paper early again, and walked out of the exam room as soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the exam.
The street outside the examination hall was already filled with horse-drawn carriages and the candidates' families.
Xue Fenglin saw Shen Xuan's carriage at a glance, still parked on the east side of the examination hall gate, the same place as when he came to see him off that day.
Xue Fenglin felt warm in his heart, a smile appeared on his face, and he prepared to walk towards the carriage.
Unexpectedly, before he took a step, five or six servants rushed towards him. In addition to Wuxin Wuwang who had been waiting at the door, there were also two servants sent by the Ye family and a steward sent by the Xue residence.
"Prince! You finally finished the exam!"
"Sir, Madam Ye asked us to come and pick you up to have dinner at the Ye family!"
"Young Master, the Marquis specially asked me to come pick you up, saying that after you finish the exam today, you must return to the mansion! The elders of the Xue family are hosting a banquet for you at the mansion."
…
Lord Xue personally sent people to pick him up and set up a banquet. Even though Xue Fenglin didn't want to go back, it was not appropriate for him to go against his biological father in front of the examination hall gate.
Filial piety was very important in the Jin Dynasty, and he had to become an official, so he had to do the necessary superficial work.
Xue Fenglin thought about it and said to the servant from the Ye family, "I will go to the Ye family again tomorrow and ask my aunt to ask the cook to make me my favorite roasted lamb."
Then he said to the servants of the Xue family: "You go back and report first. I will go back to eat in the evening."
After the servants had left, Xue Fenglin quietly went to Shen Xuan's carriage.
Lifting the car curtain, Shen Xuan was indeed inside. When he saw him, he smiled and asked with bright eyes: "How did you do in the exam? I saw a lot of people stopping you, and I thought you couldn't get through."
Xue Fenglin then said, "With my ability, there is no problem. I just finished the exam, so the Ye family will definitely come to ask questions. But today, even my father, who usually doesn't care about me, held a banquet at home and sent someone to ask me to go back for dinner. It's like the sun is rising from the west."
"You are his biological son after all. Besides, if you pass the imperial examination and become an official this time, the entire Xue family will be proud of it. How could they just ignore it?" Shen Xuan said.
"Then I'll go back to a banquet and come back to see you." Xue Fenglin said to Shen Xuan, "You don't know, I've been eating pancakes every day in the examination room these days. The pancakes were cold and hard. I was just thinking about having a hot pot you made, but now I have to go back for a family dinner."
Shen Xuan smiled when he heard this, and said to Xue Fenglin: "Then save some space. I'll prepare a hot pot at home and we'll eat when you come over in the evening."
"Okay." Xue Fenglin nodded, his eyes darkened, and he kissed Shen Xuan on the lips. Then he lifted the curtain and walked down in a good mood.
Then Xue Fenglin brought Wu Xin and Wu Wang back home. As soon as they entered the house, they were invited into the main hall.
As expected, there were several elders of the Xue family sitting in the main room. In front of each of them was a table, on which were placed a lot of delicious food and wine.
Lord Xue and Lady Bai were also sitting at the table. When they saw Xue Fenglin come in, they invited him to sit down.
Bai put on a rare gentle look and asked Xue Fenglin how he did in the spring imperial examination.
"Thanks to you, I did well in the exam. I think it won't be a problem for me to become an official." Xue Fenglin answered without any modesty.
Bai's face froze for a moment, but she still managed a smile and said, "That's good. Since you can enter the government, it will bring honor to the Xue family. But everyone says that you should start a family and a career, but this family hasn't done it yet, so I guess we should start a career first."
Having said this, Bai looked at Lord Xue. As expected, Lord Xue immediately said, "This matter can be settled as soon as possible."
After he finished speaking, he said to Bai: "Please ask someone to go to the backyard and invite those children from Lord Shen's family over."
Only then did Bai respond and told Qiongzhu beside her to leave.
The child of Lord Shen? Xue Fenglin felt something strange and frowned.
Sure enough, after a while, Qiongzhu came out with two boys and a girl and asked them to sit opposite Xue Fenglin.
Bai then said to him, "Lin'er, this is the Shen family's brothers Shen Congyu, Shen Congshuang, and sister Shen Congxin. They are about your age, and they are descendants of the Shen family, so it's a good idea to get to know them."
Xue Fenglin looked at the brothers and sisters of the Shen family, all of whom were fifteen or sixteen years old and were about to reach the age of marriage.
Seeing that I was looking at them, their faces turned red as if blood was about to drip out, and they were so embarrassed that they didn't even dare to raise their heads. They looked like they were in love, and it was obvious that they knew that I was here to see them.
He had only heard of Duke Shen before, and Duke Shen had long passed away, so where did this Lord Shen appear from? I've never heard of it before!
When Xue Fenglin saw that Bai looked calm and composed, he knew that this matter must have been planned by her behind the scenes.
Looking at the boys and girls from the Shen family, he felt even more disgusted.
Xue Fenglin did not show his emotions on his face. Although he was very angry at the moment, he did not confront the Bai family directly because there were many elders of the Xue family at the table.
He did not eat much during the banquet. Lord Xue asked him about the examination hall, and Xue Fenglin answered a few questions. Then he put down his chopsticks and left, saying only that there were other classmates in the Imperial College who wanted to celebrate with him, and that they would go out for a drink in the evening.
The candidates in Beijing also have their own circles. If they become officials together in the future, classmates will be helpful to each other.
Lord Xue knew this, so he didn't stop him and let him go.
Xue Fenglin then left the Xue Mansion in two steps and headed towards Shen Xuan's residence...
After Xue Fenglin left, several members of the Shen family looked up at his back reluctantly.
They were originally only attracted by the status and wealth of the prince of the Marquis' Mansion, but they did not expect that this prince also had an extraordinary appearance and was so handsome and incomparable!
Just now they were brought to meet Xue Fenglin and sat opposite him. None of them had ever seen such a handsome man, and they didn't even dare to look up and stare at his face.
After Xue Fenglin left, several people realized that they had not spoken to the prince at all during the meal, and they felt extremely regretful. I just thought that if I had another chance in the future, I would definitely show off in front of the prince, so that he would look at me differently!
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