Chapter 279 Palace Examination
Gu Mingda is always focused when doing things. When he is concentrating on answering questions, he can only see the questions in front of him.
He didn't even notice someone passing by him.
The emperor stood up, walked down the steps, and walked among the candidates with his hands behind his back.
Although Li Yong and Gu Mingda had only met once, he still remembered Gu Mingda's daughter, that lively and lovely girl.
He originally just wanted to take a look at Gu Mingda's test paper, but then he thought that if he only looked at Gu Mingda, it would be too obvious, so he also looked around at the other people.
As he turned around, something went wrong.
Some candidates, although they have good knowledge, are not as focused as Gu Mingda in their work. Today is their first time to meet the emperor, so they are inevitably a little nervous and their eyes can't help but follow the emperor.
When the emperor's figure approached him, he was so nervous that he couldn't hold the pen. His hand trembled and a big black spot appeared on the white paper.
The candidate was about to cry when he saw the test paper.
After all, the emperor did not continue to torture people. After two turns, he returned to his high position.
The entire palace examination lasted a whole day. Candidates had to write three policy essays and were not allowed to submit their papers early.
Gu Mingda felt that his luck in the exam had improved. The topics of the three policy essays happened to be the ones he had practiced in advance, so he felt as if he was divinely assisted when he wrote them.
At noon, eunuchs brought food boxes to the palace.
Gu Mingda stopped writing, carefully put all the papers and test questions aside, then opened the lunch box and took out the food inside.
After eating, he took out a towel, cleaned the table, and put the papers in order.
His actions were ordinary, but his manners were graceful, like flowing clouds and water. In addition, he was tall and handsome, which inevitably attracted a few more glances from people in the hall.
There were also confused candidates acting as a foil for him. Others either did not put away their papers properly, or put their papers down without cleaning the table after dinner, resulting in the papers being soiled.
What's more, if they found the test paper dirty, they would shout it out immediately, which attracted everyone's attention.
All these things make Gu Mingda stand out from the crowd.
Li Yong was even thinking at this time that even if he had never seen Gu Mingda before, he would probably notice him at this moment.
Gu Mingda had no idea that he had already left a good impression on the emperor and the ministers. By mid-afternoon, Gu Mingda had finished writing all three policy essays.
After finishing writing and waiting for the ink to dry, Gu Mingda put the paper away neatly and placed it aside, waiting quietly for the exam to end.
"Since he has finished answering the questions, bring the paper here for me to see." Li Yong instructed the eunuch chief Sun Youfu beside him.
After receiving the order, Sun Youfu immediately bent over and walked to Gu Mingda's side, took the test paper and returned.
Gu Mingda was stunned for a moment. He followed Sun Youfu's gaze upwards, but after seeing the pair of bright yellow boots on the emperor's feet, he dared not look up again.
Until the end of the exam, Gu Mingda stayed in Baohedian for a whole day, but still didn't know what the emperor looked like.
After leaving Baohedian, Gu Mingda just kept walking forward.
"Uncle Gu, wait a minute!" Qin Jing's voice sounded behind him.
Gu Mingda stopped and looked back.
"Uncle Gu, there will be a poetry gathering at Xianyue Tower the day after tomorrow. The host of the gathering asked me to invite Uncle Gu to participate." Qin Jing said.
Gu Mingda hesitated for a moment, thinking that he had studied hard since arriving in the capital and had less social interaction, so he agreed.
Qin Jing added, "The sister of the host of the poetry party has reserved another courtyard in Xianyue Tower to hold a women's poetry party. Uncle Gu can also take Niuniu to play."
Upon hearing this, Gu Mingda immediately said, "Niuniu won't go. She is still too young. I am always worried about her not having her parents accompany her."
Qin Jing said, "Uncle Gu, don't worry. My cousin and sister will also go. You can ask my cousin to look after the two girls. The invitation has been sent to the princess's mansion. Miss Shen should also go. If Niuniu goes, she will just get to know a few more playmates."
Qin Jing had said so much, and Gu Mingda thought that Shen Ling had always been reliable, so he nodded.
After Gu Mingda returned, he ate his meal, walked around the yard twice, and then went back to his room and fell asleep.
The family knew that he had been working hard for the exam today, so they did things very carefully for fear of disturbing him.
The next morning, when Gu Mingda woke up, he was full of energy.
"Brother is so awesome! So impressive!"
Hearing Niu Niu's voice in the yard, Gu Mingda got up and walked out, only to see Xie Xingchuan playing with a gun.
Xie Xingchuan seemed to have lost himself in the little girl's repeated cries of "Brother is so awesome". He waved his spear and was reluctant to stop even though he was sweating profusely.
Niuniu's eyes sparkled as she looked at Xie Xingchuan with admiration, saying, "I really hope I can be as good as my brother!"
Xie Xingchuan had just finished a set of spear skills and stopped. He then handed the spear, which he treasured very much and never let anyone touch it, to Niu Niu.
"Good boy, try it!" said Xie Xingchuan.
But Niu Niu died when she tried it.
The spear was too heavy, and the girl almost fell forward when she caught it.
Shen Changfeng came in at some point and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"My dear, you are not even half the height of the gun. You should wait a few years before playing with the gun." Shen Changfeng said with a smile.
Niuniu was not angry, but asked Xie Xingchuan softly: "Brother, are all guns so heavy?"
Xie Xingchuan shook his head and said, "There are also lighter ones. Maybe you are too small. Otherwise, you can start with the stick."
Xie Xingchuan actually found a stick for Niu Niu.
"The chassis needs to be stable, hold it like this..."
Xie Xingchuan instructed Niu Niu to take the stick.
Shen Changfeng was jealous and pointed at the side: "Niuniu, be ruthless and dance vigorously!"
Xie Xingchuan glanced at Shen Changfeng in surprise.
Shen Changfeng said: "My family also hired a martial arts master for me, but I didn't learn anything after teaching for a long time, so the master got angry and ran away."
When Shen Changfeng mentioned his glorious achievements, there was no trace of guilt on his face.
Xie Xingchuan didn't know what he was thinking about, and asked, "If you make Master Wu angry like this, won't your parents get angry too?"
Shen Changfeng said carelessly: "If Master Wu gets angry and runs away, just change him. My mother has long been used to it. My father never cares about me."
A hint of envy flashed in Xie Xingchuan's eyes.
Shen Changfeng asked: "You are so good at martial arts, you must be very talented in martial arts, your parents must have spent a lot of effort on it, right?"
Shen Changfeng naturally believed that children with outstanding performance must be strictly disciplined by their parents.
Xie Xingchuan's eyes darkened when he heard that. He didn't want to speak.
But Niuniu, who was standing next to him, stared at him eagerly and said, "Brother, I also want to hear your martial arts story. Tell me about it!"
Xie Xingchuan said succinctly: "Master Wu will assign homework every day. If I don't learn well or I am lazy in practicing that day, Master will tell my parents."
"My parents would make me pick up gravel along the way, and kneel on the gravel to admit my mistakes when I got home."
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