Lu Yao was right. In the past, he had everything he needed. Everything was the best. Everything had been too smooth for him since he was a child. He had never encountered any setbacks or opponents, so his ambitions were high.
The series of misfortunes that followed did change my mentality and state of mind.
He also changed from being unwilling, complaining, and jealous at the beginning to being able to think things through now.
He raised his glass and clinked it with Lu Yao:
"Okay, in the next three years, we'll meet at the top!"
The two clinked their glasses, drank it all, and put aside their past grudges!
…
Three days later, Lu Yao brought his servants to guard the house, harnessed the carriage, packed his luggage, and picked up Luo Ming. The two of them set off back to Jeju together.
Jiang Sui, Xiao Hechuan and Qi Xiuyuan all came to the city gate to see them off.
"Brother Xiao, Brother Qi, we will go ahead and wait for your good news in Jeju. When you pass the imperial examination, I will definitely book a few tables at Beimoting to welcome you and celebrate your return home with honor!"
Real brothers are those who are happy for you the better they are doing.
Lu Yao wasn't short of money anyway, and he was very rational. He had now completely recovered from the sadness of failing the exam.
Now, he is thinking about going back to get married and finding a wife.
"Okay, Master Lu is generous. Well, I don't have much money left. Can you lend me some first? When you go back, you can go to my house and ask my mother for it!"
Qi Xiuyuan was still as rude and shameless as ever.
The silver he brought to Kyoto was almost gone. He had not expected that consumption in Jeju would be so high. Now Lu Yao was going back. This guy carried several thousand taels of silver notes with him whenever he went out, and his main purpose was to show his generosity.
Lu Yao was very generous and directly took out five hundred taels of silver and stuffed it into his pocket:
"Take the flowers first. If you don't have enough, write back. When you pass the exam and get a good score, pay me back with your reward money so that I can share in your happiness."
Lu Yao is absolutely generous to his good friends, and this is obvious to all.
Luo Ming was standing aside, envious of the affection between the three people, but he couldn't get a word in.
Before Lu Yao left, he climbed onto Xiao Hechuan's shoulders and whispered to him:
"Brother Xiao, although I can't catch up with you in academics, my child will definitely be your child's older brother or older sister, just wait!"
Lu Yao thought, if not for the bread, then for the reputation, he had to be ahead of Xiao Yixing in one of the two, so he decided that he must give birth to a child faster than Xiao Yixing.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hechuan expressed helplessness.
Okay, since I'm ahead, I'll just go ahead. Anyway, I'm in Kyoto now, and it's not suitable for pregnancy yet. I'll have to go back by then due to the long journey, so I might as well wait for another half a year.
Besides, do you think he doesn't want to have a baby?
He dreamed of having a daughter with Sui Sui who was as soft, sweet and well-behaved as her.
Before getting on the carriage, Luo Ming bowed solemnly to Xiao Hechuan.
Xiao Hechuan understood what he meant, but neither of them said much, and everything was implied.
The carriage gradually went away and disappeared from the sight of several people. I wish you a safe journey.
During the two months they were away from Jeju, everything went smoothly in Jeju, and the Xiao family was smooth sailing both in business and life.
Liu Huaifeng wrote a letter to Xiao Hechuan, saying that Ye Shu had a new love recently, and that she was pregnant again not long after her last abortion, but she chose to have an abortion.
Still no one knows whose child it is. Now Liu Huaifeng thinks she is dirty and tries to avoid her whenever possible.
Money is hard to earn and shit is hard to eat, this is what he is like now.
If he hadn't promised Xiao Hechuan to get the job done, he would have wanted to run away long ago.
If Ye Shu continues like this, it will be difficult for her to get pregnant again. She has become a completely dirty rag.
The day when Xiao Hechuan returns home in glory will be the day when Ye Shu will be disgraced, and the day when Ye Congwen will become infamous.
…
Half a month later, the palace examination came. This time, the examination was held in the Qinzheng Hall in the imperial palace.
The emperor was the chief examiner and set the questions. The thirty candidates who were shortlisted for the spring examination gathered in the magnificent and solemn hall.
The emperor was sitting behind a pearl curtain, and his face could not be seen clearly. All we knew was that the man was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and sitting there upright. An intense sense of oppression came over us, making it hard to breathe and extremely nervous.
But these are what other candidates feel and think. For Xiao Hechuan, he had a lot of contact with the emperor in his previous life, and he knew very well that he was a rare wise monarch.
All the candidates were already sitting at their desks, equipped with pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, the four treasures of the study, waiting for the emperor to give the questions.
The palace examination mainly tests policy essays, which cover a wide range of topics including politics, literature, and philosophy, and are extremely difficult.
There are requirements for the number of words and font.
Guo Gan was very confident because his cousin had already informed him in advance about the questions of the palace examination, the specified font and number of words. He had already prepared in advance and had memorized the essay by heart. Xiao Hechuan was sitting next to him. He looked at him with contempt, his eyes revealing his determination to win.
Xiao Hechuan felt his gaze, but didn't take it seriously and just curled his lips in disdain.
There is nothing to be afraid of when you see a clown.
Just as he was thinking about it, the chief eunuch beside the emperor stood up and began to announce the content of the exam.
This time, candidates are required to answer the questions in the official style, and the time is three incense sticks. The incense used is the large incense used for sacrifices. One stick can burn for half an hour, and three incense sticks can burn for one and a half hours.
The number of words in a policy essay should be controlled within 2,000 words and no less than 1,500 words.
The question was about the geological disasters that occurred in Jeju two years ago. Candidates were required to express themselves freely in the form of an answer sheet and answer what they thought were the specific reasons for the earthquake and drought.
How to prevent it? If it happens again, from the perspective of the people, how to predict it in advance and reduce the loss of manpower and material resources. After the disaster, as the local government, how to deal with it most appropriately to appease the people's livelihood? On the one hand, it should benefit the country, and on the other hand, it should benefit the people.
When this question was asked, all the candidates present were stunned.
Because they didn't expect that the emperor would ask such a question.
In the past, there was no clear regulation on the font used in the imperial examinations. As long as the handwriting was neat and the paper was clean and tidy, it would be fine.
The official script requires that characters be straight, square and round, even more upright than regular script. It is written very slowly, completing each stroke one by one.
Moreover, the word count must be within 2,000 words and more than 1,500 words, and there is only three incense sticks of time, which is very tight.
It involves people's livelihood issues and geological knowledge. This topic is extremely broad and difficult.
This is entirely a test of one's pragmatic ability. It is not about flowery words, fluent sentences, or guilt. It requires real skills and real insights.
The person who was most shocked was Guo Gan, because this question and the standard answer he had prepared were completely on different levels.
Originally, the emperor was going to test the issue of taxation, allowing candidates to express their own views and propose reforms and opinions on the original form of taxation in the dynasty, and they could speak freely. However, now things have completely changed.
In other words, all his previous preparations were useless, and now his mind was blank...
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