On the second day of March, the sun shines through the morning mist, dim and bright, it is another good day.
At dawn, the candidates entered the Fengtian Hall. The atmosphere in the hall was solemn and silent, filled with a tense atmosphere. The candidates found their desks one by one and sat in their seats without daring to make a sound. Only those who were curious rolled their eyes and looked at the layout of the hall.
The procedures before the official start of the exam were arranged jointly by Liu Yu and people from the Ministry of Rites, but after all the regulations were completed, Emperor Mingzheng was nowhere to be seen in the high position.
Liu Yu waited and waited, and finally couldn't help but find a eunuch to ask about the situation.
The eunuchs hesitated and dared not speak frankly. How could Liu Yu not understand in his heart that Emperor Mingzheng must have discussed the way of cultivating immortals with Taoist Taixu in Fengtianzhai again last night, and he had not gotten up yet today, and even forgot that today was the palace examination.
He sent the eunuchs to urge him, and after another stick of incense had passed, Emperor Mingzheng finally arrived.
Emperor Mingzheng sat down in the hall, still squinting his eyes, with dark circles under his eyes and a look of sleepiness and impatience between his brows. Everyone in the hall knelt and saluted. Emperor Mingzheng just casually glanced at the candidates in the hall, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes again.
Liu Yu was accustomed to Emperor Mingzheng's demeanor, and ordered the officials to distribute the test papers.
However, most of the candidates in the hall were meeting the emperor for the first time. Talented and ambitious people could not help but feel hesitant. They, the scholars, would be the pillars of the country in the future, but the emperor acted like this, as if he didn't care about them at all.
Although there are rumors among the people that the current emperor is obsessed with Taoism and ignores government affairs, which scholar in the world is not full of ambition? Want to achieve great things! However, if the monarch you serve is really mediocre and incompetent, it is inevitable that people will be disappointed.
Regardless of what other people were thinking, Yu Qizhe remained calm. After taking the paper and reading the topic, he immersed himself in thinking about the article. After a moment, he concentrated on writing.
In the third west pavilion of Xinglou, many writers also sat at low tables and wrote.
However, in contrast to the silence and tension in the Fengtian Hall, there was constant laughter and noise here. There were scholars who failed the imperial examination and were indulging themselves in pleasure, as well as noblemen who were seeking pleasure. Everyone had a piece of colored paper on the table, and they were talking and laughing about how to write poems based on the colored paper, and asking the maids who were serving pens and ink in the building about the origin of the paper.
The maids had been told in the building earlier, and they were told in a soft voice that the colored paper came from Zhiyun County, Qingzhou. They told a fantastic story in vivid detail, saying that a fairy came down to earth and fell into the Zhiyun River. A scholar passed by and saw the fairy's stunning beauty, so he painted a picture of her. From then on, he faced the scroll every day and became sick with lovesickness. He took water from the Zhiyun River, made twelve colored papers, and wrote a tearful work like "I want to send you a piece of colored paper and a piece of paper, but how can I know where you are, with so many mountains and rivers?" to comfort his lovesickness.
After hearing such wonderful words, who in the pavilion was not moved? They all expressed their feelings and looked at the paper in their hands for a while, unable to put pen to paper.
Yu Jiao was sitting on the second floor of the middle building, watching the scene in the pavilion through the pearl curtains, pursing her lips and laughing softly. This story was made up by her and Shen Yu. If it was just the paper produced in Qiyun County, it would be ordinary. But how could there be any good things in a remote small county in the north? This should be the first impression of most people after hearing it.
Even though their colored paper is complicatedly made and the craftsmanship is excellent, it is difficult to change people's inherent impression of the region.
But with such a story, people would look at her with a higher regard. Even though everyone knew that the legend must be false, these scholars were still trying to show off their knowledge. Her use of such a wonderful lyric written by Yan Shu was enough to impress those scholars.
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