The results of the imperial examination will be announced on the tenth day of April, and there is still a month left. Wang Yu and his friends have nothing to do. After Song Boyan's poems became famous in Lanju Pavilion, many students have asked about his name and wanted to make friends with him.
Later, when they learned that he was the top scorer in Shangyong Prefecture, they wanted to make friends with him even more. They got to know quite a few people, but most of them were students from other places. It was good to get to know more people in the capital since they were unfamiliar with the place.
The imperial examination was over, and everyone relaxed and planned to have a good time. Someone posted a message inviting Song Boyan to go out for a spring outing to enjoy the flowers. There were many places with beautiful scenery in the suburbs of Beijing.
Song Boyan received the invitation and saw that it invited Song Boyan to join the student union. Song Boyan knew the person who signed the invitation, Yan Junchang. Most of the recent gatherings were organized by him, and he had invited them twice.
Chen Yanwen took the post and read it. "Ziheng is so generous. This is the third time. These people really have the leisure and elegance."
Wang Yu smiled on the side. The first time was in a restaurant, with more than a dozen people drinking and chatting. The second time was in a brothel, and Wang Yu directly refused. When Song Boyan and Chen Yanwen saw that Wang Yu was not going, he turned it down. This time he went to the suburbs again, saying that there was a cherry blossom forest on the suburbs, which was very beautiful.
Chen Yanwen: "To enjoy the cherry blossoms, you can go and have a look."
The two looked at Wang Yu, who nodded and said, "Let's go."
When Wang Yu and the other two arrived, there were already quite a few students here, gathered in groups of three or four. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the pink dots were really beautiful.
Yan Junchang was followed by three people, who came to Song Boyan together: "Brother Song, you are here."
Song Boyan: "Brother Yan, please don't blame us. We are late. The scenery here is really nice. I am surprised that Brother Yan found such a place."
Song Boyan is mostly silent in front of people he knows well. Most of the time, Chen Yanwen and Wang Yu are talking, and he just listens and rarely expresses his opinions. However, in front of people he doesn't know well, he is still good at speaking to make things convenient for the occasion.
Yan Junchang laughed out loud, "Brother Song, you're too kind."
Everyone knew that Song Boyan's poem won the first prize in Lanju Pavilion, so some people started to urge him to write another poem about cherry blossoms. Writing poems was not a difficult task for Song Boyan, and since everyone was so enthusiastic, he wrote one.
Amidst the crowd of voices that all praised it, there was a discordant voice saying, "It's not that great."
Everyone fell silent instantly, trying to figure out who had said that. The student blushed under the gaze of the crowd, but he still stubbornly said, "That's right. It was because Brother Zi Rui didn't come that day, otherwise he definitely wouldn't have won first place."
Wang Yu and the others were a little confused. Who was this person, and who was Brother Zirui? They all came here to enjoy the spring flowers. If they were not convinced, they could just write a poem to compete with each other. Why say all these things and make everyone unhappy?
The other people's eyes showed the same meaning. Chen Yanwen said, "How about you sing a song too, or maybe Brother Zirui, whom you mentioned, sing a song?"
A student standing behind the man stepped forward. He looked like a refined scholar with a gentle demeanor. He bowed and said, "My name is Zhuang Zirui. I apologize for my rude words. Brother Song's writing is indeed very good."
Since the real boss said so, they couldn't say anything. After Zhang Zirui apologized to them, he pulled his younger brother away. Wang Yu turned his head and saw that the man was pulling Zhuang Zirui and talking to him. Zhuang Zirui had a serious expression on his face, as if he was teaching that man a lesson. That man lowered his head as if he had done something wrong. Wang Yu took a look and then looked away.
Fortunately, everyone was a scholar and would not do anything about this. The group of people started to recite poems and write couplets again. Someone who knew the situation came over to Wang Yu and the others and said, "I know who Zhuang Zirui is. He is the top scholar in Jiangnan Province. The person who spoke is Liu Jiayang."
Wang Yu and others nodded. It turned out to be the top scorer. It is said that Jiangnan produces many talented people. No wonder. However, judging from what he said, he can be said to be a humble and polite person. It’s just that the person with him is not very smart.
Because of what happened just now, Zhuang Zirui took Liu Jiayang away after not staying for long. They played together until noon before dispersing.
While they were waiting for the results to be announced, the chief examiner and other officials were marking the papers. This time the chief examiner was the imperial tutor, Mr. Lan Yuanqing, but he had retired, and the emperor personally invited him to preside over the examination.
He was holding two test papers at the moment, and after thinking about it, he circled a one on Song Boyan's test paper. The last arithmetic question of this imperial examination was set by the emperor. Among more than a thousand answer papers, only ten people answered the last question correctly. Then he took out the math answer papers of the ten people and asked someone to send them to the emperor.
The emperor took the test paper and looked through it. Only Wang Yu's answer was the most concise and easy to understand. Then he looked through it again and found that the person he was thinking of was not there. The emperor couldn't help but frowned.
On the ninth day of April, all the students gathered at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall, waiting for the guards to post the results. Wang Yu and his friends came early to wait for the results to be announced, and Ling Chufeng also came with them. A total of 200 people would be selected in this examination, and those who passed would become Jinshi.
Chen Yanwen was very nervous as he watched the guards posting the list on the south wall of the Imperial Examination Hall. He hadn't answered the last math question and was afraid that he would fail. His hands were sweating as he clenched the fists.
They had experienced this kind of scene of looking at the list several times. As the person announcing the list said that Song Boyan of Shangyong Prefecture was the first place and Wang Yu was the third, and her name was not heard for a long time, Chen Yanwen became even more nervous. It was not until the twentieth time that his name was called that he came to his senses. There were marks on his palms from pinching himself.
Many people came forward to congratulate him, and his classmates from the prefectural school also bowed and said, "Brother Song has already won the first place in the provincial and municipal examinations. It seems that the first place in the provincial examination will definitely be awarded to Brother Song."
What he said made sense. If the emperor personally selected the top scholar, then the top three candidates would be a good story. If nothing unexpected happened, the top scholar would indeed fall on Song Boyan. Ten days after the announcement of the results of the provincial examination, the palace examination would be held, which would rank the two hundred successful candidates again.
Even Zhuang Zirui came forward to congratulate him. He was second this time. Liu Jiayang, who was standing next to him, was a little embarrassed and speechless for a long time. He was not even on the list.
Song Boyan returned the gift and congratulated him on his second place finish. Zhuang Zirui nodded and left with Liu Jiayang. Wang Yu thought this man was indeed a talent and jokingly said, "How about the top scholar treat us today?"
Song Boyan was very excited when he knew that he had won the first place, but he was very introverted and did not show it on his face. When he heard Wang Yu's joke, he couldn't help laughing and said "good".
Ling Chufeng also congratulated them, and then took the four of them directly to Baiweilou. Zhang Siyuan was so busy every day that he was rarely seen, but today he was waiting for them at Baiweilou.
Only then did Wang Yu realize that Ling Chufeng and Zhang Siyuan also knew each other, and it seemed that they had a good relationship, otherwise Ling Chufeng would not have brought them to Zhang Siyuan.
After Zhang Si knew that they all passed the exam, he asked the kitchen to prepare a lot of delicious food and wine. "I'm usually busy, so I just found some time now. Congratulations to you all, especially Song Boyan. He will be the top scorer next time."
Wang Yu: "Brother Siyuan, you are too polite. We agreed that the top scholar would treat us today."
Zhang Siyuan smiled and said, "Okay, I won't be polite. Let's enjoy the banquet invited by the top scholar today."
Song Boyan was also embarrassed by the teasing of the two people, so he drank a cup of tea to relieve himself, and the people watching laughed.
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