The master and his servant immediately ran out to the Imperial Examination Hall. The results were usually posted in several places in the capital, but the Imperial Examination Hall posted them first, and the students couldn't wait to take a look.
Among more than 5,000 students, only more than 300 passed the examination. Therefore, there are more people who return home disappointed: "How could I not be included? How could I not be included? Did I miss it? No, I have to watch it again!"
This caused serious congestion.
The names were evenly arranged on the yellow paper list. Occasionally, you can hear one or two happy “I got it! I got it!”
Everyone congratulated him enviously.
Lin Zikui squeezed in at the periphery and stood on tiptoe to watch, sweat breaking out on his forehead. He was too elegant and could not squeeze in with the others. Mo Liu was so anxious that he simply bent over and squeezed in through the crack in the ground: "Get out of the way, get out of the way, don't step on me..."
Mo Liu finally squeezed in, his face flushed red, and he could only start counting from the name in front of him, "Young Master, where is Young Master..."
The Prime Minister has said that the young master will win the first place in the imperial examination.
Mo Liu squeezed to the top of the list to have a look.
The row for Huiyuan is separate.
The three words "Lin Zikui" came into his eyes. It was like a dream. Mo Liu's eyes swelled up and he couldn't help but rub them again and again. He confirmed again and again and held his breath.
"Young Master!" He burst into tears of joy, and cried out, "I got the Young Master! I got the first place in the exam, Young Master!"
There was a lot of noise and some people were staring at Mo Liu in surprise.
"Who is Lin Zikui?" Most of the talented men are well-known, but this Lin Zikui is not. This is the first time I have heard of him.
"It's my young master! Lin Zikui! My young master!" Mo Liu cried as he pushed through the crowd. Lin Zikui vaguely heard his voice and couldn't believe it.
He took a step back until Mo Liu's eyes were red, and he rushed out of the crowd covered in dirt, with tears in his eyes and ecstasy on his lips. His cheeks were squeezed round as he said to Lin Zikui, "Sir, I got it!"
Lin Zikui's breathing stopped and there was a moment of confusion on his face.
"really?"
"Yes, you are the first place! The Prime Minister is right. The court has cracked down on fraud and many corrupt officials have been beheaded! The new examiner has a keen eye for talent. You, you finally passed!"
A huge sense of ecstasy enveloped them. Passing the examination to become a Gongshi was equivalent to passing the Jinshi examination. The so-called palace examination was just a ranking of the first, second and third places.
"I won, my wife..." Lin Zikui's first reaction was to go home and tell Xiao Zhaoling the good news.
But he remembered that Zhao Ling was not at home, so he hurried to Prince Shuo's Mansion to find his teacher.
At this time, Xiao Fu was determining the topics for the palace examination with the young emperor.
During the Wen Tai period, the questions for the palace examination were prepared by the cabinet and then selected by the emperor. The cabinet scholars, the chief minister, and the second chief minister jointly drafted the topics in advance, which created an opportunity. No matter what the emperor chose, he could not escape this scope. It should have been the same this year, but the Jinyiwei interrogated Pang Xiang and found out that his father had a close personal relationship with the cabinet ministers and could even get the questions for the palace examination.
Xiao Fu directly ordered people to burn the topics drafted by the cabinet into ashes. Problems would arise in any link, so it would be better to come up with them himself.
Naturally, he himself was not a person who could set questions, let alone the questions for the palace examination. He couldn't even understand most of the questions at the moment.
The young emperor was now in good shape, and said, "What the court needs now is talents who can help me maintain peace and stability. This policy question should naturally start from the people's livelihood and governance. What do you think, father?"
Ordinary students can also guess the above idea and cannot help but prepare in advance. The young emperor raised several issues that needed to be urgently resolved in the country. Xiao Fu discovered that Lin Zikui had written articles on them and had predicted all of them correctly.
As he pondered the questions, time was already late. Xiao Fu suddenly remembered that the results would be announced today. He looked at the sky again and said, "It's already twilight hour? This is bad."
The little emperor asked: "Father, what's wrong?"
"My father has to leave the palace for something else. You should keep the draft of the questions to yourself and don't let anyone see it."
The little emperor placed the draft paper on the candle, and the edge of the paper slowly turned black and burned: "Don't worry, father, I have understood it clearly, and I don't need this."
Xiao Fu often left the palace, but after all, Xiao Fu was the son of Duke Changguo, so it was normal for him to go back to see his parents often. Yuwen Xuan had never doubted this question, nor did he have the courage to send someone to follow Xiao Fu. He had not even built up his own power yet, and there was only a young eunuch of similar age by his side, who was considered a confidant promoted by him, not his father's.
Xiao Fu changed his clothes and took a carriage out of the palace. As usual, he first returned to Dingbei Marquis Mansion, changed carriages and then went to Lin Zikui.
Lin Zikui was not in the villa. There were only a few servants cleaning the courtyard. They told Xiao Fu, "Master, the young master won the first prize in the imperial examination and went to Prince Shuo's mansion to announce the good news!"
Xiao Fu looked at the darkening sky and asked, "Did you say when you'll be back?"
The servant shook his head and said he didn't know.
As this place was close to the Imperial Examination Hall, from time to time one could hear the sounds of successful candidates asking others to beat drums and gongs.
It was time for dinner. Lin Zikui had gone to Prince Shuo's mansion during the day. When Prince Shuo heard the news, he immediately hosted a banquet for the guests and asked his own son Can to learn more from Lin Huaifu.
"They say the first place is gold and the second place is silver. My dear nephew, you are both the first place and the third place! You will be the top place in the imperial examination someday. Wow, that's three consecutive places!"
"Your Majesty, I am so honored by your praise. I do not deserve it."
Prince Shuo was very proud and claimed to be Lin Huaifu's half-brother. He posted a message to invite all his relatives and friends to dinner, including the couple of the Duke of Changguo next door. Princess Minghua read Prince Shuo's message and wondered, "Where did Prince Shuo get a half-brother? It's ridiculous for a royal family to recognize a half-brother. Only someone as unruly as him would do such a thing!"
The Duke of Changguo was changing his clothes and buttoning up his clothes when he said to his wife in the bronze mirror, "Yuwen Duan has done a lot of ridiculous things. I have seen this brother of his who has a different surname. He is Xue Jianzhi's student and is very much loved and valued by him. It is not uncommon for him to win the first place in the exam. Maybe he can win the third place in the exam. He will be a loyal official in the future. Yuwen Duan is very smart. Do you think he will just call others his brother?"
Prince Shuo called him "good brother" all the time. Just now he was calling him "good nephew", but the tone changed a moment later. He dared to admit it, but Lin Zikui did not. The guests who came and went all looked at the protagonist of the banquet, the young champion who was only 18 years old. He was so elegant and brilliant, so outstanding that those who had girls of marriageable age at home all had their eyes on him.
If we really wait for someone to pass the imperial examination and become a top-ranking Jinshi, there will be many people proposing marriage to him.
Xiao Fu's carriage stopped across the street from Prince Shuo's mansion but he did not go in. He lay on his back in the carriage and heard the bustling noise and clinking of glasses in the palace.
Even the Minister of Revenue came to raise his glass to Lin Zikui: "I heard the Hanlin scholar mention Mr. Lin's name, saying that the articles you write are unparalleled in the world."
Lin Zikui responded with a few humble words: "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."
He has suffered from being in the spotlight and is now more cautious.
When Princess Minghua saw Lin Zikui, she nodded secretly and said, "Master, you are right. He is good-looking, educated, and not ostentatious. He has won two first prizes, but he is not arrogant? He has a calm personality and comes from a poor family, which is exactly what I want. The second daughter of our family has also reached the age of marriage. Master, why don't you go back and ask her?"
The second young lady of the Duke's Mansion, that is, Xiao Fu's younger sister.
There were more than one Duke of Changguo who were eyeing her, and most of them were princes and marquises who did not need to rely on marriage to expand their power and just wanted to find a husband for the little girl.
Lin Zikui's personality is very popular with the elders.
After the wine was finished, people dispersed. King Shuo invited Lin Zikui to stay overnight. Lin Zikui had lived in King Shuo's mansion for a month or two and was already familiar with the place. Mo Liu helped the young man over. Lin Zikui hardly drank any wine, just plain water. Lin Zikui sat under the grape trellis in the courtyard, looking up at the crescent moon at the beginning of the month, which looked like a thin curved hook.
"Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. Will Zhao Ling come home? He doesn't know yet that I won the first prize." He murmured. Mo Liu brought him water for washing his feet. Hearing this, he said, "Sir, Madam Xiao hasn't come back twice this month. I think she doesn't like you at all. She doesn't have you in her heart. If she had you, why wouldn't she come home? Which young lady is like him."
Jinzun sat far away, listening but not refuting.
Lord
Lin Zikui shook his head and remained silent. He took off his shoes and socks. The water was still hot, and he stepped on the edge of the cold copper basin.
I heard Mo Liu chattering: "The daughter of the Shangshu family is not good, but you told people that you have married a wife."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a voice coming from outside the door: "Ms. Shangshu's daughter, is she as pretty as me?"
Lin Zikui raised his head immediately.
Mo Liu fell silent immediately.
"I'm asking you, book boy? Are you as pretty as me?"
Mo Liu's face flushed. He was surprised to see Madam Xiao's tall figure in the night. If the young master hadn't said anything, he would have doubted Madam Xiao's gender. "Madam, I haven't seen you before either. Why are you here suddenly? No, this is Prince Shuo's Mansion. How did you get in?"
"I said I was looking for my husband, so I came in." Xiao Fuxian raised his hand to send Jinzun away, and then asked Mo Liu to leave as well: "You go out first, don't stay here."
Mo Liu: "If I go out, where should I go?"
Lin Zikui said, "Mo Liu, go to the Prime Minister."
"……All right."
Lin Zikui's gaze was always on Xiao Zhaoling. The feeling of uneasiness that Xiao Zhaoling gave him became stronger and stronger, like a kite about to be untied from its string. Lin Zikui looked at him without saying anything. Xiao Fu lowered his head and looked at him: "Which minister proposed marriage to you?"
"...No, he didn't propose marriage. He just said he had a daughter and asked me if I had a marriage partner."
Xiao Fu lifted the corner of his robe and sat on the small stool where Mo Liu had just sat: "This isn't called a marriage proposal. Who is it, and what's his last name?"
"The Minister of Revenue...his surname is Zhou. I rejected him all." As soon as he sat on the small stool, he was almost at eye level with Lin Zikui.
Xiao Fu tested the water temperature in the copper basin with his hand and saw that his feet were still dry, so he had not washed them yet.
"The water is ready, you can wash now."
"Yeah." Lin Zikui nodded and put his feet in. The water submerged his ankles, which were white and transparent. Xiao Fu took off his shoes and socks and put his feet in as well. The copper basin was not big, so he stepped right on Lin Zikui's feet.
"Young Master, even your feet are so pretty." Xiao Fu poked him with his toes and rubbed his feet with his soles. Lin Zikui blushed, and his ten round toes curled up slightly. He shook his head and changed the subject: "I... the results of the imperial examination are announced."
"The results have been announced? When did it happen? I guess you've passed!" Xiao Fu pretended not to know.
"It was released at noon, and I won. I won... the first place." He whispered.
"You actually won the first prize!" Xiao Fulang laughed, "I knew that Lin Lang would win. You are extremely smart and never disappoint me. You will definitely do what you say."
"Don't be impatient, it's too early. There is still the most important palace examination." Lin Zikui was also happy, but he remained calm.
"The palace examination only has one policy question, you don't have to worry. When do you want to take the exam?"
Lin Zikui said, "The court has not announced it yet. According to the rules of previous years, the palace examination will be held three days after the results of the joint examination are announced. But I heard today that the regent has dealt with a large number of corrupt cabinet officials, and the palace examination questions will not be submitted by the cabinet. The questions will also have to be re-drafted, so maybe... we will have to wait for another month."
Xiao Fu looked at him with burning eyes: "How can you let my young master wait for a month? You said three days, so it will be three days."
Lin Zikui smiled and said, "How can I have the final say? I'm not an important person and the palace is not owned by my family. I can only leave it to fate. If you do well in the exam earlier, you won't have to worry so much." Lin Zikui didn't ask him what he was doing this month instead of going home. He wanted to ask in his heart, but was afraid that if he asked, he would not be able to stop asking, so he simply didn't ask. After the exam, have a calm talk with him.
We went to bed at night. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time, but we didn’t talk much! Lin Zikui was about to fall asleep in his arms when he heard Xiao Fu's voice beside his ear: "By the way, Lin Lang, you can't look directly at the emperor's face. Don't raise your head during the palace examination."
Three days later, on the fourth day of August, early in the morning, Lin Zikui was waiting at the palace gate. Waiting with him were the tribute students who had passed the exam from various places of origin.
After the hour of Mao, an old eunuch in dark ochre official uniform led the tribute students into the palace. He first called out their names, asked them to change their clothes, distributed their papers, and praised them.
There was something strange in the palace, and Lin Zikui couldn't help but look up and take a few more glances.
At two quarters past noon, more than three hundred tribute students lined up in the Fengtian Hall, surrounded by eunuchs.
Soon, the eunuch announced loudly: "Your Majesty has arrived - the Regent has arrived -"
All the tribute students knelt down respectfully and saluted: "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, and a thousand years and a thousand years of live the regent."
The young emperor's childish voice came: "The tributes are all here."
Lin Zikui was wearing a hat today, as he was afraid of making a fool of himself if he didn't wear it, so he stood up with his head lowered. He was in the second row and there were people standing in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he saw two people sitting high up, one was the little emperor on the dragon throne, wearing a dragon robe, and the other was the regent under the dragon throne, who was much taller. He could vaguely see the corner of his robe, which was a dark black python robe.
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