The next morning, when Ji Yu woke up, Gu Qingqing was still sleeping soundly.
Ji Yu leaned in and kissed her secretly, and whispered, "Thank you for your hard work yesterday."
Ji Yu changed into his tribute scholar's clothes and tiptoed out of the door.
"Son-in-law, is the young lady up? Does she need me to come in and serve her?" Xiao Tao had already prepared breakfast.
Ji Yu waved his hand and said, "No need. Let Qingqing sleep a little longer."
Xiao Tao praised her son-in-law again in her heart, saying that her son-in-law was really considerate, not lustful, and never went to places of brothel.
Ji Yu ate just two bites and went out.
When they arrived at the palace gate, many tribute scholars had already arrived.
A group of people stood at the gate of the Golden Palace.
Although no one will be disqualified from the Gongshi to Jinshi, everyone knows that there is still a big difference between the first, second and third place.
There were three people in the first class, the top three, and the third place. The examiners selected ten excellent papers, and the emperor personally selected three papers.
There were 147 people in the second class, who were granted the status of Jinshi, but the official positions they were finally conferred were definitely not as good as those in the first class.
The top three candidates, 150, were granted the same status of Jinshi. Although they were all Jinshi, they were still far inferior to the first two.
"Announcement of the three hundred new tribute scholars to the emperor."
Following the eunuch's call, Ji Yu stood at the first position. A group of people formed a long queue and walked into the Golden Throne Hall one after another.
When he entered the palace, Ji Yu remembered the etiquette eunuch's instructions and kept his head down, not wanting to look the emperor directly in the face.
"Are you guys nervous?" The emperor, who was sitting high on the throne, asked first.
Although he had studied hard for many years just to wait for this moment, Ji Yu was not nervous at all, because he ranked first in the examination, so even if he did poorly in the palace examination, the examiner would not dare to put his paper outside the top ten.
Otherwise, it would be suspected of favoritism in the examination, so no examiner dared to make too big an adjustment to the rankings.
Seeing that no one dared to reply, the emperor had no choice but to continue, "Ji Yu, Kong Wenting, and Shen Tongze, step out."
"Your Majesty, I, Ji Yu (Kong Wenting) and Shen Tongze, pay my respects to you." The three of them saluted together.
The three of them were all surprised now, because being selected meant that they would definitely be in the top three!!
Especially Shen Tongze, he was fourth in the provincial examination. He also thought that if he performed well in the palace examination, he might have the chance to enter the top three.
After all, the top three can directly stay in the court as officials, although they may have to start from the seventh or sixth rank. But it is much better than being an official in other places! !
The person who hates Shen Tongze the most right now is probably Tao Ran, who ranked third in the examination.
The emperor continued, "I have read your papers. The examiner said Kong Wenting was the top scorer, Shen Tongze was the second, and Ji Yu was the third. But I think Ji Yu's paper is unique and well answered, so it is not too much to get first place."
When the examiner heard the emperor's words, he knelt down and explained, "Your Majesty, I have absolutely no selfish motives in reviewing the papers. It's just that some of Mr. Ji's ideas are too advanced."
Ji Yu probably guessed that he was referring to the part of his article that respected women's rights. Ji Yu also bowed and replied modestly, "Your Majesty, I am still young and I am afraid I cannot be called the top scholar."
"Oh!" The old emperor nodded and stroked his beard. "How old are you this year? Are you married?"
Ji Yu bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I am fifteen years old and have already married."
"So you're already married! If you weren't, my little girl would be just the right age for you." The emperor said regretfully.
Ji Yu was puzzled. The original plot in the book was that Zhao Xiuyong was favored by the emperor! And the princess promised was not the ninth one! !
"I have just been married! My wife and I are in love with each other." Ji Yu bowed again.
"Then are you willing to divorce your wife and remarry?" The emperor said this to test him. Although he was young, his writing was very sophisticated. He wanted to see if he could be a loyal minister!
Ji Yu knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I don't want to. I have deep feelings for my first wife."
The emperor also found it interesting at this time. After all, there are very few children like him who are so young but have strong minds. They are truly the pillars of the country!
The emperor pretended to be angry and said, "Isn't my precious daughter unworthy of you?"
Ji Yu was still kneeling on the ground without saying a word.
There was a minister nearby who had proposed marriage to Ji Yu three times but was rejected every time. He was holding a grudge and was thinking of reporting him to the emperor, saying that he didn't like his daughter. "Your Majesty, as soon as Ji Yu passed the imperial examination, he immediately went home and married a merchant's daughter. He also wrote twenty poems as a betrothal gift."
The current emperor hates it most when his ministers collude with merchants, especially those intellectuals who are arrogant because of their talent and use poetry as betrothal gifts.
"Oh..." The emperor did not seem angry, but rather interested.
"In that case, can you all tell me what poems he has written?" the emperor asked the minister who was complaining to the side.
The minister shook his head and said, "When the golden wind and jade dew meet, it is better than countless things in the world. The moon in the sea is the moon in the sky, and the person in front of you is the one in your heart. It is simply immoral and against morals. It is unbearable to look at!!!"
The minister was filled with righteous indignation. The emperor was quite interested, nodded, and then said, "Then Mr. Ji, show me the 20 poems you wrote tomorrow."
Ji Yu kowtowed quickly and said, "I obey your order."
"Since you are already married, it is not appropriate for you to be the third place." The emperor thought for a moment and continued, "Pass on my decree, Kong Wenting is the first place. Ji Yu is the second place, and Shen Tongze is the third place."
The three of them all showed joy on their faces, and they all kowtowed and said, "Students obey your orders, long live the emperor."
Now no one can guess whether the emperor likes Ji Yu or hates Ji Yu.
If you hate Ji Yu, you can just kick him out of the top three. If that doesn't work, you can give him the third place, but there's no need to promote him to the second place.
It is really hard to predict the emperor's intentions! ! The adults who have reported Ji Yu are very worried that the emperor will think he has bad intentions.
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