216, Luming Banquet
216, Luming Banquet
The place where they went to attend the Luming Banquet today was a garden called Yunjin Garden.
Yunjin Garden is a royal garden, which used to be a place only high-ranking officials could visit. However, the Luming Banquet was also held there every three years, which gave enough face to scholars like them.
The place and time of the banquet were already indicated on the post sent yesterday.
There was still some distance between Chunxi Road and Yunjinyuan. However, the time they left was not too late. As long as there were no unexpected situations on the road, they would not be late.
However, for this kind of banquet, students like them definitely couldn't arrive right on time; they needed to arrive early and be prepared. Otherwise, if the examiners had already gone and they were late, it would leave a very bad impression on the examiners.
If that were the case, he would have offended all his senior colleagues before even becoming an official in the court, which would also affect his future career.
Today, Zhang Lingxuan, Mr. Fu, and senior brother Fu Boming are all going to attend the Lu Ming Banquet. They had made an appointment in advance to go together and meet at an intersection they must pass by on their way.
When Lu Mingfei arrived, the Zhang family's carriage was already waiting for him at the intersection.
Lifting the curtain, Lu Mingfei called out to the person sitting in the other carriage, "Ling Xuan?"
"Mingfei." Zhang Lingxuan, who was in the carriage, heard the voice calling him and lifted the curtain. Seeing that it was Lu Mingfei in the other carriage, he lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage.
Lu Mingfei also got off the carriage and asked Zhang Lingxuan, "Have the teacher and senior brother not arrived yet?"
"Maybe they haven't arrived yet. I waited here for a while, but they didn't come out." Zhang Lingxuan said. Unless their teacher's carriage left first, but he didn't say this out loud.
"Then let's wait here, they should be here soon." Seeing that it was still early, they were not in a hurry and it didn't matter if they waited. Lu Mingfei knew that their teacher would not leave them first.
It was the first time he saw Zhang Lingxuan alone without Ye Zhuoran. He was a little uncomfortable with the situation and asked about his friend who didn't come: "How is Zhuoran?"
"He's fine. He said he's going back to Imperial College today to study." What Zhang Lingxuan didn't mention was that Ye Zhuoran had cried when he returned home yesterday. However, he had promised to keep Ye Zhuoran's secret, so naturally he wouldn't tell anyone about it.
"Oh, that's good. It's good that he can cheer up and study." Hearing this, Lu Mingfei nodded.
In fact, he thought that Ye Zhuoran's current personality and character were not suitable for entering the officialdom. It would be a good idea for Ye Zhuoran to return to the Imperial College for another three years and then take the provincial examination after that. Perhaps after three years, his personality would become more restrained and mature.
However, he couldn't say these words in front of Zhang Lingxuan or Ye Zhuoran himself.
After all, he himself had passed the provincial examination. If he said something like that again, others would think he didn't want to see his friend pass the provincial examination like him. If Ye Zhuoran heard that, he wouldn't know what to think.
Although they had known each other since childhood and had always had a good relationship, even among close friends, Lu Mingfei knew what to say and what not to say.
It is precisely because we are familiar with each other that we should be more considerate of each other's feelings. It is not that we have such a good relationship that nothing we say will hurt each other.
In fact, it's just the opposite.
If you say something to a stranger, you will never meet again after you pass by each other, and the words you said are in the past. But if you say something to a close friend, because you are together all the time and see each other often, if you say something unpleasant, others will remember it, and over time, the relationship between you will definitely change one day in the future.
"I have some things to do here, so I won't be back at the Imperial College until two days later. If you guys want to go back, go first. I'll come back to see you in a few days."
"good."
Two people stood here talking and waiting for someone.
After waiting for less than a cup of tea, they saw their teacher's carriage coming towards them.
After the few people met and greeted each other, Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan got on their respective carriages and set off together.
Sitting in the carriage, Lu Mingfei leaned against the wall with his head tilted back, thinking of the dream he had this morning and the history lesson his teacher had given him. The Great Yan Dynasty? The Great Qi Dynasty?
There is also a seven-year period of chaos?
Was this a dream, or... was there some other warning in this dream? Lu Mingfei felt a little uncertain.
Thinking of Zhao Lang wearing ancient costume and sitting in a modern classroom with him in class, he couldn't help but find it a little funny again.
I hope this is just a dream, he thought to himself.
***
In the early morning, the streets of Kyoto Prefecture returned to their daytime bustle.
As their carriage passed through the street, they could hear the hawkers outside selling their goods and the voices of people talking on the street.
Heading towards Yunjin Garden, there were many carriages heading in the same direction.
When they reached the section of road that led to Yunjin Garden, the road ahead was jammed with carriages, and their carriages could not pass. After waiting for a while, their carriages finally stopped at the gate of Yunjin Garden.
Their carriage followed the one in front and stopped. Lu Mingfei got off his carriage and walked to the front to meet Zhang Lingxuan, their teacher and senior brother. Then the four of them walked towards the gate of Yunjinyuan together.
Guarding the door were officials and a middle-aged man dressed like a manager.
After they handed over the invitation in their hands, they were invited in.
After passing through two archways, you will see a large garden with many flowers, trees, rockery, flowing water, pavilions and towers, which is very elegant.
Seeing this kind of southern garden in Kyoto Prefecture, Lu Mingfei was surprised and shocked. He leaned close to Zhang Lingxuan's ear and said in a voice that only they could hear, "I really didn't know there was such an elegant place in Kyoto Prefecture." He had been to Prince Ding's Mansion before, but even there, it didn't look as elegant and beautiful as this garden.
This garden alone cost no less than ten thousand taels to build.
"This was originally the residence of a prince... Later, the prince rebelled and was killed, and this house became a royal garden." Zhang Lingxuan whispered to Lu Mingfei what he knew.
Lu Mingfei nodded. So that's how it is. That's not surprising. Many princes in history were richer than the emperor, so it wasn't unusual for them to have the money to build such a large house.
When they entered the garden, they saw that many people had already come there.
It can be seen that everyone came earlier than them.
Everyone who comes here today is a scholar, and they all pay attention to etiquette and rules. So when they meet each other, whether they know each other or not, they will bow to each other and perform the etiquette of a scholar.
Someone came over to greet them and introduce themselves, and they returned the greeting and introduced their names.
As soon as Lu Mingfei gave his name, the other party looked at him in surprise, let out a long "oh", and said, "So you are Lu Jieyuan?"
"So Lu Jieyuan is still so young?!"
The word "Lu Jieyuan" attracted the attention of people around.
When everyone saw that the top winner of this year's provincial examination was a teenager who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, many people were very surprised.
However, there were also students from the Imperial Academy here. Some of them knew Lu Mingfei, while others had only heard of the name "Lu Mingfei".
After all, in the Imperial Academy, there were various exams of varying sizes every now and then, and the exam rankings would be posted on the walls of the Imperial Academy.
Ever since Lu Mingfei joined the Imperial Academy, his name had always been at the top of the mathematics list. Furthermore, his ranking on other lists had also risen from the middle to the top. If you were a student at the Imperial Academy, it was impossible not to have seen his name on the Imperial Academy's exam lists.
Most of the students who passed the provincial examination were those who usually took exams at the Imperial College and ranked high. Therefore, the name "Lu Mingfei" was not unknown in the Imperial College.
Of course, there were also some students Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan knew who were studying at the Imperial College. There were also people whose names they knew but not who they knew personally. After all, there were so many people in the Imperial College, and they didn't know everyone.
Seeing so many people looking at him, Lu Mingfei kept smiling and bowed to everyone.
At this time, several people who looked familiar came towards him. The leader bowed and greeted him, "Lu Jieyuan."
"Sun Yayuan." Lu Mingfei remembered the person who came. This time, the other party ranked among the top ten in the provincial examination.
The first place in the provincial examination is called Jieyuan, and the second to tenth places are called Yayuan.
Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming also bowed in return to their classmates who were studying at the Imperial College.
However, not all of them were students from the Imperial College; most were from other academies. A small number also failed the provincial examinations a few times before, then studied at home for a few years and passed the examination.
Just as they were greeting and talking to the people around them, they heard someone shout, "The academician has arrived."
The academician was the chief examiner of their provincial examination.
Hearing this shout, everyone present turned towards the entrance, bowed slightly and clasped their hands.
When the academician came in with his men, everyone said in unison, "Greetings to the academician and all the gentlemen."
In front of the chief examiner and the examiner, they must call themselves students.
Don't underestimate the relationship between candidates and examiners in ancient times. There was a master-disciple relationship and political interests involved. If one could get the support of the examiner, they would have someone to look after them when they entered the officialdom.
It is difficult to fight alone in officialdom, so many people have already chosen their teachers and political parties on the way to taking the imperial examinations.
Lu Mingfei stood at the front of the crowd, bowing to the chief examiner and the examiners behind him. However, at this moment, he had no intention of getting too close to these officials, nor did he want to choose a political party too early, that is, the master to whom he would be loyal in the future.
The emperor isn't dead yet. Why are you choosing your own master so early? What are you trying to do?
Who will be his future boss? Lu Mingfei is very clear in his mind.
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