Chapter 27 The number one scholar’s father is a charlatan who always wins in gambling!
After Li Changwen pinched his nose to prove that he had everything, he never wanted to see Tan Zhuyue again. He felt that he was forced to consummate the marriage with Tan Zhuyue. From his parents to Tan Zhuyue herself, everyone was forcing him.
The dissatisfaction accumulated in his heart was getting deeper and deeper, but the palace examination was approaching, and Li Changwen was in no mood to care about the mess at home. In the name of preparing for the palace examination, he lived directly in the study. He would not step out of the study if he could. The study was his only safe haven at home.
However, even this only safe haven would be disturbed from time to time by his father who came to test him and his mother who came to complain to him about Tan Zhuyue's disrespect for her mother-in-law.
When facing his mother Tan's complaints, Li Changwen couldn't help but have some unfilial thoughts in his mind - you deserve it! Who told you to force me to marry your niece? If you insist on marrying a troublemaker, you have to bear the consequences.
Li Changwen, who was brought up with the ideas of loyalty and filial piety, was shocked when this thought came to his mind. He forced himself to suppress the abnormal thoughts in his heart and perfunctorily comforted his mother who complained to him for a while. After his mother Tan left, he immersed himself in books, trying not to think too much.
The struggle between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law Tan and Tan Zhuyue is either the east wind prevailing over the west wind, or the west wind prevailing over the east wind. Tan occupies the advantageous position of the elder, and Tan Zhuyue is willing to lose face and take the risk, even if she is at a disadvantage, she will bite Tan a few times, making it difficult for Tan, who is very concerned about her reputation, to cope with it.
After all, people who wear shoes are afraid of those who are barefoot.
So the two women went to Li Changwen to make the decision for them.
One is his mother, the other is his wife. Li Changwen is stuck in the middle and is really being squeezed between the two. In terms of feelings, he hated his wife Tan Zhuyue, so of course he would choose to stand on the side of his mother Tan. However, Tan Zhuyue was a person who would make trouble even if she was unreasonable, and Li Changwen, who also cared about his reputation, could not stand her throwing a tantrum. Both mother and son were angered by Tan Zhuyue's throwing a tantrum.
After all, Tan Zhuyue's last name is Tan, and no matter how much Tan hates her, she can't really kill her own niece. In order to avoid hurting herself, she can only let Tan Zhuyue act like a spoiled child.
However, being hated by her mother-in-law and husband, Tan Zhuyue's life in the Li family was very difficult. She could only protect her own interests by throwing tantrums from time to time. However, she had become a joke in the Li family. If it weren't for the strict family management of the Tan family, and the fear of affecting her son's reputation so that Tan Zhuyue's deeds were not spread out of the Li family, I'm afraid that all the people in the capital would laugh at their family.
However, no one in the capital could see the joke of Li Changwen and Tan Zhuyue, but Si Yuan, Yu Yan and Li Changqing broadcast the daily life of the resentful male and female protagonists in the original plot.
Yu Yan listened to Si Yuan's broadcast and laughed out loud as if she was watching a good show. She was extremely happy. Her relationship with Tan's sister-in-law was not very good, so it would be a waste not to listen to Tan's jokes.
Li Changqing found it funny and at the same time felt very sympathetic towards his cousin Li Changwen.
Although his relationship with Li Changwen was not very close, they were cousins with a close blood relationship and had been classmates for many years, so there was still some friendship, but it was not much.
This little bit of friendship was not enough for Li Changqing to try his best to help Li Changwen escape from his suffering, but it was enough for him to sympathize with Li Changwen sincerely. He kindly sent Li Changwen an invitation for exchange and learning, giving Li Changwen a reason to get out of the house and have some free time.
Just as Li Changqing thought, after receiving Li Changqing's letter, Li Changwen was so excited that he asked his servant to help him harness the carriage. He wanted to go out and stay away from the chaos at home.
When Li Changwen was excitedly going out, he happened to meet his mother Tan who came to him to complain again. His face suddenly changed.
Seeing that Li Changwen was about to go out, Tan asked, "Changwen, where are you going?"
Li Changwen hesitated for a moment, thinking that he could not hide the fact that he received the post from his cousin Li Changqing from his mother, so he simply told the truth: "Brother Changqing invited me to exchange and learn, and I want to see how Brother Changqing is preparing for the palace examination."
When Tan heard this, it became: Li Changqing wanted to test the depth of her son's knowledge, and her son planned to take advantage of the situation and go to the appointment to test Li Changqing's level.
Tan said with a smile: "Then go ahead, and remember to find out Li Changqing's level."
Li Changwen understood what Tan meant. He wanted to explain that this was not his intention, but when he saw the satisfied smile on Tan's face, he swallowed his words back.
Forget it, that's what his mother wants anyway. If he insists on explaining it clearly, his mother will get angry and force him to act as she says, and maybe even stop him from going to the appointment.
He simply said nothing, letting Tan think that he agreed.
Li Changwen arrived at the restaurant where Li Changqing had an appointment to meet him. After his father divided the family, although no one in the family was an official, the family was still quite rich, so Li Changqing was able to spend money to book a private room in this very good restaurant at mealtime when there were the most customers.
When Li Changwen saw that Li Changqing was the only one in the box, he felt a little relieved. He didn't want anyone else to participate in today's exchange meeting.
Because of the fight between Tan and Tan Zhuyue during this period, Li Changwen had a headache seeing too many people around. It would be great if he could chat with Li Changqing alone and avoid trouble.
After meeting Li Changwen, Li Changqing certainly would not bring up anything irrelevant. During their conversation, he never mentioned family matters nor asked about Li Changwen's marital situation. After all, he had a father who liked to gossip about Li Changwen's family affairs. Li Changqing, who listened to the Siyuan broadcast channel every day, probably knew what happened in Li Changwen's family better than Li Changwen himself.
When Li Changwen saw that Li Changqing didn't ask him whether he was happy in his married life, he felt relieved and thought it was good that Li Changqing didn't ask.
However, Li Changqing was considerate enough not to mention it, but Li Changwen still drank too much because of his depression, and complained after getting drunk: "Brother Changqing, you are right not to get married. Let me tell you, getting married is like finding an ancestor for yourself..."
Li Changqing listened silently to Li Changwen's complaints and grumblings without expressing any opinions, and silently accompanied him to drink as he was feeling depressed.
Li Changwen fell asleep while drinking. Li Changqing shook his head helplessly, then went out to call Li Changwen's servant in and asked him to carry Li Changwen back in the carriage.
Originally, Li Changqing wanted to take Li Changwen out to play for a while and relax. After all, it was very difficult for him to be caught between his mother and his new wife at home every day.
As a result, I had to listen to his complaints and drink with him. Now that Li Changwen was drunk, I couldn't keep him outside. It would be bad if something happened. I had to send him back as soon as possible.
Li Changqing thought he had done his best and stopped caring about Li Changwen's family affairs.
The palace examination is about to begin.
On the day when he entered the palace to take part in the palace examination, Li Changqing met Li Changwen again. Compared with the last time he saw him, Li Changwen's mental state was slightly better today. It might be because he was going to take part in the palace examination, so Tan and Tan Zhuyue did not dare to disturb him too much.
Because the candidates taking part in the palace examination were lined up to enter the palace according to their ranking in the previous examination, there was a distance of more than 100 people between Li Changqing, as the top scorer, and Li Changwen, who was ranked more than 100th. The two just looked at each other from a distance without greeting each other.
Li Changqing followed the eunuch leading the way into the palace according to the procedure and prepared to take the exam.
This palace examination is the first special examination after the new emperor ascended the throne. All the candidates present in the palace examination are about to become disciples of the emperor, so the new emperor still attaches great importance to these candidates.
After all, the elimination of the eldest prince's party and the third prince's party left a lot of positions vacant in the court. Even if the new emperor supported his own people to the throne, he did not fill all these vacancies. Now fresh blood is urgently needed.
Li Changqing and his class of candidates are the lucky ones today.
The new emperor came in person to supervise the palace examination.
In previous palace examinations, it was considered a great honor for the emperor to just show up in the palace, let alone supervise the entire process.
But in today's palace examination, the new emperor sat on the high dragon throne to supervise the entire process, and from time to time he walked down the steps to walk around the candidates and conduct inspections.
As the first place in the imperial examination, Li Changqing was the focus of observation of the new emperor. As he was writing his answers, Li Changqing could sense that a bright yellow figure had been staying beside him for a long time.
It was impossible for him to say that he was not nervous, after all, the person standing next to him was the emperor. However, he was not like some other candidates who were so nervous because of the emperor standing next to them that they wrote the wrong answers or their hands were shaking and they were unable to answer the questions.
Before the palace examination, his father also conducted a simulation of the examination for him at home. His father pretended to be the emperor invigilating the examination, always hovering around him and asking questions to interrupt his thoughts or to embarrass him.
His father's sudden outburst of aura once frightened him so much that his brain went blank and he was unable to answer any questions.
At that time, Li Changqing even suspected that his father had some hidden identity that he had not told him, and was waiting for him to become the top scholar in the imperial examination to reveal it to him, and then said that there had never been an official in their family, all for testing him, and that his father was actually a certain big boss...
After listening to his father's bedtime stories about Long Aotian for so long, Li Changqing couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.
However, his father refused to admit that he was the boss, and firmly and proudly called himself a playboy father who would lie down and do nothing, and that he would rely on his son in the future.
Li Changqing trained for many days under the terrifying aura of his father, and finally he was able to answer questions calmly while being nervous under his father's outburst, without affecting his answering level.
Now the new emperor came around and stopped beside him, and didn't move for a long time. Li Changqing was nervous, but not too nervous. He even had time to complain in his heart: "The emperor's aura can't even compare to my father..."
The new emperor stood beside Li Changqing and watched him complete his last policy paper without being affected by the outside world. He watched Li Changqing write it word by word, and he felt that the content of Li Changqing's policy paper touched his heart.
If he had not still retained his rationality and knew that he shouldn't act impulsively during the palace examination, he would have wanted to directly pick up Li Changqing's paper and select him as the top scorer.
In the eyes of the new emperor, Li Changqing is definitely a top scholar.
And it is said that Li Changqing had passed the Liyuan and Huiyuan examinations before, and now he has selected him as the top scholar, which means that the literary style flourished during his reign, far surpassing that of the previous emperor.
The new emperor, who had a good reputation, suppressed his excitement in his heart. He was no longer interested in seeing how other candidates answered their questions. His mind was only on the policy essay that Li Changqing had just written.
The new emperor returned to the dragon throne, and after the palace examination officially ended, the candidates left the hall one after another.
The examiners began to mark the papers, and only the papers of the top ten candidates ranked by the examiners could be presented to the emperor.
The new emperor looked at the ten test papers presented to him. The first thing he did was to look through them to see if there was the one that belonged to Li Changqing, the one he had been thinking about so much.
Fortunately, this imperial examination was the first one after the new emperor ascended the throne, and no one dared to play tricks. The ten test papers handed to the new emperor were indeed the ten best ones, and Li Changqing's test paper, the champion, was placed on the top. The new emperor saw the familiar handwriting at a glance, and was very satisfied. He picked up the test paper and read it carefully.
The other ministers who stayed behind saw the new emperor pick up the paper of their number one candidate and read it carefully. They were worried that something might be wrong, until the new emperor smiled with satisfaction and said, "Good, good, this person should be the number one candidate!"
The other ministers had no objections. They put this test paper on the top, which meant that they all agreed that this test paper should indeed be ranked first.
The new emperor opened the sealed envelope and looked at the name of the test paper owner. He was not surprised to see that it was Li Changqing's name and hometown.
After all, he had seen this test paper when Li Changqing wrote it, and knew that its owner was Li Changqing, who won the first place in the examination. If he saw a name other than Li Changqing's after opening the sealed envelope, he would start to suspect that there might have been a case of cheating in the imperial examination, and that someone had dared to replace the exam paper of the winner.
The new emperor held up Li Changqing's test paper and said to the ministers who stayed to review the papers, "The top scorer is Li Changqing. It seems that our dynasty will have a top scorer in the 'big three'."
All the ministers immediately congratulated him, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The flourishing literary style in the world is all thanks to Your Majesty."
The new emperor knew that he just happened to be in luck at the right time, but he liked a good reputation so he happily agreed. His favorability towards Li Changqing, the top scholar who brought honor to him, also increased rapidly.
When the results were announced, candidates such as Li Changqing, who had been waiting outside the hall for a long time, were filled with anxious anticipation.
Although it is said that one will not fail the palace examination anymore, as long as one does not behave inappropriately in front of the emperor, there will be no worry of failing.
But although they are both Jinshi, their treatments are completely different depending on their rankings.
The top three are first-class Jinshi and are directly appointed as officials. The third place Tanhualang can directly become an official of the sixth rank. The first place Zhuangyuanlang can start directly as an official of the sixth rank and after a few years of experience, he can be promoted to the fifth rank.
The treatment of the second-class Jinshi starting from the fourth place is much worse. If they are directly sent to serve as officials outside the capital, they can only start as eighth-rank minor officials. If they want to stay in the Hanlin Academy in the capital, they have to take the examination for Shujishi. Only if they pass the examination can they stay in the Hanlin Academy as Shujishi. If they fail the examination, they cannot stay.
If one wants to join the cabinet in the future, one must have experience gained in the Hanlin Academy. The scholars of the Hanlin Academy are also called reserve prime ministers, who are the reserve force for future cabinet ministers.
Although there are too many reserve members in the Hanlin Academy, many of them will only be a small official in the Hanlin Academy all their lives and will never be able to touch the cabinet, but if they do not join the Hanlin Academy, they will not be eligible to enter the cabinet even if they hold the first rank in the future.
This is an unspoken rule in official circles, so the newly-appointed scholars are all vying to get their degree in the Hanlin Academy first.
Below the second class is the third class of Tong Jinshi. Although Tong Jinshi can be considered as a Jinshi, their prospects are limited. Generally, it is difficult to move up further once they reach the fifth rank, and they will be stuck and retire at the fifth rank.
Therefore, some people use the saying "a fellow Jinshi is like a wife" to make fun of his fellow Jinshi.
None of the candidates who took part in the palace examination wanted to be among the top three Jinshi candidates, so they were naturally nervous.
However, the ranking of the palace examination has been determined and cannot be changed. No matter how worried they are, they cannot change the facts.
Li Changqing stood at the head of all the candidates, feeling full of ambition and confidence.
Sure enough, when the names were called out, the first name announced was his: "The first place winner, Li Changqing..."
The following is Li Changqing's identity and hometown.
Li Changqing immediately expressed his gratitude according to the rules he had learned before.
Next are the second and third place winners, and the ranking of the imperial examination basically does not change much.
However, Li Changwen, who ranked over 100th in the provincial examination, improved his ranking to tenth in the palace examination.
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