Chapter 227: Just Being Petty
The voice reached Zhu Lan's ears, and she just smiled indifferently. However, Zhu Qingyan beside her suddenly had a strange look on his face.
Zhu Lan thought Zhu Qingyan was speaking up for him, so he nudged her with his elbow and said, "She's just an idler, don't worry about her."
Zhu Qingyan was still looking in the direction of that person. After a moment, he suddenly raised one corner of his lips and revealed a mocking and speechless smile.
"He is indeed an idler."
Zhu Lan heard something wrong in her tone, so he looked in the direction of her gaze, and after careful attention he saw clearly the face of the person who had just spilled the lime.
Isn’t that Chen Ziming?
Zhu Lan looked at Chen Ziming, then at Zhu Qingyan, and pursed his lips with a hint of regret.
...Forget it, there's really nothing to talk about between them.
Sure enough, then I heard Zhu Qingyan curse "bad luck".
At this moment, Chen Ziming seemed to sense that someone was looking at him, and he also looked over here. After recognizing Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan, he was also stunned. Then he hurriedly looked away and moved his body, trying to use the bodies of other candidates to cover himself.
And the friend next to him happened to look at Zhu Lan, his eyes suddenly lit up, he became excited, and there was a fervent admiration in his eyes.
At this time, an official from the Ministry of Rites walked out of the Gongyuan and began to read out the list of groups.
When entering the imperial examination, people were divided into groups of fifty. Chen Ziming and his friends happened to be assigned to the same group as Zhu Qingyan and Zhu Lan.
Chen Ziming twisted his neck and tried hard to stand farther away from the two of them, but his friend grabbed his sleeve and pulled him forward.
"Come on, Brother Chen, let's go say hello!"
Chen Ziming was dragged in front of Zhu Lan and his friend. His friend excitedly took out the brush, licked it with the tip of his tongue, and handed the pen to Zhu Lan.
"Zhu Jieyuan, can you...can you sign your name on my sleeve?"
Zhu Lan was somewhat amused, but he still performed a polite ceremony between students, cupped his hands and said, "My dear brother, the Spring Examination is about to begin. You are writing on your clothes. Do you want to be kicked out as a cheater?"
While the two were talking, Chen Ziming, who was forced to appear in front of Zhu Qingyan, finally couldn't pretend to be blind anymore and had to bite the bullet and greet him.
"Qingyan, long time no see."
Zhu Qingyan glanced at him coldly, "Mr. Chen is a scholar after all, please respect yourself and don't call other girls by their given names. If others don't know, they will think I know you very well."
Chen Ziming was choked by her, and in front of his friends, he felt a little embarrassed.
At first, Zhu Qingyan was very obedient in front of him, as well behaved as a rabbit, but he would never speak to him like that.
Moreover, the entire Longchang Academy knew that Zhu Qingyan was the daughter of a concubine, which was completely different from her own status. The reason they separated was that she was not worthy of his family background.
Thinking of this, Chen Ziming seemed to have made up for himself a little and straightened his back again.
"Qingyan... Miss Zhu, you and I have known each other for a long time, and I am here to give you some advice as a friend.
You are not young anymore, why would a girl compete with men for these honors? You are already a juren, which is enough for you to find a good husband. Don't be too picky and miss out on your best years. You will regret it later."
Zhu Qingyan pursed his lips and smiled, "Mr. Chen is really knowledgeable and talented, what a good lecture. Qingyan studies his lessons every day and has no time to think about these things. Mr. Chen, a man of seven feet tall, actually has time to worry about the marriage of girls and has come up with such a brilliant idea -
It seems that Master Chen has made great achievements in learning. It is no problem for him to be the top scholar in the imperial examination, right?"
Chen Ziming's face turned red.
Although he made it to the list during the Jiangzhou County Examination, his ranking was not very good. He knew that if he could make it to the list this spring, it would all depend on God's will, so how could he dare to think about whether he would be the top scorer or not?
Moreover, Zhu Lan, the top scholar in Jiangzhou, was standing in front of him, but Zhu Qingyan called himself "erudite and talented". Wasn't this sarcasm?
"I'm reminding you with good intentions, but why are you so ungrateful and speaking in sarcastic tones!" Chen Ziming said angrily.
Zhu Qingyan covered his lips and acted panicked, "Qingyan is ignorant of etiquette. Master Chen is the legitimate son of the Minister of Rites. He condescended to give Qingyan some advice. Qingyan is ungrateful. Qingyan will apologize to the Minister right now!"
As he said this, he bowed and apologized.
Chen Ziming's facial features were distorted by anger, and his chest was heaving violently.
His father was originally going to be the Minister of Rites, but someone sent a letter of accusation to the court, and as a result, someone else took the position.
Zhu Qingyan said this obviously on purpose!
However, how could he be allowed to act so insolently in front of the Imperial Examination Hall?
Chen Ziming's teeth were almost broken, and he turned around and left.
When he flicked his sleeves, something fell out. It turned out to be his test paper.
Zhu Lan glanced at the examination certificate on the ground and raised his eyebrows slightly. This thing cannot be thrown away.
"Why don't you send it to him? It will also make you look generous."
Zhu Qingyan glared at her and said viciously:
"What are you sending? Nothing!
I am just petty.”
Zhu Lan suppressed a smile and looked away, "Okay, never mind."
After a while, Chen Ziming really ran back in shame, picked up the dirty exam paper from under the feet of passers-by, and walked away in shame again.
This farce at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall actually eased some of Zhu Qingyan's nervousness before entering.
After a few gong sounds, an official from the Imperial Examination Hall announced that the examinees would begin entering the hall in the order of their groups.
The students held the examination certificates in hand and verified their identities at the entrance. They were then searched and their belongings checked.
"How strange! Why is it that it has become popular to bring lime into the Imperial Examination Hall this year..." the official in charge of the inspection muttered softly, and then handed the bag back to the Jiangzhou candidate in front of him, "Let's go, let's go."
After the search was completed, the candidates looked for their own rooms in the Imperial Examination Hall according to the examination instructions. There were nearly 10,000 rooms in the Imperial Examination Hall, all of which were single rooms, six feet long, five feet wide, and eight feet high, which were slightly more spacious than the rooms in the provincial examination hall.
Zhu Lan came to his own cell under the guidance of the army. As soon as he entered, he heard the sound of pens, ink, paper and inkstone being laid out in the cell next door.
Zhu Lan was not in a hurry to take out the four treasures of the study. Instead, he asked the soldier for a basin of clean water and cleaned the entire cell with a brand new rag. He cleared away the dead branches and weeds in the corners, and then laid out his specially made down quilt.
Candles and charcoal were placed under the bed. Zhu Lan lit the charcoal and burned a furnace of Zhao Qingxiangong incense pills. The faint medicinal aroma of Scrophularia combined with the fresh frankincense made people feel relaxed and happy in the warm and clean room.
At this time, all the candidates had entered the examination hall and the gate of the examination hall was officially closed.
The official from the Ministry of Rites was inspecting in the long and narrow corridor. When he passed by Zhu Lan's cell, he couldn't help but look at it twice in surprise, and a smile appeared on his originally expressionless face.
The dormitory is decorated so warmly and comfortably. It looks like this student is here for vacation instead of taking part in the Spring Examination.
Then he smiled, shook his head and walked away.
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