March 15th is the day of the palace examination.

Before the hour of Chou, lights were turned on in the west courtyard of Zhaojia Hutong, and the servants began to quietly boil water and cook to prepare breakfast for Yu Shensi who was about to enter the palace to take the exam.

After three o'clock, Yu Shenxing knocked on his brother's door, wanting to wake him up.

But the door creaked open and the fifth junior brother, already dressed neatly, walked out with a serious expression.

"I thought you weren't awake yet." Yu Shenxing said with a smile.

"What a joke! Three years ago today, I was the one waking you up." Yu Shensi smiled calmly. He had been training on Chongming Island for three years, and he actually had more bearing of an official than his fourth senior brother who had been editing books in the Hanlin Academy for three years.

Seeing his brother wearing a newly made black satin round-necked robe, a silk belt, and official boots with powdered black paint, Yu Shenxing couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and almost burst into tears.

"Third brother, it's great that you can come out."

"Haha, yes, I also thought that I would never step into the imperial examination again in this life." Yu Shensi also smiled with infinite emotion and said, "It was my master who gave me the courage to try again."

Although he said it lightly now, in fact, before entering Jinan Imperial Examination Hall last fall, he was so nervous that he almost fainted when he thought about being treated roughly again. But since he was here, he could only tell himself that it would pass in a blink of an eye. If he went back like this, he would be despised to death by his master.

Unexpectedly, this time, the soldiers who searched him didn't even touch his back, which surprised Lieyang. He pointed at his buttocks and asked, "Aren't they searching here?"

"My husband has that hobby, but I think it's dirty." Guan Jun couldn't help but laugh and replied, "If you really want to, it's not impossible, but you have to pay more."

"I don't want to!" Yu Shensi was so embarrassed that he quickly clamped his legs together and pulled up his pants. After he went into the room and sat down, he gradually came to his senses.

Damn, there is no rule that requires searching the valley path. I was screwed by a pervert back then...

As expected, the next two body searches were still just brief and no sensitive parts were touched, which actually made Lieyangzi, who had a masochistic constitution, feel a little regretful.

Alas, there will be no chance of being treated rudely anymore... Oh no, I don’t even know who to turn to for revenge!

~~

Seeing that his third brother was distracted, Yu Shenxing thought that he was worried that his back door would be checked again before the palace examination, so he reassured him, "Don't worry, this time we will mainly check whether you have weapons, not cheat sheets."

The palace examination offers full admission and is held under the watchful eyes of the emperor and his ministers. How desperate must the Chinese candidates be to cheat?

"Oh, that's a pity..." Yu Shensi said casually, and then quickly said: "That's great, now I feel relieved."

Yu Shenxing looked at his fifth junior brother in surprise. He heard that he and his sixth junior brother were in Chongming, sleeping and eating at the same table. Could it be that they had developed a path that had never been imagined?

Of course, today was not the time for gossip, so he suppressed the doubts in his heart and said gently, "Let's go over there quickly. Master has also stood up to see you off."

"Oh, the old man gets up so early? Why didn't you say so earlier!" Yu Shensi's heart warmed, and he quickly swung his long legs and headed towards the main room.

In the main hall, Master Zhao looked at Lieyang who saluted him with satisfaction. Although he had more and more disciples now, the Calabash Brothers still had a special place in his heart.

"Hurry up and have dinner." Zhao Hao said with a smile, "Qiaoqiao specially made you the champion cake, the porridge, and the bamboo noodles."

"Thank you, Master and Fifth Master's Wife." Yu Shensi's eyes turned red with gratitude again.

After finishing the breakfast prepared for the imperial examination, Yu Shensi followed his senior brother in kneeling down to pay homage to Confucius, Taizu and the master, and then prepared to set off.

Before he set off, the master put on a brand new scholar's scarf for him as per custom and said with a smile, "You have won three prizes in a row."

"Yes, Master!" Yu Shensi nodded heavily, and under the earnest gaze of his master, he was sent to Dongjiang Mixiang by several senior brothers.

~~

In Dongjiang Rice Lane, there are already countless lanterns with the words "Palace Examination by Imperial Order". The Chinese candidates are chatting happily to ease the tension of entering the palace.

Only the disciples of science turned a deaf ear to the noise around them, and watched their eyes and noses, and their noses and hearts, in order to accumulate determination for the battle.

Their predecessors taught them to remain silent before the palace examination, as it was said that opening one's mouth would lead to loss of confidence... in fact, the same would happen to the nostrils.

Not long after all the Chinese candidates arrived, a bell rang from the city gate tower, the Daming Gate slowly opened, and the imperial guards in distinctive armor filed out.

The four hundred candidates had never seen such a scene before. They were all silent and quickly lined up in two rows according to their ranking in the examination.

At this time, Qin Minglei, the Left Vice Minister of Rites and in charge of the Hanlin Academy, who had stayed in the palace yesterday and was on duty at the examination room, slowly walked out of the Daming Gate and led them silently through the Qianbu Corridor to the Chengtian Gate to be searched by the Jinwu Guards.

As expected, just touch through the clothes to see if there is any hard spot, no need to take off clothes.

When the body search was completed, at dawn, the Chengtian Gate slowly opened amid the rumbling of drums.

This time, two teams of big generals wearing golden armor came out in formation. The golden armor with mountain patterns on them shone brightly in the morning sun, so bright that the candidates dared not look at them. They lowered their heads, held their breath, and followed Qin Minglei into the Forbidden City.

When they walked along the straight imperial road through Duanmen and arrived in front of Wumen, it was already daylight. For the first time in their lives, all the candidates saw the majestic and solemn Five Phoenix Tower and were deeply shocked.

But unlike the ordinary candidates who were intimidated by the majesty of the imperial power, the 81 disciples of the Science School were only shocked by the grandeur of the building and did not feel any sense of kneeling before the authority of the emperor who was the only one in the capital and could command the whole world.

Because in their hearts, they have already built a tall tower, a huge pendulum that is taller than the Meridian Gate, swinging continuously, slowly and powerfully driving away all superstitions. They don't even believe in the Emperor of Heaven, so how can they believe in someone who claims to be the Son of Heaven?

However, at that time no one was aware of the existence of this group of rebels. Adhering to the consistent low-key style of scientists, they passed through the Meridian Gate, crossed the Outer Golden Water Bridge, came to the Huangji Gate, and lined up to wait for the Emperor Longqing to arrive.

After a long while, several big men dressed in first-rank court robes, surrounded by a group of officials, came from the left wing door.

Because it was a national talent selection ceremony, all the important officials of the court were present, even Lord Li, who had not been seen for a long time since he submitted his resignation.

However, the old man, Duke Chengguo, who had served as the examiner for many years, unfortunately suffered a setback last month when he was having an in-depth conversation with his 71st concubine and realizing the great harmony of life.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a stroke, otherwise even the gods wouldn’t be able to save him.

Although he was rescued in time, he was left with a crooked face, squinting eyes, and hemiplegia, and could no longer be seen in public. I'm afraid his record of offering sacrifices to heaven and taking concubines for the emperor will not be able to continue...

So Duke Yingguo Zhang Rong took over his position and served as the examiner of this palace examination.

When all the officials finished lining up at the front of the team, the exclusive background music of Emperor Longqing sounded. Weng Weng, who was overworked and had a pair of dark circles under his eyes, took the seat on the golden stage with the help of Meng Chong.

Everyone knelt on the ground, shouted "Long live the emperor", and performed five bows and three kowtows. Then Meng Chong, the new seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, read out the imperial edict for the palace examination.

The palace examination in the fifth year of Longqing officially began...

~~

After the Minister of Rites Pan Sheng, who served as the supervisor of the palace examination, directed the successful candidates to express their gratitude and sit down in the left corridors on both sides, the examiner began to distribute the essay questions and answer sheets.

Except for Gao Gong who set the questions, the other ministers did not know the questions. They all stood behind the candidates curiously to see what questions Gao Gong had set this time.

Everyone saw that it was written on it:

"I have inherited the mandate of heaven and have ruled for five years. I have been working hard day and night to maintain governance..."

Seeing this, the ministers could not help but criticize in their hearts, you little bee, how dare you say that...

"I have always thought about sharing the blessing of peace with the world, but I have not yet achieved it. I am very confused... If we make the people work hard and not have time to get used to the etiquette of superiors and subordinates, and eliminate their desire to respect wealth and luxury, then the customs will be improved and the world will be peaceful. Is this right? Or is it not?"

'The Han Dynasty was known as the most recent ancient dynasty. Among the ministers who offered advice at that time, there were those who wanted to establish a system, those who wanted to establish a legacy for eternity, and those who wanted to achieve change without being strict. All of them were worried that laws alone were not enough to promote governance. So how could peace be achieved?'

'...The system contained in the Hongwu Ritual System and the Daming Jili is detailed and can be practiced for all eternity with few mistakes. However, it has led to ineffective governance... Is it that the political system is only in place but the rituals are not yet implemented?'

Seeing that the three questions in the policy paper were all within the scope of the Xiangshan Forum, and the teacher had also explained them in detail, the scientific students were all delighted and exclaimed:

"Master is truly a god. He has guessed Gao Huzi's thoughts!"

Naturally, everyone's morale was boosted, and they were full of energy. They wrote like gods, and produced one long and fluent article after another.

Then I checked, copied, checked again, handed in the paper gracefully, and left. Here I come to the Eight Great Hutongs...

I'm here to repay the wine I owe my fellow villagers, not to go out to look for prostitutes.

Why would scientists go to prostitutes? They can just take care of themselves, right?

Because from a scientific point of view, the latter has the same effect, is lower cost and more hygienic.

It’s not because scientists are poor.

~~

That night, the examiner covered the essay papers with names on them and had the examiner in charge send them to the examiner in the East Pavilion to decide the top three rankings.

The examiner should have been headed by the chief minister of the cabinet, but Li Chunfang claimed that he had been retired for a long time and had no nerve to argue with Gao Gong, so he said that he was dizzy and took the excuse of being lazy, and asked Gao Gong to take the main seat.

Naturally, Gao Ge Lao took the lead, but the emperor had already decided, or he had decided, to allow Li Chunfang to retire after the palace examination, so he would naturally be more friendly to him.

But Gao Gong had no good words for Zhao Zhenji. Old Zhao also knew that he would not stay long, so how could he swallow his anger? During the marking process, the two quarreled countless times.

Fortunately, the marking of the palace examination only took one day. If it were the same as the imperial examination, and the examiners were locked together for a month, the two grand secretaries would have certainly caused a death.

By noon the next day, the four hundred examination papers were ranked according to the will of the Minister Gao. Then Gao Gong and the Duke of Ying went to the Wenhua Hall with the ten preliminary examination papers to read them, and the emperor personally decided the top few.

But Longqing's mind was not on this at all. He had recently become addicted to real-life role-playing games and was eager to go back to play his role as Ximen Daguanren and play opposite Huahua Nuer as Pan Jinlian. How could he have the mind to listen to nonsense here?

After patiently listening to the three submissions, he could not wait to issue an edict to exempt them from reading, and said to Gao Gong that the ranking was fair, so let it be.

Just as he was about to leave after saying this, he realized that he still didn't know who the top scorer was.

He put his butt down again and asked, "Open it and see, what is the name of this year's number one scholar?"

"Yes." Meng Chong tore up the first test paper, covered his name on it, and presented it to the emperor.

Longqing took it and looked at it, then said with a smile: "Yu... Shen... Si... is a good name. He is a man of careful thinking and sincere practice. I think he can do it. Then he will be the top scorer of this year's exam!"