At the end of February, at the end of mid-spring, it rained Feifei. Xu Jin walked out of the Jiangxi Hall with an oil-paper umbrella, a nearly seventeen-year-old boy with a straight body, red lips and white teeth, plump and handsome, and his temperament was as calm as ever, but there was a trace of imperceptible solemnity hidden in his eyes.

Xu Jin just learned a piece of news that was extremely unfavorable to him from his senior brother Wei Yang, it is said that Shi Xuan, the vice president who presided over the examination, deposed an exam paper, which was suspected to be his own. Wei Yang's uncle Wei Hanwen is the right waiter of the Ministry of Industry, and this news is what Wei Yang heard from his uncle, and Shi Jue, the left waiter of the Ministry of Industry, happens to be the same examiner of this examination, so the news should be quite reliable.

Xu Jin just walked out of the gate of the Jiangxi Hall, and several lifters also happened to hold umbrellas and then walked out, it was the "iron triangle" combination of Zhou Xu, Xiao Wan, and Gong Xiang, and it seemed that they were deliberately speeding up to catch up.

"Xu Jieyuan, please stay!" Zhou Xu called.

Xu Jinzheng went down the stone level, and when he heard the words, he stood still and turned around: "What does Brother Zhou have to teach you?" ”

Zhou Xu said with a smile: "We invited a few people from Zhejiang to meet friends with Wen, if Xu Jieyuan is interested in going to drink a few cups with him, he can also give us a town field." ”

"I'm sorry, but there's something going on." Xu Jin declined.

Zhou Xu didn't invite Xu Jin sincerely, and said regretfully when he heard this: "That's a pity, since Xu Jieyuan has something, it won't hinder you." ”

Xu Jin arched his hand and went down the stone steps and left directly, Gong Xiang looked at Xu Jin's back, and said gloatingly: "At this time, even if there is jade liquid elixir in front of him, Xu Siyuan is probably not in the mood to drink it." ”

Zhou Xu and Xiao Wan looked at each other and smiled, now the news that Xu Jin's exam paper was suspected of being deposed has already spread in the circle of candidates, and they have naturally heard about it. Although they and Xu Jin do not have a deep hatred, but since ancient times, the literati have been light, Xu Jin has been shrouded in a dazzling halo all the way, the boy tried the small three yuan, the township test was hand-picked to solve the yuan, and even participated in the literary meeting is the leader, and now it has finally been planted once, so the three of them feel inexplicably comfortable.

Xu Jin walked in the rain with an umbrella for a while, and his mood had calmed down, he was a person who had gone through a lot of wind and waves, even if he would try to really fall into Sun Shan, it would not make him collapse. The only thing that makes Xu Jin feel tricky is the marriage with Ruyi, without the blessing of the identity of Jinshi, I wonder if Fei Shi is willing to marry Ruyi to himself? Although Fei Shi values himself very much, as the head of the family, Fei Shi also has to take into account the face of the Fei family, right?

Xu Jin strolled around and pondered the solution to the problem......

……

On the evening of February 26, this is destined to be a sleepless night, because tomorrow is the day when the list will be released.

It is worth mentioning here that although there is a palace examination after the examination, the palace examination only affects the ranking, and there is no need to worry about being dethroned, that is to say, as long as you pass the examination, you will at least have a fellow jinshi background, and from then on you will become an official gentry class, completely get rid of the identity of a commoner, and become a master. Exactly: Chao is Tian Shelang, and Twilight is in Tianzi Hall.

It was late at night, and a hall of the Wei Guogong Mansion in the hour fang was still brightly lit, Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, Zhang Lun, the British Gong, Guo Xun, the Marquis of Wuding, and several other noble children were sitting around the table to drink and feast, and everyone was accompanied by beautiful maids.

The British public Zhang Lun was holding Orchid up and down his hands, making the latter hairpin messy, fierce and frank, and coquettish. The other noble sons are similar, one of them is still drinking a leather cup with the small mouth of a beautiful maid, and the picture is unsightly.

"Old Xu is really like a god, I heard that Xu Jin's kid's scroll was deposed by Shi Xuan, haha, let alone Huiyuan, even the tribute didn't catch it." Guo Xun gloated.

Wei Guogong Xu Pengju was obviously in a good mood, Xu Jin did not pass the Huiyuan exam, and the fifty or sixty thousand taels of bets in the gambling house were safe, and the money was earned like running water.

"Brother Pengju, I've been a little tight lately, when will the dividends of the gambling house arrive?" The British Duke Zhang Lun said with a grin, one hand still clutching on Orchid's chest.

As the saying goes, it is difficult to eat alone, and it is impossible for Xu Pengju to monopolize the gambling house business in Beijing alone, and many nobles have participated in the shares.

Xu Pengju smiled and said: "Hurry up, isn't the test result still out!" ”

A noble at the same table said: "It's almost time now, and it is estimated that there will be news soon." ”

As soon as the words ended, a family member of the Guogong Mansion trotted in and reported loudly: "The 316th place will be examined, Yangzhou Fan Mingjin!" ”

"Haha, look, the news is coming, Ben Hou guessed that this time the Huiyuan should be Yang Weicong, the son of Gu'an."

……

At this time, the Gongyuan Supreme Hall was brightly lit, Liang Chu and Shi Xuan, as well as eighteen fellow examiners, were all present, and they were opening the seals of the transcription and the original volume one by one according to the ranking, and after comparing them correctly, they wrote their names on the list.

It is necessary to explain the procedure for the trial release of the list, since the list will be released the next morning, so the list must be written tonight. In order to show notarization, all the examiners were supervised by each other when writing the list, and a paper was opened, and the names of the candidates were written on the list after everyone verified that they were correct, so it was extremely time-consuming, and it usually took an all-night to record the entire list.

After the list is recorded, it has to be sent to the Ministry of Rites immediately to be stamped with a big seal, and the next day Meng Mengliang posted the list on the public notice board outside the Ministry of Rites, and the joy began to sound the gong to announce the good news.

Because it is a name that is recorded when a volume is opened, the sons of nobles like Wei Guogong can know who is on the list as long as they spend money to buy the officials in the Gongyuan to deliver the news.

"The hundredth place in the test, Zhang Xuan, a son of Wenzhou, Zhejiang!"

"The eighty-fifth place in the exam, Liang Kuan, a son of Shunde, Guangdong!"

"The fiftieth place in the exam, Jiangxi Juzi Zhou Xu!"

"The thirtieth place in the exam, Jiangxi Juzi Jiang Rubi!"

"The twenty-fifth place in the exam, Jiangxi Juzi Weiyang!"

A message was sent to the Wei Mansion in a timely manner, and at this time, all the sons and daughters of the nobles became serious, waiting for the follow-up list with bated breath, because the top ten in the test, the gambling house opened a handicap to accept bets, and the total funds added up to more than 100,000 taels.

"The fifteenth place in the exam, Suzhou Juzi Zhu Kun!"

"The tenth place in the test, Hubei Juzi Liao Daonan!"

"The ninth place in the exam, Shanxi is half a child!"

"The fifth place in the exam, Jiangxi Juzi Fei Maozhong!"

"The third place in the exam, Zhejiang Juzi Lu Li!"

"I will try the second place, Yang Weicong, the son of Gu'an!"

"No, Yang Weicong only got second, so who is Huiyuan?" The nobles in the hall couldn't help but look at each other.

Xu Peng, the Duke of Wei, raised his eyelids and couldn't help jumping, he had a bad premonition in his heart, took a sip of wine and pretended to be calm: "Don't worry, it is estimated that there will be news in a while." ”

……

At this time, in the Gongyuan court, a group of examiners were unpacking the first-ranked test papers, and everyone had expectations in their eyes, the previous Huiyuan favorites Yang Weicong and Lu Li only won the second and third, so who would be the first? It's really exciting!

At this time, the sealed original scroll was finally opened, and when they saw the name on the frontispiece, everyone present was taken aback, and Shi Xuan and Shi Jue blurted out: "Xu Jin! ”

Seeing that the name written on the original scroll was Xu Jin, Shi Xuan hurriedly compared the number and content of the transcription scroll and the original scroll, and it was indeed exactly the same, and he was not mistaken, and the whole person was dumbfounded.

Hanlin enshrined Liu Tianmin happily stroked his beard and laughed: "Haha, winning the first place in the examination, can anyone still object to this son's talent?" ”

Shi Xuan's face sank, and he said loudly: "Xu Jin's conduct is not worthy of being a huiyuan, at most he will be given a sub-yuan, and the official suggests that he and Yang Weicong be reversed, and Yang Weicong will be the current branch huiyuan." ”

"This official agrees!"

"This official seconded!"

As soon as Shi Xuan finished speaking, several examiners immediately agreed. Liu Tianmin couldn't help but blush, and retorted angrily: "Shi Shilang, the ranking of the exam papers is jointly evaluated by everyone, how can you change it at will, you are doing this because of private expenses, if Shi Shilang insists on going his own way, the lower officials will go to you with a copy." ”

Shi Xuan is not only the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, but also the position of a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, in charge of the affairs of the academy, and is the direct official of the Hanlin to worship Liu Tianmin. ”

Liang Chu coughed lightly and said: "Don't make noise, the old man said before, I was ordered by the emperor to preside over the examination, and we must be fair and just to select and recruit talents for the country, and we must not break the rules because of personal preferences." Since Xu Jin is the first to be admitted by relying on real talent and practical learning, then the Huiyuan of this subject is him. ”

Liang Chu is tolerant, has a gentleman's style, has a very high reputation in Shilin, coupled with the authority of the cabinet deputy assistant, and is the chief examiner of this examination, as soon as his old man's golden mouth is opened, it is equivalent to a final word.

Shi Jun was unwilling and insisted on voting for a resolution, Liang Junzi smiled and agreed, and as a result, thirteen of the twenty examiners seconded Liang Chu, so Xu Jin's meeting was decided in the controversy, and when it came to prestige, Shi Jun was still a little worse than Liang Chu.

……

"Will try the first place, Jiangxi Shangrao Juzi Xu Jin!"

While......

Xu Peng's wine glass fell off his hand, feeling that the whole person was not good, his grandmother's, Jinke Huiyuan turned out to be Xu Jin's kid, this time he lost a lot!

"I'm grass, how can it be Xu Jin? Who said before that Xu Jin's test paper was deposed? Zhang Lun couldn't help but scold, his shares in the gambling house were second only to Xu Pengju, I thought that I could divide one or two thousand taels of silver this time, but now I am afraid that I will lose the silver.

Wuding Marquis Zhang Xun also had a gloomy face, he will try to be Yuan, according to the rules, the palace test must be in the top ten.

A group of noble children slapped the table and scolded the examiners of the Gongyuan for being blind, causing themselves to lose a lot of silver in vain, and the maidservants who accompanied them were frightened and silent.