Kong Shen thought about it for a moment and nodded clearly. His brows relaxed, but he hesitated a little, "If you knew that Ajiezhang suffered a bloodbath when he left the capital, Your Majesty would probably be the first to doubt you."
Mei Sanghai: "Ajiezhang's son has come to Beijing. Since he is alive, do you think he can keep it a secret? For Your Majesty, these old events are not important anymore. What is important is my position! Maybe Your Majesty
I prefer that I have some leverage to be held by him."
Kong Shen suddenly realized it, but he still reminded him: "Sir, the number one scholar has been decided. Your Majesty may not be able to renege on his word."
Mei Sanghai: "There are hundreds of candidates, and the top three rankings are not determined so quickly. They are still under discussion before the seal is used. There is no time."
Kong Shen reminded again: "Sir, if you can be selected as the number one scholar without a name, your article will definitely be brilliant. When the examination papers are released later, how can your Majesty not consider the opinions of the public?"
Mei Sanghai: "Don't worry too much. The decision-making lies in the central government. What do you think the imperial court is doing with a lot of writing and writing? No matter how good the thing is, you can find faults in it. People with high expectations will come out to criticize. Who does your majesty say is the number one scholar?
, whoever comes first will naturally be the top pick. These are all trivial matters, don’t worry, just do it quickly.”
"Okay." Kong Shen resigned as ordered.
…
The flowers are blooming and the moon is full, this is the mood of the four members of the Zhong family at this time.
A family of four was admiring the moon in the inner house, and the topic of conversation still revolved around 'Ashi Heng', and inevitably the marriage to Zhong Ruochen.
When it comes to whether we should live here or buy another house to live in when we get married in the future, how much dowry we need, how many servants we need to serve, etc., the elders are all asking their daughters for their opinions.
Zhong Ruochen didn't have any opinions. He was shy from beginning to end. When asked about anything, he always said, "It's all up to my parents."
Her parents are satisfied with her husband, and she is also extremely satisfied with him. She really doesn't want anything more, she just wants to get married.
Only Wen Ruowei was chirping and interjecting, pointing left and right as if she could split one finger into two, as if she was afraid that others wouldn't know her existence, like a sparrow that didn't sleep at night.
When the family was enjoying harmony, Butler Li appeared outside the moon gate and called, "Executive member."
Zhong Su immediately got up and went over. When he got outside the door, he asked, "What's the matter?"
Butler Li smiled and said in a low voice: "Congratulations, as expected. With the young master's strength, someone really came to announce the good news. His ranking on the gold list is no surprise. His Majesty Jinstom has appointed the young master as the number one scholar in the new subject. It will only wait until tomorrow."
The gold medal is on display!"
"Okay!" Zhong Su gave a light high-five and smiled from ear to ear, "This boy lived up to expectations and finally won the first prize in one fell swoop! They say that a son-in-law has half a son-in-law, but my half-son can beat countless others.
, it comforts my regret that Zhong Su is childless!" Thinking of the benefits brought by the continuous blessings of various honors, he smiled even more happily.
After saying this, the two parties separated, and Zhong Su returned to the family and sat down again, already a little absent-minded.
Naturally, the three women in the family noticed it. Wen Jianhui kicked her husband's foot and asked, "I've never seen you so rude, why are you so stupid?"
There were some things that Zhong Su would not have revealed in advance, but they were indeed something to be happy about. In addition, since there were no outsiders, he was in a good mood and said in a low voice: "It's good for you to know some things, and you must not announce them to the outside world in advance. I just heard the news, Ashi
Heng’s palace examination results are out.”
The eyes of the three women suddenly lit up at the same time. Looking at Zhong Su's expression, it was clear that the result was not easy.
Wen Jianhui was actually more anxious than her second daughter, so she rushed ahead and asked: "How did the exam go?"
Zhong Su immediately pointed to her lips, indicating to be silent, "What are you shouting about? Although this is not a secret, after all, it is leaking news from the palace, and the matter can be big or small. Do you think you are living too comfortably?
"
Wen Jianhui hurriedly patted her mouth to apologize, and then asked in a low voice: "How did you go in the exam?"
Zhong Su looked at the expectant eyes of the three women, pointed to the sky with his index finger, and said in a low voice: "His Majesty Jinkou has appointed him as the number one scholar in the new science!"
"Oh!" Wen Jianhui immediately covered her mouth with both hands and smiled like a flower. Her mood was so beautiful, it really felt perfect.
Zhong Ruochen and Yourong Yan couldn't help but feel shy and happy, and they had endless reveries. Their eyes subconsciously looked towards the east courtyard. She didn't know if that person was sharing this bright moon with her. She didn't know how many times.
The longing for the day when I will join hands with my beloved in front of flowers and under the moon.
Wen Ruowei, who looked sluggish for a moment, suddenly burst out, opened his arms, jumped up and exclaimed, "Wow!"
Not only did he scream loudly, he also jumped non-stop and waved his arms to vent his excitement.
Zhong Ruochen quickly pulled her but failed.
So Wen Jianhui took action in time, holding a round fan, rushed over and grabbed Wen Ruowei's ear, slapped her head and face with the fan in her hand, and cursed in a low voice while beating her, "You whispered, you were afraid that others would hear
Not so, right? You want to turn a good thing into a bad thing, right? It’s like taking rat poison all day long..."
Wen Ruowei didn't dare to fight back, and the only person who was beaten was to beg for mercy with "Ouch!"
In an instant, Wen Ruowei's evil nature and wildness were suppressed by his mother. Like a wild dog that retreated to lick its wounds, he retreated to the chair with a resentful look on his face. He felt that he would always be the unluckiest among the family.
that.
It is said that when there are three women in one scene, Zhong Su, who pinched his forehead with his hand, really felt a headache.
However, it didn't take long for Wen Ruowei to heal the scar and forget the pain.
That night, she refused to go back to her room to sleep, so she went into her sister's room and insisted on sleeping with her.
She tossed and turned on the couch without talking, sometimes hugging her sister like a cat named Chun, "Ah, number one scholar, number one scholar, number one scholar, my sister is going to marry the number one scholar. Please let me hug you more, and I will hug you like this from now on."
But he’s the top pick.”
"Damn girl, get out of here if you don't shut up!" Zhong Ruochen was so embarrassed that she pinched her sister hard.
…
Before dawn, Mei Shangshu of the Mei Mansion got up to attend the morning court.
After he finished washing, the steward Kong Shen dismissed the servants and personally helped Mei Sanghai put on his official robe.
Taking this opportunity, Kong Shen reported: "Sir, the list of the top three in the palace examination has come out. There are three people in the first class, fifty-seven people in the second class, and one hundred and fifty-seven people in the third class. Ash Heng did not come out in the first class. His Majesty's attitude has been repeated.
Later he was demoted to third place."
Mei Sonnheim, who opened his arms and let him adjust his clothes, was silent and sighed: "It seems that the influence of the full score club is too great. His Majesty cannot suppress it even if he wants to. He can't even kick out the first armor, so he can only press
Won the last place in the first class."
Kong Shen: "Yes! My guess is absolutely correct. After His Majesty's attitude changed, he initially wanted to kick Ashheng to the top three. However, a group of courtiers who participated in the preparation of the gold list quit and asked Your Majesty to do so.
He gave a reasonable explanation and even quarreled with His Majesty directly in the imperial study room.
Someone said in person that Ashheng's full score Huiyuan's strength is obvious. His Majesty did this. How will the Jin Kingdom understand it after the gold list is announced? They asked if your Majesty can stop the crowd. In the future, there will be appointments in the imperial court.
How fair it is.
Some people say that His Majesty connived at the rebellion in Sinan Mansion, which resulted in many deaths and injuries in the states during the imperial exams. The imperial court had just given the states five places on the tribute list, and later took away one of them to replace them. Could it be that all the states were dead?
, When the scholars of various states are easy to bully but dare not get angry?"
Mei Sanghai sneered when he heard this, "It seems there are quite a few people who want to protect Ashiheng!"
Kong Shen: "This matter is to some extent His Majesty's fault. His Majesty is going back on his word, but His Majesty knows it well. Since he has decided to do it, he will not give in easily under pressure. In short, he will not let Asshi live or die again.
Heng was the number one pick. However, he had to make some concessions, and there was really no way not to make concessions. If things got serious, I was afraid that the pressure would be even greater, so I still kept Ash Heng in the top one.
Another thing is that a tribute scholar named Zhan Muchun from Liezhou was caught in the Asshiheng incident. It is said that this Zhan Muchun was originally Jieyuanlang from Liezhou. His results in this joint examination and the imperial examination ranked second among all the candidates in Liezhou.
Behind Ashi Heng, the overall ranking for this palace examination was originally planned to be ranked seventh, but just because His Majesty wanted to block the Lizhou side, he was directly promoted from the second class to the top scholar in the first class!
"
Mei Sanghai, who was dressed, shook his sleeves and said, "Is it a good thing to force His Majesty to make concessions? The fun has just begun. I want to see how Ajiezhang's son can gain a foothold in the capital." That's all.
The wide collar strode away.
In the early morning, the entire Zhong Mansion was immersed in a different atmosphere.
This time, Zhong Su and his eldest daughter sat quietly in the main hall of the house and waited, while Wen Jianhui and his second daughter walked around under the eaves.
"Half the morning has passed, why haven't you heard from the person who read the list?" Wen Jianhui babbled back and forth from time to time.
Whenever someone walked by outside the yard, Wen Ruowei would stretch his head to take a look.
After waiting left and right, Butler Li's figure finally appeared from the entrance of the courtyard.
Wen Ruowei immediately rushed over and walked around Butler Li, asking non-stop: "How is it, how is it, how did you do in the exam?"
Butler Li pressed his hand to signal her to calm down. When he walked under the eaves, Zhong Su and his eldest daughter also came out.
Zhong Su noticed something was wrong with Butler Li's expression and asked, "What's wrong? Could there be an accident?"
Butler Li forced a smile and said: "The gold medal list is out. The young master did well in the exam, ranking first and third in the top three! I went to verify it myself, and there is nothing wrong."
Zhong Su was stunned, "Third?"
Wen Jianhui: "Looking for flowers?"
Wen Ruowei exclaimed, "Isn't he the number one scholar?"
Zhong Ruochen also looked surprised.
Zhong Su hesitated, "Then last night..."
Butler Li smiled bitterly, "When I went to verify just now, I went to the person who reported the good news last night to question what was going on. He said that it was right at first, but then for some reason, His Majesty changed his mind.
It’s the first time I’ve encountered something like this.”
Zhong Su was silent for a while, then finally sighed, stared at Butler Li and said, "I'm afraid he is still under the influence of his father."
Butler Li nodded, "I think so."
As a family, you look at me and I look at you. I can't say I'm happy, nor can I say I'm unhappy.
In fact, I did very well in the exam, but I was originally ranked number one, but suddenly I was ranked third.
I felt a little disappointed, just because there was a gap with my initial expectations.