Chapter 338: The Palace Exam Begins the Day Before (Part 1)
"'Two Sleeves Breeze' Yan Maoqing"
"It seems that our gift is too 'heavy', hahaha"
After Zhu Ping'an and the other three came out of Yan's Mansion, they walked a certain distance, looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh.
Yan Maoqing is like some modern leaders. He shouts slogans loudly. He spoke righteously at the meeting the day before to enforce a clean and honest style. In the evening, he spent public money and took action to bring warmth to some women who have fallen behind.
went.
After coming out of Yan Maoqing's mansion and teasing Yan Maoqing, Zhu Ping'an, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen separated and went to pay homage to their respective room masters. Because their respective room masters were different, they could not go together.
Zhu Pingan's room master is Zhou Chengting, the same examiner who highly recommended Zhu Ping'an's test papers when grading. When he paid a visit to his room master Zhou Chengting, Zhu Pingan felt Zhou Chengting's full appreciation for him, especially when Zhou Chengting discussed the Four Books and Five Classics with Zhu Pingan.
After exchanging some questions, I could no longer appreciate Zhu Ping'an, who was generous in conversation and knowledgeable.
"Has Zihou ever been married? I have a daughter who is thirteen years old. She is beautiful and smart. She is a good match."
After admiring it, Zhou Chengting came up with the idea of betrothal his daughter to Zhu Pingan. In his eyes, Zhu Pingan was a piece of jade that would become a national treasure in the future.
"Thank you for your kindness, Master Fang. It's just that Ping An's blessings are so poor that I don't dare to wrong the young lady. Before Ping An came to Beijing, the family had arranged for Ping's marriage."
Zhu Ping'an stood up, bowed his head, and thanked the room master Zhou Chengting with an apologetic expression. Thinking about it now, the marriage contract was not useless, at least it was an excellent shield.
"It's okay. A promise of a thousand pieces of gold is what a man should do, and a wife who is a loser will not leave the court. What Zihou did was done by a gentleman, how could I do something like a villain." Zhou Chengting's idea of betrothing his daughter to Zhu Ping'an was just a whim.
After listening to Zhu Pingan's explanation, I understood it very well, and at the same time I appreciated Zhu Pingan even more.
When he came out of the house of Zhou Chengting, the house master, the sky was already full of sunset. He thought that Linhuai Hou Mansion should have had dinner at this time, so Zhu Pingan found a restaurant on the street to have dinner, so as not to be hungry when he went back.
The stomach may cause trouble to the Hou family.
At this moment, the Marquis Mansion was in a state of turmoil. Ever since the day of the birthday banquet, the old lady had not been happy. Her appetite was decreasing day by day, and she simply didn’t eat a bite today. In addition, the eldest lady was also very bad-tempered, and several aunts in the eldest room were
These days, I have been exposed to the wrath of the grandma several times. Some of the maids who were serving the old lady said that it was because the most profitable shops in the house had lost everything a few days ago. Not only the shops were also destroyed.
Even the furnishings in the mansion were taken away by several carts to pay off the debt. There were also many maids gloating about the misfortune, saying that most of the shops in the mansion were taken from the third master. They deserved to be taken away by outsiders now.
Take it away.
The best atmosphere in the entire Linhuai Marquis Mansion was only Li Shu's boudoir. Baozi's little maid looked at her young lady putting a stack of house deeds and land deeds in a jewelry box and locking them up. Baozi's face was so happy that he almost felt dislocated.
"Look how silly you are, this is just the beginning. Send a message to Wang Xiaoer tomorrow, saying that the quails have landed and you can cast the net." Li Shu rolled her eyes and stretched out her delicate hand to click.
The little girl clicked the buns on her forehead, pursed her lips and said in anger.
Zhu Ping'an didn't know anything about what happened in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion. After eating, he paid the bill and Shi Shiran returned to the Linhuai Marquis Mansion alone.
A peaceful night, especially sweet.
The next day, Zhu Pingan got up, washed and practiced calligraphy as usual. After breakfast, he continued to study and prepare for the exam. At noon, Zhu Pingan realized that the naughty boy had not come recently. In the next few days, the naughty boy did not come either.
Later, Zhu Ping'an found out the reason, because there had been a lot of things going on in the Marquis's house recently, and the Marquis of Linhuai was out on business and no one restrained the naughty kid. The naughty kid didn't like to study, so naturally he didn't want to take the initiative to come to Zhu Ping'an to suffer.
Reading books and practicing calligraphy, referring to the ancient palace test papers in memory, Zhu Ping'an was at ease reviewing and preparing for the test at Linhuai Marquis Mansion.
Time passed quietly as Zhu Pingan splashed ink and scrolled through the scroll, and the day of the palace examination was getting closer and closer.
In the old system, the palace examination was held on the first day of March. During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to mourn the crown prince, the date of the palace examination was changed to March 15, which is still used today.
Today is already March 14th.
On this day, Zhu Pingan was disturbed when he was reviewing his books in Linhuaihou Mansion. The concierge of Linhuaihou Mansion led a man who looked like a steward to Zhu Pingan's courtyard. The man handed Zhu Pingan a book.
A post.
The post was very familiar, the style of Yan's Mansion, and even the content of the post had not changed much. Yan Shifan invited himself to a banquet again, but the location of the banquet changed, from the original Yan's Mansion to a place called Zhuangyuan Building.
"My master said that the palace examination will be held tomorrow. I want to support the young master in the Zhuangyuan Building. He said that there are several number one scholars in the Zhuangyuan Building. This time, I will entertain the young master in the Zhuangyuan Building as a good omen. I wish the young master tomorrow high school.
Number one scholar."
After this person who looked like a manager sent the post, he spoke to Zhu Ping'an respectfully. Compared with the attitude of the person who sent the post last time, it was like heaven and earth.
It's enough to go to Ouyang Zishi, why did you call me? Moreover, the palace examination is tomorrow, and today's banquet is so sudden. Why does it feel like the Hongmen Banquet? Zhu Pingan took the post and cursed in his heart.
"My master has already arranged a banquet in Zhuangyuan Building, and I hope you will appreciate it." Seeing that Zhu Pingan didn't express his position clearly after taking the post, the steward couldn't help but walked up to Zhu Pingan and bowed his head.
"Thank your master for me, and tell me that I will come to apologize in person someday." Zhu Pingan put the post on the table and said calmly.
A gentleman does not build a dangerous wall. Who knows what Yan Shifan's idea is. Anyway, I don't believe that Yan Shifan would want him to win the first prize.
After Zhu Pingan refused, the man in charge had no choice but to give up and leave the Hou Mansion. However, not long after, another person came and sent the invitation again.
"Master Zhu, the sedan chair is already outside the door. I hope you will appreciate it. The master said that the palace examination will be held tomorrow. Today's banquet for the master in the No. 1 Scholar Building is to wish the master the best in high school tomorrow. There is no other meaning. My master appreciates it very much.
Young Master, if the Young Master does not come, then my master will have no choice but to come to the Marquis Mansion in person to test his strength for the Young Master."
This steward's attitude was even better than that of the previous steward, and he conveyed Yan Shifan's message to Zhu Pingan.
If I don’t go, Yan Shifan will come!
Damn it, you have already said this, how can you refuse? Before the imperial examination, the emperor was selecting candidates. It was expected that at this time, Yan Shifan would not and would not dare to go out to the banquet to do anything. After all, there were so many eyes on him.
Still sitting.
However, although this banquet will not be the Hongmen Banquet, Yan Shifan definitely has no good intentions.
Zhu Ping'an packed up the things for the exam and locked them in the cabinet. Then he quietly put a white jade hairpin in his sleeve and told the servants of the Hou Mansion to send a message to the Hou Mansion.
He left a message saying that he was going to Yan Shifan's grand banquet, so there was no need for the government to leave food for him.
After the explanation was completed, Zhu Ping'an followed the person in charge and walked out of the house. (To be continued...)