Changyu didn't hesitate to take Manbao to watch the fun, so Mingda dropped the book in his hand and went too.
The three of them walked over and talked, "Didn't you say you didn't want to go?"
Mingda said: "You two have gone. It doesn't matter whether I go or not. Anyway, you will tell me when you come back in the end. It's better for me to go and see it myself."
Man Bao said: "If you want me to tell you, you should just tell His Majesty directly. It's up to you to see and choose. After all, it's you who chooses your husband."
Mingda was funny, "Aren't you afraid that I won't be able to choose Bai Cheng?"
Man Bao said: "Although he is my junior brother, you are also a friend. This kind of thing naturally requires your consent. If you think there is one among the eighteen people who is more suitable than him, then choose him."
"Father will not agree to it. At most, we will decide on a few candidates, and finally let Mingda take a look."
The three of them talked and arrived at the main hall where the emperor was inviting people to meet.
That’s right, it’s the main hall!
He said he wanted people to appreciate the flowers, but no one saw the flowers, so he just dragged them into the main hall to take a knowledge test.
Those who didn't know it thought that the emperor was interested in their talents and wanted to use them, so they were trying their best to answer.
Bai Cheng also tried his best to answer.
Except for the Imperial College Examination that year, this was the first time he felt such great pressure in an exam.
Bai Cheng was even more cautious than when he was taking the exam. He went through it in his mind before writing the answer. The handwriting was so neat that he was shocked. He was really awesome.
When they arrived at the place, Chang Yu felt a little at a loss, so Ming Da walked in front, leading the two of them to sneak forward quietly.
The guards were not surprised, and they turned a blind eye and pretended not to notice.
The chambermaids and maids were more familiar with each other, so they watched Princess Mingda dragging someone with one hand and sneaking into the door quietly, and then hiding behind a screen.
Not to mention the eighteen students sitting in the hall, not even the emperor sitting above noticed it.
He was looking down at the poems they had just written. After reading one, he threw it to the left, middle and right. The one on the left was for barely passed, the one in the middle was for the test, and the one on the right was for those who had barely passed.
There is no need to consider it directly.
It was Gu Zhong who stepped forward to give him some tea and gave him a slight hint. Then the emperor raised his head and glanced at the main hall, and then at a glance he saw three little heads sticking out from behind the screen.
The emperor was upset and the paper in his hand was shaking a little.
Gu Zhong reminded carefully, "Your Majesty?"
The emperor glanced at the poem in his hand and threw it to his right hand.
Gu Zhong glanced at it and felt that the poem written by Meng Zhijie, the Imperial College Master, was quite good, at least not worse than the one the emperor had placed on his left hand.
However, Gu Zhong did not dare to say another word. This was to select a son-in-law, not a talent. Who knows which sentence he wrote was not as good as the emperor wanted?
The emperor turned a blind eye and pretended not to see the three little heads.
Chang Yu, who rarely had this opportunity to stay here, became a little bolder and whispered to Man Bao Mingda, "Which one do you think is better looking?"
Mingda: "This is a son-in-law selection, not a beauty pageant. What do you want to see?"
"Of course you have to see it," Man Bao and Chang Yu whispered in unison: "Appearance is still very important."
Man Bao took the opportunity to recommend her junior brother, "My junior brother looks pretty good, isn't he Yushu Linfeng?"
Changyu understood a little earlier that Manbao wanted to bring Mingda and Bai Cheng together, and she felt that Bai Cheng was not worthy of Mingda.
But Mingda seemed to like him a little, so Changyu didn't say anything. At this time, she took a serious look at the faces of the other seventeen people, then nodded slightly and said: "If you just look at the faces, you can be ranked in the top five.
"
"Top three," Man Bao said very impartially: "That one is better looking than him, and the others can't compare."
"I also think those two are the prettiest, but those two are also pretty good."
Man Bao refused, "Not as good-looking as Bai Cheng. If you don't believe me, ask Ming Da."
Mingda looked at them carefully and then nodded and said, "Man Bao is right. Those two are slightly less temperamental and have a look of fatigue."
Bai Cheng quietly raised his head and looked to the side, and immediately met the eyes of the three of them. Mingda shrank back and pulled Chang Yu and Man Bao.
The two of them also retracted their heads.
Bai Cheng was stunned, so he just said that he always felt that he heard someone talking, and there was a familiar voice among them...
He looked around and saw that everyone was immersed in writing and seemed to have found nothing, so he quickly lowered his head and continued thinking.
Once his thoughts were interrupted, it was difficult to pick them up again. Bai Cheng remembered scratching his head and couldn't help but puff up his cheeks.
When he lowered his head, he didn't see the emperor sitting at the top looking at him with squinted eyes. Then he turned and glanced at the three people hiding behind the screen. For some reason, he couldn't help but snorted softly.
When the time was almost up, the emperor looked directly at Gu Zhong.
Gu Zhong glanced at the incense that was still burning, opened his eyes and said nonsense: "The time has come, please turn in your papers."
Some people handed it in calmly, some were a little regretful and frustrated, and some looked happy. Bai Cheng had a tangled look on his face. He scratched his head and handed in the paper anyway.
The emperor asked them to sit back on the mat, and while scanning their papers, he asked: "Today, I wanted to invite you to the palace to enjoy the pomegranate flowers, but it turned out that there were no pomegranate flowers, but pomegranates had already grown.
"
The emperor said: "Everyone in the world thinks it is a good thing to have more children and more happiness. Tell me what is so good about it. If it were you, how many children do you want in your life?"
This is a question set by the queen. In fact, he said, there is no need to ask this kind of question, because who doesn’t want more children and more happiness? As for children, the more the merrier.
Students who didn't know the inside story thought this was a metaphor. The rich thinkers had already thought about the current feud between the emperor and the princes, and thought that the emperor wanted to establish a few more military governors to disperse the power of the current military governors.
etc……
The students who knew the inside story only thought of Princess Mingda's body.
There were some like Liu Huan who were unwilling to be the consort, and naturally there were also those like Bai Cheng who wanted to be the consort, so everyone racked their brains to answer, trying to give the emperor a perfect answer to achieve their own goals.
Bai Erlang thought about it seriously, and then told the emperor, "Your Majesty, I don't think we need many children. Three or two is the best."
The emperor listened for a long time about having more children, more blessings, and some people mentioned loyalty from filial piety, and also listened for a long time about the random words of heirs. This was the first time he heard such a specific number, and he asked: "Why is it three or two?"
One, not five, six, seven or eight?”
Changyu thought: Is it pigs that have so many babies?
Man Bao thought that even a healthy body would be damaged after giving birth to so many children, like her mother's.