The city of Bianjing was not peaceful the next day.
Last night, the Imperial City Division went out overnight, not only sealing off the Gongyuan, but also ransacking many inns and taking away many scholars. The commotion was quite big and naturally attracted the attention of the whole city.
Based on various signs, people with a little knowledge are guessing whether there is fraud in this provincial examination?
The candidates are also panicking, worried that their results in the provincial examination may be invalidated and they will have to take the test again and go through the ordeal of nine days and six nights again.
The one who was most anxious in his heart was Gu Tingye, who was most familiar with the scholars of Yuzhou. After a little careful investigation, he found out that the scholars who were taken away were all from Yuzhou.
Moreover, the residences of these scholars were turned upside down, and the entrances were guarded by soldiers from the Imperial City Department.
Nowadays, there are rumors in the city that the rural examination was fraudulent, and it also implicated the scholars of Yuzhou. This is not a good sign!
However, even though Gu Tingye was anxious, he did not act rashly until the situation became clear. He only went to Sheng Changbai to inquire about the situation.
It's a pity that although Sheng Changbai is an official in the court, he is not much better informed than Gu Tingye. He is also blind, so the two of them can only worry at home.
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However, people from the Imperial City Division quickly came to the door and not only took Gu Tingye away for questioning, but Qi Heng and Sheng Changfeng were not spared either.
They all have "Tan Wen Lu" in their hands.
For a time, the Sheng family, Qi Duke's Mansion, and Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion were all in a state of turmoil. Even Gu Yankai lost his temper and asked people everywhere to find out what his son had committed.
Fortunately, Gu Tingye and the other three returned home that afternoon, and after that, Guo Jin and other Yuzhou scholars were also released one after another.
After surviving the disaster, Guo Jin and others came out to see the blue sky outside, and they felt as if they were in another world. They greedily breathed the fresh air outside, and fell asleep as soon as they returned home.
Although the people from the Imperial City Department did not execute them, just one day and one night of high-pressure interrogation was enough to become a lifelong nightmare for these powerless scholars.
Anyway, they never want to go back to that dark and small cell in their lives.
How terrible!
When Gu Tingye and the three returned home, they were inevitably questioned by their relatives and friends. Only then did everyone realize that it all started because of the "Tan Wen Lu".
Fortunately, people are back now.
The frightened Princess Pingning and Duke Qi hugged their precious son Qi Heng and exchanged greetings for a while. At worst, they would just have to take the exam again.
Sheng Hong was also relieved and gave Sheng Changfeng some gentle words, telling him not to go out and walk around during this period and to rest at home.
As for Gu Tingye, as expected, he received another beating from me, ran away in anger again, and returned to his own courtyard to recuperate.
By the time the results were released, everything was proceeding step by step, and all kinds of rumors finally lost their vitality.
Candidates who had been worried that they might face a re-examination finally put their hearts back in their stomachs and went out to look at the results with great expectation.
Early in the morning, outside the Gongyuan, there was a lot of traffic and people. Countless people flocked to the screen wall to wait for the release of the results.
Guo Jin also arrived at the bottom of the list early. Many Yuzhou scholars recognized Guo Jin and greeted each other, all of them couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Originally, with the blessing of "Tan Wen Lu", they had quite a lot of confidence in Jinke, but since they were taken into the Imperial City Division's cell that night and experienced aggressive interrogation, this confidence was completely shattered. p>
Even if they escape safely in the end, most people will only be left with depression and confusion after encountering such an accident.
The Imperial City Division just released them, but did not mention a word about the results of their treatment. No one knew what impact this incident would have on their provincial examination results.
Or simply have no results?
Guo Jin stood under the ranking list. Countless noisy voices could be heard around him, which made him increasingly restless. He couldn't help but secretly sigh: If he fails again this time, he can return home with peace of mind and become a private school teacher in Shenge Town.
……
He stood there numbly, thinking wildly in his mind, as if he was crazy. He vaguely seemed to see Gu Tingye standing in the distance and arching his hand towards him. When he came back to his senses and wanted to return the gift, Gu Tingye's hand was already gone.
Figure.
At this time, I suddenly heard someone shouting loudly: "The list is coming..."
I saw that the gate of Gongyuan finally opened, and the scribe carefully held the sealed yellow list, opened the first list, and posted it on the screen wall.
"I got it, I got it!"
Suddenly someone shouted excitedly.
More people have stopped breathing and are staring at the official list that has not yet been posted.
The first one is the deputy list, which has little practical significance. It is not worth being happy if you win. Being on the main list is the real success.
After the secondary list has been posted, it’s finally the turn of the main list.
The crowd of heads is like a wave, and countless people are leading their heads forward.
Two official lists were posted one after another, and Guo Jin found the names of several acquaintances in them.
Shen Changyu, Zhang Zhijun, Wu Zhang.
These three people were all scholars from Yuzhou. After arriving in Bianjing, they often gathered together as fellow villagers, so Guo Jin recognized them all.
However, I just can’t find my name.
Guo Jin gradually became discouraged.
He couldn't help but smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Maybe, this is life.
Even though there was hope, this hope was ruthlessly extinguished.
After half a lifetime of studying hard, it was all in vain. Now, it’s time to accept my fate...
However, when the last three official lists were posted, Guo Jin couldn't help but look up, starting from the bottom of the list.
No, still not...
Guo Jin's vision was gradually filled with tears.
Finally, he saw a familiar name again, Han Ping.
Han Ping is also a native of Mi County. He and Guo Jin attended the county school together, and the two of them had a good rapport.
Guo Jin sighed and continued to look up.
Hu Zongxu.
Are you from Yuzhou again?
Guo Jin's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.
He suddenly realized that there seemed to be too many candidates from Yuzhou who passed the exam.
Could it be said that what happened before had no impact on the results of the provincial examination?
Guo Jin couldn't help but take a breath, cheer up, and continued to look upward.
Zhu Qian, Tang Xiaoyao, Ren Hongye, Xu Kaiji, Zhang Mengjian, Li Anmin, Lin Lingxu...
There are so many Yuzhou scholars!
Guo Jin was completely confused.
Eleventh place, Kaifeng Gu Tingye.
……
The sixth place, Xiangfu Qiheng.
There is only the last Five Classics leader list left.
Guo Jin suddenly had an idea in his mind that he found incredible.
Fifth place, Kaifeng Shengchangfeng.
Fourth place, Xinzheng Hu Cheng.
Third place, Yangwu Liu Qin.
Second place, Zhongmu Fu Qixian.
Guo Jin held his breath and moved his gaze to the top of the list of Five Classics, the most conspicuous position, and saw it clearly written: Mi County, Guo Jin.
The first place on the list, Henan Provincial Examination Jieyuan, is me, Guo Jin?
Guo Jin looked straight at his name on the list. He completely lost his voice and lost control of his entire body. He froze in place and couldn't help but tremble slightly.
Fortunately, the crowd in front of the list was already full of demons, and Guo Jin's performance was not too unexpected.
Many people's attention was attracted by a voice: "Mi County, Xinzheng, if I remember correctly, these are counties under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou, right? How come every few candidates from Yuzhou are on the list?" Finally someone noticed something weird.
Adding up the number of successful candidates in Mi County and Xinzheng, Yuzhou’s results in this rural examination are almost as good as those in Kaifeng Prefecture.