Nearly half a month has passed since the end of the New Year, and in two days it will be the New Year.
The Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, is the most important and lively festival every year. The prosperity of the Shangyuan Festival is even greater than that of the New Year Festival.
Although the Spring Festival has just passed and the spring cold has not gone away, the people of Lingzhou, who have been huddled at home all winter, had already walked out of their homes a few days ago and started preparing for various programs for Shangyuan.
After tonight, the major lantern festivals in the city will begin one after another. During the day, there will also be dragon and lion dances and many other performances to watch. Lingzhou, which has been silent for a winter, will officially kick off the new year after experiencing the excitement of the Lantern Festival.
the prologue.
Bell Mansion.
Qing'er held her chin with one hand and watched Fang Xinyue waving a wooden sword in the yard. After watching for a while, she looked away again and murmured: "It's so boring..."
These days, without her uncle's stories about the princess and the gifted scholar, the Lantern Festival, which she had been looking forward to for so long, seemed to have no meaning.
Tang Yaoyao sat opposite her, also supporting her chin with one hand, correcting several of Fang Xinyue's movements, then turned her head and sighed, "It's so boring..."
Although only ten days had passed, it felt like months had passed to her, and she always felt that something was missing around her.
When I think about it carefully, I realize that what is missing is not something.
That guy has been away from Lingzhou for ten days. Lingzhou is not far from the capital. If he didn't flirt with women on the way and the trip goes smoothly, he should be almost at the capital by now.
The provincial examination is in early March. If he can pass the provincial examination, he will probably take the palace examination in mid-April. Calculating this, he will not come back until early May at the earliest.
If he passes the exam, he will stay in Lingzhou for another half year at most, and then go to work somewhere else. Then he will be even more boring in the future... Tang Yaoyao thought of this, and suddenly felt in her heart that she didn't want him to pass the exam.
thoughts.
The next moment, she shook her head vigorously, throwing the sinful thought out of her mind, and then she became even more depressed.
At the same time, in a room somewhere, Zhong Yi looked at a poetry album in front of him, and he hadn't turned the pages for a quarter of an hour.
Beside her, Su Ru, who was originally doing embroidery, may not have moved her hands for a long time.
…
Capital, the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.
During the New Year period, there are many royal ceremonies, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites are the busiest.
Even after the New Year, when all the officials take their regular rest, the Ministry of Rites still has many matters to deal with.
The Lantern Festival is approaching, and the emperor will hold a banquet for the ministers in the palace on the night of the Lantern Festival. Most of the matters will be handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but when it comes to certain etiquette issues, the Ministry of Rites still needs to assist.
At this time, it is less than two months before this year's provincial examination, so the Ministry of Rites needs to take this matter particularly seriously.
Early in the morning, a long queue formed outside the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.
The people queuing up were all candidates who came to the capital from all over the country to take part in the provincial examination. After they arrived in the capital, they first had to register with the Ministry of Rites, receive their examination certificates, and leave necessary information such as their residential address.
In the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, in a remote duty room somewhere, an official from the Ministry of Rites yawned without raising his head and asked: "Your name?"
"Zhang San."
"Place of origin?"
"Fengzhou, Changhe County."
"Fengzhou, Changhe County, Zhang San."
The official from the Ministry of Etiquette picked out one of several thick books, and after searching for a long time, he found Zhang San's name. After confirming it, he waved his hand and said, "Go next door to get your exam certificate."
The candidate immediately bowed and said respectfully: "Thank you, Sir."
After he exited, another person walked in.
"Name?"
The official from the Ministry of Rites asked without raising his head.
There was still no sound coming from the other side.
"Name?"
He asked again, but still no one answered.
The tedious process already made him very upset. There was a hint of anger on his face, and he raised his head and said, "What, if you are deaf..."
Before he finished his sentence, his anger quickly disappeared. Looking at the young man in front of him, a smile immediately appeared on his face and he said flatteringly: "Young Master, why are you here in person? Please send someone to say,
We can do it for you..."
The young man waved his hand and said: "Don't talk nonsense and do it quickly. I still have something to do after it's done."
"Yes, yes, yes..." The official of the Ministry of Etiquette nodded immediately, turned around and ordered a servant behind him: "Why are you still standing there, why don't you take the young master over there..."
After the young man left, the official breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down.
"Next!" He shouted loudly, and when he heard someone coming in from outside the door, he asked again: "Name?"
"Tang Ning."
The official paused, looked up at him, and asked, "What's your name?"
"Tang Ning."
"Place of origin?"
"Lingzhou, Nghe An County."
The official from the Ministry of Etiquette took a book, flipped through it, nodded and said, "Go next door to get your test papers."
The figure turned around and walked out of the room, but the official did not call the next person in, but waved to a servant behind him again.
…
When Tang Ning walked out of the etiquette department, the number of people queuing outside the Yamen not only did not decrease, but actually increased.
I don’t know how many people took part in the provincial examination this time, but I think it’s not 10,000, but about 7,000 or 8,000, and these people are all outstanding students who have been screened by various state examinations. If you want to select from these thousands of people,
You can imagine how difficult it is to stand out and come out on top.
He didn't feel anything in his heart before, but when he saw it today, he felt a slight sense of urgency.
There are still nearly two months before the provincial examination starts. During this period, he still has to practice his strategies. Unfortunately, Xiaoyi is in Lingzhou and there is no one to correct him.
Today is the second day after he arrived in the capital, and this trip went much smoother than he expected.
They hurried on their way leisurely, and the journey was extremely smooth. They did not encounter any thieves, horsemen, bandits, or any trouble. It only took about ten days to reach the capital from Lingzhou.
This made him regret a little. If he had known earlier, he could have set off half a month later and would have been able to catch up.
But take care of what you have come, and during this period of time, you will check for leaks and make up for them. The old beggar tempted him several times along the way, saying that he wanted to show him the tender girls of the capital. He thought about it, but reluctantly refused.
.
As a man with a family, he cannot go out and mess around behind his wife's back. What's more, for the first time in his two lives, he cannot be so hasty in a place like that...
In front of him was the inn where he was staying. He stepped into the door and a figure stepped out from inside.
Caught off guard, Tang Ning collided with the figure.
Tang Ning only took a few steps back, but the man took several steps back and almost fell down.
After Tangning stabilized her body, she looked at the young woman and asked hurriedly: "Girl, are you okay?"
The woman frowned, looked at him, and said, "My foot seems to be sprained..."
Tangning looked at her suspiciously. He had seen clearly just now that she just took a few steps back normally, without any sign of spraining her legs - could this be an extortion of money?
Tangning looked at her and asked, "Can I still leave?"
The woman tried to move her steps, shook her head and said, "No."
It was indeed a money extortion.
Tang Ning didn't expect that such a disharmonious thing could happen in such a dignified capital and at the feet of the emperor. This woman seemed to have an extraordinary temperament and was very beautiful. If you don't imitate the good, how can you imitate others?
He looked at the woman and asked tentatively: "How about I take you to see a doctor?"
The woman shook her head and said, "No, I'll live here. How about you help me upstairs to rest for a while?"
Tang Ning understood that this was not a fight, but a fairy dance.
If he helped the woman into the room, I believe that a few burly men would rush in the next moment, saying that he had bullied their sister and would report him to the government if he did not have a few hundred taels of silver. Maybe they had colluded with the government.
He is a foreigner, why should he be at their mercy?
Fortunately, he had seen through their tricks.
His expression changed, and he suddenly pointed at the woman's feet and said in shock: "Girl, there is a snake under your feet!"
"ah!"
The woman's beauty suddenly turned pale, and her body moved away almost instantly. Tangning was stunned when she saw it.
He silently took two steps back and stood next to Peng Chen. Judging from her reaction just now, he couldn't beat this woman. This also proved that she couldn't have sprained her foot just now. The collision was probably intentional on her part.
of.
The woman looked at the ground. After being stunned for a moment, she glared at Tangning and asked, "Did you lie to me?"
"Don't you have a sprained foot, girl?" Tang Ning looked at her, sighed, shook her head and said, "I am a beautiful woman, but I am a thief..., girl, this is the point of no return, but turning back is the end of the road."
After that, he didn't look at the woman again and went straight upstairs with Peng Chen.
The woman turned back and watched their figures disappear. The sullen look on her face was instantly replaced by a smile.
