The same embarrassing situation made Wen Qi and Jie Ziu suddenly become close friends who had known each other for decades, so much so that they started talking quietly on the way to the examination room with their examination cards.
"That person just now...could he be Brother Jie's brother?" Wen Qi gestured with his hands, trying to express meanings such as "show off", "show off", and "show off wealth".
"Life is forced, life is forced." Jie Ziyu smiled rather awkwardly.
In fact, he knew in his heart that the reason why his sworn brother Wen Shaobo dressed like that was not to show off his wealth or publicity, but to make people take notice of him.
I remember that when their brothers went to visit a trading partner in ordinary clothes, the other party was dressed in luxury but saw that their brothers were in shabby clothes. The deal that could have been negotiated ended up with twists and turns. At that time, Wen Shaobo and Jie Ziyu realized that "people depend on clothes and horses depend on them."
This is the truth.
From that time on, Mr. Wen Shaobo changed his attire and had more than a dozen foreign guards surrounding him. They all expressed the meaning of "I am very rich" and "I am very rich" in every gesture, so that he later visited
The counterparties of the transaction, including the tribal chiefs under the name of the Sichuan-Luo Alliance, showed hospitality on their faces when they saw Shaobo Wen's clothes.
At that time, Wen Shaobo also strongly asked Jie Zizi to change into rich and luxurious clothes, but Jie Ziu was not used to it, so he simply pretended to be Wen Shaobo's retainer. Anyway, when dealing with others, a bookkeeper is indispensable.
"Forced by life?"
Wen Qi glanced at Jie Zizi. How could he, who had no business experience, understand what Jie Zizi said?
At this time, seeing that Wen Qi didn't speak, Jie Ziyu also asked in a low voice: "That person just now is... Brother Zhao's wife?"
After hearing this, Wen Qi's face suddenly darkened, and even showed a hint of "don't hurt me" fear on his face.
After thinking for a while, Wen Qi explained in a low voice: "I am currently... well, I am borrowing food from a family, and that woman is the family order of the house... Furthermore, my surname is not Zhao, but Wen.
...Well, that’s roughly it.”
"This Brother Zhao... no, this Brother Wen seems to have a lot of things to hide."
Jie Ziyu looked at Wen Qi in surprise. As a scholar, he also knew what "borrowing food" meant. It meant that the family was poor and could not survive, but he did not want to give up his reputation as a scholar and sell his labor to make money, so he temporarily invested in the rich.
You, do what you can for that family, such as teaching the children of that family to read, or playing a guest role as the accountant in the accounting room, working part-time, and then bidding farewell to that family when the imperial court starts the examination again.
Then go to Daliang to take the exam for meritorious service.
Things like this are especially common in Daliang.
As for why the senior fellow student surnamed Wen pretended to be named Zhao, Jie Ziyu did not ask in detail. After all, he could see that Wen Qi did not want to elaborate, so he did not ask further questions.
So, he said with a smile: "That young woman is not Brother Zhao's wife. I see that she takes great care of Brother Zhao."
Upon hearing this, Wen Qi couldn't help but feel a little confused.
It is undeniable that Lu'er takes good care of him, but this girl - well, he can no longer be called a girl now. Her temper is particularly domineering and domineering. Although it conforms to the "Prince Su's Family Order", it does not conform to Wenqi's choice of spouse.
standard.
He is a gentle and dignified man, and he will definitely marry a gentle and lovely lady in the future. How can he be like that fierce woman?
"Brother Jiezi is joking." After a haha, Wen Qi revealed the matter.
While chatting and walking, the two of them arrived at the venue for the first round of the examination - the open space in front of the main temple in Confucius Temple.
I saw that the open space was filled with desks and desks. A rough count suggested that there were nearly a thousand desks.
And the desks are also engraved with numbers, so that students can find them according to the numbers on the test cards.
"..."
A look of surprise flashed in Wen Qi's eyes.
Unlike Jie Zitu, Wen Qi has been to this place twice. In his memory, this open space in the Confucius Temple was once a flat mud land. The real examination venue should be in the "hui" shape around it.
In a row of rooms, not in the open air like this.
"Is this...cement?"
At this time, the meson owl beside him stepped on the concrete ground as hard as stone under his feet and said in surprise.
Hearing this, Wenqi glanced at this friend he had just met in surprise.
Yes, the mud floor in the Confucius Temple was replaced by a cement floor, which he had just discovered.
Wen Qi is no stranger to cement. After all, when he managed Shangshui City for King Su Zhao Hongrun some time ago, many civil and water conservancy projects in Shangshui City used cement. Of course, the people of Shangshui City
It is called "mortar", and may also be prefixed with "incredible" because the natural color of cement is gray.
However, this new friend beside him could call out the real name of Broken Cement, which made Wenqi immediately refresh his understanding of Jie Zizi: This person is by no means an ordinary test taker.
However, Wen Qi immediately felt relieved when he thought of Jie Ziyu's sworn brother Wen Shaobo who was wearing a sexy bag.
After all, Wen Shaobo's dress was more elegant and luxurious than that of a certain King Su. As this person's brother, how could Jie Ziu be an ordinary scholar?
Thinking of this, Wen Qi felt relieved and said to Jie Ziyu with a smile: "Brother Jie Zi, can you and I come in too?"
"Okay." Jie Ziyu nodded.
At first, they were a little regretful. They regretted that the friends they had just met were about to separate. However, what they didn't expect was that, perhaps by coincidence, Wenqi's seat was fourth in the front row on the east side, while Jiezi was in the next row.
behind him.
This made both of them very happy. After all, not all the candidates had entered the venue yet, and almost all the seats on the west side were still empty. Therefore, they still had time to chat a few more words.
"Brother Zhao, I heard that the examiner this time is said to be His Highness Prince Su."
In his words, Jie Ziu revealed his respect for King Su Zhao Hongrun.
However, Wen Qi had known about this for a long time, and he even knew more than Wen Shaobo had found out, such as "Prince Su Zhao Run will not show up for this first round of examinations" and "Officially
Some of the test subjects and questions were drawn up by King Su himself, etc.
At this time, Onsaki was looking around his location, looking for a suitable target.
He knew that the reason why Su Wang Zhao Run and the Ministry of Rites set up this preliminary examination was because after the expansion of the number of places in the examination, there would inevitably be some people who cheated. It is undeniable that the Ministry of Rites is quite strict in reviewing the examination papers, but in this matter, the candidates
I don’t know, so it’s inevitable that there will be some people who want to try their luck, and these people are Wenqi’s targets.
How to escort those clueless idiots to the formal examination and then help them get on the gold list? This is the only purpose of Wen Qi's visit this time - to rely on fame to get an official career? After offending the Ministry of Rites, he had long since given up.
This is my heart.
To put it bluntly, he is here to disrupt the situation!
I remember that at the beginning, he also considered his new friend Jie Zizi. However, Wen Qi took a closer look and found that Jie Zizi was calm and composed without any guilt. It was obvious that he was a man who read poetry and books.
student.
Wen Qi even had a vague feeling that Jie Ziyu was even more talented than him.
So, he turned his attention to the seat on the left.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Jie Ziu's words, the examiner on the left actually turned around and talked to them: "I heard that His Highness King Su also participated in drafting this year's examination questions... Two wise brothers,
I’m He Xinxian.”
"..."
Wen Qi's eyelids twitched slightly, and he thought to himself: Well, I've found a great talent!
How could Wen Qi not know the reputation of He Xinxian? The eldest son of He Yu, the dignified minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the grandson of He Xiangxu, the former Zhongshu Ling, was truly a descendant of a wealthy family in Daliang.
Of course, these are just He Xinxian's background, and He Xinxian's talent is no less generous. He was the third on the gold list in Hongde's sixteenth year, and the fourth on the gold list in Hongde's nineteenth year. With such an advanced ranking, even
Wenqi himself didn't have much confidence.
Cheating for this kind of talent? This is something that will be laughed at.
The corners of his mouth twitched, and Wen Qi quickly returned the greeting: "I'm Zhao Qi."
After saying that, he avoided He Xinxian. After all, He Xinxian was the son of He Yu, the Minister of Rites, and Wen Qi had a grudge against the Ministry of Rites.
Compared to Wen Qi's indifference, Jie Ziu felt very daring about He Xinxian's words just now, and asked in surprise: "His Royal Highness Prince Su personally drafted the examination questions?"
He Xinxian quickly made a low-pitched gesture and quietly told Jie Zizi: "It's not this time, it's the formal exam."
The meson owl nodded excitedly.
While He Xinxian was chatting with Jie Zigou, Wen Qi was looking at the Kaozi sitting in front of him.
Suddenly, he stretched out his hand and gently tapped the candidate's back, greeting him: "What do you call Brother Xian?"
Kaozi, who was sitting in front of Wen Qi, turned around and glanced at Wen Qi, smiled and said, "Huayang Tang Ju."
"I'm Zhao Qi." Wen Qi only felt the corners of his eyes twitching.
Wen Qi remembered this person. Wasn't he the examinee who fainted halfway through the examination three years ago? It was said that he fainted due to lack of energy and blood. To put it simply, this person fainted from hunger in the middle of the examination room.
Already.
Of course, if this is just the case, it is not worth remembering this person's name for Wen Qi. The key is that Du You, the Minister of Rites, visited this person in person at that time. After a conversation, Du You, the Minister of Rites, paid a visit to this "Huayang"
Tang Ju admired him very much and took him in as a scribe in the Ministry of Rites.
If you think about it, a student who can be valued by Du You, the Minister of Rites, must be a well-educated person.
"Bitter!"
Wen Qi wailed in his heart - in the front seat was Huayang Tang Ju, in the back seat was Shangshui Jiezi, and in the left seat was Liang He Xinxian, all of them were well-educated people who could get on the gold list without his cheating help, how about this?
?!
Just as Wen Qi was wailing secretly, Du You, the Minister of Rites, led several officials from the Ministry of Rites to come here. Seeing this, Wen Qi quickly lowered his head.
It's not that he is afraid of Du You, the Minister of Rites, but the problem is that his "big plan" has not yet been completely defeated. If Du You sees him now and asks someone to drive him out, wouldn't it mean that a certain Su who has made an appointment with him for a bet will be killed?
His Royal Highness is laughing so hard?
"Looks like there's no chance of the first test... let's watch the main test."