A soft scream woke up Luo Pei. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, then asked: "What time is it?"
"It's three o'clock in the morning." Family member Robert whispered: "It's still early!"
"It's getting late." Luo Pei put on his official robe, straightened his crown and belt, wiped his face with a hot towel and said, "Now, for those anxious candidates, they have already lined up in the Gongyuan."
With that said, Luo Pei walked out of the bedroom quickly, feeling a gust of wind blowing in his face. It was March and the daytime was getting warmer, but it was still chilly in the early morning, taking away the last bit of sleepiness.
When a servant saw him coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "Master, the person you asked to wait has already arrived."
"Well, I know." Luo Pei looked up at the sky. It was a rare starry night, and the sky was covered with a layer of brown mist. He no longer hesitated, walked past the rockery, and saw a small hall. Luo Pei entered and saw
a person.
"What did your Highness say?" Luo Pei said in a deep voice as soon as he entered.
"His Highness said that everything has been prepared. You only need to preside over the Gongyuan Courtyard and other major events in the near future." The man lowered his hand and said, "If there is any news, I will convey it to you."
Luo Pei didn't hesitate anymore and ordered sternly: "Prepare the ox cart for me and call someone immediately to follow me to Gongyuan."
"Yes!" Luo Pei's government was very strict, and Luo Ba hurriedly agreed, calling the people and driving out the ox cart. Since he was once the governor and was in charge of military affairs, he could ride horses in the old mansion. Several family members were led by Luo Ba.
Riding horses to guard the left and right, they rushed all the way to Gongyuan.
Mao'er Lane·Hotel
In order to do business, the inns naturally have rooms one by one, with more than twenty rooms lined up in sequence. The moonlight broke out of the clouds and shone coolly. In many places shrouded by the moonlight, it was late at night, and there were still people who could not sleep at night.
sleep soundly.
Partly because in the middle of the night, candles and oil lamps were all lit, and the shop owner led a dozen or so workers to make food and boil buckets of hot water for preparation. It was very noisy.
But there was no one to blame, because today was the exam period. Like many candidates, Zhang Modong couldn't sleep all night because he had something on his mind. He got up after midnight, washed up and was ready to go out.
Gongyuan was not very far from the hotel where he was staying. After he was ready, he still hesitated.
When I returned to the room where I lived, the light in the room was very dark. There was only an oil lamp on the table, which glowed faintly and illuminated the books on the table.
"Alas!" Zhang Modong walked over, opened one of the books, and pulled out a piece of paper.
Just look at it under the light, and there are three questions written on this paper. When your eyes fall on the questions, even if it is not the first time, you still sweat.
Zhang Modong's breathing became heavier, and he closed his eyes subconsciously, as the scene from that day seemed to reappear in front of his eyes.
A person is sitting in front of him, while he is kneeling on the ground.
The man looked down at himself and sneered: "Now that you don't want to do it, it's too late. You must do what I asked you to do. Otherwise, you will only die, and your home will be confiscated and your wife will be in trouble."
Small."
"Even the whole family will be humiliated and guilty because of you. But if you handle this matter well, don't even think about it this time. You will definitely have a place on the list of candidates for the next spring exam."
"Yes!" Zhang Modong kowtowed heavily. Didn't he know that he had been tricked?
But if you want to go back on your word, as this gentleman said, it's too late.
Even if it's too late, if you know the secret but regret it and don't want to do it, can you let yourself go?
There is a saying that wealth and honor can be found in danger. I was judged in the Dragon Palace that I could only go as far as being promoted to a noble person, but if I got on the carriage of a noble person, maybe... I could have a better future!
The pros and cons were clearly thought out by him, so Zhang Modong finally agreed.
"This person's plan is to expose this matter when the entrance examination is held. Then I will say that Yu Lufangxi bought this question, and I just happened to have dinner with them and saw it."
"I thought it was fake, so I didn't report it at the time. Now that I saw the test questions, I knew it was true, so I was shocked and risked my life to file a complaint."
The mysterious man gave very clear reasons why he filed the complaint when he arrived at the examination room. It was reasonable and reasonable. Not only was he not guilty, but he had merit. However, Zhang Modong's heart was still beating violently, as if he was beating a drum. He even closed his eyes and could not open them for a long time.
"How many lives are these?"
Zhang Modong knew that in this case, both Yu Lufangxi and Yu Lvfangxi would definitely die, and even the family would be implicated. And because of their relationship with the grandson, he would not believe it even if he was killed because of their relationship with the grandson.
The arrow is on the string and it has to be fired.
He didn't know why someone insisted on doing this, but the enticing words that the gentleman said later were quite right. With his own talents, he was afraid that he would fail the exam no matter how hard he tried, but as long as he broke this matter, the noble man could guarantee that he would be admitted to the next semester.
There must be oneself in it.
If you don't agree and don't do it, you may die, but you won't die, you won't pass the exam, and you will stop at being a candidate.
But if you agree, you may be the next one, and you will break the fate that Lord Long told you, and you will have an extremely bright future!
Zhang Modong closed his eyes in pain, and scenes from the Dragon Palace were displayed.
"Zhang Modong, although you are talented, your destiny is very poor. Despite many scientific examinations, you will never be able to succeed."
"Although I can make up for it, but you are not blessed enough, you will not be able to show your dignity, and you will only be able to do provincial examinations."
He was in the Dragon Palace, and because of the chess game, he received these two comments from Lord Long. Just two sentences covered his entire life.
You are not blessed enough to be noble. At first, you could still take it calmly. However, a few years later, it was really difficult for you to make progress. Moreover, you also found that Su Ziji, a boy from a poor family you once knew, was actually your grandson. Unwilling to accept it, he quietly came out.
This is unwillingness to accept the destiny.
"Why, Su Ziji not only won the first prize in the examination, but also became a grandson?"
"And I can't even get a Jinshi?"
If there is no mysterious person looking for him, even if Zhang Modong is a little unwilling, he will not do anything, not even talk about Taisun behind his back. Not only because Taisun is now a noble person and cannot be offended, but also because he does not want to go there just because of jealousy.
Talk long and short.
But now it's like a barrel that has been forcibly poked with a hole.
I just want to get Jinshi, I just want to be an official, I don't want to live a mediocre life, I don't want to be just a civil servant throughout my life, is this such a harsh requirement?
I'm not that greedy. I don't want to be a noble person in the sky. I just want to be a master among ordinary people. Isn't this the case?
Zhang Modong was really unwilling, but even though he was unwilling, he still thought about it for a long time.
He was not a fool, and he naturally knew that if this matter could not be accomplished, then even if the people behind him did not come to trouble him, his grandson alone would be able to completely crush him.
But……
Sighing, Zhang Medong walked to the bronze mirror, illuminated his figure with a candle, and took a closer look. How old was he? He already had gray hair!
In the end... do it, or not do it?
The inner tangle was when he saw a few silver threads in his bun, and Zhang Medong had a wry smile on his face.
"Oh, don't blame me, I can't help it." After a long time, Zhang Modong opened his mouth and said to himself dryly: "If you want to blame it, blame fate!"
"Clang!"
Just as he finished speaking, a strange sound suddenly came from outside, like something hitting the door panel. Zhang Modong was already uneasy, but he suddenly heard a noise in a very quiet environment. He was startled and his chest beat violently.
My heart almost jumped out of my throat.
"Who?" Zhang Modong quickly walked over, affirmed at first, then gritted his teeth, pulled hard, and opened the door.
There was no one outside. Zhang Modong leaned out again and looked to the left and right.
The corridors to the left and right were also empty.
Could it be that someone knocked on the door and ran away?
Just as he was about to walk back, his eyes suddenly fell on the ground.
I saw a silver ingot falling on the ground not far away, about five taels in size, shining silver in the candlelight.