Chapter 345: Brother, I can only help you so far
Looking at the sun in the third month of the year, that is March 15th, the palace examination was held as scheduled.
It was just after the fifth watch, the sky outside was still dark, and the moon was still hazy in the sky and reluctant to leave. Zhu Ping'an rushed to the Xiyuan where the palace examination was held under the moonlight.
In fact, theoretically speaking, the palace examination should be held in Jinshen Hall in the Forbidden City. Before Emperor Jiajing, all emperors held grand ceremonies or established princes and queens in this Jinshen Hall, including imperial examinations. The examination room for the highest level examination and the palace examination is also in this hall.
However, we are an exception during the Jiajing Emperor's period. In the 21st year of Jiajing's "Renyin Palace Incident", the scene of the palace maid trying to kill the king left a very strong psychological shadow in the Jiajing Emperor's heart, which led to the Jiajing Emperor's disapproval of the Forbidden City. They are all deeply detested, and from then on Later, Emperor Jiajing no longer lived in the Forbidden City, but moved to Xiyuan. He devoted himself to cultivating immortality and refining elixirs instead of going to court. When ministers had something to do, they would go to Xiyuan to have an audience. From this time on, Xiyuan became the political center of the entire Ming Dynasty. Center, the palace examination was moved to Xiyuan.
When Zhu Ping'an arrived at Xiyuan, there was already a crowd of people in front of the Xiyuan Palace. Everyone was wearing clean and neat palace uniforms in front of the palace, excitedly waiting to step into the political center of the Ming Dynasty.
This is a small step in their lives, but it is also a giant step in their lives.
The Imperial Examination is only about rankings and not candidates. These people can pass the imperial examination reliably no matter how they take the examination. At least they are from the same background as Jinshi. Even if they cannot enter the Imperial Academy, they will at least be assigned to six departments to serve as principals or to work outside. Be a county magistrate. No matter what the situation is, if they take this step, their lives will be the pinnacle that ordinary people look up to. In the future, the ups and downs of the Ming Dynasty will be closely accompanied by them, how can they not be excited.
"Zihou, come on, this way." Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen waved to Zhu Pingan in the crowd.
"Ziwei, Wensheng."
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile when he saw the two of them. He quickly walked over in two steps, responded to them with his hands raised, and then merged into a group of tributes waiting for the palace examination.
"Hey, Zihou, what's wrong with you? Why are you so haggard? The dark circles under your eyes are too obvious. You shouldn't be so excited that you haven't slept all night, right?" Zhang Siwei said after Zhu Ping'an arrived. , just glanced at Zhu Pingan, and was stunned by Zhu Pingan's panda eyes.
“Shouldn’t a calm person like Zihou be like this?” Wang Shizhen also looked at Zhu Pingan up and down, full of questions.
Under the questions of Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, everyone who had not paid much attention to Zhu Pingan's arrival now also cast their attention on Zhu Pingan, and then the image of Zhu Pingan in their eyes was Like this:
Looking haggard and listless, face dull and tired, dark circles under the eyes, eyes dull.
If they are rice with full grains, Zhu Ping'an is the shriveled dry rice, the kind with dust and black stains!
As a result, everyone could not help but look down upon Zhu Pingan. They did not know Zhu Pingan and they did not know that Zhu Pingan was Huiyuan. Just looking at Zhu Pingan's image, they attributed Zhu Pingan to his extreme psychological endurance. Low and embarrassed in the ranks of great responsibilities! It's just a palace examination, and I haven't hired anyone yet. I'm so frightened that I'm insomnia and will be embarrassed for my big job in the future!
However, in addition to Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, there were two other people in the crowd who were not surprised by Zhu Ping'an's image, nor were they as contemptuous as everyone else, they just smiled at the corners of their mouths.
The two people stood together. One of them was Ouyang Zishi, who was being complimented by dozens of Gongsheng students. He came with him in the sedan chair of Yan Songyan Ge Lao. Many Gongsheng students saw it; except Besides Ouyang Zishi, the other person is one of the tribute students surrounding Ouyang Zishi, Xu Penghui, the third son of the Duke of Wei.
Both of them were in high spirits, refreshed, and high-spirited, which was in sharp contrast to Zhu Pingan's haggard appearance. The two of them glanced at Zhu Pingan, smiled at the corners of their mouths, and said to Zhu Pingan The reason for this look could not be clearer.
In the imperial examination room, there are many heroes vying for the throne. There is only success or failure. Who cares about the process? I will only talk about fairness to you if my brain is full of water!
"Congratulations to Brother Ouyang in advance." Xu Laosan's eyes were bright, and with a smile on his lips, he held his hand towards Ouyang Zishi.
"Brother Xu is joking, the palace examination has not started yet." Ouyang Zishi shook his hand slightly and smiled, but his face had a confident expression.
At this time, in their minds, the overall situation of this palace examination has been decided, and the number one winner must be Ouyang Zishi! The imperial examination rankings were almost just fine-tuning of the general examination rankings. At that time, Zhu Ping'an was ranked first and Ouyang Zishi was second. However, today Ouyang Zishi is waiting for work, and Yan Song, the chief minister of the court, is still relying on him. Moreover, Ouyang Zishi's level is already low. Tall, people grow like jade trees facing the wind, full of energy ; Look at Zhu Ping'an at this moment, he hasn't rested all day and night, looking haggard and listless. He is not handsome to begin with, and his image is greatly reduced at this time. In addition, it would be good if he can perform half of his usual level today.
Why do you, Zhu Pingan, argue with me?
With such a comparison, there is no doubt that the number one winner must be Ouyang Zishi!
When I came today, Yan Shifan said goodbye to Ouyang Zishi, "No third person dares to compete for the top spot in this period, but you and Zhu Ping'an. As a brother, I can only help you so far. Well, the next step is up to you.”
Ouyang Zishi was a little worried at first, but now seeing Zhu Pingan’s appearance, his whole heart was in his stomach.
There is no second person to compete for the number one spot in this issue, and it must be me, Ouyang!
Ouyang Zishi, who was waiting outside the gate of Xiyuan Palace, looked at the majestic palace wall with firm eyes. The moonlight fell on him, casting a layer of silver light on him. In the eyes of all the tributes, , Ouyang Zishi is so majestic at this moment!
There were many people talking at this time, and it was not suitable to tell Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen the reason, so after Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen asked, Zhu Ping'an just shook his head slightly and explained with a wry smile, "It's a long story. I'll wait for this." I will tell you more about it after the imperial examination.”
Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen also guessed a few points. They nodded, and then whispered to Zhu Pingan about the relevant precautions for this palace examination. In their eyes, Zhu Pingan was still young, so he usually paid more attention to it. In terms of knowledge, there is still a lack of common sense.
The tributes waiting outside the palace gate all knew each other in small groups and smiled. They were all Jinshi in the same discipline this time, and they belong to the same year of friendship. In the future, they will enter the political wave and interact with each other. It's easy to take care of each other, a hero has three gangs, and a fence has three stakes. Everyone knows this truth.
As a result, the tributes, who were competing with each other outside the palace gate, warmed up while waiting. Zhang Siwei was good at dancing and chatted enthusiastically with many tributes, but Zhu Ping'an and Wang Shizhen were relatively lacking.
Just when the relationship between everyone of the same age was like boiling a frog in warm water, and it was about to be cooked, the palace door of Xiyuan slowly opened with a creak.
The palace door is open, here comes the palace exam! The Enke Palace Examination has officially begun!
(End of this chapter)