The impact of Mrs. Fengsheng's serious illness was greater than imagined. At least all the noble families in the capital postponed their own wedding banquets, and even the originally scheduled palace elections were stopped.
Everyone's eyes are focused on the highest point on the north side of the imperial city - the Dragon Head Palace and the Huangji Palace.
"I heard that King Zhongxin was beaten by a saint..."
"That has nothing to do with you, it's crooked, rewrite it!"
Jia Cong's enthusiasm for learning could never exceed two hours. If Daiyu hadn't pressed him down to sit at the desk every day, the little fat man's butt would have been like a thorn and he couldn't sit still!
"Sister Lin is trying to make me deaf to what is happening outside the window and only focus on reading the books of sages!"
The mumbling Jia Cong had no choice but to pick up the pen again, wiping a stroke here and a tick there, copying the pavilion style.
This kind of font specially created to cope with the imperial examination was definitely the biggest torture to Jia Cong.
Daiyu held the travel notes she had bought from shopping in one hand, sipping tea and reading a book with crooked eyes. From the corner of her eye, she supervised Jia Cong who was muttering about practicing calligraphy. The petals of plum blossoms outside the window were falling in the wind, and the years were quiet.
All the wind and rain outside the house seemed to be unable to blow into this small study. Yesterday I received a letter from Yangzhou, saying that my father will come to Beijing after the Spring Festival to report on his work. Maybe after the Beijing inspection plan is over, my father will be promoted to a Beijing official.
A gust of wind gently stirred the pages of the book, and there was no longer the coldness of the past. Two plump birds landed on the bare peach branches in front of the window, chirping for a while, arranging each other's feathers, and staring at the two people in the room with their heads tilted.
The corner of Daiyu's mouth raised slightly, and she whispered softly: "The remaining flowers have fallen and bloomed again in February. The cold winter is gone and spring has returned early. The whisper of dead branches outside the window is due to the east wind calling the birds."
Jia Cong's eyes lit up, he moved to Daiyu's side, put his chubby face close to her, smelled the fragrance of the little girl, and whispered: "Spring is here, why don't we go for a spring outing outside the city..."
"Yes, the spring sun is warm and the sky is clear."
Daiyu raised her hand to partially cover the warm golden sun, squinting her eyes slightly. With a smile on her lips, she gently pushed the chubby face that was close to her. The soft touch made her playful.
He pinched the familiar face and said jokingly: "How wonderful. Spring is blooming, and it's a good time to read. How about a few more copybooks from tomorrow?"
Ahhhhh...
Jia Cong immediately jumped back, pointed at Daiyu with wide eyes, and screamed.
"Are you a devil? Where is my lovely Sister Lin? Where did you hide her? Please bring her back quickly..."
Boom!
Daiyu stretched out her hand and tapped the little fat man's head lightly, covered her mouth and said with a smile: "Your lovely sister Lin was hidden by me in the copybook. Please post a few more, maybe I can save her." come out."
As she spoke, Daiyu stood up, picked up the copybook that had been knocked down by Jia Cong, tilted her head and said with a smile, "Sanlang, come on, the flowers are blooming in spring and it's good to read. Let's continue writing the calligraphy."
"Ahhhhh..."
The pair of plump birds outside the window sang a Spring Festival ditty along with the laughter in the room. Jia She passed by the small courtyard, smiled at the sound, and left with his hands behind his back.
…
As the Beijing police and the big plan kicked off, the court, which was originally in a turmoil over the issue of clearing the father-in-law's land, seemed to have been poured down by a bucket of cold water, and the tide turned overnight.
….
All the ministries and temples were quiet a lot, and the leisurely atmosphere of the past was no longer there. Officials were hurriedly searching for connections and trying to inquire about the arrangements of the Ministry of Personnel.
By the time Qi Bohan and Chu Bangzheng left Beijing to inspect local areas, the disputes in the cabinet seemed to have diminished a lot. After asking the emperor for instructions, the upright Zhou Jiong temporarily implemented the method of governing by doing nothing to cool down the issue of Qing Zhang's land. In the end, he was completely suppressed by the upcoming Spring Palace Competition.
There is never a shortage of new things in Beijing.
When the gate of Gongyuan opened on the ninth day of the lunar month, Lin Bai, who was a guest in Rongguo Mansion, went to try the spring palace. Time flies, and three days later, on the Flower Festival on February 12, Daiyu will be ten years old.
Due to the taboo that the holy lady was critically ill, Daiyu could only celebrate her tenth birthday with a small celebration. Except for relatives in the house, no in-laws were invited to visit.
Before dawn, Jia Cong got into the kitchen and stood on the edge of the pot on a stool.
, wasted a lot of ingredients, and finally cooked a bowl of acceptable longevity noodles.
It was slightly cold in early spring. When Zicuckoo opened the window, she happened to see Jia Cong carefully coming in from the courtyard door holding a tray.
"Girl, Mr. Cong is here."
Daiyu, who was washing up, asked doubtfully: "So early? When did Brother Cong become so diligent? These days, he procrastinates as much as he can. I'm afraid that if I come early, I will give him more homework."
Dong dong dong...
Just as he was talking, there was a knock on the door.
"Sister Lin, I'm here to celebrate your birthday!"
Xue Yan giggled and said while opening the door: "It turns out that I am thinking about the girl's birthday, but I don't know if Master Lin wants to give my disciples a day off today."
This voice made Daiyu blush with embarrassment, and she said coquettishly: "You girl, why did you arrange for me?"
When the door opened, Jia Cong immediately saw Daiyu sitting in front of the mirror, with her long hair hanging loose, looking at him with a smile.
"Sister Lin, happy birthday!"
The room was filled with a faint fragrance. Jia Cong took a slight sniff, placed the steaming longevity noodles in front of the table, and proudly expressed his skill: "This is the longevity noodles I made by myself. Sister Lin, please try it."
Daiyu, who was originally smiling, suddenly turned red and burst into tears.
"Sister Lin, don't cry..."
"I'm not crying!"
Daiyu wiped away her tears, picked up the chopsticks, lowered her head and started eating.
Jia Cong was lying in front of the table, watching Daiyu shed tears while eating longevity noodles. Neither of them said anything about whether to cry or not. They had a clear understanding of each other. The two children had already been in touch with each other and knew each other's thoughts.
After eating a steaming bowl of longevity noodles, Daiyu felt that the slight chill of early spring had long since disappeared.
After finishing dressing up, Daiyu looked like a fairy with hundreds of flowers, making the fat man lying at the table staring at her unable to move his eyes away.
Daiyu stretched out her slender jade fingers and tapped his head gently, with a smile on her face: "It's my birthday today, am I the oldest?"
"certainly!"
Jia Cong nodded without hesitation, but he didn't know that he had fallen into Daiyu's trap.
Daiyu got up and went behind the screen. After a while, she took out a small box and placed it in front of Jia Cong. Yingying smiled and said, "Open it and take a look..."
ah?
"Open it and take a look, it's my gift to you."
….
Jia Cong subconsciously opened the small box and saw a neat box of books inside.
He looked through it and found that the handwriting looked very familiar, all in small regular script with beautiful hairpin flowers.
"This is the meaning of the classics that I have been copying these days. Brother Cong, I will wait for you to pass the exam and marry me!"
Jia Cong raised his head and looked at the blushing girl in front of him in surprise. This was the first time that Sister Lin had confessed to him.
Although Daiyu blushed to her neck with embarrassment, she still waited expectantly for his response. Xue Yan and Zicuckoo on the side covered their mouths in surprise, looking at their girl with wide eyes and disbelief.
Jia Cong laughed naively, took out a small red silk wrapped thing from his sleeve, and slowly opened it.
It is a hairpin carved from peach wood, slightly rough, but also decorated with gold threads. There is a butterfly woven with gold threads on it, shining in the golden light of the morning sun.
He took a step forward, stretched out his hand to insert the hairpin into Daiyu's bun, and said softly: "The birthday girl said so, so how can I not take the exam to be a prostitute? I made this hairpin myself, and it is rough. It’s a bit old, but it represents my feelings for Sister Lin. You and I will meet in Xingbang, and when that day comes, we will ride on horseback through the streets. Please ask Sister Lin to put on a wedding dress, and I will marry you!”
…
Starting from the ninth day of February, after nine days of suffering, the candidates who took the exam finally climbed out of the Shuntian Prefecture Gongyuan.
Yes, it's almost like crawling out.
Jia Cong couldn't help but shudder as he looked at the Confucian scholars crawling out one after another.
very scary!
It can torture people into such a horrible state. The imperial examination is really not something humans do!
The Lin family can be regarded as both civilized and martial artists. Lin Bai and his friends supported each other and almost cried the moment they walked out of the Gongyuan.
It’s so hard, how come you’re assigned a bad number? If it weren't for the sachet in the exam basket, he would never have lasted even one day.
"Brother Bai San, can you still hold on?"
Jia Cong was about to go forward to greet him, but he saw Lin Bai weakly waving his hands and saying: "No, don't come over, I'm not clean anymore!"
Um?
Jia Shi said in a low voice: "Master Bai has been assigned to a bad number."
puff……
Jia Cong couldn't hold it back anymore and laughed out loud: "Brother Bai, you are so unlucky... Let's go, go home and take a good wash. Hey, Brother Tang, let's go together."
"Forget it, I'd better go back to the clubhouse..."
Tang Yin, the son from Hangzhou who was supporting each other with Lin Bai, couldn't help sniffing his sleeves and said with a wry smile: "I won't fume your house with my filthy air."
Jia Cong laughed nonchalantly, and resisted the smell and stepped forward to hold the two of them: "Let's go, let's go, my two brothers have been in the tribute courtyard for nine days, and their bodies are very weak. There is no comfort in the guild hall at home. It's just right. I have encountered many problems in my studies these days, and I would like to ask my two brothers for advice...Uncle Eleven, let’s go home!”
…
On the third day of March in the painting hall, catkins fluttered on the window screens and swallows fluttered on the eaves.
Try the cold wine with several cups of lotus seeds, try the spring clothes with the song of twigs.
It's better to look in the mirror when you are facing the pond on the steps, and the flowers behind the curtain are reflected in the door.
Guiding Lou Nan to play with the crescent moon, with jade hooks and slender hands.
Half a month has passed, and all the candidates in the capital have emerged from the shadow of seven days of suffering, eagerly waiting for the announcement of the imperial list.
On the last day of the lunar month, the flowers were in full bloom.
A spring rain last night washed away the smoke and dust in the capital.
Jia Zheng in the front hall was even more nervous than Lin Bai and Tang Yin sitting nearby. He drank cup after cup of tea and stared in the direction of the screen wall.
Crackling, crackling...
"It's done! It must be the one who brings the good news~"
Jia Zheng slapped his thigh and laughed. Lin Bai and Tang Yin, who were trembling on the chairs, became even more nervous.
"I hit it, I hit it, Mr. Tang is so powerful, he actually defeated all the heroes and won the first place in the competition!"
hiss!
Not to mention Jia Zheng, even Jia Cong opened his mouth in disbelief. Brother Tang, who likes to eat chicken, is so fierce!
With a face full of joy, Jia Shiyi quickly came to the front hall, clasped his fists and sang in joy: "Lin Sanye is number 108 on the imperial list, the saint on the Golden Palace on the first day of March!"
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
There is another update tonight, and I still have to write 10,000 words. Dear readers, you can read it again tomorrow morning!
Orange cat is not a cat
