The epidemic ended in June.
Only then did Bianjing regain its vitality, and the streets that had been closed to the public gained popularity again.
Zhang Yue and his classmates have experienced this experience, and their mentality has changed slightly. Especially the people they were familiar with not long ago will never be seen again, which really makes them feel the impermanence of people.
As for Taixue, there is also an argument for waiting for coolness. They believe that before the examination, there were less than 30 competitors. As soon as he said this, he was scolded by his classmates.
Not only the Taixue School, but also the Guangwen Hall from other places who came to Beijing to prepare for the supervision examinations were also hit by the epidemic. The crowds here were dense, the conditions were poor, and many candidates died of the disease.
But he said that Guo Lin lived in a small house arranged by Zhang Yue.
During the epidemic, although Zhang Yue could not leave the Imperial College, he arranged for Tang Jiu to visit him from time to time, and also sent him food and clothing. He also told Guo Lin not to go out and just study at home.
But in May, when the epidemic was at its worst, Guo Lin also fell ill.
As for You Yue, although he didn't like living with Guo Lin, he was not a person who would not save his life, so he helped take care of Guo Lin.
As for Tang Jiu, after visiting Guo Lin, he found out that he was sick, so he immediately informed Zhang Yue. After Zhang Yue learned about this, he wrote a letter to Tang Jiu to send to Ouyang Fa, asking him to take care of him.
Ouyang Fa immediately called for help and helped Guo Lin, who was unable to move, to diagnose the disease. The doctor said that Guo Lin was not infected with the epidemic, but that he studied too hard all day long and ate a simple diet, so that he became seriously ill when he caught wind and cold at the earliest. He needed to take good care of himself in the future.
After that, Ouyang Fa's people prescribed medicine to Guo Lin and sent people to take care of Guo Lin day and night. After nearly a month of care, Guo Lin recovered.
After Guo Lin woke up, he saw that You Yue's attitude towards him was really different.
Guo Lin asked: "Brother You, why do you look at me like this?"
You Yue smiled and said: "I didn't expect Brother Guo to be a noble man. I was disrespectful and disrespectful before."
Guo Lin was stunned and said: "How can I be a noble person? Brother You, please don't say it's a joke."
"Are you kidding?"
You Yue smiled and said, "Brother Guo, please don't hide it from me. What's your relationship with the current Kaifeng governor?"
"Kaifeng Prefecture Yin?" Guo Lin looked confused, "How do I know Kaifeng Prefecture Yin? Why did Brother You say this?"
You Yue laughed and said, "Brother Guo is still pretending to be confused with me. Don't you know, it's all thanks to me that you came back from the gate of hell this time."
Guo Lin was even more puzzled: "I remember that the current magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture is Bachelor Ouyang, but how can I recognize such a person?"
Guo Lin obviously knew what kind of person Ouyang Xiu was, and how could he dare to use his name to enrich himself. He also doesn't want to borrow someone else's reputation.
So Guo Lin quickly said: "I really don't know, Brother You, please don't misunderstand me."
You Yue looked like he knew everything and said with a smile: "Brother Guo, if you don't know, why did his eldest son come to visit you twice? And he also sent people to give you clothes and food to take care of you? "
"Scholar Ouyang's eldest son is visiting?"
Guo Lin was still puzzled.
You Yue thought Guo Lin was unwilling to tell the truth and laughed without saying a word.
Afterwards, Guo Lincai had guessed that Zhang Yue had asked Ouyang Xiu's son for help.
It's just how Zhang Yue met Ouyang Xiu's young master, he didn't know. After his junior brother came to Beijing, he seemed to have become more powerful.
A few days later, a maid came in and brought some food to Guo Lin. Guo Lin thanked the person and asked if it was the gift from the wife of the eldest son Ouyang.
Guo Lin couldn't help but think, this is so thoughtful, even Ouyang Fa's wife also gave a gift.
A few days later, a carriage stopped at the door of the small house. A maid came to the carriage and gave Guo Lin nourishing medicinal materials.
Guo Lin asked the other party and found out that the other party's dialect was a gift from Ouyang Fa's wife.
Guo Lin was even more puzzled. He was sick, and Ouyang Fa sent people to take care of him. Why did his wife send her maids to bring food to him many times, and now she sent precious medicinal materials.
Guo Lin stood up and politely declined: "I'm sorry, I don't deserve any reward for no merit. I really don't dare to accept this generous gift."
The maid smiled when she saw it and said, "You have a very old-fashioned temperament, very similar to your junior brother."
"Junior brother?" Guo Lin asked, "Is it possible that you are familiar with my junior brother?"
The maid shook her head and smiled: "The reason for this, I can't tell you, just accept it well and rest assured to recover. Are you still worried that I will harm you? Senior Brother Guo, just don't worry."
The other party's words were quite intimate.
The maid leaned back again and said: "Actually, I heard that Senior Brother Guo was ill. My wife was very worried and said that she had not fulfilled her duty as a landlord. She said she wanted to come to visit Senior Brother Guo in person, but it was inconvenient. Please forgive me, Senior Brother. ."
Guo Lin saw that this maid was dressed luxuriously and spoke slowly and slowly. It was not an exaggeration to say that she was a woman from a wealthy family.
If there could be such a maid, what kind of person is the lady she talks about?
As for why Master Ouyang's wife is so polite to him?
Guo Lin said: "Then I will accept it for now and wait until I meet my junior brother."
The maid said: "That's fine."
Soon the carriage left. Guo Lin looked at the carriage and said with a smile to You Yue: "Mr. Ouyang's wife, she is the daughter of the Wu family."
"Which Wu Mansion?"
"Brother Guo is from Pucheng, doesn't even the Wu Mansion know about it?"
Guo Lin suddenly understood that this Wu Mansion was the current residence of Wu Chong, the transfer envoy to the west of Beijing. Wu Chong is probably the person with the highest official position in Pucheng now.
Guo Lin thought to himself, what did she mean by not fulfilling the friendship of a landlord?
This already means treating oneself as one's own.
Guo Lin didn't know that this maid was the maid of Qi Niang. She came to give gifts to Guo Lin in the name of Mrs. Wu. As for the gift delivery, Qi Niang's carriage was outside Guo Lin's gate.
After that, the maid came to visit Guo Lin every two or three days. When the maid came, she also arranged for the old woman to sew Guo Lin's shoes and socks, starch and wash clothes, clean the house, serve soup and medicine, cook meals, etc. In short, she took good care of him.
Even You Yue, who lives with Guo Lin, also got a lot of credit.
Anyway, Guo Lin recovered under such careful care.
After the epidemic, the lockdown order was lifted, and Zhang Yue went to visit his senior brother.
He was happy to hear that General Ouyang Fa took good care of his senior brother. Of course, he also heard from Guo Lin about Mrs. Wu's care and the maid.
Zhang Yue heard Ouyang Fa talk about the appearance of the maid, and he guessed that she was someone close to Qi Niang, and he was a little moved in his heart.
He has seen and heard many stories of people who dislike the man's poor relatives and friends.
When he asked Ouyang Fa to help, he had no intention of troubling Mrs. Wu, but Mrs. Wu came to help, which was enough in terms of etiquette. In the end, the Seventeenth Niang even asked her maid to come in person and give away valuables. Nourishing medicinal materials, and sending people to serve Guo Lin.
Seeing Guo Lin's inquiring look, Zhang Yue immediately said to Guo Lin, "Senior brother, don't be surprised. I'll tell you the truth. You need a drink of water first."
Zhang Yue brought water to Guo Lin, and then said: "Brother, to be honest, I have a marriage contract with the Wu family..."
cough! cough! cough!
Zhang Yue saw that Guo Lin was really choked. At this moment, he couldn't help but sigh that Ouyang Xiu's true biography was really useful.
Zhang Yue patted Guo Lin on the back and after a while, Guo Lin asked, "What did you just say? You have an engagement with the Wu family?"
Zhang Yue said: "Senior brother, please don't look like this. I can't get married until I pass the Jinshi examination, otherwise it won't count."
"She is really the daughter of the Wu family, no wonder... I understand everything."
Guo Lin suddenly said: "Junior brother, this is a good marriage, and people still value you so much. Even I feel a lot of affection for you this time."
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "Senior brother, what do you and I have to say about each other?"
Hearing this, Guo Lin was worried again: "It's just that the Wu family is such a good family, I'm afraid you are too..."
Zhang Yue said: "Senior brother..."
Guo Lin thought about it carefully and said: "But since the Wu family treats me like this and takes care of me so carefully, it means that my junior brother should have a very important weight in the Wu family's heart. It seems that I am too worried about my senior brother. Could it be Wu?" My wife is very fond of you, junior brother?"
Zhang Yue smiled but did not answer.
Guo Lin said with a smile: "Well, my junior brother is the best choice for his talent and appearance, and his background is also the best choice for his resignation from Tongsan. I think this wife of the Wu family will be very lucky in the future."
"Ha! Senior brother, what you say sounds nice. Come on, senior brother, drink some more water!"
Guo Lin didn't dare to drink anymore.
Zhang Yue said: "Senior brother, prepare for the exam with peace of mind. Next month, we will supervise the exams for the gold list. After that, you and I will compete in solving the exams."
Guo Lin said with a smile: "Now I took the Ming Jing exam, and you took the Jinshi exam. I'm afraid it will be difficult to tell the difference."
Zhang Yue said: "Senior brother seems to be very sure of what he said."
Hearing this, Guo Lin said calmly: "I haven't suffered in vain in the past few years, otherwise I wouldn't be making fun of my junior brother.",
Then came July.
The epidemic has finally dissipated in Beijing.
Bianjing has also entered the hottest time of the year.
This month, our official family in the Song Dynasty welcomed another daughter, and the reserve position is still vacant. Ouyang Xiu resigned from the post of magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture and was replaced by Cai Xiang.
In this sweltering month, the Imperial College Examination begins.
In the earliest days of the Imperial College Examination, the Imperial Court permitted candidates to take exams at the Imperial College if they were far away from the countryside and had lived in the capital for a long time. However, candidates must have a letter of recommendation from the local magistrate, and the exam would only be allowed after being introduced by the magistrate. Others should go back to their own places and take the local examination.
Later, he was allowed to be promoted to civil and military officials, and he was directly attached to the Imperial Academy to be released, which became a kind of preferential treatment for the children of the nobles.
After Qingli founded the school, there was Taixue.
The proctored exam then becomes the screening exam before the interpretation exam.
As long as scholars from all over the capital have experienced failure in provincial examinations, or scholars who have been specially recommended by local officials, as well as students from the West, North, and South Prisons, they can obtain the qualifications to interpret the Imperial College Examination after passing the proctored examination.
Everyone knows that the Imperial Examination has a quota of 600 Jinshi candidates. This is a shortcut to the south. Therefore, the Inspection Examination after the epidemic still attracted more than 2,000 candidates.
Guo Linzi was among them. After several days of examinations, less than a thousand candidates were selected from more than two thousand candidates. They will participate in the August Imperial Examination together with more than eight hundred Tai students.
Guo Lin lived up to his expectations and successfully stood out. As for You Yue, he also successfully passed the test and joined Zhang Yue in the Imperial College to interpret the exam.
