The red sun is already three feet high, and the golden furnace is filled with fragrant beasts.
The sun had just risen over the mountain. Under the bright red morning glow, the sun shone down from the gaps in the clouds, like countless giant dragons spewing golden waterfalls, dyeing the world into a golden color. Under the early morning sun, the Linhuai Hou Mansion was even more magnificent, with hanging lanterns and colorful decorations, flying phoenixes, hibiscus mattresses, burning incense and burning stoves. The sound of Fu music, silk and bamboo could be heard from the Hou Mansion, creating a bustling and lively scene.
The maids of Linhuai Marquis Mansion packed up early, put on their latest clothes, put on the hairpins given by their masters, dressed up beautifully, and got busy.
Today is the 60th birthday of the old lady of the Hou Mansion. The maids and servants of the Linhuai Hou Mansion got up early in the morning to clean the court, serve the master to wash up, and under the command of the stewards, packed the Hou Mansion properly and put out the things needed for the birthday. Get ready.
Zhu Ping'an got up and washed up as usual. He put on the new clothes brought by the little maid Baozi yesterday. He wore an ink-colored robe, white deerskin boots, and his hair was simply pulled up. Although his appearance was ordinary, there was something about him under the clothes. A touch of nobility.
However, there is a big gap compared with Mr. Zheng.
Mr. Zheng stood with his hands behind his back at the entrance of Zhu Ping'an's courtyard. He was wearing a moon-white satin robe embroidered with gold. The robe was trimmed with silver embroidered lotus leaves. He tied a jade belt around his waist and held an ivory folding fan. It looked like a piece of flawless jade. He is a handsome young man, even if he stands there quietly, he is handsome and charming, giving people a sense of noble Tsinghua University.
"Today's Madam's birthday banquet has many distinguished guests. You are incompetent and have nothing to gain, so don't lose the face of the Marquis. When you go out later, I advise you to stay quietly in the corner, so as not to injure cousin Shu'er's face. Light."
Mr. Zheng, who stood with his hands behind his hands, stood at the door of the small courtyard of Zhu Ping'an's guest room and finished speaking. Then he left with his hands behind his back. His lonely figure looked like a lonely master.
Well
The concave half-day look blocked me at the door early in the morning. Just to say this to me, look at the posture of shaking your legs when walking, they must be cramped after being sunken for so long! Okay, that's your attitude. I'll give you 80 points for this pretense. Zhu Pingan couldn't help but smile when he looked at Mr. Zheng shaking his legs and leaving.
When Zhu Ping'an arrived at the front yard, he found that he had been arranged in a corner and was ignored.
The Hou Mansion organized several courtyards and used the front hall as a place to entertain guests. There were dozens of tables for birthday banquets, but Zhu Ping'an's table was alone in the corner, and you couldn't see it unless you looked carefully.
Early in the morning, the second master of the house, who had been away from home for ten days and a half, was busy outside for who knows what, and he also had a rosy look. I rushed back to Linhuai Marquis Mansion from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he went straight to the old lady's yard to say hello to the old lady.
The room where the old lady was staying had a strong longevity smell. On the front wall, there was a picture of a birthday star full of festive and auspicious colors. In the picture, the old birthday star had a big smile, a bulging head, a cane in one hand, and a peach in the other. Of course, there are many hanging books in the room with a large pattern of the word "Shou".
The room was covered with a red carpet and a desk was placed. A large incense burner is placed in the middle of the desk. A long longevity incense stick is inserted in the burner. The incense body is coiled into a big Chinese character "Shou". Next to the incense burner is a pair of wax skewers. Candles weighing several kilograms are inserted on it, and the body of the candle is also painted with the golden word "longevity" and various colorful auspicious patterns.
The old lady of the Hou Mansion was sitting in the room wearing a red birthday suit, and the girl from the Discipline Inspection Commission was waiting on her to comb her hair.
"My son has paid his respects to his mother." After the second master entered the old lady's house, he smiled and knelt down to pay her respects.
"You're such a bad boy, you don't even know how to come home. What kind of greetings can you give me? I'll be upset because of this bad boy like you." When the old lady saw her second son coming in, she waved the girl combing her hair behind her to get out of the way, and cursed. , holding the jade Ruyi as a gesture to hit his second son.
"My mother has wronged her son. These days, his son has been kneeling in several temples to recite sutras. The Zen master said that the 'Security and Life-Extension Sutra' is the most effective. My son recited it several times last night in order to catch up. It was my mother's birthday, so I stopped talking and rushed back overnight. If I beat my son, my mother would be relieved, and my son would rather be beaten by my mother every day."
The second master knew that the old lady was unwilling to give up the beating, so he stretched his head over with a smile, as if he was willing to be beaten even after being wronged.
"You're so old, I'm not ashamed. If there weren't foreign guests coming today, I would have to loosen your skin." Seeing her second son like this, the old lady couldn't help laughing and scolding.
"Why don't you bother mother to do it? Mother, just give me a message and my son will do it himself. I'm sure to satisfy mother." The second master said with a smile.
"I'm not doing anything right. I'll settle the score with you another day." The old lady laughed and scolded her.
"The smile is always happy and comfortable, the pearls are round and the body is healthy. My son wishes his mother a happy birthday. I wish the old birthday star may be as blessed as the East Sea, the sun and the moon are prosperous. The pines and cranes are everlasting, the spring and autumn are not old, the life is as long as the Nanshan Mountain, and the joy is far longer."
The second master knelt on the ground, took the small silver pot from the maid's hand, poured a cup of tea, and smiled to wish the old lady her birthday.
"Okay, okay, let's go and help your brother in the front yard. You're not a decent person." The old lady took the teacup and took a sip.
"Son, please leave." The second master said in resignation, stood up and left.
Not long after waiting for the second master to leave, the second young lady of the Hou Mansion took the lead and led Li Shu, the daughter of the Hou Mansion, Fatty Zhou, and the naughty little Lolita to come in with a snoring. They sorted themselves by class and slipped into the room, giggling. He smiled and knelt down to wish the old lady a happy birthday.
When everyone in the Hou Mansion knelt down to pray for the birthday of the old lady of the Hou Mansion, a white-faced and beardless Xiao Huangmen rode his horse to the Shuntian Gongyuan in the southeast of the capital again, and handed the sealed book bag to Xu Jie and others. In the hands of all examiners.
After Xu Jie and others broke the intact seal in front of Xiao Huangmen, Xiao Huangmen resigned and was escorted away by Jin Yiwei.
After Xu Jie and other examiners opened the seal, they found that inside were the draft list and past life test papers they submitted to the imperial examination, as well as a note.
"What should be done to reduce talents?"
There were only these six simple words on the note, and nothing else. There was no instruction from Emperor Jiajing on the draft list, not even a single ink dot.
This is a code word, and it is also the art of controlling people first created by Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing's political methods are very strong, and the emperor's mental skills are superb. This kind of code word art of controlling people is one of the representatives. The contents of these notes are diverse and the wording is extremely irregular, but they carry the political trends of Jiajing. If you don't understand this, you may misunderstand the leader's instructions, and it's not just as simple as doing the wrong thing. Being able to recognize and read Jiajing's code words is a compulsory course for officials in the court. Yan Song is a master in reading code words. However, it is said that Yan Song's son Yan Shifan is the best at reading code words. It is said that Yan Song cannot read many code words, and it is all because of Yan Shifan. Yan Song can Understanding Jiajing's intentions is the first assistant, and the advantage of code words is indispensable.
What should be done to reduce talents? "Jiang" means "coming to select". The clear meaning of this sentence is, what should be done to select talents?
Isn’t our imperial examination just for selecting talents?
Yan Maoqing and others looked at this note and pondered over and over again. They were at a loss. What did the emperor mean by this?
Xu Jie looked at the note with a clear smile. I'm not bad at playing code words either.
These six words do not ask how talents should be selected, but how the test paper for demoting talents should be ranked. In other words, where should the test paper for demoting talents be ranked? Obviously, the emperor asked how this paper should be ranked as it was a test paper with the word "demoting talents" in Qing Ci.
Why ask that.
Isn’t it clear at a glance what the emperor means? (To be continued.)
