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The first day of November in the first year of Qin Dynasty was a very auspicious day.
Just after the fourth watch, tens of thousands of scholars, carrying lanterns and writing boxes, rushed from all corners of Jinling City to Jiangnan Gongyuan on the bank of the Qinhuai River to participate in the first imperial examination of the Qin Dynasty. The streets were busy with traffic and people. noisy.
On this special day, restaurants, teahouses, and shops along the street opened their doors in the middle of the night, lit up red lanterns, and lit up the city as bright as day. Even the brothel girl dressed up to celebrate her beloved. The scholars were playing drums and singing, which was very lively.
This time, Enke's candidate as examiner was beyond everyone's expectations. His name was Fu Shan, also known as Qingzhu.
A few days ago, Fu Qingzhu, who "cryed that the certificate of credence was in trouble and had to flee according to his relatives' orders" was wearing a Taoist robe and called himself "Shi Taoist". Following his mother, he quietly entered Jinling City. Before anyone knew his face, Qin Mu sent Han Zanzhou to invite him into the palace.
After chatting all night long, Qin Mu resolutely decided to appoint Fu Qingzhu as a Hanlin scholar and the examiner of the first imperial examination in Qin Dynasty, and Fu Shan also happily accepted it.
No one thought of this beforehand, not even Qin Mu himself. It was Fu Shan's profound knowledge that convinced him and made him make this decision on the spur of the moment.
Given Fu Shan's character, he was willing to serve as the examiner because he was also impressed by Qin Mu's magnanimity. Qin Mu's knowledge was not as sophisticated as theirs, but in terms of insight, Fu Shan felt inferior to him.
Coupled with his open-mindedness, Fu Shan regarded him as a rare wise master, so he was willing to bow down and serve.
As soon as the candidates for the examination were announced, the scholars who were preparing to take the imperial examination were in an uproar. Before, countless people had speculated on the candidate for the examiner.
Everyone thinks that the most likely person is Yang Tinglin, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Yang Tinglin is upright and upright. Together with Huang Daozhou and Ni Hongbao, they are famous all over the world for their articles and are called "Three Hanlins". Everyone was convinced by his appointment as examiner.
Next are Du Yinxi, the Minister of Rites, Ai Nanying, and Luo Wanzao. Everyone also thinks that they are qualified enough to serve as examiners.
Some people even speculate that Gu Yanwu, a thirty-four-year-old Hanlin scholar, may also be a candidate to be the examiner. Although he is younger, he is knowledgeable and his words on the Eight-Part Part Forum are often surprising. Impressive.
Scholars repeatedly considered the personalities and preferences of these popular candidates so that they could cater to the examiner's preferences when answering papers.
The homes of these people receive countless greetings every day. There was a long queue of people waiting for an audience in front of the door.
Among them, Yang Tinglin and Gu Yanwu were so disturbed that they simply packed up their bedding and moved to the Yamen without returning home.
Who would have thought. When the exam period was approaching, Fu Shan suddenly appeared. Everyone's previous speculations came to nothing.
It's just that Master Fu Qingzhu of Fushan has an extremely high reputation. He is proficient in philosophy, medicine, Confucianism, Buddhism, poetry, calligraphy, painting, epigraphy, martial arts, textual criticism, etc., and his integrity is particularly high.
Not to mention ordinary scholars, even people like Gu Yanwu admired Master Fu Qing very much. When Qin Mu used him as the chief examiner, no one could say anything.
Starting the subject was a joy for Qin Mu. There is another joy, that is, having a concubine.
However, he deliberately kept a low profile regarding his concubine. There was no big announcement, just some gifts given to the ministers.
This time, among the so-called concubines, only one was actually canonized as a concubine, and that was the little girl Yun Qiaoer.
Qiaoer is thirteen years old after all, fourteen in imaginary terms. Living in the palace like this for no apparent reason, Hubu doctor Zhong Yunduan always has a bad look on his face.
Thinking of this, Qin Mu simply took this opportunity to confer her the title of Xiang Fei together.
The other two, one is Bian Yujing, the daughter of Bian Di, Bian Langzhong;
A native of Songjiang Prefecture, surnamed Gu, maiden name Han Yan, twenty-eight years old.
The Gu family comes from a scholarly family, and her ancestors served as officials during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. When the Qing army went to Jiangnan, her father Gu Yuan organized local people to resist the Qing Dynasty and died heroically in defeat. Gu Hanyan, his mother and six-year-old brother hid in a small nunnery in the mountains and escaped.
Han Zanzhou carefully selected ten beautiful girls this time. Gu Hanyan was chosen by Qin Mu at a glance and stayed. The other nine were sent back to their hometowns after being given gold and silver.
Like Li Xiangjun and the others, the two of them have only been granted the title "Beauty" for the time being.
On the small building next to the water, the pink curtains exude a festive style, there are Tang Yin's landscape paintings on the wall, and two white jade auspicious clouds protrude from the Jingde porcelain vase on the sandalwood dressing table. The beds and brocade quilts are all new and exude a light floral fragrance.
Gu Hanyan, who had just entered the house, was sitting in front of the dressing table. He was wearing a rose-red water silk and gold-sprinkled phoenix palace dress. His hair was in a concentric bun, and he held a ruby red gold in his hand and shook his head.
She has a small face with oval seeds, two beautiful eyebrows like slender crescent moons, a pair of bright eyes filled with light smoke and thin dew, and a sandalwood mouth as small as a cherry. When she opens it lightly, her teeth are as white as jade, and she has a somewhat melancholic temperament. But it is bright and attractive because of the shallow pear dimples on her cheeks.
Her ten fingers are as slender as spring onions and white, her muscles and bones are smooth, and her figure is graceful and graceful. Her sixteen-year-old waist is like the curls of a willow tree next door. Her body is full of the elegance and elegance unique to Jiangnan women.
The first impression she gives is that of kindness, cleanliness, and elegance. That kind of beauty is like hibiscus emerging from clear water, naturally removing the ornaments. This is why Qin Mu fell in love with her at first sight.
There were two maids standing by the door. She was sitting alone in front of the dressing table, looking a little uneasy, like a frightened little white rabbit.
She had also longed for her own marriage, and imagined that the elegant groom would come on horseback and pick her up in the sedan chair. I look forward to a life where the husband sings and the wife follows, the husband and wife love each other, and they raise their children.
But she never expected that she would be selected into the palace and become a concubine.
When she mentioned the palace, her first thought was cold. There are thousands of women in the palace, and most of them can only live their lives in misery. Even the slightest carelessness can lead to death.
In short, the palace gave her a cold feeling.
But when I was just brought in, I didn't see the countless orioles I imagined, nor did I feel that cold feeling. The whole garden was very peaceful.
Gu Hanyan was thinking anxiously about something on his mind, when suddenly the two maids beside the door squatted down and said, "May the King of Qin be blessed."
Gu Hanyan's heart trembled, and he stood up quickly when he saw a man in his twenties, wearing a black cross-collar Confucian shirt. He had a slender and straight figure and a handsome appearance. At first glance, he looked like a scholar coming to Beijing to take the exam. .
She didn't dare to look any further, and hurriedly gathered her clothes and bowed down: "Greetings to the King of Qin."
"Are you sure I am the King of Qin?" Qin Mu laughed and asked the maid to get a fire fox light fur coat.
Gu Hanyan didn't dare to get up and didn't know how to answer. He looked very embarrassed.
Qin Mu put the fire fox light fur coat on her body, tightened it tightly, then took her hand and walked out.
"Qin... ... King Qin..."
"If you're shy, don't talk. Just follow me."
Gu Hanyan did not dare to struggle and let Qin Mu hold his hand as he went downstairs, walked through the corridor, around the pond, and walked along the path among the flowers. When he came to the small door in the backyard, Gu Hanyan felt something was wrong.
Are you leaving the house? She became more and more uneasy. It stands to reason that she had just entered the house, even if she did not go to the bridal chamber like ordinary people, and then sent her to the bridal chamber, but she had just been taken out of the back door as soon as she entered the house. Could it be that... ... ... She didn't dare to think about it, her feet were so weak that she could hardly walk.
Qin Mu felt her little hands trembling slightly. He turned around and comforted with a smile: "Don't be afraid, I won't sell you. Even if I want to sell you, someone must dare to buy it, haha..." .. .”
"That... ... "
"What is that?" Qin Mu turned around and helped her button up her fur coat. It was the first time she was so close to a man, and her palms were all sweaty.
Qin Mu was a little amused and said softly, "Don't be afraid. Just think of it as going out with your husband on the street. If the sky falls, your husband will hold you up. Look, I brought a lot of money. Just tell me what you like later. My husband will buy them all for you."
Qin Mu said, taking out a bunch of banknotes and shaking them with a proud look.
Gu Hanyan's mouth, as thin as a cherry, opened slightly, and the surprise in her heart had outweighed her fear.
She lowered her head and whispered: "Prince Qin, I don't want to buy anything."
"That won't work. Our mission today is to spend all the money, haha..."
Qin Mu smiled and took her hand out of the small door. Outside, a large sedan with four people was waiting by the door. Niu Wanshan, Li Shi and others all changed into casual clothes and stood guard around the sedan.
"Relax, we are not going to the battlefield. Let them stay away. Are you afraid that others will not know my identity if you follow me so closely?" Qin Mu was very dissatisfied with Niu Wanshan and others' appearance as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and said He took Meiren's hand and left in the sedan chair.
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ps: The weather has been very hot these days. After sitting in front of the computer for a long time, I feel pain between my eyebrows. Well, I would like to remind all brothers to pay attention to preventing heatstroke and cooling down, and to take care of the body.
Still asking for monthly tickets, the rankings are getting further and further away, the situation is not good! Brothers who have monthly tickets, please support us, bow your head and say goodbye!
.(To be continued...)
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