Chengguo Mansion, outside the gate.
Five well-mannered young men dressed in Confucian robes were standing at the foot of the stairs, talking in low voices. Each of them had bright eyes and was full of vigor and vitality.
The five people were not familiar with each other before.
But since we both passed the exam today, we naturally became friends quickly.
As they chatted, they decided to visit Master Luo, who won the first place in this scientific examination.
They are all from the same hometown of Mocheng and both passed the imperial examination in the same year.
Let’s make friends now and get close to each other, so that we can help each other when we serve in the same court in the future.
"I didn't expect that Luo Jieyuan is actually the son of Chengguo Mansion, a noble family, with a good family background."
"You all may not know that the title of Chengguo Mansion has been passed down for three generations and has long been in name only. I'm afraid we will have to rely on this Luo Jieyuan to revive the family's prestige in the future."
"It's really strange, why have I never heard of the name of Luo Jieyuan before?"
"It's really strange. Mo City is only this small, and I have never heard of it."
While several people were whispering, Luo Yannian and Luo Yu walked out of the door with enthusiasm and dignity on their faces.
Luo Yu was afraid that his father would lower his status and would be difficult to talk to, so he immediately took the lead, stepped forward, bowed, and said with a smile on his face: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time, please come in, please come in."
The five people looked at him and were stunned for a moment.
One of them whispered, "Who is this person?"
Everyone else looked confused.
Luo Yu quickly bowed and said, "I am Luo Yu, this is my father, please don't be polite, please move to the mansion to talk."
When the five heard that the middle-aged man next to them was the Lord of Chengguo Mansion, they immediately bowed and saluted: "Greetings, Lord Luo."
Luo Yannian smiled and nodded, "Okay, everyone has passed the imperial examination today, which is a cause for celebration. I have prepared wine and food in my house. If you don't mind, please come in and eat and chat. My Yu'er has always admired scholars. I am very grateful that you can come and make friends with my Yu'er."
The five people were a little confused after hearing this and looked at the young man in front of them again.
One of them whispered, "It seems that he is not Luo Jieyuan. He is different from what I saw today."
Another person said: "Indeed not, he is probably Luo Jieyuan's brother."
Several people looked at each other, and one of them said hurriedly: "Lord Luo, Brother Luo, we came here this time to meet Luo Jieyuan and make friends. This is my first time here, and I didn't have time to buy gifts, so I'm really embarrassed to enter your house. I wonder if you can let Luo Jieyuan come out, and we will invite Luo Jieyuan to the restaurant for a meal, and visit your house again in the future?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the enthusiastic smiles on Luo Yannian and Luo Yu's faces froze, and their faces were filled with confusion.
"Luo Jieyuan?"
Luo Yu was stunned for a moment, then he clasped his hands and asked, "Who is this Luo Jieyuan you are talking about?"
One of the scholars said quickly, "It's the first place winner of today's exam, Luo Qingzhou, Luo Jieyuan. We just asked around and found out that Luo Jieyuan is the son of Chengguo Mansion, so we wanted to come and pay him a visit. Is that convenient?"
Luo Yu suddenly froze in place, the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched violently, the smile on his face gradually stiffened, he opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but nothing came out.
There was silence for a while.
His voice suddenly became a little hoarse: "Luo Qingzhou... He, he passed the Liyuan exam? Didn't he fail the exam?"
When the five people heard this, they were all shocked.
One of them said quickly, "Brother Luo, you didn't read it wrong, did you? It's clearly written on the list, Luo Qingzhou, the champion, and his hometown is our Mo City. How could he fail the exam?"
Another scholar suddenly asked, "Did we get it wrong? Isn't Luo Jieyuan the son of Chengguo Mansion?"
Luo Yu's lips were trembling and his expression became more and more ugly. His self-cultivation and pride made him try to force out a smile, but he just couldn't.
He froze there, his fists in his sleeves slowly clenched, his lips trembling, and he didn't utter another word.
Another scholar hurried forward and bowed to the gloomy and silent Luo Yannian, saying: "Lord Luo, that Luo Qingzhou, Luo Jieyuan, isn't he the son of your family?"
The muscles on Luo Yannian's face twitched. He was silent for a long time, looked at him coldly and said, "I don't know him."
After these words were spoken, the five people looked at each other in surprise.
"It seems that I really heard it wrong..."
Several people were immediately embarrassed and quickly bowed their hands to apologize: "Lord Luo, Master Luo, I'm really sorry to bother you..."
Several people hurriedly and awkwardly said goodbye. Just after they took a few steps, two more scholars in Confucian robes walked over quickly. When they saw the five of them, one of them hurriedly said, "Brother Zhao, Brother Yang, you have come to the wrong place. That Luo Jieyuan does not live here. I heard that he is the illegitimate son of Chengguo Mansion and has been married off to Qin Mansion as a son-in-law. Brother Shang and Brother Zhuge have already gone there, so let's go there quickly."
When the five people heard this, they were all stunned.
"A son-in-law? Luo Jieyuan is a son-in-law?"
"The Chengguo Mansion gave Luo Jieyuan away as a son to someone else?"
"this… "
The five people were shocked and surprised, and felt it was unbelievable. They couldn't help but turn around and look at the father and son of Cheng Guofu on the steps.
Luo Yannian's face turned pale. He turned around and walked quickly into the mansion.
Luo Yu still stood there, motionless.
"Come on, stop talking, and go visit Luo Jieyuan."
A few people suddenly felt an inexplicable chill and did not dare to stay any longer, so they hurriedly left.
"Yu'er, come in and have dinner."
Luo Yannian appeared at the door and called softly. After a pause, he added, "You will take the exam tomorrow. If you are admitted to Longhu College, you will be no worse than him."
Luo Yu suddenly turned around, looked at him and said, "Daddy, are you comparing me with that little bastard now?"
Luo Yannian looked at his red eyes, fell silent and said no more.
The father and son stood at the door for a long time before entering the mansion together.
Wang was still busy in the dining room, personally instructing the servants to put the stools in place, put each dish in its proper place, and opened the aged wine.
The whole house was filled with the tempting aroma of wine and food.
Luo Yannian and Luo Yu stood at the door, watching this scene in silence.
Wang turned around and realized that they had returned. She quickly looked behind them and saw that there was no one behind them. She was stunned and said, "Master, Yu'er, where are the people? Where are those scholars? Why don't you invite them in?"
Luo Yannian didn't say anything. He walked to the table, sat down, picked up a jar of wine, and poured himself a bowl.
Wang saw that the two looked unhappy, and immediately stopped smiling. She asked, "What's wrong? Did you have a fight with them?"
Then he smiled and said, "It's okay. Scholars are like that. If they disagree, they will argue until their faces turn red, and they may even curse and fight. Master, Yu'er, just pretend that they have never been here. It's better not to make friends with such people."
Luo Yu stood at the door, silent for a while, and suddenly saw her and said, "Mother, who went out to check the list today?"
Wang was stunned and asked, "What list?"
Then he realized what was happening and said, "Are you talking about the list of successful candidates? Wang Cheng went out to check it out. What's wrong?"
She looked at the sinister look and twitching corners of her son's eyes, and her heart suddenly sank.
She turned her head again and looked at her master. Her expression suddenly became ugly and her voice began to tremble: "Yu'er, is... is there something wrong?"
Luo Yu looked at her coldly, was silent for a moment, and said, "Mother, Wang Cheng is your cousin, right?"
Wang nodded stiffly: "Yes... yes..."
Luo Yu didn't say anything more, turned around and left, saying: "I'm going to the backyard, don't bother me anymore."
Wang froze in place for a long while, then looked at her master and said in a trembling voice, "Master, what's going on? What happened to you? Did you hear something?"
Luo Yannian lowered his head and drank, as if he didn't hear her words.
Wang was still silent for a while, and then Fang suddenly said to the outside of the door: "Let Wang Cheng come to see me!"
Not long.
Wang Cheng, who was busy supervising in the kitchen and sweating profusely, hurried over and bowed his head respectfully and said, "Madam, do you have something to ask me?"
Wang looked at him gloomily and asked, "Have you read all the names announced for the imperial examination this morning?"
Wang Cheng was stunned when he heard this, and raised his head and said, "I have finished reading it. I have read it several times. Madam, what's wrong?"
Wang said, "Are you sure that... he didn't get hit?"
Wang Cheng said quickly: "Madam, I can confirm that the boy failed the exam. His name is definitely not on the list."
There was a hint of doubt in Wang's eyes, and she looked at her master again.
Luo Yannian paused for a moment, holding the wine glass in his hand, and then he looked up and said, "Let's go take a look."
Wang Cheng was full of doubts, and could only say, "Yes, sir, I'll go right away."
After saying that, he turned around and left quickly.
He then went straight to the stable at the back, led out a fine horse, left the mansion, and galloped towards the Imperial Examination Hall.
The horse's hooves stepped on the bluestone slabs, making crisp knocking sounds.
It was noon and there were not many people on the street.
He galloped on his horse and soon arrived at the Imperial Examination Hall.
The bustling crowd in front of the Imperial Examination Hall in the morning had long since dispersed.
However, there are still a few candidates who stay here, sitting in the corner and crying, wishing they could die.
Wang Cheng reined in his horse, stopped it at the side of the street, immediately jumped off the horse, and ran towards the wall beside the Gongyuan gate.
When he got closer, he looked up at the list above.
Suddenly, he was startled and saw another list next to it!
His body began to tremble, his face turned pale, he opened his eyes wide, held his breath, and looked at the other list that he had not seen that morning.
In the other column on the left, the first name: Luo Qingzhou, top scorer in the provincial exam, native place: Mocheng.
“Buzz—”
Wang Cheng's head suddenly buzzed, and everything went blank for a moment. His body swayed, his vision went dark, and he almost fainted.
"Impossible, impossible..."
"Jie... Jie Yuan... How could that little bastard possibly win Jie Yuan?"
"He was clearly poisoned... He was clearly vomiting blood..."
He shivered, rubbed his eyes hard, opened them wide, and looked again.
I read it completely, staring at that line of words and reading it dozens of times.
"It's over... It's over..."