The 28th is the Emperor's birthday.
Since folk banquet music was banned, the Wanshou Festival was also cancelled. There was no need to go to the palace to congratulate, which saved birthday gifts and trouble. Jiang Changning was very satisfied.
At the end of the month, Zhuang Qingyu gave birth to a son after ten months of pregnancy.
The Liu family came to the Prince of Jin's mansion to announce the good news. Jiang Changning asked about Zhuang Qingyu's condition and learned that she was fine. He then asked, "How heavy is the baby?"
"Six pounds and seven ounces."
"That's a fat baby," Jiang Changning asked
The next day, Jiang Changning sent Xiulan to the Liu family with the longevity lock and other gifts that had been prepared long ago to save face for Zhuang Qingyu.
In the afternoon, Xiulan came back from Liu's house with an angry look on her face.
"What's wrong with you? Is the Liu family still looking down on you?" Fang Ju asked in surprise.
"No one gave me a cold shoulder. I was just mad at the way Mrs. Zhuang treated Aunt Zhuang."
"What did she do?" Fangju asked curiously.
"Go to Second Aunt Zhuang to ask for money, saying that Fourth Young Master wants to take part in the imperial examination and needs help."
Fangju frowned, "What? Bribing the examiner?"
"Who knows? I asked Bicao. This isn't the first time Mrs. Zhuang has asked for money. She has asked for it several times, with various reasons."
"Does the married girl from a poor family support her parents?" Fu Cui sneered.
"You can't say that. Mrs. Zhuang didn't ask Aunt Zhuang for money." Fang Ju said with a smile.
"Of course she won't ask Aunt Zhuang for money. She will even subsidize Aunt Zhuang, so that Aunt Zhuang can live a rich life in her husband's family." Shu Fei sneered, "When Aunt Zhuang makes a dress, she always chooses the best materials and patterns, and she also says that money is not a problem."
"This ostentatiousness is really out of line." Xiulan sneered.
The four maids talked about the gossip of the Zhuang family for a while, and Fu Cui asked, "Should we tell the princess about this?"
"What's the point of telling the princess? If Second Aunt Zhuang can't stand on her own, the princess can't support her for the rest of her life, right?" Shu Fei didn't want Jiang Changning to worry about this.
Xiulan and Fangju agreed with this and did not tell Jiang Changning about it.
The second day of August was Zhou Chengxin's birthday, but he was in mourning and did not celebrate his birthday.
However, Jiang Changning still asked Shu Fei to send a gift and asked her to say hello to the two nannies on his behalf.
When Miao saw Shufei, she smiled and said, "Miss, you came at the right time. Yesterday, my brother from my mother's family brought me a new toy, and I was just about to give it to the princess to play with."
"What good stuff is it? Good sister-in-law, let me take a look first." Su Fei said with a smile.
Miao took out a large brocade box and handed it to Shu Fei. "My brother said it's called a parallel maze. It's quite interesting."
Shu Fei opened the box, and inside was a square plate with an exquisite pattern painted on it, and a thin layer of...
"Is this crystal or glass?" Shu Fei touched it, "It's so smooth."
Miao smiled and said, "My brother said it was colored glaze."
"How to play?" Shu Fei asked.
Miao taught her, "There is a hole here. Put these three balls in. Seal the hole and find a way to move them to the hole on the other side. When moving them, you have to be careful not to let them fall out of these small holes."
Shu Fei tried twice but failed to move the ball over. "I'm clumsy. No, but the princess can do it."
She brought this parallel maze back to the palace and presented it to Jiang Changning like a treasure.
Jiang Changning played with it for a few times and found it quite interesting, so he asked Chunlai to find a craftsman to make two more pieces, one for the concubine and one for Kang Ren.
With this toy, the three of them can kill their boring time by playing.
On the eighth day of the eighth month, the first round of this year's autumn examination began.
He was a child prodigy. At the age of nine, he passed the children's examination. At the age of twelve, he took part in the academy examination and became a scholar.
He is not yet seventeen years old this year, and he is taking part in the first autumn examination with great confidence. If he can pass, the Zhou family will be one of the three heroes.
Zhou Chengxin warned him, "Don't be proud and complacent."
Zhou Shouxin reminded him, "If you fail, don't lose confidence."
"Brother, I will not be proud and complacent, and brother, I will not lose confidence."
With the expectations of his family, Zhou Duxin walked into the Imperial Examination Hall.
The provincial examination was divided into three sessions, each lasting three days. All three sessions required entering the examination room one day in advance, that is, on the eighth, eleventh and fourteenth day, and leaving the examination room one day after the exam.
The chief examiner of this session was Prince Ding, and the two deputy examiners were Grand Secretary Shi and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites Chen.
Three years ago, there was a cheating case in the imperial examination. Although many people were demoted, the people were resentful. After Prince Jin repeatedly wrote to the emperor, the emperor added three more invigilators.
The invigilators were the Minister of Punishments, the Minister of the Supreme Court, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. With these three officials working together, their power was naturally greater than that of the seventh-rank Jieshi Zhong in each ministry.
According to the law, once a student entered the Imperial Examination Hall, he was absolutely not allowed to leave unless he died or was seriously ill.
If they insist on leaving, the worst possible outcome is expulsion from school and at worst, punishment for "gross disrespect".
Zhou Duxin walked into the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall and, under the guidance of a soldier, went to a small room separated by a curtain. He loosened his clothes and allowed the academic officials to check his clothes and body.
This was to prevent him from bringing in prohibited items such as cheat sheets, and two soldiers checked the contents of his examination box.
After the inspection, the academic official gave him his number plate and said, "You can find the toilet number first, and then enter the room. After entering the room, you are not allowed to walk around at will. Violators will be punished with 20 strokes of the cane, 10 days in shackles, and will not be allowed to take the exam again for the rest of their lives."
"Thank you for telling me. I will keep it in mind." Zhou Duxin knew about this matter, but the official was willing to give him a few words of advice, which was well-intentioned.
The Imperial Examination Hall was divided into sixteen major areas according to the “darkness of heaven and earth, vastness of the universe, waxing and waning of the sun and the moon, and the array of stars.”
Each large area is divided into six rows facing each other, with thirty-six rooms in each row, for a total of 216 rooms.
At both ends of the room, there was a soldier guarding each station. In addition, there were sixteen patrol officers who patrolled these large areas.
Zhou Duxin's number plate was Room No. 17, Yuzi, which was a little far from the two toilets. Just as he was about to go in, he saw Zhuang Jike standing in front of the room opposite.
Recalling that Zhuang Jike had once called officials parasites, Zhou Duxin asked sarcastically, "Didn't Fourth Young Master Zhuang say that he would not take the imperial examination, would not become an official, and would not be a parasite? Why did you come to the Imperial Examination Hall?"
"Do you know me? Who are you?" Zhuang Jike looked at him.
"I'm just a servant, not worth mentioning." Zhou Duxin said calmly.
Zhuang Jike was smart, "You are a member of the Zhou family, a slave released by the Jiang family."
"That's right." Zhou Duxin admitted frankly. He never felt inferior because he was once a slave.
"You also come to take the imperial examination, can you pass it?" Zhuang Jike said with contempt.
Zhou Duxin smiled and said, "Let's compare and see who ranks higher on the list."
"Anyone with a low ranking should not be allowed to become an official." Zhuang Jike was ruthless and wanted to cut off Zhou Duxin's path to official career.
"Okay." Zhou Duxin raised his hand.
Zhuang Zike stepped forward and high-fived him three times.
(End of this chapter)