Li Cheng had just returned from a trip to Luo Shengli's place. Since both of them had to take the exam this time, they happened to be in the same group, so they discussed going together.
The way to Gongyuan passes through Li's house, so I happened to walk together.
At noon, Gu Qingci ate alone, she ate very little, and only said that she had no appetite and couldn't eat.
Li Cheng returned home in about a while, and as soon as he returned, Mrs. Sun asked someone to come over and send the two of them to the East Courtyard together.
The old lady was nervous herself, worried about this and that, for fear that something was wrong and not fully prepared, or that she hadn't noticed something.
Gu Qingci knows a lot better, she didn't see anything when she was in the Hou's residence, and the second wife told her early in the morning that the first thing to pay attention to is to keep warm, the body is the most important thing, and you must not get sick.
The spring in the north is still very cold. In the cold spring season, you can't stand the cold without wearing a jacket, but you can't wear cotton jackets in the test. To prevent people from cheating, you can only wear single clothes.
Fortunately, there is no spring snow this year, which is already a blessing. In the past, it happened that candidates were directly stunned by heavy snowfall.
You can only set five pieces of single clothes, so you can only find some thick fabrics to make them.
No matter how cold it is, it can only be endured.
Li Cheng was very helpless looking at the unlined clothes that Mrs. Sun had prepared for him. He kind of missed the modern cashmere sweaters, and the thin one was very warm.
"Officer." Li Cheng called Gu Qingci suddenly.
When Gu Qingci heard this, she raised her head, smiled, and said, "What's the matter, Mr.?"
Li Cheng glanced at her and sighed, "Grandmother just asked you something." Then he laughed, "It's an exam for your husband, not you. Why are you nervous?"
Gu Qingci lowered her head and said, "But it's not because I care about my husband."
Sun also laughed when she heard that.
Seeing Li Chengze's relaxed expression again, the same as usual, his heart became much more relaxed.
They stayed here for dinner in the evening, and sent them over early after dinner, and told Li Cheng to rest early so that he could take a good exam tomorrow after recovering his energy.
It was still early, and it was fine to go back, so Li Cheng picked up a book to pass the time.
I didn't go to the study, but just read it in the inner room.
Gu Qingci glanced at his case table, and saw his personal seal on the corner of the table.
I walked over, sat down opposite, reached out to pick up the seal and played with it for a while, thinking it was very interesting, I asked curiously: "Master, is this your private seal?"
This seal is made of milky white jade, small and long, and it is actually carved into a small tiger standing upright.
Really cute, a little naive.
Li Cheng raised his eyes, thought for a while, and said, "Use it as a gift from my father when I got the crown. An old jade handed down from my family is just the right size. My father asked someone to make this, and I have been using it ever since." using."
Gu Qingci listened and nodded, and then said: "I see that the copybook that Xianggong learned before was Yan style, why is it changed to Liu style now?"
Li Cheng paused, and said with a smile: "When we were enlightened, Mr. asked us to learn the face style. Later, I prefer willow style, so I learned another style. Why are officials also interested?"
Gu Qingci shook her head, pursed her lips and said, "No." She couldn't persevere if she was asked to spend time practicing every day.
She is afraid of being tired and likes to be lazy, so she can't write strong and strong calligraphy.
After talking for a while, Gu Qingci asked Li Chengze to wash up and rest early, because he would wake up early tomorrow.
It was the same night as usual, with something different.
The two went to bed early.
Woke up at the fifth watch, and the servant girls outside also made noises, lit the lamp and called people softly, fearing that the master would miss the hour.
Li Cheng quickly dressed, washed and tidied up, and Gu Qingci got up together. She was wearing a short jacket, and she felt a burst of cold air outside, and could hear gusts of wind blowing outside.
The two had some hot rice.
Yuan Bao Duanyan carefully checked the things to be brought on the side.
After a while, someone came in and answered, saying that Mr. Luo's car was coming.
Li Cheng got up and took the boy out of the second gate, Gu Qingci followed him to the inner gate.
Li Cheng put on a cloak and hat for her, and said warmly, "Go back quickly, it's cold outside, don't freeze."
Gu Qingci looked up at him, but didn't speak.
Seeing her looking at him with obedient and innocent eyes, Li Cheng was inexplicably moved.
"What's the matter." He smiled and said in a low and hoarse voice that was inclusive and doting.
Gu Qingci shook his head vigorously, then blinked his eyes again, "It's okay, Mr. Hurry up and get in the car, don't be late."
She looked at Li Chengze, who turned around and walked into the carriage.
Gu Qingci turned around and went back to the house only when he saw the carriage went away and was out of sight.
The general examination is the same as the local examination. There are three exams, each three days, a total of nine days.
Exams are the hardest, and they are still in the cold early spring.
Fortunately, Li Chengze's physical fitness was good, and he managed to survive. The main reason was that the environment in the Gongyuan was a bit tough.
After nine days in a row, after the last exam, Li Cheng let out a breath of foul air.
Yuan Bao hurriedly helped his master into the carriage, after a while, Luo Shengli also came out to his own carriage, the two greeted each other briefly, and went to their own homes.
Hot water had already been prepared at home, and Li Cheng washed himself from head to toe, and fell asleep before he had time to eat.
After sleeping for a full day and night, I woke up the next day, refreshed.
It wasn't until we came together that we felt hungry. The maid who was guarding outside the door heard the movement and called for someone.
Both the Sun family and the Bai family came over, and they asked Li Chengze one sentence at a time, asking him if he felt uncomfortable, and then called the doctor to give him a pulse.
In the end, no problem was diagnosed. I just boiled a big bowl of ginger soup for him to drink. It was really cold these days, and I was afraid that he would catch a cold.
After drinking the cold-dispelling ginger soup, Gu Qingci ordered the maids to bring food over.
For the sake of convenience in the Gongyuan No. room, I only ate some dry food afterwards.
Looking at the hot food now, Li Cheng also ate two big bowls.
Only then did the spirit of the whole person relax.
After the test is over, we will wait for the results.
Two days later, Li Chengze and Luo Shengli made an appointment to go to the academy together.
Each silently uttered the answers to their own exams, and let the teacher take a look.
Because the teachers of the two are different, they will leave separately when they arrive.
As soon as Li Chengze's answer was written and submitted, the husband held it in his hand and read it. After reading it, his face looked very satisfied, and he couldn't be wrong.
Sure enough, I heard someone say: "Eight or nine is not far from ten, this subject should be on the list."
This is still afraid that Li Chengze will be arrogant, and he didn't say that if there is no accident, his ranking should be at the top.
Luo Shengli's side probably turned out well, and he looked relaxed after he came out.
The two looked at each other and smiled, stretched out their hands as a gesture of invitation, and then went back together.
In the past few days, the major teahouses and inns in the capital are particularly lively. Students who have finished the exams from all over the place are waiting for their results, and they gather to discuss the content of the exam.
Some people are full of spring breeze and high spirits, while others are depressed.
Li Chengze, Luo Shengli, and Qin Ran are all from the same subject, and they have been invited frequently these days.
No one dared to say that their hearts were not a little restless. It was Li Chengze, who felt a little fluctuating every day listening to people discussing and guessing.
Time passed by, and finally it was time to release the list.
Yuan Bao and Duan Yan went out early in the morning and were waiting under the red list.
Far away is a circle of people, squeezing into it like a crowd.
Yuan Bao was illiterate, but learned to recognize his master's name at home.
The two went forward desperately, there was a birthmark on Duan Yan's face, and they were so close to each other, some people looked at it and were shocked.
Duan Yan can care about others, and deliberately turned the face of the birthmark to them, so that they would back off.
With the sound of gongs and drums, the red list was released and hung up.
The next moment became even more noisy. The two of them went to the front where they could see the red list clearly after a lot of effort, and then started to look at it from the beginning one by one.
After a while, I heard Duan Yan exclaiming: "I got it! I got it! Our uncle won, the eighth place!"
Yuan Bao grinned almost immediately, and then followed along.
It really is the eighth place! The name, place of origin, number plate, etc. can be matched!
Many people around heard that someone had won, and then heard that it was the eighth place, and they were all envious!
One and two said congratulations.
The two Yuan Bao, Duan Yan and Yan Yan were so happy, they hurriedly withdrew and rushed home.
I had to hurry up and tell my master the good news!
…
Li Cheng won the eighth place.
Huge joy filled the Li family. When the old lady heard the good news, she almost poked her head out of joy. It was the servants who patted her on the back all the time, so she let it go.
Haoxuan didn't frighten Li Baode, for fear that because of the happy event, the old lady would be so happy that she would collapse, that would be unbeautiful.
Because the ranking was very high, the official who announced the good news came quickly on horseback, beating gongs and drums to announce, and the neighbors around heard the sound and all opened their doors and surrounded them.
One by one to watch the fun.
For a while, I was very envious of the Li family, this is really developed, and the family is going to be changed!
Later, Li Cheng became an official again, but it was not something they could climb up to.
Especially the family next door to Li's family, really has a very complicated mood.
The neighbors next door for decades used to be the same family, but now the Li family has started a successful business, and their own family is still the same.
I think my son also went to a private school with Li Chengze for two years at the beginning, but he didn't go to school afterwards.
This person feels unspeakable now, thinking that if she had pressured her son to study for two more years at that time, maybe her son would also be able to pass the exam now!
I thought about this a lot, but when I saw Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Bai, I immediately raised my smiling face to congratulate them, and said a series of auspicious words as if they didn't need money, which made Mrs. Sun smile.
Li Cheng was admitted as a Jinshi, and the clan house was full of excitement. Recently, two grandparents from Hekou Village came to express their importance to this matter.
Then he discussed with Li Baode about the banquet, saying that he would go back to Hekou Village to hold a banquet later.
However, the date has not been set yet, and if it is set, the date will be postponed.
Right now, the meeting test has passed, but there is still the palace test, so I can't let it be taken lightly.
Li's family is full of people, more lively than ever before, relatives and friends are rushing to congratulate.
Fortunately, the old lady and Mrs. Bai are entertaining and dealing with it, and there is nothing to do without Li Cheng, so the west courtyard is fine.
It was only after Li Chengze came out of the palace examination that he returned home and found that Gu Qingci was in a very bad state of mind, that's when he found out that she was ill.
"Have you invited the doctor?"
"I've already gone to invite you." Yuzhu replied hastily.
"I was fine yesterday, why did I suddenly get sick?" Li Cheng touched Gu Qingci's forehead and said.
"Is it uncomfortable?" He looked down at the person on the bed.
There is some self-blame in my heart, or I was negligent, otherwise I should have discovered it long ago.
Gu Qingci didn't speak, just looked at the other party with moist and dark eyes.
Li Cheng caressed her face.