The sun sets and rises, time flows; madly kissing the years, splashing the ink and orchid fragrance.
In the pen holder where Zhu Ping'an splashed ink, practiced calligraphy and rinsed the water, time slipped quietly through his fingers like sand in his palm. The birthday of the old lady of Linhuai Marquis's Mansion was approaching in the blink of an eye. The Linhuai Marquis's Mansion was decorated with lights and was full of joy, as everyone was preparing for the old lady's birthday tomorrow.
Zhu Ping'an also prepared a birthday gift for the old lady of Linhuai Hou, which was a painting written by Zhu Ping'an himself. The paper was the finest Chupi paper Zhu Ping'an bought from outside. It was white and smooth like a mirror, with fine fibers, evenly intertwined and delicate like silk. This kind of paper absorbs ink evenly, and calligraphy and painting made of it can be appreciated for a lifetime.
Zhu Ping'an also thought while writing and painting.
In ancient times, in wealthy families like these, people would always send birthday poems or couplets to celebrate the elder's birthday. Most of the birthday poems have been overused, so one ci writer pointed out the difficulty of this: "Nothing is more difficult than writing a birthday poem. If it talks only about wealth and honor, it is worldly; if it talks only about fame and honor, it is flattering; if it talks only about gods and immortals, it is pedantic and absurd." Looking at the many birthday poems and couplets, they basically all involve words like "blessings as vast as the east sea, life as long as the southern mountains". This kind of birthday poems has become almost everywhere.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Pingan dipped his brush in ink and wrote a flourish of calligraphy on the finest brown paper:
"Don't even mention it. He is the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who lives in the world. Even this year, he looks sixty, but he is only sixteen.
Don’t talk about birthday wishes, don’t wish for the tortoise, cypress, or crane. Just pick up the pen and add a stroke to the cross.
Adding a stroke to the cross, it becomes "a thousand years old". This kind of birthday greeting is indeed much better than "May you have as much happiness as the East Sea and live as long as the Southern Mountains".
Of course, this birthday speech was not Zhu Ping'an's original creation. It was a poem by Xin Jiaxuan that was praised for its humor and joy. This was a birthday speech for a relative of his family who was celebrating his 80th birthday. Zhu Ping'an changed the 80th to 60th to suit the birthday of the old lady of Linhuai Marquis's mansion.
In addition to this painting, Li Shu also asked her maid Baozi to bring a jade carving of Magu's birthday, and asked Zhu Ping'an to present it as a gift. Li Shu was very thoughtful, fearing that Zhu Ping'an's gift would be looked down upon by the Houfu if it was too insignificant.
Zhu Ping'an put his things in order, lit the oil lamp, and sat at the desk, reading a book.
At this time, it was already deep in the night, and the earth had fallen asleep. Except for the gentle breeze and the occasional barking of a dog, the prosperous mansion was completely silent.
The eldest lady of the Marquis's Mansion was in the old lady's room, telling her about the arrangements for tomorrow's birthday. The old lady was very satisfied with the eldest lady's arrangements. The main reason was that the several shops in the mansion had been making a lot of money these days, and the business was unusually good.
In order to increase profits, the old lady agreed to the eldest grandmother's plan and invested all the funds available in the mansion. Although the investment was large, according to the income in the past few days, the profit could be multiplied several times.
The old lady felt like she was many years younger and was in an extremely good mood, almost catching up with the feeling she had when she drove that vixen from the third son's family out of the mansion.
The eldest grandmother was in an even better mood. The shops in the mansion made so much money on the surface, but in fact, they made more money. It was just that it all went into the pockets of the eldest wife. Her eldest wife had contributed so much to the mansion, so it was only natural that she should get more. Today, with the approval of the old lady, she invested the funds in the mansion, and the profit would at least increase several times. This way, her eldest wife could get a huge amount of income, and she no longer had to rely on the third wife to subsidize the mansion. With money, she could also use her connections to move her master up.
Good mood. Everything is fine. The grandmother cares about the old lady's daily life, and the old lady lovingly asks the grandmother to go back to her room and rest early.
In short, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law get along well and live in harmony.
While the Linhuai Marquis's Mansion was silent in the dark night, Shuntian Imperial Examination Hall, far to the southeast of the capital, was brightly lit. The examination had come to the last minute, and the ranking of the examination was being determined.
In the Zhigong Hall, the examiners worked overtime and had already marked all the test papers. The chief examiners Xu Jie and Yan Maoqing also worked day and night to mark all the test papers recommended by the examiners. They even "searched" for two buried test papers among the failed papers and finally selected the test paper with 400 points. All 400 places for this special examination were selected.
The 400 examination papers to be accepted were arranged one by one on several long tables. Each of the examination papers on the long tables had five different colors of fonts. This was because there were strict regulations on the colors of pens used by examiners on examination papers. The supervisors, examiners, examiners, examiners, sealers, and examiners used purple pens, the co-examiners and examiners used blue pens, the transcribers used red pens, the readers used yellow pens, and the chief and deputy examiners used black pens. Together, they were called "five-color pens," so the 400 examination papers to be accepted had five different colors of fonts.
Ranking these 400 accepted test papers is also a considerable workload.
According to past practices, examiners often argue over the ranking work because the ranking of the imperial examination is so important.
Why is it so important? Because the ranking of this joint examination is almost the same as the ranking of the palace examination to be held. The palace examination, which is set by the emperor himself, will rearrange the ranking of the new Jinshi. However, if there is no accident, the ranking of the palace examination and the joint examination will not be much different. The emperor will only make slight adjustments based on his personal preferences. Generally, there will be no changes. The first, second and third place in the palace examination are the top three, and 99% of these three people will be in the top ten of this joint examination.
The ranking of the joint examination is the last step in marking the papers, and it is also a step to test the quality of this joint examination.
Therefore, the ranking of this examination is of great importance, and the examiners, whether the chief examiner or co-examiner, will often argue and express their opinions on this ranking.
400 test papers were placed one by one on several long desks, with nearly 30 test papers placed extra. These 30 test papers were selected by the chief examiner Xu Jie during the marking process. They were all top-notch works of this joint examination and were also the focus of the ranking of this joint examination.
Under the chairmanship of chief examiners Xu Jie and Yan Maoqing, the ranking of 400 test papers was carried out in an orderly manner. All examiners expressed their opinions and argued their points. Although there were constant disputes, the ranking work was still carried out in an orderly manner.
Except for the nearly thirty extra test papers that were displayed, the ranking of the remaining more than three hundred test papers came to an end amid a flurry of saliva, and all the rankings were done.
Then, twenty of the thirty-point papers were ranked, and the remaining ten were determined as the top ten. The only difference was who would be ranked first, second, and third among the top ten papers... The examiners could not reach a consensus, and argued endlessly. Some examiners even drank two cups of tea and still felt thirsty, but they still couldn't stop talking... (To be continued.)