The palace gates opened wide, and the eunuchs filed out, announcing the order for the tribute scholars waiting outside to enter the West Garden. Zhu Ping'an and other tribute scholars lined up in two rows under the guidance of the eunuchs, and filed in one after another, both excited and nervous, without daring to breathe.
Xiyuan is like a fairyland. As soon as he entered Xiyuan, Zhu Ping'an almost thought he had come to Penglai Fairyland. The first thing he saw was the Golden Sea in Xiyuan. Zhu Ping'an had heard of this place for a long time in modern times. It consists of three parts: Beihai, Zhonghai and Nanhai. Yes, Zhong-Nanhai is the collective name of Zhonghai and Nanhai.
At this moment, the Golden Sea is rippling with blue waves and surrounded by mist, covering the islands in the Golden Sea and the rugged peaks on the opposite bank in the mist. From time to time, the sound of cranes can be heard. The shore is covered with exotic flowers and plants, and the palace in the distance is looming. At first glance, it looks like a fairyland on earth.
Under the guidance of the eunuchs, Zhu Ping'an and other tribute scholars passed through the Jin'ao Yudong Bridge between Zhonghai and Beihai and entered the heart of Xiyuan.
The emperor's personal troops were fully armed and guarded the important roads in the Western Garden. According to the style of their armor, they were roughly divided into the Jinwu Guard, Yulin Guard, Fujun Guard, and Huben Guard. They were scattered throughout the Western Garden to protect the safety of the Western Garden Palace.
After entering the heart of Xiyuan, the eunuch did not take Zhu Ping'an and others directly to the examination room for the palace examination, but took them to a slightly lower palace. On the palace there was a plaque with four large characters on it, "Zhenkun Taoist Palace".
At first, Zhu Ping'an and others were wondering why the eunuch brought them here, but soon they understood.
Take a shower and change clothes!
Although this hall is low, it is large enough. There are several separated bathing tubs with hot steam and covered with curtains. Students go in one after another to bathe and change clothes.
There are two purposes for this bathing. Bathing and changing clothes is to show respect to the emperor. The Emperor Jiajing is at a critical juncture in his cultivation of immortality and alchemy, and cannot be disturbed by ordinary people like Zhu Ping'an. In addition, bathing and changing clothes also means the inspection for the imperial examination. You enter the bathing room naked, and we will search your clothes and belongings outside. All contraband should be temporarily left in this Zhenkun Taoist Hall. We will return them after you finish the palace examination.
After bathing and changing clothes, Zhu Ping'an found that the writing brush, inkstone and inkstone he brought with him were temporarily left in the palace. As for the ginseng that Li Shu asked the maid Baozi to bring, it was not a contraband but a food. It was kept and Zhu Ping'an was allowed to take it to the palace examination.
After bathing and changing clothes, Xiao Huangmen led Zhu Pingan and others to the south again. When they were close to the south gate of Xiyuan, there was a row of official residences. In front of the official residences, more than ten officials in official robes stood there.
Probably officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple.
After the eunuch led Zhu Ping'an and others to the officials from the Ministry of Rites, he whispered something to the official in front and left, waving his whisk.
The rest of the matter was the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, which took about half an hour, including calling the roll, emphasizing discipline, and mobilizing people. Then Zhu Ping'an and others followed the officials from the Ministry of Rites to the examination venue of this palace examination—Taisu Hall.
Taisu Hall is located on the north side of Xiyuan, close to Beihai.
When Zhu Ping'an and others arrived at the Taisu Palace with officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple, the sun had already risen in the east. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple led the tribute candidates to the open space in front of the palace and stood in awe waiting for the imperial edict.
"Announcement of the imperial decrees of the Xinhai year of the Jiajing reign." Voices of imperial decrees were heard from the palace one after another.
Soon, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple, along with Zhu Pingan and others, lined up in an orderly manner and followed the inner guards who announced the imperial decree into the Taisu Hall.
There were already quite a few officials in the Taisu Hall, wearing scarlet, blue, and green official robes embroidered with birds and beasts. They were examining the four hundred tribute scholars who had come to the emperor's palace with the same eyes as they were examining their juniors.
"Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
Zhu Ping'an, along with officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Honglu Temple, and other candidates, performed a great ceremony to the Emperor Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon throne. This was the ceremony that candidates had to perform to the Emperor during the palace examination. Simply put, they had to bow their heads to their hands five times, and then kowtow to the ground three times.
"Stand up." A majestic voice came from the hall.
This was the voice of Emperor Jiajing. After hearing this, many tribute students were so excited that they trembled all over. They were pushed several times before they hurriedly stood up and stood respectfully in the hall.
When Zhu Pingan stood up, he took the opportunity to look at Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the dragon throne, looking a little thin, but his majestic aura was extremely strong. He was wearing a dragon robe, like a real dragon coiled on the dragon throne. People dared not look directly at him.
"This year's imperial examination is in accordance with heaven's will, and you must also follow heaven's will and the people's will and not let me down!" Emperor Jiajing said a few words of advice after the candidates had finished their ceremony. To put it simply, this imperial examination is in accordance with heaven's will, and you must also follow heaven's will and the people's will and not let me down.
After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, he nodded to Huang Jin who was standing beside him. Then Huang Jin took the apricot yellow cloth inscribed scroll in front of the imperial desk in both hands, walked down the hall and handed it to a middle-aged official, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. After receiving the apricot yellow cloth inscribed scroll, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites knelt down and saluted Jiajing.
He, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was the official in charge of presenting the examination questions for this palace examination.
After he received the test papers and completed the ceremony, he placed the test papers on the imperial desk on the east side in front of the cabinet members and others. Under the supervision of the cabinet members, he opened the test papers and placed them on the imperial desk.
Afterwards, there was a burst of drum music and the sound of whips.
Zhu Ping'an once again followed everyone in the hall in paying homage to Emperor Jiajing who was sitting on the dragon throne. This time he kowtowed three times and bowed nine times.
After everyone finished their ceremony, Emperor Jiajing slowly left the Taisu Hall. He still had a furnace of elixir to refine and didn't have time to keep an eye on it. He should just leave the palace examination to his ministers. Otherwise, why would he give them so much salary
After the emperor left, a group of ministers in the palace also left. More than ten officials including Yan Song stayed, and Xu Jie did not stay either. None of the examiners for the joint examination stayed, probably to avoid suspicion.
After the emperor left, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple divided Zhu Ping'an and others into two rows according to their ranking in the imperial examination and sat them on the east and west sides of the Taisu Hall. Those with odd rankings sat on the east side of the hall, and those with even rankings sat on the west side of the hall.
Tables and chairs had already been placed on the east and west sides of the hall for the tribute candidates to take the palace examination. Zhu Ping'an and Ouyang Zishi were ranked first on the east and west sides, facing each other.
Zhu Ping'an was in a bad condition. After kneeling and bowing several times, Zhu Ping'an, who was already exhausted, could hardly stand, and his exhaustion became even worse. Ouyang Zishi, who had been paying attention to Zhu Ping'an, saw Zhu Ping'an's shaky figure and raised his lips silently, "What can you use to fight with me?"
"Today is the palace examination. We will provide one breakfast, one lunch, and two rounds of tea. The palace examination has its own rules. You should behave yourself and do not disappoint His Majesty!"
After all the candidates had taken their seats, the officials from the Ministry of Rites gave a brief speech and then began to distribute the examination papers for this palace examination.
After receiving the test paper, Zhu Ping'an rubbed his forehead, which was feeling dizzy due to fatigue, and slowly opened the test paper in his hand.
The test paper was made of snow-white rice paper, with extremely fine workmanship and a faint sandalwood scent. The test questions were written in excellent handwriting, and the test questions slowly appeared in Zhu Ping'an's eyes. (To be continued.)