In the early morning, the red sun rises slowly and slowly appears above the horizon, just like a bride wearing a red veil on her wedding night, slowly lifting the veil to reveal her blushing face, shyly looking down at the earth.
"This damn sun, why does it get up so early? It forces me to get up early too!"
In the guest room courtyard of Zhu Ping'an's Linhuai Marquis Mansion, the naughty kid was staring at the eastern sky with a bitter and resentful look on his face. He stretched out his chubby little hand and drew in the air. It seemed that he wanted to draw the rising red sun in the east down as if it were a pancake!
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile as he looked at the naughty kid holding a book with a bitter look on his face.
Ever since the palace examination, Marquis Linhuai has been urging people to send the naughty children to him as soon as possible.
Zhu Ping'an likes to get up early to practice calligraphy. Although he now has all the conditions to practice calligraphy with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, he is used to practicing calligraphy on a wooden board with a brush dipped in water, so he still practices calligraphy early in the morning with the brush dipped in water according to his old habit.
While practicing calligraphy, Zhu Ping'an also fulfilled his duties as a teacher and urged the naughty child to read in the morning. No matter how many excuses the naughty child gave, they were all in vain in front of Zhu Ping'an, and he had to hold the book and read in the morning with great resentment.
In addition to the naughty kid, there is also a little girl in the yard, the little girl who calls herself Niu'er. These days, this little girl also likes to run to Zhu Ping'an, because Zhu Ping'an always tells stories when he is tired of reading and practicing calligraphy. Whether it is a fairy tale or the story of the little monkey that jumped out of the stone, the little girl can't move her feet. So every time the little girl refuses to leave, she stays with Rui Ge'er on the pretext of accompanying him to study.
Of course, the same goes for a certain naughty kid. Although he is not happy with Zhu Ping'an in every way, whenever Zhu Ping'an tells a story, the naughty kid always looks like "my brother-in-law abuses me a thousand times, but I still treat him like my first love", and listens with a fat face, enjoying the story.
After practicing calligraphy in the morning, the servants in Linhuai Marquis's mansion brought breakfast for the three of them. Lean meat porridge, appetizers, three plates of hot dishes, meat and vegetables, and some steamed buns and eggs.
It looks very appetizing.
The naughty child was very upset because Zhu Pingan was in charge of his studies. When it was time to eat breakfast, his fat face was full of provocation, and he would say something back to Zhu Pingan no matter what he said.
Looking at the provocative fat face of the naughty child, Zhu Pingan couldn't help but smile, and then he picked up an egg from the table in a mysterious way. He held it in his hand, looked at the sun, then touched it with his fingers, put it under his nose and sniffed it, and finally pinched his fingers to count, and said seriously:
"These are eggs laid by the hen."
The naughty kid was puzzled when he heard this, and immediately turned his fat face to refute provocatively, "How do you know? I don't believe it!"
The little girl who was sipping porridge at the table rolled her eyes when she heard what the naughty kid said. "Stupid Rui, it must be the hen that laid the egg, because roosters don't lay eggs!"
Damn it, I got fooled again!
The naughty child choked on the porridge in his mouth and his face turned black...
Zhu Ping'an had just finished his breakfast and before he had time to clear the table, he heard a commotion outside the yard and the sound of hurried footsteps coming towards him.
"Mr. Zhu, Mr. Zhu, hurry up. Hurry up, the imperial edict has arrived."
Just as Zhu Ping'an looked up, he saw a steward leading a few servants trotting into the yard as if they were being chased by dogs, speaking hurriedly and breathlessly.
Imperial edict
What a joke. This is only the second day. Aren't the results of the palace examination announced three days later? By the way, there is no need for an imperial edict to be sent to your home for the announcement of the results, right
Although Zhu Pingan felt strange, he still followed the steward out. In the feudal era, the two words "imperial edict" were worth more than a thousand gold coins. No matter who you disrespect, you dare not disrespect the word "sacred".
When he arrived at the front hall, Zhu Ping'an finally realized what was going on. What imperial edict was that? It was just a little eunuch from the palace who came to summon Zhu Ping'an to the palace to meet the emperor.
According to what the young eunuch said and his explanation, the matter was probably like this. It was according to convention that after the minister in charge of reading the papers finished reading the papers, he would present the best ten papers of the palace examination to the emperor for his review. In front of the emperor, the ten sealed papers would be opened and the personal information of the candidates would be revealed. The emperor would then rank the ten papers and select the top three, as well as the top seven in the second class.
In addition, the emperor would summon the owners of these ten test papers into the palace and have a one-on-one meeting with them. This is known in history as "Xiaochuanlu."
The final ranking of the palace examination, including the top three, top seven, etc., is officially determined after the emperor summons him, and then the big and small golden lists are filled in. The results are officially announced three days after the palace examination. The announcement of the palace examination results is called "Da Chuanlu" or "Chuanlu Dadian".
This time, the emperor summoned the "small examination", but according to the young eunuch, the emperor personally reviewed twenty test papers in this palace examination.
Why does it feel like a modern civil service exam? The palace exam is a written exam. Those who are in the top ten, no, this time in the top twenty, are considered to have passed the written exam and are eligible for an interview, also known as a "small biography". The emperor is the interviewer, and the number of positions is finally determined after the interview. Three are chosen from twenty, with the first place being the top scholar, the second being the second place, and the third being the third place.
Zhu Ping'an followed the young eunuch and rode in the carriage of the Marquis' Mansion to the West Garden. On the way, Zhu Ping'an slipped a red envelope into the young eunuch's hand without leaving any trace. The young eunuch smiled happily as he touched the red envelope and talked more. In the carriage, he told Zhu Ping'an many things to pay attention to when meeting the emperor, in great detail.
After entering the West Garden, Zhu Ping'an was led by a young eunuch to a palace in the West Garden to praise the marquis. About an hour later, another young eunuch came in and looked at Zhu Ping'an and said:
"Master Zhu Ping'an, right? The emperor summons you to see him."
"Thank you, sir." Zhu Ping'an bowed and thanked the visitor.
"Thank you, Lord Zhu. Please come this way." The young eunuch smiled and stretched out his hand to lead the way.
Zhu Pingan followed the young eunuch, step by step, to the palace where Emperor Jiajing was, and rushed to the appointment with Emperor Jiajing. This was a private meeting with Emperor Jiajing, and he was a little excited, but of course nervousness was inevitable.
Zhu Ping'an followed the young eunuch for about ten minutes and came to a magnificent palace. The palace was covered with golden glazed tiles, with flying eaves and brackets. The twelve zodiac animal heads were placed on the eaves. The jade pillars and stone carvings were also exquisite and gorgeous. The main colors of the entire palace were golden and red. There were two rows of stone steps outside the palace that led directly into the palace. In the middle of the two rows of stone steps, there was a jade carving that looked like a whole piece. It was very huge and stretched for several meters. The jade was carved with a dragon rolling in the clouds. In the morning sunlight, the dragon carving seemed to come alive, shaking its head and tail, and it was very impressive.
The royal demeanor made Zhu Ping'an amazed.
"Master Zhu, please wait for a moment. I will go and report to them." The young eunuch said after leading Zhu Ping'an to the door.
"Thank you." Zhu Ping'an bowed slightly. (To be continued.)