With the help of Feng Bao, Zhu Ping'an changed into the crown and clothes of the top scholar. The crown and clothes showed his superiority compared with other Jinshi scholars. They were closer to the court clothes of civil and military officials. It had a crown with two beams, a pure gold crown hairpin, and a green tassel hanging from the chin.
The champion's robe was scarlet, different from the blue robe worn by other Jinshi, and more conspicuous and noble. His belt was a plain silver belt worn by a sixth-rank official, and he also wore a jade pendant with pearl tassels.
The only thing that makes me a little unhappy is that the two rows of kingfisher hairpins on the hat are much bigger than those on the Jinshi hat. It feels a bit weird for a grown man to wear two rows of kingfisher hairpins.
"No. 1 scholar, you are truly a handsome man." Feng Bao complimented Zhu Ping'an after he changed into the No. 1 scholar's crown and robes.
"Eunuch Feng, you're joking. I'm probably the least good-looking top scholar since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Haha..." Zhu Ping'an shook his head and smiled. He was very self-aware of his appearance. Even if this top scholar's uniform had a bonus effect, he was still not handsome enough.
After Zhu Ping'an and the other two changed into their crowns and robes and returned to the main hall, several palace servants came in with trays on which were placed three cups of imperial wine. They presented them one by one to the number one scholar Zhu Ping'an and the second and third place scholars. The three of them saluted towards the direction of the West Garden where Emperor Jiajing lived while holding the imperial wine, then drank it all in one gulp and placed the glasses back on the tray.
The process of praising officials on the Imperial Street officially began. In fact, the top scholar led the other successful candidates to the outside of the left gate of Chang'an to watch the officials post the gold medal list and then go home.
Officials from the Ministry of Rites, the Honglu Temple and other departments walked in the front holding the golden list, Zhu Ping'an led the second and third place winners in the middle, and the rest of the Jinshi walked behind.
We walked together, but our paths were different.
Zhu Ping'an led the second and third place winners to walk along the imperial road in the palace, while the others walked to the side. Generally speaking, only the emperor could walk along this imperial road. Even the queen could only walk along it once during her wedding, and then she could never walk along it again.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an and his companions could only go this once. But for the thousands of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, this was the highest honor! The absolute highest honor! An honor they only dreamed of!
Zhu Pingan didn't feel anything when he walked up. But the runner-up and third place winners behind him were different. Zhu Pingan felt something was wrong as he walked along. He looked back and saw that the two people behind him were so excited that they could hardly walk, and their faces were filled with tears...
Not really, Zhu Pingan looked at the two people who were excited, but after thinking about it, he understood. There are three great joys in life. Being on the list of successful candidates is the first one.
Han Yupeng looked at Zhu Ping'an who was calm and relaxed and had the leisure to look back. He was full of admiration. The champion was the champion. Look at his mentality of not being happy with things or sad with himself. He couldn't do that. He didn't expect that he could get the second place. He had connections but they were not strong, far inferior to Ouyang Zishi, who had connections. In terms of level, he was only sixth in the last imperial examination. Judging from the results, the champion Zhu Ping'an and others were much better than him. When the results of this palace examination were announced, he suddenly got the second place. This was a great joy from heaven. If he hadn't considered that this was the palace and the emotions of Ouyang Zishi in front of him, Han Yupeng would probably have howled to vent his ecstasy and excitement.
At this moment, walking on the imperial road that only the emperor can walk on, Han Yupeng's excitement is indescribable.
Thinking that this was the only chance in his life to set foot on the Imperial Road, and also to take care of the two people behind him, Zhu Ping'an slowly slowed down his pace.
It would have taken only ten minutes to walk to Taihemen by slow walking, but it took Zhu Ping'an nearly half an hour to reach Taihemen.
The runner-up Han Yupeng and the third place winner looked at Zhu Ping'an's steady steps and wanted to give him a hundred thumbs up.
When passing Taihemen, you should go through the central gate which only the emperor can go through, and then continue to walk forward. Then you will reach Wumen. Wumen is also called "Wufeng Tower" because there are five gate towers in Wumen. The main tower is like a phoenix spreading its wings to fly, so it is called Wufeng Tower. The doorway of Wumen is a very unique design. From the front, there are three doorways of Wumen, but from the back, there are five doorways. When Zhu Ping'an and his friends arrived at Wumen, the guards on duty in front of Wumen opened the main gate and the side gates on both sides, and the side gates can only be seen from the side.
Zhu Ping'an led the second and third place winners through the main gate, the civil officials led the other new scholars through the east side gate, and the military officials led through the west side gate.
After passing through the Meridian Gate, there were more drums, music and imperial guards, and the sound of gongs and drums was deafening. People were led by the drums, music and imperial guards out of the Duanmen and Chengtianmen respectively, and then crossed a very wide square before arriving at the Chang'an Left Gate at the northeast corner of the Daming Gate.
Because the golden list of the palace examinations was hung at the Chang'an Left Gate every year, the Chang'an Left Gate was also called the Dragon Gate, which meant that candidates who were included in this list would be like a carp leaping over the dragon gate and become the new upstarts that everyone was paying attention to.
At this moment, the left gate of Chang'an was decorated in a particularly festive manner. A temporary "dragon shed" was built and large red silk lanterns were hung. Zhu Ping'an and his companions walked into the dragon shed to watch the officials from the Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites post the golden list.
The gold list was magnificent, with a seal of "Emperor's Treasure" on it. The newly admitted scholars looked at the posted gold list, and tears flowed from their eyes with excitement... ...
After the golden list was posted, the prefect of Shuntian, who had been waiting for a long time, came forward with two officials. The prefect of Shuntian said congratulations, and then without saying anything, he draped a big red silk silk over Zhu Ping'an, with a big red flower on his chest, and pinned another big red flower on Zhu Ping'an's hat.
The other two officials similarly covered the runner-up and third place winners with red silk and placed big red flowers on their heads.
The other Jinshi looked at the three with envy, especially Ouyang Zishi, who looked at Zhu Ping'an with envy, jealousy and hatred.
Soon, someone came with three tall and handsome horses with pure red coats. The saddles were dyed gold and the whips were woven with gold threads. Zhu Ping'an was the first to step on the stool and turn over to ride on the most handsome tall and handsome horse. He walked in the front holding the gold-thread whip. The second and third place winners followed closely behind him on horseback. The rest of the Jinshi followed on foot and went all the way to Chang'an Street.
In front, the police officers led the way with flags and drums, holding the top scholar lanterns and carrying red and yellow flags and plaques with words such as "Zhu Ping'an, the top scholar" and "Three consecutive top scholars" inscribed on them, and walking in front, with the sound of gongs and drums and firecrackers ringing.
Of course, the people in the capital are more enthusiastic.
At this moment, all the people in the capital city rushed onto the streets of Chang'an. The roadside, shops, upstairs and other places where people could stand were filled with people. Everyone rushed to the streets, standing on tiptoe and stretching their necks, looking towards the streets.
Even the girls who usually stayed at home dressed up beautifully and ran out, wanting to see what the top scholar looked like.
On this day, their family members rarely restricted them.
The streets of Chang'an were packed with people! Thousands of people emptied the streets to see the number one scholar! (To be continued.)