The next morning, when Changzhong came to the main courtyard to have breakfast, Zhulan asked, "Did you know that your father came to see you last night?"
Changzhong smiled and said, "My son heard from my mother-in-law this morning."
Zhulan said: "You sleep really soundly."
Chang Zhong raised his eyebrows, "My son has a regular schedule and doesn't need to be alert at home, so he sleeps very soundly."
Zhou Shuren finished his breakfast first, went out to rinse his mouth, came back and sat on a chair nearby and said, "The inspection this year is particularly strict, don't be nervous when you go in, if anyone deliberately makes things difficult for you, come back and tell me."
Chang Zhong said: "Dad, I'm not afraid."
Zhou Shuren hummed, "It's getting colder these days. If you feel uncomfortable somewhere, don't force yourself. If you miss it, you miss it."
Changzhong was afraid of getting sick before the exam, so he had been taking care of his health recently. Hearing that his father cared more about his health, he felt warm in his heart, "Son, listen to you."
Zhulan also finished her breakfast, glanced at Shichen and said to her son, "Do you want to go back and rest for a while?"
Changzhong shook his head, "No."
After the maid cleared the table, Zhulan and her husband didn't know what to say to their son. They had already said everything they needed to say several times.
Time passed little by little, and Steward Ding came in and said, "My Lord, the carriage is ready."
Zhou Shuren stood up and said, "Come on, Dad will take you to the examination room."
Zhulan also wanted to go, so she changed into her going-out clothes early. The weather was changing and it was the coldest now, so the three of them all wore thick cloaks.
The son got on the carriage and was escorted by guards on horseback. Zhou Shuren had no intention of sending his son to the examination hall in a low-key manner.
The Marquis' Mansion was quite far from the examination hall, and by the time we arrived there was already a queue in front of us. The candidates who were not from the local area arrived first, so the carriage soon stopped and could not move forward.
Zhou Shuren got off the carriage first, and then helped his wife and son get off last.
The one driving the carriage today was Steward Ding. Chang Zhong said, "Thank you for your hard work, old Steward."
Steward Ding said, "It's not hard."
Zhou Shuren smiled. Steward Ding was not driving the carriage today to make money. They were master and servant and had a close relationship over the years.
The captain who was maintaining order saw Marquis Zhou at a glance, but did not come over because he was on guard. He thought that the rumors were credible and that Marquis Zhou loved his son the most.
When Zhou Shuren and his son came forward to line up, the captain said, "Lord Zhou will personally escort you, so you will definitely get what you wish for."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "I wish you good luck."
He was also superstitious. He thought that everything going smoothly today was a good omen. He could not go any further. Watching his son undergo the first inspection to check whether he had any prohibited items, Zhou Shuren waited for his son to pass the guards on duty and only turned around and left after they had lined up.
Zhou Shuren came to where his wife was standing, which just happened to have a view of the gate.
Zhulan looked at the long line and said, "It will take a while."
"Yeah, luckily I brought a thick cloak."
The dignitaries in the capital all knew the carriage of Marquis Zhou's mansion. Today, Zhou Shuren was not the only one to send his child to the examination hall, so everyone looked over and didn't come to disturb him.
After half an hour, Changzhong finally entered the gate. There were two more checks behind the gate. Although there were more checks, it did not affect the speed of entering the examination room.
Changzhong checked the information. As he was a celebrity in the capital, this was also an advantage. The examiners basically knew Changzhong, so the check was just a formality. However, the candidates who came from other places to take the exam had to check the information carefully.
After entering the examination room, Changzhong had good luck because his seat was not close to the smelly area. Even if the weather was cold and the smelly area did not ferment, the smell would still be bad.
It would be terrible if someone with mysophobia had bad luck!
Changzhong put his things in place and checked his compartment. It was the foot of the capital. Changzhong didn't know how the examination halls in other states were renovated, but the capital had taken a lot of effort to renovate them.
Changzhong was sitting there fiddling with his pen and ink. When he heard a sound, he looked up and saw a young man walking to the cubicle opposite. He was stunned. It really was fate.
Yang Xiu put down his things and looked up, and was stunned. He could only purse his lips because he couldn't communicate. His jade pendant was still in custody!
Chang Zhong observed the things Yang Xiu prepared and looked at what Yang Xiu was wearing. He helped Yang Xiu and never asked any questions. Today, when he saw that Yang Xiu had earned some money, he did use it as an emergency measure as he said.
Outside the examination room, Zhou Shuren waited for a while to confirm that his son had entered the examination room smoothly. After standing for a while and feeling a little tired, he prepared to go home.
Zhulan didn't want to go shopping either. She felt very sad.
After returning home, the couple made up for their sleep together. Their son slept well the day before, so they tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. They talked about many interesting stories about their son.
The Li family had been keeping an eye on the main courtyard, and they felt relieved knowing that their parents had returned.
Boss Zhou said to his wife who was doing the accounting: "See, my son is different. When Mingyun was taking the imperial examination, the old man was not like this."
Li used his abacus very quickly, wrote down the number, and then looked up, "At what age do you feel sour again?"
Boss Zhou: "It's a bit sour, but I feel more that this also shows that my parents are becoming more and more soft-hearted."
Li agreed, "Dad and Mom have indeed changed a lot in the past two years. I'm not so afraid of the old man anymore."
Boss Zhou sneered, "Don't brag about this."
When his wife saw the old man, it was like a mouse seeing a cat. The old man had a cold face and his wife was so scared that she just wanted to hide.
Li picked up the frozen pear on the table and threw it at him. Boss Zhou took it nimbly and took a bite. "You want to murder me?"
Mrs. Li knew her limits and ignored her husband as he continued to look through the account book. She suddenly smiled and said, "I have exchanged all the reward money. I will ask a few maids to give out red envelopes tomorrow."
Boss Zhou was delighted, "You really have confidence in me."
"You are not the same as I said. How should I put it? I feel that my younger brother is different. Our son did not seem nervous in the previous performance. Look at my younger brother. He is really not nervous at all."
Boss Zhou agreed and said, "I won't go out recently."
He is the future Marquis of Zhou, and he has to attend some necessary social events. Some people are afraid of his father but not him, and dare not joke with his father, so they all come towards him. I wonder how many people curse me to be the runner-up!
Li added, "This year, only two people from the Zhou family will participate in the Spring Examination."
Boss Zhou smiled and said, "These two are too old to wait. The other candidates in the clan can still continue to hone their skills. They want to be more cautious."
Li just said that the Li family had no hope anyway, and the Li family's status would have to be improved slowly.
In the examination room, all the candidates who were taking the exam entered the examination room and the door was closed until it would open again.
In the Hanlin Academy, Lord Qi secretly asked Zhou Changzhi, "Have you given your brother a test paper?"
Zhou Changzhi raised his eyebrows, "He doesn't need to guess the topic."
Lord Qi was a little confused. He also had children taking the test. He and his brothers had predicted a lot of questions and wanted to compete with Zhou Changzhi. "So confident?"
Changzhi smiled, "He did all the questions he was supposed to do."
So it really doesn’t make sense to bet on the topic or not.
Lord Qi thought that although he was teasing the Zhou Marquisate for producing only runner-ups, everyone knew that the Zhou Marquisate was awesome, and he admired the man in front of him. Thinking of the two Zhou sons who were rewarded by the emperor, Lord Qi admitted that he was as jealous as if he was soaked in a vinegar jar, "Why are all of them born in your family?"