Three days passed in a flash. With a nervous mood, the candidates entered the palace gate. No one dared to look around, and their palms were sweating with nervousness.
Led by the eunuch, the candidates came to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and sat down in order according to their ranking, with their brows slightly lowered, respectfully waiting for the emperor to arrive.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony was so quiet that no other sound could be heard except breathing.
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, there was a huge noise outside the palace. Even though the emperor had not arrived yet, they could already feel the astonishing momentum.
"The Emperor has arrived—"
A bright yellow shadow appeared in the hall. No one dared to look up. The examinees knelt down one after another and said, "Long live the emperor."
"Stand up." The emperor's voice was flat, but majestic. After the scholars stood up, the emperor ordered the announcement of the test questions. It was just a few simple words, "What is the foundation of a country? What should officials do? What should the world be like in a prosperous era?" The scope could be very broad or very narrow, depending on how you answer.
Li Yaonan frowned. A country is based on its people. His husband had tested him before. He didn't expect that his husband would guess the answer again this time. He really married a treasure.
Zhang Qixian was originally nervous, but when he saw the questions of the palace examination, he was immediately overjoyed. He was full of admiration for his cousin-in-law. He was originally worried that he would do too well in the examination and lose face in the palace examination. How could he put his face and save face? But just when he was worrying about it, the pillow was delivered to him.
Zhang Qixian was full of confidence and high aspirations. He decided that this time, he would defeat his cousin in the exam as well. He felt relieved when he thought that his palace examination results would be better than his cousin's. It would be best if he could get a top score. Then his father would support him.
Zhang Qixian was dreaming happily. Li Yaonan had already started answering the test questions. The palace examination only had two hours, and he had to check and revise after finishing. He did not have that much time to think about random things. He was determined to get the first-class Jinshi this time.
The people are the foundation of a country. To govern a country, one must first enrich the people and implement benevolent policies. Heroes are the backbone of a country, and the common people are the foundation of a country... ...
Li Yaonan was concentrating on his work, blocking out all external perceptions and focusing his entire attention on answering the questions.
The emperor sat high on the throne, his eyes calmly sweeping over the candidates who were answering questions. These people might be the pillars of his court in the future. When he saw Li Yaonan, the emperor's eyes paused. This was the first time he had seen this long-famous boy. He didn't expect him to be so young. He was indeed a young man who achieved success at a young age.
Time passed bit by bit, and as the bell rang, the invigilators began to collect the papers. The candidates who had not finished answering were sweating profusely and watched the examiners take away the papers. Their chests heaved violently and their eyes were bloodshot. However, they did not dare to shout or yell, because this was the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Emperor was sitting there.
Even if he failed the palace examination, at least he was still a Jinshi. But if he behaved improperly in front of the emperor, it would be a serious crime.
Li Yaonan was not in a hurry and remained calm. This kind of demeanor of his made the emperor remember him well.
The time of marking the papers was very long, and the waiting time was even more unbearable. Li Yaonan felt nervous for a long time. Even if he pretended not to care, as his bedmate, how could Lin Yixuan not notice it? He could only hug his son to make him happy.
Xiao Xu'er was indeed a little rascal. He scratched with his little hands and cried loudly. Li Yaonan was no longer in the mood to be nervous. His head was about to get dizzy because of his own son's trouble. He felt that children were so unlovable.
Only Zhang Qixian is heartless. His ranking was picked up originally, so it can't be any worse, so this guy is very open-minded. Doing well in the exam is just luck, and it is impossible for him to do poorly. At most, his name will be ranked lower, which is enough to report to his father anyway. He eats and sleeps well, goes out to party when he has nothing to do, and is not worried at all.
Lin Yixuan was so angry that his teeth were itching. If she had known earlier, she would not let this guy get away with it. She glared at him harshly. Unfortunately, Zhang Qixian was too thick-skinned and admired Lin Yixuan so much that he thought everything he said was good. As for the rolling eyes, sorry, he didn't notice it at all.
When the three days were up, gongs and drums were beaten at the imperial edict office, and the results were announced by the imperial tutor, who was also the emperor's close associate. The names were read out one by one from the back to the front, and only the top 100 were selected for the palace examination. The first class was the top scorer, the second place was the top ten, and the third place was the Jinshi. Those who failed the palace examination were called Tong Jinshi, which was much lower than the Jinshi in rank.
Those who heard the tutor calling their names cried for joy, and some people even howled loudly.
There were also people who felt extremely disappointed. They kept looking around and listening hard with their ears pricked up, just hoping that their name would be called next.
Some people cried with joy, some cried with sadness, and the more time passed, the more people felt lost.
Lu Zhian ranked 23rd. He raised the corners of his lips in a good mood and exhaled deeply. The hope of this generation of the Lu family rested on him.
Lai Yaozu looked unhappy. He was not at all surprised about being admitted to the high school. He ranked 18th and was not even in the second class. One can imagine how upset he felt.
Then, Fan Pengyi ranked eleventh, and his face turned green. Li Yaonan just wanted to laugh. If he didn't get the second place, he wouldn't be able to enter the Imperial Academy. Eleventh was really a good ranking.
In fact, Li Yaonan didn't know that if he and Zhang Qixian were not there in the imperial examination, Fan Pengyi would have been in the second place and ranked ninth. The two of them just squeezed others out.
The tenth place is Ge Honghui, who ranked thirteenth in the imperial examination.
The ninth place was Shen Hongzhi, who ranked fourth in the examination. He felt a little disappointed, but was still very happy to be able to get second place. He quickly put aside his disappointment and accepted congratulations from others with a smile.
... ...
"Haha, I got it, I got it, I knew I would get into high school." Zhang Qixian laughed crazily. He didn't expect that he would be ranked sixth in high school.
Li Yaonan curled up the corners of his lips, and was also very happy in his heart, because the fifth place was still not him, but Liu Liyang. If the next high-school entrance examination candidate was not him, then he would be confident that he would be in the top three this time. As long as he was in the first class, he didn't care what ranking he got. He was fighting for fame.
Sure enough, the fourth Jinshi was Qi Yunshan. This old gentleman was indeed quite talented. Although he fell to the second place this time, such a result was already very good.
Then, the officers set off firecrackers. Li Yaonan's eyes were sharp and his gaze was fixed straight ahead.
As the tutor called out his name, Li Yaonan suddenly took a few steps forward excitedly.
"Where is Li Yaonan? Where is Tanhualang?" The imperial tutor read aloud, scanning the crowd.
"Here." Li Yaonan laughed out loud, feeling relieved. He liked the title of Tanhualang.
"Congratulations, Mr. Tanhua. Congratulations, Mr. Tanhua. Please change your clothes." Another official came over with clothes and smiled fawningly.
Li Yaonan was also very generous. He gave out twenty taels of silver at once. The official paid the difference and was very happy.
Immediately afterwards, the name of the runner-up in the Gold Examination was called out. Unexpectedly, it was Chang Hehui. Li Yaonan originally thought that Chang Hehui would become the top scorer in this examination.
"Where is Li Mingzhang? Where is the number one scholar?" the imperial attendant called out loudly.
Everyone was shocked, no one had expected that Li Mingzhang would become the top scorer. The people below were whispering to each other, but Li Mingzhang's results were there, he ranked sixth in the examination, so he became the top scorer this time, and others had nothing to say.
Li Yaonan was very surprised. He was a little worried about Li Mingzhang just now. He found that Li Mingzhang did not seem to come today and the tutor did not call his name. He originally thought that he did not do well in the exam, so he was too lazy to come. It seems that the situation is not just that.
An official hurriedly replied: "Your Excellency, it seems that the number one scholar has not arrived today."
The imperial tutor frowned, then seemed to remember something, and relaxed his brows in an instant, saying calmly: "Go to his house and summon him. He will be paraded through the streets later today, and will appear before the emperor tomorrow."
"Yes." The officer responded, called a few people, and rushed to the Beiweihou Mansion with gongs and drums.
Li Yaonan and Chang Hehui were old acquaintances. They greeted each other and sat quietly in the yamen waiting, talking intermittently.
Chang Hehui is over 40 years old this year. One cannot tell what kind of person he is just by listening to his conversation. However, just by looking at his wise eyes, Li Yaonan had a good idea in his mind that this man is definitely not easy to fool. The two of them played Tai Chi with each other and did not mention any serious matters, but they had a very pleasant conversation.
Not long after, Li Mingzhang arrived, wearing a bright red auspicious suit and a crown with a peacock feather on his head. He really lived up to the ancient saying that he was a graceful and elegant top scholar. It would have been even better if we ignored the melancholy between his brows.
There was not much time, so Li Yaonan did not ask many questions. The band in front played drums and gongs, and the three of them rode on tall horses and paraded through the streets.
For the first time in ancient times, Li Yaonan enjoyed the feeling of being watched.
When he got home, he was so tired that he fell down. Although he liked riding horses very much, he was not interested in riding for a whole day. Fortunately, the weather was cool now. If it was hotter, he suspected that his legs would definitely be rubbed with blisters.
The next day, the emperor would appear in the palace, and the top 30 candidates in this imperial examination would all go to the palace to express their gratitude.
It was the first time for all the Jinshi to attend a court assembly, and it would also be the only time for them to attend a court assembly in the next few years. Li Yaonan watched very carefully. As all the civil and military officials knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor", this kind of scene, this kind of momentum, this kind of shock, it is no wonder that so many people like to be the emperor.
Moreover, this was outside the Jinluan Palace. Without the Emperor's announcement, these Jinshi candidates could not enter for the time being. Just as he thought of this, he heard a shrill voice coming from the palace: "Announce the Jinshi candidates of this year to see the Emperor—"
Then, a eunuch outside the palace shouted: "Announce this year's Jinshi to see the emperor—"
Then another voice came from not far away: "Announcement of this year's Jinshi to see you—"
Li Yaonan wiped his sweat. Is this the ancient megaphone? Very clever. He didn't have time to think too much. He followed Chang Hehui closely. The group followed the etiquette they had learned before. Their eyebrows were slightly drooped, and they could not look directly at each other. They put their hands together in front of their chests, slowly stepped into the Golden Throne Hall, and knelt down again to salute: "Greetings to our emperor. Long live the emperor."
The emperor nodded slightly, and the eunuch behind him shouted: "Stand up—"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The emperor nodded, looked at them calmly, and said a few words of encouragement: "All of you are the pillars of our Jin Dynasty. I hope you will work hard and make progress in the future to benefit the people."
Then, everyone knelt down again and said in unison: "We will definitely live up to the expectations of the Emperor."
"Well!" The emperor asked them a few more questions and then asked everyone to leave. This time the worship was just as it should be. No one was particularly outstanding, and no one was disappointed, because they all knew that the highlight was the Qionglin Banquet, which was where they could show their talents. If they were lucky, they might even get the emperor's favor.