At dusk that day, there was a Deer Singing Banquet.
The governor and several Hanlin scholars were all present. At the banquet, there was toasting, singing and dancing. The newly-appointed scholars came up to toast according to the rules. Governor Deng Tianyou sat in the main seat, and the prefect sat beside him, introducing the names of the scholars who were toasting him one by one.
The Hanlin Academy was responsible for marking the provincial examination papers, and the governor was not required to intervene, only glancing over the papers when the final ranking was determined.
There weren't many names that could leave an impression on him.
However, he did not favor anyone because of this, and was kind to every candidate who came up to toast him. Especially when he heard that someone had persisted in studying in difficult times and finally passed the imperial examination, he would sincerely praise him and persuade him not to give up and continue to serve the country in the future.
The governor is still young, humble, and well-mannered, which has earned him a lot of favor from the new scholars.
I heard that the governor was also a poor scholar in his past, and he understood the difficulties of these literati best. Some of the more sentimental ones even burst into tears on the spot.
After the last candidate finished toasting, Deng Tianyou turned his head and asked the prefect, "Are these the only ones?"
The prefect guessed what he was referring to and replied, "Your Excellency the Governor, there is another top scorer, Qin Zhao, who is ill in bed today and cannot be present."
"Bed and sick?" A Hanlin heard this and said dissatisfiedly, "What kind of illness is so serious that he dares not to participate in the Luming Banquet? Maybe he is arrogant and conceited because he won the title of Jieyuan, and doesn't take Lord Deng seriously?"
"Li Hanlin, please don't say such angry words." Deng Tianyou remained calm and asked, "What disease does Jie Yuan have? Has the doctor examined him?"
"I have sent someone to his home to check, and it is an old illness." The prefect said, "Your Excellency the Governor may not know that this champion is a notorious sickly person in the prefecture. He is bedridden every other day. I heard that he fell ill again on the day after the provincial examination."
"This body..." Deng Tianyou sighed with emotion.
He was deeply impressed by this champion.
The first place in the list of candidates was always decided by him after consultation with the other Hanlin scholars. Usually there would be several candidates, because everyone had their own candidate in mind who they thought should be the first. After listing several candidates, the ranking would be finally determined after considering many factors.
But there was no suspense about the winner this time.
After everyone got the test paper, they ranked it first without hesitation.
This kind of thing is extremely rare in the imperial examination, and it would be difficult for Deng Tianyou to forget it.
He had wanted to take advantage of this Lu Ming Banquet to see the true face of the top scorer, but he did not expect that the other party would be absent due to illness, which was a pity.
Deng Tianyou felt emotional, but he didn't care too much.
He was moved because after reading the essay written by the top scorer in the provincial examination, he really admired the other party's talent, but after all, he was just a stranger he had never met before, so he couldn't say that he cared about him.
Deng Tianyou didn't say anything else. The Hanlin scholars only made a few comments such as "he doesn't know the rules" and "he lost the opportunity to be recognized by the governor in vain", and then they didn't say anything more.
Halfway through the banquet, after everyone had eaten and drunk enough, the prefect said, "The governor loves to appreciate poetry. The invitation to the Luming Banquet has already informed all the candidates to bring their poems. I wonder if they should present them now?"
Deng Tianyou nodded: "Show it up."
Writing poems at the Lu Ming Banquet has been a long-standing tradition. Deng Tianyou was a person who loved to recite poems and compose fu, so this part was always included in every banquet, no matter how big or small.
The prefect waved his hand and asked the guard to bring a tray with several notes neatly placed on it.
Each piece of paper contains a poem.
Deng Tianyou asked: "Master Yue, what does this mean?"
The prefect smiled and said, "Your Excellency the Governor, these are all poems written by the new candidates. I have thought of a new way to play. Each of you can pick out your favorite poem, and then ask them to write a poem on the spot. The winner will be rewarded by me."
"Interesting." Deng Tianyou said.
There is a poetry appreciation event every year, and some people use old poems to fish in troubled waters. This method allows everyone to first present an old poem to compete, and then judge the pros and cons through impromptu questions. It is more interesting than the simple poetry appreciation in previous years.
"Then let me go first." Deng Tianyou sat up straight and leaned over to look at the notes.
He looked at it carefully for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Master Yue, it seems that Jiangling Prefecture has produced many talented people this year—"
Deng Tianyou had just said this when his eyes fell on one of the pieces of paper and he suddenly paused.
The prefect didn't notice his abnormality and echoed, "It's all thanks to the blessing of His Majesty."
But Deng Tianyou did not respond. He stared at one of the notes closely, his brows furrowed, and his expression, which had been gentle just now, actually looked a little solemn.
"Sir?" the prefect noticed that the atmosphere was not right and asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
Deng Tianyou picked up one of the slips of paper and asked coldly, "Who wrote this poem?"
His tone did not sound like appreciation. The prefect was shocked. He only heard the attendant holding the tray say, "This... This seems to be written by Qin Zhao."
Deng Tianyou suddenly raised his eyes: "Who?"
"Qin, Qin Zhao, the champion Qin Zhao." The attendant was frightened and stumbled for a moment before saying, "He's the one who was absent today due to illness..."
In the morning, Qin Zhao sent his servant to the government office to ask for leave from the prefect. However, the requirement to write a poem was clearly written on the invitation, so when Qin Zhao asked for leave, he also presented a poem, indicating that he wanted to dedicate it to the governor.
The prefect had read the poem beforehand, and it was quite average compared to Qin Zhao's previous level. He just thought that the other party was ill and in poor condition, and did not think much about it.
But now looking at the governor's reaction... Is this poem really that bad
Qin Zhao was famous for his poor poetry, and this poem was only average when compared to his past works. If compared to other candidates, the prefect did not think he was inferior.
Is it necessary to be so angry
The prefect was puzzled, but he didn't dare to take a closer look. He wanted to hear the governor's comments, but the latter just threw the note back and picked another one at random, handing it to the attendant: "This is it."
Then he sat back in his original position.
Each of the Hanlin scholars selected their favorite verses one by one, and the selected people stood up to compose poems on a fixed topic. Everyone was reciting poems and composing couplets, and there was a peaceful atmosphere, but the governor seemed a little tired, and he was worried and not in high spirits throughout the whole process.
After the Lu Ming Banquet was over and the prefect sent his immediate superior away, he remembered to look through the poem Qin Zhao had sent him.
But he searched over and over again and still couldn't find the note with Qin Zhao's poem written on it.
…Where to throw it
The prefect was extremely confused, but he had no choice but to give up.
As it got dark, Jing Li moved a small stool and sat beside the stove in the back kitchen, fanning the fire intermittently.
Ah Qi pushed the door open and walked in. Jing Li turned around and asked, "Have you finished eating, little fish?"
"Yes, I am accompanying the gentleman to rest." Ah Qi put the empty dishes on the stove and came to take over Jing Li's shift. "Madam, go eat something too. I will boil the medicine."
"No, go and rest." Jing Li said, "I'm not hungry."
Ah Qi didn't move, and continued, "You haven't eaten much all day. The master knows that you are worried about this."
Jing Li hugged his knees and said awkwardly, "Who wants to worry about him?"
The atmosphere in the kitchen was a little tense. Ah Qi stood there for a moment and changed the subject abruptly: "Mr.'s temperature has dropped, and I see that he looks much better. Although he is still sleeping now, he should be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
"He should stay in bed for a few more days." Jing Li's voice was a little muffled: "The doctor said that he was worried and stressed, so it would be a good thing for him to sleep a little longer."
At this point, he complained again: "The provincial examination is over, why is he still worrying about it?"
Ah Qi was silent for a moment, and then said comfortingly, "Madam, please be at ease. The master is fine."
"They say that every time."
After spending so much time together, Jing Li already considered Ah Qi a close friend, so he spoke without hesitation: "I asked you to help keep an eye on him, but you only helped him hide it from me. I don't know who you are from."
"I..." Ah Qi was not good at speaking and didn't like to lie, so he could only lower his head silently.
Seeing his wooden appearance, Jing Li felt helpless. Ah Qi was honest and would keep his thoughts to himself and never speak them out.
Jing Li remembered that this man had been wronged because of his anger during the day, so he stood up and said to him seriously: "I shouldn't have been so harsh to you this morning, I'm sorry."
Ah Qi was stunned.
He was trained to be a shadow guard since he was young. He would listen to whatever his master said. There was no reason for his master to apologize to him.
Ah Qi opened his mouth, not knowing how to respond.
"I really didn't mean it. I was too anxious and angry at the time." Jing Li felt a little wronged when he mentioned this. He lowered his head and grabbed his sleeves: "He clearly promised me to take good care of himself. I just didn't look at him for one night. Why did he..."
Jing Li paused and took a deep breath: "Ah Qi, I don't know what to do."
Ah Qi: "Madam..."
"Qin Zhao is always like this, as if he has many, many secrets and many serious things to do. I really want to help him, but I... I can't seem to do anything."
From the beginning, he was the fool who could only be supported by Qin Zhao and had to be solved by him for everything. After so much time, he still hadn't improved at all and could only follow behind that person and be protected by him.
Even if he wanted to do something for the other person, he couldn't find a way.
Jing Li stared at the burning fire, his eyes reflected by the fire and turned slightly red.
Ah Qi: “…”
Help.
If the husband knew that he had made his wife cry, he would probably be skinned and fed to the dogs.
"Husband, Madam." Ah Qi was a little incoherent, "Don't be sad, the master just caught a cold by accident, he will recover soon, you are not doing any good to his condition..."
It was obvious that Ah Qi had never been in a relationship, let alone had any experience in coaxing people, so what he said was like adding fuel to the fire.
Jing Li felt even more aggrieved by what he said, and whispered, "Do you also think that I can't help him at all?"
Ah Qi: “…”
He's not, he doesn't.
The professional shadow guard who had never shown any fear in the midst of the swordplay actually had the urge to use his lightness skills to escape through the window in front of this young man. Ah Qi was really not good at dealing with such things. He looked calm on the surface, but in his heart he had already silently prayed for someone to come and break the deadlock.
Perhaps his prayers were effective, as light footsteps were heard outside the door.
The sharp-sighted warrior instantly recognized that the footsteps came from someone, and his back stiffened slightly.
After a while, the half-closed kitchen door was pushed open. Qin Zhao leaned against the door and asked in a weak voice, "What are you guys... doing?"
Jing Li turned around suddenly, and the tears that had been welling up in his eyes could not be held back, and one drop slid down his cheek.
It fell to the ground with a plop.
Qin Zhao saw the scene in front of him clearly and frowned slightly.