It rained heavily overnight and stopped at dawn. The capital city was a little chilling at the end of February. The roads of the bluestone were slippery. Many people were wrapped in straw ropes when they went out to avoid falling. Even so, when the sky was bright, the city gates were crowded with people waiting to enter the city.

The carriages guarded by the officers and soldiers of the armored officers and soldiers galloped towards the city gate without any intention of stopping and slowing down. The carriages and horses on the roadside were panicked and avoided. The armored soldiers in front of the city gate did not angrily scold them, but quickly opened the city gate.

The team of people left, and the chaos in front of the city gate gradually subsided.

"Whose family's ceremonial guard is this? It's comparable to a king and a prince, but there is no sign."

"That's from Lord Song Yuan and Yuan, he doesn't know how to use the logo, for fear of being recognized by his enemies."

"Is there any fear that others won't recognize such a situation?"

"But didn't mean that Song Yuan wouldn't go out?"

The low-key discussion was quickly interrupted by the scolding of the officials, and the people crowded forward and waited to enter the city... The investigation was very strict because there were too many murderers in the capital recently.

"Song Yuan's wife is very ill." The old servant whispered, "You can't ignore any accidents in Duan Shan, so you run back and forth regardless of the danger."

Mr. Qingxia looked at the people who disappeared on the road ahead and said, "The matters in that section of the mountain have been almost resolved." Only in this way can we take the time to leave.

The old servant said, "After the court told the court to make the complaints block the door, and the Ministry of Justice complained and blocked the door. They were all busy with this matter, so Lord Song could take some time off." No matter how busy this kind of thing is, it cannot be compared with chasing Duan Shan's murderer.

As he spoke, he took out the famous post and handed it to the doorkeeper.

A guard took it and looked at it with a kind attitude.

"Please, Lord Lin." He said, signaling to make way for verification.

Mr. Qingxia nodded to the city guards and walked out with her old servant. The people in front of her continued to line up to check in. On the road, they carried baskets, carried loads, and drove cattle and sheep. A pair of eyes stared at the master and servant in front of her.

.....

.....

Song Yuan stepped into the house. After Song Ying had just finished feeding Mrs. Song's medicine, Song Huzi did not sleep and sat on the ground rubbing mud and playing.

"How was your mother doing last night?" Song Yuan asked, frowned at Song Huzi again, "I want to play with mud and go out to play."

Song Ying handed the medicine bowl to the girl and said, "It's the same in the room outside, but I just cleaned up twice. My mother slept well last night."

Song Yuan looked down and Mrs. Song was asleep. He reached out to tuck the corner of the quilt.

Song Ying put down the medicine bowl and squatted down there to coax Song Huzi to drink a few sips of water. She was covered with mud and water on the sleeves of her skirt. She didn't care about getting up, and then she saw that Song Yuan, who was sitting by the bed, had fallen asleep with his head tilted against the bed post.

Song Ying picked up a thin quilt from the bed and put it on him.

Song and Yuan dynasty woke up.

"Didn't you sleep all night?" Song Ying said, "You go and sleep for a while. I'm here, you don't have to worry."

Song Yuan reached out and rubbed his face, saying, "I'm fine, I'll go back to the city and go to the yamen to sleep later." Looking at Song Ying, the girl's eyes were covered with red silk, "It's you, you need to rest well."

Song Ying smiled and nodded in response.

"Duan Shan was killed, isn't my father very embarrassed?" she asked again.

Song Yuan said: "It's indeed too sudden and too unexpected, caught off guard." His brows frowned.

Song Ying said: "A general comes to block the water and soil. If you have something to do, you will solve the problem. There will always be a solution."

Song Yuan thought about it and smiled again: "It's true that he is dead, and things cannot be solved."

The girl came forward to bring the tea soup, and Song Ying took it and handed it to Song Yuan. The girl lowered her head and stepped back. Sometimes Song Yuan would talk to her daughter about the court and retreated outside the door to listen to the inner conversation.

"...But I can't say this."

“…If you can’t say it, don’t say it.”

Mixed with Song Huzi's meaningless screams, mud hit the ground, Song Ying went to comfort her again, and the door closed to isolate all this.

After a spring rain, the rain increased. As the rain washed away, the capital became tender. The willow branches sprouted first, and it seemed that the whole city was swaying green in the blink of an eye. Spring has arrived.

The spring on Shanxi Road came later than in the capital. Sitting in the bright hall and looking at the half-yellow and half-green branches and leaves swaying outside the window, the Shanxi Road School Officer Huang Jian smiled and turned to look at the officials indoors.

"March 18th is a good day to release the results." He said, "This time, I have 132 juren from Shanxi Road. Now there are 190 people who have passed the primary election. Please select the final person."

The dozen examiners here all laughed and said, "It's time for the dust to settle, which has been hard for nearly a month."

"It's hard to choose if you want to be dismissed in the end."

“Yes, they are all good articles.”

Even though he said that, the red paper was soon concluded in the afternoon, and the chief examiner and the deputy chief examiner were handed over to determine the ranking. After all this, it was the second day. It was time to unpack the seal and write the rankings. The Gongyuan gate was closed, and officials from all walks of life arrived. There were officers and soldiers patrolling outside the gate.

With Huang Tixue's order, he dismantled the number and sang the title and wrote the list.

In a tense atmosphere, after the papers of 132 people were dismantled and logged in, looking through the list, Huang Tixue looked a little surprised: "Yeah, these people..."

The deputy examiner was a little nervous when he heard this and said, "But what's the problem?"

The imperial examination involves students throughout their lives, so they are extremely important and are extremely prone to causing trouble. It was fine in previous years, but I dare not be careless this year. After all, an examiner in the county exam was killed in the previous county examination.

Huang Tixue smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. I mean these 23 people are actually students of Chang'an Prefecture. The number of high school students in Chang'an Prefecture this time is unprecedented. Li Guangyuan is good at governing and should be rewarded."

An examiner smiled and said, "Mr. Qingxia is really good at teaching. She has so many high schools in Chang'an Prefecture for three years."

Everyone circulated the list again, exclaiming, and someone else babbling.

"There are ten people here who are all students of Zhizhitang." He said.

These words made the people present stunned. Which school is Zhizhitang?

"Did you forget it? Kill the Zhizhitang that Liao Cheng had." The man said meaningfully.

The name Liao Cheng immediately reminded everyone present of this. Last year, Chang'an Prefecture almost caused chaos in the public. A group of students sat quietly to protest against the court's orders to arrest the innocent. Although it was not stated clearly afterwards, the government found out that a group of students who formed a club named Zhizhitang started.

"I heard that Zhizhitang was formed to study. The man named Xue Qing also wrote poems. The emperor valued heroes and taught you articles. Everything was inferior, but he was a high school student. He was a farmer in the morning and climbed to the emperor's hall in the evening. Generals and ministers were originally without a seed, so men should be self-improvement." Huang Tixue said with a smile, looking at the names of these ten people, "No, they are really a student."

A Taoist official here handled the information about Zhizhitang that was investigated in the case file of Chang'an Prefecture. He was surprised and sighed, and nodded, "There are twenty-three people on the Zhizhitang list, and ten people were awarded this time, nearly half of which are really amazing."

Liao Cheng is an eunuch, Duan Shan’s cruel official is already dead, so the civil servants here are naturally disdainful and fearless. Although literati are inferior to each other, they still regard themselves as their own people. In addition, these candidates are from Shanxi Road and are also their disciples. The teacher-student status remains unchanged throughout their lives. If they pass the Jinshi, they will enter the officialdom. The teacher-student relationship will benefit a lot, so everyone here praises them.

Huang Tixue's face was even red and raised his hand and said, "Let's give it a report."

......

......

The crackling sound of firecrackers and gongs lasted for a day and had not dissipated.

The boy in front of the green ivy window stood with his hands down and seemed to have been one day. It was not until one hand patted his shoulder that the boy suddenly realized that he turned around, his face was thin and his eyes were bright in the twilight glow.

"Brother, why are you doing here stupidly?" Liu Wuer asked.

Liu Chunyang looked at her without answering.

"Are you jealous of those who passed the imperial examination? Don't do this, you are also a juren." Liu Wuer continued, saying something to comfort her.

Liu Chunyang didn't say a word until a servant ran in.

"Young Master, the book given to you by Young Master Liantang." He shook his hand and said.

"What book? Is it a erotic palace?" Liu Wuer said, stretching out his hand, "Xiaoke shows me."

On the other side, Liu Chunyang reached out his hand and took out two balls of cotton in his ear and said, "What?"

Liu Wuer was stunned: "Brother, are you blocking your ears?" He was angry again. He said in vain, "What are you doing with your ears? Blocking your ears, the congratulations outside will never be eliminated."

Liu Chunyang said: "I am writing me." He stretched out his hand.

Xiao Ke quickly handed him the book in his hand and said again: "Young Master Liantang returns it to you."

Liu Chunyang held the book and hmmed it and threw it on several tables. Liu Wuer took it and looked through it and saw that it was a very common interpretation of the Doctrine of the Mean, so she threw it back and said, "When did you go to the capital? What's the point of hiding at home?"

Liu Chunyang said: "The imperial examination has not arrived yet, what's the point of my visit to the capital?"

Liu Wuer said: "Brother, you are pretending to be stupid with me. Of course, you will meet Xue Qing when you go to the capital."

Liu Chunyang said: "I am me, he is him, what's the point of going to the capital for him?"

Liu Wuer said angrily: "Brother, you are so awesome now. You are so stubborn when you are against your grandfather."

Liu Chunyang waved his hand: "Go out and play, don't affect my study, otherwise it will be meaningless to go to the capital."

Although Liu Wuer was unhappy, she knew it was of great importance and reminded him: "Then remember to write more letters to Xue Qing. He has good homework and is in the Imperial College in Beijing. You can ask him for advice."

Liu Chunyang ignored it and watched Liu Wuer and Xiaoke walk out, but still turned around by the window. After muttering for a while, he reached out to pick up the book on the table, lowered his head and gently rubbed the cover of the book. A crack was cracked on it. The young man's slender fingers pinched a piece of thin paper from it, and the fly heads were covered with small characters.

Liu Chunyang swept over carefully, and when he saw a line, his eyes paused and he reached out to caress him.

"...He was not there at that time, and went to where Jiang Xian and others were. He also went to the toilet on the way to Kangdai Road, Imperial College, and returned in a moment..."

Go home in a moment?

"For monsters, a moment is enough to do a lot of things." Liu Chunyang murmured, took a deep breath and vomited it out, swept the thin paper at a glance, and put it into the incense burner on the windowsill. The blue smoke turned into ashes, leaning against the window and sang to the outside, "Xiao Ke."

Xiao Ke, who was playing with two little girls in the yard, responded.

"Pack up the gifts and we are ready to go to Beijing." Liu Chunyang said.

......

......

"Are they going to Beijing?"
To be continued...