Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 796 Today, Only Self-preservation Is Necessary
"when"

"The sky is dry and everything is dry, be careful about the fire."

"when"

"The sky is dry and everything is dry, be careful about the fire."

Beijing,

The night watchman was wandering in the streets and alleys. It was already midnight.

In Hanyuan Hall,

Many examiners have already finished marking the papers in their hands. Especially the first ones, which have already gone through three rounds of review, many officials are exhausted and yawning.
Even though Zhang Jinyu was lying there, half asleep and half awake, he felt as if his body was hollowed out, extremely weak.

"Master Chu, have you finished marking the papers?"

"My Lord, the review has been completed. We, together with Lord Feng and Lord Meng, have re-screened the candidates. There are 32 candidates for Grade A papers, 108 candidates for Grade B papers, 36 candidates for Grade B-A papers, and 72 candidates for Grade B-B papers."

Master Chu Nian took the roster and counted it carefully again. It was just right.

But Zhang Jinyu, who was lying there listening, suddenly opened his eyes and thought to himself, isn't this a joke? It's not like there are 108 heroes, 36 celestial beings and 72 earthly demons. What a coincidence!

"Well, if that's the case, then it's pretty much the same. Bring it here and let me have a look."

Zhang Jinyu was still thinking about how to decide the top three. There were less than 150 people, so he stopped. He also had his thoughts on where Jia Lan would be placed, and whether Jia Baoyu would be on the list.

Mr. Chu nodded and handed over the first-class article and the second-class article.

Zhang Jinyu sat up and stretched. He first looked through the list of A-class candidates, which were the people mentioned before, and then some children of civil officials from the Imperial College. There were not many candidates from the academy.

He then opened another folder and saw a list of Grade B students. Without even looking at which family the young master belonged to, he quickly checked to see if there was Jia Baoyu from Rongguo Mansion. After all, he hadn't seen him for a long time. When he came in and saw Jia Baoyu, he found that he had changed a lot. He thought that he must have become more knowledgeable.
Who knows,

When I saw the last name, Jia Baoyu's name was not there either. My worries were in vain.
"Well, that's right. All the disciples have been taken care of. Master Chu has put in a lot of effort."

Zhang Jinyu was really not being polite. Although he didn't look closely, among the people who came, there were all kinds of people from various academies and the Imperial College. Among the nobles, Jia Lan was also one of them, so he could give an explanation. As for the other nobles' children, a few of them were okay, but the rest of them didn't write well, so it would be better for them to take the exam at the Imperial Examination Hall.
"You are too polite, my Lord. I am just a foil. How will the top three be determined? Please write down the list."

Chu Nian understood what the Marquis said and felt relieved. He was afraid that the Marquis might misunderstand him, so he took a blank letter and handed it over.

Zhang Jinyu was not polite. He opened the memorial and took the red pen. He thought about it. Jia Lan could not be the first in the case. It was too conspicuous. The top three had official positions. It would be better for him to start from the ninth-rank Hanlin. He would not leave the capital. Rongguo Mansion's affairs would still require him.

It would be fine to rank third. After thinking about it, he wrote Jia Lan's name in the third position. Lord Chu Nian saw it clearly and knew that Jia Lan's article was indeed unique. The Marquis actually chose him. Just as he was thinking about it, he felt that the Marquis's handwriting was somewhat familiar. He was surprised. Then he thought, isn't this the handwriting of Jia Lan? He can be said to have learned from Marquis Luo Yun!

Zhang Jinyu didn't care about other people's reactions. He was still thinking about who was the first in the case. Suddenly, he thought of the article that Mr. Chu handed over before. It was written by Xu Changwen. Although he didn't know much about it, every time, this person spoke up for justice and was not afraid of the powerful. It was really precious.

It's him.
Then he picked up the pen and wrote down Xu Changwen's name, ranking first among the top three. Lord Chu thought to himself, as expected, this person is extremely talented.
As for the second person, Zhang Jinyu raised his lips. Since they were all acquaintances, it would be easy to deal with. What was the name of the man who rowed for him? Gao Wen, that was him. Then he added a second place in the first class, blew it a little, and closed the letter.

"Master Chu, the top three have been decided. Have someone put these things away. Write another memorial and submit it to the cabinet. These should be delivered directly to the Yangxin Palace. After packing, everyone can go back and have a good sleep. You can rest tomorrow."

Chu Nian took the three memorials and looked up at Luo Yunhou. Shouldn't they be handed over to the cabinet and then presented to His Majesty? Why did they have to do this? He wanted to ask but couldn't, so he just replied;
"Don't worry, my Lord. Everything has been arranged."

"Since everything has been arranged, I will go first."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and led his men out of the palace, leaving Master Chu alone in a daze. After a moment, he took out three memorials, copied the list again, and instructed;
"Pack up everything and go back to rest."

"Yes, Master Chu!"

Nancheng Gongyuan,

It was considered that the same method was used, and the previous practice of one person marking the papers was abandoned. Many Hanlin officials first took a direct look at the papers together. Any unqualified essays in the first policy essay were directly exiled, and the subsequent poetry answers were no longer reviewed.

The qualified ones were selected and reviewed again, and the speed was fast. For these old Hanlins, they had seen all kinds of essays. With just one glance, they could tell whether the essays were well written and the level of the examinees. Although there were more than 4,000 examinees' papers, they were able to roughly select the students who could be reviewed in the middle of the night.
There were actually less than 800 people. Pei Shaoqing downstairs counted them one by one, but was afraid of making mistakes, so he counted three times in a row before going upstairs to report to Lord Nan.
"Your Excellency Nan, Your Excellency Ji, I just counted the total number of qualified candidates, and there are less than 800 of them. Is that too few?"

Hearing that there were less than 800 articles worth reading, Ji Mingping of Wuying Hall was obviously a little unconvinced and asked again;
"Master Pei has counted them clearly. There are about 4,000 candidates in the Imperial Examination Hall?"

Pei Shaoqing smiled bitterly, clasped his fists, and nodded.

"Don't worry, Lord Ji. I can't believe it either. I counted three times and there are 791 candidates to mark. The rest either had dirty papers or answered questions that were not asked. In addition, many unqualified people wrote directly the meaning of the Analects. There are countless people who made up stories. It is really unbearable to look at."

Pei Shaoqing was also somewhat puzzled. If it was just a few people, it would be fine, but now that so many people were doing this, it felt a little strange. Upon hearing this, Ji Mingping lost his previous anger and had a thoughtful look in his eyes. He had obviously discovered the problem.
"Master Pei, that's not right. If you don't want to write the policy essay, then just don't write it. Why do you have to copy the Analects again? Why is that?"

This is where Lord Ji is confused. Regardless of whether one writes a policy essay or not, one still has to examine the topic and solve it. How can one write about the meaning of the Analects? What is the underlying meaning?
When the two of them were silent,
Behind me, I heard the deep words of Nan Daren.
"Haha, what's the point? They were just venting their emotions. They spent money to buy the test questions, but who knew that the test questions would change when they came here? If it were you, you would also be full of resentment, but Luo Yunhou broke the game."

A hearty laugh swept away the gloomy atmosphere in the room, and also made the two of them feel a huge shock in their hearts.
Imperial examination fraud,

Who is so bold as to sell the exam questions? Looking around, the officials of the Hanlin Academy are still concentrating on marking the papers, and obviously they didn't hear anything.
Ji Mingping quickly took a few steps back, walked to Lord Nan's side, and asked in a low voice;
"Master Nan, do you have solid evidence for this matter? I think this matter must not be spread out from our side of the Imperial Academy, otherwise it will attract the attention of students all over the world and cause trouble."

Pei Shaoqing's eyes were filled with curiosity. Why did the teacher know all this?
"Hmph, I have vaguely heard that a Taoist priest was selling the examination questions for the Imperial Examination. I didn't believe it at first and didn't pay much attention to it. But when the examination started, Marquis Luo Yun made such a scene, and I felt something was wrong. I didn't think about it at that time, but when Pei Shaoqing said that the essay was actually a copy of the Analects, I thought of something that could verify its authenticity."

Nan Zixian narrowed his eyes. Once he began to suspect something was amiss, he thought there must be something fishy going on. So many candidates had written the Analects. Would they say that they had bought the original test questions with money? Fifteen taels of silver per person, ten people would have one hundred and fifty taels. If a thousand people had tasted the sweetness, then when the imperial examination came, even if the price was increased tenfold, someone would still buy it, making a huge profit with no investment.

"Master Nan, I don't understand how to verify the authenticity. Maybe we are overthinking it."

The reason why Ji Mingping said this was that he had no idea how to verify the so-called hard evidence. When he got to the street, it was nothing more than a swindler. Even if something happened and it was brought to the court, it would not be used as evidence. Therefore, it was too difficult to verify these things inside and out.

Pei Shaoqing stood there, not thinking clearly. Since no one mentioned these things, then don't bring them up. Imperial examination fraud is a big case. The court has just been stabilized. If there is chaos again, it will not be good for Teacher Yu. Instead, he advised;
"Lord Nan, Lord Ji, I think that this matter should be dropped here. Regardless of whether it is true or false, it was first discovered by Marquis Luo Yun of Hanyuan Hall in the palace. Even if there are doubts, they should be raised by Hanyuan Hall first. It may not be the case." Pei Shaoqing was also doing this for Lord Nan's own good. It was not easy for the examiner of the special examination to be from Wuying Hall, and Marquis Luo Yun had given so much of the profits. This had already made the civil servants from the north and south jealous. If something really happened, it was possible that someone would try to trip them up.

Ji Mingping also reacted. This was very true. No matter whether it was true or not, he must not verify it. If it was false, it would be fine. But if it was true, as the examiner, he would have to report it or not.
"Yes, Lord Nan, think twice, let's put this matter aside for now. Since Marquis Luo Yun knows about it, the palace should also know about it. As long as the papers are marked well and there are no mistakes, it doesn't matter whether there is one or not. After all, if the test questions are changed, no one will know about it."

During this time of consolation, Nan Zixian was also hesitant. What he said was all right, but he felt uneasy about this point. The method he had just thought of was to take apart the original test questions and compare them. If they matched, everything was true. If not, then it was a rumor.

However, the original seal has not been moved. If it is moved, it will be difficult to explain to the people of the world. Well, I will talk about it when I meet the emperor.

"You two are right. I am just anxious. If I want to verify the authenticity, I must open the original imperial examination papers and compare them. However, once the seal is moved, no matter how much I say, I cannot explain it. I can only verify the authenticity in front of His Majesty. You two, one layer each, strictly check it. Wait a minute, and hand in the quota for grading the papers. You must complete it tonight. I think Marquis Luo Yun will do the same."

Seeing that Mr. Nan was anxious, the two of them had no complaints. They had no choice but to mark the papers overnight. After all, if they were slow, if something went wrong, how would they remedy the situation?

The two of them nodded;
"Yes, sir. The selected papers are graded very quickly. If they are more strict, the number of A-grade students will be less."

Ji Mingping knew that the adults were anxious, but the marking was strict, and if there were too few people, would it be bad? Unexpectedly, Nan Zixian waved his hand, and the two of them moved forward.

"Just follow my instructions. This year is different from the past. Although it is nominally a provincial examination, it is similar to the palace examination in substance. All the answers must be sent to the palace and the cabinet. Report the results to me in a timely manner. Once the top three are determined, they must be sent in tomorrow morning. There must be no delay."

"Yes, my lord."

The two responded, knowing that the situation was urgent, and bowed and left, each one on a floor, to sort out the list.

Lord Nan sighed and suddenly felt that the court was strange now. Every step he took was like walking on thin ice. Fate was playing tricks on him.

I don’t know how much time passed,
In the second half of the night, everyone brought the list of Grade A and Grade B. Ji Mingping looked a little unhappy. There were 480 people to be graded upstairs, but only 18 people were in Grade A and 40 people were in Grade B.

Looking at Pei Shaoqing coming downstairs, the same thing happened. The number of places is limited.

"Nan Da, there are more than a thousand candidates, but only 300 are on the list. Isn't that too few?"

Nan Zixian took a look at the list handed over by the two. There were 30 names on the A-level list, which was not a small number. As for the B-level names, he did not even glance at them. After all, according to convention, these people were not allowed to be on the list in the past.

"It's quite a lot. I have selected the top three. You should make two copies of the list. Tomorrow, one will deliver it to the cabinet and the other to the Yangxin Palace. Then go back and have a good rest."

As he spoke, he scanned the list again, and in the first three places, he wrote the first place, Xu Dong, the second place, and Zhuang Jinwen, the third place. After hesitating, he wrote Li Changning, the direct descendant of the Li family in Zhongshan County, in the third place, and then put down the memorial and pushed it in front of the two people.
Seeing that Lord Nan randomly selected three people, Pei Shaoqing wanted to ask why, but he didn't know where to start.
"Yes, sir, I will copy it right away."

Ji Mingping was the quickest to react. He took the list and dragged Pei Shaoqing downstairs. Only Master Nan was sitting alone in the room. He looked at the flickering candlelight in the darkness and murmured,
"I have repaid the Li family's kindness in the past, alas."

Rongguodu,
The small courtyard on the west side,

Jia Lan was walking back along the gravel road alone, carrying his package. Not far away, a figure came over. After seeing Lang Ge'er, he shouted in surprise;

"Brother Lang, you'd better come back. Grandma is still worried in the house."

Su Yun quickened her pace and came over to take the package from Jia Lan.
"Thank you, Sister Suyun. I had a few words with some students who were taking the exam with me before the exam, so I came back late."

Jia Lan wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose and was happy to hear the reply. After all, he was a good friend who passed the Enke exam in the same year. Although he was a student of the academy, he had a different feeling. It was better than other people in the mansion.
Although Su Yun had some doubts, she saw that it was getting late, so she stopped talking and led Jia Lan back to the courtyard.
Just entered the house,
Then he saw Li Wan and several maids waiting in the hall. When they heard the noise, they looked towards the door and saw Su Yun leading Jia Lan into the house.
Li Wan's eyes turned red, she finally made it through.
"Biyue, bring the food up quickly,"

"Yes, grandma."

Bi Yue bowed and left the house. In the west room, the stove was still burning, warming the food, waiting for Lang Ge'er to come back and eat.

Jia Lan had just entered the house.
He came to Li Wan and bowed;
"I'm sorry to have made my mother worried. My son has finished his exams."

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back,"

Li Wan had waited for this scene for who knows how many years. Finally, she saw hope. Su Yun put the package aside, came to Li Wan, and quickly poured a bowl of tea for Lang Ge'er and handed it to him.

"Brother Lang, have a sip of tea first. Please sit down and thank you. The food will be here soon. Seeing how he looks, I dare to ask him how he did in the exam."

Seeing that her young lady was always worried about this matter and wanted to ask but didn't dare to, Suyun simply asked on behalf of her grandmother. As soon as she asked, she saw her young lady glaring at her fiercely, and she couldn't help feeling aggrieved.
Jia Lan took the tea bowl, poured it out to thank him, took a sip, and put the tea bowl on the table. He saw his mother's actions and knew that she was worried, so he smiled.

"Don't worry, mother. Sister Suyun is right. My son is taking the imperial examination. How can he not ask about his results? During the special examination this year, Marquis Luo Yun changed the test questions. One is a poem with the capital as the background, and the other is."

Jia Lan raised his eyes and stared at Li Wan with some suspicion. How could his mother have expected some things? How could those essays on eight-part essays be in Aunt Lin's place?

Li Wan had only listened to half of what Jia Lan had said, but she didn't hear him speak. Still, he looked at her with his red lips slightly parted.
"Why are you talking halfway? It's just the final policy paper, and the lyrics are just some thoughts. Could it be that you didn't get it on the test?"

Those things that I didn’t get in the exam are just the meaning of the Analects of Confucius that my enemy said. I’m not kidding myself.

Seeing Li Wan frown, Jia Lan no longer hesitated, clasped his hands together, and replied;
"Mother, that's not the case. The exam question was changed. There is only one policy essay, divided into two sides. But the solution to the policy essay is what mother told her son. It is in the manuscript that I got from Aunt Lin."

Upon hearing this, Li Wan was a little slow to react. She had received a lot of manuscripts from Miss Lin, and it seemed that she had only told him that sentence.

"You said that sentence, what was it?"

"Mother, it is the saying that every man is responsible for the fate of his country, and the policy essay is about this."

Jia Lan reminded Li Wan, who was stunned and exclaimed,
"What? It's this sentence. This..."

(End of this chapter)