Fortunate Young Gentleman

Lingzhou.

Nearly half a month has passed since the end of the New Year, and in two days it will be the New Year.

The Shangyuan Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, is the most important and lively festival every year. The prosperity of the Shangyuan Festival is even greater than that of the New Year Festival.

Although the Spring Festival has just passed and the spring cold has not gone away, the people of Lingzhou, who have been huddled at home all winter, had already walked out of their homes a few days ago and began to prepare for various programs in Shangyuan.

After tonight, the major lantern festivals in the city will begin one after another. During the day, there will also be dragon and lion dances and many other performances to watch. Lingzhou, which has been silent for a winter, will officially kick off the new year after experiencing the excitement of the Lantern Festival. the prologue.

Zhongfu.

Qing'er held her chin with one hand and watched Fang Xinyue waving a wooden sword in the yard. After watching for a while, she looked away again and murmured: "It's so boring..."

These days, without the stories about princesses and talented men told by her uncle, the Lantern Festival that she had been looking forward to for a long time seemed to have no meaning.

Tang Yaoyao sat opposite her, also supporting her chin with one hand, correcting several of Fang Xinyue's movements, then turned her head and sighed, "So boring..."

Although only ten days had passed, it felt like months had passed to her, and she always felt that something was missing around her.

When I think about it carefully, I realize that what is missing is not something.

That guy has been away from Lingzhou for ten days. Lingzhou is not far from the capital. If he didn't flirt with women on the way and the trip goes smoothly, he should be almost at the capital by now.

The provincial examination is in early March. If he can pass the provincial examination, the palace examination will probably be held in mid-April. Calculating this, he will not come back until early May at the earliest.

If he passes the exam, he will stay in Lingzhou for another half year at most, and then go to work somewhere else. Then he will be even more boring in the future... Tang Yaoyao thought of this, and suddenly felt in her heart that she didn't want him to pass the exam. thoughts.

The next moment, she shook her head vigorously, throwing the sinful thought out of her mind, and then she became even more depressed.

At the same time, in a room somewhere, Zhong Yi looked at a poetry album in front of him, and he hadn't turned the pages for a quarter of an hour.

Beside her, Su Ru, who was originally doing embroidery, may not have moved her hands for a long time.

…

Capital, the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

During the New Year period, there are many royal ceremonies, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites are the busiest.

Even after the New Year, when all the officials take their regular rest, the Ministry of Rites still has many matters to deal with.

The Lantern Festival is approaching, and the emperor will hold a banquet for the officials in the palace on the night of the Lantern Festival. Most of the matters will be handled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but when it comes to certain etiquette issues, the Ministry of Rites still needs to assist.

At this time, this year's provincial examination is less than two months away, so the Ministry of Rites needs to take this matter particularly seriously.

Early in the morning, a long queue formed outside the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

The people queuing up were all candidates who came to the capital from all over the country to take the provincial examination. After they arrived in the capital, they first had to register with the Ministry of Rites, receive their examination certificates, and leave necessary information such as their residential address.

In the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, in a remote duty room somewhere, an official from the Ministry of Rites yawned and asked without raising his head, "Name?"

"Zhang San."

"Place of origin?"

"Fengzhou, Changhe County."

"Fengzhou, Changhe County, Zhang San."

The official from the Ministry of Etiquette picked out one of several thick books, and after searching for a long time, he found Zhang San's name. After confirming it, he waved his hand and said, "Go next door to get your examination certificate."

The candidate immediately bowed and said respectfully: "Thank you, Sir."

After he exited, another person walked in.

"Name?"

The official from the Ministry of Rites asked without raising his head.

There was no sound coming from the other side.

"Name?"

He asked again, but still no one answered.

The tedious process already made him very upset. A trace of anger appeared on his face, and he raised his head and said, "What? Is it okay if you are deaf..."

Before he finished his sentence, his anger quickly disappeared. Looking at the young man in front of him, a smile immediately appeared on his face and he said flatteringly: "Young Master, why are you here in person? Please send someone to say, We can do it for you..."

The young man waved his hand and said, "Stop talking nonsense and get it done quickly. I still have something to do after that."

"Yes, yes, yes..." The official of the Ministry of Etiquette nodded immediately, turned around and ordered a servant behind him: "Why are you still standing there, why don't you take the young master over there..."

After the young man left, the official breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down.

"Next!" He shouted loudly, and when he heard someone coming in from outside the door, he asked again: "Name?"

"Tang Ning."

The official paused, looked up at him, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Tang Ning."

"Place of origin?"

"Lingzhou, Nghe An County."

The official from the Ministry of Etiquette took a book, flipped through it, nodded and said, "Go next door to get your test papers."

The figure turned and walked out of the room, but the official did not call the next person in, but waved to a servant behind him again.

…

When Tang Ning walked out of the etiquette department, the number of people queuing outside the Yamen not only did not decrease, but actually increased.

I don’t know how many people took part in the provincial examination this time, but I think it’s not 10,000, but about 7,000 or 8,000. Moreover, these people are all outstanding students who have been screened by various state examinations. If you want to select from these thousands of people, You can imagine how difficult it is to stand out and come out on top.

He didn't feel anything before, but when he saw her today, he felt a little bit of urgency.

There are still nearly two months before the provincial exam. During this period, he still needs to practice his essays. Unfortunately, Xiaoyi is in Lingzhou and no one can correct his essays.

Today is the second day after he arrived in the capital. This trip was much smoother than he expected.

They traveled slowly and smoothly along the way. They didn't encounter any thieves or bandits, nor did they encounter any troubles. It only took about ten days to get from Lingzhou to the capital.

This made him regret it. If he had known earlier, he could have set off half a month or a month later and still caught up.

However, since he was here, he would make the best of it. During this period, he would check and make up for the gaps. The old beggar tempted him several times along the way, saying that he wanted to take him to see the tender girls in the capital. He thought about it and still refused reluctantly.

As a married man, he couldn't mess around outside without telling his wife, not to mention that he couldn't just leave his first time in his two lives in such a place so carelessly...

The inn was in front of him. He stepped into the door and a figure stepped out.

Caught off guard, Tang Ning bumped into the figure.

Tang Ning only took a few steps back, but the man took several steps back and almost fell.

After Tang Ning stabilized himself, he looked at the young woman and asked hurriedly, "Girl, are you okay?"

The woman frowned, looked at him, and said, "I think my ankle is sprained..."

Tang Ning looked at her with some suspicion. He saw clearly just now that she just took a few steps back normally, without any signs of spraining her ankle------Is she trying to extort money?

Tang Ning looked at her and asked, "Can you still walk?"

The woman tried to move her feet and shook her head, "No."

It turned out to be an extortion.

Tang Ning didn't expect that in the capital, under the feet of the emperor, there would be such a discordant thing. The woman looked extraordinary and beautiful. How could she learn to scam people?

He looked at the woman and asked tentatively: "How about I take you to see a doctor?"

The woman shook her head and said: "No, I'll live here. How about you help me upstairs to rest for a while?"

Tang Ning understood that this was not scamming people, but a trap.

If he helped the woman into the room, I believe that several burly men would rush in the next moment, saying that he bullied their sister and would report to the police if he didn't have a few hundred taels of silver. Maybe they have colluded with the government. He is a foreigner, so he is at their mercy?

Fortunately, he has seen through their routine.

His face changed, and suddenly pointed at the woman's feet, and said in surprise: "Girl, there is a snake under your feet!"

"Ah!"

The woman's face turned pale, and her body moved sideways almost instantly, leaving Tang Ning dumbfounded.

He silently took two steps back and stood beside Peng Chen. Judging from her reaction just now, he couldn't beat this woman. This also proved that she couldn't have sprained her ankle just now. The collision was most likely intentional.

The woman looked at the ground, stunned for a moment, glared at Tang Ning, and asked, "Are you lying to me?"

"Didn't the girl sprain her ankle?" Tang Ning looked at her, sighed, shook his head and said, "You are a beautiful woman, but you followed the thief... Girl, this is a road of no return, turn back."

After that, he didn't look at the woman again, and went upstairs with Peng Chen.

The woman turned around and watched their backs disappear. The anger on her face was instantly replaced by a smile.