It's Xiao Yuzi's voice.

Zhao Wujiang opened the door and found Xiao Yuzi holding an invitation in his hand.

"Master Zhao, this is an invitation from the Minister of Civil Affairs. All the officials involved in the imperial examination will have a dinner at the palace of the Minister of Civil Affairs tonight."

Zhao Wujiang took the invitation, which had the word "Zhu" written on it.

I guess it was the surname of the Minister of Civil Service whom I had never met.

...

As night fell, Zhao Wujiang came to the "Zhu Mansion", which was the residence of the Minister of Civil Affairs.

The Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs is an official of the fourth rank, and is also the examiner of this imperial examination. He has a high position and has the greatest power in arranging matters related to the imperial examination, except for the invigilator.

The palace of the Minister of Civil Service was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Graceful and lovely maids were walking through the banquet in the hall. The officials exchanged glasses and it was very lively.

Zhao Wujiang looked indifferent, put his hands in his sleeves, walked slowly through the noisy hall, and walked towards the inner hall.

"This man doesn't know the rules. A sixth-grade petty official actually went to the inner hall. Isn't that where the examiners and invigilators have a banquet?"

The speaker was a doctor of Guozi, with an official rank of the fifth rank.

He smelled of alcohol, shook his wine glass, and said, "Even I can only drink in the hall. How dare he, a sixth-grade junior secretary, do that?"

Another person stood up and echoed: "Brother Zhang is absolutely right, this young man doesn't understand the rules and has no ethics.

Are all their secretaries like this?

The same thing happened to Wang Yifang, who just now didn't even look at us, with a noble look on his face.

He doesn't even have an official position. If it weren't for the influence of Duke Wei, I would have...I would have..."

Walking into the inner hall, an old man came face to face.

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, looking arrogant. He was wearing the official uniform unique to a fourth-grade official, with two tokens hanging around his waist.

A piece of black ink, engraved with the word "Li Bu", is the exclusive token for officials of the Li Bu.

The other piece is a big red token, with a sea of ​​books engraved on one side and the Chinese character "Tang" engraved on the other side. This is the examiner's token.

The person who came was none other than the examiner of this imperial examination, Zhu Youci, the Minister of Civil Service.

He stopped Zhao Wujiang and said with an indifferent expression:

"Junior, stop! Didn't you know the rules of the dinner party when you came here? You are a sixth-grade official, and you can only have dinner in the hall."

How come they only recognize the clothes and not the person?

Oh, he doesn't know me. It seems that I will have to hang my belt around my waist in the future... Zhao Wujiang looked indifferent and groped in his inner sleeve.

Looking at Zhao Wujiang's actions, the Minister of Civil Affairs shook his head and said impatiently:

"What are you touching? It's useless for you to touch anything today. There are all high-ranking officials in the inner hall, and they disturb our discussions. Can you bear the responsibility?"

"Look, look, that silly secretary was stopped by Mr. Zhu, haha."

"I'm just telling you, why did he go inside? It's so unruly!"

Everyone in the hall burst into laughter.

Zhao Wujiang took out the green token, hung it on his waist calmly, and said in a joking voice: "My lord, can I go in now?"

The Minister of Civil Affairs looked at Zhao Wujiang's green waistband, his expression was astonished, and his cheeks were hot.

He was hosting a banquet for everyone today. The rest of the examiners and invigilators had already arrived in the inner hall, except for one invigilator who had not arrived.

He wasn't sure of the other party's identity, but he was the invigilator after all, and his authority was above his own, so he kept waiting outside the inner hall, but he didn't know...

The last invigilator was actually so young.

The Minister of Personnel's face flushed, he bowed and saluted Zhao Wujiang, and said: "Please... Sir, please don't blame me, come and invite me inside."

The people in the hall who were waiting to see Zhao Wujiang make a fool of themselves looked at each other like wild ducks being grabbed by the throat.

"Zhu...Why did Mr. Zhu salute this secretary?"

From this direction, they couldn't clearly see Zhao Wujiang's credentials.

In the inner hall at this moment.

Six eyes looked at him.

Sitting on top was a middle-aged man with a proud look, and beside him was an old man with a cold face.

Next to the old man is Wang Yifang.

When Wang Yifang saw Zhao Wujiang arriving, he smiled and signaled with his eyes.

The remaining officials were three officials with apologetic smiles on their faces.

Zhao Wujiang walked straight to Wang Yifang and sat down next to him, while Zhu Youci, the minister of official affairs, sat next to the middle-aged man with an arrogant look.

The middle-aged man looked at Zhao Wujiang and spoke first: "You must be Mr. Zhao."

Wang Yifang introduced at the side, and Zhao Wujiang found out that the middle-aged man was the Minister of Rites, a senior official of the third rank, and the cold-faced old man under him was the imperial censor of the third rank.

"I've met Lord Shangshu."

"You are so proud. Everyone is here, and someone needs to invite you..."

The Minister of Rites sneered and said mockingly.

The imperial censor snorted coldly and said: "A young secretary can become an invigilator. How can he not be embarrassed?"

The other three examiners at the table ate their food silently with their eyes and noses in mind and did not make a sound to interfere.

After all, there is a tit-for-tat confrontation between the invigilators, so it would be better for them not to participate.

Zhao Wujiang frowned. Wang Yifang saw the confusion in Zhao Wujiang's heart and spoke softly from the side, only in a voice that could be heard by two people:

"The Minister of Rites, the Imperial Censor, and the Minister of Civil Affairs, including the examiner, are all members of the clique of Changsun Wuji and Zhu Suiliang."

So that's it, I said, it turns out it's those two old dogs that are against Li Zhi every day. No wonder they don't like me, a person who was directly promoted by Li Zhi...

At this moment, there was a "squeak" sound and the door was pushed open. Zhao Wujiang looked and saw no one. His eyes lowered and his expression became surprised.

A native dog with gray and black hair entered the room.

Zhao Wujiang frowned, feeling something was wrong. What was going on?

Zhu Youci, the Minister of Civil Affairs, smiled broadly and said, "Master Zhao, don't be surprised, this dog belongs to me.

Haha, in fact, the dog doesn't have much status. It's all my fault. I usually spoil it and let it become arrogant. Today, I don't know why, relying on the power of others, it entered the inner palace room.

But even if it can enter the inner hall, it will have difficulty getting on this table..."

Hearing this, Zhao Wujiang's eyes flashed coldly. He shook his head, his eyes were like daggers and he looked at everyone with a slight smile on his lips.

The Minister of Rites smiled arrogantly, pointed at the Minister of Personnel, laughed and cursed:

"Mr. Zhu, tell me, why are you so careless in doing things? How can you let in such a low-status dog who only relies on his power? He deserves to be punished..."

"Oh, what Master Shangshu teaches is that I should be punished and I should be punished."

The servant of the Ministry of Personnel picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, looking at Zhao Wujiang provocatively.

The purpose of today's dinner is to suppress Zhao Wujiang and Wang Yifang in advance and declare their dominance so that they can act better during the imperial examination.

Zhao Wujiang watched the two people singing the double act and sneered in his heart. He looked at Wang Yifang and both of them saw the intention in the other's eyes.

Zhao Wujiang took a sip and then asked sincerely:

"Brother Wang, you are very knowledgeable. The minister said it was a dog, but why do I look like a wolf? Look at it, is it a wolf or a dog?"
Chapter completed!