"I won't give up until you change your mind, sir. The porridge is getting cold, sir, please eat it quickly."
There was a well in the yard. Shen Moran skillfully picked up a bucket of water, poured it into a basin, moved a small horse and sat by the well to wash clothes.
A man and a woman lived alone in the same yard. If word spread, it would not be good for the two of them, so Li Wei stayed out after breakfast. Shen Moran finished washing his clothes and chopped up the firewood piled in the yard, and the pots and bowls. The pots were cleaned, and the yard was cleaned as needed.
Seeing that it was almost noon, she made lunch again, left a note on the door, locked the door and returned home.
In the afternoon, he came over early in time for dinner. The lunch in the pot had been used up, and Li Wei went out again. Shen Moran washed the pot, finished dinner, locked the door and went out.
After Levi returned home after staying out all day, he found a lamp in the kitchen, a note on the stove, and the rice was still warm and delicious.
He suddenly thought that before his daughter got married, the father and daughter were like this. When he came back, his daughter had already fallen asleep, but there was food left for him in the kitchen and a dim oil lamp.
The eyes were sore and there was a hint of tears.
He hasn't felt this kind of home for many years.
His daughter died young, which made him feel guilty.
"Her mother, I didn't take good care of Yan'er. Now you two are reunited... don't worry about me."
The fragrant food made his cheeks sore. Early the next morning, it was still the same situation.
The third day, the fourth day...
This continues until the ninth day of February, Spring Day.
After Li Wei finished his breakfast, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and stretched out his hand towards Shen Moran.
"Bring it here."
Shen Moran, who was refilling his tea, was stunned and asked, "What are you getting?"
Li Wei looked at her with a complicated look, thinking that she was pretending to be stupid.
"Bring me the list of students you support. I'm just a deputy examiner. Although I can't guarantee that they will pass high school, I can at least ensure that candidates with real talent and learning will not be dismissed."
Shen Moran was overjoyed, did he bow his head? Was he moved?
"If you don't get it, I'll leave for Gongyuan."
Shen Moran said with a smile: "Sir, you have misunderstood. Your Highness and I have no intention of intervening in Chunwei. We have no plans to train our own people. We just want to implore you to select some hard-working talents and change the atmosphere of the imperial examination in previous years."
In the past few years, the trend has been to pursue gorgeous rhetoric and neat confrontations, which has led to many candidates who are not good at writing articles to fail. Many of these people can do practical things for the people.
Only at this moment did Li Wei realize that he had been looking at Shen Moran with prejudice.
The little girl's face was full of sincerity.
"I believe that even if I give Mr. the list, he will not show favoritism. Favoritism is not the original intention of His Highness and I. We just hope that there will be more good officials like Mr. in the court, that's all."
Levi felt warm all over his body. Seeing her quickly clearing away the dishes, he suddenly said: "From today on, you don't have to come here anymore."
Shen Moran's back paused, then turned around and warned: "Sir, please remember to eat on time. If you really don't have time to cook, just buy a little girl and feed your stomach with simple meals. Sir, take care of yourself."
The tone of his movements was similar to that of Yan'er... Li Wei took out a brand new official uniform and put it on, laughing at himself while arranging his clothes.
"What a smart girl. It's not surprising at all. It's as if she had already figured it out..."
Perhaps, this is God's will. He is not a rare commodity yet, and he is not yet capable enough that everyone is vying for it, but she can find him and win over him...
Outside the examination room, the candidates said goodbye to their teachers, relatives and friends who came to take the examination, checked the things they were bringing into the examination room, queued up and entered after inspection.
Si Yiluo was counting the days and still hadn't seen Zhang Jin, so he asked Xiang Yun.
"Have you asked the heirloom of your family? Can Zhang Jin make it in time for the exam?"
Zhang Jin serves in the army, and it takes nearly a month to travel from Guancheng to the capital. I believe she left long ago. Why is she still nowhere to be seen?
She was busy with the hidden line in Beiliao these days, and only now did she think of asking.
"I just arrived this morning. I guess I'm already queuing up outside the Gongyuan. Chen Zhuo and Aunt Chen have already prepared their things and went outside the Gongyuan to see him off."
Si Yiluo rubbed his eyes.
"This year, the Ministry of Etiquette will still host the Spring Festival. Zhang Jin has a feud with Zhuo Wen, the Minister of Rites, so it is unlikely that he will be able to attend. Let's go and have a look."
For the triennial Spring Examination, candidates lined up in a long line outside Gongyuan.
Zhang Jin had just arrived from Guancheng. He was still wearing a sheepskin jacket. His face was weathered and his beard was unkempt. He did not look like a scholar. Because of this, he stood out among the crowd.
"Brother Zhang! This way!"
Chen Zhuo saw him at a glance and pulled Aunt Chen over.
"Chen Zhuo?" Zhang Jin said in surprise, "Long time no see, you've grown taller!"
Aunt Chen gave him the basket.
"In case you are not prepared, there is food and drink in here, as well as pens, ink, paper and inkstones. They are all prepared for you. There is also a pair of cowhide knee pads under the basket."
Zhang Jin was very moved and took the basket and thanked him: "Thank you very much, auntie. I will thank Aluo later! I have to go in."
When entering, he had to check his household registration and examination certificate. His incident was well known in the Ministry of Rites, and there was someone he knew at the gate of Gongyuan. The person looked at his household registration and examination certificate, and then looked at his face.
For half a day.
"Your name is Zhang Jin?"
Zhang Jin hummed and asked, "What's going on?"
The man frowned and said, "You are a military household. According to the laws of the Zhou Dynasty, military households can only serve in the army for generations and cannot participate in the imperial examination."
It was indeed written into the Dazhou Code that military households could not take the imperial examination, but this rule was long ago abolished. Military households could also take the imperial examination. If they could pass high school, the family would be able to escape the fate of joining the army.
The man kept blinking his eyes, meaning that he would let him in if he would give him some benefits.
After not returning to the capital for so many years, why are the officials of the Ministry of Rites still so virtuous?
The examinee next to him was questioned for being an imposter. The examinee had no choice but to stuff a ten-tael silver ingot into the hand of the inspecting official, and the official let him in.
He didn't give any money, so the team stagnated. Another person came up from the team next to him. The household registration and test certificate he handed over contained a banknote of unknown denomination.
The official secretly stuffed the banknote into his sleeve and looked at the examinee.
"Go in."
The candidate had a fair face and an accent that sounded like he was from the south, but he had the highest quota for the examination in northern Shaanxi.
When the officials saw that he was not on the road, they gave him his exam tickets.
"If you fail this exam, you go back first. Next one!"
After spending a long time in the army, surrounded by firecrackers that could explode at a moment's notice, Zhang Jin also changed from his original scholarly temperament to a fiery temper.
He immediately shouted angrily.
"Why was that candidate able to get in just now? His accent sounded like someone from the South. Do you think I'm a fool? It's been many years since the law that military households were not allowed to take imperial examinations was abolished. You are still using this rule to pressure people and ask for bribes. You are worthy of it.
official?"
The inspecting officials did not expect that he would really dare to challenge them, and reprimanded him with a straight face: "You will be punished for slandering an official of the imperial court. You said that I accepted bribes, do you have any evidence?"
Although Zhang Jin's description was rough, his body did not look strong. There were soldiers and horses standing guard around him to prevent chaos. The officials were confident and expected that he would not cause trouble.
Who knew that he would directly take it out of his arms.
"What are you doing? Someone come quickly and drag him down!"
Zhang Jin took out the money from the official's arms and threw it into the air, shouting loudly: "He said he was not corrupt. Look at these silver ingots. They can cover his salary for several months..."
The official's expression changed, and his voice broke.
"Intent to disrupt the examination room, throw him into jail!"
Chen Zhuo and Aunt Chen were still waiting for him to go in before going back. When they saw the commotion here, Chen Zhuo rolled his eyes.