If all goes well, the results will be announced the same day.
If Zhu Hao can be admitted to Prince Xing's Mansion as a companion, then Zhu Hao will be able to get rid of the family's control regardless of whether Zhu Niang can pay the family's more than 40 taels at the end of the month.
The day before the selection, the 24th, Zhu Niang went back to the Zhu family, but Zhu Jia called her back, saying that she was going to discuss internal affairs of the family. When she came back, she looked relatively good.
"Mom, grandma didn't make things difficult for you, right?"
Zhu Hao quickly pulled Zhu Niang to sit down at the table and asked while pouring tea.
Zhu Niang shook her head: "Your grandmother just summarized the family's income in the past two months. Only our side turned in the most profits. Your grandmother asked us to keep up our efforts."
Zhu Niang looked pleased when she received the old lady's approval.
Zhu Hao said: "Mom, I think grandma wants to flatter you and kill you, right?"
"What does it mean to kill?"
Aunt Li on the side asked if she didn't understand.
Zhu Hao did not explain, but asked: "Has grandma tried to test whether we can renew our share of the money at the end of the month? Or is she just making some insinuations and wants to know how our business is doing this month?"
"this……"
Zhu Niang thought for a moment, and even though she didn't want to admit it, she still nodded.
Zhu Hao smiled bitterly and said: "If what is expected is true, if we can pay the full amount at the end of the month, the next step at home will be to have me operated on and take me back. It's called studying, but it's actually to keep me under guard and force my mother to submit."
.”
Aunt Li felt that Zhu Hao's words were a bit extreme and couldn't help but remind her: "Master Hao, the Zhu family is always our family and we can't treat people so badly."
"Auntie, it's better to prepare for the worst in everything...Mom, tomorrow I have to take the exam to select a companion for Prince Xing's Mansion. Do you have any opinions?"
Zhu Niang has been busy looking for a husband for her son these days and has long forgotten about it. After being reminded, her face immediately became solemn: "Xiao Hao, even if you are lucky enough to pass the exam, your grandmother will not allow you to be a companion."
…”
"My mother has been thinking about it for a long time. It's better to go back to the Zhu family. After all, we are blood relatives, so it won't be too difficult for me. But after entering the palace... the high-walled compound, it will be difficult for me to see you."
Zhu Hao said: "Mom, I am going to be a classmate of the little prince, so that we can study together and grow up together. When you say this, it sounds like I am going to jail."
Aunt Li also advised: "Master Hao, it is said that once you enter the Marquis's house, it is as deep as the sea, let alone the palace? It's better not to go."
I also heard a few crooked poems from somewhere. They seem profound but are actually nonsense. Do you think I am going to marry into Prince Xing’s palace and Xiao Lang will be a passerby from now on?
"Mom, aunt, I heard that the new Jingzhi County magistrate sent his son to Prince Xing's Mansion to be selected. We will take the selection exam together tomorrow... It won't be too humiliating if I go, right?"
Zhu Hao again told the news he had learned.
Zhu Niang shook her head: "How can the son of the county magistrate be chosen as a companion?"
"Why don't you believe me? This matter is not a secret. Besides, I am working as a companion in the palace, not as a servant. I don't need to sign a contract of sale. Even if I have a bad life there, I have to leave the palace.
, or if mother wants to take me out, will Prince Xing’s Mansion still be unreasonable?”
But no matter how Zhu Hao persuaded her, Zhu Niang was determined not to let her son take the exam.
"Mom, I'm not going back to the Zhu family anyway... I heard that after my grandmother took me back, she would send me directly to the family's workshop as an apprentice. Then I would be responsible for raising livestock, leading mules, and dumping horse manure.
Come and do it.”
Zhu Hao's words shocked Mother Zhu: "This... this... can't be right?"
Zhu Haodao: "We can't underestimate the ruthlessness of the Zhu family towards their own people... If my grandmother was sincere, how could she go to the government to report us twice in a row? Doesn't she know what entering the Yamen means to a chaste woman? What else can be better than that?
What could be more despicable than sending your own woman to a cell?"
Initially, Zhu Niang disagreed, but after hearing Zhu Hao's words and recalling the past, her heart suddenly became cold.
He entered the cell by himself, but fortunately he came out that night. Even so, if the matter spread, how much damage would it do to his reputation? For a woman in this era, once she entered the cell, it was almost as if she was about to die. The Zhu family took the initiative to report to the Yamen twice.
It's the same as frame-up.
"Then...can you succeed in the election tomorrow?" Zhu Niang finally relaxed.
Zhu Hao nodded heavily: "It all depends on people. I have Mr. Lu's guidance, so it shouldn't be too bad... Believe me, I will definitely be able to successfully enter Prince Xing's Mansion."
Zhu Niang sighed softly: "I'm afraid you won't be chosen, and even if you are chosen, your grandmother won't let you go... Oh, be prepared."
…
…
Passing the level of Zhu Niang and Aunt Li is a huge progress for Zhu Hao.
When he wants to enter the royal family, he must first obtain the support of his relatives. As for the Zhu family's attitude... it is not within his scope of consideration.
On the twenty-fifth day, the weather was a bit hot, so Zhu Niang specially prepared a new silk dress for Zhu Hao. The mother felt guilty because she could not ensure that her son was studying. In terms of clothing, she was not unfair at all, and she was still tight on money, but
It is better to let my son apply for the election in full glory.
Zhu Niang and Aunt Li did not accompany them, leaving Yu San to accompany them.
The registration place for the exam is located outside the east gate of Xingwang Mansion, not far from the Flower and Bird Market.
Yu San was not qualified to enter the palace. When he arrived, he handed Zhu Hao the cloth bag sewn by Zhu Niang and then walked aside to wait.
There was a commotion outside the east gate of the palace. Zhu Hao observed carefully. The children who came to apply for the election this time were all well dressed, but the parents accompanying them were basically dressed in coarse linen. It can be seen that the family background is only average. Think about it.
, the real wealthy families did not bother to send their children to Prince Xing's Mansion as a companion.
Zhu Hao saw an acquaintance in the crowd. He was Jing Zhongkuan, the new magistrate of Changshou County, whom he had met once before.
The magistrate of Jing County wore a straight Taoist robe and a flat-top scarf today, looking gentle and elegant.
Prince Xing's palace sent an official to entertain him. Zhu Hao glanced at him and saw that this palace official was also dressed in straight clothes and could not see his rank. As for Jiang Lun, he was nowhere to be seen.
Just after Chen hour, more than ten palace guards drove the parents who were taking the exam aside, and then asked a group of children to line up and enter Prince Xing's palace one by one.
Soon a group of children came to a large elm tree with four or five people hugging each other inside the east gate. The dense shade of the tree covered a large area, and there was a sense of coolness under the scorching sun.
There is a swing hanging on the tree that stretches out sideways, and it sways slightly in the breeze. I don't know who it is for.
There were about thirty children who participated in the selection process. They were generally between the ages of six and ten, and some were only four or five years old. Zhu Hao thought about it for a moment. The criteria for selection were that he had to memorize both "The Analects of Confucius" and "Mencius".
Bu Si Shu, what can this naughty kid of four or five years old do? He can't even speak well, right?
"Wow!"
There was a child who had never experienced such a scene and actually burst into tears in front of everyone.
It didn't matter if he cried this time. The children were already very nervous, but now they were all restless. A child about the same age as Zhu Hao screamed: "Stop crying! If you cry again, I will kick you out!"
Zhu Hao looked sideways.
Although this child is young, his expression is resolute, his eyes are calm and sharp, and his eyes are shining with a light that penetrates people's hearts. His temperament is completely different from that of ordinary children.
The child who was frightened was the youngest one. Hearing this, he cried and ran towards the direction where the guards were gathered. He grabbed the captain of the Imperial Guards Department who had a knife on his waist, and pointed in this direction while crying, as if he was complaining.
Zhu Hao's heart trembled.
It turns out that the crying boy is actually a candidate for the palace. Needless to say, he has gone to complain to the adults in the family.
An eight or nine-year-old child laughed and joked: "Hey, you are going to be in trouble, I have someone to back me up."
The person who made the harsh words just now rolled his eyes: "It doesn't matter who is unlucky."
As he was talking, the captain of the Royal Palace's Yiwei Department came over with a child. I didn't know whether the crying child was his son or a child of his family. At the same time, Jing Zhongkuan left with the palace officials who entertained him.
come over.
"Lu Dianzhan, what's the matter?"
The palace officials directly questioned the captain of the Department of Ceremony.
Upon hearing this title, Zhu Hao's eyebrows showed surprise.
Lu Dianzhan?
Could it be that this broad-faced, square-eared, handsome man with a touch of heroism is the famous Lu Song?
Lu Song once served as the magistrate of Prince Xing's palace and had the merit of following the dragon, but the naughty kid who cried and complained... was Lu Bing?
Lu Bing was born in the fifth year of Zhengde's reign. He was only four years old in the ninth year of Zhengde's reign, which is five years old. This is probably an important reason why there are four or five-year-old children who come to apply for companion reading.
It’s related to the household!
Lu Dianzhan said: "I heard that there are some minor disputes among the candidates here, so I came here to have a look."
The Dianzhan of the Royal Palace's Ceremonial Guards is a military attaché of the sixth rank. However, after the Tumu Fort Incident, the Ming Dynasty emphasized culture and suppressed martial arts.
The magistrates of all counties may have to kneel down and kowtow, and the class gap is almost insurmountable.
Jing Zhongkuan smiled and pointed at the child who was scaring others: "Zhang Fengzheng, this is a dog, I hope you will take good care of it."
Fengzheng is the leader of the eunuchs in the palace.
Fengzheng, whose surname was Zhang in Prince Xing's Mansion, was naturally Zhang Zuo, the future eunuch of the Ming Dynasty's Chief of Ceremonies.
Zhu Hao suddenly felt that it would not be easy to pass the selection.
All those who came were related households, one after another.