Along the way, Meng Xinghe quickly arrived at Chang'an, the imperial capital, as fast as the stars caught up with the moon. Meng Xinghe always felt a little strange to this bustling Chang'an city after only a few days' absence, as if he didn't belong here at all. He is destined to be a passing guest.
After bidding farewell to Jiang Yefeng at the East City Gate, Meng Xinghe walked directly to the Imperial College and stepped into this place, which represented the best education in the Tang Dynasty and where many literati were born. Meng Xinghe plunged in with an incompatible expression.
After walking around several cobblestone roads, Meng Xinghe quickly reached the door of his wing.
The door was ajar. It looked like someone was there before he got up. He looked at the sun that was not high in the sky. Meng Xinghe's lips curled up into a smile. He thought that he hadn't played with Aunt Yun for a few days, so he didn't know that she had seen him. Will you be surprised when you come back?
With a little doubt, just like Gui Li, who walked without making a sound, Meng Xinghe had already got into the house. However, the idea that he was about to bring a surprise to Aunt Yun had not yet come into effect, and he responded by himself. I was "surprised" by the two women in the room.
Aunt Yun looked at Meng Xinghe with surprise on her face, as if she was a little happy about his sudden appearance, but she did not show any concern. She also held a small white porcelain spoon in her delicate hand and was drinking with relish. A bowl of red bean and millet porridge that Meng Xinghe often tasted before, and another woman, who was also very polite, took the hot buns that Aunt Yun had just bought from the morning market outside and tasted them carefully. She was very elegant. She seemed to be interested in Meng Xinghe. Xinghe didn't care at all about the arrival of his master, and was content to be a freeloader.
Meng Xinghe felt that this was even more strange than the sun rising from the west, but he didn't care about it, maybe Du's daughter could appear in the room. The young lady saw that Aunt Yun was alone in the empty room and came to visit. For this reason, with Miss Du here, Meng Xinghe did not dare to make those bold jokes with Aunt Yun. He smiled and moved his hips and sat between the two women. You are welcome. He picked up a bowl and began to enjoy the breakfast that Aunt Yun would prepare every morning.
I hurriedly downed a few bowls and ate a few steamed buns. Fortunately, Aunt Yun had prepared more breakfast, otherwise it wouldn't have been enough to fill Meng Xinghe's hungry belly.
Patting his bulging belly, Meng Xinghe still said: "It's better to be at home. Aunt Yun's breakfast is so comfortable."
It's been a long time since I heard Meng Xinghe's familiar voice making noise in this room. Aunt Yun didn't say anything to him either. She was still as calm as water and tidying up the battlefield on the table, leaving Miss Du sitting alone in the room and talking. Meng Xinghe's eyes met, and a war between lips and tongue could break out at any time.
Go back to the house and rest. After a tiring journey, it's time to have a good rest. Meng Xinghe stretched himself and went back to his room to take a nap. After all, he didn't sleep well in Heqing County last night, so he had to make up for it now.
Without politely greeting Miss Du, Meng Xinghe chose to go back to his room.
Miss Du finally couldn't bear the fact that this usually talkative man became taciturn after a trip to Dongdu. She didn't want to stay in the same room with him and suffer any longer. When she walked out of the room, out of good intentions, Miss Du lightly reminded her: : "I'll give you half an hour to walk from the house to the Imperial Academy. Otherwise, it will be impossible for you to be nominated for the gold medal in this year's imperial examination. I will give you a very poor character evaluation here. "
Miss Du's figure has disappeared in front of the door. Meng Xinghe retreated from the room and looked at Miss Du's retreating figure inexplicably. What is this woman doing? I just returned to Chang'an. I don't have time to provoke her yet. She will arrive first. The people who cursed and scolded the Taoist family came inside.
In terms of character evaluation, my character has been very poor from county school to provincial school. I don’t need you to improve it for me. That is not my style of reading. I don’t take the character mentioned by Master to heart at all, even if it is It is something that scholars value more than anything in the imperial examination, but for student Meng Xinghe, it is almost the same as the conduct score in college. As long as you don't want to get three honors, you don't have to worry about it.
Determined not to take his character seriously, he decided to go back to sleep. At this moment, Aunt Yun, who was rarely concerned about Meng Xinghe, slowly came from a distance. Seeing Meng Xinghe's unhappy expression, she guessed that these two people They are enemies when they get together, always talking to each other for fun, and both of them are very strong and unwilling to admit defeat. No one is willing to lag behind the other. It is inevitable to be at war with each other. It is really a headache. Aunt Yun said lightly: "Miss Du, you are here After leaving Chang'an, I would come here every day and record everything that was taught in school that day in a booklet." Aunt Yun threw a booklet to Meng Xinghe, which was densely packed with Juanxiu's handwriting. The "Ming Jing" and "The Analects of Confucius", which were the focus of the imperial examination, contained quite profound insights. I am afraid that none of the students in the Imperial College class had learned from Master Du, who stumped thousands of students in these two subjects. The most profound analysis of homework.
I glanced through it briefly, not to mention that this girl Du Xuan's habit of taking notes is really decent, and her knowledge is much more genuine than that of Meng Xinghe, a fake who can only copy the masterpieces of later generations of famous writers. With this book, I can go backstage. The pamphlet was enough to make up for the missed lessons of the past few days. Even though Meng Xinghe was hard-hearted, he gradually became weaker under the subtle influence of Master.
"Aunt Yun, let me go to the school grounds first," Meng Xinghe changed his original intention and walked out of the room.
After all, he is a tough-talking but soft-hearted guy. Aunt Yun shook her head helplessly. She had long been used to Meng Xinghe's quick change of face and said disapprovingly: "Be careful, the school ground is not a school, that is a knife." Wherever you use a gun, be careful to expose your body, and no one will collect your body for you."
"Don't worry, I promise not to let Aunt Yun sleep alone," Meng Xinghe turned his back to Aunt Yun, stretched out a hand and shook it vigorously, and then invited the somewhat mature and dignified Aunt Yun in the room to throw an embroidered shoe at her.
"I'll beat you to death, you little bastard, for picking on your Aunt Yun," the woman cursed a few times. As if she felt much younger, she actually laughed to herself, making her whole nation and city fall in love.
Although Meng Xinghe has not been to school for a few days, nor has he been to the school field, he has received training from the martial arts masters specially invited by the Imperial College to strengthen the physical fitness of the weak scholars, just to enable this group of scholars who have read poetry and books to get rid of their weak hands. In his opinion, this is undoubtedly a futile effort, which makes these self-proclaimed scholars even more obsessed with the idea of being invincible in the world of literature.
Along a spacious bluestone avenue, we came to the specially set up school grounds in the Imperial College of Science and Technology. The reason why it was set up in the College of Science and Technology was simply to put the training of students in an unimportant position. I usually read too much The Book of Songs and The Analects of Confucius. It is also necessary to let them flex their bodies, which can be regarded as satisfying the ancients' attachment to the six arts of etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.
Looking from the entrance of the school grounds, many students have gathered inside, holding bows and knives, or leading horses and spears. Most of them are trying to show off their strength or courage in various areas of the school grounds.
Meng Xinghe walked into a group of students in confusion. He heard that the number of people taking part in the final imperial examination this time was more than 3,000. The lively atmosphere of the school did not look like a fake. The students were densely packed according to their favorite or cold weapons that they were not afraid of. When it comes to making friends, Meng Xinghe is no exception. Compared to those swords that can cut the flesh, he prefers to control horses, especially horses with a wild temperament. If he can really control them, it will indeed be the greatest feeling of conquest.
So, Meng Xinghe walked to the stables on the campus where there were not many people watching, and looked at the horses that were half a horse's head taller than him, rubbing their shiny fur and neighing loudly in the stables. Some of my hands are itchy and I want to lead a horse out for a ride. Although his equestrian skills were learned after traveling to the Tang Dynasty, from Jiangdu to Chang'an, which is thousands of miles away, except for the section of the canal that relies on boats, the rest are horses. On behalf of others, during this long journey, I unknowingly developed a strong interest in the only fast means of transportation, horses.
"Young master wants to learn equestrian skills." Seeing Meng Xinghe standing in front of the stable, closer than the other students, an old man with a gray beard smiled and stroked the head of the horse in the stable, as if he were his own son, with an expression on his face. He cares so much, as if the dozen horses in the stable are his dearest people, wishing they could be inseparable.
Meng Xinghe nodded and said: "Master, I want to learn the art of riding a horse." In the Imperial Academy, whether they are teaching equestrian skills or teaching The Analects of Confucius, they are all masters. However, in the eyes of most students, these students only know the skills of ecstasy. People are not so respected, but Meng Xinghe has no such intention. In his opinion, many of the people who can leave their names in history are those who were thieves and should be worthy of respect.
The old gentleman smiled honestly. Instead of dealing with people, it would be better to deal with animals. People are high and low, and animals only see familiarity and strangeness. Meng Xinghe does not have the arrogance of those students, and seems to be more able to attract the attention of the old gentleman. .
"I am so old that I only know the basics of how to control a horse. It's just that the horses in the Imperial Academy are all tamed breeds. If you really want to learn the real art of horse control, you can only truly tame those naturally wild horses in the racecourse." "Exemplify the art of drafting horses." As if he had become a confidant to Meng Xinghe, the old man said a lot of things that were not taught by him, and then brought out a pure black horse with a strong physique and relatively thick hooves. Said: "This horse, named Heifeng, has the fine bloodline of Mongolian horses and Dawan horses. It has a strong physique and excellent endurance. It was just tamed and sent from the racecourse. You might as well try out the strength of this horse first." ,"
Meng Xinghe took the reins, and the tall black wind jumped up and down in a paranoid manner. He did not accept his favor at all, causing all the students around him to burst into laughter. Meng Xinghe was obviously a little out of control, and thought of using violence to control it. The method of violence is to give Hei Feng a few whips first, then climb on its back and control it well. You know, when Meng Xinghe whips it down, Hei Feng will jump up and down, and Meng Xinghe will not be given another chance. Turning on its back, it can be seen that Lieutenant has not yet been fully tamed and has a very wild temperament.
His grandma was really evil. How could a beast pull apart its hooves and kick someone? Meng Xinghe tightened the reins hard, letting the black wind roar and trample on its hooves, trying to get rid of it.
Meng Xinghe, a stranger, invaded, and the old man who taught equestrian skills, seeing Meng Xinghe's cruel riding style, felt psychological pain countless times. He didn't want his baby Hei Feng to be treated like this, and he had already robbed Meng Xinghe.
The reins in Xinghe's hands, to put it lightly, seem to have a lot of philosophy.
"A horse is like a human being. Manage it with care. Don't press forward step by step. Seeing that the young master is full of violence, it may be more suitable to go to the archery range next to practice strong crossbows. Don't scare my black wind.