Zhang Xiaomei sat blankly in front of the old desk in Zhang Ning's room. This desk was really old. In the past, he would always be there. Even if he went to Confucianism during the day, he would still read by lamp when he came back at night. It was better than before.
The unknown elder brother was busy studying, and although he was not as proud as he is now when people talk about him, he was able to get along with him day and night for a long time.
He came back this morning and left after not staying for a while. Zhang Xiaomei had a bad feeling that he would have fewer days to come back in the future. Last time he said that he might be transferred to an official position, and maybe he would go to distant Beijing again to siege.
Follow that strange "King Father" around.
That familiar face was in front of her just now, but now it has disappeared, and the earnest words about learning how to behave as a human being and caring for a husband and raising children still seem to linger in her ears. Zhang Xiaomei felt extremely uncomfortable for a while, wiped away her tears and went to
Running downstairs, the wooden stairs creaked as if they were about to fall apart.
She ran out of the courtyard very quickly, and almost no one noticed her. Luo Yuee, the sister-in-law who was working, looked up and thought it was Zhang Xiaomei who had gone out, so she continued to pick up pebbles in the rice.
An acquaintance on Liren Street said in surprise: "Isn't this the little girl of the Zhang family? Why are you crying so hard that Zhang Shicai robbed you of your sugar carrots?"
Zhang Xiaomei ran along the street, forgetting about taking the boat, and just ran to the southeast. Wu Yuan was over there, and she knew the place. As long as she kept walking, she would get closer and closer to Zhang Ning.
The feeling of getting closer and closer made the unbearable sadness in her heart much better. She cried and laughed. She seemed to have seen Zhang Ning's calm and gentle smile in front of her eyes, and smelled the light and sunny breath in his arms, that kind of
It was a stable, warm and indescribable feeling, just like the comfort of hiding away and lazing around when there is no work in the family business during the off-season. She was in a great mood. There was nothing lovable about her voice that made her addictive.
The pleasure of having his hands covered by those big warm hands flashed through his mind.
After passing two streets, we crossed over a stone bridge and reached the south bank of the Qinhuai River. Unexpectedly, we found a large group of people blocking the way on the street. They seemed to be a guard of honor for a high official. There were guards holding signs with the words "Quiet" and "Avoid".
, there are also flags, umbrellas, leather drums and other ostentatious displays. The procession of carriages, horses, sedan chairs and pedestrians marched through the middle of the street in an orderly manner. The speed was still slow, as if they were enjoying the feeling of being high above the ground, deliberately letting pedestrians stop.
Average viewing.
Naturally, ordinary people and pedestrians did not dare to go up, so they all waited by the roadside. Zhang Xiaomei had no choice but to stop.
The atmosphere of beating gongs and drums affected her mood, and she was too embarrassed to cry. She took out a handkerchief and wiped her face, then stood helplessly in the crowd. With her attention distracted like this, Zhang Xiaomei gradually recovered from her excitement.
God, I don’t understand why I came here... It’s like waking up from a dream, and gradually realizing that the things in the dream are not at all like that, good dreams or nightmares are all illusory.
My brother will definitely drive me back, and then I will feel that I am too willful, ignorant, and disobedient. Didn’t my brother ask me to learn a lot of things?
At this time, the ceremonial guard on the street slowly passed by, and the street was once again occupied by various people from the market, and the noisy and chaotic flow of people resumed. However, Zhang Xiaomei stood where she was and stopped running forward.
I don't know how long it took, but I heard an old woman upstairs in the opposite house shouting: "Go home and make dinner!" Zhang Xiaomei was stunned for a while, and finally turned around and walked back onto the stone bridge over the river, her movements limp as if she had no energy at all.
…
As expected, Zhang Ning didn't go to my younger sister's "blind date". He went to attend another social event that day. A classmate, Liang Shoucheng, went to Beijing to take the national examination at the beginning of the year. After failing the exam, he traveled around for several months. Now he is back in his hometown. It's a reunion with some classmates and friends.
To pick him up and cleanse him. Liang Shoucheng and Zhang Ning didn't have much contact with each other on weekdays, and they had no contact at all for almost a year. Zhang Ning went to the banquet mainly because of repeated invitations from another classmate Luo Jin.
He was the one who led Yang Sihai to Beijing to take the exam, and it was through his relationship that Zhang Ning met Su Liangchen, a talented man from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Anyway, Zhang Ning has nothing to do these days, so it’s not a bad thing to attend this kind of entertainment and make some friends. There are priorities in life, and sometimes you can’t rush. It’s better to just eat and drink.
Because the party was in broad daylight, the boat on the Qinhuai River was not very scenic during the day, so we all made an appointment at the Zhuangyuan Building by Mochou Lake. It is also a one-stop place for drinking wine and entertainment, although it is not as famous as the old courtyard (rich
(commonly known as Yueyuan), it can also be regarded as a place of luxury and entertainment. The key is that it has a good view during the day and the lake and water scenery there are good.
During the banquet, there were girls who were serving wine, and there were women who drank wine and talked about love affairs. In short, in Zhang Ning's eyes, they were all "accompanying" ladies. In this kind of fun-seeking place, there is no etiquette between men and women.
Men and women were teasing each other and having fun, very free and relaxed. What Zhang Ning felt was unnatural was that the girl sitting next to him and pouring wine always rubbed herself against him when she had nothing to do. Other girls were not so obvious, but she was like this, which was rare.
Zhang Ning, who participated in such an occasion, was not used to facing a large audience.
Before Liang Lao Biao could tell the anecdotes about his experiences in the capital and his travels, he first talked about another classmate. Zhang Ning was also familiar with that person, the dwarf Yang Lin Yang Sihai. Liang Lao Biao sighed: "
Among the people I knew in Nanjing, the only one who could try to be on the list was Yang Sihai."
"I know, I know, the last time they beat gongs and drums to announce the good news, wasn't it Yang Sihai who was awarded the second prize in the palace examination?" Luo Jin said casually, as if there was nothing in the world that he didn't know.
Su Liangchen, a relatively low-key talent, also spoke with envy at this time: "Last year he was on the Guangxu List, and this year he immediately won the Gold List. It is true that we privately said that he is very talented."
Zhang Ning echoed a few words without saying anything. He had some conflicts with Yang Sihai in the past. Fortunately, when everyone sent him to take the exam last year, they resolved it easily during the dinner. At this time, he didn’t have much thoughts. If it weren’t for Zhang Ning before
Ning humiliates others for being short, so he probably doesn't have much of an impression on Yang Sihai.
In my impression, Yang Sihai looks very young, maybe even younger than Zhang Ning. He has won the imperial examinations and Jinshi. He is really not an ordinary person. He does it quietly like this. How can it be embarrassing for an old man with gray hair and beard to be admitted?
.The Ming Dynasty has a territory of tens of thousands of miles and a population of hundreds of millions, but there are very few Jinshi. No one who is a Jinshi is not a human being. Zhang Ning has a lot of scriptures in his memory. He knows very well that this cannot be done by rote memorization alone.
.
"Sihai is not something we ordinary people can compare with." Luo Jin, who has the reputation of being a great scholar, couldn't help but say something else. He picked up his wine glass and walked around, then said: "Let's not disbelieve in qualifications. I used to study Confucianism with Sihai.
Let me tell you a little thing. Before the autumn of last year, it was rumored that Brother Ping'an and we, Yingtian Mansion, were number one in the academy, so everyone guessed who would be Jieyuan. Think about what Yang Sihai answered?"
Mentioning that incident, Zhang Ning felt a little embarrassed. It was rumored at that time that he was the first in Ying Tianfu, and it wasn't the former Zhang Ning who had announced it himself... But if the previous Zhang Ning had not died, he would be the one to take part in the examination this year.
Can he be on the list? This is a mystery. Anyway, he will definitely not be able to take the exam now. When it comes to studying in the imperial examination, Yang Sihai and Zhang Ning in the past are both very talented, but he is relatively mediocre;
I can't pass the exam, and the difficulty of getting into Tsinghua University is not at the same level as getting into Jinshi.
"Yang Sihai usually seems quite humble. He should say that Jie Yuan is brother Ping'an, right?" Liang Shoucheng guessed.
Zhang Ning smiled lightly and didn't guess anything. Su Liangchen said without any pressure: "You and I didn't go to school together, how do you know?"
Luo Laobiao shook his head: "Brother Liang, you are just like me, an ordinary person. Let me tell you how Yang Sihai answered... He said that if he wants to take the imperial examination in the future, it doesn't matter whether he is Jie Yuan now or not.
?”
This was like a cold joke. After telling it, no one had thought about it and figured out where the "joke" was. Zhang Ning understood it immediately and said: "The world has far-sighted vision and extraordinary knowledge."
After a while, everyone looked back and sighed. The material for Jinshi was different. It was almost autumn, and everyone was focused on it. They began to think about taking the imperial examination, and their thoughts were in the same state.
level.
When everyone was talking to this point, Luo Laobiao finally couldn't help but turned to look at Zhang Ning: "Brother Ping'an, why didn't you take part in this year's examination and become an official instead? You and Sihai are equally famous and talented people in our Gongyuan!"
When Luo Laobiao asked, everyone including Su Liangchen immediately looked at him. It was obvious that everyone was curious about this matter, but it was difficult to ask.
Zhang Ning hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't tell the truth. He was replaced by another person. The former brother Ping An was admitted to this profession, and now the current brother Ping An has no standard at all in writing eight-part essays.
He originally wanted to think that he was inferior to others, but for some reason a competitive spirit emerged in his heart. After all, he is a young man and no one is willing to say that he is not good! Especially since he once humiliated Yang Sihai's knowledge, how could someone else become a Jinshi?
Immediately pretending to be a grandson? The pride in his heart was aroused, as if there was a voice saying: I am not as good as others in making eight-part essays, but there is always something better than others!
He owed the debt and pretended to be calm: "Not everyone needs to be a Jinshi, and today's Yang Shaobao (Yang Shiqi) is not a Jinshi either."
Yang Shiqi, who was born in a commoner family, was not even a scholar. He must have learned a lot after teaching, but he just never passed the examination. Now he is the most famous person around the emperor, the crown prince Shaobao, the bachelor of Huagaidian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites and the minister of the Ministry of War, and the cabinet minister.
It is unprecedented for a cabinet minister to lead six ministries, and no one can match it for a holy family member. Yang Shiqi is not a Jinshi, but can any Jinshi compare to him?
"I admire you. Brother Ping'an has great ambitions." Luo Laobiao and others could only compliment him like this and could not say anything else.
Because Yang Shiqi is a special case, generally speaking, if you want to make a difference, it is more reliable to be a Jinshi. So everyone has nothing to say.
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