Chapter 73 That spring, I cut a pound of peach blossoms (2)
Chapter 73: That spring, I cut a pound of peach blossoms (2)
At this time, Ning Que was staring at a man, staring very seriously and unscrupulously. He was one of the hundreds of candidates, and the man was standing in front of hundreds of candidates talking, and he was supposed to welcome several candidates.
Momo Dao looked up with awe and even scorching eyes, so he was not worried about being discovered by the man. He just stared at it, as if he wanted to eat that man into Mo Ruye's eyes, and wanted to eat that man into Mo Ruye's eyes.
in memories.
The man was wearing a dark robe with red cuffs, hem and collar, and a large black face decorated with gold. He had a handsome face, eyebrows like swords, thin lips and a straight nose, and a friendly smile. There were occasional wrinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiled, which made him look more mature.
From the outside, you can say that he is already forty years old, from the outside, you can say that he is about to turn thirty. In short, he is a very charming man.
He is Li Peiyan, the second most powerful man in the Tang Empire, His Majesty the Emperor's only biological brother, and His Royal Highness, a well-known virtuous prince. It was also the man who, thirteen years ago, took advantage of His Majesty's trip to Daze to unite with several important ministries.
Tang, who joined forces with General Xia Hou to imprison General Xuanwei Lin Guangyuan on charges of treason, and was the culprit who executed everyone in the general's palace.
From the time he escaped from Chang'an City in the first year of Tianqi to the time he returned from Weicheng this year, for thirteen years, Ning Que struggled painfully to survive in the world. Not only did his hatred not fade, but because of the blood spurting out in front of the knife, his body and
The mental pain before life and death, and the self-blame and guilt hidden deep in my heart, became thicker and clearer.
There are many people he must kill in Chang'an City. Prince Li Peiyan is undoubtedly the first on the list. Today in the academy, he saw the person he must kill for the first time, so he saw it very
Seriously, I want to imprint the appearance of this handsome and graceful prince in my mind, remember his eyebrows, remember his eyes, remember the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes when he smiles, remember the way his thin lips parted when he spoke, and then
All of this will be torn apart at some point in the future.
Prince Li Peiyan encouraged with a gentle smile, like a spring breeze: "You are all young people in the world. You need to use all your skills to cope with this entrance examination today, but you must not be too nervous. You must study hard when you enter the academy and wait until you are successful."
At this time, our Tang Dynasty Empire has countless positions waiting for you to add glory to the empire."
Ning Que stared at him, blinking slightly, his eyelashes cutting through the spring breeze.
Prince Li Peiyan looked to his left, looking at the candidates who were dressed differently from those of the Tang Dynasty. He opened his arms and smiled loudly, like sunshine on the ground: "Although you are not from the Tang Dynasty, our Datang Academy has always taught people without distinction. Please don't worry about the fairness of admissions."
And if you succeed in your studies in the academy, we, the Tang Dynasty, are still waiting for your service."
Ning Que stared at him, his eyes were cold and his pupils turned dark.
Concentration can be understood as burning, and hatred can be understood as awe as long as it is diluted with two other emotions. The students waiting for the exam outside the academy looked at His Royal Highness who was giving pre-exam lectures. Such a look is easy to understand.
, so no one noticed anything strange about Ning Que. Only Sangsang raised her little face and glanced at him worriedly, then quietly reached out her hand, reached into his sleeve and gently held the slightly trembling hand.
At this time, an examinee from Yan State mustered up the courage to have a few conversations with the Prince of Tang Dynasty. I don’t know what kind of joke the prince said, which made the extremely nervous candidates laugh out loud. Li Peiyan took advantage of it.
Taking the opportunity, he smiled and talked about some interesting things, with the intention of letting everyone relax. The candidates were also aware of the fun, and they no longer stood still and serious like before. They rubbed their hands when they should, rubbed their waists when they should, and chatted when they should.
, what deserves praise...praise.
"There was indeed a wise king in the Tang Dynasty."
"His Royal Highness is as virtuous as the rumors say, like the spring breeze and clear sunshine, which makes people happy."
"Xian."
The candidates may not all be flattering, but when they heard the words coming from around them, Ning Que couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking about Li Yu's title of Princess Xian of the Tang Dynasty, and murmured mockingly:
"Is there anyone unworthy?"
"Yes, the porridge is not salty."
A candidate next to him answered very seriously. At some point, the person standing next to Ning Que was replaced by a young man. This young man was wearing a long silk gown and had a gold belt around his waist.
The precious jade pendant indicates that the family is rich or noble, and they are his acquaintances.
"Cui Youxian? You actually want to come to take the academy exam?" Ning Que turned to look at the man and asked in surprise: "Why didn't I hear you say this when I went to the building a few days ago?"
This young master is the most beloved and only son of Mr. Qigui Chu in Dongcheng. He is also the character who was borrowed and scolded by everyone when Ning Que first stepped into the Red Sleeves. His surname was Chu and his given name was Youxian.
Being generous and generous, it is best to make friends with friends. When they first met that day, they planned to treat Ning Que to a meal of wine and wine. Unfortunately, there was a disagreement. Later, when Ning Que went to Hongxiu Zhao to chat with Shui Zhuer and other girls, he ran into him again.
After a few visits and a few glasses of wine, we became familiar with each other.
Chu Youxian looked straight ahead, his gaze slanted at Ning Que, and said with pain on his face: "The old man at home insisted on forcing me to come and take this test. He said that if I don't pass the admission test in Chang'an City, I won't be able to get married in the future.
, I had to be more picky by the woman’s family, and the bride price was given more, I was really forced by the old man, so I had no choice but to come.”
Ning Que turned his head, looked at His Highness the Prince, who was talking to the candidates one after another, and whispered: "The time for the preliminary examination has already passed. How did you pass?"
Chu Youxian raised his hand and made a two-character sign in front of him, looked ahead and said, "Take the military route."
Ning Que knew that the military recommended more candidates for examination this year than in previous years. He originally thought that the imperial court was worried about the lack of young generals in the army, but he never expected that there were so many inside stories. He remembered that he had been desperately killing enemies on the frontier grasslands in the past few years.
After working hard to cut firewood and accumulating military merit to pass the preliminary examination, I couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice. I cursed a few times in a low voice and said with emotion: "Two thousand taels of silver... only covers half a quilt, but I can actually buy into the academy!"
After hearing this, Sangsang, who had been standing quietly on the other side of him, couldn't help but raise his head and glance at him, thinking, Master, you are unhappy, why do you have to keep talking about that matter?
"Two thousand taels? You can't even send the college concierge! My old man begged for help, cried and shouted, and paid for 20,000 taels... And it's just a qualification for the admission test. There is no guarantee that you can get in!"
Chu Youxian glanced at him disdainfully and said: "There is no ministry in the Tang Dynasty that dares to accept money and guarantee that you can enter the academy, because let alone those ministers, not even your majesty will tell you about this matter.
Forget it. So don’t despise me. My old man said that today I am just here to take a gold-plating test, so that I will be more confident when talking about marriage in the future."
While the two were chatting, Prince Li Peiyan walked over accompanied by officials and teachers. His eyes directly ignored Ning Que and Chu Youxian and fell on Sang Sang. Looking at this short and thin little girl,
Smiling, he turned back to the instructor and said, "I didn't expect there to be such a young female candidate. She is probably only two years younger than the Linzhou Wang Ying I saw before, right?"
Linzhou Wang Ying is the young candidate who was brought back to Chang'an from the village school by the academy. She is under fourteen years old this year. She was previously the focus of the introduction to His Royal Highness by the officials, but no one expected that she could be seen here.
I saw a little black-faced girl who was more childish. Just looking at her clothes, it was really...
"This is my maid." Ning Que gently clasped his hands in courtesy and explained.
Prince Li Peiyan knew that he had recognized the wrong person, and his face was a little embarrassed. The officials behind him saw the opportunity very quickly, and suddenly stared at the academy teachers and said: "How can we let the maids enter the opening ceremony?"
The middle-aged teacher of the academy, as if he did not feel the officials' irritation at all, replied calmly: "There are no restrictions for maids and servants to enter the academy. This is to participate in the ceremony, not to enter the examination room. We will just not let her in later."
.”
The official couldn't get angry after being contradicted by the instructor. After all, no matter how high his status or power was, it would have no effect in a place like the academy. His Highness the Prince smiled mockingly to himself and reached out to pat Ning Que's cheek.
Shoulder, without saying anything more, led the ministers to continue forward.
Ning Que lightly bumped Chu Youxian with his shoulder, looked at the instructor next to Li Peiyan, and praised in a low voice: "Xian, this is called neither bland nor salty. I like the academy more and more.
"
The second ringing of the bell was the last call.
The college teacher explained the rules of the examination room with an expressionless face, but the candidates were so nervous that they did not remember it because the rules of the examination room for the admission examination were so loose. They were not allowed to chat or ask questions, but they were not allowed to tell each other the answers.
Following the sound of the bell and the scattered peach petals on the bluestone slabs, students with fluttering gowns climbed up the stairs and entered each classroom to prepare for the exam. Only Sangsang was left standing alone outside.
On the stone flat, at this moment, a few more drops of spring rain fell. She raised her little face and squinted at it, then opened the big black umbrella she was carrying behind her.
The content of the academy examination is similar to that of the imperial examination of the Tang Dynasty. It is divided into six subjects: etiquette, music, archery, royal science, calligraphy, and mathematics. The scores are calculated separately, and then the total score is used to recruit students. The admission test is held in the morning.
The literary test consisted of three subjects: ritual books and mathematics, and the first one was mathematics, which people in the Tang Dynasty were least good at or least willing to take care of.
It was quiet during the exam. The window frames on the wall framed the outdoor white wall and pink plum blossoms, like peaceful and beautiful pastel paintings, creating an environment that was very suitable for stirring thoughts. However, after getting the mathematics ink paper,
The students who were sitting upright at the table suddenly became confused and let out low sighs.
"Why is it a comprehensive question?" A student pulled his hair in pain.
"Are we so unlucky?" Some students looked pale.
Because there is no strict prohibition on making noise in the examination room rules, students can't help but express their dissatisfaction and sorrow in various ways. Over the years, the comprehensive mathematics questions in the admission examination are the most difficult. They are often composed by a doctor of literature and a professor of mathematics.
When it comes to questions, candidates sometimes don't even understand what the questions actually mean.
Ning Que placed the brush on the inkstone, took a deep breath of the cool air, and then opened the ink scroll. He saw that there was only one question on the ink scroll, with about dozens of characters written on it:
"In the spring of that year, the Master went to the country to travel and encountered the fine wines of Peach Mountain. He then found a path to climb a mountain to enjoy the peaches and taste the wine. He picked flowers and drank wine along the way. At first, he cut a pound of peach blossoms and drank a pot of wine. Later, the Master cherished the wine, so he cut another pound of peach blossoms.
, drink only half a pot of wine, then cut a pound of peach blossoms, drink half a pot of wine, and proceed like this... When you reach the top of the mountain, the wine in your bag is empty, and you look around in confusion, and ask all the students: How many kilograms of peach blossoms have been cut today, and how many have been drunk?