Chapter 73 That spring, I cut peach blossoms into one pound (medium)

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 stood in front of hundreds of candidates and talked happily, and was about to welcome the numbers. He looked up, awe and even burning eyes, so he was not worried about being discovered by that man, so he stared at him, as if he wanted to eat the man into Mo Ru's pupils in the night and to eat the man into Mo Ru's late night. in memory.

The man was wearing a long robe with red cuffs and collars on the hem of the cuffs, a large face but black gold. He had handsome faces, a sword-like eyebrows, thin lips and straight nose, and a nice smile. When he smiled, there were sometimes a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He was mature. It can be said that he is already forty years old, and when he looks young, he can also say that he is about to be thirty. In short, this is a very attractive man.

He is Li Peiyan, the second most powerful man in the Tang Empire, His Majesty's only brother, His Highness, the prince who is known for his reputation , was the one who took advantage of His Majesty's trip to the Great Lakes and joined forces with important numbers thirteen years ago The ministry joined forces with the general Xiahou to imprison General Xuanwei Lin Guangyuan for treason and kill the general's mansion.

From the first year of Tianqi, to the return of Weicheng this year, Ning Que has struggled painfully in the world, and his hatred has not faded, but because of the blood, flesh and The mental pain before life and death, the self-blame and guilt hidden deep in my heart, became stronger and clearer.

There are many people he must kill in Chang'an City. Prince Li Peiyan is undoubtedly the first place on the list. Today, in the academy, he saw the first time he had to kill, so he saw it very much. Seriously, I should engrave the appearance of this handsome and elegant prince in my mind, remember his eyebrows, remember his eyes, remember the wrinkles when the corners of his eyes, remember the appearance of his thin lips when he spoke, and then Tear all this at some point in the future.

Prince Li Peiyan smiled gently and exhorted, like a spring breeze: "Young people are all heroes in the world. Today, we must show all our abilities to deal with this admission examination, but we must not be too nervous. After entering the academy, we must study hard and wait for the study to be completed. At that time, our Tang Empire had countless positions waiting for you to add luster to the empire."

Ning Que stared at him, blinked gently, and cut the spring breeze.

Prince Li Peiyan looked to his left, looked at the candidates dressed differently than the Tang people, and opened his arms and smiled loudly, as if the sun was shining on the ground: "Although you are not Tang people, my Tang Academy has always been indistinguishable from teachings. Please do not worry about fair admissions. What's going on, and if you have achieved success in the academy, I will still wait for you to serve you in the Tang Dynasty."

Ning Que stared at him, his eyes cold and his eyes darkened.

Focus can be understood as burning, hatred can be understood as awe only with two other emotions. Students waiting outside the academy are looking at His Royal Highness who is doing pre-exam lectures. It is easy to understand that such a look is revealed. , so no one noticed Ning Que's abnormality. Only Sangsang raised his little face and looked at him worriedly, then quietly reached out, leaned into his sleeve and gently held the slightly trembling hand.

At this time, a candidate from Yan mustered up the courage to have a few conversations with the Prince of Tang. I don't know what jokes the prince said, which made the candidates who were originally extremely nervous in the audience laugh out loud. Li Peiyan borrowed the Taking the opportunity, I said some fun things with a smile, intending to let all living beings relax, but the candidates are still conscious of their tact, no longer as if they were standing still and serious, rub their hands when they should rub their hands, rub their waist when they should, and chat with them when they should chat. , what should be praised... praise.

"There is indeed a wise king in the Tang Dynasty."

"The prince's wise man is as rumored as the spring breeze and clear sun are delightful."

"Vertical."

All the candidates are not necessarily flattering, but listening to the words coming from around him, Ning Que couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking about the title of Li Yu, the wise princess of the Tang Dynasty, and murmured and mocked: "Are there any unscrupulous ones?"

"Yes, the porridge is not salty."

A candidate next to him replied very seriously, "At some point, the person standing beside Ning Que was replaced by a young man. The young man was wearing a long silk gown with a gold belt around his waist." The precious jade pendant is either rich or noble at first glance, and it is his acquaintance.

"Quyuchen? Are you actually coming to take the academy exam," Ning Que turned his head and looked at the man and asked in surprise, "Why didn't you hear me when I went to the building a few days ago?"

This young man is the most beloved only son of Master Qigui of Dongcheng. It was also the coordinate character that Ning Que stepped into the Hongxiuzhao for the first time that day and was borrowed by Jian. This person's surname is Yuxian, his name is Yuxian, and his temperament is a strange person. It's better to call friends. When we first met that day, we planned to treat Ning Que to a flower wine. Unfortunately, things were inconsistent. Later, Ning Que went to Hongxiuzhao to accompany Shui Zhuer to chat with the girls, and met him again After a few times, I drank a few cups of wine, and I became familiar with it.

Yuxian looked ahead with a straight look, her eyes squinted at Ning Que, and said with pain: "The old man at home insisted that I come here to take this exam, saying that if I haven't passed the admission exam in Chang'an City, when I get married in the future , I had to be more picky by the woman's family and give more brides. I was really forced by that old man, so I had to come."

Ning Que turned his head and looked at His Highness, who was talking to the candidates in turn to encourage him, and whispered: " Time has passed since the initial verification. How did you pass it?"

Yuxian raised his hand and compared it in front of him, looking ahead and said, "The military department road is on."

Ning Que knew that the military department recommended many more candidates to wait for the exam this year than in previous years. He originally thought that the court was worried that the young and strong generals in the army would not accept it. He did not expect that there were so many inside stories in it. He remembered that he had been fighting desperately on the border grassland in recent years. He worked hard to chop wood and accumulated military merits before passing the preliminary investigation. He couldn't help but feel very upset. He cursed a few times and said with emotion: "Two thousand taels of silver... half a quilt was covered, and he could actually buy it into the academy!"

Listening to this sentence, Sangsang, who had been standing quietly on the other side of him, couldn't help but look up at him, thinking, Young Master, you are unhappy, why bother to keep talking about that matter?

"Two thousand taels? It's not enough to send it to the academy gatehouse! My old man begs for nothing and begs for someone to cry and shout, paying 20,000 taels... And it's a qualification to be admitted to the hospital, and there is no guarantee that you can enter!"

Yuxian looked at him disdainfully and said, "No department in our Tang Dynasty dares to collect money to guarantee that you can get into the academy, because let alone those Shangshu, even His Majesty said this. Forget it. So don't despise me, my old man said, today I'm here to take a gilded exam, and I'll be more confident in my marriage in the future."

The two chatted so idlely, Prince Li Peiyan walked over with the officials and teachers, and directly ignored Ning Que and Yuxian, and fell on Sangsang, looking at the short and thin little girl. He smiled and turned around and said to the teacher, "I didn't expect there would be a female candidate who is as young as he is. Is this two years younger than Wang Ying in Linzhou I saw before?"

Wang Ying of Linzhou is the young candidate who was taught by the academy and brought back to Chang'an from the village school. He is less than fourteen years old this year. He was previously introduced to His Royal Highness the Prince by officials, but everyone did not expect that he could see it here. It was a little black-faced girl who was even more childish, but looking at her dressing, it was really...

"This is my maid." Ning Que bowed gently and explained.

Prince Li Peiyan knew that he had recognized the wrong person and looked a little embarrassed. The officials behind him saw the opportunity very quickly, suddenly glared at the academy teacher and said, "How can the maids enter the opening ceremony?"

The middle-aged teacher in the academy seemed to have not felt the anger of the officials at all, and replied calmly: "There is no limit on the maid and maid entering the academy. This is to participate in the ceremony, not the examination room. If you don't let her in later, just don't let her go in. ."

After being criticized by this teacher, the official could not get angry. After all, no matter how high his status or how powerful he is, he has no effect in a place like academy. His Highness the Prince smiled mockingly, reached out and patted Ning Que's shoulder, said nothing more, and led the ministers to continue moving forward.

Ning Que gently hit Yuxian with his shoulder, looked at the teacher beside Li Peiyan, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Yi, this is not indifferent or salty. I like the academy more and more. "

The second time the bell rang was the last call.

The college teacher talked about the discipline of the examination room without expression, but the candidates nervously did not remember it because the discipline of the examination room for admission was so relaxed. He did not stop chatting or asking questions, but he was not allowed to tell each other the answers.

Stepping on the bell, stepping on the broken peach petals falling on the bluestone slabs, the students in the long gown climbed up the steps, entered the classrooms, preparing to meet the exam, leaving only Sangsang standing alone outside. On the stone plaza, at this moment, the spring rain drifted a few more times. She raised her face and squinted her eyes, and opened the big black umbrella behind her back.

The academy examination is similar to the Tang Dynasty imperial examination. It is divided into six subjects: ritual, music, radiology, imperial, calligraphy, and mathematics. The scores are calculated separately and then the students are recruited based on the total score. The morning of the admission examination was the literary examination, which was the three subjects of rituals and books, and the first one was the mathematics subject that the Tang people were the least good at or were the least happy to understand.

The exam was quiet, and the window frames on the walls were framed with white walls and pink plums on the outdoors, like a series of quiet and beautiful pastel paintings, creating a very suitable environment for moving thoughts. However, after getting the Digital Ink Roll, The students who had been sitting at the table before suddenly became confused and lamented in a low voice.

"How could it be a comprehensive question?" Some students grabbed their hair in pain.

"We are so lucky, right?" Some students looked pale.

Because there is no hustle and noise in the examination room discipline, students can't help expressing their dissatisfaction and grief in various ways . The most difficult comprehensive questions for admission examinations in previous years are often accompanied by a doctor of literature and a professor of general science. When the questions are set, candidates sometimes can't even understand what the questions really want to take.

Ning Que put the brush on the inkstone, took a deep breath of cool air, and then opened the ink roll. He saw that there was only one question on the ink roll, and he touched about dozens of words, which read:

"That spring, the Master went to the country to travel and met the fine wine of Taoshan Mountain. He then found a path to climb a mountain to appreciate peaches and taste wine. He picked flowers and drank wine all the way. He first cut a pound of peach blossoms and a pot of wine. Later, the Master cherished the wine, so he cut another pound of peach blossoms. , only half a pot of wine, cut a pound of peach blossoms, half a pot of wine, and walk like this... When I reached the top of the mountain, the Master finished the wine in his bag, and looked around in confusion, and asked the students indifferently: How many pounds of peach blossoms have been cut today, and how many pounds of peach blossoms have been drunk today Pot of wine?"