Chapter 33: The Examination (4)

The door of the room was open silently, and Yang Lin, who was burying his head to read, did not notice it until a cold voice sounded at the door: "Brother Yang Lin, are you ready?" Yang Lin loosened his hand and the book fell to the ground. He raised his head, his eyes full of fear.

Chen Huai stepped into the room lightly and closed the door. He looked at Yang Lin, who was stunned and smiled contemptuously: "Why do you look like you saw a ghost?" He walked to Yang Lin a few steps and stared at the other party: "I'm here to see you jump into the dragon gate, not to see you to the west, why are you shaking?!" Yang Lin lowered his head without making a sound, still looking in dismay.

Chen Huai was both angry and funny, so he simply sat on the chair next to him and said as if nothing had happened: "It's July 27th today. The first day of August is the final exam. As usual, the candidates will report to the school at the 28th hour of the 28th July, to verify their identities, enter the number room, and wait for the first day of the 1st morning to start the exam and get the questions. Therefore..." He glanced at Yang Lin, who had no expression and said: "Mr. Di said that as the main exam, he would not come to visit you in the past two days, but he still asked me to bring you a message and ask you to take the exam well. He also specifically told me to send you to the school in person tomorrow. Yang Lin, you are almost over!"

Yang Lin then raised his eyelids and muttered weakly: "Thank you, Lord Di, thank you for General Chen's care, I feel grateful." "Hmph!" Chen Huai sneered, and then asked with a sneer: "Yang Lin, you have been in Di Mansion for so long. What are your plans after the first exam on August 1st?" Yang Lin glanced at him in confusion: "This... I'm not all listening to you? How can I beat you..."

"Yeah." Chen Huai nodded: "Yang Lin, you don't have to come back here after the exam." Yang Lin looked at him suspiciously, and Chen Huai laughed: "I said Yang Lin, you don't really want to stay in Di's Mansion, right?" Yang Lin became more and more frightened: "Me? Isn't all this what you asked for? You want me to obtain Lord Di's trust, trust... and why do you want me to pretend to be thankful..."

Chen Huai shouted sternly: "Okay! You are doing all these things well. My question is, what do you plan to do after the exam? What if you don't get the exam? So what if you pass the Jinshi?!" Yang Lin lowered his head, was silent for a while before muttering: "I don't know... But, General Chen, I have been doing what you said, you, when do you plan to return my thing?" Chen Huai raised his eyebrows sarcastically and asked back: "What if you finish the exam, I will give you something like that?"

Yang Lin asked in surprise: "Really? Do you really give me something like that?" Chen Huai snorted coldly: "Since you and I met, I have always believed in what I say, right?" "That's right..." "Then what else do you have to doubt? And, because you have done everything I want you to do, I will not only return you as promised, but also let you go!"

Yang Lin stared at Chen Huai with tongues, as if he couldn't believe his ears at all. Chen Huai was disgusted with his stupid pressure: "Yes, I will arrange for you to leave after the trial, oh, of course I will ask you to bring what you want." After a pause, he stared at Yang Lin and asked, "What? Could it be that you can't bear to leave?" Yang Lin was shocked and quickly defended: "No! No! Of course I am willing to leave. No, no, no... I live like a year, and in fact I don't want to stay here for a moment!"

Chen Huai nodded: "Well, that's great. I will arrange everything. But there is a condition." He stared at Yang Lin and said word by word: "If you want to leave, you have to go thoroughly. No matter whether you are on the list in this exam, you are not allowed to come back!" Yang Lin looked confused: "This...if you can't pass the exam, I can't do it either?" "No!"

Yang Lin rolled his eyes and said without saying a word. Chen Huai was impatient. He said sternly: "Yang Lin, I already said it very clearly. You either bring the things you want and get out of your free life from now on. Let's not overflow the river, or..." He suddenly stopped and his gloomy eyes stabbed Yang Lin like a dagger. Yang Lin was so excited that he had a cold war, as if he had returned to the night in the ruined temple outside Jinchen Pass last year. What a similar gaze made people extremely desperate... Yang Lin felt that he could no longer bear it. Even if he could pass the imperial examination, what would he do if he could pass the imperial examination? He was a general of the court, and even if he could find a job, he could not escape his palm... Forget it! Promise him, as long as he could get his mother's treasure, he would quickly escape from all this, and the farther he could escape...

He said in a low voice, "I, I will do what I will do." "Well." Chen Huai nodded with satisfaction, relaxed his expression a little, and said, "There is another thing, you can draft a letter to Lord Di Renjie now and say goodbye to him. I will find an opportunity for him to see it, so as not to suddenly disappear after the test, which makes him suspicious." Yang Lin sat down obediently and lifted up his pen: "This... how do I write?" "Just say you are grateful to the Prime Minister for your respect and care for you, but your mother in your family is seriously ill and you have to go home to serve. If my mother returns to heaven, you must serve her for three years. Loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time. Therefore, let's put aside the fame and fortune for the time being, and please forgive me if you leave without saying goodbye."

Yang Lin pondered for a moment, waved his hand and wrote the letter. Chen Huai took it to see it, said it was right, and then put it in his arms.

On the night of July 28th, the hour of Wu is complete.

In front of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Office on the east side of Tianjin Bridge, there are lantern balls hanging high with torches. On the two rows of big locust trees down the long street, there are big red lanterns hanging for a mile long, illuminating the entire street as daytime. The pink and white walls of the Selection Office are neatly placed next to the pink and white walls, which are more than one foot higher than the top of the wall. On the outside of the thorn fence are even more than five steps, one stairs and ten steps, and the Jinwu Guards are standing solemnly with bright armor and energetic Jinwu Guards. This situation is enough for all the students who come to take the exam to breathe rapidly and their hearts are beating like a drum before they even stepped into the exam room.

At the entrance of the election, another team of guards in uniform stood guard, guiding all the men to line up and line up. Standing high in front of the black painted gate, a general Qianniu Guard with extraordinary appearance in silver armor and red clothes was commanding, and it was Chen Huai. The chief examiner, Lord Di Renjie, sat upright in the main hall of the election, an hour ago. Chen Huai led the guards to protect Lord Di's safety as usual, and at the same time assumed the responsibility of maintaining order in the examination room.

Although there were many candidates at the scene, due to proper management and strict police force, no one was making noise. Everyone entered the venue in silent order. When passing by the doorman, they first reported their names and signed the list and wrote them on the list, and soldiers came to search the whole body. The pens, ink, paper, ink, candle, tea cup and rice bowl brought by the candidates must be carefully inspected, and then put them in the bamboo basket that was distributed and received, and then they can be taken into the seat. The remaining unrelated items carried by them will be packed, written their names, and stored in the doorman.

Yang Lin was wearing a new Confucian scholar robe, sandwiched in the middle of the team. Tonight he was accompanied by two Qianniu guards, oh, no, it was the escort to the selection courtyard. In the team, he looked around and saw that Zhao Mingyu from the Lanzhou Association was ranked among the top ten people. Zhao Mingyu also saw Yang Lin. Because no one was there to talk, the two nodded and greeted him, even if he had said hello. When passing by the doorman, Yang Lin hesitated to take out a small bag from his arms, wrote his name, and held it for the yamen runners in both hands, watching him put it in the cabinet where the items were stored.

The room number is arranged under the east and west corridors of the courtyard selection. The main hall in the north direction is brightly lit. Like all the candidates, when Yang Lin walked through the yard toward his room, facing the figure of the examiner Di Renjie sitting upright, he bowed respectfully. He silently said in his heart: "Mr. Di, Yang Lin is grateful for your kindness of knowing you from the bottom of his heart. However, Yang Lin was threatened by others and deceived you. He is really ashamed! Mr. Di, Yang Lin came here to take the exam today and has let go of his utilitarianism, just to explain his hard study for many years, and... I have an explanation to you. Mr. Di, I will probably never see you again after I have a child tomorrow. Take care of you, please!"

Finally, all the candidates sat down and waited quietly for the fifth hour to knock. Lord Di Renjie opened the seal and issued the test questions, and the exam began.

On the first day of August, it was a rare good weather. A golden wheel was shining in the cloudless clear sky, and the entire Luoyang city was bathed in the comfort of late summer and early autumn. In the selection of the Ministry of Personnel, the candidates were still writing hard, and they were going to finish the exam until the third day tonight. After noon, there were many gorgeous car drivers and horse teams gathered on both sides of the Luoshui River by the Tianjin Bridge. The queues were full of people with strange looks and dresses. They were all guests of the Four Barbarians invited by the Emperor of the Great Zhou to attend today's treasure and the Hundred Plays Fair.

This was the idea that the Zhang brothers gave to Wu Zetian. After changing the age of the Emperor Wu changed his life and recovered his health and his overall control of the government. His favor for Er Zhang became even more popular, which further encouraged the arrogance of the two brothers. At the same time, some officials in the court who had no integrity were tempted to be inclined to the situation and could do their best to the two Zhang Daxing. Now the Zhang brothers are at their peak in the Great Zhou Dynasty, arrogantly like cooking oil in fire, which is simply the same as doing whatever they want. Somehow, since the victory of Longyou Dao, the Zhang brothers suddenly became very interested in diplomacy. They often went to Honglu Temple for no reason. They pretended to understand and pointed fingers, making the Honglu Temple unhappy, but they had to swallow their anger.

In this case, the attitude of the Minister of the Honglu Temple Zhou Liangkun was quite critical. Logically speaking, he, an old minister of the three dynasties, could be somewhat backbone in front of Er Zhang. However, what surprised and disappointed the other officials of the Honglu Temple were that Zhou Liangkun followed the two Zhangs' words, which was so outrageous. The Zhang brothers first took the order of Emperor Wu to search for treasures. Zhou Liangkun immediately opened the door of the Sifang Pavilion and let the two turn the warehouses of the Sifang Pavilion to the sky. The treasures of the various barbarians who had been tributed for several dynasties in the museum, made the two brothers feel happy and were not polite. They immediately took all the rare ones and claimed that they were presented to Emperor Wu to appreciate them. Zhou Liang

Kun naturally did not say anything and did everything. After a while, he still didn't stop. A few days ago, Er Zhang had a sudden idea and encouraged Emperor Wu to invite the heads of the Yi tribe who had lived in Luoyang for a long time. On the first day of August, he held a grand event of the imperial city with a treasure and a hundred opera. The reason for Er Zhang was: Longyou defeated, and each Yi was shocked by the military power of the Celestial Dynasty. Choosing this opportunity to hold some relaxed and harmonious events can not only further demonstrate the strength of the Celestial Dynasty, but also comfort and win over everyone's fear. As the saying goes, both kindness and power are used. Wu Zetian thinks it makes sense, but in fact, she thinks most of the proposals of Er Zhang are very reasonable. Besides, this matter is harmless and interesting, why not do it?

The decree was issued, and the Honglu Temple suddenly became overwhelmed and prepared for almost half a month day and night. Finally, this grand event that was born out of thin air could be held as scheduled. The competition was scheduled to officially begin in the afternoon. Before the time came, Wu Zetian's ceremonial guard rose to the Zetian Gate Tower, directly south of the imperial city. Today's grand event was held in the square leading to Tianjin Bridge in front of Zetian Gate.

After a pilgrimage ceremony, Wu Zetian personally announced the start of the grand event. First, the treasure competition was held. The flowers were decorated with colorful squares. In the colorful square, the envoys selected by the four barbarians took turns to step forward. In the circle marked with red lines in the center, they placed treasures of their own specialties, and explained the benefits of the item in a strange accent. For a moment, the treasures were really gorgeous and colorful, which dazzled Wu Zetian and the civil and military officials and were very happy.

After all countries showed their treasures, the finale of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Yuchi Jian, Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, came on the stage with the treasure and began to talk. On the Zetianmen Tower, Zhang Yizhi noticed the empress's expression and appeared unhappy. He quietly asked in a low voice: "Master, do you think the treasures of our Heavenly Dynasty are not rare enough to defeat those strange things?" Wu Zetian snorted and did not answer.
Chapter completed!