Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 204 Playing
Leaving aside the "fun" between the two old married couples, let's talk about Sheng Changquan on the other side.

After desperately shaking off his two older sisters' relentless pursuit, he dashed back to his own yard.

He closed the courtyard gate, went into the study, and immediately bolted the study door shut, refusing to come out again.

Firstly, it was to avoid being teased by Rulan and Minglan; secondly, it was also so that she could hide away and not see anyone.

Because Madam Wang had already given the order that he must wear this red robe for the next nine days, and he was not even allowed to take it off while sleeping, so as not to dissipate the family's good fortune and affect his two older brothers' imperial examinations.

The Spring Examination, also known as the Metropolitan Examination, was a crucial hurdle for all Confucian scholars who aspired to enter the imperial court and realize their ambitions.

Once you pass, you'll be qualified for a meteoric rise, and only then will you have the possibility of joining the cabinet.

Unlike the Juren degree, which, although it allows one to become an official, has an upper limit, with the highest one one can rise to is only the fourth rank.

If one is not a legitimate civil official, then it is impossible for them to enter the cabinet and control the lifeline of the court. It is like a side sect in the cultivation of immortality, not following the orthodox path, and is a first-class nobody.

The imperial examination in spring was a process in which the court gathered all the candidates from all over the country in the capital to select officials based on their talents.

The imperial examination was held over nine days, specifically on the 9th, 12th, and 15th days of the second lunar month, with three sessions, each lasting three days.

For nine days, the candidates will be locked up, with one session every three days. The first session will be on the ninth day, the second on the twelfth, and the third on the fifteenth. They will enter the venue one day in advance and leave the venue the next day.

The three examination items were: Four Books and Five Classics texts, seven-character eight-line poems or four-six parallel prose poems, and the final policy question, which were roughly the same as those in the provincial examination.

The candidates would undergo a body search and inspection the day before the imperial examination, which was the eighth day of the second lunar month. They would then enter the examination hall, and the examination would begin the following day. There would be four sessions every day for a total of nine days until the examination was completed.

During this time, family members of the candidates could wait outside, but soldiers would surround the examination hall and not allow anyone to approach.

Madam Wang had her reasons for making such a demand of Sheng Changquan.

She felt that among the entire Sheng family, Sheng Changquan had the best luck!
Although he lost his birth mother at birth, he survived in the end. Moreover, most importantly, Sheng Changquan did very well in the previous imperial examination, which shows that he was blessed.

Therefore, for the sake of her son Bai'er's future, Madam Wang had no choice but to "create" this trick on her own, hoping that Sheng Changbai could benefit from his younger brother's good fortune and pass the imperial examination in one fell swoop.

Of course, Sheng Hong did not believe this, after all, he was a Confucian disciple who did not speak of strange phenomena or supernatural beings.

Although his body was so honest in responding to his wife, it was purely because he had no choice but to do so because he couldn't do anything about his wife!
"May the late sage forgive Sheng Hong for his transgression!"

Although he cooperated with Madam Wang's actions, Sheng Hong was inwardly repenting to the Confucian sages: "This student has violated the sage's way this time, which is truly due to my shrewish wife at home. I beg the sages to forgive me!"

"Once my son passes the imperial examination with flying colors, I will certainly discipline my shrewish wife properly to atone for my sins today!"

Only then did Sheng Hong reveal his true thoughts—he would only take action after his son passed the test!
Of course, while some people are superstitious, others are not.

Whether it was to curry favor with Sheng Hong or because they felt some annoyance towards Sheng Changquan, the people from Linxi Pavilion all scoffed at this.

Leaving aside the extremely confident, even arrogant, Sheng Changfeng, Lin Qinshuang was the same; she didn't think that Madam Wang's actions would have any effect.

Even when Madam Wang demanded that no one from the Sheng family speak before Sheng Changquan, Lin Qinshuang secretly spoke in her Linxi Pavilion, deliberately instructing the people in her courtyard to be the first to congratulate Sheng Changfeng, in order to break Madam Wang's "spell".

After all, in Lin Qinshuang's eyes, whether one can pass or not depends on one's own ability. A bookworm like Sheng Changbai would probably find it difficult to catch up with her Feng'er, who is already famous for her talent!

"My son Changfeng has the potential to become the top scholar!"

—Influenced by Sheng Changfeng's often confident words, Lin Qinshuang has developed an inexplicable confidence!

"Young Master? What's wrong...?"

At this moment, everyone in Zeyutang was stunned to see Sheng Changquan fleeing in such a disheveled state.

Kikyo was the quickest to react among them. She was the first to come to her senses and stared blankly at the closed study door. Because Sheng Changquan was too fast, she could only look at her sisters around her with curiosity and ask, "Huh? Do you know... what happened to the young master?" Not only Kikyo, but also Cuiming and Ziyuan looked confused.

"Could it be that something happened at the imperial examinations outside?"

They knew that today was the day the two young masters of the Sheng family would enter the examination hall, so seeing Sheng Changquan's appearance, they naturally assumed that was the reason.

However, they quickly dismissed the idea.

This was because, not long after Sheng Changquan blocked his own courtyard gate, Rulan and Minglan followed closely behind him and quickly caught up.

"Hey! Xiao Qi, don't run away!"

Before they even arrived, Rulan's voice drifted over from afar: "Why don't you come outside with us for a walk?"

"Perfect timing! Fifth Sister has many daughters from prominent families here. Why don't you go out and get to know them? It'll be good to make some plans for your future marriage!"

"..."

Hearing Rulan's words, Minglan felt somewhat helpless, but she didn't say anything. She just followed behind Rulan, smiling with her lips pursed.

"Huh? Open the door!"

"Open the door quickly!"

"Cuiming, come open the door quickly!"

Seeing that the gate to Zeyutang was tightly closed, Rulan immediately became unhappy and rushed up to bang on the door.

"Don't drive!"

Upon hearing Rulan's shout, Sheng Changquan's voice immediately came from the Zhiyuan Hall study.

"None of them are allowed to open!"

"Whee!"

"I'll do it! Let me do it!"

Cuiming and the others didn't take Sheng Changquan's voice seriously, because they knew their young master's temperament and understood that he and the fifth young lady, Rulan, were quite close.

Moreover, they could also tell that these actions were nothing more than playful banter between siblings, and there was nothing more to it than that.

Before Cuiming, who had been called out, could say anything, the lively Kikyo happily ran over, shouting that she wanted the door opened.

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate opened, and Rulan rushed in!
"Little Seven?"

"Huh? What about people?"

Rulan is determined to expose Sheng Changquan and show his adorable "red envelope" pose to her best friends.

……

I worked overtime last night and it was too far away, and I went to the company again today, so I'm a little late. Sorry!

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(End of this chapter)