Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 750 Little Beast Liang Han [Thank you! Thank you again! 32k words owed]

The night falls,

Inside the examination hall,
The door of examination room No. 8 was closed.

Inside the examination hall,
The writing brush, inkstone, and inkstone on the table, as well as the book box, porcelain stove, wooden bucket, and other items on the ground, had already been neatly arranged by Xu Zaijing. He could carry them away when the examination hall reopened tomorrow.

Not far from the bed,
A blurry black shadow was moving up and down, and occasionally you could hear the sound of panting.

Just then, voices came from outside the tent: "The candles have burned out, please hand in your papers!"

“Okay! I’ll finish writing it right away!” another voice replied.

Hearing the conversation outside, the shadowy figure, which had paused briefly, continued to move.

After a dozen or so breaths,
The voice from outside came again: "The candle will be lit when it goes out. If the candidates do not hand in their papers, do not blame us for resorting to force!"

"I...I still have more than a dozen sentences to write!"

"carry out an assignment!"

"it is good!"

After a while,
"Sigh!" came the candidate's regretful sigh: "There are only a dozen or so lines left."

As the footsteps approached, the lantern light also drew closer.

Through the door, the lantern light shone into Xu Zaijing's examination room, and in the dim light, it could be vaguely seen that Xu Zaijing was doing a handstand, supporting himself on one hand.

The up-and-down motion is Xu Zaijing exercising.

"Only a dozen or so sentences?!"

Shaking his head, Xu Zaijing continued exercising.

Outside the examination hall,
The examinee walked to the table of the two examiners together with the patrolling soldiers.

Several bright candles were lit about two feet behind the examiner.

After the candidate handed over the exam paper, the two examiners carefully took it and examined it by candlelight.

A moment later, an examiner announced in a loud voice: "There are three ink dots, two large and one small, six inches from the left side of the paper! They do not affect the transcription."

Another examiner repeated the sentence, then, after receiving the exam paper, demonstrated it to the nearby soldiers and officials with a dozen or so breaths.

At this moment, the clerk standing to the side had already written down what the examiner had said on a piece of paper.

The examiner then asked, "Candidate, do you agree with this?"

The scholar who had come with the soldiers bowed and nodded, saying, "The candidate approves."

"it is good!"

As he spoke, the examiner took the paper written by the clerk and wrote his name on it. The other examiner also signed his name.

After the two examiners finished signing, the candidate stepped forward and signed his name on it.

In the subsequent stages of receiving, sealing, copying, and proofreading the exam paper, all the officials and clerks involved had to sign their names.

"Ha—hiss hiss hiss!"

Listening to the sounds around me,
Xu Zaijing found him sitting under the grape trellis in his yard.

Continuing to stare at the float in the fish tank not far away, Xu Zaijing casually said, "Qingcao, the water's boiling."

After waiting a moment and receiving no response, Xu Zaijing asked again, "Green grass?"

Seeing that no one answered, Xu Zaijing turned his head to the left in confusion, only to find that there was nothing there, but his cheek felt a little cold.

Looking up at the sky, he thought, "It's not raining."

"Ha—hiss hiss hiss!"

The sound came again, and Xu Zaijing turned his head again to find the source of the sound.

Then, Xu Zaijing suddenly opened his eyes.

Feeling the chill around him, Xu Zaijing realized that he had been dreaming and was still in the examination room.

"Ha—hiss hiss hiss!"

Hearing snoring coming from the next examination room, Xu Zaijing sighed helplessly.

Looking at the faint moonlight shining through the door into the examination hall, Xu Zaijing knew it was already midnight.

Xu Zaijing took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and prepared to continue sleeping.

"Ha—hiss hiss hiss!"

The snoring resumed, and Xu Zaijing pulled his hand out from under the covers, clenched his fist, and was about to punch the wall.

But Xu Zaijing stopped before he even reached the wall.

After letting out a breath, Xu Zaijing pulled his hand back into the warm quilt, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Thank you, brother. I didn't snore the past two days."

finished,

Xu Zaijing kept his eyes closed and covered his head with the blanket.

The next day,

early morning,

It was still dark.

A cacophony of sounds arose both inside and outside Bianjing, as if the entire city were awakening.

On the streets near the examination hall, the sound of carriages could be heard, and horse-drawn carriages would stop near the examination hall from time to time.

As the eastern sky began to lighten, the sky gradually brightened.

There are more and more vehicles and pedestrians on the nearby streets, and most of them seem to be heading to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.

It's not yet 8 AM (the exact time of Chen Shi).
A large crowd had already gathered outside the gate of the examination hall.

The Ministry of Rites was experienced, and to prevent chaos, barricades were set up at the street corners near the examination hall, with imperial guards standing in front of them to maintain order.

There were gaps between the barricades, and people whose families did not have anyone participating in the imperial examinations were not allowed to approach the gate of the examination hall.

A dozen steps away from the main gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, Princess Pingning and Duke Qi sat together on chairs, with the Qi family's carriage parked behind them.

Buwei, Li Chong, and other servants would occasionally glance at the gate of the examination hall.

It's just a few dozen steps away from the main gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Wang Ruofu, accompanied by Liu Mama, was standing with smiles on her face beside Lady Bai, the wife of Marquis Gu, and her in-law, Lady Sun, talking to her.

A few steps away, Sheng Hong stroked his beard, nodding repeatedly as he looked at Xu Zaidan and Gu Tingyu in front of him.

the other side,
Pingmei had her arms linked with her sister-in-law Hualan and her sister-in-law Yanran, while Xie had her arms linked with Tingyi and Anmei. Several Lans from the Sheng family were also standing nearby.

Taking advantage of her proximity to Hualan, Anmei covered her mouth with her hand and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law Hualan, after your brother passes the imperial examination, why don't you two have another one?"

Hua Lan looked embarrassed and glared at An Mei, saying, "Sister, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Rulan, who was standing next to the group, heard this and nodded in agreement: "Big sister, Anmei is right. Now I have a niece."

"Go away, go away," Hua Lan said, frowning and scolding.

Rulan curled her lip indifferently.

Wang Ruofu, who was not far away, seemed to have heard it too. He glanced over and exchanged a look with Hua Lan, his eyes full of "your sister is right".

“Second brother passed the imperial examination, and second sister-in-law deserves a lot of credit,” Tingyi said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the group all turned to look at Yu Yanran.

Yanran, who was talking to Minglan, quickly waved her hand: "What are you saying, sister? My husband was able to pass the imperial examination because of his hard work. It has nothing to do with me."

“How can it be unrelated? I know that Master Yu has given guidance to my second brother on several of his articles,” Tingyi continued.

Minglan looked at Yanran in surprise: "Sister Yanran, is this true?"

Yu Yanran nodded shyly: "My grandfather even praised you a few times."

At this time,

Zhou Xueniang walked to Mo Lan's side and whispered, "Fourth Miss, your mother wants you to go over and say a few words to the ladies of the Gu and Xu families."

Mo Lan, who was looking at the Qi family, frowned and said, "Me? What do I have to say to them?"

“These ladies and mistresses are all frequent visitors to Princess Pingning. It’s always good if they have a good impression of you,” Zhou Xueniang advised.

Mo Lan glanced at Lin Qinshuang, who had hidden to the side, and nodded perfunctorily: "Just say I understand and will find a chance to talk."

"Yes."

Just as Zhou Xueniang turned around, intending to go find Lin Qinshuang, she saw a noble-looking young man walking towards Xu Gu and the others.

Although the young man looked unfamiliar, Zhou Xueniang still bowed her head and gave a curtsy.

The young man glanced at her curiously, nodded in return, and continued walking towards Madam Sun.

After a while,
Sun looked at Lu Zezong, who was bowing and greeting people behind her, with surprise, and smiled, "Zong-ge'er, what brings you here?"

Lu Zezong said, "Auntie, my grandparents and mother asked me to come and share in my sworn brother's joy and literary talent."

Madam Sun smiled and said, "Your sworn brother is good at taking the exam."

Having said half of what he meant, Sun stopped speaking, lest his words become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Then I'll take your good wishes, Zong-ge'er," Madam Sun said with a smile, changing her tone.

Lu Zezong nodded and smiled, looking at Madam Bai and the other ladies, and asked, "Aren't Xing-ge'er and Dai-ge'er here?"

Bai smiled and shook her head: "I didn't let them come! Here, the only one about your age is Sheng Qilang."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruofu beckoned to Nagamaki, who was standing next to Liu Mama: "Seventh Brother, come here!"

As Nagamaki and Lu Zezong were talking and laughing, Bai Shi and Sun Shi heard their personal maid's reminder, turned around and looked behind them, and then a smile appeared on their faces.

Following Bai's gaze, Wang Ruofu saw that it was Madam Chai and Chai Zhengzheng walking over together.

As you get closer,

Chai Zhengzheng curtsied and said, "Zhengzheng greets the two ladies and Madam Wang."

"Zhengzheng is too polite." Madam Sun nodded with a smile and then asked Madam Chai, "Madam, what brings you here?"

Because of Qi Heng's matter, Madam Chai glanced at Wang Ruofu with embarrassment, then pointed to Princess Pingning and said, "Come with Princess Pingning to see the children."

While the ladies were talking, Tingyi had already let go of Xie's arm and walked over to Chai Zhengzheng with a smile.

Minglan watched as Chai Zhengzheng, who was being led by Tingyi's hand, took a few steps and came closer. There was some worry in Minglan's eyes, but she showed a polite smile on her face.

Seeing Chai Zhengzheng's expression, Tingyi whispered to her, "What's wrong? Not happy?"

Chai Zhengzheng pursed her lips and nodded.

"Why did you come out in this state? You're just making yourself suffer for nothing," Gu Tingyi said in a low voice, sounding somewhat reproachful.

Chai Zhengzheng smiled and shook her head: "It's nothing! I came here hoping that the brothers in the examination hall can pass this test on their first try."

Upon hearing this, the girls around, including Ru Lan, and the women, including Ping Mei, all nodded in agreement.

Mo Lan also took this opportunity to come over and politely curtsied to Chai Zhengzheng.

After Chai Zhengzheng nodded in return, Mo Lan took the opportunity to join in the conversation between Yanran and Tingyi.

Seeing Chai Zhengzheng looking at her, Minglan took two steps forward and asked in a low voice with concern, "Sister Zhengzheng, does it hurt?"

Looking at Minglan's bright and concerned eyes, Chai Zhengzheng shook her head and said, "It only lasts a few days each month, so it doesn't really hurt that much anymore."

Minglan pursed her lips, remained silent for a moment, and then whispered, "Sister Zhengzheng, I meant your hand."

Just now, when she saw Chai Zhengzheng being led by the hand by Gu Tingyi, her eyes twitched slightly.

Chai Zhengzheng was taken aback, and the hand hidden in her sleeve twitched slightly. Then she smiled and touched Minglan's cheek: "It will be better in a couple of days. I'll invite you to my house then to play pitch-pot, archery, and enjoy incense and flower arranging." "Zhengzheng, let's go," said Madam Chai.

"Oh!" Chai Zhengzheng nodded, nodded to Pingmei, Xie Shi and others, and then bowed to Sun Shi and others before walking towards the Qi family.

The maids, including Yunmu, who were following behind Chai Zhengzheng, bowed and hurriedly followed.

Minglan touched her cheek.

Inside the examination hall,
Xu Zaijing walked out of the examination hall with his luggage on his back and a book box and an empty water bucket in his hand.

Looking at the azure sky, Xu Zaijing breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Without the pressure of the exam, I can sleep so well, I can sleep until dawn," said a candidate who came out of exam booth number nine, stretching and looking relaxed.

Xu Zaijing looked over upon hearing this.

Noticing Xu Zaijing's gaze, the examinee smiled and nodded: "Brother, did you sleep well last night?"

Xu Zaijing smiled and said, "It's alright! Just a little worse than the previous two days."

"Worse than the previous two days?"

The examinee in booth number nine looked confused and was about to ask Xu Zaijing a question when he discovered that Xu Zaijing had already walked away.

Outside the gate of the examination hall,
Peeking out at the brightly lit sky, Wang Ruofu stood beside her in-laws, looking anxiously at the gate of the examination hall: "Why haven't the children come out yet?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Sun and Madam Bai exchanged a glance and echoed with concern, "Yes! What time is it already!"

"Hey! The door's open! The door's open!"

Rulan, with her arm around Hualan's, stood on tiptoe and pointed at the gate of the examination hall, shouting.

Wang Ruofu glanced at the still-closed gates of the examination hall, glaring at Rulan as she tried to stop her from shouting, when suddenly the surroundings became noisy.

"opened!"

"The door finally opened."

Wang Ruofu quickly turned his head to look.

"Squeak—"

With the creaking of the hinges, the heavy gate of the examination hall slowly opened.

The relatives and friends standing outside the gate craned their necks to look inside.

The Duke of Qi and his wife, who were sitting on one side of the gate of the examination hall, also stood up from their chairs.

Inside the gate of the examination hall,
Xu Zaijing walked along, glancing around at his surroundings.

Upon seeing Changbai and Gu Tingye behind him, Xu Zaijing stopped and waved with a smile.

Soon, Zai Zhang also joined the team.

"Why don't I see Yuan Ruo?" Gu Tingye, taking advantage of his height, looked around and said, "I wonder which examination room he's sitting in."

Zai Zhang nodded in agreement, then said, "Once we get out, we should treat our brother-in-law to a drink."

"Haha! Third Brother is right," Gu Tingye laughed.

Changbai nodded with a smile as well.

As they spoke, the group gradually approached the gate of the examination hall.

"Seeing this gate again is like a dream!" Gu Tingye exclaimed.

"Hehe, we've finally found some older brothers!" Changfeng's voice came from behind the group.

Xu Zaijing turned around and looked at Changfeng's haggard appearance, saying, "Brother Feng, why do you look so pale?"

"Sniff!" Changfeng sniffed, smiled at everyone, and said, "These past three days have really worn me out! Achoo!"

"Go back and drink plenty of ginger soup. If you catch a cold, you'll suffer," Changbai said, frowning.

"Don't worry, Second Brother, I know." Changfeng nodded with a smile, "Hehe, Brother Yu is really amazing!"

After speaking, Changfeng looked at Changbai's gaze and then at the scholars walking away. He nodded knowingly and did not continue.

Just then, a voice came: "Brother, we've finally found you!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a poorly dressed examinee walking quickly forward, looking at Xu Zaijing with sincere eyes.

"What a coincidence!" Xu Zaijing nodded with a smile: "How did you do on the exam this time, brother?"

The impoverished scholar nodded: "I feel alright! Time was tight when I entered the examination hall, so I didn't have a chance to thank you! If it weren't for your righteous words that day, I'm afraid..."

As he spoke, the impoverished scholar shook his head with a sigh.

“I also can’t stand what that person did,” Xu Zaijing said.

Seeing the puzzled looks on Changbai and the others, Xu Zaijing gave a brief explanation.

“Those people are just bullying those who have no power or influence,” Gu Tingye said, shaking his head.

After Gu Tingye finished speaking, the impoverished scholar asked, "Brother, may I ask for your name?"

Xu Zaijing shook his head, smiled, and said, "Brother, if fate allows, we will meet again in the palace next month!"

The impoverished scholar was taken aback for a moment, then his face lit up with joy: "Then I'll take your kind words as a sign, brother. Let's meet in the palace next month!"

Changbai and the others smiled as well.

Speaking time,
The group had already reached the gate of the examination hall.
After Xu Zaijing stepped over the threshold, he saw his relatives waiting a few dozen steps away.

Seeing the crowd walking out the door, Wang Ruofu excitedly grasped Hua Lan's hand and said, "Changbai and Zaizhang are out!"

Hua Lan nodded with a smile.

On Wang Ruofu's other side, Rulan waved happily to Changbai: "Brother! Brother-in-law! Fifth Brother Xu! Second Brother Gu!"

Mo Lan didn't even have time to look at Qi Heng at this moment. Together with Lin Qinshuang beside her, she watched Chang Feng walking quickly towards them.

Xu Zaijing, who was walking forward, turned his head to look at both sides and then realized that Qi Heng had already left the examination hall and was now bowing and talking to the Duke and Duchess of Qi.

Standing next to Princess Pingning, Madam Chai smiled and tugged at her daughter's sleeve when she saw Xu Zaijing looking over.

Reminded, Chai Zhengzheng looked over, exchanged a glance with Xu Zaijing, and then smiled sweetly.

Xu Zaijing smiled and nodded in return, then walked towards his family.

The parents of Xu Zaijing and the other four children were all standing together, so they didn't need to separate.

As he walked toward his relatives, the servants, including Qingyun, Qingcao, Zhique, and Hanniu, all stepped forward to help their young master carry his things.

Upon approaching his relatives, Xu Zaijing bowed and greeted them with the same respect as Changbai and Gu Tingye: "Mother, elder brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister!"

The relatives and friends all nodded in agreement.

Holding one son in each hand, Mrs. Sun smiled and asked, "How have you two been feeling these past few days? Were the questions difficult?"

Xu Zaijing and Zaizhang exchanged a smile, then looked at Gu Tingyu beside them and said with a smile, "Not bad."

After listening to his younger brother Gu Tingye say a few words, Gu Tingyu shook his head with an incredulous smile.

Pingmei knew what had happened, and looked at her husband with admiration, her eyes sparkling.

Seeing Pingmei's gaze, Gu Tingyu puffed out his chest, quite pleased with himself, and said modestly, "It was just a coincidence!"

"Brother, you are truly knowledgeable!" Gu Tingyi exclaimed with a smile.

“Sister, I’m not bad at learning either,” Gu Tingye said, taking Yanran’s hand as she walked over.

the other side,
Zai Zhang's one hand was held by Sun Shi, and his other hand was held by Wang Ruofu.

Wang Ruofu looked at Zaizhang with great concern and asked, "Young master, how did the exam go? You must be exhausted these past few days."

"Don't worry, Mother-in-law, I feel alright!" Zai Zhang said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, then I can rest assured," Wang Ruofu nodded.

Looking at his mother, Changbai, who had only been asked one question, sighed helplessly.

Sheng Hong stroked his beard and nodded with a smile to Zai Duan.

"Let's go back quickly! I'm sure Mother is getting impatient waiting for us," Wang Ruofu said again.

“What my in-laws say is true. Shall we call it a day and go home?” Mrs. Sun said with a smile.

"Let's go!" Madam Bai nodded. "We'll talk about it again on the day the results are posted!"

Xu Zaijing put his arm around Lu Zezong's shoulder and watched Lu Zezong and Nagama wave goodbye. After Nagama left, Xu Zaijing said, "Brother Zong, when you come to my house today, we must have a big meal."

"Yes! Xiao Wu is absolutely right!" Zai Zhang nodded emphatically in agreement. He had been starving for the past three days in the examination hall.

not far away,
Minglan, walking side by side with Nagamaki, turned back to wave goodbye to Hualan, then glanced at Xu Zaijing, smiled slightly, and hurriedly followed the Sheng family.

"Oh no!" Zai Zhang exclaimed urgently, "I forgot to thank Wei Xiaoniang for preparing the knee pads! They've been incredibly useful these past two days."

Xu Zaijing was taken aback, and then clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Hua Lan smiled and said, "It's alright, we'll just go to Jiying Lane sometime."

Zai Zhang nodded.

not far away,
Chai Zhengzheng looked at her cousin Qi Heng beside her, and saw the way he looked at the Sheng family members, especially Minglan at the back, and sighed helplessly.

suddenly,

Chai Zhengzheng noticed that Qi Heng's gaze shifted slightly.
Chai Zhengzheng followed Qi Heng's gaze and saw that Qi Heng was looking at a young maid following behind the Xu family's steward.

At this moment, the maid had already turned around, and Chai Zhengzheng could no longer see the maid's face.

"Yuanruo, what are you looking at?" Chai Zhengzheng asked softly.

"Ah?" Qi Heng quickly looked away. "Cousin, it's nothing, it's nothing."

"Was the question difficult?" Chai Zhengzheng asked with a smile.

"good!"

"Let's go! We'll talk about it when we get home!" Princess Pingning said calmly, taking Madam Chai's hand.

Xingguofang
Yongchang Marquis's Residence

In the back hall,
Liang Han sat in the chair, looking curiously at Madam Wu at the head of the table, and said, "Mother, why did you call me here today? Speaking of which, why didn't you go to the examination hall with the aunts and uncles from the Gu and Xu families to watch the excitement?"

Sitting to the side, Liang Han's sister-in-law glared at him, her eyes full of a "brother, can you even speak properly?" look.

When Liang Han was stunned by his sister-in-law's gaze, Madam Wu's eyes were already piercing as she looked at him: "Sixth Brother, what am I going to the examination hall for?"

Liang Han: Uh

Madam Wu continued, "Did you hear from the two ladies of the Marquis's mansion that their children are successful candidates in the provincial examinations and might even become tribute students next month? In this day and age, can my two sisters and I still talk to each other?"

Liang Han: Uh

Growing increasingly angry, Madam Wu stood up, walked over to Liang Han, and forcefully poked her youngest son's head.

"Look at Ye-ge'er and Jing-ge'er! And look at you! You're not even a scholar, and you're asking me why I'm not going?"

"Mother, stop poking! You'll only make her dumber if you keep poking her!" Liang Han jumped up, covered her head, and ran away.

Seeing her son get up, Madam Wu kicked Liang Han on the bottom: "Your mind is all on polo, antiques, and women!"

"Ouch!" Liang Han jumped up, clutching her bottom, and ran out of the hall. "Mother, I won't be back tonight."

"You!" Madam Wu pointed angrily at Liang Han.

"Mother, please calm down!" the daughter-in-law quickly stepped forward to persuade her.

Madam Wu, supporting her daughter-in-law's arm, sat back down in her chair: "I'm going to be driven to my death by this little beast sooner or later."

(End of this chapter)