Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 60 Offense
On March 13th, the palace examination will be held.

At three o'clock in the morning, the servants of the Fan Mansion got up and prepared breakfast.

The sky gradually became hazy. The Fan family's carriage set out, passing through the streets and alleys, passing the wide Tianhe Avenue, and stopped in front of the palace gate.

Fan Jian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, got off the car first, followed closely by the newly elected member of the imperial examination, Lin Ruo.

"Before the palace examination, the candidates gathered at the Meridian Gate according to the rules. You should know all this."

"Of course I know." Lin Ruo nodded as he walked.

Fan Jian nodded and led Lin Ruo into the palace gate. The sky was still dark on the long palace road.

Civil and military officials scattered one after another and rushed to the Meridian Gate to attend today's court meeting.

As they walked, many officials came up to greet them: "Master Fan, long time no see. This must be your Master Lin, the Huiyuan. He is handsome and talented. Not bad, not bad."

Fan Jian did not object. On the contrary, he introduced Lin Ruo enthusiastically. Since Lin Ruo was destined to serve as an official in the court, this would undoubtedly be a very good social opportunity.

Lin Ruo watched from the side with a smile, nodding his head from time to time.

"Lord Fan." A flattering yet amusing voice sounded from behind.

Fan Jian grabbed Lin Ruo and slowed down his pace.

The middle-aged man ran up, bent over, exhaled, stuck out his tongue, and bowed: "Master Fan, you walked really fast today."

Fan Jian smiled slightly and introduced to Lin Ruo: "This is Mr. Xin Qiwu, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple. He is a young and talented man."

Lin Ruo bowed. The Honglu Temple is the diplomatic department of Qing State. Lord Xin's sharp tongue has long been known to him. He wondered who was stronger, him or Wang Qinian.

"Excuse me." Xin Qiwu chuckled, his eyes narrowed. He had clearly seen the new champion and Lord Fan from a distance, and had just specially run up to curry favor with them. But now he pretended to have just seen them, and said in a daze, "Hey, who is this handsome young man?"

Before the two could say anything, Xin Qiwu quickly took over the conversation and said, "Oh, I guess it must be the new number one scholar, Mr. Lin. He is indeed a talented person from Mr. Fan's family, and he is indeed extraordinary."

Xin Qiwu directed and acted in the film himself, pouting his lips and nodding like a chicken pecking at rice, then showing a simple yet elegant smile.

"It's just the first place in the exam. How can you be considered the top scholar?" Fan Jian corrected calmly.

Xin Qiwu sighed and said, "Mr. Lin's 10,000-word essay is well-known in Kyoto. Everyone knows it. Even I feel inferior after reading it. It would be absurd if such a talent is not worthy of the top scholar this year."

Fan Jian was slightly stunned and finally had nothing to say.

At this moment, another voice came from behind him. When Fan Jian heard it, his face immediately fell.

Chen Pingping pushed the wheelchair alone and came to the three people. Xin Qiwu, who realized it later, was shocked and quickly stepped back to make some distance.

This is the most ruthless person in the empire, and everyone has to give him some distance when they see him.

"Your humble servant greets President Chen." Xin Qiwu said.

"Haha, Lord Xin, there's no need to be so polite."

Chen Pingping rarely showed a bright smile, staring at the young man next to Fan Jian who was entering the palace for the first time, and complained: "Master Fan, don't you want to introduce us?"

Fan Jian snorted and said unhappily, "There's no need for that. The Overwatch Council has spies all over the empire. There's nothing in the world that President Chen can't understand."

Chen Pingping sighed: "No matter how many spies we have, they can't get into the Fan Mansion."

"You still want to intrude into my Fan Mansion." Fan Jian glared at him.

Feeling the strong hostility from both sides, Xin Qiwu became flustered and realized that he could not stay for long. He pretended not to hear anything, covered his ears and walked quickly.

After walking a few steps, a hand stretched out from his long sleeves grabbed him, and Chen Pingping said gently: "Master Xin, please help push it."

Xin Qiwu swallowed his saliva, pretended to be calm, took two steps back and got on the cart, showing a smile that was uglier than crying, and replied: "Okay, Dean Chen."

Silence spread among the four of them.

Until Lin Ruo felt that this situation could not continue, he nodded and said, "Meet Dean Chen."

Chen Pingping was as if he had succeeded. He pointed at them and said with a smile, "See, young people are still polite."

Fan Jian also laughed: "Basic respect is what should be shown, but it's too much to get carried away."

There was a hint of swordplay in the conversation. Xin Qiwu was sweating profusely as he watched the two people laughing at each other, but he didn't think it was funny at all.

Chen Pingping dusted off his sleeves and looked over: "You will meet His Majesty alone after the palace examination. Don't be nervous."

"You're just talking nonsense." Fan Jian looked at him coldly, sneered, and said, "Just pay attention to etiquette, maintain your usual manners, and don't say anything wrong in front of the palace."

It was not right to open his mouth, nor was it right not to open his mouth. Lin Ruo had no choice but to smile bitterly and hum twice.

Arriving at the Meridian Gate of the Taiji Hall, Lord Fan and President Chen entered the court first.

As students taking the palace examination, they had to stay in front of the Meridian Gate and wait until the court meeting was over before they could enter the court to take the examination.

The court meeting had not yet begun. Civil and military officials gathered outside the hall, looking at the students outside the Meridian Gate.

As the champion, Lin Ruo naturally held his head high and stood upright in the front row. He found that most of the eyes were on him, even the new Minister of Personnel Lin Ruofu was looking at him intentionally or unintentionally.

"Lin Huiyuan, long time no see."

Several students from the academy behind him who were also Gongshi greeted him actively. Lin Ruo turned around and responded.

"Quiet, please be quiet, all the tribute students." An official came over and shouted.

Hearing the voice, Lin Ruo couldn't help but look over, and sure enough, it was Lord Xin Qiwu who had just passed by.

Xin Qiwu noticed Lin Ruo and walked over pretending to be serious, muttering, "Mr. Lin, please speak more quietly. It's not easy for others to protect you in front of so many people."

Lin Ruo smiled and nodded without saying anything.

When the court meeting started, Xin Qiwu, the reception official, said to everyone with a serious face: "I am Xin Qiwu, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, in charge of the reception of the tribute scholars this time. Please follow me to the side hall."

Before the palace examination begins, there will be a customary banquet in front of the palace, usually hosted by officials from the Honglu Temple. The emperor will personally attend in the middle of the examination, mainly to consider the etiquette of the candidates and to ease the tense atmosphere.

In a side hall of the Taiji Palace, more than 300 tribute scholars took their seats. When they heard that His Majesty would be present in person, they immediately became silent and no one dared to say a word.

The tension is getting worse...

Xin Qiwu explained for a long time before easing the atmosphere a little. He thought that the emperor would be notified when he came and would not peek behind the screen. There was no reason for the tribute candidates to be so nervous. It was inexplicable.

He glanced at it with a slight disdain, but when Xin Qiwu moved his gaze to the front row, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Lin Huiyuan was calmly drinking tea and eating snacks. He felt that sitting upright was too tiring, so he would stretch his waist from time to time.

Xin Qiwu was very pleased and sighed that this boy was indeed extraordinary. No wonder he could cause a fight between Lord Fan and Dean Chen.

Just as he was thinking, Xin Qiwu looked around again. In an instant, his eyes froze, beads of sweat the size of beans oozed out, and he dared not move at all.

As he looked over, a sharp gaze peeked out from behind the screen of the tribute candidates. The figure bent his waist and looked at all the students present thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty..." Xin Qiwu suddenly wanted to slap himself twice.

His eyes filled with oppression swept across the table and fixed on Huiyuan, who was sitting in the front row.

Lin Ruo remained calm. He thought the tea in the palace was good, so he drank a few more sips. The snacks were also good, so he ate a few more pieces. However, the cushion was too low, and his back and legs ached and cramped when he sat on it. So he twisted his muscles and bones quietly and did some slight stretching.

Seeing this scene, Xin Qiwu took a deep breath, winked wildly, opened and closed his mouth, and used very vivid facial expressions to hint to Lin Ruo that the emperor had arrived...

However, no one could understand it.

"Are you making me laugh, Lord Xin?" Lin Ruo guessed, and responded with a polite smile.

The pair of eyes behind the screen also looked over curiously with a smile, and fell on the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple without any dissatisfaction. Xin Qiwu was stunned on the spot, gasping for breath, his face flushed, and he felt numb.

What should I do? What should I do? His Majesty has noticed me. Xin Qiwu's mind was full of thoughts. Finally, helplessly, he responded with an innocent smile to the person behind the screen.

The eyes behind the screen blinked, as if they were hurt by the spiciness, and then they retracted their eyes.

Soon, the great Emperor of Qing Kingdom walked out from behind the screen with his hands behind his back.

Xin Qiwu reacted quickly, kneeling down and shouting with his butt raised high before anyone noticed: "Your Majesty."

As if struck by lightning, more than 300 tribute scholars were in a panic, crawling on the ground and shouting "Your Majesty", and no one dared to raise his head.

His Majesty the Emperor sat down beside the table on the high platform, his face was peaceful, and he smiled and said, "Stand up, get up."

Everyone stood up and sat back in their original seats, except Xin Qiwu who struggled repeatedly but remained indifferent.

The Emperor looked over and said, "Lord Xin, why don't you get up? Didn't you hear what I said?"

Your Majesty, my legs are numb from your peeping... Xin Qiwu was so panicked that he didn't dare to look up: "How about I kneel down."

His Majesty the Emperor laughed, then stood up and looked down at the students: "Get ready again."

The majestic figure came and went so quickly that everyone was unable to understand.

The table was extremely quiet for a while, and only after a while did the sound of breathing of varying degrees of intensity begin to be heard.

Xin Qiwu trembled: "Students, help the teacher."

……

The palace examination was arranged in the Taiji Hall. At this time, more than 300 examination papers were laid out in front of the stage, pens and ink were presented, and examination papers were on the table.

There is only one palace examination, which focuses on current affairs and policy essays, and the paper should be submitted in half a day.

The examination papers will not be copied, but submitted in person. The Hanlin Academy scholars will be responsible for marking the papers and selecting the best three papers for Your Majesty to decide on as the top three places.

An hour later, more than 300 candidates came back from the side hall and sat down at their examination tables.

The scholar of the Hanlin Academy was waiting respectfully on the side and said solemnly: "The palace examination has begun. Please answer the questions and hand in your papers in three hours."

The scene in the Taiji Hall was clearly seen by the Emperor outside the hall. The Emperor shook his head, his eyes drooping, and walked towards the bedroom.

Eunuch Hou led the way: "Your Majesty, are you going to go in and preside over the meeting? It would be good to encourage the students."

His Majesty the Emperor snorted: "It's encouraging. It almost scared them to death."

(End of this chapter)