On the Avenue.

Chapter 307: If I don't speak first in spring, which insect dares to make a sound?

Grandma Sha wanted to hug him, but her hands passed through Xiang Tianyu's body and she hugged nothing.

Yes, my son died a long time ago.

The small body gradually became cold.

She cried bitterly and tried everything to revive him but failed.

What came back this time was the son’s soul.

She used a little bit of her magic power and embraced her son's soul. He was still a little child like before.

Granny Sha burst into tears and hugged him tightly in her arms.

"Tianyu, I have been thinking about you and looking for you every day for the past thirty years. I have searched the entire underworld but still cannot find you!"

She was overwhelmed with grief, and all the grievances and torture she had endured for thirty years were released at this moment.

Chen Shi quietly left the room, leaving the mother and son alone. At this time, let them talk about the pain of separation.

He turned around and saw Chen Tang standing outside.

Chen Tang smiled, saying, "It must have been very hard for you to bring these scholars back alive from the underworld, and you must have taken a lot of risks."

Chen Shi shook his head: "It wasn't hard at all, and I didn't encounter any danger."

Chen Tang frowned slightly, thinking of the dangers he and Granny Sha had encountered and the hardships they had endured along the way when they went to look for Chen Shi, and he felt that there must be some misunderstanding.

Maybe Chen Shi has grown up and doesn't want to make his old father worry, he thought.

"With Xiang Tianyu's return, my mother-in-law has one less thing to worry about. She has been busy all her life just to find her son."

Chen Tang whispered, "But Xiang Tianyu is already dead. If she is found, she will be a ghost. I wonder how she will arrange it."

He quoted from the classics and said, "In China, there is a saying of building a golden body. We can build a golden body for Xiang Tianyu, so that he can show his holiness and gain the incense of the people to become a god. We can also use lotus roots and lotus leaves to build a lotus root body, which is also a way. Or we can use puppetry or Yanshi method to build a flesh body. Or we can use the method passed down by your grandfather, the talisman creation, to create a body for him."

Chen Shi said: "Perhaps we can also let him reincarnate, or enter the body of a newly dead child and revive. Granny Sha is an expert in this field. We can think of many ways, and she will only think of more."

Chen Tang nodded.

The father and son walked out, and Chen Tang said, "I'll cook the medicine first, you take a rest. Granny Sha's great sorrow and joy will definitely damage her soul, I'll prepare the medicine first..."

Chen Shi asked from behind him, "Dad, I want to kill the young master and take the top prize. Do you support me?"

Chen Tang's body trembled slightly, he stopped and smiled, a great joy surged in his heart, making his eyes moist.

He turned around, his eyes were warm, and he smiled: "You are my son, of course I support you."

Even if you expose this world, I will still support you!
He said silently in his heart.

Xijing.

On the twentieth day after the incident, the Minister of Rites Yan Guzhi had to give up searching for the scholar who had fallen into the underworld.

Three officials of Shanglinyuan died of exhaustion, but still failed to find the whereabouts of these scholars.

The White Fairy incident caused 644 candidates to fall into the underworld, and soon only 427 died. When Yan Guzhi gave up the search, another 76 died, leaving 351.

However, twenty days have passed, and these 351 people are probably in danger.

Can't search anymore.

Yan Guzhi asked the Ministry of Rites to spread the news. After twenty days of fire rescue, they rescued a cat named He Wei from the underworld. It was said that the cat was a cat for the nutrition of the Five Armies. On the day of the martial arts test, it mistakenly entered the Xianqiao blessed land and ended up in the underworld.

In order to rescue this innocent kitten, the Ministry of Rites sacrificed sixteen minor officials and one supervisor, and finally rescued the kitten He Wei from the mouth of the underworld.

By this time, everyone in the capital knew about the cat named He Wei. As for the 644 scholars who fell into the underworld, who knew their names? They were probably just numbers.

Yan Guzhi settled the matter and secretly made up his mind that he must make the Five Army Commanders plead guilty in this incident and that he must clear himself from the affair and not let the two bastards from the Xia family smear him. Of course, on the surface, the Ministry of Rites still had to continue searching for those candidates to avoid being criticized by the Qingliu.

However, what happened in the next few days made Yan Guzhi realize what a sinister human heart is.

In the court, he was reported by the two brothers Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying, saying that the Ministry of Rites, which was in charge of the major examination, had not planned well in advance and had not paid attention to the dangers, which had led to the deaths of so many candidates and soldiers of the Five Army Camps, and had implicated many predecessors and almost brought disaster to Xijing.

The precious Xianqiao blessed land of the Fifth Army Camp was also lost, and the Ministry of Rites is also responsible for this matter!

"You fart!"

Yan Gu was so angry that he was shaking all over. He argued in the court and angrily scolded the two brothers of the Xia family for their selfish motives in changing the geography of the Xianqiao blessed land, causing the blessed land to lose control and collide with the ghost and god realm of the Qixia Temple, thus causing such a big disaster.

Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying sneered and asked him to produce evidence.

Naturally he couldn't take it out.

Then, a group of upright people from the Hanlin Academy attacked the Ministry of Rites for taking lives lightly, killing many candidates who participated in the Spring Examination, and the incompetence of the Minister of Rites, who failed to rescue them. Yan Guzhi was so angry that he started to curse on the spot, shouting: "These days, only my Ministry of Rites has been working hard to save people. When we were saving people, where the hell were you?"

The upright followers stopped mentioning his ineffective rescue efforts and began to attack his character, bringing up the fact that he had many concubines and that one of the concubines had killed someone because of jealousy.

It was also said that he had many mistresses, and that his first wife and concubines took their servants to beat the mistresses to death.

Then he mentioned his affair with some married women, which also implicated other officials in the court.

Yan Guzhi felt a chill in his heart. These Hanlin scholars were raised by the Xia family. It was obvious that the two brothers of the Xia family had been prepared. In order to escape the guilt, they filed a complaint first and prepared to put the blame on him.

The two brothers are first-rank officials, and he is a second-rank official. Obviously, the Xia family would never give up two first-rank officials, but the Yan family can give up him, a second-rank official.

It's ridiculous that he has been trying every possible way to save people these days, but he is afraid that he will be abandoned.

Sure enough, the cabinet announced in the court that he, the Minister of Rites, was suspended from his post for investigation, and that Yang Shaoqing, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, would temporarily take over the position of Minister and take care of the follow-up of the Spring Examination.

Yang Shaoqing was the Minister of Rites in the Qing Dynasty. He was resolute and decisive and quickly announced the list of successful candidates in the spring examination and determined the rankings of the candidates.

The young man was the top scorer in the imperial examination, and then 300 Jinshi were recruited and kept in Beijing awaiting orders.

The rest of the candidates can return home or receive other appointments.

Yang Shaoqing then issued another order that the 300 successful candidates would be examined in the Zhongji Hall on May 20th. Everyone in the Fuzheng Pavilion was delighted.

"Young Master, you have a destiny, and this time, God will help you."

Cao Jishi cried with joy and said, "Young Master's two main rivals, Chen Shi and Zhang You, are both trapped in the underworld, and their lives or deaths are unknown. Young Master will definitely win the palace examination this time!"

The major Zhonglang, Jijiu, and Zhubu of Fuzheng Pavilion were extremely happy. Shui Xuanzhi couldn't help but smile and said, "In fact, I think it would be better to leave one or two opponents. It would be a wonderful battle. If you win, you can become famous all over the world."

Officials from all sides of Xijing also came to Xiexiu Pavilion to pay a visit to the young master, from high-ranking officials such as the commander-in-chief of the Five Armies to the assistant ministers and deputy ministers of the Six Ministries, as well as officials from the Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, Tongzhengsi, and Honglu Temple.

Qin Su planned to use the young master's training to stop these people, but Shui Xuanzhi shook his head and said, "The top scholar has been decided. Now it's time to let the young master meet the officials to settle their hearts."

Then the prince met with officials from all parties.

Shui Xuanzhi added: "Before the palace examination, we need to build momentum first."

The people in Fuzheng Pavilion then released the young master's essay in the imperial examination and bribed some scholars to interpret and deconstruct the meaning of the essay word by word, citing classics for every sentence, and speaking eloquently and eloquently in thousands of words, repeatedly arguing.

Most of the scholars and candidates were poor and powerless, and they would gladly come for a little money. Even cow dung could be blown into a flower, not to mention that these articles were written by minor officials from the Ministry of Rites, and were already extremely outstanding.

The Fuzheng Pavilion also bribed some monks and Taoists from the Buddhist Records Office and the Taoist Records Office to publicize the merits of the young master, various events of rewarding good and punishing evil, various legendary experiences in Xijing, and even there were three or five versions of the vision when the young master was born.

Some say that golden lotus emerged from the ground when the young master was born, some say that before the young master was born, his mother dreamed that the Purple Star flew across the sky and fell into her belly. Others say that when the young master was born, a red light lingered around him for three days. When the young master was born, a true god protected him and a true god from outer space blessed him, and so on.

Then he asked the Qianhu of Qianhu to challenge the young master, but he was defeated by him. Qianhu was willing to admit defeat and kowtowed to the young master in public to thank him for his guidance.

He also ordered the generals from the Guard Command Headquarters, the Capital Command Headquarters, the Capital Guard Command Headquarters, the Five Military Command Headquarters, the Shenji Camp, and the Shenshu Camp to challenge the young master. Anyone who was defeated by the young master would either receive a word or two of advice from him, or would burst into tears of gratitude and thank him for not killing them.

There are also many rumors that the prince is not the son of the Minister of War, Ren Xiong, but an adopted son. The prince's surname is not Ren, but Zhu. He is a descendant of the real king and a prince of good family background.

The young master's trip to the capital this time is actually a great fortune for Xiniu Xinzhou, calling for a true king to lead the people of Xiniu Xinzhou out of their misfortune.

Then an old fortune teller on the street said that purple air was coming from the east and a true king was in the world.

Outside Xijing, there was a fox that cried in the middle of the night: "The number one scholar will emerge, and the Ming Dynasty will prosper!"

Many people heard it.

In a few days, the young master's name became famous in the capital, and everyone knew him. People from top to bottom in Xijing were talking about him.

On May 20th, the palace examination began.

The Zhongji Palace was heavily guarded inside and outside. The soldiers of the Shenji Camp changed to bowl-mouth guns, the Shenshu Camp set up a battle formation, and the Wujun Camp was guarding outside.

A number of high-ranking officials from the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial College, the Six Ministries, the Cabinet, the Three Dukes, the Three Orphans, the Three Preceptors of the Crown Prince, the Three Young Masters of the Crown Prince and others gathered together. The Cabinet set the questions for the literary examination, and then the military examination was conducted.

The final exam lasts three days.

When the young master finished his essay, it was full of brilliance, and the words were like pearls, floating in the sky, shining like stars, attracting the people of Xijing to look up and read. When they heard that it was the young master's essay that caused the strange phenomenon, they were even more excited.

On the third day, there was the military test. Many Jinshi candidates were impressed and did not dare to compete with the young master.

As for the second and third place winners as well as the other second and third place winners, they had already been decided in the military examination for Jinshi, but they were just going through the process.

The cabinet chief Zhang Fuzheng took a long breath, stood up, and said in a deep voice: "The palace examination is over. Today's first place in the martial arts examination is..."

"Who said the martial arts test is over?"

A loud voice came, startling all the officials in Xijing, and they all looked in the direction of the sound. Zhongji Palace was located at a high altitude, and everyone looked down from a high position. They saw the righteousness between heaven and earth like a rainbow, coming from afar, stretching for more than a hundred miles, straight to Xijing, and at the end of that righteousness of heaven and earth, a young man was walking towards Zhongji Palace.

Behind him were young scholars, both men and women, all of them full of vigor and vitality, with their aura penetrating the sky and connecting the righteousness of heaven and earth.

Hundreds of scholars walked through the long street, lined with the people of Xijing, who looked at them with astonishment and curiosity.

People were shocked that these people who were destined to die, after being trapped in the underworld for a month, actually came back alive!
Once upon a time, these scholars who fell into the underworld moved people's hearts, and were later replaced by a cat. But how could these people who were destined to die come out alive?

The juren were so imposing, and when more than 300 people came, they were united as one, giving people a feeling of oppression as if thousands of troops were approaching the capital.

Their steps were in sync with their formation, and there was a creepy murderous aura.

Faced with these scholars, the soldiers of the Five Army Camps guarding the inner city were filled with murderous intent and involuntarily drew their weapons and prepared for battle.

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp could not help but raise their muskets and aim at these candidates.

Jin Hongying was furious. She kicked one soldier to the ground, then punched another, and shouted, "Why are you holding your guns? Did I tell you to hold your guns? They are from the Juren clan, are you going to rebel? Put them down, put them down!"

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp put down their guns.

Several officers from the Five Army Camps turned around and looked at the Five Army Commanders Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying. However, the two commanders were in the Zhongji Palace at the moment and they could not get any instructions.

Xia Fanghe and Xia Shouying also had uncertain expressions. If they gave an order to kill these scholars at this time, it would definitely eliminate the great threat for the young master.

However, if an order was issued to kill all the juren, and there were more than 300 of them, both of them would lose their heads!
The two brothers didn't move at all. Even though Shui Xuanzhi kept staring at them, they pretended not to see anything.

Chen Shi led the army of scholars and marched straight in, entering the Meridian Gate in full view of the public. The righteousness of heaven and earth was as bright as the sun and the moon hanging in the sky, giving people a feeling that righteousness lasts forever between heaven and earth.

The haze that had lingered in the inner city for so long seemed to have been swept away!

Chen Shi and 350 other candidates climbed the steps of the Zhongji Hall and walked up step by step.

"Student Chen Shi!"

In front of the Zhongji Hall, the civil and military officials of Xijing were looking at the stone steps. They heard a powerful and resounding voice coming from below the steps. The voice was not loud, but it spread throughout the whole city of Xijing, inside and outside, clearly and distinctly.

"A month ago, I encountered a great disaster and fell into the underworld with other candidates. I traveled through mountains and dangers, fought against ghosts and gods, killed ghost monks, and wiped out the evil spirits. I fought for thousands of miles. After going through many hardships, I returned to Beijing today to participate in the palace examination!"

Chen Shi’s face came into the eyes of the officials, followed by his upper body, his whole body, and then the faces of the scholars one by one, young and vigorous.

Chen Shi's gaze passed over the civil and military officials and fell on the young man kneeling in Zhongji Palace. His voice was shaking, like the sound of metal clashing, and could not conceal his murderous intent.

"Who deserves to be called the top scholar without fighting me?"

(End of this chapter)