jdhmnovel Chapter 426 The Palace Examination
Chapter 426 The Palace Examination
An hour later, Xu Qiao returned home.
"Master Su is here to propose marriage? Mother, did father agree?"
Xu Qiao was a little shy. She didn't expect the teacher to come so early.
Mu Tou revealed that he wanted to wait until the palace examination was over before bringing it up with the teacher.
"Are you crazy? What marriage proposal? I'm just testing the waters. Be reserved."
Mrs. Li sat next to her daughter, and looking at her like this, she knew that she liked Su Che.
"Mother, it's just you and me here, why should I be so reserved? Tell me what you talked about."
Xu Qiao pulled her mother's sleeve and acted coquettishly, looking like she would not give up until she achieved her goal.
Li glared at her daughter before telling her about her afternoon experience.
Xu Qiao covered her mouth and smiled foolishly. Oh my God, the teacher is so good. He is indeed her favorite teacher.
"Then ask dad to agree next time. Why are you being so hesitant? Do you still want me to marry my cousin? I'll be his successor if I marry him."
Li was so angry that she beat her daughter severely.
"Don't mention this again. Don't let the three sisters and brothers of the Su family know about this. If you really marry into the family, they will definitely look down on you."
Xu Qiao curled her lips. She didn't know who it was that had been nagging her to get married for two years. Now he was turning the tables on her.
"The Master is not such a person. She has a high level of thinking. Miaomiao and Tiantian are also very cute. Tiantian doesn't want to get married either. They are both women like me. Mother, don't worry."
Li became even more worried when she heard this. "I tell you, it is essential for a woman to get pregnant and give birth to a child. Don't learn from them. You should listen to your mother. When Su Che comes to our house in five days, you should avoid him. Your father and your brothers will entertain him."
Xu Qiao simply agreed. If she wanted to avoid him, she would just avoid him. There would be many opportunities to meet him in the future.
Su He returned home and told Mu Tou directly about the meeting.
When Mu Tou saw that he was discovered by his sister, he didn't think about hiding it anymore. He asked nervously.
"Then are Lord Xu and Madam Xu willing?"
"They don't reject you, so you still have great hope. Here, here are the questions, you can look at them first. If you don't understand, I will teach you tomorrow."
Su He threw the question to his brother and walked away humming a song.
The younger brother saw that he could let go, and his younger sister wasn’t far away, so her good days were coming.
When Mu Tou saw this, he quickly went to bed to do his homework and did not come out to eat dinner, which Xu Wenyuan brought to him.
The next afternoon, he took the question to discuss with his sister.
Polishing was completed on the third day.
On the day of going to Xu's house, Mu Tou took out all the clothes in his closet and finally chose a green gown.
Su He looked at her younger brother carefully. He was about 1.75 meters tall, fair-skinned and gentle. He looked like a pretty boy in a green gown.
It looks pleasing.
"Xiaobai is already waiting for you, go ahead."
Mu Tou looked at his sister's encouraging eyes, focused on the questions he had prepared, and walked away with big strides.
Two hours later, they returned home.
"Sister, Lord Xu told me to find a matchmaker to go to their house and propose marriage after the palace exam."
It’s done.
Su He gave her brother a thumbs up and asked, "Did I tell you about the betrothal gift?"
Mu Tou blushed and glanced at his sister. "Aqiao said before that her dowry was about 20,000 taels of silver, and the rest was about the same as the women in the capital."
Su He nodded and had an idea of the future betrothal gift.
"Okay, let's review your performance report tomorrow. From now on, it's up to you."
Mu Tou nodded happily.
"understood."
The days that followed passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the day of the palace examination.
Everyone in the Su residence got up early and watched Mu Tou and the other two leave.
Liu Bai and Wang Sheng drove the carriage together to take Mu Tou and the other two into the palace.
According to previous practice, they had to stay in the palace for a day, so Liu Bai and the other person went back directly.
Mu Tou and the other two were brought to the entrance of Baohedian by the examiner. There were already a lot of people there, and everyone lined up according to their ranking. Those with odd numbers stood in the east row, and those with even numbers stood in the west row.
Qu Qing went to the west, Mu Tou and Xu Wenyuan went to the east.
Although there were many people at the entrance of the hall, there was no sound at all. After waiting for about another quarter of an hour, Mu Tou heard some noise coming from a distance.
The emperor has arrived.
Mu Tou lowered his head and followed everyone in performing the three kowtows and nine bows ceremony.
Then two rows of people slowly entered the hall, received their test papers and answered the questions.
Mu Tou's mouth curled up slightly when he saw the title.
If you were given two choices, one was to be a minor official in the capital or in the south, and the other was to be the prefect of Jinyang Prefecture, what would you choose?
If you chose one, please answer.
Taking "prosperous and peaceful times" as the theme, please discuss your understanding of this term and give a specific outline of how to achieve it.
If you chose option 2, please answer:
If you were the prefect, what would you do to restore Jinyang Prefecture to its prosperity of ten years ago?
Mu Tou sighed, this is clearly an open-book test.
He mixed the ink and started writing.
Xu Wenyuan also thought about it for a moment and then started writing.
Only Qu Qing had a struggling look in his eyes. He knew that if he chose to write the second one, he would definitely get a good ranking, but he would not be able to go to Nanxun.
After a long while, until everyone started writing, Qu Qing began to grind the ink.
After finishing the first set of questions, Mu Tou answered the following questions smoothly.
After going through the torture of the provincial and metropolitan examinations, this day's examination was nothing.
Lunch was brought in and everyone ate quickly before continuing to write.
Mu Tou was the first to finish writing. He felt that Xu Wenyuan, who was behind him, was almost done.
Qu Qing was too far away from them, and they did not dare to look around. After raising their hands to hand in their papers, they were led to a side hall to rest.
After the guide left, Mu Tou and the other man got together to discuss the test papers, but when they finished the conversation, Qu Qing didn't show up.
"This kid must have chosen the first one."
Mu Tou sighed, hoping that everything would go well for Qu Qing.
By the time everyone finished the exam, an hour had passed.
Everyone left the palace together.
On the way back, Qu Qing didn't say a word, and Mu Tou and the others didn't dare to say anything either. The atmosphere in the carriage was very depressing.
Back at the Su residence, perhaps because Su He had given instructions, no one asked them about the exam. They spent the night in peace, and the next day the three of them got up early and went to the palace.
This time, everyone no longer lined up according to their ranking. Those who chose the first question stood on the east side, and those who chose the second question stood on the west side.
There are obviously fewer people on the west side, probably only about forty or fifty people.
Those who answered the second question will enter the hall first.
Mu Tou took a deep breath and went in.
"Your Excellency the Former Scholar pays respect to the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"
"Everyone, get up."
Chen Dou looked at the newly qualified candidates and asked them questions directly without wasting time.
"Jinyang Prefecture is short of everything, but the imperial court cannot provide money. If you were the incoming prefect, how would you solve the problem?"
There was a moment of silence in the hall. If the emperor had not set the question, these people would probably have cursed. They didn't want to pay the money, but they also wanted their own territory to become better and better.
That’s wishful thinking.
Unfortunately, they still have to rack their brains to come up with the answer.
"Answer in order of ranking. No. 31, Hu Xu."