Chapter 041 Character Level Upgrade
A few days later, Lu Sen attended Zhao Bilian's coming-of-age ceremony...more than twenty relatives and friends were present.
This was mainly because Zhao Bilian had no "identity" and was not included in the family tree. The Prince of Runan wanted to help her but couldn't.
After all, sending invitations to ministers in the court for the coming-of-age ceremony of an illegitimate daughter was in itself a kind of contempt for the ministers.
So we just held it simply.
But Zhao Bilian was not unhappy at all because Lu Sen came as promised.
Lu Sen felt a little uncomfortable at the meeting. He always felt that Zhao Bilian's relatives looked at him strangely.
The spring breeze in April is like a pair of scissors, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed.
Although it was still a bit cold at this time, all the farmers began to sow seeds in the fields.
Whether it is planting crops or vegetables, they seem to be busy.
And in the city of Bianjing, more important things began.
The provincial examination is also called the spring examination or the spring examination because it is held in the spring.
This provincial examination was presided over by Ouyang Xiu, who also made reforms to it.
Kaifeng Prefecture was responsible for the order and security of the examination hall. Zhan Zhao brought nearly three hundred constables to surround the venue, and there were dozens of archers hiding in high places. Not to mention flies, even people from the martial arts world could not fly in.
Lu Sen was quite interested in the imperial examination, but he was only interested in the excitement when the results were announced, so he did not run to the outside of the examination room to watch like other people.
Because there are three consecutive exams: policy essays, calligraphy and poetry.
It will take more than ten days for people to get out of the examination room. If you go to watch at this time, you can only see empty air and feel lonely.
However, there are still many people who are too idle to stay and squat outside the examination room.
I don’t know what they are thinking.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days passed and the scholars came out of the examination room.
The vast majority of people were dejected, and only a few seemed excited.
Su Shi was the most prominent. He waved his paper fan and said to his brother Su Zhe with great pride: "This time, whether it is policy essays, essays or poems, I have completed them all in one go. Even if I can't get the provincial first place, at least I won't be the third place."
A group of scholars nearby heard this and glared at him.
But Su Shi didn't care at all. Instead, he glanced at the people around him with pride, then left with his brother.
After leaving the examination room and walking a little further away, Su Che said, "Brother, you have to change your habit of speaking without restraint. It is very easy to offend others."
Su Shi said nonchalantly: "Why worry too much about others? If I had the leisure time, I could find more delicious food in the capital. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Su Che shook his head helplessly.
"By the way, it would be nice if I could run into that young man again."
Su Che didn't react for a moment and asked, "Which one?"
"He's the one who saw through my trick." Su Shi felt the saliva in his mouth: "I want to taste the sweet juice that his girl mentioned, how delicious it is."
"Isn't the person you are talking about over there?" Su Che pointed to the front left.
Su Shi looked over and indeed found a young man in white walking in front of him.
Even in a bustling crowd, the other party stands out like a crane among chickens and is extremely conspicuous.
"Hurry, catch up." Su Shi put away his fan, pushed through the crowd, and rushed straight towards Lu Sen.
Soon, he caught up with Lu Sen and stood in front of him, panting and saying, "My dear young man, I have found you."
"Su Da's Elbow?" Lu Sen was a little surprised.
When Su Shi heard this, he was dissatisfied: "Hey, how can a young man like you casually give people nicknames?"
"Okay, Brother Su!" Lu Sen smiled and clasped his fists: "I wonder what's the matter that made you stop me?"
"I just finished the provincial exam and my mouth is dry. Please treat me to some sweet juice." Su Shi said with a smile.
"No way." Lu Sen thought it was really funny: "After you finished the provincial exam, you didn't even go over the outline with the adults at home, but you actually wanted to come here to drink sweet juice. You are really too bold."
"Just tell me whether you want to invite me or not." Su Shi opened his paper fan and shook it vigorously to cool himself down: "Since you said I was shameless last time, I will be shameless and rely on you today, hehe."
Some time ago, Su Shi still had a sense of shame, but now he seems to have abandoned even his sense of shame in order to drink the sweet juice.
Alas... Lu Sen sighed deeply, but for some reason, he felt that what Su Shi did seemed very normal.
Su Zhe said shamefully, "Brother, I'm really sorry, I'm just like that, I can't walk when I see delicious food."
Lu Sen did understand. After all, people in later generations liked Su Shi's identity as a foodie more than his identity as a poet.
After thinking for a while, Lu Sen said, "I'm just about to go back, but my home is outside the city. If you want to eat sweet juice, you have to walk with me out of the city for a while."
"You call me Big Elbow again!" Su Shi was very dissatisfied.
"If you want me to treat you to sweet juice, you have to accept this nickname." Lu Sen smiled.
"Okay!" Su Shi hit the palm of his left hand heavily with a paper fan and agreed without hesitation.
Su Che covered his face with his hands, too embarrassed to face anyone.
"Then let's go."
Lu Sen took the initiative to walk in front.
Su Shi happily followed Lu Sen, but Su Zhe felt ashamed and wanted to leave the team and go home several times. However, he felt uneasy leaving his elder brother alone outside, so he continued to follow.
A few people left the city and walked towards the low mountains while chatting.
They were all young people, and they quickly became familiar with each other after talking for a while. Lu Sen also told the Su brothers his name, but he did not reveal his persona of "practitioner" to anyone for the time being.
Things like identity are worthless if you tell them to others yourself. There is no "surprise" and it only becomes cool when others find out.
Lu Sen brought the Su brothers back to the yard.
The old-fashioned shocking method was omitted. Lu Sen asked the two to sit down, and then Ringo went to mix some honey water.
Looking at the light golden yet bright liquid in the glass cup, Su Shi's unique pride as a foodie made him want to say: This is just ordinary honey water.
As a wealthy man in Shu, he had drunk honey water before.
But before he could finish his words, he smelled a sweet aroma. He couldn't help but take a sip, and then his eyes lit up.
For a foodie, nothing is more important than discovering new delicacies.
He savored it as if he were tasting a fine aged wine.
Su Che was also standing by, slowly drinking up the honey water in the cup.
"It is indeed a rare delicacy." Su Shi was completely convinced: "I can taste that it is nectar, but I don't know which flower it is from."
"Hundred-flower honey." Lu Sen smiled.
There are many different kinds of flowers growing on the two acres of grassland, so the honey collected by the jade bees is naturally flower honey.
Putting down the cup in his hand, Su Shi really wanted to ask for another drink, but in the end he held back.
It's only early spring now, so honey shouldn't be produced so quickly. He guessed that Lu Sen was only using the honey stored from last year.
I guess there aren't many of them left, and this honey is so sweet and delicious, it must be a treasure. It's a blessing for me to be able to drink a cup of it.
If it were him, he would definitely not be willing to give the drink to outsiders.
Seeing Su Shi's hesitant expression, Lu Sen knew what he was thinking, so he said to Ling Qin beside him: "Give the last half bottle of honey in the cabinet to this Su Da'anzi."
Ringo nodded, turned around and went to the side of the pavilion, took out the honey, and handed it to Su Shi with both hands.
Su Shi took it subconsciously. He looked at the golden honey in the crystal glass bottle, was stunned for a moment, and said, "Is this your last half bottle? You're just giving it to me like this?"
"If you don't want it, then forget it?" Lu Sen pretended to take it back.
Su Shi hugged it tightly instantly, then turned away: "What you gave me, Lu Xiaolang, is mine."
Seeing him like this, Lu Sen chuckled.
Su Che felt even more ashamed standing by.
Although Lu Sen only had half a bottle left... there was still a lot of honey in the beehive that had not been scraped out.
If he wanted honey, Lu Sen could just scrape out seven or eight bottles. He really didn't even look down on this small half bottle.
Then the three of them chatted for a long time . At the beginning, they were talking back and forth, but in the end, only Lu Sen was talking.
"As for the lychees from Lingnan, the Feizixiao ones are not that delicious. The June Red and Guiwei ones are the best."
"In Qiongzhou, there is a kind of crab called coconut crab. It is as big as a dustpan and looks ugly, but when steamed, it is a rare delicacy. What's more, it comes with its own sauce."
"Are there crabs this big?" Su Shi felt his taste buds secreting crazily. "It's a pity that Qiongzhou is located in a wild place. I probably won't go there in my lifetime."
"Oh, it's hard to say." Lu Sen smiled sinisterly.
Su Shi felt an inexplicable malice surrounding him.
Su Zhe also felt that Lu Sen's expression was strange.
After the three of them chatted for a while, it was getting late, so the Su brothers got up and said goodbye.
In the next few days, the Cao brothers, Yang Jinhua and Zhao Bilian each visited Lu Sen once.
The three times happened to be at different times and they didn't collide.
This time, Lu Sen did not give them any fruit, but just asked them to take some raw vegetables back.
On the seventh day, the provincial examination results were announced.
Lu Sen also went to watch the fun and see the famous contest of choosing a son-in-law.
Outside Donghua Gate, there were nearly a hundred names written on a large red list. The names were so densely packed that they were difficult to read clearly from a distance.
The person who sang the greetings, wearing a red ribbon, stood on a high platform, holding another red booklet, and read out the names of the successful candidates in the imperial examination in order of rank, starting from the provincial champion.
This is the so-called Donghuamen roll call.
A group of scholars gathered in front of the list, and when the man heard his name, he was ecstatic.
Many of these scholars who had already passed the imperial examination were captured by the servants waiting on the side as soon as they rushed out of the crowd, and they screamed in fear.
The onlookers nearby laughed out loud.
Lu Sen was not among the onlookers. He was standing on the third floor of a street tavern, looking down at the farce happening across the street.
And beside him was Zhao Bilian.
This tavern was also owned by the Prince of Runan. As it was in a good location, this not-so-big tavern made a lot of money.
Lu Sen listened with great interest. The first place winner was a man whose name he had never heard of, and the second place winner was Su Shi... Then as he listened further, his expression gradually became filled with surprise.
Among the Jinshi, besides the Su brothers, there was Zhang Zai... the Zhang Zai who "established his mind for the heaven and earth, his destiny for the people, continued the lost knowledge of the ancient sages, and brought peace to the world for all generations."
There are brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, the two founders of Luoxue Neo-Confucianism. Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a big matter!
There were also a group of historical celebrities whose names Lu Sen had heard of, including Zeng Gong, Zhang Dun, Lu Huiqing, and Wang Shao.
After hearing the announcement of the results, every household in the street below set off firecrackers and heard the beating of gongs and drums amid the noise.
The happy scholars left amid the noise, and the crying scholars also left.
And Lu Sen...felt his scalp tingling.
So, in this provincial examination, so many celebrities and the Su brothers came from the same class?
This is definitely the imperial examination with the most freak geniuses in the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization.
Then Lu Sen also felt a little melancholy.
This group of celebrities represented the cultural peak of the Northern Song Dynasty. After these people gradually died, the Northern Song Dynasty soon came to an end.
The Jingkang Incident.
Lu Sen put his hands in his sleeves, looked at the distant sky, and couldn't help asking himself in his heart: What can I do!
He thought about it for a long time, but couldn't find a direction to work towards.
What we learn in later generations is just picking up what our predecessors have said.
And many ideas are out of date in this era.
So, what can you do?
Just when Lu Sen was a little confused, a string of candied haws was placed in front of him.
"Lu Xiaolang, do you want to eat?"
"No, thank you." Lu Sen waved his hand.
He turned around and saw Zhao Bilian smiling brightly, as if there was no sorrow in her world.
Influenced by her, Lu Sen's mood improved a lot in an instant, especially her undulating mountains, which were more uplifting.
Afterwards, he said goodbye to Zhao Bilian, returned to Aishan, and began to concentrate on studying the vast formulas in the system.
Since the system bar does not have a classification function, do it yourself.
Lu Sen divides the formulas into four categories: infrastructure, life, fantasy, and technology.
It took him more than two months to copy more than 10,000 recipes.
In order to sort out which recipes were more suitable for the current situation and to find the materials to make them, he spent another month sorting them out.
In the blink of an eye, more than three months have passed.
It is early summer now.
At this time, Lu Sen had been in the Northern Song Dynasty for a year.
The character experience is full.
This was a good thing, but he was not happy at all.
Because he saw that his level had increased and hundreds of new recipes had appeared in the system, he suddenly felt a headache.
I worked so hard to organize tens of thousands of recipes, and now here comes another one!
He opened the character attribute column again, wanting to see if there were any improvements in his attributes after the upgrade, but he found an extra black frame in his character column. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was the spouse column!
Meow meow?
what does this mean?
The system even controls whether you get married or not?
He clicked on the + sign in the spouse column and found many female profile pictures to choose from.
Upon closer inspection, I discovered that there were not only young girls such as Yang Jinhua, Zhao Bilian, and Jin Ringo to choose from, but also portraits of mature women such as Mu Guiying, Zhao Xiangxiang, and Douhua Xishi, some beautiful, some ugly, some fat, some thin, and some sexy.
Lu Sen sneered. It turned out that this crappy system counted all the women he had met, over twelve years old and under forty years old, as spouse candidates.
"A gold finger with low intelligence is just garbage." Lu Sen felt overwhelmed. He almost had his hands falling off from copying the tens of thousands of formulas.
But he was also a little curious, what would happen if he chose a woman's portrait and put it in the spouse column?
When I was thinking this, I found that there was an exclamation mark behind each female portrait. I "placed" my consciousness on the exclamation mark, and the system instructions appeared.
Yang Jinhua (daughter of a general): The consumable materials of all cold weapon recipes are reduced by 30%, and the basic attributes of the cold weapons produced are increased by 20%.
Zhao Bilian (Princess Ye): The maximum area of the home system increases by 2 mu. A small gold mine will randomly appear in the yard, producing three taels of gold per month.
Hey hey hey, quite interesting.
Lu Sen immediately became interested.
