Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 64: Palace Examination Part 7
If it weren't for Zhu Ying's jumping up and down and making trouble, Zhang Shou felt that he might really be "detained" in Ge's mansion by Ge Yong.
After leaving the Ge residence, Zhu Ying immediately asked curiously, "Ah Shou, can the secret code you told Grandpa Ge really convey very accurate information? For example, if I write a letter of 300 to 500 words, it may be impossible for people to read it at all?"
"Of course, with just a mathematical formula and a Thousand Character Classic, it's easy to write a letter that no one can understand." Zhang Shou smiled at Zhu Ying and said, "If you are interested, you can give it a try later."
"Forget it." Zhu Ying immediately made a bitter face. "I get a headache when I calculate numbers. Otherwise, why do you think I always avoided going to Cuiyun Room before? I was afraid that those guys would ask me for help to solve the problem. I would be driven to death by then!"
At this point, she beamed with joy, "But it was not in vain to visit Grandpa Ge. I got something good from him. Grandpa Ge's paintings are very rare. When you give them to grandma later, she will be very happy!"
Can the gift of offering flowers to Buddha really make the knowledgeable lady of Duke Zhao's mansion happy?
Zhang Shou was somewhat suspicious of Zhu Ying's confidence. However, thinking of the attitude of the old lady when she sent people to Rongshui Village to give gifts before, he couldn't help but have a premonition that even if he came empty-handed today, the other party would not show any unhappiness.
Of course, it’s hard to tell what other people are thinking.
Glancing at the sun that was gradually setting in the west, he could not help but say, "We have just wasted quite a bit of time. Wouldn't it be disrespectful to go and see your grandmother now? Also, considering the time, we have to hurry back tonight. I'm afraid we'll have to hurry. As for Mishi Street, I don't know if Mr. Yang and the others will be able to go back today..."
Before Zhang Shou could finish , Zhu Ying interrupted with a smile, "It's a rare opportunity to come to Beijing, so it wouldn't hurt to stay in Beijing for a day! Zhu Hong is very responsible and will definitely arrange a place for everyone to stay."
Zhang Shou saw Zhu Ying's face full of as if it was a matter of course, and he couldn't help but feel helpless. Staying one more night in the capital, people need expenses, horses also need food, and there are more than a dozen people from the village, how much does it cost? If it was another sucker, a cunning guy like Yang Laoguan would definitely rip him off, but it was different for the Zhu family of Zhaoguogong.
"It's better to pass on the message that if they have sold all the things they brought, they can go back first if they are in a hurry. Living in the capital is not easy, so if you don't want to, you don't have to stay overnight."
Zhu Ying thought about it and decided not to boldly ask for someone to stay at the Duke of Zhao's mansion, or to say that she, Miss Zhu, would be responsible for all the expenses in Beijing. The Zhu Ying who left Beijing might have done so, but after staying in a small village for more than a month and even experiencing a small-scale war, she thought she had grown a lot.
Therefore, she finally nodded, pointed to a guard and told him to go to Mishi Street to pass on the message. But after the guard left, she was about to urge Zhang Shou to go to Zhaoguogong Mansion with her, but suddenly she heard a sound of gongs and drums, followed by a loud voice shouting something.
"The Shuntian Prefecture exam results have been announced!"
Zhang Shou smiled immediately: "I have been so busy these past two days that I even forgot that Qi Liang went to Beijing to take part in the Shuntian Prefecture Examination and stayed at Deng Xiaodai's place! By the way, why would the results of the prefectural examination be announced in the afternoon? Shouldn't this kind of thing that everyone is most concerned about be announced early in the morning?"
How could Zhu Ying know all this? Given her family background and status, she might occasionally hear about the imperial examination held every three years, but she would forget the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination as soon as she heard about it, not to mention the lower-level county examinations, prefectural examinations, and academy examinations. The fact that she knew the names of these examinations was already the result of her having studied with Ge Yong for two years.
So, without even thinking twice, she immediately turned around and looked at the remaining guards behind her. As a result, under the young lady's clear and inquiring gaze, all she got was a unified answer of shaking her head like a rattle.
Before Miss Zhu had time to get angry, Zhang Shou said with a smile: "I just asked casually. From the noise, it seems that he is just ahead. Why don't we go take a look? No matter what the result of Xiao Qi is, we should go to the Duke of Zhao's mansion first. How about that?"
Although subconsciously, Zhu Ying hoped that Zhang Shou would go to see his grandmother as soon as possible - or, in other words, let her grandmother take a good look at Zhang Shou, and then she could take the opportunity to get a so-called marriage contract.
At this point, if she didn't realize that there was something fishy about this marriage that had been arranged since childhood, she would be a fool - but she was also very curious whether Qi Liang, whom Zhang Shou had taught for three years, could pass the provincial examination.
Therefore, after a brief hesitation, the eldest lady nodded readily and said, "Okay, let's go and see the results of the provincial examination first!"
Zhang Shou had entered the inner city from Chongwen Gate before, and then Yang Laoguan and others followed Zhu Hong to Mi Shi Street near Chaoyang Gate in the east city. He followed Zhu Ying to visit the Ge Mansion near Dongzhimen Street, and then went west to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, so he happened to see the scene of the announcement of the prefectural examination results.
Just as Zhang Shou had wondered before, many of the people who gathered from all directions to see the list were complaining about why the time of the announcement of the provincial examination results was different from previous years. But when the long list came out, no one had the time to worry about this small problem.
Zhang Shou then realized that he couldn't squeeze into the crowd, let alone look for Qi Liang on the list filled with hundreds of names. He turned around with a headache and was about to ask the guards of the Duke of Zhao's mansion help, when he saw Ah Liu dismount without saying a word and squeezed into the crowd.
Zhang Shou, who was riding on the horse, could not see how Ah Liu exerted his strength. He only saw that with every surge of the crowd, Ah Liu could naturally move forward two steps. It was more like being pushed in by others than squeezing in by himself. In the end, he appeared in the first row.
Zhang Shou breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Ah Liu would definitely bring back the result. But then he heard two voices almost simultaneously: "Young Master!"
Turning his head, he saw Qi Liang and Deng Xiaodai rushing towards him one after the other. When they came in front of him, they bowed and saluted, and then as if they had just seen Zhu Ying, they hurried to greet the eldest lady. Zhang Shou was immediately happy.
However, with Ah Liu away, it was not easy for him to dismount quickly , so Zhang Shou did not dismount. Instead, he nodded at the two men on horseback, then smiled and joked, "Why, Xiaodai, you failed to find out Xiao Qi's results in advance?"
"I'm just a white-robed official, how can I help Xiao Qi find out this?"
Deng Xiaodai scratched his head, then lowered his voice and said, "Young sir, this time it was Song Tuiguan who recommended the papers, and Wang Fuyin personally took charge of the overall review. It has been delayed for several days, and the results were not announced until this evening. I heard from my uncle that Wang Fuyin specially picked Xiao Qi's paper to look at."
Zhu Ying immediately interrupted and said, "Isn't this a good thing? Even if you don't pass, everyone would be happy to have their papers read by the prefect! Besides, you two are now considered disciples of the Ge family!"
Deng Xiaodai certainly knew that Ge Yong accepted Zhang Shou as his last disciple. After all, he was dragged to the prefect and the legendary imperial teacher beforehand and asked a lot of questions. He was almost scared to death. But because of this, he felt very nervous at this moment.
"Young sir, Xiao Qi will not have any problems with this exam, right?"
Zhang Shou had never expected Qi Liang to pass the provincial examination in one go. When Deng Xiaodai revealed this inside information, he felt even more uncertain. At this moment, he suddenly saw that Ah Liu had squeezed out of the crowd just like when he went there. When he came to the front of the crowd, Ah Liu glanced at Qi Liang and then said two words sparingly.
"seventh."
