When he heard Shen Yichen's words, Zhou Xu's face was full of astonishment. He never imagined that he could learn about the whereabouts of his old friend's daughter just by meeting his juniors and chatting about calligraphy and painting.

"Yichen, how did you find out?"

"By chance, I met Miss Wan'er at the Qinhuai Boat Boat in Yingtian."

After that, Shen Yichen told her acquaintance with Liu Waner in detail, but omitted some details that were not convenient to tell.

In addition, Shen Yichen did not mention Liu Qiu’s self-defense memorial at the end.

Because this was Liu Waner's entrustment, even if Shen Yichen thought it was a useless memorial, he would not hand it over to anyone without absolute certainty of overturning the case.

"The eunuch is really ruthless, he actually treats brother Yongle's daughter like this!"

Being reduced to an official prostitute is indeed the ultimate humiliation for someone from a Hanlin scholarly family, and killing her directly would be too much.

"This junior has limited abilities and cannot save Miss Wan'er from danger. I hope Master Zhou can take care of her."

The reason why Shen Yichen was willing to tell Zhou Xu was because he wanted him to take care of Liu Waner.

From the black silk note before leaving, we can feel the despair in Liu Waner's heart.

To be honest, with such a big gap in life, Shen Yichen was not sure that Liu Wan'er could persevere. Moreover, she had already committed suicide once, and there might be a second or third time.

Moreover, now that the brothel madam is aware of her scholarly family background, she has made Liu Wan'er into a courteous servant with the mentality of being a rare commodity. She only needs to dance and play music, and does not need to serve others with sex.

But how long can this status quo last? Once it's time to lose her virginity, with Liu Waner's character, will she choose to die to maintain her innocence?

Based on Shen Yichen's understanding, this is probably a high probability event.

Therefore, if you want to change or delay the tragedy, you can only seek help from capable people, and at the same time, you are not afraid of Wang Zhen.

Zhou Xu, an old friend from Liu Qiu's hometown, and an upright character who had once contradicted Wang Zhen, perfectly met these two requirements, so he could only tell him to seek help.

"Okay, I will do my best to keep Brother Yongle's daughter!"

Zhou Xu said this with great emotion, and even subconsciously clenched his fists out of excitement.

After talking about Liu Qiu, he was naturally not in the mood to talk about poetry, calligraphy and painting anymore. Shen Yichen knew that he needed some time for Zhou Xu to calm down, so he resigned knowingly and left.

When Shen Yichen was about to leave, Zhou Xu did not try to stop him. He just said that he could visit the mansion at any time when he had free time.

To be able to achieve such an effect after meeting for the first time has far exceeded Shen Yichen's expectations of being a familiar face.

Of course, there is a lot of chance in this. If Zhou Xu hadn't talked about books, calligraphy and painting, Shen Yichen would not have had the opportunity to show off his talents. It would also be impossible to gain the other party's recognition of his character through Liu Qiu's incident.

But having said that, from the moment Shen Yichen saw Liu Waner jumping into the river and chose to act bravely, many things were already doomed, and good people will be rewarded after all.

After visiting Zhou Xu and returning to the palace, Shen Yichen finally calmed down. After all, the most important examiner had already established a relationship. If there was nothing important, Shen Yichen would basically study hard to prepare for the provincial examination.

The originally planned visit to teacher Lin Zhen's connections was postponed by Shen Yichen. At present, there is no need for these big names to come forward in the provincial examination, and they will only be used after passing the examination.

Another point is that it has already entered June, and the provincial examination is less than two months away. In addition to the delays in preparing for the examination, there is not much time left for Shen Yichen. He does not have enough energy to manage these connections. Network of relationships.

More than a month is neither long nor short. During this period, except for the occasional visit to Zhou Xu's house, Shen Yichen basically studied in the palace to improve his knowledge as much as possible.

Because in addition to the four books and five classics that must be tested in the rural examination, poetry and policy theory are also required.

Poetry is not a new thing. Shen Yichen can barely keep up with his current level, at least it will not become an obvious shortcoming in the imperial examination. As for policy theory, Shen Yichen has not delved into it before, but seriously, it is not possible. It can't be called a shortcoming.

The reason is that policy essays are mainly about classics, history, current affairs, politics and other aspects, and they do not have strict stylistic restrictions like the eight-legged essay, which allows candidates a little room for free expression.

The most important point is that the policy argument is very similar to the "application argument" form of later generations. Shen Yichen is very experienced in this way of answering. The only thing he pays a little attention to is the content of his own answers to prevent being disturbed by later generations' thinking and writing taboos. something.

In this way, the time came to the ninth day of August, the day of autumn.

It was almost late at night, and Shen Yichen had already finished washing, packed up the necessary examination equipment, and was about to take the government carriage to Shuntian Gongyuan.

Before leaving, A Niu arrived at the gate of the palace. Originally, he thought of accompanying Shen Yichen, but this idea was flatly rejected by Shen Yichen.

Just kidding, I didn’t have anyone to accompany me when I was a boy during the exam, but now I’m already at the stage of raising people and I’m very familiar with it. Am I that fragile?

There were a total of fifteen rural examination tribute courtyards in the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the two capital tribute courtyards, Shuntian and Jiangnan, were extremely large in scale and could accommodate tens of thousands of people taking exams at their peak.

The stars were bright, and accompanied by the light of torches and candles, the scholars and students from all walks of life were like rivers merging into the sea, rushing towards the Shuntian Gongyuan. Soon the carriage was blocked and could not move, and Shen Yichen had to get out of the car. walk.

After walking for about half an hour following the crowd rushing to take the exam, Shen Yichen arrived at the square in front of Shuntian Gongyuan.

Only when he was actually here, Shen Yichen felt what it was like to be surrounded by a huge crowd. The entire front square was already densely packed with scholars rushing to take exams. In addition, the tall lanterns they held in their hands made it look like a perfect match with the stars in the sky.

This is probably close to ten thousand people...

Shen Yichen couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. Although there were three exams in the Tongzi Examination, it was estimated that there were seven or eight thousand people. But that was the total number of people who came and stayed, and the maximum number of people in one exam was only two or three thousand. Look.

And this time it is a unified examination with nearly 10,000 people. The impact brought by such a scale is naturally different.

Before the ninth year of Zhengtong in the Ming Dynasty, there was no preliminary examination for the provincial examination. In theory, anyone with the title of scholar could apply for reference. Therefore, this resulted in scholars who had failed in previous examinations to apply for reference countless times until Until it hits the mark.

In addition, in the early and middle periods of the Great Unification Dynasty, most of them were in the stage of upward development, and the number of scholars also increased simultaneously. The combination of the two resulted in more and more rural examination candidates, and eventually the number was close to 10,000 people.

It was precisely because there were too many people that the examiners were overwhelmed. In the 9th year of the Orthodox reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, he decreed that all candidates must take a preliminary examination and be selected by the examiners. Only those who passed the examination were allowed to participate in the provincial examination.

Through pre-examination selection, the number of people taking the provincial examination was suppressed. However, Shen Yichen happened to meet the last provincial examination before the pre-examination was carried out, so he could see such a grand event today.

Not only Shen Yichen was filled with emotion, but some of the students who arrived later were also greatly shocked when they looked at the crowd in the square.

"My mother, there are too many of them here. They are worthy of being called the Gongyuan of the Two Capitals."

Obviously, this is also a new talent. It is his first time to take part in the provincial examination. Like Shen Yichen, he has never seen a big event.

"With so many students taking the exam, I don't know how many will win in the end."

After hearing this, a person next to him echoed in a sighing tone.

It seems very lively at this moment, but after the exam is over, how many people will be happy and how many will be sad?

"One out of ten does not save one."

A gray-haired old scholar replied with a hint of sadness.

In fact, the admission rate is still too high. Based on the statistical data that Shen Yichen saw from later generations, the acceptance rate of the imperial examination and provincial examination in the Ming Dynasty was about 4%.

In other words, out of a hundred talents, only four can win the exam and have the last laugh.

"well……"

This sentence made the students, who were still a little excited and excited, feel depressed instantly, and some even sighed.

Everyone wants to be able to leap over the dragon's gate. In fact, most of today's high-spirited scholars will become a foil.

As the sky gradually dimmed, the time for the rural examination was about to begin. At this time, gongs and drums were blaring in the sky, and a Yamen servant loudly signaled: "The official from the outer curtain is here, everyone, please stay away!"

In the distance, a group of government officials swarmed in, drove away the students waiting in the square, and opened a main road out.

At the same time, behind the group of government officials who opened the way, a row of government officials holding placards appeared. In addition to the usual silence and avoidance, there were also more than a dozen official title plaques. The scene was very grand.

The government officials holding the placards moved from far to near. Only then did Shen Yichen clearly see the words on the official title placards. There were officials of different levels such as Shuntian Prefecture Yin, Supervisory Censor, Fifth Army Commander-in-Chief, etc. They would jointly serve as the outer curtain of the Shuntian Provincial Examination. official.

A group of officials strutted past the reference students. Looking at the majestic posture, many people showed envy in their eyes.

If you become a scholar, you can become a member of the scholar-bureaucrat class. Only if you win the imperial examination can you be qualified to become an official and become a ruling class.

If you want to be as majestic as them, you have to take exams in the next few days.

When the proctor of the outer curtain arrived, the gantry of Sunchon Gongyuan was opened wide, and the candidates began to be inspected and entered.

The inspection of the rural examination is several times stricter than that of the boy examination. Except for the printed scrolls, main scrolls and pens and inkstones, no scraps of paper are allowed.

In addition, the body search is absolutely strict. I take the initiative to take off my clothes, hold a pen and inkstone in my left hand, and hold my clothes and socks in my right hand. I stand in line in the corridor and wait for the call to be called.

Only when your name is called can you walk in front of the inspector and be searched by two military inspectors. The whole process often takes several hours. Many candidates are already shivering from the cold, and those who are not in good health cannot endure it.

At the same time, many people watched on the outside of Sunchon Gongyuan.

They showed up not to see anything else, but to see the white piggies of the scholars after they took off their clothes. After all, this group of scholars usually pay attention to etiquette, and such scenes that are degrading to politeness are usually not seen.

Compared to the Yingtian Tongzi test, although several of Shen Yichen's poems had spread to the capital, no one knew his appearance, so he didn't stand out among the crowd this time.
Chapter completed!