On April 27th of the ninth year of Zhengtong, it happened to be the flowering period of peonies. At this moment, the garden of Wei Guogong Mansion was already filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Since early morning, the servants of Zhanyuan have been busy, cleaning the courtyard, preparing eating utensils, receiving visiting distinguished guests, etc.

Compared with the previous family banquet at the Chengguo Palace, the standard of Zhanyuan's flower viewing party was not that high. At least the officials were no longer the main body of the party, and more emphasis was placed on literati and young ladies.

On the body.

Therefore, the entire Zhanyuan Garden was divided into three parts. Several officials, led by Wei Guogong Xu Xianzong, sat in the Jingmiao Hall. While sipping tea, they talked about interesting stories about their children and nephews. There was no official atmosphere in the past.

serious.

The fan pavilion in Zhanyuan was surrounded by gauze, and inside it sat the official ladies of Nanjing City.

Although this time was not called a blind date, the formal defense between men and women still had to be formal. Separated by a veil, the etiquette was in place, and the ladies of the official family could clearly see the faces of the literati.

Looks, it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

As for other places, it is a public free area, and young literati can move around freely without restrictions.

Because Zhanyuan is nominally part of the Duke's Palace of Wei, but is actually a semi-independent garden, there is no need to worry about etiquette errors caused by wandering around.

In the fan pavilion, Chen Qingtong was leaning on the fence of the pavilion, and he was throwing fish food into the water handful by handful, attracting the koi raised in Zhanyuan to compete for the food, and splashing water.

Seeing the young lady's behavior, the maid Xue'er shook her head helplessly, and then whispered into her ear: "Miss, if you feed this fish again, it will suffocate to death. Why don't you look at the literati and gentlemen at the party today?

?”

"What's there to see?"

Chen Qingtong had no interest in other literati at all, she had already fallen in love with him.

"Miss, take a look now, maybe you can find someone you like. If you don't take a look, what if one day the Marquis marries you to an ugly person?"

"Then I will run away from the marriage!"

"Where can you escape to?"

Xue'er's rhetorical question left Chen Qingtong speechless. With the status and identity of Marquis Taining, there was no hiding place for him in the world.

Seeing that the young lady was not very interested, Xue'er naturally understood where her frustration was, so she sat down close and said, "Miss, Xue'er also knows that Mr. Shen is very good, and he has worked very hard in the imperial examination and has become the head of the government case."

"But it's still too far away to wait for Master Shen to regain Long Biao..."

That day in the alley, Xue'er quietly told Shen Yichen that she hoped he could win back the Dragon Ball as soon as possible and convince the Marquis with the top prize.

But how can it be so easy to get the first prize? The young lady is already fifteen this year and has reached the age of hairpin. The wedding date is gradually approaching, and she may be suddenly engaged one day. Even attending the flower viewing party today, it was only on the order of the Marquis.

Come.

Even if Mr. Shen is a great talent, he will be named on the gold medal list in the future and sit on a high horse, wearing hairpins and parading around the streets to attract the world's attention.

And can my lady wait until that day?

"Xue'er, what are you talking about? What does this have to do with Mr. Shen!"

Seeing that Xue'er had revealed her inner thoughts, Chen Qingtong became a little angry and quickly denied it.

"Miss, if others don't know, how can I still not know? Sometimes, you have to think about your future."

Maid Xue'er and Chen Qingtong grew up together and were called master and servant, but they were actually sisters.

It doesn't matter if your heart belongs to Shen Yichen, but you can't hang yourself on a tree. There are many literati and gentlemen present today, including some outstanding ones. The young lady has chosen a man who has better compatibility. If the time comes, the Marquis will force a marriage. On that day, at least I still have some room for choice.

Just when Chen Qingtong didn't know how to answer, an official lady wearing a light blue cross-collar coat and horse-faced skirt came over and smiled at her: "Sister Qingtong, why are you here alone? Don't you go see it?" Do you think you will be the right husband in the future?"

The official lady who said this is named Xu Yan. She is the daughter of Xu Heng, the Marquis of Xing'an who just entered the title in the 9th year of Zhengtong. She is several years older than Chen Qingtong and has already married someone else. I am here today as someone who has been here to give this group of little sisters A check.

"Sister Yan, please don't make fun of me. There is no such thing as a good husband."

"Aren't all the talented men and women here now in the eyes of my bronze sister? Then sister, I would like to see which young master can win your heart."

"No, sister Yan, please don't talk nonsense."

After all, Chen Qingtong was a young lady. Faced with the teasing of a woman like Xu Yan, she was naturally at a disadvantage and quickly blushed with embarrassment.

At this moment, the "gongzi brother" who could win Chen Qingtong's heart also appeared at the gate of Zhanyuan.

"Yi Chen, after we go in later, I will visit Wei Guogong, so you can take care of yourself."

"Yes, I would like to follow Master Fu Yin's instructions."

Shen Yichen raised his hand and said yes. In fact, while standing at the door, he roughly understood the current situation.

The biggest difference between the flower-viewing party and the Chengguo Duke's family banquet is that in addition to the young ladies of the powerful class, there are also many knowledgeable and talented people who can participate.

Shen Yichen guessed the reason for this. Maybe these powerful people also know in their hearts what kind of virtues most of their second-generation people are. Let the knowledgeable and talented people come to participate, and maybe they can find one or two among them. Potential stocks.

Just like the emperor's selection of a consort, it is not necessarily limited to his noble ministers and relatives. Ordinary people also have a chance as long as they have a clean background, are talented, and have good looks.

Now that people from the ordinary class have come in, the groups naturally have to be divided. Senior officials like Li Min have to be with the senior ministers and not mix among the young literati.

So his words also reminded Shen Yichen that what to do next depends on you.

"By the way Yichen, I know that you are a low-key person and don't want to be in the limelight, but things are different today. You have to come up with something to stop everyone from talking. Do you understand?"

After the government examination case, Li Min had received news from the Confucian Examination Department in the past few days. Several failed scholars reported cheating to the clan members of the Chengguo Palace and asked the Confucian Examination Department to investigate these people strictly.

Due to the fact that Zhu Yong, the Duke of Chengguo, is now at the peak of his power, and the whistleblower scholars have not yet had a leader to form a large scale, this matter has been suppressed for the time being.

However, as word spreads, I am afraid that this trend will become more and more popular, and it will trigger a large number of candidates to cry at the Confucian Temple. Li Min doesn't know if Cheng Guogong Zhu Yong has something wrong. He only knows that he, the examiner, There may be a risk of beheading!

To be honest, when the admission was made, Li Min felt that she had a clear conscience and that she had not done anything for personal gain. Now it seems that if things get big, it is not a question of whether or not she is guilty. She has to find someone to take the blame.

If you want to suppress this trend, you have to look at Shen Yichen's performance today.

"Students understand."

Not only did Li Min get the notice, but Shen Yichen also dressed up in the school in the outer courtyard in the past few days, and there was an uproar among the schoolchildren, saying that the outside world was talking about cheating in the Chengguo Palace.

As the leader of the case and the son of Cheng Guogong Zhu Yong, Shen Yichen was even more suspicious.

In addition, just a year ago, Shen Yichen was still the object of contempt for being stupid and mischievous. This experience was mentioned again in the past, which seemed to further confirm that his earth-shaking changes were achieved through deception.

To be honest, sometimes rumors can't be ended if you just want to keep a low profile. Teacher Lin Zhen is right, a young man is a young man who wears bright clothes and angry horses. Today is the time for him to be high-profile.

Thinking of this, Shen Yichen straightened his clothes, followed Fuyin Li Min with his head held high, and strode into Zhanyuan.

At this moment, there are at least dozens of young men standing in Zhanyuan, among whom there are almost evenly split between officials and young men and talented scribes.

At the center of the crowd are Zhang Zhong, the eldest son of British Duke Zhang Fu, Li Lian, the eldest son of Xiangcheng Bo Li Long, and Zhu Ji, the second son of Cheng Guo Duke Zhu Yong.

As the son of a distinguished relative, with his father's family background and status placed there, it is difficult not to attract attention.

However, if you look closely, you can also find that, except for Zhang Zhong, who is the eldest son, the others are either concubines or second sons. In his early years, Zhang Zhong became disabled due to a fall while riding a horse, and in fact, he has lost the opportunity to ascend to the throne. , Zhang Mao, the eldest son of the concubine, was the candidate trained by the British Duke to become a knight.

In other words, in theory, these people are not the first candidates for the throne.

The reason why this situation occurs is also very simple. The eldest son who is the legitimate son of the heir shoulders the burden of the family, and their marriage has been fixed on the marriage. On the contrary, the second son and the concubine have no possibility of seizing the nobility, but more Some freedom of choice.

In addition, there are several other people who are more eye-catching in this flower viewing party, namely Zeng Mengjian, the chief of the Yingtian Prefecture, Wei Zhuo, the head of the Hangzhou Prefecture, Dong Shicheng, the nephew of the Youdu Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Xu Donghai, cousin of Xu Qi, Minister of War in Nanjing.

But because Xu Donghai was only thirteen years old, this kind of gathering was more for him to make a name for himself and to socialize with his relatives, officials, and descendants. The blind date was not of much interest.

Some of the people in this group were acquaintances, and some were strangers. After meeting, they all greeted each other politely. Until one person came in, he instantly attracted everyone's attention and became the "protagonist" of this high-class gathering.

"This man looks familiar to me. Is he Shen Yichen, the son of Duke Cheng's maid?"

"Yes, he is Shen Yichen!"

"Then he won the first prize in this year's government examination, right?"

"Well, that's him."

"Shen Yichen actually came to participate. It is rumored that the Chengguo government cheated in the imperial examination this year. I wonder if he is the leader of the case."

"Speak softly, Duke Cheng's second son is here too, don't let him hear you."

With the appearance of Shen Yichen, the crowd began to talk a lot. He can now be said to be a "top-notch" figure among all classes of relatives, officials, literati, and scholars, and his experiences are full of topics.

Coupled with the recent suspicion of fraud in the imperial examination, it has attracted even more attention.

As soon as Shen Yichen stepped into Zhanyuan, he found that the eyes of the young men and scholars in the courtyard were all turned towards him.
Chapter completed!