"Okay, after the case is completed, if the evidence of the crime is found, I will send it to Duke Cheng's mansion."

Faced with Chen Yichen's persistence, Zhao Hongjie finally compromised.

"Thank you."

Chen Yichen leaned over and patted Zhao Hongjie on the shoulder.

"Do we two still need to thank you?"

"You're just a polite person, don't take it too seriously, you kid."

Chen Yichen joked, and at this moment it seemed like he was back to the time of playing and playing in Yingtian Mansion.

"Then I'll take one step first."

"good."

Seeing Zhao Hongjie's figure leaving, Chen Yichen also left Xueling Pavilion and returned to the Duke Chengguo Mansion.

At this moment, in the lobby of Duke Chengguo’s Mansion, Zhu Yong, Lin and Zhu Ji were having lunch.

Chen Yichen was really surprised to see Zhu Ji returning to the mansion. In theory, this second-generation ancestor was not allowed to go out to have fun and eat. Can he sit at home and eat honestly?

On the other hand, Lin saw Chen Yichen return home, and put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hand, pretending to be intimate and said, "Yichen, I will definitely not eat well in the past few days, and I will not sleep well. Come over and sit down and have a meal together."

"Thank you, Mrs. Zhu. I'm a little tired after the exam. I want to go back to the yard to rest for a while."

Chen Yichen bowed and refused politely. He was a little nauseous in the face of Lin's hypocrisy, let alone sitting at the same table to eat.

"Go to rest after eating, and you won't be in a hurry. I just happened to have something to tell you."

Lin once again asked for an invitation. "It is hard to refuse the kindness", Chen Yichen could only bow and say yes, and then walked to the table and sat down.

Lin showed great enthusiasm at the dinner table and kept picking up food in Chen Yichen's bowl. Those who didn't know thought Chen Yichen was her own son, and where did Zhu Ji pick it up next to him?

Chen Yichen understood Lin's actions very well. She showed her tolerance and generosity as a mistress in front of Duke Cheng.

After all, in ancient times, it was emphasized that a wife and a virtuous person should marry and take concubines and be spoiled. As the second wife of the concubine, Lin had to show his virtuous and generous side at all times. He could not blame his maids who treat her husband coldly, otherwise it would be accused of being unworthy of his position when it spread to the outside world.

Even though she knew that Lin was acting again, Chen Yichen had no other choice, so she could only act with her politely and thoughtfully.

Because the Lin family occupied the great name of the Duke's wife, in ancient times, the status of the legitimate mother was higher than that of the biological mother. If Chen Yichen had an obvious disrespect to the Lin family, no matter what the reason was, the final fault would definitely be himself.

So the meal was eaten with each other. It was not until the end that Zhu Yong, Duke Cheng, spoke: "How confident are you two of you to win this exam?"

"Report to my father, my child will definitely be in high school!"

Zhu Ji replied without any hesitation, full of confidence, as if the title of the apricot list was under control.

"And you?"

Duke Cheng Guogong Zhu Yong looked at Chen Yichen.

"No surprise, I should be able to win."

Chen Yichen is not the kind of person who likes to praise him, so he replied very conservatively.

"good."

Hearing the answers of these two sons, Zhu Yong showed a smile on his face. If any family in the Ming Dynasty was a family of Duke and Marquis, it would be considered a matter of glorifying the ancestors and was definitely worthy of pride.

At the same time, Lin also said, "In another ten days, it will be the wedding day of Ji'er and the daughter of Zhenyuan Marquis. If you can be named on the gold list, you will be even more happy."

"Now Yi'er and Ji'er got married one after another, and Yichen is the only one left in the house. I have not yet had a good marriage contract. As the mistress of the family, I naturally have to consider Yichen's lifelong affairs."

After saying that, Lin looked at Chen Yichen: "I have discussed with my husband that at that time, many honorary relatives and ministers' families will come to the house to celebrate. If you like a lady from a virtuous family, you might as well make the marriage."

"Now that the exam is over, Yichen is over 18 years old, so it's time to consider getting married."

After listening to Lin's words, Chen Yichen instantly understood that he had called himself to come for dinner to "urge him to get married".

Last year, Lin mentioned this, but Chen Yichen used the excuse of spring examinations to go back. Now that the examination is over, she has started to re-mentioned old things. Do you need to care so much about whether you are looking for a wife?

"Thank you, Mrs. Zhu. I have no idea about getting married yet. Besides, if I was lucky enough to go through high school, the palace examination was right in front of me, and I would not have the ability to use it both things."

After using the spring exam as a reason, Chen Yichen had to move out the palace examination and blocked it again.

But the effect was not very good this time. Zhu Yong, Duke Cheng, assisted and said: "The palace examination does not involve a destruction, it is okay to start a family and start a business."

"Yes, Yichen, we all know that you have lofty ambitions, so we specially selected the period of Ji'er's wedding banquet so that you can understand the situation of the woman. I missed this good opportunity, but it is difficult to have it again."

To be honest, Lin's words are the truth. Most marriages in the Ming Dynasty were never seen even when both men and women had never met each other.

Taking advantage of the wedding opportunity to talk about the marriage, you can at least see how the woman looks and not get back with an ugly monster. As for what kind of virtuousness, those purely polite words can be understood in a short time.

"Thank you, my wife, good intentions. I really have no idea about getting married, so I hope you don't force me."

So soft that Chen Yichen had to speak tough, not to mention that he already had Chen Qingtong in his heart, he was waiting for the Xing Ban title to meet the standards of Taining Hou to come to propose marriage.

Even if there was no such thing as Chen Qingtong, he would not want to fall into an arranged marriage himself. Especially the arrangement of this marriage was the woman Lin.

Faced with Chen Yichen's repeated rejection, Duke Cheng Guoguo Zhu Yong's violent temper suddenly came up. He also scolded him with great force: "The law of the ancestors is there, how can you let your marriage do whatever you want!"

When Zhu Ji saw Duke Cheng Zhu Yong getting angry, he had a look of unhappy expression since Chen Yichen came to the table, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Today's "forced marriage" was the plan he discussed with Lin.

Chen Yichen was waiting for his senior high school entrance examination to meet the criteria for choosing a son-in-law Chen Ying of Taining Hou. With Lin's smart calculations, he could probably guess that the day the exam was released was a key node.

If Chen Yichen cannot arrange a marriage before this, then his marriage with the daughter of Taining Hou will be difficult to destroy.

In the past six months, Lin has been waving the wind by Zhu Yong's ears, but Cheng Guogong has a bold and rough personality and never takes it seriously.

Until now the examination was over, Zhu Ji's marriage was decided, and Zhu Yong, Duke Cheng, finally put Chen Yichen's marriage on the agenda.

After all, in his opinion, even if Chen Yichen is in the genealogy, a bowl of water will still be flat. As a result, this kid is so ungrateful and wastes his intention to organize the marriage!

Although Chen Yichen often argues with Zhu Yong due to different ideas, he will never do this in front of the Lin family and his son.

The relatives are in pain, and the enemy is so quick, how could Chen Yichen not understand?

So he stood up, bowed and saluted to Zhu Yong and said, "When the exam is released, I will definitely give you an explanation to the grandfather. I will say goodbye today."

After saying that, Chen Yichen turned around and left.

Looking at Chen Yichen's departure, Lin's face suddenly became gloomy. She really didn't expect that she could move Duke Cheng out today, but she still couldn't suppress the maid.

I don’t know why Zhu Yong, who has been strong for half his life, is so indulging in this maid!

...

After the examination was over, the candidates either returned home like Chen Yichen, and had a good rest, or attended various banquets without hesitation. For the examiner and the examiner, their busy time for the papers was just beginning.

The candidates' answer sheets will first be sent to the examiners of the 18th Room for a preliminary insult, pick out the excellent papers, and write comments with a green pen. These selected high-quality answer sheets will be sent to the two examiners for the final judgment.

If the test papers selected by the same examiner are eventually won, he will form a teacher-student friendship with the candidates in the exam, which is the origin of the title of "Lian Master".

You should know that once you have a teacher-student friendship, it will have a great helping effect on the examiners who will manage their own connections in the officialdom in the future. Therefore, the examiners who will definitely hope that the answer sheets they have selected will be favored by the examiners and won, so they will often recommend them in their comments!

Chen Yichen's answer sheet fell into the hands of Lai Rong, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, as a examiner.

Lai Rong was a little depressed at this moment. I don’t know if the first question in the Yichou exam was too "mean" or the referees of this year were too "mediocre". Anyway, there were almost no articles that were eye-catching in the answer sheets he had read.

Accompanied by the flashing of candlelight, Lai Rong shook his head and sighed, and put aside several answer sheets.

Another examiner in Jukui Hall looked at Lai Rong's sigh and comforted him: "Brother Lai, the first question of the Yichou Department this year is settled in the right direction. It is really not easy to write a brilliant one. Why don't you get up and move your muscles and bones?"

After all, the examiner almost controls the candidate's "life and death" power. In such a state, Lai Rong can easily make omissions during the marking process.

You should know that in order to ensure the quality and fairness of the examiners' markings, after the test papers are sent to the Ministry of Rites, officials of the Ministry of Rites must conduct investigations. If there is any problem, the Ministry of Rites will request Qin to send Jiuqing, Han Zhan Kedao and other officials to check together.

After verification, the chief examiner and the same examiner will be punished with salary, demoted, and dismissed.

"Brother Dou said so much. After reading this, I will adjust it later."

Lai Rong also understood that he was in such a depressed state that he was not suitable for marking the papers, so he planned to take a break after reading the answer sheet.

When I opened the answer sheet, what caught my eye was the question-solving sentence: "Only the sage has the most sincere virtue, so I have the principle of governing the world."

This sentence is justified in solving the question, and cannot find any faults, and is a good sentence. However, most of the answers to the first question this year are solved by saints. If there is a big difference, there is nothing new.

Holding the agitation in his heart, Lai Rong continued to review it. When he saw the sentence of the following, the expression on his face finally changed.

The candidate's answer to the questions was very clever and the turning point was extremely smooth. The Confucian classics quoted were also in line with their meaning, which instantly added a lot of color to this article.

With the interest of being hung up, Lai Rong continued to read "Stranges on behalf of the sages". He didn't know this without reading it, but was shocked when he saw it. The article fully demonstrated the "halal and elegant" required by the eight-legged essay.

Even Lai Rong himself did not expect many quotes of the saint's words in the article.

"Come and take a look, this article can be highly recommended!"

Lai Rong was so excited that he was too lazy to read the next six articles again, so he directly asked the other examiners in Jukui Hall to review them again!

In order to ensure the fairness and justice of the imperial examination, the same answer sheet in the imperial examination stage often requires several examiners to correct it. Only when they are recommended together will the examiner who read the first will mark the test paper with a green pen and recommend it to the examiner.

This step is called "recommended book", commonly known as "out-of-house".

Of course, if other examiners have different opinions, the examiner who read the exam can still forcefully recommend it. However, in the eyes of the examiner, the value of the answer sheet will be greatly reduced and the possibility of losing the election is very high.

"Brother Lai, what an article made you suddenly feel energetic?"

The examiner Dou, who had persuaded Lai Rong to get up and move his muscles and bones before, was extremely surprised to see him getting alive like he was injected with chicken blood.

How long has it been, at most, you can finish the first question of the answer sheet. Such a straightforward first question in the Yichou subject can arouse praise from the examiner. So how terrifying is this candidate's knowledge?

"This article has all the principles, methods, words and spirits. The candidates who can write this article are even more genius. Brother Dou, you can tell!"
To be continued...