The palace was silent. After a long time, Chen Ao whispered the recent situation of the Zhou family. Concubine Xian nodded repeatedly and smiled and said, "I feel relieved if there is nothing at home."

Chen Ao smiled and said, "As long as the Xian Concubine is in the palace, what will happen to the Zhou family? Is the Empress doing well in the palace?"

Concubine Xian said, "What's wrong with it? Stay here with a peaceful and pleasant feeling, and you can be carefree."

When she said this, Chen Ao understood that Concubine Xian was afraid that she would not be favored by Zhao Ji. It was rare that she was not in a fight with the world. Otherwise, she would fall into a strife and would not have such a state of mind.

Chen Ao moved the topic away tactfully and said some interesting things. Seeing that the time was almost over, he stood up and said goodbye.

Concubine Xian smiled and said, "The palace examination is imminent, and I won't leave you. You can take the exam well and don't be distracted."

Chen Aohe nodded and bowed again. Fang and Yang Jian withdrew.

It was not too early, and the palace examination started again after half an hour. Chen Ao left the back courtyard and waited in the front hall for a while. The bells and drums rang. In the afternoon, the Ruan Cao and the jade test began.

When he entered the martial arts hall, all the officials had been waiting for a long time. Chen Ao found a corner and stood first. When Zhao Ji was surrounded by a group of palace servants, Yang Jian began to announce: "Xuan Ruankao tribute student entered the hall."

Ruan Kao had the smallest number of tribute students, with only four. Chen Ao was ranked fourth and ranked last. The three tribute students who came in were all white-haired and white. Thinking about the musical method, it was difficult for young people to get the lead with their wisdom and motivation. However, Chen Ao, a young man, seemed a little eye-catching among Ruan Kao's tribute students.

Although Zhao Ji knew the rhythm, he only liked listening to music and did not like to watch people compose music, so he said in a bit of interest: "Today's Ruan Kao, let's use the Nanlu card. If you have any masterpieces, please present them to me."

The so-called palace examination is actually set up to prevent examiners from cheating. Since Zhao Ji was not interested, this exam was naturally simple.

Four tribute students responded to their orders and put up books before the case, trying to present their best works to the imperial view.

Half an hour passed, and the old tribute student with white hair and hair was the first to hand in the paper. Yang Jian presented his paper. Zhao Ji took a closer look and found that it was just a short poem. The poem was: Sleeping in the begonia, and the spring evening, I wish I could read it in the palm of the Ming Emperor. The colorful dress was a chaos in the Central Plains. If this jade ring caused Lushan, how could I know that the road to Shu was difficult!

This poem tells the story of Emperor Minghuang of Tang, which is that Emperor Minghuang of Tang favors Yang Yuhuan, attracts An Lushan, so he flees in a hurry and runs to Shu Road. There is a metaphor in the poem. When Zhao Ji saw it, he was displeased and thought to himself, today is the palace examination. Is this tribute student who made such a poem to warn me? Humph, I am not Emperor Minghuang of Tang, so what do you want him to say? He frowned and then put the test paper aside and ignored it.

Then the second tribute student presented his test paper. The tribute student was a bit elegant. Although he was not young, he looked handsome. Zhao Ji had a good impression of this person and finally expressed some interest to read his poems: the evening rain welcomed, the morning clouds were sent, the evening rain went away without a trace. King Xiang said that the balcony dream was like empty, and the rain came to the sky was like empty, how could he get to the twelve peaks?

It is still a ci with Nanlu as the ci card, but the meaning is completely opposite. It tells the story of affair between King Xiang and the goddess. At first glance, Zhao Ji felt something interesting, but the empty Xiao Suo sigh made him frown. A dignified king cannot do anything to the twelve peaks and cannot meet his lover? Humph, all the kings under the sky are the kings, and the shores of the earth are the kings and ministers. I am the emperor, and why can't the emperor and the goddess meet? His face was a little gloomy, and he put the test paper aside with displeasure.

The third tribute student who wrote the poem was the youngest among the four tribute students. Seeing that Zhao Ji looked bad, he carefully handed the poem over to Yang Jian. Zhao Ji looked at it, and the poem said, "When I saw the guests, Qiujiang ordered the quotation and the heartbroken sound of the pipa of the merchant girl. You know that Sima He was listening to the song. The moon was bright, and the wine woke up. The guest woke up at first."

The meaning of the lyrics is that when I send the guests away, it is autumn and the river is cold. The song can play and sing farewell tunes, which makes people feel particularly sad. Did she know that I was listening to the sadness. The moon has hung on the sky, and the wine is already strong, and the people living in the guest wake up suddenly.

This poem only has the weather and snow, but does not touch Zhao Ji's reverse scales. Zhao Ji nodded and called a good word.

The tribute student was immediately overjoyed when he heard the emperor's applause.

When Chen Ao's poem was delivered, Zhao Ji went to read the book with great interest. The poem said: "The child who collects herbs, rides a phoenix, and feels resentful to Liu Lang coming to the rooftop. Where is the spring breeze? Peach blossoms are not blooming yet. Who can teach you to go back with a poor life?

Zhao Ji pondered and slowly understood the meaning of the lyrics. There was a story in the lyrics, which meant that Liu Chen, who was originally a boy who collected herbs, met an immortal on Tiantai Mountain and became a celestial guest riding a phoenix. Unfortunately, he went to Tiantai Mountain because of his thoughts. Now that the spring breeze blows again, the immortals he met back then are unknown? The peach blossoms are not blooming again. Alas, this poor scholar with a poor life, who told you to go back again?

This little ling chants the story of Liu Chen entering Tiantai in the late Han Dynasty. He was collecting herbs in the mountains and met two fairies. He married them and lived with them for half a year, but missed his hometown. So he sneaked down the fairy mountain and found that everything in front of him had changed, and his descendants had been there for seven generations.

This song expresses feelings in contrast. At the beginning, it describes that Liu Chen went from "herbirth to pick up herbs" to "carrying a phoenix", and the fairyland she wrote is desirable. When she arrived at the rooftop and left the fairyland, everything in the world was different. When she returned to the rooftop, she felt the sadness of "peach blossoms are not blooming" and "where is the person?". It expresses her dislike for the real world. "Who told you to come back?" ended with a rhetorical question, which enhanced the emotional strength and strongly expressed her anger.

Zhao Ji was quite enthusiastic about seeking immortality. He knew this allusion, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He couldn't help but say a good word, and then stopped revealing his words and said to Ruan Shi Gongsheng: "Please leave the order."

There are as many as five or six art exams. Zhao Ji is already an emperor with wide interest. He deliberately extended the time of the palace exams during the calligraphy and painting exams, but he was obviously not interested in Ruan Test. After reading only the works of these tribute students, he waved his people away in a leisurely manner. Instead, he was quite interested in the next jade exam and said to Yang Jian: "The tribute students from Xuan Yu Test come in."

Yang Jian said loudly: "Xuan Yu tried to enter the palace for tribute students." As he said, the sound of the high and waves spread from the martial arts hall to the outside of the palace wall.

After a while, four or five tribute students came in and bowed. Zhao Ji glanced at him gently, but his eyes paused slightly on a middle-aged man in his thirty years old, and a hint of incredibleness passed by, and then he returned to his expression and laughed: "Okay, okay, okay, all the heroes of Duanyu gathered here. There are countless treasures in my treasury. Today, I will teach you all to cut off the dead."

Chen Ao was struggling among the tribute students, and couldn't help but wonder, which one was the eldest prince? The few tribute students who passed the exam were many years old, but only one was quite suitable for the age of the eldest prince. This person was a bit familiar, as if he had seen it during the jade test. Chen Ao quickly remembered Wang Fang, this person with a mediocre appearance and even some mediocre people claimed to be Wang Fang. Could it be that he was the eldest prince?

Chen Ao couldn't help but look at Wang Fang a few more times, and saw that Wang was placed in this hall without any hesitation, neither being restrained nor showing any arrogance. His face was calm, and even a smile seemed to be on the corner of his mouth.

The emperor claimed that he was Wang Ji, and he claimed that he was Wang Fang. Yes, judging from this person's calm and composed expression, this person is really the eldest prince.

Chen Ao didn't expect that he would have misunderstood. When he saw this mediocre eldest prince, he knew it. No wonder Zhao Ji liked the third son of the emperor, Zhao Kai. Zhao Kai was handsome and elegant, and outstanding in literary talent. However, the eldest prince Zhao Heng was mediocre and both were sons. It was natural for Zhao Ji to prefer Zhao Kai.

Chen Ao thought in his heart about some information about Zhao Ji. This eldest prince was not famous when Zhao Ji was in power. Even when Zhao Ji abdicated to him, he refused several times, and even suffered so much that he was almost fainted.

Although the Jin army was already in the forefront at that time, the eldest prince was really not attracted by the throne at all?

If he simply read some ancient books, Chen Ao might believe this inference, but now it seems that Zhao Heng made such a performance, probably because he had something else to do.

Not fighting is fighting, but many people understand this truth, but they don’t understand it. Zhao Heng is obviously not as cowardly as recorded in historical books. He is more like a beast that has been lurking for a long time. He will never rush until the last moment. Zhao Ji is still there, and he can fight again. So what can he do if he fights again? Instead of doing this, it is better to show that he has no ambition for the throne, favor his father and wait for an opportunity.

For example, in this jade examination, Zhao Ji was fond of flower stone antiques, which is well known. Otherwise, where did the flower stone gang come from when the birthday gift came from? Zhao Kai passed the top scorer in one fell swoop. He asked himself that his literary talent was not as good as Zhao Kai, so he took another opportunity and chose the jade examination, hoping to pass the jade examination and show his talents in front of Zhao Ji.

"Interesting, the prince wants to please him, but I want to be a stumbling block for him. Okay, let's try it out and see if this eldest prince's ability to cut off jade is as powerful as the legendary one." Chen Ao was full of confidence and eager to try it out. His greatest ability was in treasure appraisal. He saw countless antiques and treasures, and I believe they would not be less than Zhao Heng. Today, when he met a strong player, he couldn't help but feel competitive.
Chapter completed!