Chapter 102 Your Majesty

On the desk are pen, ink, paper and inkstones and three scrolls made of brocade and silk, among which are the questions for this exam.

Xu Xian scratched his head after reading the title. With his super memory these days, he had memorized countless topics and done countless exercises, but he didn't have the three questions in front of him. But when he saw the title of the poem, his worries turned into joy.

, compared with the three questions, this poem is much less difficult. It only mentions the word "filial piety". Perhaps it is to balance the difficulty. Even if such an ordinary poem question is not done well, it will not waste too much time.

time.

And Xu Xian immediately thought of which song to copy, maybe he could win a fortune and get mixed in among the top two.

Zhong Kui still wrapped his head and face in a ball, opened the scroll and read the test questions, but he couldn't help but be happy, and hurriedly opened the other two together, a surge of ecstasy surged in his heart, and he secretly said, "God help me." Others were still there.

Frowning in thought, he started writing furiously.

Pan Yu'er listened to all directions and showed a slightly surprised look. The emperor's question was not trivial and quite difficult and obscure. Even she had to think deeply about why Zhong Kui was so confident.

In just one stick of incense, Zhong Kui rerolled the three scrolls and placed them on the corner of the table, which meant that the candidates were finished. Several examiners looked surprised, but did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly collected the test papers.

Some of the other Gong students have not even answered a single question.

Xu Xian had just finished the first question and sighed secretly. He was worthy of being the reincarnation of an immortal Buddha. It was indeed extraordinary. In this way, he had already got a head start, but he didn't know how good his article was.

Several examiners came to the back of the hall and opened three scrolls respectively. They were worried that this Gongsheng student was just trying to write a quick calligraphy, but they were surprised when they read it. These three texts seemed to be written in a smooth flow, written in one go, but each word was different.

The characters are Zhuji. The characters are like iron paintings and silver hooks. They penetrate the back of the paper and look like dragons and snakes rising from the land.

The examiners are all people in the literary world. As soon as they learned about the test questions, they were thinking about the answer in their minds, but there was no article in their minds that could beat any of the articles in their hands. It was even more rare to complete it in such a short time. Such literary talent is simply incredible.

Incredible.

Wang Wenrui hurriedly directed the servants: "Quickly, send it to your Majesty." The emperor must have been very happy after reading these articles.

The other examiners looked at each other and whispered, "I'm afraid the number one scholar this time will be none other than Zhong Kui."

Wang Wenrui sighed: "Yes, these three articles are perfect. Even if there are other people who can write such articles, they will still be far behind in terms of time!"

"What does Mr. Wang think of Xu Xian? He is your disciple, and now he is known as the most talented person in Daxia."

Wang Wenrui waved his hand and said: "Although Xu Xian's poems are amazing, his articles are only mediocre. I know this best. The title of the most talented scholar in Daxia is a bit too much. I originally thought that Pan Mingyu would win three yuan in a row.

But I didn’t expect that Zhong Kui would show up halfway, things are really unpredictable!”

In his heart, he felt a little sorry for Xu Xian. After passing the examination, the Queen Empress had recruited him and asked about the imperial examination - who would win the first prize, vaguely indicating that she wanted to recruit a son-in-law. He only said: "I don't dare to do anything rashly."

Guess!" At the queen's request, she described the people who had the best chance of winning the first prize in the imperial examination, but she never mentioned Xu Xian.

The Empress also knew Xu Xian's name, so she couldn't help but ask: "Isn't there a disciple of the Grand Master named Xu Xian? I have read a lot of his poems. His literary talent is indeed extraordinary. The right way is to promote the virtuous and not avoid relatives. It might as well be said

Come and listen.”

Wang Wenrui said: "Xu Xian is not very talented and has no chance of winning the first prize." He paused and said, "Besides, my disciple is already married." Yes, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen are married. Although not many people know about it,

But Wang Wenrui, as Xu Xian's teacher, is definitely in this category. In any case, he can be regarded as a "teacher" among the "Teachers of the Lord of Heaven and Earth"!

If you don't inform the teacher about such a big event as getting married, it's not just a lack of understanding of the rules, but a lack of the most basic ethics. In fact, at that time, Xu Xian wrote the invitation letter himself and asked someone to deliver it to the capital. Although Wang Wenrui

I couldn't come in person, but later I sent him a congratulatory gift.

As expected, the Queen stopped asking and asked Pan Yu how sure he was.

Wang Wenrui thought about everything that day, and then he thought, even if Xu Xian really won the first prize in the exam and was never married, he would not be lucky enough to marry a princess. The queen was really thinking deeply!

Although the students in the hall couldn't hear the discussion of the examiners behind the hall, Pan Yu heard it clearly and frowned slightly. I'm afraid there will be some trouble this time. But unless it was cheating, how could it be possible in such a short time?

How can such a response be completed within a certain period of time?

However, Zhong Kui did not cheat, but truly received "God's help".

At this moment, he suppressed the surge in his chest and remembered a small incident from the past few days.

On his way to Beijing to take the exam, he once stayed in an out-of-the-way hotel. Although the room he lived in was dilapidated and barren, the wallpaper on the wall contained many traces of former candidates.

Most of the ink marks on the bed were eroded by the rain and were blurred. Only a small area near the bedside had clear writing.

In the middle of the night, he was tossing and turning. Out of boredom, he raised the lamp and took a closer look, but there were also a few questions. He was a person in this way, so he couldn't help but secretly think about how to deal with it, but he felt that the questions were very wrong. Suddenly,

He had no idea how to start, but it aroused his competitive spirit. He lay in bed and thought about it for half the night before he came up with a good result. He thought about it all the time during the trip, and finally came up with a solution that he thought was perfect.

Although he had thought that it would be great if these questions could appear in the examination, he then thought that such questions would not be asked in the examination, and it turned out to be as he expected.

But he didn't expect that during the palace examination, the three questions were exactly the same as those written on the wall of the wild shop. There was no need to think about it at all. He just copied the text in his mind on the brocade and silk, and it turned into several articles.

The article only said that "the number one scholar" was already within his grasp.

But after the excitement of writing furiously had passed, Zhong Kui felt uneasy again. Such success might have come too easily.

"Success and failure are difficult, but gains and losses are easy."

Suddenly, eight words came to mind.

A few days ago, a fortune teller came to the capital, and his predictions about good and bad luck were all accurate. Many scholars went to ask for fortune telling. Zhong Kui believed in ghosts and gods, so he also went to ask for a fortune teller. This was what the fortune teller gave him.

His prophecy.

"Sex is hard, easy." This couplet was originally a ruthless pair, and Zhong Kui had certainly heard of it, but this couplet had no special meaning. It was just the cleverness of the pairing that made it called a "merciless pair".

Adding the four words "success or failure" makes it even more unorganized. Such an ambiguous answer naturally did not satisfy Zhong Kui. When he asked the Taoist for help, the Taoist just smiled and said, "The secret of heaven must not be revealed!"

Zhong Kui was slightly annoyed, "If it can't be leaked, why should I pay you to ask you?" He asked again and again.

The Taoist priest left another sentence, "The blue dragon and the devil walk together, good or bad luck is completely unpredictable." Then he left without even accepting the hexagram gold.

These two sentences are just the novelist's "speech" to connect the context, and they have no meaning at all. Zhong Kui returned home disappointed, so he didn't take it to heart. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel a little worried, but then he thought of those words.

, every word came from his hard work, and there was no trace of bad intentions. Even other scholars had to memorize questions and do exercises. This can be regarded as "a gift from heaven".

When the palace examination was about to end, Xu Xian finished answering the three questions and put them on the corner of the table. Once the article was written, it could not be altered. A drop of ink could be downgraded, so there was no need to check anything and the examiner could just accept it.

Yao Yao glanced at Pan Yu, but he was still frowning and thinking, no longer his usual relaxed and unrestrained posture.

Xu Xian knew her difficulty. Now that Zhong Kui had won the first prize in time, if she could not beat him in words, it would be difficult for her to win the title of number one scholar, so she had to think carefully.

When the examiner announced that the exam was over, Pan Yucai put her pen aside and looked uncomfortable.

They entered the palace before dawn, but now it was past noon. The Gongsheng students returned to the side halls, enjoyed the food prepared in the imperial kitchen, and then waited for the examination results to be released. This often had to wait for a while.

It will take several hours for the results to come out, and then the imperial edict will be announced to the world, and the number one scholar will be appointed to parade through the streets in red. These honors need not be listed in detail.

The atmosphere in the side hall became much more relaxed and no longer solemn and heavy. Regardless of success or failure, this was the last test in their lives.

Xu Xian walked up to Pan Yu and asked with concern: "Mingyu, how are you?" It was just a three-hour palace examination, but there was a faint look of exhaustion on her face. It was no lie to say that she was exhausted mentally and physically.

Xu Xian wished he could hold her in his arms and comfort her softly.

Pan Yu smiled slightly and said: "You should be 30% sure, the rest depends on God's will."

Xu Xiandao: "Why don't you ask Zhong Kui! I'm also curious about how he can be so fast!"

Pan Yu shook her head and said: "I'm afraid there is another mystery here, and others may not be willing to tell it."

Xu Xian said confidently: "I guess he won't hide it." If he is really the legendary Zhong Kui.

When the two found Zhong Kui, he was sitting alone in the corner. He looked weird and answered the questions in such a short time. The other Gongsheng students thought that he didn't know how to deal with the imperial examination, and that he might cause trouble soon.

None of them had much to say to him.

Zhong Kui was also very happy when he saw Xu Xian coming and asked about the poem he had just written.

Pan Yuxunkong asked: "I wonder why Brother Zhong can answer the questions so quickly?"

As Xu Xian expected, Zhong Kui told him frankly, and then said with some embarrassment: "But it's a bit overwhelming."

Pan Yu and Xu Xian looked at each other and realized that there was such a reason.
Chapter completed!