Chapter 88: Secret gossip in the palace (Please collect, please follow!)

It was Jia Cong who came in from outside. Seeing Daiyu, he said: "I went to Lin Meimei's room just now, and Hearing Zi Juan said you came to Third Sister's place."

Seeing Tan Chun pushed Shi Xiangyun forward: "Third Brother Cong, this is Sister Xiangyun of the Shi family."

Jia Cong smiled: "I already saw her in Rongqing Hall just now. I was seen scolding people by Sister Xiangyun, excuse me, excuse me."

Shi Xiangyun joked: "Third Brother Cong's words were like knives, how refreshing. I really admire you. In the future, I won't dare to quarrel with you, otherwise, like that Wang Zhang, I would be skinned and boned by you, haha."

Jia Cong saw that she was straightforward, innocent, generous, and bright, pretty and lovable, and had a bit of a tomboy's cuteness. This temperament was also likable.

He also let the sisters choose the perfume he brought. This kind of thing was always the most liked by young ladies.

Daiyu asked him about the Prefectural Examination again. Jia Cong only said that tomorrow was the day the Ministry of Rites would post the results, and he had already agreed with his classmates to go see it together.

When Jia Cong returned to the Qingzhi Study, because he hadn't lived in the mansion for a long time, Wu'er and Qingwen took the little maids and cleaned the front and back of the Qingzhi Study.

Jia Cong returned to the East Study. Not far from the desk, near the window, was a small chicken-wing wood desk.

Jia Zheng looked at his wife, and there was some sighing in his heart. Since the eldest son died early, and later there was Baoyu, his wife had changed a lot, becoming arrogant and indulging Baoyu with the old lady all day long.

Back then, Zhi Shao's body was not found, and Jia Cong had always held onto a fluke.

But these few years had passed, and he had tried to inquire, but there was no result. Both he and Wu'er had given up.

And in front of the old lady and so many old relatives, she humiliated Cong Ge'er's biological mother for being lowly. If she had half a regard for the Jia family's face, she was disciplined in public, which was her own fault.

Wu'er and Jia Cong both knew that today was Zhi Shao's birthday. Jia Cong looked at the pair of silver flower twisted silk bracelets, thinking of the days he spent in the warehouse with Zhi Shao, his heart was desolate.

The husband is the wife's guide. Although Jia Zheng was usually gentle in temper, if he was truly angry, Lady Wang would never dare to contradict him.

Lady Wang felt sour in her heart when she heard Jia Zheng's tone was severe. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, but didn't dare to say half a word.

She was a woman from a big family, with deep thoughts and heavy rules, which was also her way of protecting herself in the Jia family.

Today, when Wang Zhang left, she also cried to Lady Wang, saying that she had come to pay respects to the old lady, but was humiliated like this, and she didn't know where she would dare to come to the door in the future.

The brother-in-law is also a high official in the imperial court, how could there be such a woman who doesn't know the importance? It's truly inexplicable!"

……

Jia Cong took out a pure white porcelain bottle from his body and placed it next to the pair of bracelets. Inside was the perfume Jia Cong specially refined from peony flowers.

It's a pity that the Master usually values him so much. But even looking at the Master's face, he shouldn't be like this."

In these years, he had almost never stayed in Lady Wang's room, otherwise, how could he have let Zhao Yiniang have both children?

"The elder brother is returning from a business trip in Dezhou, and he will return to the mansion tonight. He asked his followers to pass a message, saying that he will come to the mansion to pay respects to the old lady early tomorrow morning."

A few words made Lady Wang feel depressed in her heart. She blamed her sister-in-law for her reckless behavior today, and hated Jia Cong for his sharp behavior, not leaving half a point of face for herself.

On the desk was a small purple copper incense burner. Wu'er had already lit a stick of soul-clearing incense in it, and next to it was a pair of silver flower twisted silk bracelets.

Rongxi Hall, left wing, Jia Zheng and Lady Wang's room.

Making him unable to discipline his son, and now he had become that kind of virtue. A doting mother ruins the child, which made him very disappointed in his wife, and the relationship between husband and wife was becoming increasingly alienated.

"Cong Ge'er's words today were really too much. With so many old relatives present, he didn't leave half a point of face or room. No matter what, he is his elder."

Jia Zheng threw the book in his hand onto the desk: "Hmph, your sister-in-law belittled others' birthday gifts in public, did she leave any face or room for others? That is not the behavior of a lady of a big family."

"There is important official business to discuss in the Ministry tomorrow, I cannot be absent, so let the eldest brother receive him."

Lady Wang felt sour in her heart when she heard this. The Master actually valued Cong Ge'er so much, and her sister-in-law gave that kid a hard time in Rongqing Hall.

The Master was unhappy in his heart and had resentment toward the Wang family, and even avoided seeing his own brother-in-law who came to pay respects.

Jia Zheng saw Lady Wang's expression. After many years of husband and wife, how could he not know that she was thinking wrongly?

"Lady, don't think too much. It is indeed that the official business in the ministry is important. Tomorrow the Vice Minister will summon us to discuss the construction of the Jinling Daci'an Temple."

"Daci'an Temple is built by the Emperor for his biological mother, Empress Dowager Xianxiao. This matter is the first important thing in the Ministry of Works, how can I be absent?"

Lady Wang felt relieved when she heard this. She was born in a noble family and knew some palace secrets.

The current Empress Dowager is only the Emperor's legal mother, and the Emperor's biological mother is someone else.

It is said that the Emperor's biological mother was just a palace maid surnamed Zhang in the Jingxiu Palace back then, and she was favored by the Retired Emperor before she gave birth to the dragon seed.

According to palace rules, the biological mother's status was low, and she was not qualified to raise the prince, so the Emperor was raised at the Empress's knees since childhood and had never been close to his biological mother.

Later, when the Emperor was sixteen, his biological mother passed away from illness, and until her death, she was only a Grade 5 palace lady, unknown.

Several years after the Emperor ascended the throne, he finally overcame all opposition and posthumously conferred the title of Empress Dowager Xianxiao on his biological mother.

Now the Emperor has reigned over the world, subdued the four seas, and misses his biological mother even more, feeling that his biological mother lived in coldness when she was alive and never enjoyed noble glory for a day, which he felt deeply sorry for.

Because Empress Dowager Xianxiao was from Jinling, the Daci'an Temple was built in Jinling, just to let his biological mother enjoy the incense and fulfill his filial piety.

Officials in the court who followed the old system strongly opposed this, but the Emperor's heart was decided, and he was at odds with many court officials.

Although the Jinling Daci'an Temple had begun to be planned and built, there were still imperial censors coming out to croak from time to time....

It's just that her own brother wanted to see the Master of the house and discuss the operation of the Commander of the Nine Provinces. What is the use of seeing that eldest brother who wanders around drinking all day?

……

Ministry of Rites South Court main hall.

In the middle of the year, the Emperor appointed the original Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Guo Youchang, as the Yongzhou School Administrator and the chief examiner of the 12th year of Emperor Jia Zhao Yongzhou Prefectural Examination.

Because the examination location for the Yongzhou Prefectural Examination was in the Love Shenjing, and the Ministry of Rites was the six-ministry yamen in charge of the imperial examination, Guo Youchang was appointed as the Yongzhou School Administrator, and he didn't even move his official office, which was convenient.

The Yongzhou Prefectural Examination had ended for nearly ten days. The Ministry of Rites had drawn more than thirty learned officials from the Imperial Academy, the Six Ministries, and various counties and prefectures as the grading officials for this Prefectural Examination.

These people had to screen out nearly two hundred candidates with excellent examination results from thousands of students who participated in the Prefectural Examination to enter the school and gain the merit of a scholar.

After nearly ten days of hard work grading papers day and night, they had screened and determined nearly two hundred candidates for admission and determined the examination results and rankings of most of the students.

Currently, only the rankings of the top three in the Prefectural Examination remained undetermined.

And the top three in the Prefectural Examination were selected from the top ten who had already been screened and determined.

Yongzhou was the jurisdiction of the Love Shenjing, the first state and county of the Great Zhou, and the place where the academic style in the north was the most prosperous. Those who could be selected as the top ten in the Yongzhou Prefectural Examination by these grading officials were all people with brilliant articles and outstanding talent.

Because it was a selection of the best from thousands of people, the gap in examination results between the top ten was minimal.

More than thirty grading officials were divided into five groups, each selecting three people from the ten as candidates for the top three in this Prefectural Examination, and finally, the chief examiner Guo Youchang ranked them from the three candidates.

Just this step alone, these thirty-plus learned scholars argued for two full days before determining it, and presented the three examination papers to the chief examiner Guo Youchang.

Guo Youchang was the second place in the palace examination in the 15th year of Yongshen, and his talent had once spread throughout the world.

Being able to select three people from thousands of examination papers, their article talent was the top choice among the students of the current generation.

Even with Guo Youchang's learning and vision, he looked at it with joy. The examination papers of these three people could be said to have their own merits, and it was difficult to distinguish between them.

But his eyes were more focused on one of the examination papers.

The eight-legged examination question for this Prefectural Examination was taken from the Analects: "The gentleman is not imposing if he is not heavy, and learning is not firm."

This examination paper broke the topic with "The gentleman's learning values quality, and he must exhaust its Dao." It established the topic clearly, the intention was novel, the criticism was reasonable, and it was refreshing.

After that, it wrote:

"For if the quality is not imposing, what is learned cannot be firm. Yet if the Dao is not exhausted, how can there be success?"

"The meaning of the ancient sage is as if to say: The gentleman takes self-cultivation as learning, and must take imposition as the priority."

"If between words and actions, one is floating and frivolous, it is not enough for thickness and weight;"

"Then at the time of response, one is rough and slow, and one does not see his majesty."

"Although it is said that learning is to clarify goodness, I know it is as if it exists or not, and it may not be worn and not lost;"

"Although it is said that learning is to return to the beginning, I know it is as soon as it is obtained, and it may not be practiced to seek to reach it..."

Guo Youchang nodded continuously as he watched. For a mere student, having such an open and thick understanding of righteousness was also extremely rare, and it was no wonder that he could be selected as a top three candidate by dozens of grading officials.

But what could attract Guo Youchang's eyes was not only that this eight-legged essay was written extremely precisely, but more because of the ancient, clumsy, and elegant calligraphy on the examination paper, which was too outstanding.

Among these thousands of candidates, there were many who were good at calligraphy, but calligraphy as outstanding as this candidate's was unique.

And this calligraphic style had never been seen before, and it already had the style of forming a family and a school.

Even if this student didn't pursue an official career in the future, just by relying on this calligraphy, he could become a master of the calligraphy path of a generation.

Guo Youchang looked at the pasted name on the examination paper, which wrote Ding No. 137.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 89 =====