Zhang Yue vaguely felt that it would be good to have such a virtuous wife, but suddenly he remembered the way Ouyang Fa had been mentioned in front of her daughter-in-law.

If my ranking in the imperial examination this time is average, I am afraid that I will have to accept the arrangements of the Yue family in the officialdom in the future.

Now that I didn't win, I don't have to worry about it. There's no way, good looks and talent can't be had at the same time.

Zhang Yue thought so self-deprecatingly.

But what will the Seventeenth Mother do when she learns that she failed? Will she regret...this marriage?

The more Zhang thought about this, he suddenly thought of the girl's domineering tone towards him on the night of the Lantern Festival last year, giving him this lantern.

Zhang Yue couldn't help but smile. He thought too much. He shouldn't think of girls like this. There should be more trust between people.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yuechang yawned, feeling sleepy and fell asleep.

Wu Mansion.

The Seventeenth Mother was dressing up in the mirror, and the maid beside her said: "Girl, do you know that Wang Kui, a talented man, was so unlucky that he heard that he had ruined someone, and the girl refused to recognize him afterwards, and..."

The Seventeenth Mother heard this and said: "It's better not to talk too much about these things, but then again, today's women are also... easy to deceive."

"Oh, girl, you've heard it before."

Seventeenth Mother nodded and said: "Of course,"

The maid continued: "I heard that Wang Kui is very popular in this field. If he succeeds and becomes the number one scholar, I don't think it's to blame that girl for not being interested..."

The maid lowered her head again and said: "I heard that Da Langjun was optimistic about last year's number one scholar Liu Ji, but he was rejected by the master. Now there are many officials and people are laughing, saying that the master has no vision and does not know Kunpeng, and even the girl does not

Now it has become a joke in the family of Bianjing officials..."

The Seventeenth Mother heard this...

The maid said: "Girl, don't be angry."

The Seventeenth Mother frowned and said: "I'm not angry, but why do you want to do my business? Liu Ji was obviously engaged before, so dad pushed it off."

The maid quickly took the comb and combed the Seventeenth Mother's hair and said: "It's okay, girl, these are just gossips from boring ladies, otherwise how can we spend our time? We won't argue with him. Besides, if Mr. Zhang Sanlang does well in the exam today,

, if you come back after being hit in the head, then the girl’s anger will be gone.”

The seventeenth mother said: "I hope that Sanlang can pass the Jinshi examination, but am I doing it just to vent my anger on these women? Is my vision and magnanimity so small?"

The maid continued: "Yes, yes, girl, I'm talking too much. Why don't you stop talking?"

The maid was combing your Seventeenth Mother's hair again, but she saw her looking out the window at the falling plum blossoms in the courtyard.

Not long after, the Seventeenth Mother looked away and smiled with a blush on her cheeks: "If this is really the case... it will relieve her anger."

"Girl..." The maid also laughed.

Seeing that her girl was not angry, the maid asked boldly: "Girl, the prince seems to have a bad temper these days. I heard that he sent someone to the Gongyuan to inquire..."

Seventeenth Mother said: "Don't talk about this, I only believe what I see with my own eyes, not what I hear from hearsay."

The maid said: "She is a girl, but if Shozaburo-kun... I mean... what if he fails the exam?"

"What should I do?" Seventeenth Mother said, "I haven't thought about this carefully, but he is seventeen years old and it is his first provincial examination. It is normal if he fails in the examination. He can just take the next subject again."

"But Mr. Zhang Sanlang can wait, even if he becomes a Jinshi in ten years, it won't matter, but girls, we women's years are not easy to wait for."

The Seventeenth Mother looked a little gloomy when she heard this. There are many scholars who have taken the imperial examination for ten years but failed to achieve anything. Not to mention, there are two in her own family.

However, this gloomy mood only passed by for a moment. Seventeenth Mother raised her head and said with a smile: "Xiao Tao, you won't grow long in ten years."

Seeing Seventeenth Mother like this, the maid quickly smiled and said: "Yes, yes, don't worry, girl, you will be as good-looking as you are today in ten years."

"That's right." Seventeenth Mother admitted to herself and looked at herself in the bronze mirror.

The maid continued chattering: "The provincial examination results will be released the day after tomorrow. The government will send us a car. Mrs. Fan has already agreed to us. She can do things safely..."

The Seventeenth Mother listened and nodded, her eyes turned to look at the plum blossoms in the corner.

Watching the spring scenery fade away, Seventeenth Mother thought of the words, "The flowers in the forest have withered the spring reds in a hurry."

She thought of a tall man with a sincere smile and clear eyes. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile. There was a hint of sweetness in his smile, but also a hint of sourness.

The whole yard is full of spring, and the people in the house are the most beautiful scene in Bianjing's spring scenery.

The next day, Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu went to Taixue to see Zhang Yue, and then they went to Zhang Yu's house to be guests.

Zhang Yue found that he still couldn't escape.

I can't give up the excuse that I want to be released in the future.

What should relatives say about this?

No matter how much you hate this person, sometimes you just can't avoid dealing with and meeting this person.

Zhang Yue dressed briefly and went to Zhang Yu's house. He didn't know that just after he left the Imperial Academy, the Gongyuan Academy sent someone to paint the screen wall in front of the door, as if they were planning to post the list one day in advance.

Zhang Shi also saw that Zhang Yue didn't want to go, so he told him what chef Zhang Yu had invited and what kind of dishes he cooked.

Zhang Yue sneered that his stingy uncle's words could be trusted, and he immediately posted a joke on Weibo.

Once upon a time, there was a stingy landlord, Lao Cai, who was treating guests to nine dishes and one soup. But when he arrived, he saw, it turned out to be leeks and a clear soup.

Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu both laughed after hearing this.

Zhang Shi repeatedly said good things for Zhang Yu: "Your uncle would not be like this."

Zhang Yue laughed repeatedly after hearing this, and it was only his brother who still couldn't recognize his uncle's true face.

Zhang Yue looked at the gift that Zhang Shi brought and thought, "Oh, that's really generous."

When Zhang Yue arrived at Zhang Yu's mansion, he saw that the birthday banquet was quite lively.

Zhang Yu's father, Zhang Quanbao, was admitted as a Jinshi in the first year of his reign. However, his father was admitted four years later than his son, and he became an official within a few years.

As for Zhang Yuguan, he has never been a big man. Fortunately, he has a lot of savings for being an official in a geomantic treasure place like Suzhou. The most important thing is that he has a son, Zhang Dun, who is Jieyuan in Kaifeng Prefecture and ranks fifth in the Jinshi.

The gate of Zhang's Mansion was wide open, and some beggars in the distance wanted to take advantage of the birthday banquet to ask for some reward money from the guests or the mansion, but they were all blasted away by the old governor and his men, and these people could only watch from a distance.

.

When the old governor saw Zhang Shi and his family coming, he immediately welcomed Zhang Shi out the door with a smile. He was even more happy when he saw Zhang Shi's gift list, and immediately personally led Zhang Shi's family in through a side door.

Zhang Yue looked at it and understood in his heart, why did he not go through the main entrance but the side entrance?

Because the main entrance is used by officials, even though greeting guests like them are relatives, they cannot go through the main entrance without official status.

Zhang Shi's family passed through a courtyard.

The courtyard was a noisy place, with many tables and various people sitting there, many of them servants, attendants, and coachmen of high-ranking families.

They kept shouting at the servants of the Zhang family who were coming and going, where to pour tea and place snacks. The yard was filled with the smell of sweat.

Zhang Yue asked with a smile: "Isn't it right that the old man will not arrange for us to sit here for the birthday banquet?"

The old man laughed and said: "How could it be possible? You are the distinguished guests of Master Lang and his wife. How could you be allowed to sit here? We should meet Master Lang and his wife first."

After leaving this courtyard and arriving outside the hall, the scenery here is much better.

There is a flower shed outside the hall, where many young scholars sit. Well-dressed maids come and go to bring tea and water to these scholars. In addition, there are several military ministers.

The old governor took Zhang Shi and his family a few steps further and opened the door, only to see something being discussed inside.

As soon as the door opened, the words paused, and several eyes looked at this place.

"Dalang, Sanlang!"

A hearty laugh came, and Zhang Yu was seen walking here dressed in Jifu.

Everyone on the left and right looked at the person coming.

When Zhang Yue saw Zhang Yu walking towards him, he forced a smile and said, "I've met my uncle."

Zhang Yu said with a smile: "We were just talking about the release of the provincial examination results tomorrow. No, our talented students from the Imperial College are here."

Zhang Yu was very enthusiastic when he saw Zhang Yue. However, Zhang Yue was too lazy to say more and just said: "Uncle, I don't dare to call him a talented person."

Zhang Yu said to Zhang Yue: "If you can't be a candidate, who else can be a candidate? Everyone, this is my nephew Jinke who got third place in the imperial examination..."

After hearing this, everyone looked at Zhang Yue again.

Zhang Yu continued to happily say to his left and right: "Do you think this provincial examination should go a step further and get provincial yuan back?"

Zhang Yue thought to himself, haha.

Zhang Shize on the side also felt that it was inappropriate and said: "Uncle, you are ridiculous. Shengyuan is a Wenqu star. How can he get it easily? My Sanlang is not very talented and learned. He got third place in the examination before. It was a fluke. Now he does not dare to ask for it.

I’m lucky enough to get the first place.”

Zhang Yu Zedao: "Hey, you can't say that. I can see that your third brother is very literary. Before, my brother Dun was promoted to Kaifeng Prefecture, but he was as humble as me before the imperial examination, and finally got the fifth place in Jinshi.

.”

"Your Sanlang is not as talented as my brother Dun, and the province is no problem."

Zhang Shi felt that it was inappropriate, how could he talk like this.

This is too high a compliment. If the results are released tomorrow and you fail to place, it will be a huge loss. And even if you pass, you won't be able to save money. It seems that the other rankings are mediocre, far inferior to Zhang Dun.

No wonder neither my wife nor Zhang Yue likes Zhang Yu.
To be continued...