Confucius once said that the passing of time was like this, day and night!
In the past, Chen Qi did not understand the meaning of this sentence, but now he finally understood.
Time passed too quickly. Three days had already passed before he even felt anything. It was time for the ceremony.
This made Chen Qi, who had just gotten familiar with the literary life of the Tang Empire, pull up his pants reluctantly. Then, under the eager and expectant gazes of the young ladies, he and a few of his new friends walked out of Xiaoxiang Pavilion and began to prepare for tomorrow's ceremony.
What? You call this a prostitute?
What kind of joke was this? How could a scholar's business be called prostitution?
This was called literary grace, do you understand?
This was the mainstream culture of the Tang literati.
Moreover, the top three of the First-Class Roll took turns to treat them, and it was the Huiyuan Chen Guangrui brothers who personally led the way. How could he, a small scholar who was at the end of the Second-Class Roll, refuse?
In the end, he could not refuse and could only participate with tears in his eyes.
Fortunately, today was the day of the court examination results release. Otherwise, everyone would have to interact in Xiaoxiang Pavilion for a few more days.
Don't ask, if you ask, you'll be reciting poems and writing poems.
Yes, literary talent!
.......
The rooster didn't crow, the dog didn't bark, and it was pitch-black outside the window.
Chen Qi got up and washed up. After eating the breakfast that the servant girl brought with a lantern, he put on the new Jinshi crown with the help of the servant girl and left the Yang Mansion Courtyard, heading for the Tang Imperial Palace.
Chuanlu referred to the ceremony of the court examinations to announce the rankings.
When Chen Qi walked to the front of the palace gate, there was a hazy light in the east.
The sky was white, the flowers were red, and the willows were green. The golden glazed tiles of the imperial palace of the Tang Empire were covered in a golden light, filled with splendor and wealth.
The black mass of people outside the palace was divided into two groups.
The first group was made up of civil and military officials dressed in court robes. These people were divided into two camps according to their ranks, and there were several smaller camps inside.
The other group was new Jinshi like Chen Qi, who wore a brand new Jinshi crown and a black gauze hat with a hairpin flower.
There were even a few burly old fellows gathered together, muttering something. They would even look at Chen Qi and the others from time to time, causing the group of scholars to feel goosebumps.
"These few old fellows, could it be Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, and the others?”
Chen Qi felt his scalp go numb. He was terrified of these old fellows.
There was no other way. The difference in physique between the two of them was not just that big. It would be strange if he did not feel afraid when the other party could beat the three of them with one hand.
Because it was still early, the palace doors had not yet opened. Everyone was waiting outside to chat, their excitement overflowing.
Chen Qi arrived at the palace gate and joined the ranks of the thirty-six scholars with his new friends.
The hottest topic among the new Jinshi was who the top scorer was. As the saying went, there was no first place in literature and no second place in martial arts. Who didn't want to get first place and be the top scorer?
Chen Qi also wanted to, but he also knew that he shouldn't think about being the top scorer.
Not to mention the top scorer, he couldn't even get the second place or the top scorer.
Because the top scorer, second runner-up, and the top scorer could only be selected from the First-Class Roll, no matter how satisfied Li Shimin was with his theory of killing Buddha and getting rich, he could not break this unspoken rule.
This was also an unwritten agreement between the Great Tang clans and the Emperor.
The emperor could hand-pick the top scholar, but the top scholar he hand-picked had to be chosen from the ten people recommended by the officials.
The same logic applied to the second place and the third place.
Other than the top three, no one cared about the rankings after that.
In any case, there was no need to farm people. The fourth and thirty-sixth places were about the same. What kind of official position they could get would depend on their background and connections.
At the fifth watch of the day, the bell rang, and the deeply locked palace gate lifted its mysterious veil.
The civil and military officials, the royal family, and the nobles lined up neatly and took the lead to enter the Imperial Palace.
Chen Qi and the other newly promoted scholars followed the officials into the palace.
The city walls were more than thirty meters tall, like mountains. Chen Qi stepped into the Imperial Palace and was once again amazed by the walls.
Good heavens, the thirty-meter-tall wall was much taller than the Forbidden City's wall in the future.
After entering the palace, the first thing he saw was not rows upon rows of palaces. Instead, it was an open space, as if someone's courtyard had been enlarged hundreds of times.
The warriors stood in their respective positions, watching everyone who entered like eagle-eyes. It was as if the slightest carelessness could attract knives and axes.
Soon, Chen Qi and the other newly promoted scholars followed the court officials to Taiji Palace once again, waiting for the start of the ceremony.
After a while, Li Shi Min arrived at Taiji Palace, and the palace music sounded continuously.
Chen Qi could only vaguely see a towering figure, imagining Li Shimin sitting on the throne in the hall.
When the music stopped, the civil and military officials in front began to bow, so they followed suit.
Li Shimin first praised and warned the new Jinshi, then let the officials of Honglu Temple read out the Imperial Roll.
Seeing this scene, the new scholars standing behind the civil and military officials were extremely excited.
The official from the Bureau of Rites walked to the table and opened the golden roll. The official from the Chamberlain of Dependencies stood in front of the golden roll and began to announce it.
Starting from the first place on the First-Class Roll, the rankings would start from the top scholar and end with the second-class scholar.
"Zhenguan 13th year Enke Court Examination First Rank Champion, Chen E!”
"Zhenguan 13th year Enke Court Examination First-Class Roll's second place, Lu Shao!”
"Zhenguan 13th year Enke Court Examination First-Class Roll, third place Tan Hua, Cui Ming!”
.......
"Zhenguan 13th year Enke Court Examination, 26th place, Chen Qi!”
The announcement of the results by the officials of the Chamberlain of Dependencies broke the silence of the hall. Chen Qi raised his head in astonishment and looked at the figure on the dragon throne.
Twenty-sixth on the Second-Class Roll, first from the bottom?
What kind of joke was this?
He was a transmigrator, and he had even brought out the great killing weapon, the theory of eliminating Buddha and getting rich, and you gave him the last place?
Who was he looking down on?
Unfortunately, the officials from the Chamberlain of Dependencies didn't care what he thought. After the announcement, they returned to their original ranks.
Then, Wang De, the chamberlain beside Li Shiming, stepped forward and announced loudly,"His Majesty has decreed that Chen E, Lu Shao, and Cui Ming come forward.”
To receive the teachings of the Zhenguan Emperor, Li Shimin, at a close distance was also the honor of the top three in the court examination to show the importance the Emperor placed on the top three in the imperial examination.
However, this had nothing to do with Chen Qi. He could only stand at the back of the group of scholars and constantly think about what went wrong.
Unfortunately, he could not figure out what the problem was.
This shouldn't have happened!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]