I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 67 Government Examination
"Who holds the Imperial Seal, and where is the Thousand Shadow Thief Saint? These mysteries remain to be solved. Perhaps one day, your descendants will finally be able to see the answer."

After leaving an open ending that was very thought-provoking, Guo Dongyang began to take a break. The old tea drinkers gave their tips, and those who were so absorbed in listening that they forgot to drink their tea quickly had a few cups of tea.

Those who drank too much tea would take this opportunity to go to the toilet to undress.

At an inconspicuous tea table below, Zhu Huaian felt something was not right the more he listened. He wondered why he was already feeling cold before the storyteller even started talking about ghosts?

It’s no wonder that Zhu Huaian thought too much. After all, Guo Dongyang didn’t know enough and didn’t explain it clearly enough.

Looking at the entire teahouse, if we were to ask who knows best where the jade seal is, I'm afraid only the people at this table know a little bit of the inside story.

Zhu Huaian grew up in the palace. He heard some things when he was young and knew that Emperor Longping had asked his father to find the jade seal.

This is somewhat different from the version circulating in the market.

People only said that Prince Changting was looking for the imperial seal, but no one said on whose orders he was doing so.

The final result was that Prince Changting found nothing, but no one knew whether it was true or not.

As for Xu Qing, he also knew a few things. For example, when he was trying to save Chen Xiaoyi of Qianyingmen, he got a secret from him. That is, Pan Qianying was the chief eunuch in the palace, the one who followed the emperor all day long. As for Qianyingmen, it was founded by him before he cut off that thing.

Although Pan Qianying is no longer the leader of Qianying Sect, he is Pan Qianying's spy in secret and can do many things for him that are difficult to do openly.

Since the Thousand Shadow Thief Saint moved to the palace to retire in his later years, where do you think the imperial seal would be?
It is impossible that Emperor Longping did not know the identity of the eunuch around him.

He did this obviously because he was harboring some evil intentions, just waiting for the day when his evil intentions were full and then he could dump them on anyone.

Zhu Huaian obviously knew something. After all, Prince Changting was not a mediocre person. He was halfway through investigating the imperial seal and suddenly gave up. What else could be the reason?
Isn't it just following the clues and finding the knife for cutting melons?
The little fat boy took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He didn't know if it was because there were too many people in the teahouse and it was too hot, or because the storyteller's story was too scary.

"Why are you sweating so much?"

“The tea is too hot!”

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

"The teacup is hot!"

Looking at the little fat boy in front of him who seemed to be ill, Xu Qing showed suspicion.

The Eight Great Sects of Jianghu are at most a small appetizer to soothe the palate. The ghost stories that follow haven't even started yet, so why is he already having tremors?
As they were talking, two people walked into the teahouse. They looked like old friends. Although they were both in casual clothes, there was a sense of calmness and propriety in their every move.

At this time, the teahouse was full of guests, and only the small table where Xu Qing was sitting had an empty seat.

The two old men were quite polite. They kept trying to express their gratitude through the crowd. When they came to Xu Qing and Zhu Huaian, they bowed and greeted them before asking for a seat.

Xu Qing didn't think there was anything wrong. Instead, Zhu Huaian looked at the two of them with a wary look on his face, and moved inside without leaving a trace.

"Why are you pushing towards me?" Xu Qing didn't know what was wrong with the little fat boy today. Why was he so troublesome?

Zhu Huaian said solemnly, "I don't think these two old men are good people. The teacher I hired to teach me before was also like this."

Hearing this, Xu Qing immediately became interested.

Storytellers often say that there are two most widely spread physiognomy techniques in the world: one is horse physiognomy, and the other is human physiognomy. There are many people who can judge horses, but there are very few who can judge people and use their talents.

When Guo Dongyang was taking a ride with Xu Qing, he told him that during the decades of the Yong Dynasty, the person who was best at judging people was the young Emperor Longping.

Eliminate treacherous officials, discard mediocre talents, establish the civil and military order, strengthen the army, delegate power and make use of the Prince of Changting...

The fact that he dared to hand over all the military power in the world to one person, and was able to make people willingly hand over the military power afterwards, is enough to show how sharp the vision of the young Emperor Longping was.

In addition to Emperor Longping who was good at identifying and employing people, there was also a person who was famous for his horse appraisal, and this person was the crown prince of the time.

When the Prince's tutor was alive, he left behind a proverb that said the talent of judging horses is valuable in a small area, but is useless if viewed from a global perspective.

From then on, the prince, who loved archery and horse riding, stopped judging horses.

"Brother Zhu, what you said sounds like someone who knows how to judge people." Xu Qing said with a smile: "In that case, Brother Zhu, why don't you tell me what kind of person I am?"

"you?"

Zhu Huaian said cheerfully: "You are a hermit!"

Xu Qing raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

"A young Taoist priest once visited my home. He was dressed in coarse cloth, yet he dared to treat my father as an equal." Zhu Huaian sized up Xu Qing with his small eyes and said, "You have the same aura as him. It's as if you don't know the difference between high and low status. Such a person is either a liar or an otherworldly master who doesn't care about the five grains of food in the world and doesn't distinguish between noble and humble..."

Xu Qing was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he looked at the cynical prince in front of him again: "I am not a master, you are flattering me. At best, I am just an ordinary person who wants to live a down-to-earth life."

"Hidden master, I understand!"

Zhu Huaian spoke quickly.

You know shit! Xu Qing rolled his eyes and was about to figure it out when he heard a crisp sound coming from the desk in the distance. It was Guo Dongyang stroking his ruler and getting ready to start his lecture.

The noisy sounds in the hall gradually quieted down, and Guo Dongyang put down his ruler and started chatting.

One moment he was talking about the rich customs of the capital, and the next moment he followed the topic and turned to the equally rich Jiangnan.

It is said that during every festival and temple fair, the six regions of Jiangnan would hold a "foot competition". The so-called foot competition was a beauty pageant. People at that time were relatively reserved and did not want to show up in public even for a beauty pageant. So what should they do?

The locals came up with a compromise, which was to have the participating women sit in an empty field or in a car, with their heads covered so that their faces could not be seen.

Some people may ask, how can it be called a beauty pageant if you can't see the face? This is because outsiders are ignorant. The Foot Competition is also called the "Lotus Foot Competition", and the beauty pageant standards are naturally related to "feet".

The participating women will show off their lotus feet, embroidered with lotus leaves, embroidered with butterflies, and all kinds of small embroidered shoes for people to admire and comment on. These are not seen in Tianjin...

In the teahouse, Zhu Huaian's eyes lit up when he heard this. He felt that if he didn't go to Jiangnan in this life, his life would be lived in vain!
He lived in vain in his previous life. A few days ago, when he went to Shuhuang Pavilion, he said that he wanted to sleep with Miss Wan'er for a night.

Now that he had been to Shuhuang Pavilion, he had set his sights elsewhere.

Guo Dongyang finished chatting and saw that everyone was in the mood, so he prepared to get into the story he wanted to tell today.
"Just listen to what you say,

The rain is like silk on the bean and melon trellises.

I guess you must be tired of speaking human language.
I love to listen to the ghosts singing in the autumn graves."

"Everyone, I recently got a good book called 'Corpse Transformation'..."

The gavel slammed on the table, Guo Dongyang looked around, and the whole room was silent.

"There was a place called Yangxin County in the previous dynasty. There was an old man who ran an inn in the county. His home was in Caidian Village."

Zhu Huaian, who was supposed to go to the pleasure boat to have tea, stayed with Xu Qing and listened to the book for a long time.

As night fell, Guo Dongyang came out to greet Xu Qing. The two old men who were sharing the table next to him were obviously also acquaintances of Guo Dongyang, and they were chatting together.

Xu Qing listened to the casual conversation of several people and realized that the two old men in front of him were the supervisors who graded the papers for the provincial examination, and Guo Dongyang was a student on government academy who had participated in the provincial examination in the same period as them.

Xu Qing was shocked. A student with a clean background and a nominee who was sponsored by someone was unwilling to continue taking the imperial examination and enter the court. Instead, he wandered around telling stories in teahouses and taverns. Wasn't he a hermit?
...A spring rain had just fallen in the city of Tianjin, and the air in the city was now humid. At night, the thick night fog that rose up was like the ghost soldiers clearing the way and the underworld appearing.

Some tea drinkers who have just heard the zombie story will turn their heads and look behind them from time to time while walking on the street, for fear that a zombie will suddenly jump out.

Zhu Huaian stretched his neck to look around and found that he couldn't see other people's faces more than five steps away.

The little fat boy was frightened and refused to go home alone. He insisted on taking Xu Qing with him.

He said he was afraid of encountering zombies in the zombie apocalypse.

Xu Qing still remembered the promise he made to Guo Dongyang to write a storybook. How could he have the time to walk with an old man at night?

"Go find your guards. I have something else to do here. Stop pulling my clothes."

"I sneaked out, so there's no guard here. Good brother, just see me off. I'll have the chef at the mansion make you something delicious..."

"You're the prince, how can you go out without guards? Even if you sneak out, they will follow you. What's there to be afraid of?"

Ever since breaking through the armored corpse, Xu Qing's five senses have surpassed those of ordinary warriors. He had long noticed that someone was following him.

"Is this true? Could they have discovered that I had slipped out of the palace?"

Zhu Huaian looked around with a look of suspicion on his face.

"Why don't you try shouting?"

Zhu Huaian's eyes lit up when he heard that. He then grabbed Xu Qing's hand, put it around his neck, and let out a roar that broke the silence on the street.

"Murder! This prince is about to die! Is there anyone who can come out and rescue me…"

Xu Qing's face immediately turned dark. I told you to shout, but I didn't tell you to shout like that!
But the effect was really good. As soon as Zhu Huaian shouted, four or five figures rushed out from the teahouse, the alley entrance, and the roof.

Seeing this group of people gathering around, they looked at me with unfriendly eyes.

Zhu Huaian immediately calmed down, let go of Xu Qing's cold hand, and said, "This is my friend. He was testing you just now..."

Xu Qing looked at Zhu Huaian pretending to be important and thought that it would be better to stay away from this fat guy in the future. He was too dishonest and might bring trouble to him one day.

……

In the private room of the teahouse, the owner specially added a few candles.

In the private room, Guo Dongyang, who is already old, is still chatting with Xu Qing by candlelight at night.

Most of the time, Xu Qing was talking and Guo Dongyang was taking notes.

One draft of the story after another was produced. Xu Qing was well-versed in the classics and did not pause at all when telling each story. He would not pick up the draft and examine it until Guo Dongyang, who was writing furiously, called for a pause.

As expected of a student on government academy scholarship, even though he wrote it quickly, the manuscript is still very neat.

Xu Qing looked at the draft for a while, his mind wandering.

Each of the stories here may not seem very touching when read individually, but when they are connected together and turned the pages, one can feel a sense of tolerance as if walking in the mortal world and experiencing all kinds of situations in the world.

Perhaps after several years, he who has recited corpse stories and saved countless souls will be able to write his own corpse story.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Wu Zhiyuan came to the teahouse leading a horse.

This was the precious horse given by the prince yesterday. At this moment, Wu Zhiyuan was very proud and wished that the provincial examination would end quickly so that he could ride this steed to the capital to take part in the autumn examination and live up to the prince's expectations.

Wu Wencai was slightly less talented, and although he did not win the precious horse, he was appreciated and given some valuable items.

The two of them took Xu Qing to a teahouse to celebrate. When Guo Dongyang heard about this, he shook his head and said nothing.

Xu Qing couldn't stand him deliberately making trouble, so he asked him in front of the Wu brothers.

Guo Dongyang sighed softly, "Twin sons following the dragon, what a beautiful story! But the current Crown Prince is already old. Even if he wanted to build momentum, it would probably be nothing but castles in the air, and could vanish into thin air at any moment."

"When the royal family fights, there are always rivers of blood. The current situation is unclear. Instead of dwelling on these things, it is better to study hard and get a good family background, and wait for the right time."

Guo Dongyang is an old and experienced man. In addition, he is knowledgeable and learned. Whether it is the capital or the remote counties, he has an understanding of the people's livelihood situation in various places, and his vision is far-sighted.

"The waters in the capital are very deep. I suggest you focus on the imperial examinations and avoid getting involved in any disputes."

The Wu brothers were not stupid and they vaguely guessed the hidden meaning of Guo Dongyang's words.

This old man probably knows something, but he is not willing to say it directly, so he can only give them a brief reminder here.

Wu Zhiyuan stood up and bowed to express his gratitude, followed by Wu Wencai.

Only Xu Qing, who was lying flat, remained calm.

After finishing the provincial examination and obtaining the title of scholar, he would return to Linhe and continue to run his funeral shop. When he had nothing to do, he would practice corpse cultivation and visit brothels.

As for being an official, it is not worth a hair of any corpse in his shop.

……

The Wu brothers did not attend the last literary gathering held by Yuyingxuan. With their outstanding performance in the previous two days, their goal of promoting their studies had been achieved.

Now that they have received guidance from Guo Dongyang, they are no longer complacent, but instead begin to study quietly and prepare for the exam with peace of mind.

The next morning, the provincial examination officially began.

Xu Qing and the Wu brothers went to the prefectural yamen together. After submitting the examination papers, they followed the examiner's instructions and went to their respective compartments to wait for the answer sheets.

The prefectural examination is different from the county examination. It takes three consecutive days, one session per day.

The first day tests on copying scriptures, the second day tests on essays, and the last day tests on policy essays.

Simply put, it tests one's ability to memorize, write rhetoric, and express political views and current affairs.

Although Xu Qing was well versed in classics and prose, he wasn't sure he could write a decent policy essay. After all, this kind of thing sometimes required guessing the emperor's intentions, and no one knew the standard answer before the exam was released.

For two days, he ate, drank, sat and slept in the examination room. On the third day of the policy essay exam, Xu Qing discovered that there were three more examiners invigilating the exam.

One was the crown prince of the time, and the other was the crown prince's attendant who had delivered messages at the literary gathering.

There was also an old man with a pale face, no beard, and a feminine temperament.

Xu Qing answered the questions silently. After the three exams were over, everyone handed in their papers and walked out of the exam room.

　Two in one
　　
　
(End of this chapter)