After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

This thing is called "Du Kang Ruler," and it has "temperature" engraved on it. It is also known as "Cui's Temperature"... Her cheeks flushed slightly... This was the "surprise" that the young doctor had told her about a few days ago.

"Just wait to be remembered for all time!" he said smugly at the time.

"I was destined to be remembered for all time..." she snorted inwardly, but a hint of sadness crept into her eyes in an instant... She just didn't know whether she would be remembered with a good name or a bad one.

She took a breath, stood up and stepped out of the palace gate. Several palace maids came up and draped a fox fur coat and a cloak over her shoulders.

Outside, snow was falling heavily.

Outside the hall, plum blossoms were planted all over the ground, like rows of solemn and upright armored soldiers.

The flower buds on the branches have burst into bloom in the past few days. The deep red plum blossoms, set against the white snow, look like specks of blood splashed in the snow.

This startled her.

After a short while, the Empress slowly exhaled from her lungs, turned around and returned to the palace to continue reviewing memorials.

I had a quick lunch.

It was late afternoon, around 3 PM.

Minister Xiao of the Ministry of Rites requested an audience, saying that preparations for the palace examination the day after tomorrow were complete.

The Ministry of Rites has drafted ten essay topics; Your Majesty is kindly requested to select four of them.

With his graying hair, Xiao Shaocheng smiled gently at the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and said that the Directorate of Ceremonial could send eunuchs to teach the candidates of this year's imperial examination the etiquette of entering the palace.

Zhang Qie quickly agreed.

The authority of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs has been greatly reduced. Approvals are either made by His Majesty himself or directly based on the Cabinet's decision. The relationship between civil officials and eunuchs has improved considerably.

At the same time, much power was transferred to nobles such as the Tang and Gui princes, the Zhenguo Marquis, and the Jinxi Marquis.

In the frontier, personnel and military affairs were often decided by the nobility, while civil officials were only in charge of money and grain. This created a system of checks and balances between the civil officials and the nobility, and it was not uncommon for the civil officials and the nobility to attack each other.

"Your Majesty, this year's imperial examination has ten essay questions, including one on agriculture and military affairs, one on punishing corruption among officials, one on the old and new laws and calendars, and one on... the debate between Chinese and barbarians..."

Minister Xiao presented the ten essay topics drafted by the Ministry of Rites. The eunuch in charge of the court received the memorial and respectfully presented it to the emperor.

Zhang Qi bowed and handed over the vermilion brush.

Zhu Cuiwei took the essay topics with her delicate hands and glanced at them.

With the Northern Expedition imminent... a topic for the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians must be chosen.

He then circled a question about the debate between Chinese and barbarians in red.

She looked again and saw two options that debated the new law versus the old law. She remained silent for a moment but did not choose either option. With such an important matter imminent, choosing one would inevitably provoke Sun Chengshan and other ministers into a conflict between the old and new laws.

He circled a question about agriculture and sericulture, another about "how to combine integrity and authority in governance," and after thinking for a while, he also circled a question about the policy of prohibiting maritime trade.

Therefore, the debate between the old and new systems is avoided, and the candidates are spared the need to guess the inclinations of the examiners when they reach the palace examination.

Once the area was marked, the letter was sealed.

Zhang Qie placed it in a brocade box, sealed it, and kept it safe.

The day after tomorrow, on the day of the palace examination, he will hand it over to the Court of State Ceremonies.

The Court of State Ceremonial will set up a questionnaire on the east side of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which will be opened on the same day.

After Xiao Shaocheng saw that the matter was settled, he inquired about the examiners who had read the examination papers.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Cuiwei appointed two Grand Secretaries, Gao Congzhe and Liu Zhenxi, as well as Xiao Shaocheng, the Minister of Rites who was about to retire. She also appointed Luan Zongyuan, the Minister of War, Jia Shi'an, the Right Vice Minister of War, and three other important officials.

There were eight examiners in total.

Of these, apart from Jia Shi'an, who is not only young but also inexperienced and may cause controversy, the other seven are not surprising.

Xiao Shaocheng was about to retire and only wanted to ensure that the current imperial examination was completed without any mishaps, so that he could retire successfully.

Upon hearing the name "Jia Shi'an," the old minister frowned slightly but said nothing more.

Although Jia Shi'an was young, he had been trained abroad for many years and was deeply trusted by the Emperor Emeritus. He was also the deputy envoy of the preliminary delegation and would be sent to the Northern Dynasty after the alliance was agreed upon.

His Majesty probably wanted to use the palace examination as an opportunity to have Jia Shi'an serve as a reader of the examination papers, to show his trust in him and to give him some reassurance.

After a moment's thought, Xiao Shaocheng offered no objection, accepted the order, and went to continue preparing for the palace examination.

The heavy snow fell from morning until dusk, finally stopping just as dinner was about to begin.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the eunuchs originally thought that His Majesty would review memorials until Hai Shi (9-11 PM) or even Zi Shi (11 PM-1 AM), as usual.

Zhu Cuiwei got up at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), returned to the warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace, changed out of her dragon robe, and put on a light green casual dress.

They returned to the Ning residence in an ordinary black carriage.

The servants of the Ning family are shoveling snow.

The small lake just inside the courtyard seemed to be frozen over.

The cold moon reflected in the lake remained motionless, as if it were reflected in a mirror.

Two maids, Chunyu and Qiumu, came forward, one carrying a hand warmer and the other a fox fur coat.

She took the hand warmer and put on the fox fur coat.

Hearing the sound, her younger sister Qinghuan came out of the flower hall to greet her. She glanced at the pair of blue shoes that Qinghuan was sewing on the jade round table and said with a smile, "Since you don't have time, why don't you sew a pair for your brother-in-law too?"

Qinghuan said, "Okay." Zhu Cuiwei then looked at her with a pair of smiling eyes.

Qinghuan realized what was happening, her face turning bright red to the roots of her ears. She was utterly embarrassed and stammered, "I...I sewed it for my brother-in-law! It...it wasn't...it wasn't...sewed for him..."

Zhu Cuiwei pursed her lips slightly and patted the head of the girl who was not speaking her mind with a smile.

Holding a hand warmer, I walked to the right out of the flower hall, went around two covered corridors, and arrived at the study.

She glanced around and saw the young doctor writing with his left hand in the dimly lit study.

"Oh,"

The empress, having returned home, approached the desk, glanced at the other person's somewhat untidy left-handed handwriting, and snorted.

"The imperial examination was only sealed and not copied. Do you intend to show this handwriting to the Empress?"

With his right hand wrapped in gauze, Master Ning's left hand, which was already slow and trembling, was preparing to practice diligently over the next couple of days. Hearing his wife's mocking words, he snorted and said...

"The imperial examination doesn't reject anyone, why would I be afraid of her?"

"Um……"

Zhu Cuiwei's eyes widened in surprise. She involuntarily took a breath, opened her mouth as if to retort, but then hesitated, unsure of what to say.

After a moment of silence, she reached out and tugged at his ear, hearing his dissatisfied "Hey, feed me" sounds, before finally letting out a small sigh of relief...

……

The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.

The snow in the sky finally lessened a bit, and every now and then a few soft goose feathers drifted down.

Before dawn, the shop assistants at various shops on Datong Street would get up with sighs and groans to sweep the snow.

They were afraid that if they opened their doors, their own doorstep would be covered in snow while other people's doors were clean and tidy, and then all their guests would run off to other places.

When Ning Nan went out, he saw the men shoveling snow and putting on fake smiles, which made him feel a little happier.

He tossed out two five-coin notes on the street and bought a sugar cake for himself and Uncle Ping from a sugar cake vendor. When he arrived at Fulai Tavern, Tang Lianbin, Zhao Jing, Zuo Yong, and Zou Tianju were standing in the crowd, tiptoeing and looking at a wooden platform in the center of the tavern.

On the wooden platform

A fat man with a large head and big ears was holding up red and green glass, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen! I am Chu Feixiong, the manager of Wanbaoge in the capital... the Wanbaoge next to the Nancheng Daily... Today I will tell you all about me..."

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today, we have come to find the one who can recognize this Du Kang Ruler—the woodcutter of a thousand years ago!! As the saying goes, 'High mountains meet flowing water, Bo Ya meets Zi Qi, Du Kang recognizes the woodcutter!'...A lifetime's drink of Du Kang wine, meeting the wine ancestor atop Mount Hua!...My Wanbao Pavilion has spent a fortune to find the woodcutter's descendants, who possess the method for making this Du Kang Ruler! However, the descendants have a preface—"

The fat man, holding up the "Du Kang Ruler," shouted with a flushed face:

"If anyone doesn't know the value of Dukang wine, even if offered a thousand pieces of gold, they would never sell it cheaply! They would rather hide it in Mount Hua and wait another thousand years to welcome back the ancestor of Dukang wine! They would rather die than dishonor the illustrious name of their ancestors!"

"Well done! What a fine descendant of the woodcutter!" Instantly, the eyes of the crowd below lit up! A thunderous cheer erupted!