Chapter 279 Palace Examination

Gu Mingda was always focused on his work. He only saw the questions in front of him when he was concentrating on answering the questions.

He didn't even notice that someone was passing by him.

The emperor stood up, walked down the steps, and walked around the candidates with his hands behind his back.

Although Li Yong and Gu Mingda had only met once, he still remembered Gu Mingda's daughter, the lively and lovely girl.

He originally just wanted to take a look at Gu Mingda's test paper, but he thought that it would be too obvious to only look at Gu Mingda, so he turned around the other people.

When he turned around, something went wrong.

Some candidates, although they were well-educated, were not as focused as Gu Mingda. Today was their first time to see the emperor, so they were inevitably a little nervous, and their eyes couldn't help but chase the emperor.

When the emperor's figure approached him, he was so nervous that he couldn't hold the pen. His hand trembled, and a large black spot appeared on the white paper.

The candidate was about to cry when he saw the paper like this.

The emperor didn't torture people all the time. After turning around twice, he returned to his high position.

The whole palace examination lasted a whole day. Candidates had to write three policy essays and were not allowed to hand in their papers in advance.

Gu Mingda felt that his luck in the exam had improved. The topics of the three policy essays happened to be the topics he had practiced in advance, so he was able to write them as if he had divine help.

At noon, a eunuch brought a lunch box to the palace.

Gu Mingda stopped writing and carefully put the papers and exam questions to one side, then opened the lunch box and took out the food inside.

After eating, he took out a handkerchief, cleaned the table, and put the papers in order again.

His actions were ordinary, but his manners were graceful, like flowing clouds and water, and he was tall and handsome, so it was inevitable that people in the palace would look at him a few more times.

There were also confused candidates to serve as a foil for him. Others either did not put away their papers properly, or put the papers on the table without cleaning it after dinner, resulting in the papers being stained.

What's more, he shouted out as soon as he got his paper dirty, which attracted everyone's attention.

All these things made Gu Mingda stand out from the crowd.

Li Yong was even thinking at this time that even if he had never seen Gu Mingda before, he would probably notice him at this moment.

Gu Mingda had no idea that he had left a good impression on the emperor and the ministers. In the middle of the afternoon, Gu Mingda had already finished writing all three essays.

After writing, he waited for the ink to dry, and then Gu Mingda put the paper away properly and placed it aside, quietly waiting for the end of the exam.

"Since he has finished answering, bring the paper over and show it to me." Li Yong ordered Sun Youfu, the eunuch chief steward beside him.

Sun Youfu received the order, immediately bent over to Gu Mingda's side, took the paper and returned.

Gu Mingda was stunned for a moment, his eyes followed Sun Youfu's gaze upwards, and after seeing the pair of bright yellow boots on the emperor's feet, he dared not look up again.

Until the end of the exam, Gu Mingda stayed in Baohe Hall for a whole day, but still didn't know what the emperor looked like.

After leaving Baohe Hall, Gu Mingda just kept walking forward.

"Uncle Gu, wait a minute!" Qin Jing's voice sounded behind him.

Gu Mingda stopped and looked back.

"Uncle Gu, there will be a poetry meeting in Xianyue Tower the day after tomorrow. The host of the poetry meeting asked me to invite Uncle Gu to participate." Qin Jing said.

Gu Mingda hesitated for a moment, thinking that he had studied hard when he first arrived in the capital, but he had less social interaction, so he agreed.

Qin Jing added, "The sister of the host of the poetry party has reserved another courtyard in Xianyue Building to hold a women's poetry party. Uncle Gu can also take Niuniu to play."

Gu Mingda heard this and immediately said, "Niuniu won't go. She is too young. I am always worried without her parents."

Qin Jing said, "Uncle Gu, don't worry. My cousin and sister will also go. I can ask my cousin to take care of the two little girls. The invitation has been sent to the princess's mansion. Miss Shen should also go. Niuniu will go, just think of it as meeting a few more playmates."

Qin Jing said so much, and Gu Mingda thought that Shen Ling was always reliable, so he nodded.

After Gu Mingda went back, he ate and walked around the courtyard twice, and then went back to his room and fell asleep.

The family knew that he had a hard time taking the exam today, so they did things very carefully, for fear of disturbing him.

The next morning, when Gu Mingda woke up again, he was full of energy.

"Brother is so awesome! So impressive!"

Hearing Niuniu's voice in the yard, Gu Mingda stood up and walked out, only to see Xie Xingchuan playing with a spear.

Xie Xingchuan seemed to have lost himself in the little girl's repeated "Brother is so awesome". He waved the spear, and even though he was sweating profusely, he was reluctant to stop.

Niuniu's eyes were shining, and she looked at Xie Xingchuan with admiration, saying, "I really hope I can be as awesome as my brother!"

Xie Xingchuan had just finished playing with a set of spears, stopped, and handed the spear that he cherished very much and never let others touch to Niuniu.

"Good boy, try it!" Xie Xingchuan said.

But Niuniu died after trying it.

The spear was too heavy, and the little girl almost fell forward when she received it.

Shen Changfeng didn't know when he came in, and couldn't help laughing.

"Good boy, you are not even half the height of the spear, you should wait a few years before playing with the spear." Shen Changfeng said with a smile.

Niu Niu was not angry, but asked Xie Xingchuan softly: "Brother, are all guns so heavy?"

Xie Xingchuan shook his head and said: "There are also light ones, maybe you are too small, otherwise you can start with a stick."

Xie Xingchuan actually found a stick for Niu Niu.

"The chassis must be stable, hold it like this..."

Xie Xingchuan pointed Niu Niu to pick up the stick.

Shen Changfeng looked hot and pointed at the side: "Niuniu, you have to be ruthless and dance vigorously!"

Xie Xingchuan glanced at Shen Changfeng in surprise.

Shen Changfeng said: "My family also hired a martial arts master for me, but I didn't learn anything after teaching him for a long time. The master just ran away in anger."

When Shen Changfeng mentioned his glorious achievements, there was no trace of guilt on his face.

Xie Xingchuan didn't know what he was thinking of, so he asked, "If you make Master Wu angry like this, won't your parents also lose their temper?"

Shen Changfeng said carelessly: "When Master Wu gets angry, we can change him to another one. My mother has long been used to it, and my father never cares about me."

A trace of envy flashed in Xie Xingchuan's eyes.

Shen Changfeng asked: "You are so good at kung fu, so you must be very talented in martial arts. Your parents must have spent a lot of energy on it, right?"

Shen Changfeng took it for granted that children with outstanding performance must be strictly disciplined by their parents.

Xie Xingchuan's eyes darkened when he heard this. He didn't want to speak.

But Niu Niu on the side stared at him and said: "Brother, I also want to hear your martial arts training story, tell me about it!"

Xie Xingchuan said concisely and concisely: "Every day, the martial arts master will assign homework. If I don't learn well, or I am lazy in practicing that day, the master will tell my parents."

"My parents would ask me to pick up gravel along the road, and when I got home, I would kneel on the gravel to admit my mistake."