Although in various folk storytelling and novels, the main hall that treats military and national affairs in the palace is called the Golden Palace, but this is not the case.

The Golden Palace is in the palace, close to the Hanlin Courtyard, and is actually a side hall in the palace. Usually, it is not a matter of political discussion, but rather the emperor summons his ministers to ask for other knowledge, or talk about the location of family matters that have nothing to do with state affairs.

At this moment, more than 120 students including Ningjiang were waiting for the summoning of the emperor in front of this Golden Palace.

The last level of their journey to the dragon on the imperial examination depends on this moment, in this Golden Palace, the impression they left on the emperor.

This is their most nervous moment, and no one knows what the emperor will ask them next. In the past, there were even cases where they were deposed by the emperor just because they were too ugly, or that there were bad rumors in advance that made the emperor hear it, so that the emperor would have a firm view and abandon it directly.

Rain, dew, thunder and lightning are all the kindness of the Lord, and no one dares to complain about this.

The students' rankings are still based on the rankings during the exam, which makes no one know how good they are in the marking officer's marking, and they are even more nervous.

Ning Jiang, who was ranked first, looked up.

The Golden Palace is also magnificent and magnificent. At both ends of the roof are animals made of thirteen yellow-colored glazed tiles. This beast is called "Kiss". They face each other at the two ends of the roof, opening their mouths as if they want to swallow the entire ridge of the hall.

"Kiss Kiss" is one of the nine sons of the dragon, and it is said that it is used to suppress fire.

The stone beast placed at both ends of the ridge of the mansion hall is called the "Swallowing Beast".

Only the palaces of the emperor, concubines and princes allow dragons, phoenixes, and dragons as ridge-swalking beasts. Officials can only use lions and tigers, while ordinary local gentry can only use miscellaneous beasts such as bullfighting at most.

The golden crow rose from a corner of the Golden Palace. From his perspective, the kiss on the right side of the ridge of the hall seemed to be shrouded in golden light, with mysterious majesty.

"Ningjiang, a student from Tongzhou, enter the palace to face the saint!" At this moment, the voice of the eunuch Sili sounded on the white jade steps.

Without any hesitation or hesitation, Ning Jiang walked up the steps step by step along the right side of the white jade steps. Behind him, other students looked at his back, and the decisive back of the first tribute student who entered the palace to face the saint also affected them more or less, making them feel at ease.

Ningjiang stepped into the hall and met the emperor. Emperor Song Shao sat on the throne and nodded.

In the palace examinations of all dynasties, there were many people who had won good rankings in the written examinations, but they were in the process of being too nervous, so they were incoherent and even unable to speak. It was precisely because of this that the boy's calmness at this moment made him very satisfied... or it was not as good as not being satisfied. If he was not satisfied, the old lady would be dissatisfied with him.

He lowered his head and looked at the poem scroll in his hand. On one of the papers, he actually wrote eight characters "A", which is unique among more than 120 tribute students.

Of course, this is also a normal thing. This palace examination tests poetry and essays. With the strength of this young man being able to write "Long Song Xing" and "Bi Luo Fu", poetry and essays are not difficult at all. Or... In fact, it was because of this point that Song Shao chose poetry and essays rather than asking questions as the question for this palace examination.

Having said that, during the examination, the policy of this young man made was in line with the wishes of the ministers. Several ministers even made suggestions to follow the instructions. However, after looking at it, there was a feeling that if the ministers really followed the policy of this young man, although the ministers were happy, they would definitely fall into the pit, so they forced themselves to suppress them.

Of course, for young people, after all, they do not have real political experience and are not considerate.

Flipping through the test paper in his hand, he looked down the steps and asked casually: "My sister, Princess Luanmei, has been sick a little these two days and is not very comfortable. Have you ever seen her?"

Hey... are you really asking this? Ning Jiang was speechless.

Even the ministers on both sides could not help but squint the emperor. Although no one had ever stipulated that in the last level of the palace examination, the emperor could ask something or not, but this had nothing to do with the palace examination, right?

Since the emperor asked, Ning Jiang naturally answered truthfully: "The student had visited the eldest princess's mansion yesterday and left before the curfew."

The emperor nodded and looked at the test paper in his hand: "The thread in the hand of the loving mother, the clothes on the wandering son. She sewed it tightly before leaving, and she was afraid that she would return late. Who said that the heart of a grass can repay the spring sunshine... This poem is written quite well, and the mother's kind and filial heart is all in it. But I heard that you lost your mother since childhood..."

Ning Jiang bent down at the steps: "Although the student lost his mother since childhood, he still has a heart of admiration. He always missed his mother in his dreams. This poem describes the mother in the student's dream."

All the ministers were beside him, and all sighed that the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind did not stop, and the son wanted to raise his children but was not waiting for him. It was a pity that the Great Zhou Dynasty valued filial piety the most, and this poem "Song of Wandering Sons" could be considered that the poems that promote maternal love in ancient and modern times were all right, "I was sewn tightly before leaving, and I was afraid that I would return late." The Great Zhou Dynasty had always had a tradition of being an official in another place, and even these officials had a deep understanding of the hearts of wandering sons. At this moment, I felt a lot when I heard Ningjiang's words.

The emperor bowed his forehead again and said, "Go down!" The "Preface to Your Prelude" ended.

The ministers naturally knew that the emperor asked so simply that he had a certain opinion on the students being asked, and this question and answer was just a formality.

Ning Jiang was about to retreat after he finished his ritual, but the emperor suddenly said, "Wait a minute, there is something else."

Ningjiang station is set.

Song Shao looked at him from a high place on the throne: "When you were in Kongshan, Tongzhou, you gave Luanmei poetry... At that time, did you already know that Luanmei was my imperial sister?"

The ministers couldn't help but look at Ning Jiang. The emperor's words were already somewhat slanderous. If this son knew that Princess Luanmei was the sister of the emperor and was offering poems to show love, then he would have such a scheming at a young age...

Ning Jiang did not change his face and bowed to the steps: "The students did not know the identity of His Highness the Princess that day."

Song Shao's tone was quite cold: "But you only meet my sister, and she is even older than you. Since you don't know her identity, how can you make a poem?"

Ning Jiang said embarrassedly: "Since Your Majesty asks, the students dare not refuse to answer. The students lost their mother since childhood and lacked maternal love since childhood. Although it was the first time I saw the eldest princess that day, the eldest princess was kind-hearted, dignified, gentle, and older than the students. At a glance... she knew she was a very maternal love!"

Song Shao: "Uh..."

***

Ning Jiang waved his folding fan and walked among the crisscrossing neighborhoods in the inner city.

As the first student to enter the temple to meet the saint, he naturally came out much earlier than others.

Thinking back to the fact that Emperor Song Shao was stunned just now, and the ministers around him looked at him speechlessly, Ning Jiang was amused. I am afraid they have already decided that the reason why he found a princess who was older than him was because he lost his mother since childhood and had never experienced the admiration of maternal love... Although to some extent, it cannot be wrong.

Since I want to find one, I naturally have to find someone who is gentle and will not have a dispute with Xiao Meng, and can take on the role of "the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother" well.

He walked around like a walk, and before he knew it, he came to Qishengfang. He raised his head and looked at the sky. In the middle of the night last night, he vaguely realized that something had appeared in this direction, but he couldn't explain clearly what it was.

He stood among the crowd coming and going, and watched for a while, pondering for a long time.

With a snap, he pulled away the folding fan and walked forward with his hands behind his back.

When I arrived at the Princess's Mansion, there was no need for any formal notification. The maid guarding the gate quickly took him in.

When he came to the garden behind, he saw Luanmei sitting there quietly, looking up at the sky.

Walking to her side, Ning Jiang arrived: "The disease has not been cured yet, right? Why did he come out?"

Luanmei turned around, looked at him, and smiled: "It's much better."

Ning Jiang stretched out his hand and touched her forehead, and found that the heat had indeed subsided.

Luanmei blushed a little, but she looked like she was dressed like that last night and was hugged by him. Now she was just touched by him, so naturally nothing was wrong.

Ning Jiang turned around, sat down beside her, looked into the distance outside the pavilion with him, and said, "What were you thinking just now?"

Princess Luanmei sighed: "I just suddenly feel that a person's life is really short, just like a moth's short life. Before I could recover, I suddenly got burned by fire. Not only people, but even this world, it is probably the same. Everything will eventually be destroyed one day. In beautiful things and in front of the gods, they are just passing clouds and smoke that are as small as dust."

Ning Jiang laughed and said, "Why did you get sick? You have such an understanding? Since there is no eternal thing in this world, then just live a good life? What should I do if I think about it so much?"

Princess Luanmei hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Although there is no eternal thing in this world, what about outside this world? The morning mushrooms do not know the new moon, and the cicadas do not know the spring and autumn! Perhaps there are still eternal things in the universe that we do not know, but we cannot understand. Where does this world come from and where will it go... What are you doing?"

In front of her, the boy suddenly turned around, grabbed her shoulders, and stared at her eyes tightly. At this moment, she seemed to see the reflected eyes of her own, which were so misty and so strange. They were full of fear of unknown things, like stars and moons covered by dark clouds. Even when she looked at them herself, she felt inexplicable panic.

"I...what am I doing?" She subconsciously touched her face.

The boy continued to stare at her: "Qi Meng...Who has been here this morning?"

"Am?" she said in a panic, "In the morning, Jian Li, Situ Lei, the daughter of Dali Temple Chief Fang visited Qing and came to visit her together... What, what's wrong?"

Ning Jiang said: "What did they say to you?"

"They said... they can't remember, they said a lot, but... but they can't remember!" Luanmei first lowered her head, a little distressed, and then raised her head to look at her lover. In her eyes, the boy's expression suddenly became cold, and her whole body seemed to have turned into a blade, and murderous intently rolled around them. The leaves outside the pavilion were like being swept by a cold autumn knife, and countless leaves swayed down.

She had never seen such a terrible expression on his face, which was a...that wanted to kill.

***

Not long after noon, the three girls got off the carriage in front of the eldest princess's mansion.

One of the girls, wearing red clothes and as bright as fire, stood beside the stone statue in front of the eldest princess's mansion, raised her head and looked at the golden crow that had begun to appear vicious in the sky.

The cicadas were heard in the distance. Some time ago, there was a heavy rain at night, but such heavy rain did not bring many days of coolness to the summer season. Now, the weather has become really hot, making people feel the coming hot summer.

The three girls arrived in front of the mansion and reported it, and soon someone took them in.

When I arrived at the attic in the garden, a beautiful woman and a handsome boy were sitting there, talking with each other.

Unexpectedly, the young man was there, and the girl in red dress who entered the eldest princess's mansion with two companions, her face turned pale at this moment.

The boy also looked at them casually.

The girl in red dress looked a little panicked.

Three women came to the eldest princess and greeted her. The two girls in the room... Chun Jianli and Situ Lei and Ning Jiang had originally known each other, but another girl was the first time she met him, so she had to introduce each other.

That girl was the adopted daughter Fang Mingda, the chief of Dali Temple, who visited Qing.

"It turns out that Mr. Ning is here too," Situ Lei said in surprise, "Isn't today a day for the palace examination?"

The young man smiled and said, "Your preface is right. I am the first to enter the hall. I came out first and ranked low in the exam. Some of them are afraid that they have not started yet, right?"

Situ Lei smiled and said, "The little girl forgot that Mr. Ning is coming to Huiyuan." He also said, "The song "Shuitu Songtou" written by Mr. Gong in Shangyuan the day before yesterday has been spread throughout the capital. The prince's poetry is really amazing."

Ning Jiang smiled and said, "I was suddenly announced to Shangyuan by the empress dowager, and I was just going to do it." Then he looked at Chun Jianli again: "I thought Miss Jianli had left the capital."

Chun Jianli lowered her head and looked at her own feet: "Although she has this idea... it has not yet come true."
Chapter completed!