The first time in history

At noon, it snowed heavily outside again. Li Shishi asked Xiao Cui to go back to the small bed behind the screen to rest after dinner, and brought the charcoal basin to the bedside.

Li Shishi and Qian Mingduo sat on the edge of the big bed, and Qian Mingduo warmed Li Shishi's feet.

"Hurry up and get into bed!" Qian Mingduo said softly, "It's so cold, bed is the most comfortable place."

"What about you?" Li Shishi took off her coat. "Where are you going if you don't get into bed?"

Qian Mingduo put on his cloak and said, "I want to go to the Imperial Examination Hall and find out where the people from the government who brought the good news are. I want to give them a few carts of silver to cheer them up."

"Yes, I had forgotten about it." Li Shishi took the coat and said, "I want to go with you. I will accompany you."

Qian Mingduo sat down beside the bed. "Look at how much snow there is outside. You are the one who is most afraid of the cold. Just lie down in the bed and warm it up for me. I will be back soon."

"Then come back soon," Li Shishi pursed her lips. "I'll wait for you."

The heavy snow had obscured people's vision, but there were still people at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall looking at the list. Most people were shaking their heads and sighing.

The number of people who passed the difficult imperial examination was extremely small, and there were even many people who had not passed the examination until they were in their sixties or seventies.

We can get a glimpse of this from the article "Fan Jin Zhongju" written in the textbook. Qian Mingduo walked to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall and bowed to the guard standing guard, "May I ask where the person who brought the good news is?"

"Which candidate are you from?" A guard wiped his nose. "The one who wants to announce the good news has to go to the residence of the candidate who passed the exam, or go to the inn where the candidate is staying temporarily."

"I am a scholar from Lin'an Prefecture." Qian Mingduo smiled, "I am afraid the person who brought the good news may not know where I live, so I came to tell him."

"What's the point of telling your residence?" The guard laughed, "You are not on the list, so who will tell you the good news?"

"Just tell me where the person who brought the good news is. Don't worry about anything else."

At this time, another guard came over and looked at Qian Mingduo carefully, "What did you say your name was?"

"Lü Zhengyi!"

"Lü Zhengyi..." The guard suddenly opened his eyes wide, "Excuse me, are you Lü Zhengyi, the champion of this year's exam?"

"If there is another candidate from Lin'an Prefecture named Lü Zhengyi..." Qian Mingduo smiled, "then there will be two champions in this imperial examination."

The guard was stunned, then knelt down and said, "Congratulations to Lu Huiyuan, congratulations to Lu Huiyuan!"

Qian Mingduo took out five taels of silver and pulled the guards aside. "This five taels of silver is for the two young men to have a drink, but the person who brought the good news..."

"Huiyuan, please wait here for a moment," the guard said with a smile, "the person who brought the good news is worried about not being able to find Huiyuan! I will go in and tell them now."

Qian Mingduo handed the silver to him and gave another guard five taels of silver. "Then I'll trouble you, little brother."

Soon, a group of people ran out of the Imperial Examination Hall. The leader bowed to Qian Mingduo and looked him up and down, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Lu from Lin'an Prefecture?"

Qian Mingduo smiled and said nothing, but took out the petition and handed it to the man.

This admission ticket contains all the basic information of the candidate and also serves to verify the identity.

"It is really Master Lu." The leader waved his hand behind him, "Brothers, go back and grab your weapons, quickly. This is the top scorer of this year's exam. Let's congratulate Master Lu together first."