The princess is so powerful that the fish pond is full of people

When the list of candidates for the imperial examination came out, Liang Chongyue deliberately looked for the name of the girl from that day. There were five women who passed the exam this year, and only two of them ranked high. Although their results were not as good as Zhou Xuan's that year, Liang Chongyue was already very satisfied.

As more people walked, the road gradually appeared.

"Your Majesty, this is the name of the girl from that day."

Ping'an stepped forward and pointed out the name of the girl on the list to His Majesty.

Liang Chongyue murmured, "Bai Fu."

Her score was in the middle among the five. All the female papers that passed the exam would be presented to the emperor along with the good papers reviewed by the Ministry of Rites.

Among the five rolls of paper, Liang Chongyue saw a familiar name, Qu Lianer, which did not disappoint A Zheng.

Liang Chongyue looked through all the papers presented to him. They were all well written, and he was particularly impressed by the one named Chai Shuo.

The writing is brilliant and the policy papers are also very well written, with some of the shadow of Li Yu'an in his youth.

Liang Chongyue thought about it, took out Chai Shuo's roll of paper, and sent someone to show it to Li Yu'an.

The palace examination was held a few days after the joint examination. Because Liang Chongyue ordered the expansion of enrollment this year, a total of 150 candidates were admitted. The Taihe Hall could not accommodate so many tables and chairs, so the venue for the palace examination was chosen to be the larger Xuande Hall.

After reading Chai Shuo's paper roll, Li Yu'an also became interested in this man and wanted to see what kind of person could write such a magnificent article.

On the day of the palace examination, Liang Chongyue came home from the morning court and had breakfast with Li Yu'an, then went to the Xuande Hall, where there were candidates queuing outside.

"Let them in."

Each examination table was separated by a screen. Every time the leading eunuch brought someone in, the eunuch standing at the door would announce the name.

Candidates' seats are randomly assigned as soon as their results come out.

"Next, Chai Shuo."

Most of the tribute students had already come in when this person appeared. Li Yu'an looked up curiously. He thought that the person who wrote such an article would be a man in his prime, with a heart full of patriotism written on his face. He never expected that a young man who looked a little thin would walk in from outside the hall.

His blue shirt had become a little white from washing, and his cloth shoes were still stained with morning dew. Judging from his appearance, his family must not be well off. It was a rare opportunity for a noble son to emerge from a poor family.

After Chai Shuo sat down, the next person came in. Liang Chongyue had already read Chai Shuo's information. His father died early, and his mother made a living by washing clothes for others. They lived a poor life.

The travel expenses to Beijing for the exam were paid by the private school because they saw his potential, and the money spent along the way was collected bit by bit by the villagers.

The Xuande Hall is full of luxury. Less than one-fifth of the tribute scholars sitting in this hall today are from humble backgrounds. Chai Shuo, dressed in a blue shirt, sits in the hall. What he sees is a magnificent sight he has never seen in his life. Even the brush and ink have a fragrance. Ambition is flowing in his eyes. In his sleeve is the peace talisman that his mother got before leaving, which is pressing against his palm. It is made of the coarse silk that his mother brought as a dowry.

The originally dense stitching had become a little loose due to washing, but every time he touched it, he still felt warm in his heart. He firmly believed that he could make his mother live a good life.

Liang Chongyue's gaze swept over Chai Shuo and quickly moved away. The palace examination was about to begin, so it would be better not to affect these people's mentality.

Thinking of this, Liang Chongyue suddenly felt a burning gaze directed at her, and at this moment she heard the eunuch at the palace gate calling her name:

"Bai Fu, a native of Yangzhou."

Liang Chongyue turned her head to meet that gaze. The man who had been staring at her excitedly just now lowered his head immediately after their eyes met, not daring to look her in the eye again.

Liang Chongyue was amused by her appearance, and a barely perceptible curve appeared at the corner of his lips. Only Li Yu'an beside him noticed it, and naturally understood why His Majesty did that.

Liang Chongyue looked away, hoping that these people would give her a good test and that there would be a few who could impress her.

"Your Majesty, all candidates are seated."

In addition to the candidates, half of the people in the Xuande Hall were from the Ministry of Rites. They stared at the candidates like eagles, and it seemed that even a god would find it difficult to cheat.

"Then let's get started."

Ping An received the order and said loudly to the candidates sitting below:

"rise."

Upon hearing this, everyone stood up at the same time, but because of limited space, they did not kneel down and kowtow.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."

Liang Chongyue's fingertips brushed over the roll of paper that had been prepared on the desk. When he raised his eyes, his gaze swept majestically over everyone:

"Gentlemen, please stand. I hope you will all demonstrate your talents in today's palace examination and submit a paper that satisfies me."

As soon as Liang Chongyue finished speaking, people from the Ministry of Rites came forward to take the rolls of paper and distribute them.

The waiting time is always boring. Li Yu'an has to go back to teach Minglang. Liang Chongyue came here with the memorial early in the morning. Now in the Xuande Hall, the superiors and the subordinates are busy with their own things. People from the Ministry of Rites are walking around in the hall, supervising strictly.

Finally, when the sun was setting, the palace examination ended. Liang Chongyue had already finished reviewing the memorials. He opened the control panel in advance and read the content that Chai Shuo had already written under the pretext of reading a book.

This person did not disappoint her. The arguments he wrote were novel and not unrealistic.

Most of the questions in this year's palace examination were related to the policies she had been busy with last year. Chai Shuo came from a poor family and understood the hardships of the people's lives best.

After all the candidates' papers were collected, Liang Chongyue left the Xuande Hall with the papers.

The examinees in the hall watched His Majesty's back as he left, and were silently worried about their own papers. It was a frightening thing for His Majesty to personally mark their papers, no matter whether they were good or bad.

When Liang Chongyue returned to the Yangxin Palace, Li Yu'an had already returned from the Cining Palace and was serving her food.

"Can you calculate the time so accurately?"

Liang Chongyue placed the roll of paper on the table and asked someone to watch over it. After washing his hands, he walked into the dining room.

"Your Majesty, you have worked hard today. This is what I, your concubine, should do."

Liang Chongyue had indeed worked hard today. Being an invigilator was boring, and she didn't want to go down and walk around, so as not to scare the candidates and affect their performance.

If I had known earlier, I would have kept some of those memorials, and they would have been kept until today to relieve the boredom.

"Your Majesty, please try it. This fish dish was made by me."

Liang Chongyue raised her eyebrows when she heard this. She hadn't eaten Li Yu'an's cooking for a long time. She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. It tasted delicious and very good.

"Yu'an's cooking skills have improved again. Sit down and share some with me."

While eating, Liang Chongyue talked to Li Yu'an about what happened in Xuande Hall today. Li Yu'an left early at that time, otherwise she would have had someone to entertain herself with. Now telling him these things, the feeling was different.

Li Yu'an didn't spend much time in the Cining Palace, just to come back and have meals with His Majesty. The two of them talked and laughed at the dinner table, and it really felt like they were living the life of an ordinary family.

Thinking of this, Li Yu'an looked at His Majesty with tenderness in his eyes that was about to overflow.