The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Chapter 446 Unexpected

Next came the flower-pinning ceremony, where cabinet ministers pinned flowers on the scholars.

The three people in the first class wear flowers and red robes, the top scorer uses gold and silver hairpins with flowers, and the rest of the scholars use colorful flowers.

The one who put the flowers in Zhang Ping'an's hair was the legendary Lord Yan.

Many years ago, Zhang Ping'an had heard of this person's name and had seen Yan Ge Lao's calligraphy while having dinner at Wangjiang Tower in Yingzhou.

This person has been at the pinnacle of power for many years and is an object of admiration for many students.

But after seeing the real person, I found that he was somewhat similar to what I had imagined.

Lord Yan is already very old, and looks to be in his sixties or seventies. His face is covered with wrinkles. From a distance, his eyes are still sharp and his back is straight. He looks like an official with great authority, and is very intimidating!

But it is undeniable that when he looked closer, Zhang Ping'an felt the old age from him, and even smelled the scent of old age under the incense.

This also means that the era of this elder minister is about to become a thing of the past!

Zhang Ping'an calmed down, put the flowers in his hair, and stood still calmly.

After the flower-pinning ceremony.

The three men in the first group were escorted out of Zhengyang Gate by a ceremonial procession of drums and music, and rode their horses in a parade through the streets of Lin'an City.

The rest of the people could only walk, and they would be accompanied by umbrella-covered guards to return to their respective inns or residences and leave the palace through Donghua Gate.

It was a grand spectacle, with loud gongs and drums, and lion dance teams on both sides, with as many as three or four hundred people.

Although they cannot be paraded through the streets on horseback, it still gives the new scholars the dignity they deserve!

The scholars left the palace one by one.

Zhang Ping'an was a second-class Jinshi, and his home was in the east of the city, so he was sent home relatively early.

Qian Youyi was very experienced and had already arranged for his servants to wait at the intersection.

When the ceremonial guard was approaching from a distance, the servants ran home to report it.

Upon hearing this, Qian Youyi calmly put down the teacup and asked his father-in-law Zhang Laoer and the men in the family to go to the gate to greet them.

He also arranged for the butler to prepare a tray full of small change and several large baskets of copper coins to reward the guard of honor.

Zhang Laoer said he would not be excited today, but he was still very excited. His hands have been shaking since the messenger came to inform him that his son had passed the imperial examination and became a second-class Jinshi.

Xu was frightened and worried when she saw this.

Fortunately, the doctor came to take a look and there was nothing wrong.

At this time, in the main hall, apart from the fifth son-in-law Fang Ziqi, Mrs. Zhang and Old Man Zhang, Zhang Lao Da, Zhang Lao San, Daya, Erya, Liuya, Xu Xiaojiu, and the Jinbao family, including Xiao Yifei were all there.

We all came together to congratulate.

It would be a shame not to be there to witness such a glorious moment for the family.

By the time the men arrived at the door, the guard of honor was also approaching.

The lion dance team first became lively at the gate of the mansion. The housekeeper smiled happily and ordered his servants to scatter copper coins and silver coins outside.

Children from the neighborhood came over to pick up the coins, sharing in the joy, and singing the nursery rhyme they always sang whenever the palace examination results were announced: "Oh, oh, Master Zhang has passed the imperial examination! The emperor values ​​heroes, and he teaches you how to write. All other pursuits are inferior, only reading is superior!"

Zhang Laoer couldn't help but be delighted when he heard this.

He used to think that he was a calm and introverted person, but after his son passed the imperial examination, he realized that he was not as steady as he thought.

With a son like this, what else could I ask for in this life!

God has been kind to him!!!

The ceremonial guards in the palace are all shrewd people who know how to judge people and how to treat them accordingly.

Seeing that Zhang's house was in the east of the city and was very grand, they tried their best to flatter him and took turns to ask for money.

The housekeeper simply asked the servant to carry the tray and let Zhang Laoer take out the silver as a reward.

When the neighbors saw the owner coming back, they kept coming forward to congratulate him.

Zhang Ping'an also smiled and returned the greetings one by one.

"Thank you all for coming to congratulate me. Three days from now, my residence will host a three-day banquet for the Jinshi scholars. I invite you all to come!"

"We must come, we must come, we want to share in the joy," everyone responded.

Coming to Old Man Zhang and Old Second Zhang, Zhang Pingan said with a smile, "Father, Father, Pingan has finally lived up to everyone's expectations. Today, he has been granted the title of Second Class Jinshi!"

Old man Zhang said tremblingly: "Okay, good, good, you've made some progress!"

Zhang Laoer also held his son's hand, his eyes reddened: "Son, you've done a great job! Dad is proud of you!"

After a while of excitement, the guard of honor went away and moved on to the next house.

But the excitement did not fade away.

The housekeeper started setting off firecrackers at the door again.

Qian Youyi had instructed his servants to purchase a lot of things in advance just for today, so it would probably take an hour or so.

After entering the house, a group of relatives gathered around again, adults and children gathered together, it was so lively!

"Ping'an, are you going to be an official now? What kind of official position will the emperor give you?" Zhang Laosan asked curiously.

Others also looked over curiously.

"We have to wait for the Ministry of Personnel to make arrangements," Zhang Pingan replied.

Although his father-in-law had informed him in advance, he didn't want to say too much in advance.

Zhang Laoer interrupted, "Don't ask about these things. There will always be an official position. Ping An is also tired today, let him sit down and rest first!"

You are the only one who loves your own son!

My son got up in the middle of the night today. He must be tired after being busy for most of the day!

"Yes, yes, let Ping An take a rest," Li quickly agreed.

The lunch was very sumptuous. There were six tables and there was a seat for everyone.

It was lively until evening, and then everyone went back.

Zhang Ping'an originally thought that it would take some time before he could be appointed as an official.

According to past practices, waiting three to five months is normal, and waiting one to two years, or even three to five years is not surprising.

Unexpectedly, an imperial edict arrived the next day.

After passing the imperial examination, the court would officially appoint an official through an imperial edict.

It's not as rare as what Zhang Ping'an saw on TV in his previous life.

This is really unexpected!

After the whole family knelt down to receive the order and heard the content, Zhang Pingan was even more surprised.

Didn’t we agree to go to the Hanlin Academy?

Why was he assigned to be the magistrate of Ci County?!