On the fifth day of the third month, the genius had just dawned. Li Ling, Xu Cang and other newly released tribute scholars had all gathered in front of the Zhuque Gate where the inner city of Luoyang and the imperial city intersected. In front of them, more than a hundred officials in the court wearing purple robe were constantly looking at them with their scrutiny eyes.

Today is the last thirteenth imperial examination - the palace examination, which makes all the candidates seem quite excited and nervous, especially when they really arrive in front of the towering imperial city and look up at the carved railings and jade buildings there, most people don’t feel like they are overwhelmed by the mountains and protruding themselves into the ground.

So even though hundreds of people gathered in front of the closed Suzaku Gate, they were still quiet, with only breathing sounds and no noise.

Li Ling was in it, and he couldn't help but feel a little strange in his heart. However, compared to the other people's lower eyes, he often observed the high-ranking officials in the court, as well as the palace hidden behind several feet of walls, and guessed what kind of scenery there was.

When the sun exposed a corner from the bottom of the clouds and plated the thick clouds with a layer of gold edges, a melodious bell rang out from the imperial city. Then, the Suzaku Gate, which is isolated from the inside and outside, slowly opened, but there was no sound. It was obvious that the gate of the imperial city was often maintained and there was no rust at all.

It was not until then that the ministers in front all cheered up. Without looking at the candidates, they took the lead and lined up in an orderly manner. Until they all entered the imperial city, several officials who stayed behind accompanied the low-key eunuchs to the at a loss: "Your Majesty, please wait for the vermilion official robe to enter the imperial city and participate in the palace examination!"

While speaking, more than a hundred young eunuchs holding trays came out. The tray was filled with new vermilion red official robes. There were already a certain rule in the Dayue Dynasty that officials who were not of fourth rank or above were not allowed to be seen. Therefore, whenever an official who had not reached the rank entered the palace, he would be temporarily given a fourth rank crown and returned it when he left the imperial city.

Li Ling and others had already known this rule a few days ago. There were no surprises at this moment. They knelt down and thanked each other, and then changed into robes in front of the gate. Only then did they line up a fairly neat team into the imperial city under the leadership of several officials of the Ministry of Rites.

In fact, this imperial city is still a long way from the palace where the emperor lives. It took a quarter of an hour to walk along the clean road paved with bluestone slabs before everyone truly came to the palace that made the people of the world yearn for and represent the supreme power of the world.

On both sides of the wide imperial road facing the palace, there are more than ten important imperial yamen in the court, from the nearest political affairs hall, the Privy Council, to the Transportation Commission and the Six Departments of the Court, all of which are listed in order of their respective status.

At this time, the main gate of the palace that Li Ling and the others faced was nearly ten feet high and not under the major gates of the capital. There were three big characters deeply engraved on it - Dayuemen. This is where the Meridian Gate is always rumored, which is the source of the saying "to launch the Meridian Gate beheading" mentioned in the play.

However, this statement is naturally wrong. No dynasty will use the front door of its palace as a place for murder, and the Wumen Gate is not a gate that will be opened easily. Only when the national ceremony is in and out will the emperor open it for him. The only two exceptions are that the emperor can enter the queen from the Wumen Gate when he accepts the queen, and the last imperial examination that is received every three years, the three tripods, the top scholar, the second and Tanhua parade on the streets and then enter the palace to see the emperor.

The candidates present naturally knew this rule, so when they came to the main gate of this vast palace, everyone's eyes were eager to linger for a long time. However, the main gate of the palace was naturally closed at this time. Not to mention them, even the important officials in the court before could only enter through the left and right sides.

After once again instructing them some etiquette after entering the palace, the official of the Ministry of Rites brought the more than 100 candidates into the palace from the side gate with the words "Wen'an" engraved on the left.

After coming out of the slightly cramped and low city gate, what caught my eye was an extremely open huge square paved with white marble. At the end of the square, an extremely majestic temple stood.

Li Ling's eyes narrowed and he guessed that the palace was the "Taiji Hall" of the main palace. As early as the capital, he had learned from others about some of the architectural contents of the previous dynasty of the palace, such as five large-scale palace groups, which were the places the emperor used to meet with ministers and handle official duties on weekdays, namely: Taiji Hall, Chongzheng Hall, Wende Hall, Jinshen Hall and Yangxin Hall...

These five palaces are not just a building, but a community of supporting buildings including main halls, side halls, warm pavilions, imperial study rooms and other supporting buildings. In addition to the roads outside for walking, there is also a corridor called the "Thousand Steps of the Gate" behind which the emperor's important officials can come and go.

In addition to these five hall communities, in fact, there were other smaller palaces in the front dynasty of the palace, which were either used for the emperor's daily leisure or specially prepared for the rest of his ministers. However, the location of these buildings is more remote, at least it is impossible for them to see at first sight now.

The Taiji Hall, the main palace hall of the palace, is now closed. Generally speaking, the largest palace will be used only when there are only a few major court meetings every year, or when there are major national celebrations. However, the court arranged the court meetings and palace examinations like today in the Wende Hall on the left.

All candidates entered the palace for the first time, so naturally they were all careful. Many people had never even raised their heads, but just stared at the footsteps of the person in front of them, so it was impossible for them to make any suggestions. So there is no difference between where the palace they went this time.

After walking on the more empty and tidy palace square, they finally stopped in front of the huge palace that was also respectful. Li Ling looked up a little and saw a huge plaque hanging above the door, with the words "Wende Hall" written on it.

"After entering, you have your famous brands on each table. Just sit here. When Your Majesty arrives, you must bow and bow, and then after Your Majesty speaks, today's test questions will be given." The official of the Ministry of Rites finally reminded him before signaling everyone to enter the hall.

At this time, everyone became more and more nervous, and a few of them were even more flushed. They kept holding their hands lightly, and their steps became slow and slow. They almost moved slowly towards the palace that determined their life path.

Even Li Ling's breathing became a little rapid at that time. He hurriedly closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before calming himself down again.

It has only been one and a half years since the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, but the hardships in it are far greater than the previous life. Now, all the experiences and efforts have come to fruition. No matter how good his mentality is, he will inevitably be worried about gains and losses and feel nervous.

He has already calculated it, after all, it was only one and a half years. However, the others have been working hard for more than ten years and have only reached this point after several setbacks and failures. So when success is within reach, everyone's mood will naturally be ten times stronger than him.

Li Ling glanced at the end of his eyes and found that Xu Cang's body was trembling gently. As he walked, his body was even more shaking. At that moment, he deliberately slowed down a step, then stretched out and patted him gently on the other party's chest, which made Xu Cang suddenly shocked, but then he walked out of a strange mood and smiled gratefully at Li Ling, then crossed the high threshold and entered the empty palace at the same time.

This palace is already extremely wide when you look outside. Now when you enter it, you will feel a lot of space. The high-rise imperial throne looks down at more than a hundred sets of tables and chairs below like a king. Even though there are so many tables and chairs, each of them is separated by at least five or six feet apart, the entire palace is still not crowded or cramped. The seats on the side are still a long way from the wall.

Since we gathered in front of the imperial city, everyone was nervous. At this moment, everyone dared not slacken at all when they entered the palace. They immediately looked for their own famous brands among the tables.

Li Ling was no exception. His eyes quickly swept through the famous brands in front of him. In just a short while, he settled on a special seat in a certain position. Then he twitched the corner of his mouth: "Are you wrong? This position is too good..."

Yes, the sign with his name "Li Ling" is placed at the front of all seats, only five or six feet away from the imperial seat above. Once the emperor stood up and wanted to see what everyone was writing, the first one he passed must be himself!

If this is in the classroom of later generations, it will definitely be a top student, but if it is placed in the examination room and is so close to the invigilator, it will be a big training. Even if you don’t have the intention to cheat and sit under the nose of the invigilator, it will definitely feel very uncomfortable.

What's more, the "invigilator" that Li Ling has to face now is the current Emperor of Dayue. Just think about this pressure, it will be enough to be nervous.

When they saw Li Ling walking forward and sitting down, many people showed a playful look, especially the candidates who had contact with him in Lianghuai, who had some contact with him, had a few thoughts of gloating.

The only thing Li Ling could do was tell himself that this was nothing. Since he came, he would be at ease. As long as he did his best, he would not have to worry even if he was watched by the emperor. At the same time, he kept looking at the things on the table to distract himself. Not to mention, the things on the table were quite complete.

In addition to the tools such as pen, ink, paper and inkstone provided by the court, there were wine pots, teapots and cups on the table, and another box also contained dried fruits, candied fruits, pastries and other items to satisfy hunger.

Therefore, this palace examination is much more comfortable than the previous provincial examination. Not only is it less than a day, but there is only one question, and the palace has prepared various foods for them to fill their stomachs...

Just as Li Ling was thinking randomly in his heart to distract himself, a voice sounded from outside: "Your Majesty is here--!"
Chapter completed!