When Zhou Xu heard Chen Yichen's words, he was shocked. He never thought that he could tell the whereabouts of his old friend's daughter when he met his younger generations and chatted with calligraphy and painting.

"Yichen, how did you know?"

"By chance, I met Miss Wan'er in Yingtian Qinhuai Painting Boat."

After saying that, Chen Yichen explained in detail what he knew with Liu Wan'er, but omitted some details that were inconvenient to tell.

In addition, the last Liu Qiu defended himself, Chen Yichen did not mention it.

Because this was entrusted by Liu Wan'er, even though Chen Yichen thought it was a memorial, he would not hand it over to anyone without the absolute certainty of overturning the case.

"The eunuch is really cruel and he treats Brother Yongle's daughter like this!"

Being a prostitute is indeed an ultimate humiliation for the Hanlin scholarly family, and killing it directly is too much.

"The younger generation has limited abilities and cannot save Miss Wan'er from the water and fire. I hope Lord Zhou can take care of you."

The reason why Chen Yichen was willing to tell Zhou Xu was that he wanted to take care of Liu Wan'er.

You can feel the despair in Liu Wan'er's heart from the black hair note before leaving.

To be honest, Chen Yichen is not sure that Liu Wan'er can persevere with such a big gap in life. And she has already found a short-sighted opinion, maybe there will be a second or third time.

And now, the brothel madam is born in a scholarly family and has made Liu Wan'er a simple and innocent mentality, and only needs to dance and music, without having to serve her with sex.

But how long can this situation last? Once it is time to lose one's own life, with Liu Wan'er's nature, will she choose to keep her innocence by death?

Based on Chen Yichen's understanding, this is probably a high probability event.

Therefore, if you want to change or delay the occurrence of the tragedy, you can only ask for help from those who are capable, and at the same time you are not afraid of Wang Zhen.

Liu Qiu's fellow villagers like Zhou Xu and his upright character who had contradicted Wang Zhen perfectly met these two requirements, so he could only tell him to seek help.

"Okay, I will do my best to protect Brother Yongle's daughter!"

Zhou Xu said this sentence excitedly, and even subconsciously clenched his fists because of excitement.

After talking about Liu Qiu, he naturally had no mood to talk about poetry, calligraphy and painting. Chen Yichen understood that it would take some time to calm Zhou Xu's mood, so he tactfully bowed his farewell.

Zhou Xu did not try to keep Chen Yichen leaving, but said that he could come to the mansion to visit at any time.

The first time we met, we could achieve such an effect, which was far beyond Chen Yichen's expectation to have a familiar face.

Of course, there is also a lot of chance in this. If Zhou Xu hadn't talked about books, calligraphy and paintings, Chen Yichen would not have the opportunity to show his strengths. He would not have been able to gain recognition from the other party in character through Liu Qiu's affairs.

But then again, from the moment Chen Yichen saw Liu Wan'er jumping into the river and chose to act bravely, many things were already destined, and good people would still be rewarded after all.

After visiting Zhou Xu, Chen Yichen returned to the public residence, so he calmed down. After all, the most important examiner had already formed a relationship. If nothing mattered, he would basically study hard and prepare for the provincial examination.

The originally planned visit to Lin Zhen’s connections was also postponed by Chen Yichen. At present, these big guys do not need to come forward in the provincial examination, and they have to pass the imperial examination by themselves before they can be used.

Another point is that it is now June, and it is less than two months before the provincial examination. With the delay in preparation before the exam, Chen Yichen does not have much time left, and he does not have enough energy to run these networks of connections.

More than a month is not long or short. During this period, Chen Yichen, except for occasionally visiting Zhou Xu's mansion, basically studied in the Gong Mansion to improve his knowledge as much as possible.

Because in addition to the necessary Four Books and Five Classics for the provincial examination, it also requires poetry, essays and policy discussions.

Poetry and essays are not new things. Chen Yichen can barely keep up with his level now, and at least it will not become an obvious shortcoming in the imperial examination. As for policy theory, Chen Yichen has not studied it before, but seriously, it cannot be called a shortcoming.

The reason is that policy theory mainly focuses on classics, history, current affairs, politics, etc., and does not have strict stylistic restrictions like the eight-legged essay, which allows candidates to have a little room for freedom to play.

The most important point is that the policy theory is very similar to the "essay" form of later generations. Chen Yichen is very experienced in this way of answering. The only thing he pays attention to is the content of his answering questions to prevent being interfered with by later generations' thinking and writing things that violate taboos.

Time came so far on the ninth day of the eighth month, the day of autumn examination.

Almost in the second half of the night, Chen Yichen had already finished washing up, sorted out the necessary examination equipment, and prepared to take the Gongfu carriage to Shuntian Gongyuan.

Before leaving, A Niu was sent to the gate of the public mansion. He originally wanted to accompany Chen Yichen, but this idea was completely rejected by Chen Yichen.

Just kidding, I didn’t have someone to accompany the boy to try it, but now I’m already familiar with it. Are you that vulnerable?

There were a total of fifteen provincial examination tribute colleges in the Ming Dynasty, among which Shuntian and Jiangnan, the two capitals, were extremely large in scale and could accommodate tens of thousands of people for examinations at peak times.

The stars were shining brightly, accompanied by the light of torches and candles, and scholars from all walks of life rushed towards the direction of Shuntian Gongyuan like rivers rushing into the direction of Shuntian Gongyuan. Soon the carriage was blocked and unable to move, so Chen Yichen had to get off the car and walk.

Following the crowd of people taking the exam and walking for about half a moment, Chen Yichen came to the square in front of Shuntian Gongyuan.

When Chen Yichen truly came here, he felt what it means to be a vast sea of ​​people. The entire square in front was densely filled with scholars taking the exam. In addition, they mentioned the high-legged lanterns, which were simply shining with the stars in the sky.

This is probably close to ten thousand people...

Chen Yichen couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. Although the boy exams were over three exams, it was estimated that there were 7,000 or 8,000 people. But that was the total number of people who went to and stayed, and the highest was only 2,000 or 3,000 people.

This time it is a unified examination with nearly 10,000 people. The impact brought by such a scale is naturally incomparable.

Before the Ming Dynasty, there was no pre-examination for the provincial examination. In theory, as long as there were scholars with fame and fortune, they could register for reference. Therefore, this led to the scholars who failed several times in the past to register for reference countless times until they were awarded.

In addition, in the early and middle stages of the unified dynasty, most of them were in the upward development stage, and the number of scholars also increased simultaneously. With the addition of the two, more and more candidates in the provincial examination were taken, and finally, they reached a scale of nearly 10,000 people today.

It is precisely because the number of examiners is too large, and the Ming Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty issued an order in the ninth year of Zhengtong that all candidates must take the pre-examination, and the candidates shall be selected by the candidates for the examination, and only those who pass the examination will be allowed to participate in the provincial examination.

Only by selecting pre-exam, the number of people in the provincial examination was reduced. However, Chen Yichen happened to encounter the last provincial examination before the pre-exam was executed, and he could see such a grand occasion today.

Not only Chen Yichen felt emotion, some of the students who came later were also shocked when they looked at the crowd in the square.

"My mother, there are too many people, I deserve to be the tribute court of the two capitals."

Obviously, this is also a new scholar. He has participated in the provincial examination for the first time. He has never seen a big scene like Chen Yichen.

"So many students take the exam, I wonder how many people will be able to win the exam in the end."

After hearing this, someone next to him echoed in a sigh.

It seems very lively at this time, but after the exam, how many people are happy and how many are worried?

"One ten is not saved."

An old scholar with white hair replied with a little sadness.

In fact, if one is not ten or one is still high, the admission rate is still high. According to the statistics that Chen Yichen saw from later generations, the admission rate of the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was about 4%.

In other words, only four of them can win the final exam and laugh to the end.

"well……"

This sentence is not one out of ten, which makes the students who were already a little excited and excited, and some even sigh.

Everyone wants to be able to leap on the dragon gate. In fact, most of the enthusiastic scholars today will become foils.

As the sky gradually became brighter, the time for the provincial examination was about to come. At this time, the gongs and drums were loud, and a yamen runner shouted loudly: "The official in the outer curtain has arrived, and all the students will avoid it!"

A group of yamen runners flocked to the distance, and drank the waiting students in the square and opened up a main road.

At the same time, behind these group of road-breaking yamen runners, a row of yamen runners appeared. In addition to their regular quietness and avoidance, there were more than a dozen official digits, and the scene was very grand.

The yamen runners raised the sign from far to near, and Chen Yichen then saw clearly the words on the official throne, including Shuntian Prefecture, the Censor of the Supervisor, the Five Army Governor's Office and other officials of different levels. They will jointly act as the outer curtain officers of the Shuntian Provincial Examination.

The officials walked by the reference student with high expectations and looked at these majestic postures, and many people showed envy in their eyes.

If you pass the scholar, you can become a scholar-official class. Only by passing the imperial examination can you be qualified to become an official and become a ruling class.

If you want to be as majestic as them, you have to look at the exam in just a few days in the future.

As the outer curtain invigilator arrived, the dragon gate of Shuntian Gongyuan opened, and the candidates began to undergo inspection and enter the venue.

The inspection of the provincial examination is several times stricter than that of the boy examination. Except for the fact that the printed straw rolls, regular rolls and pens and inkstones are allowed to be carried, the piece of paper is not allowed to be brought in at all.

In addition, the body search is absolutely strict. You take off your clothes on your own initiative, hold a pen and inkstone in your left hand, and hold your clothes and socks in your right hand, and stand in line in the corridor waiting for the name.

Only by clicking your name can you walk to the inspector and search by two military inspectors. The whole process often takes several hours. Many candidates have already been trembling with cold, and they can't stand it even if they are not in good health.

At the same time, many onlookers appeared outside the Shuntian Gongyuan.

They appeared either to see anything else, or to see the white pigs of the scholars after taking off their clothes. After all, this group of scholars usually pays attention to etiquette, and such a humiliating scene can't be seen.

Compared with the test of Yingtian Tongzi, although Chen Yichen's poems were passed down to the capital, no one knew about his appearance, so this time he was mixed in the crowd without any slightest eye.

Until the military service was called out, the three words "Chen Yichen" were called out, which attracted a lot of people to look at each other. Many people muttered in their hearts, could this Chen Yichen be the Chen Yichen who wrote poems such as "Linjiangxian" in Yingtianfu?
Chapter completed!