The first year of Wuchang.
April 25th.
The first provincial examination of the new dynasty unveils its list.
The top of the list, Xu Qingnian, is not controversial, his writings are superb, and it would only be controversial if he did not get the first place.
And at this moment.
In the Li residence.
Xu Qingnian looked at the list sent by Li Xin and was silent.
“Brother Xu, this time, you are the top of the list of the Great Wei, and I, Wang Ru and Brother Chen, have all won, and a total of thirty-five people from the Southern Yu Province have pa*sed the provincial examination this time, breaking previous records, and now they all say that it is because of the influence of Brother Xu’s literary spirit.”
Li Xin was somewhat delighted.
It was naturally a good thing that he had pa*sed the provincial examinations for the first time.
Moreover, in the past, it was considered good for the South Yufu to pa*s ten people in the provincial examination, this time there were thirty-five people who pa*sed, and the whole South Yufu was rumoured that Xu Qingnian was the star of literature coming down to earth, influencing the literary qi of the literati.
Looking at the long list, Xu Qingnian did not show any joy.
He wrote to Wan An Guo every day for the past four days, and the envelopes all contained apologies.
He was reluctant to give up on Yang Bao and Yang Hu, for no other reason than it was his way of life.
Xu Qingnian considers himself not a saintly B*tch, there are too many injustices in the world, there are also too many grievances, if you see a lament Xu Qingnian will, but let him help, Xu Qingnian basically will not help.
But if the person suffering is his own family and friends, or if he is suffering because of himself, Xu Qingnian will never be indifferent.
In the past four days, although Xu Qingnian had been thinking of solutions, he had also been reading sage books.
He had read hundreds of books on Zhu Sheng, ideas, quotes, aphorisms, stories, all sorts of books Xu Qingnian had read.
In the past four days, Xu Qingnian was clarifying the meaning.
He tried hard to find out if there was anything in Zhu Sheng’s meaning that resonated with him.
Unfortunately, although the Sacred Will was good, it was not his own will.
It is a way to preserve heavenly truth and destroy human desire.
Zhu Sheng, setting the framework for the world, for morality, for the literati, for everything in the world.
But what Xu Qingnian dislikes most is the framework.
In life, there are not that many constraints.
Therefore, this path is not suitable for him.
His own gentlemanly intentions.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with Zhu Sheng.
“Could it be that we really have to go this far?”
Xu Qingnian withdrew his gaze as he looked up at the firmament, watching the bright star river, and fell into silence for a moment.
The Gentleman’s Establishment.
It is the most crucial thing in the seven grades of Confucianism.
If you cannot follow your heart to set your intention, then even if you set your intention, you will not be able to step into the seventh grade.
This is because you have not followed your heart.
Originally, Xu Qingnian did not want to set his intention so quickly, it was fine to understand it first and delay it for a while.
But because of this incident, Xu Qingnian had looked at the Sage’s Will in advance.
Once he had read it, it was not that he could clarify his own intention.
Rather, it is that one can know whether one is suitable or not.
The answer was obvious.
Not suitable.
Since he was not suitable, he could not take the Will of the Sage of Zhu. If he did not take the Will of the Sage of Zhu, there were two paths at hand.
Either one can go upwards and seek the will of other saints, or one can set one’s own will.
All other saints’ intentions are for the sake of the people and the world, and they are not suitable for oneself.
In the final analysis, Xu Qingnian has already understood his own intention.
[Knowledge and Action].
But this intention is not a matter of making it first in secret, and when you become a powerful minister and a great Confucian, you can promote it later.
But nowadays, Xu Qingnian is caught in a dilemma.
If he did not say what he wanted, Yang Bao and Yang Hu would be sent thousands of miles away for a lifetime of hard labour.
If he does, he will be the enemy of the world, and there will be no place for him in the literary world.
This Yang plot is really ruthless. It is worthy of a great Confucian, but such a small matter can force him to such a point.
It seems that he is still a bit young.
Xu Qingnian sighed, this incident had made him remember and understand one thing more.
There are no fools in this world, especially those with fame and status, to that extent, if they don’t have a brain then it’s an act.
“Brother Li, when will the building banquet start?”
Xu Qingnian withdrew his mind as he asked Li Xin.
“Back to Brother Li, it’s going to open in an hour, so it’s just right to go now.”
Li Xin replied.
“En, let’s go then.”
Xu Qingnian nodded his head.
Right now, the only chance to meet with Wan Anguo and Yan Lei was this building banquet.
To fight or not to fight.
One had to go to the banquet.
The South Yufu House Banquet was set up for lunch and dinner.
The process is also very simple, meeting at noon, then talking together about some national events, each presenting a few scandals and complimenting each other.
The evening banquet is all about having fun with the people, and when the people get together, they still praise each other and give the banquet a name, and then it’s over.
Today, however, was a little different.
What had happened at Nan Yu House had long since spread throughout Changping County, and the people all knew that the incident was a misunderstanding, and that Xu Qingnian belonged to those who had been dragged into it.
Some people thought that Xu Qingnian indeed did not need help, after all, it affected his career.
There were also those who believed that this matter started for Xu Qingnian anyway, so Xu Qingnian should help.
The two different opinions, which created a disagreement, naturally made the topic extremely hot.
Xu Qingnian walked out of the Li mansion, and it just so happened that both Wang Ru and Chen Xinghe were also outside the mansion.
“Greetings, senior brother.”
When he saw Chen Xinghe again, Xu Qingnian remained respectful and did not overstep his bounds in any way.
“Senior brother is polite.”
Chen Xinghe seemed to have adjusted as he nodded as usual.
He immediately proceeded to walk alongside Xu Qingnian.
As the four of them walked towards the South Yufu House Banquet, Chen Xinghe’s voice slowly rang out.
“Senior brother, senior brother already knows about what happened these days.”
“This matter, the cause is not on you, it is a misunderstanding, but although it is a misunderstanding, but the law is merciless, the sage’s will must not be disobeyed.”
“If you listen to a word from senior brother, today’s building banquet, get drunk and forget it, senior brother and the students of Tianming Academy do know each other.”
“I’ll put in some good words for you, it’s better to settle grievances than to make a connection, you are now first in the government exams, your future prospects are promising, don’t let this affect you.”
Chen Xinghe’s voice was very calm.
His gaze was directed towards the front, seemingly with no intention to discourage, but the meaning of his words was that he hoped Xu Qingnian would not let some ordinary people affect his career path.
“Senior brother’s teachings, senior brother understands.”
Xu Qingnian replied calmly, he knew that his senior brother was doing it for his own good.
“En, I won’t say much else senior brother, you and I haven’t seen each other for some days, we will have a drink together later, it’s also a celebration of the result of the House Examination.”
“By the way, have you prepared any poems for this trip to the House Banquet?”
Chen Xinghe did not continue talking about this topic anymore, but asked Xu Qingnian if she had prepared any poems for the House Banquet.
“No.”
Xu Qingnian shook his head, he didn’t have the heart to prepare this.
“Oh.”
Hearing this answer, Chen Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been invited to the South Yufu House Banquet long ago, and now he was preparing a poem to offer up a few words at the House Banquet later.
However, after the previous lessons, if Xu Qingnian had prepared something, he would not have made a fool of himself.
But if Xu Qingnian had not prepared, he would have made a fool of himself.
The four of them walked.
The streets were, for some reason, a little colder than usual.
There were still glances, but there was something strange in them.
The people whispered and wondered who they were.
However, just then, a figure came before Xu Qingnian, a woman who was holding a young child, kneeling on the ground and howling loudly.
“I implore Mr Xu to save my husband.”
“My husband, the other day, only took a glance from afar, but he was arrested by the officials and sent to jail, saying that he would be sent to a thousand miles.”
“Mr. Xu, my husband is hardworking, honest and would never break the law.
The cries rang out.
It was a bit abrupt in the middle of the street.
The woman was kneeling in front of her, and the two children were crying at a loss, perhaps because they had seen their mother crying, or perhaps because they had not seen their father for days, and were crying loudly.
At this moment, Xu Qingnian was a little frozen.
He did not know what to say.
Nor did he know how to reply.
“This lady, the government is investigating this matter thoroughly, what is your husband’s name? I am the son of the Prefect, after the building feast, I will make a trip to the main prison to investigate thoroughly, if your husband is really just watching from afar, he will definitely be fine.”
Li Xin was the first to react.
He pulled the woman up, and then tried to explain.
It was a bad influence to have so many people watching in broad daylight.
Li Xin gave Wang Ru a look.
The latter immediately pulled Xu Qingnian towards the front and continued walking, and Chen Xinghe only sighed slightly.
Now this matter was becoming more and more intense.
What was behind it, some people knew, but most people did not.
On the streets, the people’s gazes once again became complicated.
Xu Qingnian was silent.
He did not say a word.
His thoughts were also in disarray.
It was true that this matter had nothing to do with himself.
But in the end, it was because of himself.
And it was because of the matter of the establishment of the will that it was followed up, otherwise, it would only be ten years of imprisonment until death.
The three of them went on their way.
About an incense stick later.
Li Xin arrived, he did not say a word and had already had the woman from the party settled down.
He wanted to comfort Xu Qingnian with a word or two, roughly that it had nothing to do with him, Xu Qingnian.
Only before the words came out, Wang Ru gave him a look and for a moment Li Xin was silent.
All four of them had some silence.
Eventually, the four of them arrived at the South Yu Building Pavilion.
The whole new building, there is a full twenty Yu feet, the whole building pavilion covers an area of fifty acres, leaving aside the main building, there are quite a few other buildings.
And the entrance to the South Yu Pavilion.
It was already overcrowded.
“For this building banquet, a total of eight hundred people are invited, three hundred of them are inside the building, and the remaining five hundred are using the banquet outside the building.”
“At the time of the banquet, the square inside is open to the people and can accommodate tens of thousands of people to watch the fireworks here.”
Coming into the pavilion, Li Xin explained for the three of them.
At the same time, many eyes fell on Xu Qingnian and the four of them.
“Look, that’s Xu Qingnian, Xu Dacai.”
“Is that Xu Qingnian? He’s really a talented man.”
“Is this the one who wrote the superb article?”
“He looks so talented.”
Many people noticed Xu Qingnian, which instantly led to whispers, and some even came straight away, wanting to climb up.
Only, out of the blue, another clamour rang out.
By some coincidence, people from the Tianming Academy had also come.
