As dusk approached, it finally started to rain heavily in the capital. Pedestrians on the streets ran home, and there were soon fewer figures on the road.

A carriage was dragging a coffin, with oil paper on it to prevent it from being wet by the rain. There were two people sitting in front of the carriage, an old man and a young man. Neither of them held an umbrella and let the rain wet their bodies. The boy kept sobbing, not knowing whether it was rain or tears that had fallen from his eyes. The old man's eyes were slightly red, and he didn't know whether he was crying.

The carriage walked towards the direction of the south gate to leave the city. Jiang Xia, Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin and Zhang Yong were wearing casual clothes and watching the carriage leave. The body lying in the coffin dragged by the carriage was Zhu Youzhi, the king of Xingxian. He walked into the capital from the south gate a few days ago, but when he left, he turned into a cold corpse. Fate was invariable, who could really grasp it?

Seeing the carriage gradually disappearing into the rain, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh: "Everyone in the world says that the emperor's uncle is loyal, honest and honest, and has no ambitions, but who knows that he is actually resourceful and skilled in calculating? Fortunately, you, brother, help me apart from him this time, otherwise it will be a disaster in the world."

"Your is really so thankful to me?" Jiang Xia suddenly looked at Zhu Houzhao and asked.

Zhu Houzhao immediately became alert. He took a step back, and Zhang Yong, who helped him hold an umbrella, also took a step back. Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Thank you very much."

Jiang Xia smiled and stretched out his hand and said, "Then tell me what the palace exam questions you will take in three days?"

Zhu Houzhao also smiled, then crossed his face and said, "You will know in three days." After that, Zhu Houzhao said loudly, "Set up and return to the palace!"

"Set back to the palace!" Zhang Yong screamed, and two teams of Jinyiwei ran out of the rain. A luxurious and exquisite carriage pulled by three maroon-red tall horses was sandwiched between the two teams of Jinyiwei. Zhu Houzhao and Zhang Yong walked towards the carriage together, and Jiang Xia shouted behind him: "I don't care. If I am not the top scholar, I will not write the eleventh chapter of "Jin Ping Mei".

Zhu Houzhao's steps paused for a moment, but he still refused to ignore Jiang Xia and continued to walk. Jiang Xia continued: "I tell Chunmei that you have peeked at her taking a shower!"

Zhu Houzhao paused again. This time he stopped a little longer than the last time. But in the end he still took a firm step.

Jiang Xia shook his head and whispered: "You forced me to use my ultimate move."

"I won't tell you there is a way to make the boy break the precepts three times!"

"What?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly screamed and jumped up. He immediately turned around and ran towards Jiang Xia and said, "Oh, good brother, my good brother. You are handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome, and majestic. In the entire Ming Dynasty, no one is better than you, and no one is your opponent in terms of appearance. I, Zhu Houzhao, have the honor of being brothers with you, you are really."

"Hmph!" Jiang Xia ignored Zhu Houzhao's continuous flattery and walked away with a proud look on his face.

However, Zhu Houzhao could not give up so easily. He immediately followed Jiang Xia with a shy face and gave it to Jiang Xia one after another. Along the way, he didn't mean the top scorer, but Zhu Houzhao, the position of the chief assistant in the cabinet, swears that it must be Jiang Xia.

Zhang Yong and Liu Jin, who were following Zhu Houzhao and Jiang Xia, couldn't help looking at each other. They both wondered if they were dazzled. Is this really the current emperor and the monarch of the Ming Dynasty?

After walking for a long time, Zhu Houzhao finally stopped. He looked at Zhu Houzhao, and Zhu Houzhao immediately smiled with a flattering smile. Jiang Xia shook her head, stretched out her index finger with her right hand and hooked it, meaning that she wanted to whisper to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao immediately heard the ears, looking excited. Jiang Xia suddenly said loudly: "Silly, I lied to you. If there was really a way to break the precepts, I would have told you a long time ago."

"What?" Zhu Houzhao screamed again, and he shouted loudly: "Jiangxia, dare you deceive the emperor? Come on, let's get rid of the big deal!"

clang! clang! clang! clang two teams of Jinyiwei immediately pulled out the embroidered swords at their waists, and the Xiaosha aura rushed to Jiangxia through the rain. The Jinyiwei even took out the Zhuge serial crossbow, and the crossbow arrows were directly facing Jiangxia.

Zhu Houzhao and Jiang Xia were both startled. Then Zhu Houzhao remembered that there was still Jinyiwei here, and it was not only Liu Jin and Zhang Yong, the two people who were used to the jokes of the two of them. Zhu Houzhao immediately shouted loudly: "Stop! Whoever hurts Jiang Xia with a cold hair, will search his house and destroy the clan!"

The Jinyiwei looked at each other, and the emperor's fate changed too quickly. They were stunned for several seconds before they inserted the Xiuchun sword back into the scabbard. Xiao Sha's aura disappeared without a trace. Zhu Houzhao and Jiang Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Xia no longer dared to joke with Zhu Houzhao in public, and Zhu Houzhao did not dare to do it anymore.

Three days passed in a flash and finally the palace examination was held.

The palace examination of the Ming Dynasty was held in the Baohe Hall of the Imperial Palace. Those who went to participate in the palace examination must enter at dawn. After searching Jiang Xia and the others three times before entering the Baohe Hall. There was a Jinyiwei standing around the Baohe Hall. On the steps in front was a long case with a dragon chaise and yellow cloth. There was a small long table below the long case, which was the location of several officials from the Ministry of Rites responsible for assisting in the invigilance.

For ordinary students, the palace examination is the key to deciding whether they can jump over the dragon gate and soar into the sky. This is what it means to be a fielder in the morning and climb the emperor's hall in the evening.

Generally speaking, the questions for the palace examination were nominally issued by the emperor himself, but in fact, the Minister of Rites would usually be accompanied by the Minister of Rites and the officials of the Ministry of Personnel to discuss with the emperor.

During the last imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao did not participate in any part of the palace examination. When the imperial examination was finally appointed to the top three in the imperial examination, it was also handed over to the then cabinet chief Li Dongyang and several other cabinet ministers to discuss and complete.

But this time it was different. The question of the palace examination was personally issued by Zhu Houzhao, and he did not tell the people of the Ministry of Rites in advance. Even Jin Gui wanted to know what the question was raised by the emperor alone this time.

With such an important exam, all students will naturally not be late. After almost everyone came, officials from the Ministry of Rites began to call out and confirmed that the person had arrived, and then they began to distribute the test papers. The so-called test paper is actually a piece of rice paper, but it is specially printed on it to write the name and place of origin.

After getting the rice paper, the ritual officer of the Ministry of Rites began to sing the etiquette of ceremonies to the emperor loudly, and the first item was "Welcome to the Emperor."

The students must kneel on the ground immediately and wait for the emperor to come out of the side hall. Jiang Xia muttered in his heart, not knowing whether Zhu Houzhao did it on purpose. After kneeling for a long time, he came from the side hall and walked all the way to the dragon throne.

Zhu Houzhao swept Jiang Xia, who was kneeling in the third place on the left, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. Jiang Xia was also cursing in her heart: "Brother kneels on her, and she is hit by lightning again." However, because etiquette requires students not to look up at the sage, Jiang Xia could only lower her head.

After a while, the ritual officer continued to shout: "By."

Jiang Xia and other students kowtowed and shouted: "Long live my emperor."

Zhu Houzhao coughed lightly, then said, "Flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After the students stood up, Zhu Houzhao nodded to Choi Zhengyi, the Minister of Rites. Choi Zhengyi shouted: "Dear students."

Only then did Jiangxia and the others be able to sit down.

Then Jin Gui, the Minister of Rites, bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty, the students of the palace examination have arrived. I pray that the emperor will give the test questions for this exam."

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "As long as the report." Then the two eunuchs took out an exquisite wooden box and walked out. Jin Gui knelt on the ground and shouted, "Thank you, the emperor." Then he got up and opened the lid of the wooden box, took out a scroll from it and opened it.

The moment he opened it, Jin Gui first saw the test question first, and he was slightly stunned.

Immediately afterwards, Jin Gui handed over the test questions to two officials of the Ministry of Rites hanging them on the painted mahogany rack, and all the students saw the test questions.

The moment he saw the test question, Jiang Xia couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of saliva with a "pop".

The question of the test is "Grateful and hatred since ancient times, and it will never be dusty for thousands of years."

All the students in the hall were confused. Some students who were familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics couldn't help but whisper: "No, this is not the title of the Four Books and Five Classics. This sentence is definitely not in the Four Books and Five Classics."

Jin Gui coughed slightly, and an official from the Ministry of Rites immediately said seriously: "No noise in the hall!"

The students immediately fell silent, but Jiang Xia couldn't help but raise his head and glared at Zhu Houzhao fiercely. If he could speak, he would definitely curse: "This is a scam."

The "Gratefulness and hatred have accumulated since ancient times, and there has been no dust for thousands of years." is indeed not the sentence in the Four Books and Five Classics. Its real source is the eleventh chapter of "Jin Ping Mei". Jiang Xia really did not expect that there was such a strange emperor in the Ming Dynasty who actually used the sentences in "Jin Ping Mei" as the palace examination questions, but this question still looked similar.

When I saw this topic in the first year of junior high school, many students were helpless and had no idea. But after thinking about it, everyone understood that they could not hand over the paper. Anyway, no matter whether you are in the Four Books and Five Classics or not, I just need to use the sentences of the Four Books and Five Classics to solve the topic.

As we all know, the most important thing in the Eight-Legend Essay is the first item, to solve the topic. That is, to use a sentence from the Four Books to explain the meaning of the topic clearly.

Jiang Xia thought about it and suddenly his eyes lit up. He wrote: "What is the reward for the sage's virtue and grievance? The Master said: 'Repay with grievances with righteousness and grievances with virtue'."

With just one sentence, the topic was immediately broken by Jiang Xia, and it was cleverly broken.

The meaning of Zhu Houzhao's title is roughly about love and hatred in the world, and will not change due to the passage of time. It is a manifestation of obsessed with grudges. Jiang Xia's sentence is to repay grievances with straightforwardness and repay kindness with kindness, which just corresponds to the title, telling Zhu Houzhao how to learn from saints to deal with grievances.

If you can match Jin Pingmei with the Four Books, I'm afraid that the strange brothers Jiang Xia and Zhu Houzhao can do it.
Chapter completed!