Meeting Qiu Che again, the imperial examination went smoothly.
During the palace examination in her previous life, she only relied on her years of study memory to answer the test papers in a satisfactory manner.
Although he won the first prize in the end, he was not favored by the emperor.
So much so that it took several years to get a position as an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and then he finally went to the position of Shaoqing in Dali Temple.
But in this life, Qiu Che is already an old fox who has been immersed in officialdom for ten years.
The test questions asked by the examiner were problems that she had already solved in practice eight hundred years ago, so the answers were naturally at her fingertips.
In the middle of the palace examination, the emperor arrived late, without any fanfare, but Qiu Che caught a glimpse of him when his bright yellow robe passed by him.
Qiu Che held the pen and lowered his eyes as if he was thinking about the topic, a little lost in thought.
The current emperor Li Shi is in his prime, but the Queen Mother was regent in the early years. The emperor only regained power after the Xuanyin coup three years ago and is eager to find good talents to prove his ability.
He also paid special attention to this palace examination.
Qiu Che knew that this was her chance to come forward.
She thought about the path she had taken countless times, but from her previous life to this life - enrolling her brother in school was always the only thing she did not regret, and it was also the most correct choice she had ever made.
Only by walking out of the Qiu family and moving to a high and powerful place can we get rid of the current predicament where everyone can step on her.
The imperial examination was her biggest opportunity.
Qiu Che was the first to write. The huge Baohe Hall was silent, and you could hear the needle drop as the pen and ink settled.
Emperor Li Shi stood at the back of the palace. When he heard the sound, he turned his eyes. He paused at the young, handsome and winning face of the scholar. He raised his hand to call his personal eunuch Fuzi, and asked in a low voice: "Who is that?"
Fuzi looked up and glanced up. , and responded in a low voice: "The name is Qiu Che, the second young master of the Qiu family. He is the Huiyuan who won the last examination."
The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly: "From the Qiu family? Which Qiu family?"
Fuzi bent at the waist. A little lower: "It's... it should be the Qiu family from three years ago."
The emperor said no more.
Fuzi took a sneak peek and saw that the emperor's initially interested expression suddenly turned dull.
He sighed secretly and thought, what a pity.
After the palace examination, the roll call will not be released until the third day.
After walking out of the palace, the atmosphere among the candidates relaxed. Qiu Che heard someone whisper: "Brother Wang, who do you think will be the top scholar in this palace examination?"
"Of course it is Wu Yiqi, the young master of the Wu family, the most talented person in the capital. But he is definitely not in vain."
"I don't think so. Isn't the number one in this examination just an unknown concubine? I heard that he is from the Jiangnan Qiu family..."
"Xin Mi from a wealthy family, how can he be like you and me? Can a student from a poor family speak freely?" A scholar in blue disagreed, "It's better not to discuss this in front of the palace gate."
Everyone fell silent.
Qiu Che was walking at the front, with a leisurely and transparent posture. Hearing this, he glanced at the other person and met the man's gaze.
He smiled openly and cupped his hands, then turned and left with the scattered students.
Qiu Che pondered for a moment, weighed the few taels of silver in his pocket, and turned around to walk towards Yaxing.
Ya Po has been working in this industry for many years. When he first saw her, he knew that she was an extraordinary person. He immediately greeted her with a smile and respectfully addressed her as "Master".
Qiu Che walked around in Ya's row, and Ya's mother-in-law told her the truth. Finally, Qiu Che reached out and pointed at two girls standing in the corner, who were a little slovenly dressed but looked exactly the same: "Just these two girls."
Ya Po was stunned: "Sir, these two girls have just arrived. I'm afraid they don't understand the rules. If you don't want to look at them anymore..."
Qiu Che had already dug out his pocket and said, "No, I just want these two."
The two girls looked at each other. The elder sister took a look at Qiu Che's clothes, gritted her teeth, knelt down first, pressed her head and kowtowed, "Thank you for your appreciation, sir!"
The two girls changed into simple clothes and followed timidly. Qiu Che is out of teeth.
Qiu Che named them, one was Yuming and the other was Yuyan.
After a while, her sister Yuming couldn't help but ask: "Master, where are we going?"
Qiu Che walked in front of him casually and said: "Go back home."
Yu Yan asked her sister cautiously: "No, isn't there a carriage?"
Qiu Che looked back at them, smiled, and suddenly stopped and said, "I forgot to introduce myself to you. My surname is Qiu, and my only name is Che. You can just call me master."
"I didn't buy you just to let you . You serve me to train you."
Both sisters looked a little confused.
"You are from Puyang and are from the Su family, right or wrong?"
The two of them were stunned at the same time.
"Yes..."
Yuming stuttered and asked, "But you, how did you know?"
Qiu Che said slowly, "There was a flood in Puyang a while ago, and there were people fleeing everywhere. Your packages were made of The most inconspicuous silk thread, but it is a specialty of Puyang.
Judging from the way you behave, you are not from a poor family. You must have been a lady from a wealthy merchant family,
and now you are a merchant in Puyang . The only ones who suffered due to the flood were the Puyang Su family."
Yu Ming was stunned for a while, and then said respectfully and complicatedly: "My lord... you are really an extraordinary person."
Qiu Che still just smiled lightly and continued: " I don't have idle people, I don't need sycophants. I just need subordinates."
Yu Ming paused.
"I will give you three days. Within three days, let me see your strengths and potential."
"I will train you in the direction that suits you. The only requirement is that you stay with me for ten years and be absolutely
After ten years, itâs up to you to decide whether you want to stay or go.â Qiu
Che paused and said, âOf course, if you donât want to stay with me, just go out and work and take the ransom. Come and exchange the contract with me, and I will let you go."
Yu Yan tilted his head in confusion, and Yu Ming pursed his lips and said, "But... if we leave, for the young master, this will be a big deal. Didn't you get any benefits from the transaction and wasted a few days?"
Qiu Che was silent and smiled a little meaninglessly: "It's better to be honest about some transactions."
"How about it?" It seems that he didn't see the two. With a stunned look on her face, she said calmly, "Have you thought about it?"
After a long time, Yu Ming and Yu Yan looked at each other and nodded heavily.
...
Back to Qiu Mansion, Qiu Chudong and Qiu Zhe still haven't come back.
Qiu Che didn't care, she went back to the yard, and Yun Yan came up to her with a cheerful face. When she saw the two girls behind her, she froze again: "Master, this is..."
Yu Ming and Yu Yan both They were particularly sensitive to other people's gazes, and they invariably shrank back.
"Oh, my new maid," Qiu Che glanced at her lightly, "It happens that the laundry area in the backyard is still short of people. You don't have to wait by my side from now on. Let them do it."
"Master - - "Yun Yan's eyes widened and she said in shock, "How is this possible! I... slave, I am the master's personal maid. I gave the order personally, without the master's order..."
"What?"
Qiu Che interrupted lightly. She said, "Do you think that what I, the master, say is not as important as the master?"
"Or, have you never regarded me as the master of this Qiu Mansion?"
Yun Yan opened her mouth: "...I don't think so.
"Really?" Qiu Che smiled slightly, reached out and wiped her face with his fingertips, then twisted it again - and then said meaningfully:
"But I see you eating the powder given by the eldest son, jointly ." The plover in the second aunt's yard bullied my mother into doing laundry and cooking without telling me, the master, but she bossed her around..."
Her tone was as light as a joke: "Can this be called a no-no?"
Yun Yan said . His expression suddenly turned white.
No wonder...no wonder the young master praised her for her tenderness this morning.
It turned out that she had makeup on her face!
With the Qiu family's current financial resources, how could it be possible for a maid to use such fine rouge?
Yun Yan thought that the second young master would not notice this because he was immersed in studying and not paying attention to worldly affairs. Who would have thought that the second young master seemed to have changed in the past few days...
He was even better today.
"It doesn't matter if you're unfaithful," Qiu Che smiled at her, then looked away, and said calmly, "I'll just change it to someone who is loyal."
Yun Yan immediately knelt down, raised her head and begged for mercy, but when he touched her cold lips His eyes suddenly stopped and his hands froze in mid-air.
After Yunyan left in despair, the Yuming sisters looked at each other silently, and their postures became more cautious.
...
Two days later, on the day of roll call, the emperor sat on the dragon chair in the palace. The palace examiners and other ministers were lined up in the palace, while the new Jinshi and other ministers were waiting outside the palace.
Qiu Che was among them.
As expected, she won the top prize.
After answering the questions about her place of origin and the names of her father and ancestors, and confirming herself, she was led into the palace.
He answered the same question again to the eunuch beside the emperor, and then waited on one side.
Qiu Che did not raise his head, but he could feel the eyes of the emperor and some ministers falling on him.
She stood as straight as a pine tree on one side, lowering her eyes to listen to the ranking of Ichia, as if she was completely unaware.
The second person on the list comes from the Qingliu Wu family and is also the grandson of the current Prime Minister Wu Rusheng, Wu Yiqi.
The object that those scholars discussed some time ago.
The third person was the scholar in blue who stopped everyone talking at the palace gate that day, named Yang Qiu.
Qiu Che glanced back with the corner of his eyes and curled his lips almost imperceptibly.
They are all old acquaintances.
After the first order finished singing, everyone accepted the decree and knelt down to thank them.
Just like in his previous life, Qiu Che took a position as a editor from the sixth-grade Hanlin Academy.
For young students who have just entered the imperial examination in high school, it is already a great favor to enter the officialdom from the sixth rank.
What's more, she is too young and doesn't even look older than Wu Yiqi, who is second in the list.
Qiu Che was unfazed by the honor and disgrace. He ignored the envious or jealous looks from around him and quietly thanked him.
The roll call and conferment of titles is just the first celebration event for new scholars after passing the imperial examination.
After that, everyone will go to the Imperial Academy to pay homage to their late master Confucius, attend wedding banquets, etc...
Of course, the most important and most beautiful thing is to parade astride a horse.
As the number one scholar this year, Qiu Che even enjoyed the seven-poster Jinwu Guard that only the emperor was qualified to use to guide the way.
But this was something she had done once in her memory ten years ago.
At that time, she was young at heart, and pedestrians on both sides of the road flocked to look at her because of her youthful beauty and outstanding grace. They threw fruit into their cars and covered themselves with flowers.
What a sight.
But at that time, Qiu Che was determined to prove himself to his father and brother. Now, Qiu Che has been enlightened after dying once.
Playing horses and parading through the streets, I passed by the excited faces of pedestrians and the lively street scenes, but I only felt ridiculed.
If a person does not live for himself when he is young, he will be a boy in vain.
Today's streets in the capital were particularly lively and bustling with people. Qiu Che calmly passed the purses thrown by some bold women and suddenly noticed something.
She raised her head as if she was feeling something, and looked toward the attic.
A familiar yet unfamiliar figure came into view.