The general examination adopts an anonymous system, so before the ranking is determined, no one knows which province and who the candidates in the ranking are from.

Only after the ranking is determined, the officials of the Ministry of Rites will unravel the names when they transcribe together.

Although the ranking in the general examination is important, there is still the possibility of change, because the final palace examination is the key, whether it is first, second, or third, it depends on how well it performs in the palace examination.

The people in the Ministry of Rituals did not expect that the Huiyuan this time was a female candidate. After handing over the papers according to the rules, they did not see any instructions from the Holy Spirit, so they directly posted the list according to the usual practice in previous years.

The two little maids went back to the mansion chirping like a magpie entering the door.

"Miss, Ms. Qiu has won, won the first place." Guan Zi rushed to the front and was the first to announce the good news.

"Miss, great, you are Huiyuan." Lu Yao followed closely, not to be outdone.

Qin Chu smiled immediately, and stood up proudly: "Xiang, everyone's monthly money will be doubled this month, and the jar will still be tripled."

The little girl was beaten a few days ago, and the swelling on her face disappeared. She needs to be rewarded. This family cannot do without the pot.

Qiu Jinning smiled, and asked the two little maids: "Did my eldest brother win?" They are brother and sister after all, and parents must hope that the eldest brother can also be named in the gold list.

The jar was taken aback, "Master Qiu?"She forgot to look, and when she saw that Qiu Jinning was the first name, she ran back happily, so she couldn't care less about finding someone else's name.

Lu Yao walked up to her young lady, glanced at the fat servant girl in a faintly complacent manner, and then replied: "The Eldest Young Master also won, ranking seventh."

Look, she is still reliable, she can think of everything, much better than the fat maid.

Qiu Jinning nodded: "Lvyao is considerate and considerate, and this month's monthly payment has also tripled."

"Yes, yes, yes, all are rewarded, and the reward for the green medicine is also from me." Qin Chu hurriedly took the words, seeing that Qiu Jinning did not object, the corners of his mouth turned up even more.

Lu Yao glanced at the jar proudly again, it's not certain who will be the future big housekeeper, she doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the fat maid, she also wants to hold grudges, hmph.

Qin Chu didn't know about the rivalry between the two little maids, so he sent them to report to Anguo County Lord's Mansion.

Qiu Jinning added: "Just go to Anguo Princess's mansion for the jar, and go to my eldest brother for the green medicine."

Speaking of this, she glanced at Qin Chu, and then told Lu Yao: "If the members of the Gu family are with eldest brother, you should come back earlier, and don't talk to others."

Now that the Gu family has lost the support of the second prince, Qiu Shou'an is the only one who can talk in the capital. If they know that she and the elder brother are both on the list, as long as they are smart, they will climb up and grasp the in-law relationship with the Qiu family.

When Lu Yao heard it, she couldn't help but think of Gu San, and the jar that Gu San beat into a pig's head a few days ago, and she was inexplicably terrified: "Miss, this servant will accompany the jar to the Princess Anguo's mansion first, and then go with herFind the young master."

Although Gu San doesn't necessarily hit her, but in case she can't handle the fight, it's safer to bring the fat maid with her.

If there is a fight, then let the fat servant girl block first, so that she can come back and call someone.

Do it with the fat maid?

That's impossible. She can't beat people, and staying is a hindrance. It's a smart person to find help quickly when she comes back.

Lu Yao was thinking carefully, and looked at Guan Zi softly: "Sister Guan Zi, what do you think?"

Guan Zi did not suspect him, and responded on the spot: "Sure, let's go together."

The thin maid must have never seen a big scene, she wanted to go to Anguo Princess's mansion to gain knowledge, so she said that she is capable of doing big things.

Seeing the two little maids leaving the door in a spirit of discussion, Qiu Jinning looked at Qin Chu: "It stands to reason that after the Ministry of Rites transcribes the rankings, they will submit them to the Queen for review. I am confident that I will be among the best, but I never thought I would win the first place."name."

After all, the second prince was demoted twice, which was more or less related to her. It was rumored that the empress valued the second prince the most, and she even acquiesced in the ranking of this meeting.

Is that wise and virtuous Queen truly selfless?

Qiu Jinning even had a strong premonition that the empress would most likely choose her as the champion.

This premonition came for no reason and was unreasonable, which made her feel uneasy.

Qin Chu was also a little uneasy, but he still put his arms around Qiu Jinning's shoulders to comfort him: "Don't worry too much, your Huiyuan is worthy of the name, it's because of your strength, if the empress should not interfere."

Soon, the news that Xie Yuan, a woman from Jiuqu County, had won Hui Yuan spread all over the streets and alleys.

At the same time, there was also the old story that the second prince who was demoted had a sexual desire and almost killed the female Huiyuan.

Naturally, the handwriting of the eldest prince and the third prince is indispensable. The second prince has always been favored by the empress, even if they are reduced to a useless uncle, they cannot completely settle down.

The only way to do this is to nail the second child to the pillar of shame so that he will never stand up again.

In Xicheng, Qiu Shouan looked at the brothers and sisters of the Gu family who came to Daoxi, with a smile on his face, but a chill in his heart. After all, he was still no better than his younger sister...

When he saw two little maids coming to the door to congratulate him, the smile on his face disappeared, and he just felt that he had lost face, lost to his little sister, and lost to a female class.

Is the little girl showing off to her?

Qiu Shouan calmed down, and said lightly: "Thank you for your concern, little sister, the next thing is the imperial examination, you tell her to be careful."

He still has a chance!

As soon as Gu San saw the pot, he wanted to tear the face of this lowly servant girl, but the young master Gu grabbed her sleeve in time: "Congratulations, Ms. Qiu, we brothers and sisters will definitely come to congratulate me someday."

Lu Yao responded lightly, glanced at Gu San with a dark complexion, called for the jar, and hurried away.

It was too scary, she was really afraid that Gu San couldn't help but jump over and hit someone again.

Seeing them leave, Gu San couldn't help but said: "Brother, what are you doing to stop me, look at that lowly servant girl, I feel unhappy when I see her."

Eldest Young Master Gu glanced at Qiu Shou'an, who was thinking silently, and said in a low voice: "Why are you so angry with a lowly maidservant? If you can't bear it, you will make a big conspiracy. The second prince is no longer reliable."

In other words, Gu San is no longer the concubine of the palace, and now the Gu family can only rely on the Qiu family, so how can there be troubles because of a maid.

Qiu Shouan glanced at the Gu brothers and sisters, and pointed out: "You are the in-laws of our Qiu family, you should go to congratulate and spend more time with my younger sister, so as to remind her to prepare for the imperial examination with peace of mind."

Young Master Gu's heart skipped a beat, he stared at Qiu Shou'an and smiled: "That's the reason, my brother-in-law is right, I'll take my third sister to congratulate me, I must remind Miss Qiu to prepare for the exam."

Qiu Shouan and Qiu Jinning are at odds. He has already seen some clues. The Qiu family has always looked down on the Gu family.Under Qiu Shouan's implicit instruction.

It's a pity that he was shrewd, but he couldn't even get in the Qin residence.

After being rejected several times, what greeted them was no longer a polite servant of the Qin family, but a fat maid holding a big stick.

"You guys with the surname Gu don't understand human language? Miss Qiu has to concentrate on preparing for the exam. She won't see any visitors before the palace exam. If you add trouble, be careful I'll hit someone."

After the jar finished speaking, he deliberately waved the wooden stick in his hand.

The young lady ordered that people from the Gu family come and drive one by one, and never let them disturb Miss Qiu.

She got orders from her master this time, no matter how ignorant these people are, they will fight directly, and they will not be merciless.

Eldest Young Master Gu came alone this time, it's true that Third Sister can't hold her breath every time she comes, and she always talks too quickly with a lowly maidservant, which will only cause trouble.

He smiled and said politely: "My eldest sister is Ms. Qiu's eldest sister-in-law, and I can be considered her half-brother. This visit is to congratulate her on winning the membership. Please ask Ms. Qiu to meet her. I will pass on the wordCome and go."

The jar pointed at Young Master Gu with a wooden stick, and said with disdain: "Qin Mo was the eldest brother who came to the Qin Manor last time, and then he was kicked out of the capital after his leg was broken.Don't blame me for being rude."

What are you pretending, these people don't have any kind intentions, no matter how much they talk, she's really going to do it.

Young Master Gu thought of Qin Mo's fate, and the smile on his face couldn't hold back. He glanced at the gate of the Qin Mansion unwillingly, and left with a wave of his sleeves.

He never expected that the resistance to seeing Qiu Jinning would be Qin Chu's idiot maid, he is really a scholar who meets a soldier, full of reason and can't explain clearly.

Seeing that he had gone away knowingly, Guan Zi turned around and went back to the mansion, and went to ask the young lady for credit.

With her, the future big housekeeper, guarding the gate, no ghosts or ghosts can come in.

A few days later, in mid-March, everything recovered, spring returned to the earth, and the day of the palace examination arrived.

There are twenty-one prefectures and one autonomous prefecture in Baiyue. There are more than 400 candidates from each prefecture who participated in the examination this year, and only a hundred people won the list.

The location of the palace examination is set in the Hall of Supreme Harmony next to the Golden Luan Hall.

The golden-armored guards lined up from the outside to the inside, and one hundred candidates took their seats on time from front to back according to the exam rankings, and the exam started.

Sitting on the dragon chair in the center of the hall, Empress Zhou Xie swept her gaze across the candidates, and finally landed on the first person from the left in the first row.

Qiu Jinning sat upright, answering the questions quietly, stopping to think about it from time to time.

The palace examination is different from ordinary examinations. It takes several days to test everything from posting scriptures to ink meanings to poetry and songs.

The time for the palace examination is only one hour, and only strategy theory is tested.

When wrote the final part, a shadow fell on the examination paper.

Qiu Jinning squeezed the pen slightly harder, and continued to write with concentration. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the corner of the bright yellow dragon robe in front of the table, her expression unchanged.

The queen stood in front of her, raised her feet and continued to walk back. Two examinees were mentally weak and stained the test paper with a shake of their hands. Before they knelt down and apologized, they were directly dragged out by the golden armored guards covering their mouths.

Everyone knew that two people were missing from the list of the top three in the palace examination, and there were only ninety-eight people left.

The empress returned to the dragon chair after walking around, and saw that Qiu Jinning had finished writing, her expression was calm, her eyes were calmly looking ahead, her gaze was neither offensive nor panic, she was able to hold her breath.

She looked at Geng Xiang at the side, one stick of incense lasted for half an hour, and now the second stick of incense is half burned.

When the palace examination was about to end, the empress left the Hall of Supreme Harmony ahead of time, and went to the imperial study to look through the memorials, while waiting for the results of the examination papers from the Ministry of Rites.

Yijia only takes the top three places, namely: No. 1 Scholar, No. 2, and Tan Hua.

After the rankings of the second and third grades are set by the Ministry of Rites, there will be almost no changes, while the rankings of the first grades will be drawn up by the emperor himself.

In order to let the empress have more choices, the Ministry of Rites usually presents seven answer sheets, and the empress chooses three of them as first-class, and the other four will automatically fall into the second-class rank.

As soon as the palace examination was over, the officials of the Ministry of Rituals began to review it intensively.

The results of the palace examination and the results of the general examination have not changed in any way. The seven test papers presented are exactly the first seven of this general examination.

In the evening, seven test papers were sent to the table in the imperial study.

The queen read several answer sheets without changing the order. When she saw Qiu Shouan at the end, she switched him with the third one.

In the palace examination, she also paid attention to Qiu Jinning's eldest brother, who will be the seventh in the examination. He has a good appearance, and he looks like he has some real talents and practical learning. It doesn't hurt to be a candidate. Since you want the beauty of an adult, it's better to send two scholars from the Qiu family.

As Qiu Jinning expected, the empress really selected her as the number one scholar, and the eldest brother unexpectedly surpassed four people in a row, ranking first, and was the first candidate in this palace examination.

After the release of the list, there will be the Qionglin Banquet, which is specially set up for new scholars.

The Qionglin banquet was held in the palace, and before Qiu Jinning entered the palace, the uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense.

After thinking over and over again, she ordered Lu Yao to sort out several pages of documents and put them in her sleeves.

"When you come back from the palace, let's set a date for getting married." Qin Chu stood outside the gate of the mansion and saw her off with a smile.

Qiu Jinning pursed her lips and nodded lightly, temporarily hiding the sadness in her eyes.

Watching the carriage go all the way towards the imperial street, the smile on Qin Chu's face suddenly disappeared, replaced by worry, and his brows were furrowed.

"Miss, what are you worried about? Isn't it a good thing that Ms. Qiu won the number one prize?" Guan Zi looked at his young lady's frowning expression, puzzled.

Could it be that he was worried that Ms. Qiu would look down on the Qin family if she became the number one scholar?Miss Qiu is not like that kind of person.

Qin Chu sighed: "I only hope that her trip will be safe and smooth, so that it can be called a good thing."

Since the results of the palace examination were announced, Qiu Jinning's worries these past few days have been seen in her eyes and kept in the bottom of her heart, and it will only show on her face when she leaves.

It's hard to guess what the empress is thinking, whether the identity of Huang Nu is good or bad, it's hard to say whether this Qionglin banquet is a good one.

Fortunately, Princess Anguo would also be present, which made Qin Chu feel more at ease. With Princess Anguo present, at least Qiu Jinning would not have to worry about his life.

Guan Zi was even more puzzled when he heard the words: "What danger is there in going to the palace? Ms. Qiu is the number one scholar, so she must be safe and sound. Don't worry about it, Ms. Qiu. Ms. Qiu will be fine."

Qin Chu shook his head and sighed: "You don't understand, follow me to Yujie and wait." Waiting for Qiu Jinning to leave the palace safely, she will be completely at ease when she sees someone.

"Speak"?