Chapter 116

The day after the announcement of the rankings is the 'Deer Ming Banquet', in addition to the new recruits, the chief and deputy examiners, supervisors and all inner and outer curtain officials will be present.

As for why it is called the Luming Banquet, it is reported that the emperor of a certain dynasty entertained the imperial examination students with "deer" as the main imperial banquet, in order to show the greatness of the emperor's grace and the meaning of recruiting talents. The deer has always been revered as a fairy beast, and its image is a rare talent, and the emperor is the son of heaven. "Ming" means a gift from heaven, so the imperial meal where the emperor is the host and the talented guest is called "Luming Banquet".

There is another saying that deer and "lu" have the same pronunciation, which means fame and wealth, and the entry into the new department is the beginning of official career. Scholars have always been reserved and introverted, so they will be replaced by deer. All in all, this Luming Banquet is a banquet to celebrate newcomers.

It is said to be a banquet, but in fact, the banquet is not something to eat, and it is mainly a formality. First, the chief and deputy examiners brought the big and small curtain officials to pay homage to the saint, and then the new recruits gave thanks to all the examiners.

In fact, the main test is the main test, and the others are secondary.

Xue Tingxiang is dressed in a bright red Juren scarf suit, with a dogwood hairpin on the right side of the hat. Hairpins are originally a custom of Jinshi and the first rank, but in order to express joy, new recruits can also wear hairpins when they go to the Luming Banquet.

But only Xie Yuan can wear hairpins to show the difference.

A total of seventy new recruits gathered together, with Xie Yuan leading the way, followed by Yayuan, leading a group of new recruits, first saluted the chief examiner Huang Mingzhong, then the assistant examiner, and so on.

Afterwards, the banquet was held, and the "Luming" chapter in the song "The Book of Songs" can be regarded as the name of the Luming Banquet.

In the hall, there are pianos, drums and zithers, the sound of singing and dancing, and the red candles with thick and long arms illuminate the whole room like daytime.

"Our Xie Yuanlang is really a boy from a hero." An official stroked his beard and said to the people around him.

That's not exactly the case, the sixteen-year-old Master Juren is extremely rare, and he can be called a genius.

Over there, Xue Tingxiang was toasting the chief examiner.

Huang Mingzhong smiled, took the wine and drank it down, and said some words of encouragement.

It could be seen that he was in a bad mood. As for what was wrong, only he knew in his heart.

Next came Ye Ju, the deputy examiner, and Ye Ju also said some words of encouragement. When it was his turn to drink, someone interjected from the side: "Xie Yuanlang should thank Mr. Ye, if it weren't for Mr. Ye, Xie Yuan Lang can't get the title of Xie Yuan."

As soon as this person spoke, someone interrupted him: "I think you're talking nonsense because you've been drinking too much. This Xie Yuanlang is a handsome young man, and his fame is naturally within his grasp."

The man also realized his slip of the tongue, and quickly skipped the matter with a haha.

Naturally, Xue Tingxiang couldn't pretend he didn't hear it, but he couldn't ask specific questions, so he could only smile and salute Ye Ju again: "Student thank you again, Mr. Assistant Examiner."

Ye Ju supported him: "The imperial court opened a new course to select talented people. Xue Jieyuan is a talented person. It should be like this. You don't need to thank me."

Others just took it as an exaggeration, only Xue Tingxiang knew it in his mind, and it seems that he was able to win the solution, probably because of what happened during the period, and what Ye Ju did from it.

After the Lu Ming banquet was over, everyone drank a lot of wine, and fortunately there were carriages and horses to see them off, otherwise there would be news the next day, the anecdote of the new recruit so-and-so sleeping on the street.

There are a lot of anecdotes about this kind of anecdote in the past few days, most of them are that a certain candidate was frustrated in the examination room, drunk on the street, or a certain candidate was kicked out of a certain brothel because of his lack of money, and so on. If there is an anecdote about a new recruit, it will be a lot of fun.

After the Luming Banquet, there were some celebratory receptions and tea parties, which were organized by candidates or new recruits themselves, but Xue Tingxiang was in a hurry to go back to his hometown, so he didn't attend.

The people in Beilu Academy parted ways since then, those who failed to go back to the academy to study hard, hoping to come back in three years, and those who won went back to their hometown in a hurry.

The test will be in February next year, also known as Chunwei. It is now mid-September, and the journey to the capital is long. It will take at least one or two months to travel on the road, and the time to settle down in the capital is very tight. Some new recruits don't want to make a fuss, and some go directly to the capital for the examination in February next year.

However, most people still have to go back to their hometowns to settle down with their loved ones.

Because time was too late, Lin Miao didn't plan to go back to Xia County. He made an appointment with Xue Tingxiang and others to go to the capital, and then returned to Beilu Academy.

As for Xue Tingxiang, Mao Badou, Chen Jian, and Li Datian, they all took carriages and horses back to Xia County.

On this road, the journey is long, and it will take at least half a month to get home, and the four of them return home like an arrow.

*

On the way Xue Tingxiang and the others were rushing back, something happened in Yuqing Village.

Let's talk about the matter from before. Ever since Wang Dazhi and his wife found Zhao'er and the sisters and were driven away, the two never appeared again.

I also came here after that, but was driven away before entering the village.

The country people are not very particular about their speech. When they heard that they had sold their daughter, the cruel parents who wanted to drag her back and sell her again, all spat, chased and scolded her again and again. Those harsh people scolded very badly, making the two of them really poor and crazy, and went home to have a baby. Anyway, after giving birth, they would sell it, and whoever sold it would not sell it.

They scolded them until they covered their faces and fled, and they haven't been here since then.

On the other side, Xue Cuie went back to Zhao's house.

Because she was always missing these days, she said she was going out to dig wild vegetables and chop firewood, but when she went out for a day, when she came back, there were only a few wild vegetables and a few sticks of dry firewood in the basket.

This looks like going out to work? So she was scolded a lot.

Especially her daughter Diandian is only a little over one year old now, and it is the time when she is learning to walk and running around. Don't look at Hong's harsh treatment of Xue Cuie, but after all, Diandian is Zhao Jinrui's first child and Hong's first granddaughter, so he is naturally loved.

But no matter how strange the child was, she couldn't bring it here alone. Xue Cuie hadn't been seen every day for the past few days, and Hong was so busy that she hated this mother even more.

That day, Xue Cuie disappeared again early in the morning, but this time she didn't even bring a machete and a carrying basket. Hong searched around the village but couldn't find it. When she came back, she found her granddaughter's head was broken, so she cursed at her in her yard. up.

While scolding, Xue Cuie came back covering her face, looking very embarrassed, her face was blushing, people who didn't know thought she had met some bad guy.

That's what the Hong family thinks, otherwise how could it be so for no reason.

Her first reaction was not to comfort, but to ask Xue Cuie what happened to the slap marks on her face. Xue Cuie naturally wouldn't tell her what's wrong, she faltered and hawed her answer, and knew she was lying as soon as she heard it. Now Mrs. Hong was at a loss. He jumped three feet high and shouted loudly for a man and a son, saying that Xue Cuie had met a robber.

There are no robbers in this rural area, it's just bad guys.

The bad guy is naturally a man, what can happen to a woman when she meets a bad guy, but the other party wants to do something wrong and Xue Cui'e resists, that's why she is beaten like this, maybe her body is also dirty.

When Zhao Jinrui heard what his mother said, he immediately turned black and scolded: "You still have the face to come back!"

Uncle Zhao would like to ask the truth, but why is he a father-in-law who has the guts to ask the truth about this kind of thing, he can only listen to the mother-in-law and son scolding each other, so the reason why Xue Cuie became like this is due to It was because she was raped by bad guys.

Of course, there is also the contribution of the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law of the Zhao family.

The Hong family is filling the house, and the two have always hated the old hag for making their father-in-law treat their first two sons badly every day, and they also made things difficult for their two daughters-in-law. Now it's the turn of these two people to watch the excitement of the Hong family, so naturally they can't help fanning the flames and adding fuel to the scene.

Xue Cuie opened her mouth four times, even if she wanted to tell the truth now, she couldn't explain it clearly. As soon as she said that she was going back to her mother's house, someone blocked her back, saying that she was deceiving on purpose.

Here, Zhao Jinrui became angrier the more he listened, and he grabbed Xue Cuie and went back to the house and beat him up.

Diandian cried hoarsely, and the Zhao family was in turmoil. Some villagers heard the news and came to ask. Under the publicity of the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law of the Zhao family, Xue Cuie's loss of virginity was spread throughout the village.

In the end, Xue Cui'e couldn't argue with anything, and was beaten to death by Zhao Jinrui. As soon as Zhao Jinrui came out of the house, Mrs. Hong said: "Stop her, you must!"

In fact, at this time, the Zhao family also knew that they had misunderstood, but the Hong family hated Xue Cuie, and now they made such a fuss again. It is easy to spread rumors, but difficult to explain clearly. If Xue Cuie is really left at home, Zhao Jinrui will become a green cloud in the eyes of outsiders.

However, the Zhao family was very smart, and they asked Xue Cuie to stay at home to heal her injuries before sending her back to Xue's family.

When Mrs. Zhao heard that her daughter was divorced by her natal family, she fainted on the spot.

A group of people in the Xue family turned their backs and invited a doctor to treat Zhao. After Zhao woke up, she faced the fact that her daughter was divorced. The Zhao family firmly insisted that Xue Cuie was raped, so they had to divorce her. During the period, the Xue Qingbai brothers almost fought with the two sons of the Zhao family, but fortunately they were stopped by the two elders.

The two families sat down and discussed the matter. Even if Mr. Xue testified that his daughter did come back, and the slap marks on her face were slapped by him, the Zhao family's attitude of divorcing his wife is also very firm.

However, Uncle Zhao also spoke soft words and expressed his difficulties, but what he said was taught by the Hong family. Probably Xue Cuie's return from Yuqing Village was seen by the villagers, and this kind of gossip spread in the village. Now the matter can't be explained at all, even for Zhao Jinrui's future, this wife must have to divorce.

What can Mr. Xue say, can he say that he committed a crime?

Take a break, take a break, the man wants to divorce his wife, and the woman can't stop her. Even if he could ask his relatives to go to the man's house to beat him up and threaten him, but after all, Mrs. Zhao is still there, and he doesn't look at the face of the monk or the face of the Buddha. Besides, Mr. Xue is also afraid that if the incident spreads to Yuqing Village, the Xue family will have no face to face others in the future.

This marriage shouldn't have been married from the very beginning, if it wasn't for Xue Cui'e not to live up to expectations...

After all, it was her own fault, and she couldn't blame others.

After a long period of bargaining, the two families reached the following agreement.

The brothers of the Xue family went to Zhaojia Village to make a scene, and the two partners acted in a play, which meant that all this was a misunderstanding, but because the Zhao family slandered their daughter so much, even if the Zhao family came to ask, the Xue family would not Let the daughter come back. And the Zhao family should divorce their wives, what should they do.

In fact, this play is all for outsiders to watch. As for the ups and downs of each, only you can taste it.

Xue Cuie and Mrs. Zhao naturally protested, but this time Mr. Xue was very firm.

After the matter was over, old man Xue suddenly aged more than ten years. Ever since Xue Qingshan was born, old man Xue's body and bones were not as good as before, and he fell ill this time.

It is not necessary to go into details when asking a doctor about medicine, Mrs. Zhao has never regretted it, and others don't know, anyway, the three and four housekeepers are very busy.

But at this moment, another thing happened, it was something happened on the side of Xiaoshantou.

Xue's family is in trouble now, Zhao'er simply moved to live with Zhaodi on the top of a small hill in order to keep her baby clean.

If she had been hesitant about moving before, and Xue Cui'e was dismissed and returned home, she would not have to think about it. The two have already torn their skins apart, who knows what will happen to Xue Cuie when they live together.

The hilltop is clean and the environment is good, and it is far away from those messy things of the Xue family. Zhao'er has a very happy life every day, teasing his nephew to raise a baby, life should not be too beautiful.

Now that Zhao'er is rich, everyone in the village knows that Zhao'er opened the well-known Wangji Food Shop in the county. As time went by, the small workshop became widely known, and many women in the village came to ask for work. Anyway, Zhao'er is also short of people now, so he picks out good needlework and stays to work.

They used to hide it because their strength was too weak. With Xue Tingxiang's winning a scholar, and with their backs on the mountain of the Xue family, and the deterrence of the county magistrate Xu, if they want to be jealous, they have to weigh themselves.

But since ancient times, if you have money, you will be cared about by people. No, there was a thief on the top of the hill this night.

This thief was a timid one, and he stole chickens twice at the beginning, because there were a lot of chickens on the hill, and Xue's family had a lot of business recently, Zhou and Sun didn't count them in detail, so everyone didn't know.

Who would have thought that this thief would become more and more daring, and even went to the room where Zhao'er lived.

He was under the window, and was held down by Heizi who had been staring at him for a long time without saying a word. The thief was so frightened that he cried for his father and mother. Zhao'er, Zhaodi, and Aunt Gao all got up when they heard the movement.

Especially Zhao'er, who picked up a shovel and pointed at the thief with his belly out, as if he would start fighting if he disagreed with him.

In fact, I couldn't help being careless, Gao Sheng was not at home, and there were only three women's families and a baby boy living on this hill. Forget about her sister, Aunt Gao is old, old and young, only she has a little strength.

"Don't do it, don't do it, I'm the black three."

He was so dark that he couldn't see the face clearly, but the thief knew his face, so he gave his name. It was also because the shovel that was touching his head was too scary, he felt that his head would be wiped off in the next moment, originally Hei San planned to run away because he was a man.

"Hei San? You are so courageous, you stole it from me!" Zhao'er sneered, and asked Aunt Gao to get the rope to tie Hei San up.

"Sister Zhao'er, please forgive me, I was also confused for a while, because I couldn't get through the life at home, that's why I got dizzy for a while."

"Don't tell me, talk to the patriarch later!"

Aunt Gao held a lantern and went down the mountain in the dark to call for someone, San Hei was thrown in the yard, and the two sisters Zhao'er entered the house. As for Heizi, he has been squatting beside Hei San, planning to bite him if he disagrees.

Xue Qingbai and Xue Qinghuai arrived soon, along with Xue Qiang and the others.

"Well, you bastard, you stole under my sister Zhao'er's eyelids!" Xue Qiang and the other young boys came up with punches and kicks, beating Hei San until he cried for his father and mother.

"Sister Zhao'er, what should I do about this? Just beat him up?"

"Lock it up first, and send it to the patriarch, Lizheng, tomorrow."

Although Xue Qiang and the others felt that Zhao'er was making a fuss out of a molehill, they had always believed in Zhao'er and didn't say anything. That's why Xue Qinghuai saw Zhao'er's meaning, this time he was lightly forgiven, someone will definitely commit another crime next time, anyway, they are all from the village, what can you do to me? Someone will surely follow suit.

So Zhao'er is planning to make an example to others!

Patriarch Xue has always defended his shortcomings, and Hei San is from a foreign surname, needless to say what happened to him, he was naturally expelled from the village.

As soon as he heard that he was going to be sent to the patriarch and Lizheng, Hei San, who covered his head, immediately refused to pretend to be dead, and cried, "Sister Zhao'er, please be merciful, please don't send me to the patriarch Lizheng."

Zhao'er kept a straight face and ignored him, but asked Xue Qiang to get Hei San to be locked up.

"Sister Zhao'er, I know I'm wrong, I really know I'm wrong, please don't send me to the patriarch, they will definitely not spare me, I have an old mother at home, my mother can't stand this stimulation..."

Seeing that Zhao'er was still unmoved, Hei San was disheartened and was about to give up begging for mercy when suddenly a flash of light flashed in his mind: "Sister Zhao'er, I have something to tell you. I know how Widow Xue died. I'll tell you About you, can you let me go?"

Zhao'er looked over immediately.

Hei San was overjoyed and told what he knew.