After leaving the palace, he met with a group of fellow successful candidates outside. All the successful candidates present could not help but look at the three people holding official robes with envious eyes.
Especially Zhan Muchun, who had completed in one step a path that many people would need many years to finish.
Among the successful candidates of the same year present, basically only Zhan Muchun had been granted an actual vacancy.
When new successful candidates took up posts, they basically all had a process of learning and then gaining experience. Zhan Muchun, however, had received heavenly grace and directly stepped into the experience stage. He was made the chief clerk of a county, and it was even a county in the capital. This made countless people extremely envious.
The location of this position was very complicated, and it truly tempered a person.
As for Yu Qing and the other top scorer who had been granted positions, they clearly belonged to the learning stage. There was no limit to how long the learning could last. It could let you learn for one or two years, or it could let you learn for seven or eight years. When you could advance depended on each person’s own fortune.
At this time, some officials from the six ministries arrived. They shouted to the group of successful candidates, telling the second class successful candidates to go to the Ministry of Personnel in the afternoon to report, and the third class successful candidates also had to go to the Ministry of Personnel to leave an address where they could be contacted at any time.
Yu Qing was pondering where he should report to in order to find the path for resigning from office. He could not possibly run to the imperial palace to resign, could he?
Suddenly he saw not far away a serious looking three rank high official in purple robes waving towards this side. The face was very unfamiliar and he had never seen it before. Yu Qing looked at Zhan Muchun, then at the top scorer Yin Jizhen. He found that neither of them was looking in that direction, so it was already obvious who the high official was waving at.
Yu Qing pointed at himself. The purple robed high official nodded, and Yu Qing immediately walked over.
The old eunuch who was watching everyone immediately scolded in a strange tone, “What are you running around for? Is the palace a place where you can run around freely? Go back and stand properly!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone’s eyes immediately focused on Yu Qing.
Xu Fei sighed in his heart. This fellow really caused a lot of trouble. No matter where he went, he could not stay quiet. What did he want to do now?
Yu Qing had no choice but to free one finger and point at the purple robed high official.
The old eunuch turned back to look. The purple robed high official nodded slightly in greeting. The old eunuch quickly bowed and nodded, then hurriedly changed to a smiling face towards Yu Qing. “Since Minister Mei is looking for you, Tanhua Lang, please go quickly. I will wait for you here.”
Minister Mei? Yu Qing muttered in his heart. He felt that this ‘Ashiheng’ identity was indeed very complicated. Behind it there were probably many people involved. He had only just gotten close to the head of the Censorate in the morning, and now a minister had appeared.
Although he did not understand these court matters, he was not stupid either. He knew that these people approaching him must all be related to ‘Ashiheng’’s identity. Otherwise, which of these third rank high officials would have the spare time to pay attention to him.
There was no choice. He still had to go over obediently.
Envious light appeared again in the eyes of the group of successful candidates. This kind of frequent closeness with third rank high officials made even a pig see that there were connections behind Ashiheng. Xu Fei was stunned.
Yu Qing ran to the front of that Minister Mei, held the items and bowed. “This official pays respects to the lord.”
Once the official robe was bestowed and the rank granted, one could be called an official.
A rare smile appeared on Mei Sanghai’s stiff face. “I am the current Minister of Works, Mei Sanghai. Did your father ever mention me to you?”
Yu Qing immediately felt a headache. He did not know how deep the relationship between this person and A Jiezhang was, so it was not good to answer. He could only say vaguely, “The lord’s name sounds familiar, but my father does not usually talk to me about these things.”
“Is that so?” Mei Sanghai’s tone made it unclear whether he believed it or not. He continued with a smile, “When your father was in charge of the Yu Department back then, I was his trusted subordinate. I often went to your home. When you were young, I often carried you. In the blink of an eye, you have grown so big.”
“Uh…” Yu Qing could now imagine Ashiheng’s early living environment. He pretended to feel ashamed and said, “This official really does not remember.”
Mei Sanghai said, “You were still young at that time. It is normal not to remember. I just heard in the court that you went to the Censorate. I will not mention whether that place of words and tongues is suitable for you or not. Your father came from the Ministry of Works, and now the Ministry of Works is under my charge. Both in sentiment and in reason, I should look after you a bit. Do you want to come to the Ministry of Works? As long as you are willing, I can coordinate for you.”
A cold laugh came from the side. “You say transfer and it is transferred? I am afraid this cannot be decided by you alone. If you want someone from my Censorate, should you not first obtain the agreement of my Censorate?”
Yu Qing turned back to look. It was precisely the Censor in Chief Pei Qingcheng. He discovered that this person always appeared from the side and always gave the feeling of staring at people.
What could he do? With a low official position and being unfamiliar with the place and people, in front of these powerful big shots he could only hold the items and bow in salute.
“Lord Pei.” Mei Sanghai put away his smile. “Naturally it requires your agreement, but we also need to consider the wishes of the subordinate officials. If the subordinate official really does not want to do it, forcing him to stay will not allow him to handle affairs well, and there is no reason for it either.”
Pei Qingcheng immediately turned his head to look at Yu Qing and said sternly, “Are you willing?”
“Uh…” Yu Qing was speechless. In his heart, however, he had some thoughts.
In his view, this Minister Mei was still quite reasonable. At least he looked more reasonable than Pei Qingcheng.
In addition, having heard that he was again a trusted subordinate of Ashiheng’s father, he was already psychologically inclined towards Minister Mei.
However, he also had to consider one point. If he entered the hands of Ashiheng’s father’s trusted subordinate, there would probably be resistance when he wanted to resign from office. Relatively speaking, it should be better to go to a place that was relatively harsher towards him.
He made the choice in his heart.
However, he did not dare to say it out loud. The two purple robed high officials exuded domineering aura. As a small shrimp, he did not dare to stir things up randomly, for fear of being shaken and suffering internal injuries.
Not speaking was also a kind of attitude. Pei Qingcheng immediately ignored it. “What are you still standing there for? Call the other one and come with me.”
The other one? What other one? Yu Qing was stunned for a moment. Then he reacted. It should refer to the top scorer who was also assigned to the Censorate as a proofreader. He immediately started walking. After a couple of steps, he thought of something he had forgotten. He turned back again to bow and take leave from Minister Mei. The latter smiled and nodded.
Yu Qing ran back to his fellow candidates and shouted to the top scorer, “Yin Jizhen, come with me, hurry up.”
Yin Jizhen, who was also holding a tray, quickly came out. The old eunuch immediately said in a sharp voice, “What are you all doing?”
Yu Qing hurriedly freed one finger and pointed at Pei Qingcheng. “Lord Pei told us to go with him.”
The old eunuch turned back to look again. As a result, he found Pei Qingcheng staring at him coldly. This immediately gave him a shiver. This was a master who even dared to confront His Majesty. The number of eunuchs who had been beaten to death because of him was definitely more than could be counted on one hand.
It was bad to offend anyone, but it was especially bad to offend this one. If this big shot set his eyes on you, it would really cost you your life.
Since Pei Qingcheng personally wanted the people, the old eunuch did not dare not to give them. He quickly agreed, “Go then, go then.”
Thus the two guys holding trays did not wait to line up and leave the palace with their fellow candidates. Instead they followed behind Pei Qingcheng and left. This immediately attracted another wave of envious gazes.
After leaving the palace, seeing the horses gathered outside the palace, Pei Qingcheng was stunned. Only then did he realise something was wrong. He had been thinking wholeheartedly about Mei Sanghai’s actions and had thought of conveniently taking the person back to the Censorate. He had actually forgotten that the new successful candidates still had to ride horses through the streets. At this time he had pulled away both the top scorer and the third place scholar. What kind of situation was it for the street parade to be missing these two?
He turned back to look inside the palace and found that the old castrated fellow had actually not reminded him. Was he deliberately trying to see him make a fool of himself?
He prepared to deal with that old eunuch later. At this moment he still cleared his throat and turned to the two followers, “I forgot that you still have to ride horses through the streets. You go back first and report to the Censorate in the afternoon.”
“……” Yu Qing and Yin Jizhen were both speechless. They both turned back to look at the palace gate and could only agree.
Pei Qingcheng waved again to call over the palace gate guards and helped the two report the situation. Otherwise the two who had left the palace would not be able to go back in.
Having obtained the accommodation, Pei Qingcheng left the two behind and ran off.
Yu Qing and Yin Jizhen, who turned to face the palace gate, looked at each other. Neither had expected that they could enter the palace once more.
There was no choice. The two could only hold their trays and obediently go back again.
However, the situation of running back again felt very strange.
The top scorer and the third place scholar had not expected to encounter such a thing either. The feeling in front of a large crowd was quite embarrassing.
Yu Qing increasingly felt that Pei Qingcheng was not very reliable. In comparison, he still felt that Minister Mei was more dependable.
While walking, Yu Qing spoke and urged Yin Jizhen to explain.
Thus after returning to the old eunuch’s side, facing the old eunuch who had a face full of suspicion, Yin Jizhen said, “Lord Pei told us to go find him after finishing the street parade.”
Xu Fei, who was pricking up his ears to listen in the crowd, was amused. He discovered that Brother Shiheng really caused a lot of trouble. No matter where he went, things could pop up.
“……” The old eunuch was choked and speechless. He did not say anything more. Afterwards he let a small eunuch lead the three from the first class to change clothes.
When the three appeared again, the top scholar wore a tailor made deep green official robe, while the other two wore light green.
While walking back, Yu Qing occasionally lowered his head to look at the official robe on his body and touched the wings of his hat. He sighed in his heart. He estimated that among the successive disciples of the Linglong Temple, he was the only one.
When the group of new successful candidates saw that the three had already put on official robes first, they naturally felt another wave of envy.
When the time was almost right, the old eunuch led everyone to line up and exit the palace gate. The horses outside had also been arranged in order. Everyone just mounted according to the sequence.
The drums sounded, the whips cracked, the gongs and drums began, and the street parade team officially set off.
The streets that had been cleared in advance were already crowded with people on both sides. There were shouts and welcomes all the way.
The three riding at the front were very obvious. Only the three of them wore official robes, so one could tell at a glance that they were the top scholar, the top scorer, and the third place scholar.
People or demons gathered from all directions in the capital all viewed this grand occasion.
Everyone wanted to see the top scholar, but many people wanted to see which one was the full mark top scorer in the provincial examination, the legendary figure rarely seen once in a century!
The gongs and drums shook the sky, the voices of people boiled, and the firecrackers crackled continuously.
Many women threw out flower petals, fresh flowers, and silk handkerchiefs, wanting to attract attention.
There were also charming shouts such as top scholar look here, third place scholar look here, and so on.
Such attention from thousands of people and such glory made countless failed scholars drink in regret, hating that they were not one of the people waving on horseback.
It also strengthened the aspirations of many students. A man should be like this!
Su Yingtao, Pan Wenqing, Fang Wenxian, and Zhang Manqu were also in the crowd on both sides of the street. They watched with their own eyes as the familiar person rode past on horseback. Their eyes were full of complexity and envy.
“Tanhua Lang, catch this!”
Suddenly a woman’s crisp shout rang out.
A knotted silk flower hit Yu Qing on the chest. He picked it up casually and saw that it actually had some woman’s name and address written on it.
He turned back to look and found that the woman waving at him looked average. He did not know where she got such great courage and confidence from. He casually threw the silk flower backwards. Whoever wanted to catch it could catch it.
In short, he had no smile on his face. His heart was filled with frustration. So this was what the street parade was like. The dignified head of the Linglong Temple was actually doing such a thing.
What he was worried about was that after this trip, it would probably be unclear how many people recognised him.
Recalling the low profile he had wanted when he travelled to the capital all the way, he now found it seemed like a joke.