Song Qiming: "This residence is the County Princess Estate bestowed upon Ah Jie by the Emperor. We have few people in our family, so we haven't bought many furnishings since moving in."
"We can't display the precious artifacts rewarded by the Emperor for fear of breaking them, and it wouldn't be appropriate to display the gifts sent by other estates. Therefore, most of the calligraphy and paintings hung in the estate are my own work. Ah Jie and Shixue also wrote a few pieces, but they are all displayed in the inner courtyard, not here."
As the two were talking, Song Jinzhao stepped over the threshold and strolled in.
Seeing Song Jinzhao, Cui Zhengyang turned and bowed to her. "Greetings to the County Princess."
Song Jinzhao walked over to a chair and sat down. "Young Master Cui, no need for formalities. May I know what brings you to me today?"
Cui Zhengyang immediately perked up and gestured for Mochen to bring the chest over.
Two people carried a large chest in. Upon opening the lid, a chest full of oddly shaped Luban locks appeared before Song Jinzhao.
"The mechanical locks I previously asked the Second Miss Song to give to the County Princess have all been dismantled by you. These are the ones I've made over the past few years. Does the County Princess see any she likes?"
Song Qiming looked at the chest of wood and hesitated to speak. This gift was quite unique.
He was already so busy with his studies, yet he still had the mind to play with wood.
Song Jinzhao stood up and crouched beside the chest to rummage through it. They ranged from simple to difficult, and some Luban locks were even carved with exquisite patterns.
It seemed Cui Zhengyang was truly interested in these things. He was willing to delve into them and had talent. If he developed in the field of mechanical arts, his achievements might not be small.
Song Jinzhao pulled out a large, seemingly new pineapple-shaped spherical lock.
Cui Zhengyang's eyes lit up. "I made this at home after finishing the metropolitan examination. Would the County Princess like to try unlocking it?"
After examining it, Song Jinzhao's fingers moved rapidly, and in less than a quarter of an hour, she had dismantled it into pieces.
"You could try making it a bit more complex, adding a few more layers on the outside. This one has too few parts."
Seeing that the item he had spent twenty days working on was dismantled so effortlessly by Song Jinzhao, Cui Zhengyang felt discouraged, but at the same time, the thought of needing to increase the difficulty sprouted within him.
He looked up at Song Jinzhao expectantly. "Since the County Princess is so skilled in this, I wonder if you have made any novelties to let me feast my eyes upon?"
Song Jinzhao pieced the scattered parts back together. "I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't tinkered with these."
"After Young Master Cui enters the court as an official, you can go take a look at the Ministry of Works. They are currently building ocean-going sailing ships. You should be interested."
Cui Zhengyang possessed extremely strong spatial imagination and systematic thinking. He would certainly be adept at engineering and manufacturing tasks.
Following that, Cui Zhengyang pulled Song Jinzhao into a conversation for over half an hour.
They chatted from why he thought of making these, to the difficulties he encountered and the inspiration he sparked over the years of making Luban locks. It only ended when Song Qiming forcefully dragged him away.
"Gaoli and I have been preparing for the palace examination and the court examination these past few days. Since Brother Cui is here, you must give us some good guidance."
Watching Cui Zhengyang being dragged away, Song Jinzhao wearily rubbed the center of her brows. Talking to him really consumed too many brain cells; if she wasn't careful, she couldn't keep up with his rhythm.
Under the anxious and nervous wait of the four hundred tribute students, the palace examination finally arrived.
On this day, Song Qiming wore the official uniform issued by the Ministry of Rites and headed to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to participate in the palace examination.
As the bell chimed, the first ray of morning light shone on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The glazed tiles refracted a flowing golden light, appearing both dazzling and sacred.
When the time came, the main doors of the Hall of Supreme Harmony slowly opened.
"Summon all tribute students to enter the hall—" The drawn-out voice echoed within the imperial palace.
The uniform procession began to walk up the white jade steps row by row, quiet and orderly.
Inside the hall, hundreds of desks were laid out all the way to the eaves outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Sitting on the golden dragon throne, Xiao Chengjing looked down at the young talents slowly walking in, his gaze sweeping over the leading Dongfang Yukun, Cui Zhengyang, and Song Qiming.
The four hundred people were divided into ten columns, and Song Qiming was the first in the third column.
At this moment, although there were hundreds of people in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, no one dared to make a sound. Even the air felt stagnant.
Everyone kept their heads down, not daring to look up. Their awe of imperial power was fully manifested at this moment.
After taking their positions, as if suddenly receiving some signal, the four hundred people simultaneously knelt, kowtowed, and shouted loudly, "Long live the Emperor, long live, long long live!"
The level of synchronization was comparable to being connected via Bluetooth; their brainwaves were on the same frequency at this moment.
"Rise—" The voice of the Master of Ceremonies eunuch pierced from front to back, echoing in the hall.
It wasn't until they stood up that the crowd dared to slightly raise their heads and steal a glance at the monarch sitting on the dragon throne.
The intimidating gaze scared them into immediately lowering their heads after just one look.
The aura of an emperor, the power of life and death, inspired awe but also struck fear into their hearts.
"Sit—"
After everyone sat down, the eunuchs began carrying wooden chests over to distribute the examination papers. There was only one sheet of questions, and there were only two policy essay topics.
The first question: Asked how the imperial court should handle the rise of foreign tribes in the southwest.
The second question: Asked how the national treasury's tax revenue could achieve rapid growth, requiring specific strategies to be pointed out.
Song Qiming stared at the two lines of words on the question paper, grinding his ink block while thinking about how to write his response.
After pondering for a moment, he picked up his brush and began to write on the draft paper: "The sovereign rules the four seas, and the world pledges its allegiance. However, the foreign tribes in the southwest have been amassing troops for years..."
For a time, the only sounds left in the grand hall were the rustling of sleeves and paper. The scent of ink lingered at the tip of Xiao Chengjing's nose, making him a bit drowsy as time went on.
Footsteps gradually approached, and the hairs on the bodies of the examinees sitting in the first row instantly stood on end.
Xiao Chengjing's intense, scrutinizing gaze first paused beside Dongfang Yukun for a while, and then he walked sequentially from left to right.
The hem of the robe embroidered with dragon patterns stopped in front of Song Qiming. The tip of his brush paused for a fraction of a second before he continued writing, but his tense back still betrayed his inner apprehension.
Although there were only two questions, the examination lasted from dawn until dusk.
As the last bit of incense burned out in the censer in front of the hall, a dull metallic clanging sound rang out. A eunuch holding a gong shouted loudly, "Stop writing! Collect the papers!"
In an instant, regardless of whether they had a brush in their hands or not, all four hundred people simultaneously lowered their hands from the desks.
Only after all the examinees' answer sheets were collected and boxed up were Song Qiming and the others allowed to leave.
After walking out of the grand hall, the crowd stood on the steps and gazed at the distant palaces. They only felt that the imperial palace under the setting sun appeared exceptionally quiet, even somewhat lonely.
Lining up to exit the imperial palace, those with carriages had them waiting outside the palace gates early on.
After greeting Song Gaoli and the others, Song Qiming boarded his carriage. It wasn't until he heard the lively shouting of vendors on both sides of the main street that his mind finally began to relax.
From a child student to a presented scholar, the final step was finally over.
Upon returning to the County Princess Estate, Song Jinzhao and the others had already been waiting for a long time. Even Xuetuan rushed up to paw at his clothes.
"Ah Jie, I've finished the exam. It should be pretty good."
Song Jinzhao curled her lips into a smile and said with gratification, "Ah Jie is already very satisfied that you could make it this far. You must be hungry, right? Let's eat."
Piping hot food was served on the table, and the broth in the pot was bubbling away.
Having only eaten a single sugar cake at noon, Song Qiming immediately picked up his chopsticks and dug in, his appetite thoroughly whetted.
