Chen Xi is unknown whether Zheng Qian was admitted to the juren because he stood out in talent and knowledge, or because he used his connections and money behind his back.

But as an "old friendship", Su Tong asked Chen Xi to meet after Zheng Qian arrived in the capital, which was a natural meaning in the title. Chen Xi is now a high-ranking official in Hanyuan. Su Tong asked Chen Xi to pass by the mansion. Not to mention Chen Xi's gift, Su Tong wanted to prepare a generous gift for Chen Xi.

Due to the occasion, Su Tong was inconvenient to send the gift to Chenxi Mansion directly to avoid causing gossip, so he could only make up for it later.

On the 26th day of the 12th lunar month, Zheng Qian arrived in the capital as scheduled.

Like Su Tong, Zheng Qian also brought his family to the capital this time. According to Zheng Qian's words, he planned to live in the capital for a longer time.

On that day, Su Tong had a banquet at his new home near Deshengmen. He went out three times to bring a large house in a side courtyard, which was worthy of the price of 800 taels of silver. Unfortunately, since Su Tong didn't know many people in Beijing, there was only a banquet in the huge hall. Those who came to congratulate the house for their happiness, except for Chen Xi, were only a fellow villager like Zheng Qian.

"...Brother Shen, you should drink a few more drinks."

Su Tong kept toasting Chen Xi, "After the spring exam, Brother Shen will have a great chance to become the chief examiner, and he may have to rely on it..."

Chen Xi smiled and shook his head: "Brother Su, you are drunk."

Chen Xi knew very well that he was definitely not qualified to be the chief examiner, but it was possible that he was the same examiner, because the examiner in the imperial examination was also selected from the Hanlin. However, Chen Xi's current official position is a high or low position. If he is not qualified to be the chief examiner of the imperial examination, he will seem useless. Therefore, his current official position is very suitable for the provincial examination of the two capitals. As for the imperial examination, he basically has no chance of being the chief examiner.

"Brother Shen, I wonder if I can introduce several famous scholars from Hanyuan to meet us?" Su Tong hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and made a reluctant request.

Su Tong could probably guess Chen Xi’s current status.

Chen Xi presided over the Shuntian Prefecture Provincial Examination, and most of the meetings will not be participated in next year's examinations. However, as a senior official of the Hanlin Academy, Chen Xi held a banquet, gathered his colleagues from the Hanlin Academy, and invited Su Tong and Zheng Qian together, without even saying anything. In the future, Su Tong and Zheng Qian's reputation will rise. This is the best way for candidates to accumulate talent reputation.

"I remember the last issue sale case."

Chen Xi had a little fear on his face, "If Grand Secretary Li had not been conscious, he would have been involved in the case. Brother Su and Mr. Zheng should take it as a warning."

During the provincial examination, we were able to obtain quotas for juren by clearing relationships. When we arrived at the imperial examination, we basically cut off this path. The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the imperial examination, and no one dared to commit personal fraud in the imperial examination. Cheng Minzheng is the best example.

Su Tong and Zheng Qian looked at each other and saw the disappointment in each other's eyes.

I originally thought that having the big tree Chenxi enjoyed the shade would be of great help to their journey of the imperial examination, but I didn't expect that Chenxi's experience in dealing with the world would not give them any chance to get in touch.

Su Tong is a sleek person. He smiled and said, "Today, he only talks about the wind and moon, but not about knowledge. Although Brother Shen has lived in the capital for a long time, he is afraid that his understanding of the wind and moon places will not be as good as his brother who has only been to the capital for a few months."

After Chen Xi arrived in the capital, he had never been to the Qinlou Chuguan, nor to the Jiaofangsi. However, Su Tong was a frequent visitor in these places. People had different pursuits, but they cared about different things.

Chen Xi had never heard of any famous people in the capital and the courtesans from various places. He was not interested in this, but Zheng Qian was envious.

It was Zheng Qian's first time to go to the capital, and he and Su Tong had a similar smell. Needless to say, the two of them would go to visit those romantic places together in the future.

Chen Xi would not be with them, so as not to ruin his reputation.

...

...

At the end of the year, heavy snow in the capital was still going on, and heavy snow was happening every now and then.

Chen Xi took annual leave after the 24th day of the 12th lunar month and did not end until the rest after the Lantern Festival.

During this period, many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital held banquets. Someone from the six ministries and the Hanlin Academy sent invitations to Chen Xi. Everyone knew that Chen Xi is now a lecturer in the East Palace, a lecturer in the Japanese, and the prince gradually became an adult. His future was limitless. They all wanted to get close to Chen Xi before he took power, but Chen Xi was cautious and took an evasive attitude towards these banquets.

However, Chen Xi had to attend the banquet on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month because it was the birthday party of Grand Secretary Xie Qian.

If you want to go to Xie Qian’s mansion to celebrate your birthday, you have to bring some gifts. Just after the 9:00 am, Chen Xi found some of the local specialties from Fujian that Su Tong brought to him, and then took a bus to Xie’s mansion.

The front of the Xie Mansion was deserted. Everyone in the court knew that Xie Qian was inhumane. Even if someone knew that today was Xie Qian's birthday, he didn't want to be boring.

"Mr. Shen, my master has not come back yet, please come in." The servants of Xie's family respectfully invited Chen Xi to enter.

Chen Xi was a little embarrassed. Xie Mansion held a birthday wine, but the owner was actually busy with government affairs in the cabinet, but he, the guest, arrived first, which was a bit of a distraction.

But Xie Qian had a first statement before that Chen Xi could enter and exit the Xie Mansion study room freely, so he could only step into the Xie Mansion with a tough bullet. When he came to the study room, Chen Xi was present and stopped to see a man in his thirties was reading a book. He looked carefully and Chen Xi did not recognize this person.

"Chen Tongnian, I'm polite."

This man had a weak figure and looked a bit energetic and kind. He felt something was different behind him. He looked back and quickly got up to salute Chen Xi.

Chen Xi saw that the other party was wearing casual clothes and could not tell whether it was an official or a civilian, but it seemed that he was very familiar with the Xie family, most of whom were from the Xie family. At the same time, the other party called him "Chen Tongnian". Chen Xi immediately realized that this should be Xie Qian's younger brother, Xie Di, who was with him in the twelve years of Hongzhi.

Xie Di is now 34 years old. After the political observation was over, he was awarded the position of the Ministry of War Fang Wu's position as the head of the Qing official and was appointed as the sixth rank of official position.

There are people in the court who are good at being an official, but Xie Di has Xie Qian as a big backer, so it is much easier to be promoted than an ordinary Jinshi. If history does not change, Xie Di will be implicated when Xie Qian was in trouble in the early years of Zhengde, and will not be re-appointed until Jiajing ascended the throne. Finally, he became the left governor of Guangdong, with a very good reputation.

After Chen Xi returned the salute respectfully, he inquired and found out that he was right. This person was Xie Di.

The two sat opposite each other and had not talked for a long time. One person came out of the inner courtyard. It was Xie Pi, who ranked fourth in the Shuntian Prefecture Provincial Examination.

Compared to Xie Qian, Xie Di is a mature and persistent young man, Xie Pi is completely casual and energetic. He was very complimented by Chen Xi when he came, constantly praising Chen Xi's knowledge in front of Xie Di, and also asked Chen Xi about some difficult points of mind learning, which made Xie Di look embarrassed.

As a Jinshi of the same year, Chen Xi was the top scholar at a young age. Now he is a lecturer in the Eastern Palace and a lecturer in the Japanese. His official rank is higher than that of him, an official in the six ministries, and he can't help but feel a little ashamed. Now his nephew is highly respected by Chen Xi, and he praised Chen Xi so much that there is nothing in the sky and nowhere on the earth, which makes Xie Di feel a little embarrassed.

"Young Master Xie is too proud, but in fact he is... his knowledge is very shallow." Chen Xi felt Xie Di's embarrassment and quickly said modestly.

"Where is it? Chen's talented and learned in the same year is naturally excellent. Otherwise, he would not have been the top three and the first, and his brother would not have invited you to the banquet alone."

Xie Di shook his head, smiled mockingly, and said, "Today is a family dinner. Chen Tongnian doesn't have to be too reserved. I think my brother will come back soon. I guess he is busy with official business and can't get rid of it... Even at the end of the year, the six ministries and local government offices will not stop!"

At the end of the year, there were many things. Liu Jian took sick leave, Li Dongyang was at home to treat his son's funeral, and the court's report required Xie Qian to take a detailed account and write a ticket. Xie Qian's ability to handle practical matters was not as good as Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, which made him anxious for a while.

It was not until sunset that Xie Qian rushed home from the cabinet. His face was dark and he was holding a wooden box in his hand. Needless to say, it was full of memorials that had not been dealt with.

"All of them are here?"

Xie Qian looked around, and finally turned his eyes to Shen Xi, with a cramped and mysterious smile on his face, which made Chen Xi feel a little creepy and thought to himself: "Did Mr. Xie want me to help him learn about the book and draft the ticket?"

Xie Qian didn't say anything, put the wooden box on the desk, waved his hand and said, "I had asked when I entered the door that the banquet was ready. Since it was a family banquet, I would not drink anymore. Drinking too much alcohol harms my body and I could not concentrate on doing things."

This was inexplicable and seemed to mean something. Chen Xi murmured in his heart: "Since it is a birthday party, there is no place that can't be drunk. The meaning of wine is 'long-term', which usually refers to longevity. Therefore, even if a person who does not drink, he has to drink a few sips at the birthday party to show his longevity. Why do these practices do not work when it comes to Xie Laoer?"

Follow Xie Qian to the side hall, the banquet has been set up.

There are only a few people who can attend the table in Xie’s house. Xie Qian has several sons, but they are all very young. After all, the second son Xie Pi is only nineteen years old now. If Xie Pi had not passed the imperial examination, Xie Qian would not have let him go to the table now.

The Xie family in Yuyao is a big family, and Xie Qian is the most famous and status in this family. He always follows the tradition of ethics when doing things. However, this time, he slightly undermined the principle and invited Mrs. Xu, the official wife.

In the case of outsiders, even if Mrs. Xu is in charge of her, she cannot attend the banquet. However, since it is a family banquet and the mistress of the family attending it, it makes sense in this era.

"Sister-in-law is healthy?"

Xie Di went up to greet Xie Xu.

The eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, and Mrs. Xu is more than teenager than Xie Di, which is particularly evident.

If it weren't for the fact that my uncle and sister-in-law were too old, Mrs. Xu was over fifty years old. In this era of strict ethics, even if my uncle and sister-in-law met, she would need to avoid it.

Xie Qian said: "The people have arrived and the seat is ready."

Mrs. Xu pulled Xie Qian, as if reminding Xie Qian something. Xie Qian turned his eyes to Mrs. Xu, as if he was dissatisfied.

Chen Xi sat down with a little embarrassed expression. This was a family banquet for Xie’s family, but he, an outsider surnamed Chen, got involved and felt that he didn’t feel very good about it.

"Today is my birthday, but it is not my birthday. It's just an ordinary family dinner." Xie Qian said with a smile, then picked up the teapot and poured tea for himself, "Today use tea instead of the bar!"

"The foolish brother uses tea instead of wine, and toast his elder brother a cup, wishing his elder brother a blessing as good as the East China Sea and longevity than the South Mountain." Xie Di stood up and said to Xie Qian's birthday greetings. (To be continued.)8
Chapter completed!