Chapter 3 The Palace Exam
On the day of the Palace Exam, it was another overcast and rainy day.
I hired a carriage and waited in front of the Golden Hall. My heart was calmer than I had imagined.
On one hand, I had solidly read ten thousand volumes of books. On the other, I had the foundation from my previous life. For essays on current affairs, I naturally saw much further than these ancients.
The only thing that made me nervous was meeting The Emperor. I did not know what an ancient Chinese feudal emperor looked like.
Drum sounds rose, and a grand procession walked up from behind.
The Emperor arrived. As he passed by me, there was no fragrance on him.
I boldly took a look at him, and I was somewhat disappointed.
He was just an ordinary person. His height was even a bit shorter.
He probably had not rested well. The whole person looked extremely gloomy and had no interest.
At this point, the last bit of nervousness in my heart was gone. I just treated it as writing an essay for the college entrance exam, which was my strong suit.
I wrote a full page in a flowing manner, with neat handwriting and no errors anywhere.
After all, there was no correction tape in this era.
After finishing, I had to answer The Emperor's random questions in front of the hall.
Coincidentally, he asked me about military affairs. I concisely described the Four Crossings of the Chishui River battle from that year.
My knowledge from another time gave me a clear advantage over the others in the hall.
The Emperor appreciated me greatly and excitedly ran down to shake my hand.
"Your name is Lin Ruhai?"
I nodded.
The Emperor patted the back of my hand, with a posture of regret for meeting too late.
"This name is not good. It does not suit you. I will give you a courtesy name."
His eager gaze made me feel afraid. Fortunately, I was a man, otherwise I would suspect he had taken a liking to me.
"Your thinking is as vast as the sea. Why not use the two characters Ruhai? How about it?"
Lin, Ru, Hai.
This name, why did I feel it was familiar.
In the debate in front of the hall, I could have gotten the top scholar. Who would have thought The Emperor would say I was handsome and select me as Tanhua.
The Tanhua sign was sent out, and I instantly became the most sought-after person in the entire capital.
This had not even left the imperial city when someone tried to arrange a marriage for me.
"No one is more prominent than the Jia Household, one of the four great families of Jinling. Has the young master not heard of it?"
"This girl has the single name Min. She is the youngest daughter born to the main wife of the Jia Household. Her appearance cannot be faulted."
The four great families of Jinling, Jia Min, and I was called Lin Ruhai.
I realized it late and anxiously slapped my thigh.
I had become Lin Daiyu's father!