Zhuo Jun’s eyes flickered again when he heard Fang Zhijun’s words.
He glanced at Xiao Hanzheng, whose expression remained unchanged, before forcing a smile: “Let’s talk about it later.”
Fang Zhijun was a bit rough, and said with a smile: “You have been engaged for 3 years, right? It’s time to marry someone so that you’ll have someone gentle accompanying you.”
He and Zhuo Jun were classmates in the same academy and later came to the capital to take the exam together, so they had a good relationship.
Therefore, he couldn’t help but care about his friend’s life.
Zhuo Jun was a little irritable and changed the subject: “We have been out for so long, they should be waiting anxiously.”
“Jinyu and my clothes are almost dry, why don’t we go back first.”
Fang Zhijun didn’t think much about it: “Okay, let’s go back.”
The three of them quickly returned to the yard.
Halfway through, when Zhuo Jun was dragged by others to write poems, Xiao Hanzheng and Fang Zhijun chatted.
“Did you live in the school dorm before?”
Fang Zhijun replied: “Yes, the school in our place has strict requirements. Everyone must live in the dorm, and they can go home four days a month.”
Xiao Hanzheng asked with a smile: “Then do you live with Henglong?”
Fang Zhijun shook his head: “That’s not the case.”
“Originally, we lived in a room with two people, but Henglong’s roommate fell ill on the day he moved in, and then asked for a long leave.”
“Until we came to the capital to take the exam, that person hadn’t come back yet.”
“At that time, we envied Henglong for being able to live in a room alone.”
Xiao Hanzheng said with a smile: “It’s convenient to be alone.”
“During the provincial examination in your place, did the government also prepare the inner clothes, and change into them yourself after entering?”
Not long after the opening of the dynasty, something happened that was very serious.
A candidate felt insulted by being searched and touched by the yamen officials when he entered the examination room. He wrote a letter of suicide and then hanged himself with his belt in the examination room at night.
His death was exaggerated, and most candidates also thought that being searched and touched by the yamen officials was insulting.
Several great scholars also stood up to criticize such behavior.
At that time, the late emperor had just ascended the throne. To quell such incidents, the policy of body searches was changed.
Before each candidate takes the exam, when registering for the exam, he must also report his clothing size.
The government will prepare the inner clothes uniformly.
When entering the examination room, line up to enter the unified room, take off the outer clothes and shoes, etc., and the yamen officials will search them.
The candidates will go into the inner room to change into the clothes uniformly issued by the government, and then put on their outer clothes and shoes after coming out.
This not only prevents people from cheating on clothes but also preserves the dignity of the candidates.
Fang Zhijun nodded: “Yes, isn’t it the same across the country? Isn’t it different in your place?”
Xiao Hanzheng replied calmly: “It’s the same, but I once heard that the provincial examination in northern Xinjiang is a little different from ours in the south, so I asked out of curiosity.”
Fang Zhijun didn’t doubt anything: “Actually, they are almost the same.”
Xiao Hanzheng thought for a moment and said with a smile: “I found that you have a wide circle of friends, no wonder you like to post invitations to get-togethers from time to time.”
“In this period, I have received more than a dozen posts from you.”
Fang Zhijun laughed: “You fellow, you only come once in a while.”
“Most of the gatherings were proposed by Henglong.”
“But this guy asked me to organize the party, but he only comes once in a while. He is too weak and will feel uncomfortable on the day of the party.”
“But when you come, he seems to be there. ”
Fang Zhijun joked: “Did you two make an appointment?”
Xiao Hanzheng immediately denied it: “How is that possible? Henglong and I are just casual friends. I’m not that close to him.”
Fang Zhijun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “If Henglong heard you say this, he would be unhappy.”
Xiao Hanzheng raised an eyebrow: “Why, is Henglong so petty?”
Fang Zhijun drank several glasses of wine and became more talkative: “He likes to be petty.”
“In the past, someone made fun of him in the prefecture school, and he immediately broke off the friendship with the other person.”
“One time, when we were at a party, a classmate joked that he looked like a woman. He angrily poured wine on the man’s face and walked away after swaying his sleeve.”
Although everyone felt that the man’s joke was a bit too much, Zhuo Jun’s radical action also made everyone disagree.
Xiao Hanzheng seemed to be curious and asked: “Is Henglong popular in the prefecture school?”
Fang Zhijun replied: “He has good popularity. After all, he is the first in every exam, and as long as he doesn’t make jokes, he is easy-going.”
“He is also generous. He often invites people to dinner and drinks when he goes out.”
“But he is not close to anyone. He is always alone. He occasionally attends parties.”
Xiao Hanzheng smiled: “I see.”
Then he changed the subject. If he asked more, he was afraid that Fang Zhijun would be suspicious.
Soon, Zhuo Jun and others came back and drank another round of wine.
Zhuo Jun’s face was flushed, and he sat next to Xiao Hanzheng.
Occasionally he turned his head to look at Xiao Hanzheng, and there was a hint of charm in his eyes that he might not even notice.
Xiao Hanzheng didn’t like such eyes. The doubts in his heart had been solved today.
He pretended to be drunk and asked to go back first.
Zhuo Jun also stood up and said the same thing.
He also invited Xiao Hanzheng to ride in the carriage back with him.
If he hadn’t found any problems, Xiao Hanzheng would naturally not have refused Zhuo Jun, as he regarded him as a friend.
But now he said without hesitation: “I’m so sorry, I promised to pick up my wife home, so I have to go back as fast as possible.”
Zhuo Jun curled his lips: “Your wife does a lot of things.”
She was just a village woman, was it necessary to be like this?
The smile on Xiao Hanzheng’s face disappeared, and instead turned cold: “Brother Henglong, what you said is too ugly.”
“I offered to pick up my wife. I am happy to do anything for her.”
“I am 1 year older than you, and we can consider to be friends. You should call my wife’s sister-in-law. What you said just now is too rude.”
“If you can’t respect my wife, then we should not interact in the future.”
Zhuo Jun’s face changed slightly: “That’s not what I meant.”
As he said this, he wanted to pull Xiao Hanzheng’s sleeve: “Maybe I drank too much today, so I said the wrong thing. Jinyu, don’t be angry.”
However, Xiao Hanzheng avoided him: “Then please respect my wife in the future.”
He said to Zhuo Jun with a cold face, then looked at Fang Zhijun and others: “I’ll take my leave first, see you later!”
After Xiao Hanzheng finished speaking, he turned around and left with his entourage, leaving the few people looking at each other in bewilderment.
No one expected that Xiao Hanzheng, who was always gentle and elegant, would get angry with Zhuo Jun because of one sentence.
He even said that he wanted to break a friendship with Zhuo Jun.
However, everyone can see it from this incident.
Xiao Hanzheng loved his wife. He even said it out loud. However, he doesn’t say that he loves his wife for fun, let alone for show.
They have to pay attention to this in the future.
After all, Xiao Hanzheng had a promising future at first glance, and he was the person they wanted to make friends with. They better not offend him out of carelessness.
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