204, a night rain

204, a night rain

The time spent answering the questions passed quickly.

When he felt the light in the examination room was getting dim, Lu Mingfei put down his pen, packed up the copied papers and draft paper, as well as the examination tools such as the inkstone and brush, and put them all back in the basket.

Although he was in the examination room, there were some things he still had to be on guard against.

In short, it is absolutely right to pack and keep your test papers and test tools in a safe place. If someone takes your pens and ink away in the middle of the test and you have no stationery to answer the questions, that would be a huge joke.

You should not have the intention to harm others, but you must be on guard against others.

After cleaning the table, he took the basket of food and put it on the table.

The charcoal in the stove had burned out, but the water was still hot. He had been drinking from it all day, and most of it was still in the pot.

He lifted the handle and poured half a bowl of water into the large bowl.

Then he took a sesame seed bun out of the basket, spread a layer of meat sauce on the middle of the bun, put a spoonful of pickles in the middle, rolled up the bun, and started eating.

Well, although the pancake is a bit hard and not as delicious as freshly baked ones.

But under the current conditions, it’s good enough to have something to eat, there’s nothing to be picky about.

Perhaps the exam was too brain-consuming, Lu Mingfei ate two pancakes, a steamed bun and a lot of dried meat in a row before he could fill his stomach.

After he finished dinner, it became darker in the dormitory. Some people around him lit candles and continued to answer questions, while others started to eat dinner.

At this time, Lu Mingfei applied to go to the toilet again.

After a day, the smell inside the toilet was too strong. As he passed by, he felt sympathy for the fellow who lived in the dormitory near the toilet. Sitting here, without some concentration, it was really impossible to concentrate on answering the questions.

So sometimes, luck is also part of strength.

Back in his own cell, he didn't light a candle like the others around him and continue answering questions. With the light overflowing from the surrounding cells, his cell wasn't particularly dark, so he didn't even need to light a candle.

However, this visibility is definitely not suitable for answering questions.

Lu Mingfei himself had no plans to answer the questions in the dark. Based on his own answering speed, three daytimes would be enough for him to finish all the papers.

So while the people around him were still rushing to answer the questions, he sat cross-legged on the small bed at the back, emptying his mind and thinking about nothing, letting his brain rest for a while.

At this time, the examiner passing by looked at him again.

He also noticed that the examiner shook his head slightly as he walked past his room.

"?" Did he think he was hopeless or something? Lu Mingfei found it a little funny in his heart.

Of course, he couldn't communicate with the examiner at this time.

…

On this day, when the candidates taking part in the provincial examination were taking their examinations in the Imperial Examination Hall, the city of Kyoto was just as usual.

However, many people in the city are paying attention to this year's provincial examination.

Compared with the previous county examination and prefectural examination, if you pass the provincial examination, you will become a juren.

Unlike tongsheng and xiucai, juren are qualified to be appointed as officials.

This means that if one passed the imperial examination but failed to advance further, he could become a minor official in the local area. If his family had strong connections, or if he spent some money to bribe people, he could become a county magistrate in a remote county.

Therefore, if you pass the imperial examination, you have one foot in the officialdom.

Every time the provincial examinations came around, many wealthy merchants with unmarried daughters in Kyoto would keep their eyes on the candidates, sending servants to wait and watch, waiting to find a son-in-law from the list. If they were lucky, the son-in-law they found might even advance to the next level and pass the imperial examination.

Every year, there are stories of talented men and beautiful women in Kyoto.

Therefore, after the provincial examination began, there were a lot of people in the taverns and teahouses near the Imperial Examination Hall, and countless pairs of eyes were staring at the closed door.

Among those waiting outside the Imperial Examination Hall, there were wealthy businessmen looking for sons-in-law, servants waiting for their young masters to come out, and parents or brothers and sisters waiting for their sons to come out.

At this time, Zhao Lang was also sitting in a teahouse closest to the Imperial Examination Hall to eat. There was a table full of delicious dishes on the table in front of him, but he did not move his chopsticks, but just focused on the wine glass in his hand.

The servant outside pushed the door open and came in, bowing in front of their prince and saying, "Master, the prince of Zhennan is outside."

"Let him in." Zhao Lang could already hear Qi Jun talking outside.

"Yes." The servant responded and went out to invite someone.

The door opened again, and the eldest son of Zhennan Prince Qi Junqi came in from outside.

Young Master Qi quickly unfolded the paper fan in his hand and shook his head.

Seeing this young master setting up a table full of delicious food and drinking alone in the river, Prince Qi couldn't help but exclaim and asked the young master: "You are in such a good mood today."

"Have a drink?" Zhao Lang looked up at the person who came and asked.

"Of course." Qi Jun walked over without hesitation and sat down in a seat two stools away from Zhao Lang.

The serving boy came over and poured wine for the Prince of Qi, and added more wine to his master's glass before stepping aside to wait.

"Why did you choose such a place to drink today? Are you envious of others who can enter the Gongyuan, or is there someone you are waiting for in the Gongyuan?" Qi Jun looked at Zhao Lang and asked.

Zhao Lang chuckled and did not answer the question Qi Jun asked earlier.

Meeting Qi Jun's gaze, Zhao Lang didn't avoid it at all. He looked straight at Qi Jun and said, "If you want to drink, drink. If you don't want to drink, go back. Don't talk so much nonsense."

"Okay, okay, I won't ask anymore. You need to change your temper." Qi Jun has known Zhao Lang for a long time. He still remembers that when they were still studying in the palace in the early years, Zhao Lang dared to fight those princes single-handedly.

He knew very well what kind of person Zhao Lang was.

If this young master were to be nice to others one day, he would start to suspect that this young master had been possessed by someone else.

"It can't be changed." Zhao Lang turned the wine glass in his hand, thinking about the people who entered the Imperial Academy to take the exam.

I don’t know how that person performed in the Imperial Examination Hall.

He was not worried about Lu Mingfei's answers, but he thought that the place in the Imperial Examination Hall was so small and Lu Mingfei had to stay there for three days. He was worried that Lu Mingfei would not get used to it and would not be comfortable living there.

Qi Jun was a little surprised to find Zhao Lang distracted, but he couldn't suppress his curiosity. "You're distracted right in front of me. Who are you thinking about?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Zhao Lang looked at Qi Jun with eyes full of disgust.

“…” Qi Jun found himself being disliked.

While Zhao Lang was drinking with others, Lu Mingfei in the examination room had already fallen asleep on the small bed.

***

Lu Mingfei woke up when he heard the sound of dripping rain at night.

It's raining.

If I were to ask what people fear most about the provincial examination, it would probably be rain and a drop in temperature.

As the saying goes, every autumn rain brings a chill. If it rains at this time, the temperature will definitely drop sharply.

A draft blew through the corridor, and their cell had no door, so the cold wind could blow directly into the cell. Lu Mingfei only felt that the wind swirled in the birdcage where he slept.

So cold!

He could only sit up from the bed.

Seeing candles lit in the nearby rooms, he knew that there were still people answering questions with candles.

Brother, do you have to work so hard?

Don’t you sleep late at night?

shook his head.

Afraid that he would catch a cold, which would affect his exams in the next two days, Lu Mingfei had to get up in the dark and light a candle.

Perhaps there was some movement here, so the patrolling soldier came over to take a look. After confirming that it was him who made the noise, the patrolling soldier stood in the aisle and stared at him.

Watch it if you want, it doesn’t matter to him anyway.

He put some charcoal in the stove, lit it, and then put the stove under the bed.

Although this small stove cannot provide much warmth, it is better than nothing.

After putting the stove under the bed, Lu Mingfei went back to bed and continued to sleep. Perhaps because of the charcoal stove underneath, he felt that the temperature of the bed had changed a little. At least he didn't feel cold anymore.

However, perhaps he went to bed too early last night, and woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall asleep. But it was too early to get up to answer the paper, and he didn't want to answer it by candlelight, so he forced himself to stay in bed.

“Hoo—hoo—”

I don’t know which of the brothers in the nearby cell are playing the game, but they are playing in a very rhythmic manner.

There is also a smell of feet. I don’t know if the brother next door didn’t wash his feet or has smelly feet. The smell is quite strong.

Perhaps it was because the snoring of the guy next door was too rhythmic. Listening to the sound of rain and the sound of others snoring at night, Lu Mingfei fell asleep again.

He also had a dream in which he passed the imperial examination and was paraded through the streets on horseback, with Zhao Lang following him on horseback. He asked Zhao Lang, "Today I passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar, why are you parading through the streets?"

Then Zhao Lang said to him, I'll come to accompany you.

He slept until the next day, and he woke up when he heard noises in the cell next door. Thinking of the dream he had before waking up, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but smile. Was this dream a good omen?

Maybe because of this dream, he was in a good mood.

After a good sleep, you will feel full of energy.

After going to the toilet and having a simple meal, he started answering the questions for the next day.

The next day was the same as the day before, with soldiers standing in the aisle holding signs with the test questions written on them.

Lu Mingfei wrote the test questions on a piece of draft paper first, and then made a mental outline on the draft paper with a pencil.

Just that morning, several candidates were carried out.

I think it was the rain last night and the sudden drop in temperature that caused some candidates who were unprepared and had poor physical fitness to fail in the first batch.

Some candidates were carried out, but those who stayed behind had to continue answering the questions.

“Cough cough cough…”

Someone nearby is coughing.

After the first cough, a series of coughs followed.

Lu Mingfei, who has entered the state of answering questions, automatically filters out the surrounding sounds and focuses only on his own writing and answering questions. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading