Song Chi could feel his cousin's panic between the lines of his letter.

I am an ordinary person, but I lost my composure when I was suddenly exposed to these things.

Or perhaps because his power was not enough to protect the people around him, Shen Liangyu was forced to leave her hometown and disguise herself as a man to go to the battlefield. They have been separated for several months, and Song Chi often thinks of her.

As he got involved in the party struggle, his family was inevitably implicated. Fortunately, Feng Yuan was protecting them in Ji County, but what if Feng Yuan couldn't protect them?

You still have to be a high-ranking official or a powerful minister.

My uncle's letter was also full of melancholy. Although life is good now, home doesn't feel like home anymore.

Nan Yi has been busy with the shop and hasn't been home for many days. Nan Yan is almost the same. Anyitang is getting bigger and bigger, and I haven't seen him for half a month.

To be honest, I haven't been home for many days, and your aunt is always grumbling and complaining. Her temper is even worse than before.

I feel uncomfortable when I don’t hear your aunt nagging me often, and my uncle is worried when his nephew travels thousands of miles away.

I heard that you have encountered many assassination attempts. Please take good care of yourself when you go out. Your uncle knows that you have lofty ambitions, but remember that no matter where you go in the future, you must remember that your uncle's house is your home.

Here is what your aunt said.

Don't listen to your uncle's nonsense. I feel peaceful when no one is at home. It's so pleasant to fiddle with flowers and plants every day. I wish you all wouldn't come back.

Also, the old yard we rented before has been bought, and we still live here. You can find it when you come back.

My aunt has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She also wants to say the same thing as my uncle.

After reading them all, Song Chi wrote a reply to each person and arranged for someone to send them off.

Then he devoted himself to the college entrance examination. Time passed quickly and ten days went by in a flash.

On the third day of June, the twenty-third year of Yuanjing in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the day of the Jiangzhou City Academy Examination finally arrived.

The sky was grey and dark clouds were pressing down as if it was going to rain.

The college entrance examination is like this every year, as if God is crying for the students.

The academy examination was held in the Gongyuan, which was built specifically for the imperial examination. It had more than 2,300 examination rooms and was built on a scale similar to that of the Gongyuan in the capital.

Therefore, the Jiangzhou Academy Examination did not need to be divided into multiple sessions like in other places, and there was no distinction between the main examination and the re-examination. There was only one examination.

The examination format is similar to the provincial examination, and can be regarded as a simulation of the provincial examination. The examination lasts one day and one night.

As soon as the sky was getting light, there were already crowds of people outside the Imperial Examination Hall, and several long queues had formed at the entrance.

Jiangzhou is an important place for imperial examinations, similar to Henan Province in the previous life which was a major province for college entrance examinations. The imperial examinations are extremely difficult. It is said that people who cannot pass the college entrance examinations in Jiangzhou can become the top scorers in other states.

Although it's a bit exaggerated, it's almost the same.

Under human intervention, the imperial examination was in serious chaos. Except for the candidates from Qingke Pavilion or those with a literary party background, no one else could pass.

It is already difficult to pass the college entrance examination, and with so many conditions, it is like a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge.

In his reply to Feng Yuan, Song Chi asked Feng Yuan to write a letter to Lu Taiyuan behind him, saying that if the provincial examination had a fair environment, he could help at least twenty students from the Donglin Academy pass the provincial examination.

Lu Taiyuan cheated him, and he also made demands to Lu Taiyuan.

The chief examiner for the provincial examination was sent from the capital. In previous years, the examiners were always members of the Literary Party, but this year Lu Taiyuan had to find a solution.

Why did the Wen Party grow so strong and why did so many people follow it wholeheartedly? It was because following Song Shiwen meant there was a future.

For example, Bai Yong, the former magistrate of Ji County, was originally just a juren who passed the provincial examination, but because he was noticed by Song Shiwen, he was directly arranged to be the magistrate of Ji County. He was promoted to prefect within two years.

There are only a handful of people with such resumes in the entire Great Zhou.

Bai Yong would naturally obey Song Shiwenyan's advice and follow his lead.

He was also implicated in the Ji County incident this time. Those things were done during Bai Yong's term of office, so Bai Yong naturally could not avoid it, but I don't know if Song Shiwen can be spared.

Song Chi told Lu Taiyuan that if he wanted to fight against the Wen Party, he had to offer real benefits.

Lu Taiyuan would definitely be very excited to bring more than 20 students who passed the provincial examination to the Qingliu Party. The main reason for the growth of the Wen Party is the monopoly on talents.

And Song Chi wants to break this monopoly.

If they can pass the provincial examination, they will become Juren, and in time these Juren will become the backbone of the society.

Lu Taiyuan would be tempted. This is to cultivate talents for the Qingliu Party, and Song Chi is also cultivating a team for himself. This is like using someone else's chicken to lay eggs.

There was a crowd of people outside the Imperial Examination Hall, and students were gathered in groups of two or three, most of them with sad faces.

Many people were discussing the literary gathering. Song Chi faced so many difficulties at the gathering, but still won the first place. It was like he had overcome many difficulties and it sounded very exciting.

Just after Han Yuanzheng made a loud noise at the gate of Nandu Academy that day, these things began to spread, and some people even compiled them into vernacular novels and even shadow puppet shows.

But it soon disappeared.

Some smart people realized that the government had intervened.

While you are promoting Song Chi's reputation, you are also stepping on the Prime Minister's son.

Although some people intervened, Song Chi's reputation remained undiminished. After all, the literary gathering had only been over for half a month, and now was a hotly discussed period.

"Hmph, I'm afraid this top-ranked person's reputation will be ruined by this college entrance examination."

A discordant voice seemed to rise from the crowd.

"I'm sure you've all heard that Song Chi is recruiting new students at the Donglin Academy, and that anyone who learns from him can pass the entrance exam. Don't you think this is just a fantasy?"

"Brother Li, haven't you also been to the Donglin Academy? Can you tell us more about it?"

The two of them spoke loudly on purpose as if they were supporting actors.

The young student was Li Cheng, the man Song Chi had chased out. He sneered, "Song Chi's victory truly impressed me. I joined the Donglin Academy just for his literary fame, but within two days he had gathered a few of us. I think there were thirty-two of us."

Li Cheng's vivid description quickly attracted a lot of attention.

Everyone was very curious about how Song Chi could teach so many people to pass the college entrance examination, and they wanted to know what the process was.

Li Cheng is a person who has experienced this firsthand.

"He gathered us together, saying he was going to run a cramming class for the college entrance exam. At the time, there was still two weeks before the exam, and he told us to stay there, not to go out, not to contact outsiders, until the exam was over."

The person next to him deliberately asked, "Then why did you withdraw again? Who knows if you can really pass the college entrance examination under Professor Song Kuishou."

Li Cheng said coldly, "I just listened to a few words and couldn't bear to listen any more. I didn't expect that the champion of the literary competition could say such big words. If he could make people pass the imperial examination and become scholars, then there would be scholars everywhere."

"I'm putting this out there in front of all these people today. If he can really do it, I'll kneel down and kowtow to him ten times!"

"Okay, I'll wait for you to kowtow."

Just then, a passage opened up in the crowd and Song Chi walked over.