Luckily, none of the three were assigned a "bad number".
After the meal, the yamen runners banged gongs.
The exam officially began, and the candidates quickly tidied their desks to avoid food stains and oil getting on their exam papers.
Li Qingyao received the exam paper and read it through from beginning to end, which gave him a sense of confidence.
The first exam paper was on the classics, so as long as you memorize the required books thoroughly, you'll definitely do well in this subject.
Li Qingyao was full of confidence. He laid out his brush and ink, poured a little water into the inkstone, and carefully put the exam paper away while doing so. He was extremely careful.
After grinding the ink, he spread out the exam paper, dipped his brush in the ink, and began to answer the questions.
The examination hall was quiet, with only the footsteps of the yamen runners patrolling back and forth and the sound of the candidates turning over their exam papers.
Time passed without Li Qingyao noticing, but he had already memorized all the titles of the sutra.
The number of questions in the examination was huge, and the question setters were very tricky. If you weren't careful, you might fill in the content from one book as if it were from another book. Li Qingyao had experienced firsthand the perilous nature of the county examination.
After finishing that, he wrote the test poem in one go.
The examination poem was very simple; it was basically a poem praising the emperor, in five characters with six rhymes, and the meter had to be correct.
Li Qingyao had written many poems of this kind during his daily practice, and it was one of his specialties. In the blink of an eye, he picked up his pen and wrote one.
The next task was to study the classics. Li Qingyao did not continue writing; instead, he let the completed exam papers dry and carefully put them away.
Because he had finished quickly and had enough time, he decided to rest for a while, then make some ginger soup, and eat the fried rice and pancakes.
The yamen runner just struck the gong; it's now late afternoon, and the exam will end at late afternoon.
After eating, he felt better. The cell was indeed cold and damp, and the rain hadn't stopped outside. Even though Li Qingyao was a big guy, his hands and feet felt icy cold.
Li Qingyao rubbed his face and stomped his feet to warm up; he couldn't jump, or he would bump his head.
Feeling refreshed, he opened the exam paper again, read it through from beginning to end, and only began answering the questions after grinding the ink.
After a short while, he calmed down.
Pan Jinhua was still at Yan Min's house today. The whole family had little appetite at noon, wondering how their three children were doing in the exam hall. The rain kept falling, which only made them more anxious.
Pan Jinhua was also a little worried. She had heard that the environment in this cell was very poor. It was still cold today, and the chill had not yet dissipated. She was afraid that the children would catch a cold.
The doctor was already arranged, and we were going to bring him back at daybreak. He's staying at home now.
Those inside were writing furiously, while those waiting outside were also finding it hard to wait.
Perhaps it was because of their good mindset and their hard work in their studies that Li Qingduan and Li Qingyi were able to complete their problems relatively smoothly.
Write what you can write, and write whatever you can't write. The key is to maintain a stable mindset.
Another incident occurred along the way: in a cell near Li Qingduan, a scholar accidentally wet his exam paper while drinking water, causing the ink to smudge and ruining the paper.
The scholar cried so loudly that he was stopped by the yamen runners and taken away. With the exams almost over, this incident was truly distressing.
Because of this, Li Qingduan carried the water far away, afraid of soiling the exam paper he had worked so hard to write.
After checking the paper one last time, Li Qingyao put away the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and laid the exam paper flat on the number board.
Waiting to hand in the exam.
When the bell rang at dusk, the yamen runners came to collect the exam papers.
Li Qingyao followed the crowd out of the examination room. The three of them had agreed to go straight out after handing in their papers and then meet up outside.
Some people had a beaming smile on their faces, looking quite pleased with themselves.
"Haha, I think I did a good job, maybe there's hope."
Some people looked distressed and burst into tears when they saw their families. "I always knew the answers, so why can't I remember anything when I see the exam paper?"
Others showed neither joy nor sorrow, their faces serene.
Some even collapsed as soon as they left the exam hall; this was because they were infected by a malevolent spirit and stubbornly endured the exam until the end.
Once outside the examination hall, one sees a myriad of different people.
Li Qing and Bai Sha, along with their coachman, came to pick up the three of them.
When Li Qingyao came out, Li Qingduan and Li Qingyi were already in the carriage. After picking up Li Qingyao, they went straight home.
As soon as they got home, Yan Min took the three of them to the doctor. After checking their pulses to make sure they hadn't caught a cold, the family breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the doctor still prescribed a remedy. Many people did not have any reaction at the time, but after they relaxed, they suddenly developed a fever that night.
The examination basket was brought in by Li Qingjing. After the doctor left, Pan Jinhua started arranging for everyone to eat.
The three of them were starving. After taking a sip of the hot soup, they all sighed and said that home-cooked meals were the best.
"Grandma, you don't know, that cell is very small. If you want to sleep, you can only curl up on it."
Li Qingduan spoke first. This exam experience was so novel. Anyway, those who had taken the exam before or not wouldn't go to the next one.
Therefore, he still found this exam somewhat interesting.
"Yes, it's tough to take the exam for just one day. I can't imagine how long it would take to take the provincial exam. My body would probably be stiff by then."
"There were so many questions, I wrote down everything, whether I knew the answers or not."
"Me too, I've done my best, now it's up to fate."
Li Qingyao was amused by his two younger brothers.
"And some exam papers got stained with water, how unlucky."
"This is just too unlucky!"
Li Qing surprisingly chimed in, "Anyone who encountered this would go crazy."
"That's right, the exams are almost over, sigh."
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this now that the exam is over. After you finish eating, drink your medicine to dispel the cold, and then go to sleep."
Pan Jinhua told them to stop talking. "The exam is over. Let's rest well today and talk again tomorrow when we've recovered."
As soon as Pan Jinhua spoke, the children stopped talking. They all seemed to be in good spirits, but they didn't eat much. Their appetites had decreased significantly.
Pan Jinhua and Yan Min exchanged a glance, both understanding that the three children were actually quite tired.
After the meal, instead of calling Li Qing to disturb them, the three of them drank the medicine and were then taken to bed.
They closed their eyes and fell asleep in no time.
"Be extra careful in Baisha tonight. If your young masters develop a fever, report it immediately."
"Yes, Madam."
Since Bai Sha started practicing martial arts with them, he has indeed grown taller and become more clever.
"Jiao'er, keep a close eye on your brother at night. It's cold outside, and he's taking off his clothes to check him. It's chilly in early spring, and I'm afraid he might have caught a cold that hasn't been released."
"Okay, godmother. I'll take care of it, don't worry."
Wang Jiao should also agree readily.
Fortunately, these three people were in good health and did not develop a fever that night.
The next day, I heard that the doctors in the city were doing a lot of business, and many of the students who had taken the exam had fallen ill with fevers.
After breakfast, Li Qingyao recited the exam questions one by one in his room.
We can give it to the students of the ethnic studies school to do.
However, he also silently reviewed his answer, intending to check where he might have fallen short later.
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