454 is hard to say
Ping An quickly found his little space, a real pigeon cage.
Ping'an was estimated to be less than two meters tall, not a little taller than him, just enough to keep his head down. It was less than two meters long, because there was a very small couch, which was used to store luggage during the day and as a bed at night. It was at most one and a half meters wide, with a small couch and a desk. There was only about a foot of distance between the couch and the desk.
In the corner of the couch, there is a toilet for people to use. It has a lid and is placed there openly.
It is impossible not to go to the toilet nine days before and after. There are public toilets in the examination room, and people usually go there to defecate, but you are not allowed to go there during the whole day. If you really want to go, you have to apply first. After the examiner agrees, he will stamp you with a feces and urine stamp. You should not have too many such stamps. If you have too many, the examiner will have a bad impression of you and you will also lose points.
Isn’t there an old saying that lazy people poop a lot?
Therefore, if you need to urinate during the day, you will basically do it in your own pigeon coop and will not really go to the toilet. Try not to eat too much during these nine days. If you are full, your brain will react slowly and you will need to go to the toilet more often.
The master and the grandmaster repeatedly asked him for more, and he had a very large appetite.
There was a brand new straw mattress on the couch, and a thin quilt which I didn't know if it was new or not, but it was estimated to weigh no more than three pounds. If I relied on this alone at night, I would get cold.
Ping'an placed the fur cloak on the couch, and then laid out the things in the examination basket one by one, including an inkstone, a piece of ink, several rags, and half a bowl of water for grinding ink on the table. This was given by the government office, and every candidate had one. After all, water was free, and there was no way to bring it.
In addition, there was a small bag of candles on the table. I counted them and there were exactly nine, not more, not less. I guess they won't add more in the future. In the examination room with so many people, the examiner would not approve of lighting lights to do questions at night as it is easy to cause a fire, and by then no one might be able to escape.
These candles are used for washing up in the morning and evening, and also for when you really can't help getting up at night.
He brought a bottle of ginseng wine, which was given to him by his master, who said it was good ginseng. There were also a few small pieces of old ginseng. I don’t know if the other two of the three strong men had them. Even if they did, they might not be as old ginseng as his.
There was no need to take these out for the time being. He also brought some medicine, for diarrhea, fever reduction, pain relief, and a few pills of Baidu Dan. In such a large examination room, anything could happen. The key was nine days, which was really too long.
He took out the realgar powder he had prepared in advance, which was also what his master asked him to bring. He said that in such a large examination room, there might be reptiles, snakes and the like, and if they really bit you, even if you took medicine immediately, it would still affect the exam.
After sprinkling the realgar powder, he picked up the rag and wiped the table, stools and couch carefully. It turned out that what the gentleman said was right, the rag turned black.
He threw away the rag and picked up another one to wipe it carefully. Doctors all have some degree of mysophobia, but his was okay and it wasn't too serious.
After finishing all these, he left the pigeon coop while there were not many people around, and found the public toilet, which was still clean. He was probably the first one to report to the toilet. Although he had relieved himself before going out in the morning, he still squeezed out some urine.
The examination room gradually became brighter.
Soon, the bell rang and the test papers were distributed through the doorway.
The small door of the pigeon cage has been locked. There is a small bell next to the door. If something really happens, you can ring it and the yamen runners will come over soon.
The prerequisite is that you really have something to do, otherwise you will also be deducted points for disturbing the order.
Ping'an carefully opened the test paper. It was a thick stack, probably more than twenty pages. This was for one test. The provincial examination was held every three days, but you were not allowed to go out during the test. A small door would be opened for you. On the evening of the third or sixth day, you could walk around the path near you and go to the toilet at will.
But that's all.
There is also a thick stack of draft paper, which must not be damaged and must be submitted together with the test paper. This can prove that you made the test paper yourself, but Ping An thinks that this is basically unnecessary.
Ping An read it from beginning to end, with a slight curl of his lips. "Sir, you are really amazing. You guessed many of the questions correctly. I will work harder and try to increase the bet of two thousand taels to eight thousand taels."
What a pity for Zhou Heng and the top three.
He deliberately mentioned the betting in a joking tone, but was immediately rejected by the two young gentlemen. They also told him not to bet either. How could a scholar engage in gambling?
Finally, seeing that he was serious, the two of them reluctantly bet twenty taels each on him, feeling very distressed.
In the end, he insisted that they bet fifty taels, of which thirty taels would be theirs if they won and his if they lost.
He thought that sixty taels were nothing to him, but if they won, each of them would have an extra one hundred and twenty taels, and silver was really important to the two strongest men.
The three strong men and Zhou Heng made a firm decision and bet fifty taels. Of course, all the winnings and losses would be theirs. However, it was the first time in their lives that they had to spend so much money on a gamble, which made them feel a little unable to accept it.
There were actually three math questions this time, and each one was not easy. The last question made Ping An laugh from the bottom of his heart. It was too damn difficult. It was good to be difficult. The harder the better.
"Brother Wan, let's go back. No one is needed here. Everyone go back. We will come back here to pick up Young Scholar Wan in nine days."
Wan Changsheng laughed. It sounded really nice to hear "Wan Xiaojuren" called like that.
"Okay, the weather is good for the exam today. The sun is out. My wife has been worried for a long time, fearing that the weather would be bad and the children would get cold. Now she doesn't have to worry anymore."
"The exam will end on the 17th, and the results will be out in half a month. It would be best if we could leave in a few days. You two should pack up early. There will be heavy snow in November. Even in good weather, it will take the 20th to get to the capital. If you leave too late, you might get stuck on the way and miss the spring exam."
"My Lord, I will follow your instructions. I will not return home if I pass the imperial examination this time. We will return home in glory if we pass the imperial examination."
While Ping'an was working on his homework seriously, Sun Wen abandoned the carriage and walked slowly home. He was also sending Zhiyuan to take the provincial examination today. Zhiyuan did not take part in the provincial examination three years ago. One reason was that Sun Wen thought his son was not old enough, and the other was that his foundation was not good enough, so it would be a waste for him to suffer for nine days.
Zhiyuan is already 21 years old this year. In the past three years, he has listened to the eldest son and insisted on making his two sons do morning exercises with the guards every day. Although they haven't learned kung fu, their bodies have indeed become stronger. There is no need to worry about their health this time as the provincial examination will be held for nine consecutive days.
Ping'an should also be taking exams at this time. As Ping'an's teacher, I have benefited from his kindness, but I have not been able to help my disciple in these three years.
He could only try his best to find good books outside, copy one himself and leave it to Ping'an. If he passed the exam, they would come to the capital.
The brat went to Minzhou and suffered a lot, but he asked the eldest master to help him bring back an alarm clock and glasses.
The eldest son told him about Ping An's kidnapping, which was a close call. The eldest son told him not to tell anyone about it as there was no need to make so many people worry.
But he was really scared to death, and he lay down for two days before he recovered.
It's too dangerous.
Chang Chunfeng asked for leave today. Zhang Jinyu was puzzled: "Ping An is not here for the exam, what's the point of asking for leave?"
Chang Chunfeng walked towards the study: "He is my own son. How can a father remain indifferent when his own son is taking the provincial examination? I need to calm down for a day. I will go to the study. Don't let the child come and disturb me."
Zhang Jinyu looked at his back and sighed, is it necessary to be so sarcastic?
Wasn't she telling the truth? Since I couldn't pick her up, wouldn't it be useless to stay in the study?
Tell Yan'er not to disturb him. You don't have the heart to write in the study. It would be good to teach your son. Her son is five years old this year, and she plans to send him to school in the spring.
But before going to school, you have to know more so that the teacher will look at you differently, right?
She wanted to teach him, but her son was not afraid of her at all and just wanted to play all day long.
Zhang Jinyu sighed and looked up to see the little sister and brother playing in the yard. Jin'er was seven years old, and it was time for him to learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
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