The man known as the leader was a burly man, around thirty years old, with a dark complexion and a thick beard. His eyes were fierce and violent, and he was clearly not someone to be trifled with!
"Alright, reassure the brothers. If we pull off this big one, it'll be enough to feed us for a year!"
The burly man took a sip of wine, then slammed the cup down on the large rock that served as a makeshift table. He looked at Chen Xiong with suspicion and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. How could I not avenge your sister? Besides, now that she's with me, I certainly won't mistreat her! Let those peasants enjoy a few good days first!"
"That's right, the chief's strategies are far-reaching, how could someone as short-sighted as me compare! Besides, the man my sister followed before was a coward! A scoundrel! How could he compare to you, chief? She's only following you because she admires you! Even if my parents were still alive, they would be overjoyed! Haha!"
Chen Xiong smiled obsequiously, his beady eyes gleaming with ingratiating light.
Clearly, these words pleased the leader greatly.
A woman swept down from the foot of the mountain. Unexpectedly, she turned out to be her younger brother's own sister. Although the woman was married, she had a great figure and was very beautiful. Although she couldn't compare to her previous vixens, it was still nice to change things up once in a while!
Moreover, this woman's skills in that area were clearly superior. If the timing hadn't been wrong, he would have been indulging in nightly revelry!
The leader spat, thinking to himself, "Damn it, after this job, I'll take a few beauties to the mountains for a few days of fun. What's the point of living in fear day and night? Isn't it all for eating, drinking, and having fun?!"
"Get the brothers on their toes! If this succeeds, our riches and glory will come! Pick a few of the best swimmers and have them lie in wait thirty miles outside the Jiangzhou dock, ready to obey my orders. This is our only chance!" His eyes hardened, filled with an unwavering determination.
Chen Xiong readily agreed, for it was a matter of shared honor and shared glory for him!
If the boss can help that mysterious man pull off this job, he and his entire gang will rise to prominence, living a life of drinking, eating meat, and playing with women. Who wouldn't want that kind of carefree life?
As Chen Xiong walked, he pondered. He also needed to appease his younger sister, making sure she firmly grasped the boss's heart and soul, and ideally, bear him a child or two. Once she was established, she could become an asset to him, wouldn't she? ...
Regardless of the commotion on the mountain bandits' side, He Yingyuan's side began to get busy.
With the provincial examination imminent, it had come to the point where we had no choice but to act.
Liao Hongying prepared all kinds of food and clothing for him, all carefully prepared based on the experience she had heard. She also brought dried noodles that she had learned from San Niang, as well as stoves and charcoal. The charcoal was also extremely precious silver wire charcoal, which burned without any smoke.
Qin San Niang generously offered instant noodle seasoning again, only this time in different packaging. Adding this seasoning to the cooked noodle soup made it incredibly delicious; a bowl of hot soup in this late autumn season felt like it would bring the whole body back to life!
Other medicines also needed to be prepared, for treating colds, diarrhea, headaches, and fevers. Instead of having Qin San Niang offer suggestions for these, she recommended that Old Doctor Cao prescribe some pills, which would be helpful in dealing with any problems.
You also need to prepare your clothes properly. The weather is already cold. If you don't add or remove clothes properly in the morning and evening, you can easily catch a cold. How can you take the exam then?
Watching his wife constantly pacing back and forth, preparing this and that, He Yingyuan was both touched and helpless. He couldn't very well tell her that she probably wouldn't pass the exam this time, and that all this preparation would be a waste. He could only repeatedly confirm with her that it was enough.
It's no wonder Liao Hongying was so nervous, because the provincial examination was exceptionally arduous, taking a full nine days!
For nine days, candidates could only stay in cramped cubicles called "number cells," which were about the size of a single box, about two meters high and one meter wide.
The desks used during exams transform into beds when students sleep, but these beds are small ones, only big enough for students to curl up and take a nap, with no room to even stretch their legs!
To facilitate inspections by the examiners, the examination cells were not equipped with doors. Imagine how cold it would be to sleep outdoors at night in late autumn! As a result, it was common for candidates to fall ill or catch a cold, and some even collapsed, fainted, or died in the examination room. This has been the case throughout history.
Putting aside how terrible the environment of these cells was, the most terrifying thing was probably not that, but the problem of the cycle of life!
No one, regardless of whether they are royalty or commoner, can escape this system. Once inside the cubicle, one is not allowed to leave. In other words, eating, drinking, relieving oneself, and sleeping all have to be done within this tiny cubicle!
There are small chamber pots for relieving oneself in the cells, but if you want to defecate, you need to hang a small sign that says "Go to the toilet" on the wall outside the cell, and the patrolling guards will take you to the outhouse.
However, this would raise suspicion of cheating, regardless of whether you genuinely couldn't hold it in. The consequence would be a very conspicuous and unlucky black stamp on your exam paper. This would even make the examiners feel uneasy, and some, who are particularly righteous, might simply throw your paper aside and refuse to grade it.
Therefore, even if they were to die of constipation, the candidates were unwilling to go to the toilet during these nine days. If they were to poop, wouldn't all their ten years of hard study have been wasted? The only solution was to reduce their food intake and decrease the frequency of urination.
Even so, it was still inevitable to have to deal with it once or twice, which made the exam room stink. Anyone who could pass the exam in such an environment was truly exceptional!
When Qin San Niang heard this, she was speechless!
She had heard of "cell cells" before, but she never imagined they would be so unpleasant! What were these officials thinking? Couldn't they just let people take the exam comfortably and perform at their best? Why did they have to starve and torture them?
In the end, it became clear: conditions were harsh in ancient times, and becoming an official required exceptional willpower. The imperial examinations tested not only the candidates' literary and martial skills but also their physical fitness and willpower. If any one of these was not up to par, the candidate would inevitably be eliminated.
Having mastered both literary and martial arts, one might sell oneself to the emperor...
All I can say is that the standards of the imperial family are absolutely extremely high!
So, is there any way to alleviate the anxiety caused by these trivial matters? After all, her second son, Wang Shenxing, also has to take the imperial examination.
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