Yao Jinrong tried to comfort himself, but he couldn't hide his growing panic and unease.
The county magistrate, accompanied by his instructors and others, slowly patrolled the examination hall, reviewing each candidate's essay.
"Xu Yincheng and Liu Yongfei have both started writing. Xu Yincheng is indeed well-versed in the Four Books; his introduction to the topic is very well written."
"Liu Yongfei is not bad either. Besides the content, the handwriting is also extremely important for the eight-legged essay! He practices regular script, and his strokes are strong and powerful, which is quite good."
"Oh, is that Xia Qingzhai up ahead? Why don't we go take a look?"
"Okay, hahaha..."
The group pretended to be nonchalant and walked slowly forward. They first passed Yao Jinrong's cell and saw him sweating profusely, clutching a pen but not writing a single word on the paper. The group frowned.
"Wasn't Yao Jinrong the top scholar in the county examination back then? Why is he so flustered? They said Xia Qingzhai didn't study hard, but look at his blank exam paper, he clearly didn't study well!"
"Sigh, what a waste of his trust. He's incompetent yet arrogant, what a pity."
"Let's go see Xia Qingzhai."
As the group slowly approached the Qingzhai room, the first thing they saw was a line of elegant handwriting on a snow-white sheet of paper.
[To disregard rules and regulations is to rely solely on cleverness and skill.]
The instructors' and teachers' eyes lit up immediately; this was a brilliant solution!
As long as she doesn't go off-topic later on, this problem-solving approach will earn her a lot of points.
Then, they looked at Tongsu's handwriting, and upon closer inspection, their eyes widened in surprise.
This word—
The character was actually—
Taige style?
Taige style is a special type of font that was popular in the imperial court and examination halls. Memorials, official documents, and examination papers all used this font as the standard.
It is somewhat similar to regular script, but more serious and orderly, with no variation between the strokes of each character. If you ask what the difference is between it and regular script, it is that regular script has the unique style of the writer, with lively variations between strokes, while the official script requires complete uniformity.
Simply put, it's the ancient printed script, designed for easy reading rather than for showcasing calligraphy.
Xia Qingzhai's use of the "Taige style" calligraphy is truly remarkable.
Each character is round and full, upright, dark, dense, and smooth. The same characters are indistinguishable, as if they were printed one by one using ceramic movable type.
It looks pleasing to the eye.
The eight-legged essay had strict rules and placed great importance on handwriting. Even if the content was of similar quality, good handwriting could play a decisive role in the ranking!
The county magistrate and the instructor couldn't help but laugh, their hearts filled with joy.
Yunyang County has truly produced a promising talent.
It seems that Xia Qingzhai was not affected by family matters too much, and his performance remained as steady as ever—no, not just steady, but rising steadily!
Three years later, the provincial examination will be held in the provincial capital, where students from all over the province will gather, showcasing their talents and making the exam extremely difficult.
They had previously worried that Yunyang County wouldn't produce a single outstanding student, but now, after seeing Xia Qingzhai, they realized he clearly has great potential.
Perhaps, I can even compete for the title of Jieyuan (top scholar in the imperial examination)...
The county magistrate was even more excited. He had served as the magistrate of Yunyang County for many years, and if a promising candidate emerged from the provincial examination, he might be promoted for his "meritorious service in educating and guiding the people"...
As everyone left, lost in thought, they finished patrolling the examination hall and had just sat down to take a sip of water when their subordinates rushed over, drenched in sweat.
A very important person from the capital has just arrived at the county government office!
The magistrate was so anxious he almost jumped up: "Heavens! Why is that person here again? Quick, come with me to greet him!"
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