223, Imperial Examination
223, Imperial Examination
The New Year had just ended and the snow in Kyoto Prefecture had not yet stopped, but the February imperial examination was about to begin.
Coming into the Imperial Examination Hall for the exam again, Lu Mingfei found it even colder than the last time. This time, the dormitory where he was taking the exam was close to the main gate, so the first people to be blown by the wind were the people in their dormitory.
During the provincial examination, they only needed to take three days to pass, but this time the metropolitan examination would last for nine days.
This means that they have to stay here for nine days and eight nights before they can go out.
Last time he stayed here for three days and two nights, he already felt it was torture. This time he had to stay in this birdcage for nine days and eight nights.
Seeing this familiar bird cage again, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but wail in his heart: Oh my God...
If it weren't for my future, anyone could stay in this damn place! I have to stay here for nine days and eight nights! It's really terrible!
However, no matter how much he wailed inwardly, Lu Mingfei quickly packed up his exam room after entering. After sorting and putting his things in order, he covered himself with the quilt and sat on the bed, waiting for the exam.
Because it was too cold to sit outside!
The real pain comes when the exam officially begins.
There was an aisle in front of the room where they took the exam. They sat at the desks in the room to answer questions. The draft that blew in could make people feel cold from head to toe.
So, despite wearing thick clothes, a hat, gloves, and a charcoal stove, Lu Mingfei still felt very cold while answering questions in the exam, and his hands couldn't help shaking when he wrote.
This discovery made me feel terrible.
Fortunately, he was just writing a draft, so a little crooked writing was okay. But if he was writing on the main paper, his shaking hands would make the writing crooked, and the entire paper would be scrapped.
The examiners only gave them a limited number of answer sheets, and if they soiled or damaged them themselves, they could not ask for new ones.
But no matter what, he continued to write the answers quickly on the draft paper while shaking. Fortunately, he was using a pencil, so he didn't have to dip it in ink after writing a few words, which greatly improved his writing speed.
Almost as he was thinking about something, the pen in his hand had already written the words.
When he came in for the exam, he noticed that the other candidate across from him was also answering the questions with pencils sold by his family. Taking advantage of the favorable conditions of the exam, the new pens produced by his family's workshop were selling well, which allowed his family's workshop to quickly recoup some funds.
"..." Finding that he could still be distracted by thinking about other things, Lu Mingfei quickly straightened his mind and concentrated on answering his test paper.
Because the weather was too cold, he couldn't lie down on the bed to sleep at noon, so after lunch, he sat in his seat and continued answering questions.
On the first day of the exam, time passed quickly and it was dark soon.
Unlike the previous time he took the provincial examination, he did not stop answering questions after dark. This time, after dark, Lu Mingfei lit a candle and continued answering questions. From the candlelight around him, he found that many people around him must have lit candles like him and answered questions.
This time, their exams would last nine days, meaning their mental and physical strength would be at its peak in the first few days. As the exam progressed, their mental and physical strength would decline. Therefore, they had to complete their exams as much as possible in the first few days, and then copy their answers onto the final exam papers in the remaining days.
Otherwise, with such a large number of questions in this imperial examination, I am afraid that many people will not be able to finish answering all the questions within the specified time, and they will have to copy them onto the main paper in neat handwriting.
It seems that not only he understands this, but other people taking the exam here also understand this.
"Boom!—Boom, boom!"
I heard the night watchman's bell ring at three o'clock in the morning.
This time is around 11 to 12 o'clock in the evening.
Lu Mingfei put away his pen and gathered up the draft he had written, put it in a bag, and then hid the bag inside his bed. Only then did he hang up a sign indicating that he needed to use the toilet.
After someone came and took him to the toilet, he put the charcoal stove, which was still warm, at the end of the bed and climbed onto the bed to sleep without even rinsing his mouth.
Knowing the weather would be cold for the exam, he asked his mother to sew him a sleeping bag just big enough for one person. That night, he slept in the sleeping bag, wrapped in a thick blanket and his coat spread over it.
But despite this, when he first lay down, he still felt his feet were very cold, and it took him a long time to fall asleep.
"..." He woke up in the middle of the night and heard someone snoring around him. Knowing it was still early, Lu Mingfei wanted to add some charcoal to the stove to keep warm, but in the end, he didn't want to leave the warm bed, so he continued to lie in bed.
After hypnotizing myself, I slept for a while.
He slept until the next day when he heard noises around him and opened his eyes.
It's still dark now, but some people around have already lit candles. They are probably answering their papers.
Looking at the familiar rooftop, thinking about the next eight days, he sighed inwardly. He then crawled out of his sleeping bag, made his bed, and made sure the bag of papers was beside him. After checking everything was in place, he applied to use the restroom.
After returning, he did not rush to answer the questions. Instead, he lit the charcoal in the stove and added some water to the pot. After the water in the pot was boiling, he lit the candle on the table, took out the stationery and test paper, and continued to answer the questions.
In the middle of answering the questions, he took the time to rinse his mouth and wash his face. After drinking half a cup of hot water, he threw the rice and meat into the pot to simmer.
…
“Gurgle——”
The aroma of rice and meat made my stomach growl with hunger.
This time, Lu Mingfei cleared the papers and stationery on the table, poured the rice from the pot into a large bowl, and then continued to boil water in the pot. He sat down to eat. He also took out some pickles and scooped a spoonful into the rice and mixed it.
One bite and you’ll find rice, meat and vegetables.
Although it’s a little worse than what I eat at home, it’s pretty good to have a hot meal in the examination room.
Lu Jieyuan, who was eating voraciously at this moment, did not know that the examinees around him who were concentrating on answering their papers, after smelling the fragrance of his food, could no longer continue and put down their pens to go find some dry food to eat.
The inspector passed by him just as he stuffed a big mouthful of rice into his mouth. When he looked up, his eyes met the examiner's.
He seemed to see a look in the examiner's eyes that said "this kid is hopeless"?
“…” Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment and continued chewing the food in his mouth.
The examiner had already passed by him with his men.
Haven’t you seen anyone eating in the examination room?
How can you have the energy to answer the test paper if you don’t have a full stomach?
While he was eating, he saw two officers carrying a man passing by on the road in front of him.
There is no doubt that the man who was carried out could not be woken up.
Shaking his head inwardly, Lu Mingfei didn't have time to lament over other people's past. He quickly finished his meal and took a sip of hot water to moisten his throat. After clearing away the utensils from the meal, he washed his hands, laid out his stationery and test paper, and continued answering the questions.
That day, three or four people were carried out through their aisle, but he had no idea how many were carried out from other aisles.
For those who were carried out as soon as the exam started, there was no doubt that this exam was over.
Everyone has their own destiny, and he can't control the fate of others.
Since he had eaten a bowl of dry food in the morning, he ate two snacks at noon to fill his stomach and then continued answering the questions.
This answer lasted until the evening.
After simmering the rice in advance, by the time the light in the examination room dimmed, his dinner was ready.
His stomach was growling with hunger, so Lu Mingfei didn't insist on continuing answering the questions. He put away the test paper and stationery, and then started to eat.
After eating, he sat back in his seat and continued answering the test paper for a while before he asked to go to the toilet.
After the exam the next day, the toilet smelled very strong.
A cell next to the toilet was empty. I didn't know whether this guy went to the toilet or had been carried out.
But no matter what others do, it has nothing to do with him.
The next night, Lu Mingfei also answered questions until three o'clock in the morning before packing up and going to bed.
On the morning of the third day, even more people were carried out.
The Imperial Examination not only tested the candidates' academic knowledge, but also their physical strength and fitness. Sitting in this freezing cold and windy February weather would be unbearable for anyone with even the slightest physical condition.
Those candidates who were carried out are the best proof.
At this point, Lu Mingfei began to understand why their master did not come to take the imperial examination. He probably knew that his body could not endure the nine days and eight nights of examination, so he did not want to waste the time.
This is also why some candidates, as they progressed through the imperial examinations, found it increasingly difficult to pass the examinations and become Jinshi. Besides their mindset, the other factor was that as they aged, their bodies could no longer withstand the nine days and nights of sitting in the examination hall.
On the fourth day, Lu Mingfei also felt a little unwell. He then remembered that he had asked his mother to dry some ginger for him, grind it into ginger powder and bring it in. As soon as he realized that he was not feeling well, he quickly made a cup of water with the ginger powder.
Perhaps the ginger water he drank took effect, and by noon he felt less dizzy.
By that afternoon, he had written down all the answers on a piece of scratch paper.
So that night he didn't insist on answering questions until midnight, but instead climbed into bed as soon as it got dark. Before going to bed, he didn't forget to drink a cup of ginger tea, so as not to be the one being carried out the next morning.
***
That night, Zhao Lang was drinking alone in Prince Ding's mansion. He looked at the empty seat next to him and thought of the people taking the exam in the examination room. He murmured, "It's already the fourth day."
"Are you almost done with the exam and coming out?"
Thinking back to the day when he didn't get the answer from Lu Mingfei.
If one day he leaves Kyoto Prefecture, would that person be willing to go with him?
Probably not, he thought.
If he passes this joint examination and the next palace examination as well, Lu Jieyuan will be able to become an official in the court. How could he possibly give up everything here and go to a completely unfamiliar place with him where he has no parents or family?
Zhao Lang tilted his head and poured the wine in the glass into his mouth. He turned the glass in his hand, and a look of unwillingness flashed in his narrowed eyes.
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