Chapter 28 The Imperial Examination
After more than twenty days of long journey, the carriage finally entered Bianjing. In the distance, the magnificent city gate could be seen standing tall. The gate was more than ten meters high, with three gates, green tiles and flying eaves, and carved beams and painted rafters.
After their identities were verified, their carriage entered the city and disappeared into the crowd.
It was during the spring imperial examination season, and they encountered many carriages with yellow flags on top along the way, which read "By Imperial Decree, the Imperial Examination is being held."
Compared to Jinzhou, Bianjing, the capital city, was far more prosperous. Looking out from behind the curtain, the buildings on both sides were magnificent and splendid, and the people coming and going were dressed in extraordinary clothes, with silk and satin fabrics, and adorned with gold and jade. It was truly a dazzling sight.
They were escorted to the guild halls. Most candidates who came to the capital for the imperial examinations stayed in these guild halls, which were specially prepared for the candidates. A month's stay only cost ten coins.
Since they came together, their rooms were adjacent so they could look after each other.
The carriage was bumpy, and they couldn't get a good rest every day. As soon as they entered the guild hall, they went to their rooms to sleep and didn't wake up until evening.
Pei Wu had only been awake for a short time when he was thinking of inviting Jiang Ru to have dinner with him. There was a light knock on the door. It was Fang Zhize, a classmate who had come to Bianjing with them.
After a good night's sleep, Fang Zhi felt much more energetic. A few days ago, his face was pale and bluish in the carriage, as if he was about to faint at any moment, but now he was in good spirits.
He looked radiant: "Brother Pei, I've heard that the night market in Bianjing is the most lively. You and your cousin should go check it out together!"
Jiang Ru was interested in the night market, and after a brief discussion, the group went out together.
Bianjing's night market had everything imaginable, with melodious music from traditional Chinese string and wind instruments and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares. On the shimmering Bian River, many boats floated on the water, and the sound of pipa music could be heard from the boats from time to time.
They found some food at the night market to fill their stomachs, and then strolled along the street. Not far away, there were acrobats performing, shooting fire from their mouths, which won rounds of cheers.
In her previous life, Jiang Ru had never left Shuzhou, mainly because she was poor and had never seen the prosperity of Bianjing. Now that she has seen it, she is truly impressed.
Many stalls displayed novel trinkets at reasonable prices, and they all bought some to take home.
On the way back, we passed a restaurant, and on the second floor, people were throwing money down the street.
Silver coins rained down, and the onlookers rushed forward, their faces flushed as they scrambled for the money. Those who managed to grab it looked up with glee, thanking the Second Young Master.
Zheng Qiuhong asked in surprise, "Who is this person, making such a grand gesture?"
They all shook their heads.
At this moment, someone next to him interjected: "This man is the second son of the Minister's family. He comes to Qingfeng Tower every three days. If he's in a good mood, he'll throw money around. If you want to snatch some, you'd better come early and get a good spot."
The others were speechless with astonishment. After a long while, Fang Zhi asked in bewilderment, "How can a minister be so rich?"
As soon as he asked the question, the person who had spoken earlier quickly stopped him and made a gagging gesture. Fang Zhi didn't understand why, but being a newcomer, he kept quiet.
Bianjing is nice, but the money there is worthless, which feels a bit strange.
The group seemed to share this idea, so they wandered around for a bit and then went back.
The next day, they went to the Ministry of Rites to submit their papers, which was mainly to confirm their identities and to assess the candidates' abilities by submitting some of their own poems and essays.
The Ministry of Rites was in charge of collecting the papers, and the Vice Minister of Rites, Zhou Cheng, glanced at them casually before his gaze fell on Pei Wu's poems and essays. He looked up in surprise, scanning the three faces before fixing his eyes on Pei Wu. He asked, "Pei Wu?"
Pei Wu responded, and he took Pei Wu's poems and essays, smiled enigmatically, and said nothing more than, "Go back."
This left the group completely bewildered, and Pei Wu was especially confused.
Zheng Qiuhong guessed, "But did he see Pei's answer sheet during the previous provincial examination?"
That doesn't make sense either. The Great Xia Dynasty has hundreds of states. Pei Wu's title of Jieyuan in Jinzhou is outstanding in Jinzhou, but in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, he is just one of the hundred people. Why would anyone pay special attention to him?
No matter how much they speculated, there was still no answer. The group left the Ministry of Rites and returned to the guild hall.
Aside from the first few days after they arrived, when they were still interested in exploring the place, they lost that initial enthusiasm in the following days and decided to stay at the guild hall to study.
The hall was mostly filled with candidates for the imperial examinations next spring. In their spare time, they would gather together to compose poems, exchange verses, and discuss academic matters, making it quite lively.
As the imperial examinations drew closer, many candidates from the south arrived one after another, and the guild hall was filled with candidates from all over the country, numbering roughly several thousand.
Everywhere you look, there are top scholars and runners-up. As Jiang Ru walks down the street, she can hear people reciting poetry.
Unlike them, Pei Wu did not often participate in their activities. Every afternoon, he would sit with Jiang Ru in the courtyard and teach her a few poems.
Later on, the weather in Bianjing turned cold, and the guild hall was freezing cold. It was cold even inside, let alone outside, so they stopped studying in the courtyard and all went back to their rooms.
The wealthy scholars lit charcoal fires, while the poor could only stay huddled under their blankets to keep warm, and within a few days they started sneezing.
Jiang Ru and the others couldn't stand the cold either, so they pooled their money to buy some charcoal and spent their days indoors, sharing the charcoal fire.
However, at some point, more and more people started coming into their room to use the charcoal fire for grilling, and they would even pay them for the charcoal.
Many people were gathered inside. Pei Wu sat in a corner. He didn't like to join in the fun, but occasionally someone would take the initiative to talk to him, and he would respond with a few words from time to time.
He would always gaze out the window and stay there for a long time before looking away.
Someone noticed his gaze and looked in the same direction, only to see a desolate, white courtyard with bare trees, bleak and forlorn, without even a bird in sight. No one knew what Pei Wu was looking at.
After a long while, a figure appeared under the eaves. The person was wearing a pink coat and a hat, and stamped their feet as if they couldn't stand the cold.
Suddenly, Pei Wu stood up. His movements were rather large, and someone noticed him and looked over in confusion. Unfortunately, Pei Wu didn't notice at all and quickened his pace to walk out.
He came downstairs, and Jiang Ru happened to be around the corner. When she saw him, a smile appeared on her face, and she muttered, "It's so cold."
As she was talking, she pulled a paper bag from her bosom. Inside the bag were several white pastries. She smiled and said, "I saw some food on the way, so I bought some for you."
It was chilly outside, and Pei Wu didn't have time to think about the food. He wanted Jiang Ru to go into the room first. However, when the two of them walked to the outside of Pei Wu's room, the dozen or so people inside all looked over.
Jiang Ru took a step back in fright, glanced at the room number—it was indeed Pei Wu's room—and asked in surprise, "Why are there so many people?"
Pei Wu's expression also stiffened, and he explained, "It was cold, so we all came over."
Jiang Ru knew it was cold and that they would all come over to share the fire, but she had never seen so many people before.
Just as she was about to go inside, Pei Wu suddenly stopped her and said hesitantly, "Why don't you go back to your room first?"
There were too many people in the room, and they were talking casually. Pei Wu was afraid that they would upset Jiang Ru, and there was no space to sit down. Jiang Ru couldn't very well go in and sit on the floor with them.
Jiang Ru: ""
Pei Wu stood like a gatekeeper at the door, preventing her from entering. Jiang Ru looked into Pei Wu's stubborn eyes, puzzled, but still moved and returned to her room.
There was no charcoal in her room. A few days ago, when she came back, she went directly to Pei Wu's room to warm up. Unexpectedly, there were so many people today, so Pei Wu went next door and got some charcoal to put in her room, which made the room a little warmer.
He was about to leave after he finished, but Jiang Ru waved to him: "Come here, there are a lot of people over there, do you still need to go back?"
Pei Wu hesitated, so Jiang Ru said helplessly, "This is the clubhouse, not my room. Please come in."
She really didn't understand Pei Wu. He could let so many strangers into his room, but he had to draw a line between himself and Jiang Ru. Moreover, he had already come in when he was setting out the charcoal, but now he was still acting coy.
After being urged several times, Pei Wu finally agreed to come in.
Since arriving in Bianjing, Pei Wu was preparing for the imperial examinations, but Jiang Ru was not. So a few days ago, when she went out, she saw that a pharmacy was hiring and needed someone who could read. Jiang Ru went to try it out and actually got the job.
She worked at the pharmacy for a few days and was able to earn some money.
Pei Wu knew she was going and was worried about her, so he wanted to go too, but the pharmacy wasn't hiring and he was turned away.
Now, Pei Wu can only wait at the guild hall every day for Jiang Ru to return.
The two stayed by the stove, and Jiang Ru took out the white cake from earlier and handed it to Pei Wu to eat. They each shared half and ate the white cake together.
Pei Wu ate some white cake and asked Jiang Ru, "How many more days will you be working at the pharmacy?"
Jiang Ru casually replied, "Let's not do it when spring comes."
It's cold, and many people are sick, so the pharmacy is too busy. She'll be able to leave when spring comes and there are fewer patients.
Spring has arrived, which means Pei Wu will soon be taking the imperial examination.
Time flies. A few days before the imperial examination, Jiang Ru received her wages from the pharmacy and bought Pei Wu a lot of dry food.
Pei Wu's health has improved a lot these days, but he still has to take the imperial examination nine days in a row, so he needs to supplement his nutrition.
On the ninth day of the second month, Pei Wu carried a huge basket. The bottom layer of the basket contained food, and the top layer contained clothes and bedding. Jiang Ru checked it several times and kept comforting Pei Wu, saying, "Relax. It doesn't matter whether you do well or not. I'll wait for you to come back."
Pei Wu responded and moved forward with the flow of people, leaving Jiang Ru behind. She kept waving at him, saying, "I'll come and get you."
Pei Wu's gaze fell on the hopping figure, and he gave a soft "hmm".
There were several thousand candidates, and the entrance check alone took a long time. After a long time to enter, the spring imperial examination of the second year of Yuantai began with three chimes.
As the people waiting outside gradually left, Jiang Ru reluctantly turned back every few steps, sighing as she walked away, muttering, "I'm like an old mother."
For some reason, watching Pei Wu walk into the examination hall, she felt an urge to cry.
The thought of not being able to see Pei Wu for another nine days made Jiang Ru want to cry even more.
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