Chapter 226 Meeting the Mentor
The spring breeze was blowing gently, and in order to grab a more comfortable inn, most students who were rushing to take the spring examination gathered in the capital as early as February.
Those who arrived late found that there was no room available in the better restaurants and inns in the capital. They all beat their chests and stamped their feet in regret, and finally could only stay in small and medium-sized inns of lower quality with resentment - after all, they were all free. Seeing others staying in the top suites for free while they could only live in a small, cramped, noisy room with the smell of horse manure wafting from the window from time to time, they always felt that they were being taken advantage of.
Zhu Lan and others had just arrived in the capital, and fortunately they were taken care of by Qin Yuwei, Xu Shiming and others, who had arranged the most suitable guest rooms for them to prepare for the exam in Jiuzhou Inn early on.
This place is quiet and full of students who come to take part in the Spring Examination. The atmosphere of study is very strong in the inn, and students can be seen everywhere, either studying hard or whispering to each other.
When night falls, the lights are dim and the sound of reading, accompanied by the spring breeze, spreads to every corner of the capital.
…
The date of the imperial examination was set for the ninth day of March, which was three days away from the entrance day.
Cen Songbai was re-employed by the court a few years ago and served as the president of the Hanlin Academy at the age of 60. As Cen Songbai's former disciple, Zhu Lan had no reason not to visit this mentor.
This month ago, when Zhu Lan just arrived in the capital, he found out where Cen Songbai lived, bought some fruits and gifts and went to visit him, but was told that Cen Songbai had returned to his hometown to visit his relatives and would not be back until early March.
Now it is the sixth day of March, and Zhu Lan decides to visit again.
She brought the things to the outside of the Cen Mansion, but saw that the door of the Mansion was wide open, but there was no sign of the gatekeeper. Her heart tightened a little.
Could something have happened in the Cen Mansion?
Zhu Lan wandered outside the door for a while, and then he looked out, but his sight was blocked by the screen wall inside, and he could not see anyone. Zhu Lan waited for a moment, and finally he could not hold back any longer, so he walked in.
However, when she just walked around the screen wall, she saw two people walking towards her, one of whom was Cen Songbai, whom she had not seen for several years.
Cen Songbai was over sixty years old, but he looked energetic and vigorous, and he was still as tall and straight as a pine tree in his blue shirt. The man next to him was wearing an official uniform, and there was a team of guards behind him. The two were walking out together, and it seemed that Cen Songbai was seeing off a guest.
The two were also startled when they saw Zhu Lan, and then stopped.
Zhu Lan hurriedly bowed, feeling somewhat ashamed, "I, Zhu Lan, came from Jiangzhou to attend the Spring Examination, and came to see you, my dear teacher. I just saw that the door of your house was not closed, and there was no one guarding it. I was a little worried, so I didn't have time to inform you and barged in. I hope you won't blame me..."
"Okay, okay." Cen Songbai smiled, and supported her from a distance of four or five steps, with a smile of relief in his eyes.
After not seeing her for five years, the little girl who was not even as tall as her chest before has grown into such a graceful, gentle and pretty girl.
Cen Songbai looked at the man beside him and explained, "Master Liu, this is my student from Jiangzhou, Zhu Lan."
"Oh?" Lord Liu thought for a moment after hearing Zhu Lan's name, "Could it be the seventeen-year-old Zhu Jieyuan from last year?"
"That's right." Cen Songbai smiled faintly and nodded.
Lord Liu glanced at Zhu Lan briefly, then looked away. He did not look very surprised, and only said, "Not bad."
As an official of the Ministry of Rites, his duty was to arrange the imperial examinations across the country. Those whose names were brought to the Ministry of Rites were all outstanding people, including many young people who had passed the imperial examinations. A seventeen-year-old champion in Jiangzhou Prefecture was not worth making a fuss about.
This "not bad" does not mean that she is young and promising, but praises her for being able to pass the imperial examination as a woman. You should know that since Daliang allowed women to enter school and enter the government, there are many women who have passed the examinations for Tongsheng and Xiucai, but it is rare to pass the examination for Juren.
As for female Jinshi, there hasn't been one so far.
However, the Zhu Jieyuan in front of him might become the first female Jinshi in Daliang, which is indeed "good".
Zhu Lan was about to say something to Cen Songbai when Lord Liu raised his hand to stop him.
"Your Majesty has just issued an edict appointing Dean Cen as the chief examiner for today's joint examination. You will leave for the Imperial Examination Hall now. From now on until the end of the joint examination, you are not allowed to talk to anyone else, otherwise you will be suspected of leaking the test questions for personal gain."
Zhu Lan had not expected that Cen Songbai would be the examiner of this examination. He was slightly stunned, and immediately understood what Lord Liu meant. He immediately bowed and said goodbye:
"Congratulations, teacher. Now is not the time to reminisce about the past. I will come to visit you again after the Spring Examination is over. I'm leaving now."
Cen Songbai didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded at her, then watched Zhu Lan leave.
"Master Cen, please."
"Okay, Sir Liu, please."
Lord Liu carefully handed a small copper key to Cen Songbai, and then the two of them left the Cen Mansion under the escort of a team of guards and headed straight towards the Imperial Examination Hall in the capital.
…
On the eighth day of March, the candidates entered the examination hall.
In order to maintain the dignity and order of the examination hall, the two streets in front of the Imperial Examination Hall were blocked early on, and no one except the candidates themselves was allowed to enter.
This time, Zhu Qingyan also came to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall together with Zhu Lan and others, waiting for inspection and entry.
Zhu Lan looked around and found that the number of candidates for the joint examination was much less than that of the provincial examination in Jiangzhou that day. Although some of the candidates who came to participate in the joint examination looked nervous and anxious, overall... their mental state seemed much more stable than those students in the provincial examination.
After all, he is a talent selected from sixty people in the whole Daliang. If his psychological quality is too poor, how can he make it through all the tests and stand here?
Zhu Qingyan beside her felt the same way.
They arrived early, and there was still half an hour before the inspection. The waiting candidates were either mumbling to themselves, reciting the contents of the book, or gathering in groups of three or five acquaintances to encourage each other.
A student nearby opened his bag, apparently to check if he had left anything behind, but accidentally dropped it on the ground.
"Ouch, my lime!"
The man shouted, squatted down anxiously, and tried to sweep the lime powder on the ground together with both hands.
"Brother Chen, don't worry. I have a few extra bags of lime here. I'll give you one."
Another student said, taking out two paper bags from his bundle and handing them to him, saying, "This is the good thing about students in Jiangzhou, we have benefited from Zhu Jieyuan's honor. I heard that when she participated in the autumn examination, she relied on lime to cook noodles. Tsk tsk, look at her little trick, if she could pass the exam, we can't!"
The other party took the lime and thanked him, but his voice was somewhat reluctant:
"What's so good about Zhu Lan? She's just taking shortcuts. If I knew how to cook, I might be able to think of this idea."
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