Chapter 356 Preliminary Examination Begins
The third princess, Qin Zhaowan, was listening attentively to the Qingyun Academy's principal, Lin Qiwu, confirming the entire preliminary examination process.
This was the plan she had drawn up herself, and now it was just a formality to ensure that everything went smoothly.
The fourth princess, Qin Zhaoshu, stood quietly one step behind her third sister, but her eyes quietly passed over the crowd and turned to the invigilators fifty steps away.
I secretly praised my third sister in my heart, saying that she is indeed talented.
This preliminary examination has attracted much attention and controversy due to its unprecedented "supplementary admission".
In order to silence the gossips and demonstrate fairness and justice to the greatest extent possible, the third sister implemented an extremely transparent system.
Since the exam only lasts one day and the number of applicants is very small, the system of covering the names of the students and sealing the papers will be cancelled.
After the exam, the papers will be marked and reviewed publicly on the spot.
After the marking and evaluation were completed, the scores and rankings were posted on the bulletin board outside the gate of Qingyun Academy, allowing the public to watch and comment.
The Ministry of Ceremonies, the Ministry of Heavenly Officials, the Imperial College, private academies, and the common people were all included.
It ensures the greatest possible degree of openness, transparency and credibility of the results, and minimizes the possible controversy caused by the "supplementary recording".
That would be fine, but the amazing thing is that Qingyun Academy was chosen as the venue for the preliminary examination.
A college that is neither too good nor too bad is like an exquisite fulcrum.
With just a little prying, the structure of the academies and universities that control the top resources was shaken.
Imagine if Qingyun Academy took advantage of this opportunity to open a women's class and tasted the sweetness, would the other top-ranked academies still be able to sit tight? Could the Imperial College still stay out of the matter?
Just as Xiaoliu had said in the Imperial Study, the third sister was indeed better than the eldest sister in terms of conspiracy and planning.
However, the source of all this can be traced back to Xiaoliu's "willful" and unexpected behavior at the literary meeting.
With almost no effort, he broke down the most stubborn resistance of the nobles and accomplished the first step.
The mother of Zheng Huiyin, whom Xiaoliu targeted, happened to be from the Cui family, one of the four major families.
Is all this...really just a coincidence?
The more he interacted with her, the more Qin Zhaoshu felt that there was a layer of fog covering his sixth sister.
He recalled Xiaoliu's evaluation of himself in the imperial study as "good at maintaining the status quo but not enterprising enough", as well as the assertion that he was "a wise ruler in prosperous times", and his heart was filled with emotion.
Why……
With a soft sigh, his eyes, filled with mixed emotions, drifted towards the idle group not far away, led by the sixth sister, and then...
Qin Zhaoshu's calm eyes widened instantly!
What did she see?
Xiaoliu fell asleep while standing, and a suspicious crystal light was slowly and stubbornly extending downwards along the corner of his slightly open lips.
This is not surprising, as it has already been performed once during the morning court session in the Huangji Palace.
That would have been fine. Qin Zhaoshu's gaze followed Xiaoliu's slightly leaning body and found the fulcrum, then fell on the two small figures behind her.
Xiaoqi and Xiaoba, the two children are now standing in a standard horse stance, using their tender but extremely stable shoulders to support the back of their sixth sister!
Xiaoliu rested his whole body on the backs of his two younger brothers with peace of mind, sleeping as steady as a rock!
Qin Zhaoshu only felt a surge of blood and energy rushing to the top of his head.
Do you still have any shame?
She let her two younger brothers do horse stance as a sleeping mat? And they drooled while sleeping?
Where is the demeanor of a royal princess? Where is the dignity of an eldest sister? Where is the bottom line of being a human being!
Shame and anger surged up, and several blue veins on Qin Zhaoshu's forehead throbbed wildly.
He clenched his fists in his sleeves, almost unable to control himself and rushed over to shake the embarrassing guy awake.
Phew… calm down…
At the beginning of the morning, the sky was slightly bright, and the streets and alleys were already crowded with common people and scholars who had rushed to the scene after hearing the news.
It was difficult for carriages and horses to move forward, and the yamen runners of Jingzhao Prefecture were stretched thin. Even the imperial guards who had been deployed in advance had to intervene to clear a path through the surging crowd.
The talented women recommended by Zhongchen Dao are arriving one after another at this moment.
Today is not the time for literary competitions, so they all wear plain cloth or long gowns made of fine gauze.
There is only a simple wooden or bamboo hairpin in the bun, and there is no luxurious embellishment on the whole body.
Only the solemnity and determination between his brows revealed the unusualness of the moment.
Under the gazes of countless people, he straightened his back and walked through the passage steadily.
The surrounding discussions surged like a tide, with speculations about talent, comments on manners, and various opinions on the imperial examinations for women.
Not only did it fail to make them retreat, but it also ignited a more determined light in those bright eyes.
Helian Chaolu's figure appeared at the end of the passage.
He was wearing a dark narrow-sleeved Hu costume, a leather belt of the same color around his waist, soft-soled leather boots, and his hair was tied up in a high bun, held up only by an ancient silver ring.
This neat outfit, with its distinct northwestern frontier style, looks particularly heroic among the plain clothes.
Her appearance immediately caused an uncontrollable commotion and low cheers among the crowd.
After all, his poetic talent had long been famous among scholars, and his poems were also widely circulated among the common people.
Seeing it with their own eyes at this moment naturally made everyone very excited.
As if it was pre-arranged, the second princess of Shufeng, Xiao Yunshuo, also arrived.
Her attire was equally simple, a dark blue riding suit with a silver fox fur collar, her long hair braided into several braids that hung behind her shoulders, and no other embellishments.
As the driving force behind this supplementary admission test, and because Helian Chaolu highly praised his talent, Xiao Yunshuo's arrival instantly ignited a second and even more enthusiastic climax.
Countless eyes were focused on her, but few of them were kind, and most were filled with scrutiny and disdain.
The troops are stationed in the northern border, and everyone in Fengjing knows about it.
Soon, more and more candidates gathered in front of Qingyun Academy.
Most of the ladies in Beijing knew each other, and the sound of greetings and whispers could be heard everywhere.
The two men were standing apart from them, a little distance away, with no intention of getting closer.
Xiao Yunshuo's gaze swept across another isolated person not far away.
It was this person's "praise" that helped her become famous before she arrived in Fengjing.
At this moment, she lowered her head slightly, standing quietly in a corner alone, exuding a cold and aloof aura that kept strangers away, and it was obvious that she had no intention of chatting.
Xiao Yunshuo also withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes and bowed his robe, waiting for the event to begin.
It’s midnight, the auspicious time has arrived.
Lin Qiwu, the principal of Qingyun Academy, personally took charge of the list, stood in front of the academy gate, and called out the names one by one in a loud voice.
Those who were called had to come forward, and the clerk from the Ceremonial Department would carefully check their identity documents with the special floating tickets issued by the court the day before.
After confirmation, the inspection phase begins.
Because the preliminary examination only lasts one day, the regulations are slightly simpler than the formal provincial examination.
Candidates are not allowed to bring any items into the examination room except their ID card.
The pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, as well as plain pastries for lunch, were all supplied by the imperial court.
To prevent smuggling and cheating, the inspection is divided into two steps.
The initial inspection was carried out in public by several solemn-looking palace ladies-in-waiting.
The candidate needs to stand in the middle of the venue, and the female official will come forward and quickly remove the hair bun to check carefully.
Then, symbolically tap the surface of your clothes with your hands to check if there are any hard objects hidden.
The re-inspection is carried out in a specially designed enclosed inspection room next to the college gate.
In order to protect the dignity of women, candidates must enter one by one for this inspection.
Under the supervision of a female officer, they were undressed and subjected to a more detailed personal inspection to ensure that there was no writing or small items hidden inside.
Only those who have successfully passed both checks can receive the wooden test number plate and be guided into the academy examination room.
After all the candidates have entered the examination room, the invigilators will come in one after another.
The team included not only officials from the two departments, teachers from the Imperial College, and principals of major academies, but also representatives randomly selected from the onlookers.
At the beginning of the morning hour, a deep drumbeat suddenly rang out in the academy.
The supplementary preliminary examination for the provincial examination has officially begun!
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