Chapter 373: Provincial Examination Begins
On the fifth day of September, the weather is clear and cool, and the sweet osmanthus is fragrant.
Ten days later than other prefectures, the much-anticipated Zhongchen Prefecture Examination finally kicked off.
The old calendar provincial examination was divided into three sessions, each lasting one day, and took half a month in total.
After Qin Minghuang ascended the throne, he vigorously reformed the imperial examination, changing it to a two-day examination system completed in one go.
On the first day, we examined the meaning of the classics, as well as two practical articles, "Lun" and "Judgment".
"Lun" is an argumentative essay, which needs to quote classics and elaborate on the viewpoint;
"Judgment" simulates an official making a judgment and writing a verdict, testing legal knowledge and clerical skills.
On the second day, the classics, history, current affairs, and poetry were examined.
The process seems simplified, but in fact the time is more compact, which poses more severe challenges to the candidates' knowledge reserves, writing speed, physical energy and even psychological quality.
The key to the first day was undoubtedly the writing of those two official documents.
If you have a solid foundation in the meaning of the scriptures and can answer quickly, you will have more time to think carefully.
The same is true for the second day. If the article is not done well on the first day and you are in a bad mood, it will inevitably affect the state of the policy paper on the second day.
If the policy essay encounters obstacles, the poetry will inevitably lose its luster.
Ultimately, what is tested is real talent and comprehensive adaptability. It is more pragmatic and more tiring than the old calendar.
There was already a huge crowd of people in front of Fengjing Imperial Examination Hall.
At noon, when it was still dark, the four royal heirs had already arrived.
After all, it was a formal provincial examination, and the standards were far superior to the previous supplementary preliminary examination, so the three younger ones were not allowed to come this time.
Qin Zhaoyue protested strongly, saying that she was younger.
Unfortunately, he was ruthlessly rejected by the other three and was "pulled" out of his warm bed.
At this moment, she forced herself to stay awake and stood straight, not daring to doze off openly.
On the one hand, there are no suitable cushions, and on the other hand, there are many high-ranking officials present today.
The two supervisors of the Ministry of Ceremonies and the Ministry of Heavenly Officials were present to supervise the examination in person, and several censors from the Censorate were also standing not far away.
If she were impeached for improper behavior, she would be drowned in spit and would be in great trouble.
Among the crowd of examinees, Helian Chaolu stood quietly in a simple and elegant skirt commonly worn by women in Fengjing.
Her eyes were clear and firm as a rock.
She has reached the final step and has completed all the tasks assigned by His Majesty.
As long as I pass the exam this time, the official position and the future of staying in the Fengjing Six Departments that His Majesty promised me will be fulfilled.
At that time, relatives far away in the northwest can be brought to Fengjing, completely breaking the old rules that bound the border nobles from leaving their homes.
Once she has established herself in Fengjing, she can gradually exchange the clan's property for properties in the capital, thus saving her clan members from the suffering of being targeted and exploited.
If she then marries someone from Fengjing, and does this for one or two generations, her family will be able to truly integrate into Dagan.
Xiao Yunshuo's attire still bore the distinct characteristics of the Northern Shuofeng Dynasty, making him particularly eye-catching among the Fengjing costumes, and a small circle was naturally left empty around him.
She didn't care about these looks. Like all ordinary candidates, she carried her heavy examination box and looked around the solemn examination hall with complicated eyes.
Until this moment, she truly felt:
In Dagan, women could truly enter the imperial examination hall with dignity and could truly pass the examination and become officials based on their talents.
Women can also live in the sunshine. They don’t have to be confined to the boudoir all their lives, they don’t have to just take care of their husbands and children, and they don’t have to just read "Lectures for Women" and "Instructions for Women".
The courage and vision of the Empress Dagan are truly unprecedented.
There was one thing she was sincere about, she truly admired the empress and the thorny path she had cleared for women all over the world.
If she was born in Shufeng...
At that moment, a myriad of thoughts flooded into my mind like a tide.
Chen Yuyin was hidden in the bustling crowd, his face slightly pale, unable to hide his nervousness.
There were two ink sticks in her examination box. One was the common pine soot ink, and the other... looked no different from an ordinary ink stick.
The experts in Xuanji Guard who are proficient in this have already tested it repeatedly and found that the words written with the special ink stick do not disappear immediately.
Instead, it will begin to fade gradually after about nine days until it disappears completely.
This method is not uncommon, but its effectiveness lies in its timing.
The results of this provincial examination will be announced ten days later, and the ink marks will still be there when the papers are marked and ranked. However, problems will arise when the results are posted for public display and the examination papers are put up for people to see!
It was extremely concealed, and there were no flaws found during the first few days of inspection, which even made the Xuanji Guards suspect that it was just a trick of the other party.
At this time, Chen Yu's apparent nervousness was mostly pretended.
The captain of Xuanji Guard named Dou Zuan had repeatedly assured her that his father and younger brother were under strict protection and there was absolutely no mistake.
When she entered the Imperial Examination Hall, there were powerful warriors from the Divine Martial Realm secretly watching over her, so she didn't have to worry and could just focus on taking the exam.
However, some people are truly on the brink of collapse.
Wen Tingwan stood not far away, her fingers tightly gripping the handle of the examination box.
He lowered his head and avoided looking around, occasionally glancing around quickly, then immediately looking away as if frightened.
Her teeth were biting her lower lip so tightly that it almost drew blood, and her breathing was a little rapid and disordered because she was trying hard to suppress her panic.
How she wanted to scream out loud and tell everyone that she was being coerced and forced to cheat!
Wen Tingwan had tried before. The old nanny and personal maid in her courtyard tried to send out a message for help twice, but both attempts fell on deaf ears.
Immediately afterwards, he fell ill for no apparent reason, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea and was in great pain. It was obvious that he had been ambushed.
Thinking of how they rolled on the ground in excruciating pain when the poison took effect, Wen Tingwan couldn't help but shiver all over.
And she herself was also forced to swallow the unknown poison!
If she didn't do as she was told, not only would the Wen family be in imminent disaster, but she herself would also be in danger of her life.
Wen Tingwan's gaze passed through the crowd and was fixed on her cousin who was wearing palace dress on the stone steps.
How she wished that her cousin could feel her desperate gaze and notice her abnormal behavior today.
But there was a surging crowd and an insurmountable gap between the two of them, and their eyes never met.
The huge despair was like ice water, extinguishing the last bit of hope in her heart.
As soon as the hour of Mao arrived, the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall opened with a rumble, and the clerks held the list and began to call out the names aloud.
I don’t know how long I endured the agony, but finally Wen Tingwan’s name was called.
His steps felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead as he moved forward step by step.
Her face was pale and her eyes flickered, but she was not particularly conspicuous among the nervous candidates.
At the first checkpoint where identity documents were checked and appearance was verified, she hesitated, her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground.
Do you want to... shout out right now?
Will the imperial court be able to protect the Wen family in time?
Can the imperial physician find out what poison she has?
Thinking of that person's last promise...
"What are you standing there for? Go into the inspection room!" the clerk beside him urged impatiently.
Wen Tingwan snapped back to her senses, her face turning even paler, and she replied in a trembling voice, "Yes..."
In the end, she gritted her teeth, lowered her head deeply, and walked silently towards the inspection room used for body searches as if she had accepted her fate.
All candidates entered the venue in turn and filed into their respective rooms according to their number plates.
As the hour of Chen arrived, three heavy and distant drum sounds spread to every corner of the Imperial Examination Hall.
All the doors slammed shut and locked with heavy creaking sounds.
In the Imperial Examination Hall, the runners held signs with the test questions on them and began to patrol the corridors between the rows of cells to display them. Other clerks distributed blank test papers to each cell one by one.
The two-day provincial examination officially begins!
Outside the Imperial Examination Hall, Qin Zhaoyue covered his mouth and yawned secretly.
When the names were called out earlier, she heard Chen Yu's name, but her eyes did not focus on it.
That guy Yinzhe has disappeared for a few days now, and I don't know if he has caught the family's tail...
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