Chapter 124: Spring Examination (Part 2) Spring Examination (Part 2)
The gate of the Imperial Examination Hall finally opened slowly. The eyes of the students outside the gate were mostly pious. After ten years of hard study, this was the place where they could finally make the leap to the dragon gate. As long as they stood out in the imperial examination, they would be able to embark on a bright future.
The examination system of the metropolitan examination is similar to that of the provincial examination. It is also divided into three sessions, one session every three days. The first session is on the ninth day, the second session is on the twelfth day, and the third session is on the fifteenth day. Also, candidates enter the examination hall one day in advance and leave the examination hall one day later.
The content of the exam still revolves around the Four Books, five-character eight-rhyme poems, the Five Classics and policy questions, but it is more difficult.
However, one difference between the provincial and metropolitan examinations is that there is no elimination in the first two examinations, but the final result is based on the average score of the three examinations.
Because of the combined list of candidates from the north and the south, there seemed to be an unusually large number of candidates this year, so much so that the area outside the Imperial Examination Hall was so densely packed that even standing in the crowd one could feel the tense atmosphere of the Spring Examination.
He Tang couldn't help but pick at his fingernails, mumbling to himself. He looked up and saw Su Fengzhang's calm face and asked, "Brother Su, we're about to enter the venue. Aren't you worried?"
"Is worrying useful?" Su Fengzhang asked back.
He Tang scratched his hair: "It's useless, but I just can't control it."
Su Fengzhang patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Then count the heads in your mind until you calm down."
When He Tang heard this, he really counted seriously. However, he started to doze off before he counted to one hundred.
Su Fengzhang shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh at his nervousness or sigh that he was pretending to be nervous.
Body searches had already begun one by one in front of them. This year's searches were particularly strict. Su Fengzhang even saw some students being asked to strip naked for inspection. The students were so embarrassed that their faces turned red, but they could do nothing about it.
When it was Su Fengzhang's turn, the guard looked up at him, reached out and touched him from head to toe, even untied his hair, and luckily did not let him take off his clothes directly.
Su Fengzhang breathed a sigh of relief. When he entered the door, he happened to see Su Qun not far in front of him, looking back at him. Their eyes met, and Su Qun raised his eyebrows and gave a fake smile.
Su Fengzhang returned the same smile, took his things and found his own cell. He had thought that the Imperial Examination Hall in the capital would be better than the one in Qingzhou Prefecture, but who would have thought that the cells here were small and narrow, even worse than those in Qingzhou Prefecture.
Su Fengzhang almost bumped into the roof when he walked in. That was fine, but he couldn't move freely in the house. The thought of staying in such a place for three games and three days was a double test for his physical and mental health.
The only thing to be thankful for is that this room is not at the bottom and is a little far from the toilet, so there is no need to worry about bad air.
It is no wonder that some candidates in ancient times went crazy after taking the exam. Those with poor psychological quality could not withstand such a confined environment and high pressure.
Su Fengzhang put down his examination basket. This kind of examination basket was different from ordinary baskets. Although they were all woven with vines and thin strips, the four walls and the upper and lower bottoms of the examination basket had to be delicate and translucent so that people could see clearly what was inside at a glance.
During the imperial examination, the examiner would only hand out three candles in addition to the test papers, and students would have to bring their own items for everything else.
For example, in Su Fengzhang's examination basket, in addition to the four treasures of the study - pen, ink, paper and inkstone, there were also his three-day rations, and even things like rice bowls, copper pots, kettles, wax sticks, wax scissors, and a wind stove.
He tidied up the room and sat down, not because he was lazy, but because it was more uncomfortable to stand here.
The spring in the capital was chilly. To prevent candidates from bringing in anything with them, all candidates were not allowed to wear layered clothing. Fox fur was not a problem, but sitting in the cold cell still made one shiver.
Su Fengzhang is a southerner with an excellent physique, but he is not used to the climate here. After thinking about it, he took out the small stove and put the copper kettle on it, intending to drink a few sips of hot water to warm his body.
At this time, the benefits of the spiritual spring water were highlighted. After drinking a sip of water, not only did the whole body warm up, but the brain, which was originally frozen stiff, also became active.
When the test papers were handed out, Su Fengzhang felt that his inspiration was flowing and he wrote most of it in one go.
When I came to my senses, I could smell the aroma of food coming from next door. I don’t know which lady’s cooking skills are so good, but the food she prepared was so fragrant when it was heated in the stove that it woke me up from my studies.
Su Fengzhang touched his stomach, put the test paper high up, and got up to cook. Although he didn't have a wife, Su Arong was very considerate. He had asked Manager Liu for some food earlier and prepared Su Fengzhang's favorite food.
Now, just throw all the cooked and dried pieces into water, cook them again and you can eat them directly. It is simple and convenient.
After eating and drinking his fill, Su Fengzhang felt warm again. He lay down to rest for a while, then drank a glass of spiritual spring water and began to answer the questions. By the time he finished writing and transcribing, it was already dark.
Looking at the extremely narrow cell, Su Fengzhang tried it out. With his height, he could only curl up to rest. Whether he slept sideways or upright, it was not very comfortable.
There was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't just cut off a piece of his legs, so he could only sleep like this reluctantly.
The exam didn't feel tiring for him, but his hands and feet were stiff after a night's sleep, and his neck was almost stiff. In the end, he could only move his hands and feet a little in the cell to avoid affecting the exam.
So when it was time to hand in the paper, Su Fengzhang, who had finished checking, hurriedly rang the bell to signal, and for the first time he had the idea of handing in the paper early. After he rang the bell, the invigilator came over to confirm the collection of the paper.
The invigilator was not surprised by the early submission of papers. He simply asked, "You cannot change your paper after you submit it."
After the papers were collected, Su Fengzhang didn't have to stay in the cell. He could come out and wait for the Imperial Examination Hall to open under the wall opposite the cell. There was no other advantage here except that it was spacious, and he could finally stretch his muscles.
Su Fengzhang walked over and saw that there were already several people standing at the foot of the wall. Without exception, they were all tall candidates. They were probably feeling very uncomfortable in their rooms and had just handed in their papers after finishing the exam.
One of them was Lin Yuye, whose figure was outstanding among the northern scholars. He probably hadn't slept well in the past two days. Not only did he look listless, but the black spots under his eyes covered half of his face.
Seeing Su Fengzhang coming over, he smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Su, you're here too."
Su Fengzhang nodded. It was probably the effect of the spiritual spring water. His own physical condition was also good. He looked quite energetic at the moment, at least not listless. "Brother Lin, please sit for a while."
"I would rather stand and stretch my muscles." Lin Yuye answered helplessly.
The two of them didn't dare to talk much. They just stood one meter apart and stretched their muscles. Then they squatted down and started to cook porridge. At this time, they didn't have to worry about the charcoal fire and threw all the good ingredients into it.
When they finished cooking a small pot of meat porridge, Su Qun happened to come over and saw them and said, "Feng Zhang, Yu Ye, can you give me a bowl of porridge?"
"Of course, let's drink together." Su Fengzhang invited.
At this moment, the three of them forgot about their past disagreements, squatted in a row and drank the porridge slowly. After the hot meat porridge went down their stomachs, they seemed to feel a little more relaxed.
Lin Yuye said with some jealousy: "This is the first time I envy the southerners for being small. If I were like Ji Chu, Bai Yu and the others, I might even be able to sleep lying down in there."
Before they could finish their words, the person who staggered towards them was none other than Ji Chu. Before he even got close, the stench from his body assaulted their faces, almost making them vomit out the meat porridge in their stomachs.
Lin Yuye couldn't help but cover his nose: "Ji Chu, the smell on you is so pungent!"
Ji Chu's face turned pale and he could barely walk. When he heard his words, his face turned even uglier. He said with a bitter face, "I'll squat over there, away from you."
After saying that, he didn't come towards them. He walked to the other end with a depressed look, squatted down and didn't say anything.
After hearing this, Lin Yuye felt a little sympathetic towards him: "This is the toilet number that has been assigned. The smell is terrible. Who is responsible for this stench? This guy is so unlucky."
Su Qu glanced at him and said, "That's enough. He's already suffering enough."
"That's right. With that smell, I don't think I can stand it for an hour." Lin Yuye was somewhat glad that he was lucky.
Su Fengzhang was also helpless. The room numbers were randomly drawn, and there were only a few toilet numbers. The chance of being assigned one was actually very small. Once assigned one, there was nothing he could do but to consider himself unlucky.
After thinking for a while, he took out a tea cake from the examination basket. He asked Su Arong to prepare it specially. It was not because he had to drink tea in the Imperial Examination Hall, but because tea could deodorize and was easy to carry.
"Ji Chu, put this under your nose and you'll feel better." Su Fengzhang walked over and said.
Seeing him coming, Ji Chu quickly said, "Don't come over here, I stink."
He even despises himself.
Su Fengzhang, however, reached out and placed the tea cake in his hand, saying, "There are still two rounds to go, so take it first."
Ji Chu took the tea cake and sniffed it. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he felt that the smell was less. His eyes were red, and he whispered thank you, then said, "I'm afraid I can't do it this time."
Su Fengzhang couldn't say anything to comfort her. In such a foul smell, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating in the cell would be torture. It would be strange if she could finish the test paper as usual.
In the end, he could only pat Ji Chu on the shoulder to comfort him.
When he walked back, Su Qu glanced at him and said, "Feng Zhang, just give him the tea cakes. Why did you touch him? Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into that bad luck?"
Don't think that scholars don't know anything about superstitions. In fact, candidates are very superstitious. Many people don't even dare to eat peanuts before the exam for fear of bad luck. This is one of the reasons why Ji Chu didn't come over.
Su Fengzhang just smiled and said, "I don't believe this."
Su Que smiled and said, "Sometimes it's better to believe it than not to believe it. Well, if you don't believe it, forget it."
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