Chapter 126: Spring Examination (IV) Spring Examination (IV)
In the Scholars' Building, many scholars could be seen fidgeting early in the morning. Some of them had sent their followers out early to check the list, but it had not been posted yet, so they could only wait.
Su Fengzhang and his companions sat by the window on the second floor. The location of the Scholars' Building was excellent. From this position, one could vaguely see the situation at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall by looking down.
The others were fine, but Ji Chu was in a state of dispiritedness. He had fallen seriously ill right after coming out of the examination room. It took him a few days of recuperation before he felt a little better. Now his face was pale and he had lost a lot of weight.
Bai Yu poured him a cup of tea and comforted him, "Don't worry so much. Maybe you'll win."
Ji Chu had no mood to drink tea. He said with a bitter face, "How is that possible? I will definitely fail this time."
Thinking of this person's bad luck, Bai Yu felt helpless. He looked up and gave Su Fengzhang and Tang a look, asking them to offer some words of comfort. He then said carelessly, "Well, if you don't pass this time, there's always next time. The exam's already taken, and looking sad won't help. Ji Chu, don't you think that's the truth?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Chu became even more dejected. Bai Yu glared at He Tang and scolded him, "I asked you to comfort him, not to rub salt into his wounds."
Su Fengzhang patted Ji Chu on the shoulder and said, "When Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a man, it will first make his mind suffer, his muscles and bones weary, his body hungry and empty, and his actions frustrated. This is to stir his heart and harden his nature, and to increase his ability to do what he was not capable of."
Ji Chu listened with reluctance, but finally remembered that the results would be announced today. He cheered up and said, "Don't worry about me. I've ruined our fun."
After saying that, he took the initiative to bring up a topic: "Brother Su, I heard that there are many people who bet on you to win the first place in the Huiyuan."
Su Fengzhang said with a smile, "If what people say is true, I will definitely bet my entire fortune on it. Who knows, I might even make a fortune in the end."
"Then why don't you try to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige? The two Su brothers are competing, and everyone is waiting to see the final result. If you beat Su Juan again this time, let's see what they have to say." He Tang said with a smile.
Although the relationship between scholars from the north and south has improved a lot these days, their sense of competition remains unchanged, and secret rivalry is inevitable.
A few people were chatting and finally arrived at an auspicious time. Then, from the direction of the Imperial Examination Hall, there came the sound of gongs and drums. Faintly, someone could be heard shouting, "Post the list and release the red one."
The list of the imperial examination was in a festive red, so the final announcement of the results was also called "release of red".
The scholars in the Scholars' Building could not help but stand up and subconsciously looked in the direction of the Imperial Examination Hall. Even at this distance, they could only see heads moving around and could not see the contents of the red list at all.
The middle door of the Imperial Examination Hall opened, and an official led a large number of runners out slowly. The originally noisy sounds quieted down for a moment.
At this time, the crowd of people were crowded around the place where the results were posted, their eyes fixed on the red list that had not yet been posted.
Whether you are on the list, you will soar to the sky, the sky is high and the sea is wide, the fish can jump freely; or if you fail, all your ten years of hard work will be wasted. Everything depends on this red list.
He Tang grabbed Su Fengzhang and asked repeatedly, "Brother Su, are you nervous? I can hardly breathe."
Su Fengzhang took a deep breath and said, "I'm nervous too, so could you please stop pinching me?"
The first list has been posted. The ancients believed that the left was more important than the right, so when the examination results were posted, they started from the right. The first group to be posted were those with the lowest rankings.
As names were announced one by one, even though they knew that their current ranking was the lowest and that they might even become fellow Jinshi after the palace examination, those at the front of the list still searched for their names, hoping to see them.
Suddenly, a voice of surprise and joy erupted from the crowd: "I... I saw it... I won!"
This was a candidate in his early fifties who had even given up hope and planned to completely give up the imperial examination after this one, but he did not expect to see his own name.
He didn't care about the mention of being a Tong Jinshi at all. His face was full of disbelief. He looked at his name again and again, then covered his face with his hands and burst into tears and laughter. Now that he had passed, the palace examination generally would not eliminate inferiors, which meant that as long as nothing unexpected happened, he could at least get the title of Tong Jinshi, which was much better than he had originally expected.
No one among the onlookers laughed at him, but instead they were envious, especially those juren who were older and less confident. Although the same jinshi was like a wife, it was better to pass than never to pass!
“I got it too!”
"It's me, the third name from the second from the right is me!"
Voices of surprise and excitement came one after another, some people even cried and laughed out loud, but no one laughed at them.
All the world's phenomena are revealed at a glance.
Su Fengzhang couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He thought that after experiencing two lives, he would be able to remain calm no matter what he faced, but at this moment he couldn't control his accelerated heartbeat.
Writing contemporary essays and policy papers is not something you can do just by having talent. Since ancient times, there have been many talented and suave men with outstanding literary talent, but they still failed in the imperial examinations. Even some writers who have been famous throughout the ages were like this, and they failed again and again in the imperial examinations.
Su Fengzhang suddenly remembered a talented man he had seen in his previous life. He passed the provincial examination five times, and then failed the metropolitan examination again and again, reaching an astonishing number of seven times.
In comparison, he is actually lucky. From the Tongsheng exam to now, it can't be said to be smooth sailing, but he has come through it with some bumps and bruises. This is certainly due to his hard work and talent, but more importantly, it is also due to luck.
Su Fengzhang felt that he had to be grateful for the imperial examination system of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Although he had to test contemporary essays and policy papers, there was still a certain gap between the contemporary essays at that time and the eight-part essays of later generations. Although the rules were complicated, it was much more tolerant to talented people than the real eight-part essays.
He couldn't help but think of the people and things he met along the way, his mother who had high hopes for him, his younger siblings who admired him, the expectations and trust of the villagers and relatives, Mr. Wen who taught him diligently and treated him like his own son, and County Magistrate Cai who gave him a lot of advice and care, and even thought of Lord Fang and Xiao Hanlin, whose attitude was unpredictable.
Finally, Su Fengzhang suddenly thought of Lin Changqing. They wrote a poem together until late that night and agreed to travel together next year. However, fate played a trick on them and they were separated forever, and the agreement could not be fulfilled.
"Brother Su? Brother Su, what's wrong with you?" He Tang pushed the person next to him.
Su Fengzhang suddenly woke up from his memories, shook off the complicated thoughts in his head and smiled, "I'm fine."
He Tang didn't bother to investigate further, and pointed downstairs and said, "Here, the first one on the list."
Su Fengzhang looked down and saw the sound of gongs and drums downstairs. Surrounded in the middle was a familiar southern scholar, whose face was flushed red and full of joy.
As the lists came out one after another, more and more officials and servants came to the Scholars' Building to announce the good news. The cheers in the building were continuous and one after another. This kind of scene could only be seen in the Scholars' Building.
At this time, those who were not on the list, except for the overconfident few, became more anxious at a speed visible to the naked eye. When only the last one was left on the list, the carefree He Tang couldn't help but have tears in his eyes.
He nervously grabbed Su Fengzhang's arm and kept saying, "It's over, it's over. It's definitely over this time."
Before he finished speaking, the last list was posted.
Hetang's servant came running back, breathlessly shouting, "Master, you've won! You're in tenth place!"
He Tang suddenly jumped up, his face no longer showing the sadness he had just felt. He laughed heartily and said, "I won, Brother Su, Brother Bai, Brother Ji, I won, great! I'll buy you all a drink!"
Bai Yu's lips trembled twice, and she turned around and stared downstairs, looking for the figure of her servant.
Ji Chu, however, seemed to have given up completely and slumped in the chair, staring blankly at the cup of tea in his hand.
He Tang quickly calmed down when he saw this, scratching his hair, not knowing what to say. Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Brother He, congratulations. Now you don't have to pinch my arm anymore."
He Tang laughed heartily and said a little embarrassedly, "I was rude just now. I hope Brother Su doesn't mind it."
The scholars who have not heard the results yet are terrified, but they can only pretend to be calm, as their success or failure depends on this moment.
"Someone else is coming, Brother Bai, isn't that your follower?" He Tang shouted.
Bai Yu couldn't contain his excitement and quickly walked towards the stairwell. He stopped the person halfway and asked, "How is it?"
His follower said with great joy, "Eighth place, young master, you got eighth place."
Bai Yu's face lit up with joy, but then it sank slightly. Eighth place was not a very impressive ranking.
At this time, the scholars nearby came forward to congratulate him. Bai Yu was a little dissatisfied with his ranking, but he also showed a happy expression.
Bai Yu glanced at Su Fengzhang's face and asked, "Did you see the rankings of Brother Su and Brother Ji?"
The attendant scratched his head and said, "Well, I saw your name and hurried back. I didn't see anyone else. But I just saw Master Ji's attendant downstairs, so I hesitated and didn't dare to go upstairs."
After saying this, Ji Chu's face became even worse. Without even waiting for his followers to smile, he said with a forced expression, "I'm tired. I'll go back and rest for a while."
"This..." Several people didn't dare to stop him and could only watch him stagger away.
Just at this moment, a cheer came from the other side. It turned out that Lin Yuye got a good ranking of seventh place, just surpassing Bai Yu.
Bai Yu subconsciously clenched his fists, but then smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Su. I'm sure you're still ahead in the rankings, otherwise someone would have come to announce the good news long ago."
Before he finished speaking, Su Arong rushed back, sweating profusely, and shouted loudly: "Erlang, you got it!"
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