Chapter 97: Debt of Favor
The reason why the provincial examination is called the Autumn Examination is because it is held in autumn. This year, the provincial examination in Qingzhou Prefecture was held in August.
At this time, occasionally a few impatient osmanthus trees were in full bloom, and the faint fragrance of osmanthus was floating in Qingzhou Prefecture. Su Fengzhang liked this feeling very much, which was much better than when the osmanthus flowers were in full bloom.
There is an osmanthus tree planted in the courtyard of the Wen family. It is said that the value of this courtyard increased by several taels because of this osmanthus tree, because it has good meaning.
Mr. Wen got up early and personally picked some osmanthus branches, which he brushed lightly over the shoulders of his son and his favorite student. The osmanthus trees in their yard bloomed late, and there were not even buds at the moment, so this was the only way he could show his appreciation.
I heard that Prefect Fang also attended the imperial examination banquet yesterday and personally picked some osmanthus flowers to wish for smooth success in this year's provincial examination.
After eating the breakfast carefully prepared by Mrs. Wen, Su Fengzhang and Wen Zhu bid farewell to the two elders and set off for the Imperial Examination Hall together.
As soon as he boarded the carriage, Wenzhu collapsed and said helplessly, "The provincial examination will last three sessions, each lasting three days. That's half a month straight. I'm really worried I can't make it."
Su Fengzhang reached out and patted his round belly, smiling, "Don't worry, with your physique, you'll be fine even if you starve for half a month."
Wenzhu touched her belly and felt a little sad. She looked at Su Fengzhang's figure with envy and thought to herself that they were both men and had been fed soup by her mother for half a month, so how could this guy still be like Qingzhu.
Seeing him like this, Su Fengzhang comforted him, "We examinees are fine. At least we can get some fresh air during the exam. Think about the examiners. After they have their first feast on the sixth day of the first lunar month, they have to go into the inner curtain. Once the invigilator seals the door, the inner and outer curtain officials will not interact with each other. The inner curtain officials cannot do anything other than mark the exam papers. They enter the door from the sixth day of the first lunar month and cannot come out until they finish marking the papers. Isn't it even more miserable?"
Thinking about it this way, the examiners seemed to be even worse off than the candidates. Wen Zhu suddenly felt comforted and said with a smile, "That's true, but we only have a small room, the examiners will definitely be much more comfortable."
Just as Su Fengzhang said, when the provincial examination comes, the chief examiner will be appointed by the court. Although Qingzhou Prefecture now has a provincial education commissioner, this provincial education commissioner cannot interfere in matters related to the provincial examination.
When it comes to the exam, these examiners will be divided into inner and outer curtain officials. The inner curtain officials are responsible for marking the test papers and determining the final rankings, while the outer curtain officials are ordinary invigilators who are only responsible for invigilation matters.
Once the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was closed, it could not be opened until the appointed time, even if there was a fire inside. This was inhumane not only to the examinees but also to the invigilators.
Seeing the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall from afar, Su Fengzhang and the other person lined up at the door and waited to enter.
Wen Zhu didn't dare to say much at this moment. It would be bad if he said something wrong and offended someone. Even so, his facial expressions changed a lot when he was behind people's backs, and sometimes Su Fengzhang couldn't help laughing.
Suddenly, a scholar passed by and bumped into Su Fengzhang hard as he passed by them.
Su Fengzhang dodged extremely quickly, and the man couldn't control his strength and almost fell to the ground.
Su Fengzhang grabbed him and said with a faint smile, "My dear brother, please be careful when you walk. It would be bad if you fall and get injured so close to the exam."
The scholar snorted coldly, shook off his hand and walked forward, glaring at him fiercely before leaving.
Wen Zhu saw this and chuckled softly, "It must be those people who knew your name and invited you to a literary gathering, but you didn't give them face and didn't go, thus offending them."
This story starts from when Su Fengzhang arrived in Qingzhou Prefecture. "Sui Hua Yin" made him famous, but few people in Qingzhou Prefecture knew that "Sui Hua Yin" was written by him, but some literati had heard of it.
Some people immediately extended an olive branch and invited Su Fengzhang to attend a literary gathering. It was called a literary gathering, but in fact it was just a place for scholars to eat, drink and communicate with each other.
Su Fengzhang had no interest in this. Even Mr. Wen said that preparing for the provincial examination was more important at this time. There would be plenty of opportunities to socialize after the provincial examination, so there was no need to rush.
So he pushed all those posts down, and by doing so, he gained a reputation as someone who was arrogant and looked down on others.
Su Fengzhang just laughed it off. He didn't expect that someone would come to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall to cause trouble. He looked up at the scholar and saw that he looked very angry. He just found it funny.
Wenzhu muttered quietly, "I think they must be utterly in awe of you and want to curry your favor, but you're unwilling to go. They're all disappointed, and their love has turned to hate."
Su Fengzhang's response was to smack him hard on the forehead. "Mr. Wen was right to scold you. Have you been peeking at the storybooks lately?"
This was just a small episode. The entrance search for the provincial examination was more strict than that for the academy examination. Three people searched the candidates from front to back to ensure that no candidate brought any cheat sheets.
After they all enter, the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall will be locked, and the provincial examination will officially begin.
Su Fengzhang looked around the room he was assigned to. It was just as narrow as the last time. There were two wooden boards inside. The upper one was used as a table for writing answer sheets, and the lower one was used as a chair.
At night, the two wooden boards are put together to form a bed for sleeping.
This type of room is very unfriendly to tall candidates, especially the rooms in the south, which are short and narrow. When Su Fengzhang stood up, he always felt that his head was about to hit the ceiling. He couldn't even move his arms and legs in the room.
Compared to the content of the exam, he felt that this confined and narrow space was the real test.
Su Fengzhang sighed slightly and began to check the things in the house. In addition to the wooden boards, there was also a pot of charcoal fire and a candle. He didn't know how the provincial examinations were held in other places, but here they could bring in rice, flour and tools.
The provincial examination office did not provide food, which meant that they had to prepare three meals a day by themselves. Mr. Wen was very experienced in this regard, and asked Mrs. Wen to prepare food that could be stored and eaten after a little cooking.
The disadvantages of the number room are obvious, but there are advantages as well. At least it has a roof, so you won't be exposed to the wind and sun. After the exam starts, as long as you are not cheating and don't affect the candidates around you, the invigilator will not ask anything about what you do in there.
On the ninth day of August, the first session of the provincial examination officially began.
Su Fengzhang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the test questions. They were all familiar to him. He had even written more than one poem on the topic of the five-character eight-rhyme poem. He just needed to choose the best one to use.
While Su Fengzhang was concentrating on the exam, several officials were drinking tea and chatting behind the curtains in the back hall. The exam papers had not been issued yet, so it was the time when they had the most free time.
Wang Xueshi, the leader, glanced at the people around him and asked curiously, "Master Xiao, what's wrong with you? You've been absent-minded for the past two days. Have you encountered any difficulties?"
Upon hearing this, Lord Xiao quickly said, "Lord Wang, you misunderstood. I just like my bed. I haven't had a good rest these past few days, so I'm a little dazed. It's nothing serious and won't affect my grading."
Lord Wang then smiled and said, "That's good. The provincial examination is a major event in the imperial examination, and Qingzhou Prefecture is a place with a flourishing literary tradition. If anything bad happens due to our negligence in grading the papers, His Majesty will be held responsible."
This was a warning, so Lord Xiao immediately said, "Lord Wang, please rest assured."
Lord Wang chuckled, seeming to be truly relieved.
He didn't know whether he trusted Lord Xiao or not, and he himself was very unsure in his heart.
However, a few days ago, Lord Xiao received a note in his temporary residence. Logically speaking, although he was only a member of the Hanlin Academy and his official position was not high, he was a Beijing official after all, and he was here to supervise the provincial examination, so he could completely ignore the local officials.
But Lord Qian had indeed done him a favor in the past, and Lord Xiao considered himself a sentimental person, so it was not easy for him to completely ignore him.
After reading the visiting card, Lord Xiao frowned and felt very regretful. He should have not read it earlier.
It turned out that Qian Tongzhi, relying on the favor he had done him in the past, wanted him to tamper with the provincial examination and directly eliminate a scholar.
If Qian Tongzhi asked him to use a backdoor to get someone into the university, Xiao Hanlin would definitely not agree. But he hesitated to let someone fail the exam. After all, in Qian Tongzhi's words, this person seemed to have very low character.
This hesitation lasted until the day of the provincial examination. Until this time, Xiao Hanlin was still a little undecided. Sometimes he felt that he shouldn't do this, and sometimes he felt that he could repay a favor by doing this, and it would be a relief.
He stood up and stretched his muscles, then looked up and saw the sun outside. They couldn't see the situation in the examination room from their side, but they could vaguely hear some noises, probably that the candidates had entered the room to prepare.
Su Fengzhang? Why does this name sound familiar?
Xiao Hanlin thought hard but couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He soon stopped thinking about it and just thought that he had seen it in Qian Tongzhi's post, so he had some impression of it.
Never mind. If you really have talent, even if you don’t succeed this time, you will succeed in three years. It’s a good thing for young people to keep it in check for a few years.
Xiao Hanlin comforted himself in this way. He felt relieved after understanding the situation. Otherwise, if he kept thinking about it, he would feel inferior to Qian Tongzhi.
Having already crossed out Su Fengzhang's name in his mind, Xiao Hanlin quickly thought about it in his head. He couldn't make any changes in the first round because he couldn't recognize Su Fengzhang's handwriting and couldn't see the name.
Identify him first and let him go, so that he can feel happy first.
It wouldn't be particularly surprising if his ranking was lowered in the second round. Xiao Hanlin thought about it and felt that he had taken every possible precaution and there shouldn't be any problem.
Having made up his mind, Xiao Hanlin felt relieved. He sat down again and slowly drank his tea, waiting for the first exam to be over.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: emmmm, don't worry, there will be no abuse here, it is a relatively easy chapter
By the way, I want to ask, what kind of new articles are you looking forward to?
I am still thinking about it. I like the two stories about sister and boyfriend more~ After all, they are sister stories.
The copy is here
Danmei-the story of the dark schoolboy falling in love with the sunny schoolboy-strong and sweet story dear boyfriend
Ancient female queens are powerful and majestic
Romance - Sister-Brother Love - The Story of an Older Sister and a Little Puppy (Wolf Dog) Sister's Love
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
