Chapter 244: County and Prefecture Examinations
"That person..." Lord Qin pointed ahead, but there was no trace of that person in front. Lord Qin was so disappointed that he choked with sobs and could not speak.
Even if it was only a glance, it was a glance that lasted for a thousand years. Lord Qin saw clearly that the man, when sitting on the horse, had the domineering aura that looked very much like Qin Qian, who commanded many tribes. That man, both in appearance and aura, really looked like his own husband!
In the capital, many prominent families, servants and even guards in their houses, wear clothes made of fabrics that are not too bad, but except for the military, it is rare for clothing to be so uniform.
Lord Qin thought of this, changed his previous behavior, returned to the general's residence, and immediately sent someone to investigate.
"Dad, did anything happen to you when you came back?" Qin Feiyu soon heard about Lord Qin's misconduct.
Lord Qin told him about Xu Yi, "Fei Yu, that man really looks a lot like your father."
Hearing this, Qin Feiyu's face darkened. Meeting Lord Qin's hopeful gaze, he said reluctantly, "Dad, I'll investigate this matter, but... there are many similar people in the world."
"I know, I know." Lord Qin said with a wry smile, "But I can't just give up like this. Even if there's only the slightest possibility, I can't just do nothing."
Qin Feiyu was very understanding of Lord Qin's feelings, but he knew that the man could not be his elder brother.
After the new year, some colleges also started classes one after another.
The county examination in February is coming. Students participating in the county examination do not need to attend classes during this period and only need to concentrate on reviewing. However, as a teacher, Xu Yunfan does not have the same treatment as students. Even if he wants to go to the county to take the examination, he has to ask Jiang Lanfang for leave.
After Xu Yi settled Xu Er and the others and completed their tasks, he returned to Dali Village.
"Brother Xu, I'm going to the county town the day after tomorrow. It will probably take a few days for me to come back. I'd like to trouble you to take care of the children at home." Xu Yunfan said politely. Anyway, Xu Yi gave him a very strange feeling, so he didn't dare to offend him.
Xu Yi naturally noticed Xu Yunfan's politeness towards him. He didn't say much, just nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead and rest assured. I'll take care of the house."
The imperial examination system of the Dayan Dynasty was somewhat different from that of all previous dynasties that Xu Yunfan knew. In other dynasties, the county examination was held in February and supervised by the local magistrate. There were five consecutive examinations, one lasting one day. In April, the prefectural examination was supervised by invigilators sent by the provincial government. It lasted three days and also consisted of three examinations. Only those who passed the examination could obtain the title of "tongsheng".
But in the Dayan Dynasty, students would rest for a few days after the county exam and then continue with the prefectural exam. As a result, Xu Yunfan had to live in the county town during the exam. Qin Run was worried and remained unmoved no matter how Xu Yunfan tried to persuade him. He was determined to accompany Xu Yunfan. For this reason, the children in the family had to be escorted by Xu Yi when they went to school.
With Qin Run as his good wife, Xu Yunfan no longer needs to do many things himself.
Even because of Qin Run, Xu Zhifeng also benefited a lot.
Compared to Xu Yunfan who seemed to be relaxed just for fun, Xu Zhifeng was much more nervous. As the county exam was approaching, they arrived in the county town. Xu Yunfan didn't want to make good use of the time to review, but even dragged Qin Run to stroll around the county town. When Zhang Jing learned that Xu Yunfan came to take the exam, he wanted to go over to meet Xu Yunfan and show his hospitality, but when he thought that Xu Yunfan would be nervous and busy reading, he should not be in the mood to see him, as a result, he just came out of Jin Manlou and saw people shopping happily across the street. Seeing that the two of them were carrying a lot of things in their hands, it was obvious that they were not just out of the house.
Zhang Jingdu choked up and went up to Xu Yunfan and asked, "Aren't you studying in the inn to prepare for the county exam? Why are you hanging out here?"
Xu Yunfan touched his head and said, "I'm not just strolling around. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand. You make me sound like I have a lot of free time. I'm just relaxing before the exam. Only when I'm in a good mood can I show my true strength."
Zhang Jing: "...I really believed your lies."
He didn't know what it meant to relax before the exam. He only knew that throughout history, those who did nothing and were idle before the exam mostly failed. On the contrary, those who studied diligently mostly made it to the top of the list. After all, God would not let down those who were diligent and studious.
Zhang Jing shook his head. Xu Yunfan was too young. He was not as steady as other students of his age. Xu Yunfan really looked like a young master.
For ordinary students, how can they dare to relax until the last moment?
Because they know that opportunities are hard to come by. If they fail, they will have to wait another year, which will cost another year of time and money.
It's just a little money. Most young masters from wealthy families don't care about it. If they fail the exam, the worst that can happen is that they can go back and inherit the family property.
Zhang Jing persuaded Xu Yunfan for a few words, but Xu Yunfan felt overwhelmed and had to return to the inn in shame.
"So boring!" Xu Yunfan lay on the bed, looking at Qin Run who was sitting beside him, checking to see if he had brought everything. "Run'er, you've checked those things at least six times today. Don't worry, there's nothing missing."
"I'm worried." Qin Run looked at Xu Yunfan, "Do you really not need to read any more books?"
Xu Yunfan waved his hand. "No, the more I read, the more annoyed I get. My top priority right now is to adjust my state, relax my body and mind, get enough sleep, and maintain sufficient energy to ensure I can perform at my best during the exam."
Qin Run's face changed, he seemed to want to say something but stopped, and finally fell silent.
Forget it, it’s useless to say more to shameless people.
In fact, at noon, Xu Yunfan told Xu Zhifeng some more key points. In addition, Xu Zhifeng has benefited a lot from Jiang Lanfang recently. Xu Yunfan lay on the bed and reviewed the key points that Jiang Lanfang had marked for Xu Zhifeng. He did not say anything for a long time.
Seeing this, Qin Run was helpless with Xu Yunfan. This guy would rather lie in bed with his eyes open and stare blankly than read a book. Even so, Xu Yunfan had the nerve to say that he used to feel uncomfortable if he didn't read for a long time?
During the days when the dragon and phoenix candles were made, the academy had not yet started, and Xu Yunfan stayed at home with nothing to do all day. Qin Run had asked him to read some books in a tactful way, and Xu Yunfan agreed with a "hmm" or "uh" every time, and took out the book and flipped through two pages seriously. As a result, he had been busy in the kitchen for a while when he heard Xu Yunfan's arrogant words from the yard.
It turned out that Xiaobao and the other two were playing with spinning tops in the yard, and Xu Yunfan was attracted by them. As soon as Qin Run turned around, he started playing with the three children.
During those days, not to mention Xiaobao and the others who stuck to Xu Yunfan all day long, even Qin's child, who probably had been studying all night, came to the house early in the morning to call Xu Yunfan to go play. With Xiaobao begging him, Xu Yunfan reluctantly went.
In the past, only little boys would hang out with Xu Yunfan, but now, even little girls would follow Xu Yunfan around happily.
There's no way around it. Xu Yunfan can play with little boys, do slingshots, climb trees to pick bird eggs, etc. But when playing with little girls, he becomes a knight beside the princess.
Xu Yunfan had told many stories about princesses and princes, and Qin An and others told the stories to other friends. What was this knight? There were pictures of him in storybooks, and they had all seen him. Several little girls surrounded Xu Yunfan, begging him to play with them. Xu Yunfan had no choice but to ignore the requests of the well-behaved little girls. He could only kneel on one knee, put one hand behind his waist, and hold the "princess" hand with the other. As soon as he recited the lines, the little girls screamed excitedly and stomped their feet. In a few days, Xu Yunfan became the king of the children, the knight of every little princess. He played with the children. When he returned home in the afternoon, Xu Yunfan didn't know what he was busy with, but was drawing in the room. In short, he looked very busy.
Qin Run always felt tired every time he saw Xu Yunfan playing with a group of children. But later, after the bookstore opened, the storybooks sold well, and almost every child who could afford it had a copy. Xu Yunfan held another "Princess Tour". After all kinds of dazzling and beautiful princess dresses were worn by several trained princesses wearing jade crowns, the orders for princess dresses in Yunrun clothing stores everywhere were queued up for several months. Qin Run then realized that Xu Yunfan was really good at making money, and even little girls became his target customers.
The Great Yan Dynasty was very tolerant of both boys and girls. It was said that boys were unclean if they did not have girls and could not show their legs or shoulders. Therefore, with the craze for storybooks, every girl under ten years old had a princess dream.
Before, when Xu Yunfan was asked to read a book, he would rather run out and be the leader of the kids than sit at home and be nagged by him. Now that he came to the county town, Xu Yunfan said that he wanted to relax, and he couldn't be called out anymore.
Amid the students' anxious anticipation, the county examination finally arrived.
Early in the morning, Qin Run woke Xu Yunfan up. After he drank his porridge and ate two meat buns, he wanted to eat another one, but Qin Run grabbed his wrist and said, "Eat this much. It's easy to feel sleepy if you eat too much."
According to Xu Yunfan's appetite, he should be only about 60% full after eating so much. Qin Run had asked around before accompanying him to take the exam. He heard that many candidates felt that the exam time was not enough. Therefore, in the exam room, they would go to the toilet as little as possible so that they could save time to answer questions. Moreover, Xu Yunfan would get lazy when he was full, so Qin Run naturally had to control his temper.
Xu Yunfan sighed. He was the one taking the test, but Qin Run was even more nervous than him. After breakfast, just as the sky was getting light, Qin Run pulled Xu Yunfan and called Xu Zhifeng to line up.
Xu Yunfan, with a basket slung over his arm, looked at the long queue ahead and tightened his clothes. It was still a bit chilly on a February morning. "When will it be our turn?"
They had clearly arrived early, but someone else had arrived earlier than them. Now he had been standing in the cold wind for half an hour, and his legs were sore.
Xu Zhifeng leaned out and took a look. "Please be patient. There are already officials coming to check ahead."
Hearing this, Xu Yunfan's expression suddenly changed to something difficult to describe. "Hey, I heard that the inspection is very strict, even that part has to be opened up for inspection. Is this true?"
"It's true." Before Xu Zhifeng could reply, the uncle in front of him replied for him, "What the little brother said just now is not only true, but also during the entrance inspection, all students must open their collars and take off their socks to prevent the malpractice of carrying underwear..."
This uncle probably has a lot of experience, and he advised Xu Zhifeng to be more proactive and self-conscious. If he took the initiative, the officers would be in a good mood and at least would not check too hard. If he did not know what was good for him and was unwilling to cooperate, he would have to suffer a little.
During the entrance inspection, the police would not even let go of things like jade crowns, for fear that some students might have stuck cheat sheets in their hair. Of course, that part would also be inspected.
Xu Yunfan immediately squeezed his buttocks together. He peeked in front of him and looked at the students coming out of the side room. Their hair was messy, their clothes were half-undone, and their faces were filled with humiliation. Anyone who didn't know would think that they had encountered some inhumane experience in there. Xu Yunfan was so nervous just watching them.
When it was Xu Yunfan's turn, the unclean Xu Yunfan almost cried because he had lost his "innocence". If the brother in charge of the inspection had not seen that he was good-looking and just spread his buttocks to take a look, otherwise this strong man would have burst into tears.
Xu Yunfan received the badge and found his table according to the seat number of the examination room written on the badge. He then put the basket he brought on the table with a wronged look on his face and gathered up the broken buns and packed them up. These were his food for the next few days. Fortunately, the official in charge of checking the food was not the same person as the official in charge of breaking the buns, otherwise, Xu Yunfan would probably have to throw the buns away to feed the dogs.
The five-day examination not only tests students’ knowledge, but also their physical fitness.
The weather in February was still cold, and many students brought charcoal. Before the exam started, Xu Yunfan saw other students lighting charcoal, so he followed suit and then covered himself with the small blanket Qin Run had prepared for him.
After entering the examination room, for the past five days, these candidates were like being kept in captivity, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating all within the examination room. Fortunately, the toilet was far away from Xu Yunfan's seat, so no matter how strong the smell was, it could not reach him.
On the third day of the exam, perhaps due to poor psychological quality or simply physical problems, several candidates fainted while answering questions. The invigilator in charge of patrolling the exam hall waved over and called two officers to carry them out.
Xu Yunfan stretched his head to take a look out of curiosity, thinking to himself, this examinee is now dizzy, and he will probably wake up to find out that he has been carried out, missing his chance, and will probably faint again. Thinking of this, Xu Yunfan, who had been a teacher for more than half a year, shook his head regretfully. Seeing this, another invigilator tapped on his desk with his finger, signaling him to stop peeking, otherwise they would punish him for cheating.
Xu Yunfan smiled awkwardly, took out a lemon candy and put it in his mouth before continuing to answer the questions.
The chief examiner, County Magistrate Zhou, who was sitting in the upper chamber, was worried about Xu Yunfan. Seeing that Xu Yunfan was neither anxious nor slow, and was even interested in watching the fun, County Magistrate Zhou felt ashamed. After all, he had experience in invigilating exams several times, and he had never seen a candidate as careless as Xu Yunfan. Who would eat candy while answering the test paper?
After living for thirty years, Xu Yunfan is the first one.
The five-day county examination was like a year to some candidates, but to Xu Yunfan, it was nothing more than a change of place to eat steamed buns and sleep on a hard bed. The examination room was not a place for candidates to enjoy. After sleeping for a few days, Xu Yunfan felt sore in his waist and back. He returned to the inn to rest for a few days, and then endured the humiliation and endured the harassment again, and entered the examination room pitifully.
In the last exam, Xu Yunfan looked at the last big question, which had only one word "面" on it, and asked the candidates for their opinions on it.
Many candidates shed tears in their hearts when they saw this question. What they fear most is encountering this kind of ambiguous question. It seems simple, but in fact they still have to figure out the examiner's intention.
For example, a few years ago, there was a question about "yellow flowers" in the exam, which really confused a large number of candidates.
When it comes to "yellow flower", many candidates naturally think of daylily first, but it can also refer to "chrysanthemum". In this case, candidates have to think deeply and write carefully.
This exam question is funny. It actually asks candidates what they think of the word "面". Damn it, with this "面", who knows whether you are asking about the face or the food, or something else? You don't even know what it refers to specifically, so how can you have an opinion?
Candidates are most afraid of encountering this type of question, and examiners sometimes just love to ask this kind of confusing questions.
Xu Yunfan was also confused when he saw the question. He didn't even know the examiner, so how could he guess his intention?
There was no other way, Xu Yunfan could only give it a try. Anyway, the most taboo thing about this kind of question is to leave it blank. Math and physics teachers have taught you that when you encounter a big question that you can't solve, no matter whether you know the answer or not, just write the word "solution" and then write down all the formulas you know. In view of your hard work and positive attitude, you might even be given one point.
Thinking of this, Xu Yunfan propped up his chin and pondered. If he hadn't answered this question well, he wouldn't have failed based on his previous answers. In this way, he wouldn't have to think too much and waste brain cells. Then he picked up his pen and wrote: "Noodles without salt, noodles without words, without face. Originally, it was clear soup without salt noodles, only when tears fell into the bowl did I feel the saltiness... Noodles without salt, noodles without words, faces without face." Note①
Now that's good, both face and noodles are saved.
To be honest, although Xu Yunfan has read thousands of books, he is not proficient in writing poetry. He doesn't think it's a big deal. After all, which of the famous quotes and ancient poems written by students in their essays are his own?
He is also a candidate now, so there should be nothing wrong with this action.
After finishing the last question, Xu Yunfan went through the motions, checked the paper, and when he felt that there was no problem, he estimated the time required to answer the question. Then he raised his hand to indicate that he wanted to leave.
County Magistrate Zhou glanced at Xu Yunfan. The exam had started, and the other candidates had only answered half of the questions, but Xu Yunfan was actually leaving?
Is this the talented person that Jiang Lanfang has taken a fancy to and entrusted him with his care?
If Xu Yunfan couldn't even pass the examination to become a Tongsheng, Jiang Lanfang probably wouldn't let Xu Yunfan go. However, as an examiner in the examination room, how could he give him any advice? He could only watch Xu Yunfan holding a small quilt and a vegetable basket, running away impatiently as if there was a beast chasing him from behind.
Qin Run had been waiting outside the examination room since early morning. Knowing that Xu Yunfan would not come out so soon and that no relatives were waiting outside the examination room, Qin Run could not sit still in the inn and came to wait early.
"Little brother, you're here too early. Take my advice and go back first. Come back in half an hour." The uncle who was selling things at a stall not far from the examination hall couldn't stand it any longer. He had been doing business here for several years and had experienced countless county examinations. In previous years, candidates usually came out in the afternoon at 5 p.m. It was still early, and this little brother came here early in the morning. When he got tired of standing, he squatted, and when squatting got too hard, he stood. The weather in February was still cold. Even though this brother was a bit strong, he couldn't stand waiting like this!
Qin Run shook his head. "Thank you, uncle. I'll wait a little longer."
"Your husband is also a scholar! Oh, the weather is very cold. Come here, uncle will make you a bowl of hot soup, and it's free." The uncle looked at Qin Run's appearance, and then looked at the scars of different sizes on his hands, and secretly guessed that this guy was also a miserable man. People probably married him back home to use him as a free laborer. Otherwise, people like him should be the type that students dislike the most.
What do most of these students like? They like those who can resonate with them, and it would be best if they can know some arts such as music, chess, calligraphy and painting. If they don't know any of these, then they have no talent. In this case, they should have some color.
Qin Run went over, and the uncle brought a stool over and served him another bowl of broth with a few pieces of minced meat in it. "Drink it, it will warm you up."
Qin Run thanked him again, then held the bowl with both hands and drank it in small sips, "Uncle, your soup is really delicious."
The uncle laughed heartily at the compliment and said with a hint of pride, "That's right. I've been doing business on this street for a few years. Many people love to come here to buy steamed buns and drink a bowl of meat soup. In such a cold day, a bowl of hot soup warms my whole body."
Qin Run glanced around and saw that there was no one else around except them. "Isn't it too early for guests to come over and eat?"
The uncle smiled awkwardly, "No, I didn't set it up here before, I set it up over there, haha... Isn't today the day when students are leaving the exam hall? I came over to join in the fun."
Qin Run: “…”
He came here early just to wait for his husband. This uncle came so early just to join in the fun and didn't even take care of his business. He is really amazing.
The uncle chatted with Qin Run for a few words and learned that Qin Run’s husband was taking the county exam for the first time. He couldn’t help but think that this man probably didn’t have much knowledge!
For other students, if they really have some talent, even if they fail the exam, in order to accumulate experience, they usually start taking the test at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and only take part in the county exam at eighteen. It is estimated that the husband that Runger mentioned was not very well-educated.
"Run'er!" A joyful voice came from not far away.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com