The preliminary examination for the imperial examinations required almost no study; as long as you memorized the knowledge from the textbooks, you could pass.
Li Jian returned home, locked himself in, and slept soundly through the night.
These days, Xiangxiang and Sun Zixi have been driven to the brink of death by her, but isn't she also driving herself to the brink?
Huo Xiaolong had risked his life on the battlefield to earn this opportunity, and as her advisor, he would certainly cherish it immensely.
In the entire Great Yan, apart from Beining, there were only one or two women in the examination hall. But Beining was different; the children had been sent to school long ago, so why did they still distinguish between men and women?
The examination hall here is very busy, and there aren't enough ladies to go around.
Especially in Pingyang County, where the Prince of Zhenbei grew up, even if there was no clan school in the village, the family would grit their teeth and send their children to school, regardless of whether they were boys or girls.
Who can be certain that another female official cannot emerge from their family?
Following Huo Xiaolong's conferment of the title of king, it was natural that even more outstanding women would be granted official positions.
Madam Zhang, the same lady who took her mother-in-law to the brothel to spend money on Chunying Kaka, is He Qingzhu's older sister. She is also busy at the school; now that her husband is the magistrate of Pingyang County, the task of proctoring the exams naturally falls to her.
Madam Liu was also in the examination hall.
The students below were in the same male examination room next door, with the same number of students and the same frantic writing.
"This time, the girls here can finally vent their competitive spirit."
"Who says otherwise? Our girl is busy all day long, and comparing things back and forth doesn't lead to anything. Look at this time, the results speak for themselves."
The couple from Jiangnan also packed up and came to Pingyang. Today, upon hearing about the imperial examination for children, they held their daughter and watched the excitement at the door.
"Niu Niu, this is the preliminary examination for the imperial examination, you know? You must study hard in the future, and then we can take the exam together."
"Judging from your accent, you don't sound like you're from the border town. You must be from Jiangnan, right?"
Today, Sun Ye's two children are taking the exam. The woman who was given sesame cakes by Huo Xiaolong at the city gate is the one who later married the gatekeeper Li Wei. The older boy, Hu Zi, has grown into a young man. If he does well on the exam, he can go to the capital to broaden his horizons. If he doesn't do well, he can study hard and try again.
The woman who was being spoken to nodded and asked
How did you figure that out?
"I'm from that area too. I fled here during the war. What's wrong? Is there another flood in Jiangnan recently?"
The woman shook her head.
"No, we heard that there are more schools for girls here, so we brought our child here."
Looking at the pretty girl in the woman's arms, Sun Ye smiled and said...
"Then you've come to the right place. We have many schools here, and no kidnappers. Such a beautiful little girl should grow up carefree."
—Squeak.
The examination hall doors opened with a bang, and the candidates from the border town answered the questions at roughly the same pace, almost filing out one after another.
"Mom, my brother and I are back from our exams. Can you take us to Fengyue Tower to buy some squid?"
You're such a glutton!
Sun Ye nodded her daughter twice. Seeing this, the woman next to her mustered up her courage and asked...
"Um, sister, which school in Pingyang County can provide early childhood education for children? Is it one that ordinary families like ours can afford?"
Sun Ye held his daughter's hand with one hand and tugged at his son's shoulder with the other.
“Any school in Pingyang will do, boys and girls can attend, there’s no difference. You can just take your child there.”
The two ladies arranged the exam papers inside and handed them to the person in charge. The papers were then shuffled in front of them and their names were sealed to prevent the examiners from engaging in favoritism or cheating.
Early spring in Pingyang County is very cold. Usually, there are hardly any people on the streets in the evening, but today is different. There are an unusually large number of people, especially at Fengyue Tower.
"Our prince is really amazing. We should study hard and try to become the first batch of female officials."
"I wonder how our eldest sister is doing in Beijing?"
The one speaking was the baby Huo Panli had brought back years ago, who had now grown into a young girl. As she drank the sweet soup, she thought of her older sister, who was like a father and mother to her.
"Our eldest sister will definitely bring back a top-three finish this time!"
"Are you absolutely certain?"
“This isn’t just a certainty; it’s our eldest sister’s lifelong dream.”
In the courtyard next to the Fengyue Tower, several children and elderly people sat in a circle, eating from a hot pot and drinking sweet soup.
Ah Cai's wife also fulfilled her dream from back then: to have a child and send him to school.
However, the child wasn't very good at studying and would run around aimlessly with a tree branch every day. Perhaps because he had been hanging out with Huo Xiaolong since he was little, he was quite strong, like a little calf.
"Mom, twenty skewers of squid and fifty skewers of mutton from the private room on the second floor."
"knew!"
The first thing I did after finishing the exam was to help my parents with the business at the brothel. Luckily, I'm in good health now, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to keep up with the serving.
Ah Cai is quite capable now; he's the manager of the brothel, Fengyuelou. Before leaving, Zhao Kai taught him how to do accounting, keep records, and manage accounts.
In just a few years, Ah Cai has become the capable and independent person he is today.
"Manager Ah Cai, those two young ladies in the private room on the fourth floor are about to fight over a maid. You should go and try to stop them."
"They're here, they're here."
Two firecrackers occasionally went off outside the window; they were leftover fireworks from the previous New Year. Huo Xiaolong sat on the roof, holding a pot of warm wine in his hands, watching the groups of smiling girls coming and going on the street.
Once this move is made, as long as Li Jian enters the court as an official, her relationship with the emperor will no longer be one of ruler and subject.
Why are you hiding here all by yourself?
Lan Tingche always managed to find Huo Xiaolong when he was alone.
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