On August 14, the third session of the provincial examination began.
When Shen Cui called them to get up in batches, they were all so sleepy that they couldn't open their eyes.
The others could still hold on for a while, but Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi were in worse condition.
Mei Ruochu took two consecutive exams on the stinky account. No matter how strong his endurance was, he couldn't bear it anymore and was exhausted both physically and mentally.
Wei Xi had physical problems - the 2 points he lost in the first game were made up by Shen Cui, and he lost another 3 points in the second game.
When they were taking the exam, the daily life of the academy was not released. Shen Cui used the remaining shopping points on hand to buy him medicinal flowers between the first and second games, and she really couldn't make them out now.
So Mei Ruochu was helped to the examination hall by servants from the Wei and Cui families, while Wei Xi was carried there personally by Wei Shu, who had recovered a lot after a night's rest.
Last time, it was after they left the examination room and they were alone, so Wei Xi asked him to recite it.
Today, when they set out from the mansion, there were both servants from the Wei family and maids from the Cui family, so Wei Shu didn't actually need to do everything himself.
So Wei Xi didn't lie down immediately like he did last time.
When Wei Shu saw him like this, he smiled and said, "Second Master Wei, please come up quickly, or you won't be bothered by other people's smell. I just washed myself up specially, and I smell really good!"
Wei Xi muttered embarrassedly, "I was confused last time and said nonsense. How come I still remember it?" But he still asked him to recite it.
There were three exams in total, but Wei Xi had already asked him to recite twice. He felt a little embarrassed, so he muttered and assured him, "You've worked hard. I will practice more in the future."
Earlier, Wei Shu took Mu Erpang to practice archery every day. After entering the provincial school, they rode horses together from time to time. He also tried to talk to Wei Xi and asked him to join them.
Wei Xi thought that his health had been very good in recent years, and he was a quiet person and didn't like those things, so he never went.
It was only when Shen Cui was watching the morning exercises in the academy that he was willing to move.
Now he really regretted it. If he had devoted one tenth of his energy to exercise as he did to his studies, he wouldn't have had to be carried in and out by Wei Shu right now.
Wei Shu smiled and shook him, "With your skinny arms and legs, how can you tire me out? But it's definitely a good thing that you want to exercise. It will only do you good to exercise."
At this point, he paused and couldn't help but say, "Don't think I'm being too arrogant to lecture you. If you really can't hold on in this final round, just hand in your paper early. As the old saying goes, if you have green mountains, you won't have to worry about firewood. How old are we? Are you afraid that you won't have a chance in the future? Don't sacrifice yourself for fame."
If this had been said by Wei Shu a few years ago, Wei Xi would have spoken back a hundred words. But now that the two of them were close, Wei Xi could tell that his concern came from the heart, so she hummed softly.
When sending them to the exam, Shen Cui, Lao Buyu, and the servants of Cui Jiawei's family all went out because they were worried that the young men would be exhausted.
After watching them enter the venue one after another, Shen Cui asked curiously, "Why do I feel that... the number of candidates for the third provincial examination seems to be much smaller?"
Lao Buyu did not come to take the exam, so he could not give a direct answer.
Another parent who was sending their children to take the exam happened to pass by. After hearing what she said, he sighed and said, "Isn't it true? This autumn is particularly hot and humid. Many people were carried out in the first or second round. For example, there is a scholar from the same hometown as my son. He is only in his twenties. He was not carried out in the middle, but he was carried out yesterday after he went to bed... He came alone. Fortunately, my son and he agreed to wait together every day to enter the exam room. We went to his room and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. We asked the store owner to break in and found that he had fainted. My son didn't feel well when he got up this morning. I was worried about him going to the exam room alone, so I had to focus on this first and ask the store owner to send the scholar to the clinic. We don't know whether he is dead or alive... Oh, I won't say anymore. I have to go to the clinic to check on him."
Chen Cui felt sad after hearing these words.
In fact, if she had not had the system in hand from the beginning and could see the strengths and weaknesses of the students in all aspects, she might have been like many people, only thinking of cultivating students' talents, and would not have thought of cultivating their physique, mood, luck and other aspects - after all, even in modern times, students' physical fitness is not taken seriously by schools and parents, and this is even more so in the current environment.
…………
The third provincial examination was a comprehensive test of the first two.
Two passages on the interpretation of classics, one poem, one essay, one policy paper, and one eight-legged essay.
It seems that the number of questions is still not large, but the difficulty is higher than before, especially now it is August 15th, and it has been seven days since the eighth day of the first lunar month when candidates entered the examination room. All the candidates are exhausted. It is not easy for many of them to persist until now, let alone perform well.
Like Wei Xi on the light curtain, he was now lying on the template, and it was difficult for him to straighten his back and maintain the good posture he usually had.
Fortunately, his physical fitness was much stronger than before, so he finally persevered.
As for Mei Ruochu, his examination seat was changed and he was closer to the toilet - Chen Cui judged this based on the fact that he brought both types of face towels with him and did not eat much during the last session, only drinking water.
Shen Cui did not look at their test papers for this exam. After all, she cared more about their health than their grades, so she focused on observing their various values.
Early in the morning on the last day of the exam, Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi handed in their papers one after another.
Mei Ruochu still couldn't stand the smell, and he couldn't hold on any longer because he had eaten almost nothing in the last show.
Wei Xi felt an indescribable discomfort. He took all the pills that Chen Cui had prepared for him, but he still couldn't sit still.
Although he knew that if he held his breath, he could still hold on for a while with his willpower, but thinking of what Wei Shu had said to him earlier, he did not dare to joke with his body and hurried out.
When they came out, Chen Cui was already waiting at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall. After picking up Mei Ruochu, Shen Cui skillfully took out a wooden basin from under the seat and asked him to hold the basin and vomit for a while.
After receiving the call from Wei Xi, she took out a tonic and asked Wei Xi to eat it quickly - she had been negotiating the system for two or three days, and finally, just like Mu Erpang's desk at the beginning, she got the system to give her a portion of medicine on credit first, and then after doing the daily tasks of the academy and getting shopping points, the system directly deducted the money from the account.
In the afternoon, Wei Shu, Cui Fei, and Chen Aoshuang all came out one after another.
Wei Shu has always been in good health, so his condition at this moment is still the best among the few people, he just walks a little slower than usual.
As for Chen Aoshuang, the system had told her when her five senses were out of balance that her physical fitness was still 70 despite her poor five senses, so apart from being a little lacking in energy, there was nothing wrong with her.
As for Cui Fei, he also changed a lot under Cuiwei's influence. His heart disease was cured and he lost half his weight. If the law wants to influence him, it is actually very simple.
But perhaps it was because he did not have a name in the original book, and based on his level, he would not be able to pose any threat to Mu Yunchuan's position in the future. Or perhaps the law did not "take action" against him because he had helped Mu Yunchuan in the past and thought that he could continue to serve Mu Yunchuan in the future in case of emergency.
Before evening, everyone in Cuiwei had returned to their house, except Mu Erpang, who had not come out yet.
As soon as Chen Cui opened the light curtain, she saw that he had spread out all the papers in one place. He had also copied all the other parts, except for the poems, where not a single word had been touched.
The title of the poem consists of only four words: 'Sweep away the accumulated dust'.
Mu Erpang has also written a sentence on the manuscript paper -
"Baopuzi": "Eliminate the accumulated dirt, get rid of evil and restore order."
Obviously he thought of the source.
Chen Cui couldn't help but guess that "Baopuzi" is a Taoist classic, which is strictly speaking not in the orthodox Four Books and Five Classics system. It is difficult for ordinary candidates to think of its source.
The fat son had thought of it but had not yet completed the poem. Could it be because he had not studied the book much in the past and therefore did not understand its meaning?
In fact, what Shen Cui thought was correct. Mu Erpang did not study Taoist classics such as "Baopuzi" in depth, and it was impossible for him to understand every word thoroughly.
But since he has already thought of the source, it means that he has a certain understanding of the book.
So he also knew the meaning of this sentence, which is to get rid of mistakes and return to the right path.
Eliminate errors...So what are errors?
In connection with the questions asked before and after the three provincial examinations, Mu Erpang couldn't help but recall the previous policy essay question that asked whether the system of exempting juren from land tax was reasonable.
Although they took the exam in three sessions, when the examiners graded the papers, they would seal and copy all their papers together and mark them together.
If he follows the line of thought in this question and expresses his agreement, saying that all wrong and outdated things should be abolished immediately, wouldn't that be inconsistent with his previous attitude of affirming the existing system, and make him a person who only knows how to cater to those in power at all times?
But if I disagree, what if the examiner's intention is not so far-reaching and coherent, and he just grades the papers in separate areas? Would he be considered a troublemaker who sings a different tune?
The reason why it has not been completed as a poem yet is because Mu Erpang cannot decide on the main theme of the poem.
At this moment, he couldn't help but miss the county magistrate he met during the county examination.
If there was still such a "barometer" at this moment, he wouldn't have to worry about it now.
Time was running out, so Mu Erpang calmed himself and recalled the life of the examiner, Shangshu Wang. At first, they didn't know much about Shangshu Wang, but since Lao Buyu became familiar with the merchants in the capital, they knew more.
Shangshu Wang proposed to resign to the current emperor, not because he was really old, but because two years ago, the current emperor had just ascended the throne and was young and energetic and wanted to implement reforms.
Reform is certainly a good thing, but because it has not been fully prepared, it has caused a lot of worry among the old officials.
Shangshu Wang was one of these worried old ministers. After several attempts to give advice and make suggestions failed to produce any results, he became somewhat discouraged.
He was not the only one who proposed to resign at that time. Several old ministers jointly wrote a letter to the emperor, which caused quite a stir and became known to almost everyone in the capital.
Although the current emperor was hot-tempered, he was still a wise ruler. He realized that he had hurt the feelings of his old ministers and stopped immediately. Now that Shangshu Wang has been sent out to be the examinee's teacher, it shows his attitude even more.
Mu Erpang finally sorted out his thoughts and immediately began to type his poem.
He handed in his paper before nightfall. By then, there was almost no one in the examination room. Even the soldiers guarding the door found the weather too hot and found a place to rest.
Naturally, Mu Erpang saw his mother who had been waiting for a long time.
Finally, everyone in Cuiwei completed the provincial examination safely and smoothly.
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