Speaking of Fucheng Wei Shu.
The provincial examination is very different from the county examination. During the county examination, the examination room was a large open-top temporary structure, and the tables and chairs were not a complete set, but were put together temporarily.
The provincial examination was much more formal, with a series of small sheds built and several examination rooms.
He arrived before the morning and waited for about a quarter of an hour for the initial inspection. The sergeant came over and asked them to divide into several rows and began to search them.
For the provincial examination, one is not allowed to bring anything except the examination papers and the simplest dry food. Pens, ink, paper, inkstone, and even bedding and candles must be taken out of the body, so the body search is more strict.
Like during the previous county examination, the officers just searched the house from inside to outside.
When they arrived here, soldiers with swords watched from the side and asked the candidates to enter the shed in groups. Then they watched as they stripped naked from head to toe in front of their eyes one by one, and their hair was removed and their clothes checked.
The person standing in front of Wei Shu was also a young man, very tall and thin, who looked a little older than him. He was wearing a pair of shoes with slightly thick soles, so he was pulled aside.
One sergeant, with a stern face, cut open the sole of his shoe with a knife, while another sergeant looked him over from head to toe with a sharp and suspicious look.
Fortunately, the man didn't really want to hide any cheat sheets to cheat, so after cutting it open and checking that there was nothing wrong with it, he was allowed to pass.
The young man did not panic because of this incident. He took out a hemp rope to tie the soles of his shoes, put them on and went in.
Wei Shu watched the whole process from behind and made a note of it in his mind. When it was his turn to be searched, he took out his insoles and removed the headband on his head - the soles of the man in front of him were only an inch thicker than ordinary shoes, but he was treated as a special case and was stared at closely.
The two pairs of shoes that Chen Cui sewed for him were much more "special" than other people's shoes.
Because he took it out himself and there was nothing strange about the other things on him, he was not pulled aside. After a careful inspection, the two items were returned to him intact.
After they were searched, a little boy holding a lantern came to lead them to the various examination rooms.
After everyone was seated, a gong sounded in the examination room and test papers, pens, ink, paper, inkstones, candles, quilts, fire starters and other daily necessities were distributed.
It was already bright outside, but the lighting in the examination room was not that good, and candles were needed.
Wei Shu lit a candle and made sure that the lighter and candle were not damp. Then he felt that the candle flame was too dazzling, so he put it out.
The anti-□□ test consists of three parts: copying scriptures, essays, and policy essays. The first two last for one day each, and the third lasts for two consecutive days, for a total of four days, so there is still plenty of time.
He would first read the papers, think about the ideas in his mind, and wait until the light was good before he started writing.
However, while he was still thinking about the question, he suddenly heard someone nearby weakly shouting - "Fire!"
When these words were spoken, everyone who heard them was shocked.
These small sheds are connected to each other, each one is about two and a half feet deep and three feet wide, with very small spacing. The population density is extremely high. In addition, it is the dry season now. If they really catch fire, it would be no different from a chain boat fire!
There was a sudden commotion in the examination room. Wei Shu felt particularly uncomfortable because the person who was shouting "fire" was near him, and soon he smelled something burning with the wind.
But he didn't dare to move, and could only hold tightly in his hand the headband that he had taken off earlier.
After a while, the patrolling soldiers noticed the movement here and shouted "Silence" while dispatching people to fetch water.
They were well-trained and it was impossible to tell how big the fire was from their expressions and actions.
But it is precisely because it cannot be seen that people feel particularly uneasy.
The smell of burning was getting stronger and stronger. The soldiers brought buckets of water to put out the fire. They could only hear buckets of water being poured down nearby. The crackling sound was endless. Wei Shu felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. For the first time, he felt that time was so long.
But in fact, it only took about a quarter of an hour to put out the fire.
The soldier carried away a dusty scholar, who was probably the one who started the fire.
The examination room became quiet again, but after this incident, people nearby who smelled the burnt smell were somewhat frightened.
Wei Shu also broke out in a cold sweat.
At this moment, he didn't dare to start writing immediately. He closed his eyes and rested for a long time before he calmed his mind and devoted himself to the exam again.
With this dedication, he slowly found his state in the simulation room and stopped thinking about other things.
Four days is neither long nor short.
Wei Shu's body had actually become accustomed to the time gain of Cuiwei Academy, so he didn't find it particularly difficult.
Four days later, Wei Shu finished the exam and left the examination room.
His physical fitness was much better than that of the average person. Although he was not as staggering and pale as others, he did not look very good after having to stay in a place where he could not stretch his legs for four days.
The servants had been waiting outside for a long time. They came forward and helped him into the carriage and returned to the rented courtyard to rest.
After a rest until the day the results were announced, he had fully recovered.
Since he didn't have to take the examination anymore, Wei Shu prepared to go back to the village immediately that day. He asked the servants to pack up in the courtyard and only took a servant with him to watch the announcement of the results.
The announcement of the results of the prefectural examination was more lively than that of the county examination. When Wei Shu went there, the place was already crowded with people and there was no way to get through.
He was waiting outside, and the servant squeezed in to see.
"Yes, yes, the young master passed!" Soon the servant came out with a happy face, "The eldest young master got the twelfth place in the exam!"
The result of twelfth place was quite satisfactory for Wei Shu, and he did not perform exceptionally well. However, even though there was almost a fire next door, he was still able to play steadily and show his true level. Wei Shu was already very satisfied.
He was about to ask the servant to leave, but the servant said, "The courtyard should not be cleaned up yet. Master, please stand for a while. I will go and take a look at Mr. Song."
Wei Shu left Qingzhu Academy before the provincial examination, so the servants of the Wei family were naturally curious about the reason. As the master, there was no need to explain what happened to them, but they were worried about it and later on they occasionally went in and out of Cuiwei Academy and heard some of it. Although he didn't know the whole story, he knew that his eldest master was being bullied by a scholar named Song.
Now that his eldest master has passed the exam, he must be thinking about going to see that guy named Song, right?
Wei Shu laughed as he watched the servant disappear into the crowd.
There was a steady stream of people pushing forward from the back. Wei Shu had finished looking and was ready to find an open space to stand.
After taking a few steps, he heard someone weakly calling from behind: "Sir, your purse."
The voice was inexplicably familiar, but Wei Shu couldn't remember it for a moment. He turned around and saw a tall and thin boy in a coarse scholar's robe following behind him, holding his purse in his hand.
There were only a few taels of silver in the purse, which Wei Shu did not take seriously. Instead, the purse itself was embroidered for him by Chen Cui before.
He took the purse and thanked him. Seeing that the young man in front of him was in tattered clothes, Wei Shu just took the purse back and poured out the change inside as a reward.
"No, no, no." The other party waved his hands repeatedly, "It's just a small favor."
"Just consider it a little gift from me, take it."
The young man's face turned red with embarrassment, and he finally said, "If you really want to thank me... can you buy me a bowl of noodles?"
Wei Shu handed over the money again, but he still waved his hand, "Just... just the noodle stall next door, you can treat me to a meal, I don't want money."
The money was ready, and the noodle stall was only a few steps away, but he insisted that Wei Shu treat him.
It's really strange.
But Wei Shu was in a good mood today, and the other party helped him - although the purse is ugly, it is unique to Cuiwei!
Since the servant couldn't come over for the time being, he nodded in agreement.
The two went to the noodle stall one after the other, and Wei Shu ordered a bowl of large meat noodles for him.
The tall and thin boy sat down opposite him, feeling a little awkward. "I'm sorry, I really don't mean to ask for a favor, but I'm really hungry."
As he spoke, his stomach really started to growl.
Soon the big meat noodles were served, with palm-sized pieces of brown braised pork belly covered on top of freshly rolled chewy noodles.
The boy was no longer polite. He picked up the bowl and started eating. In the blink of an eye, he finished half the bowl.
It seems that he is really hungry.
Wei Shu asked the stall owner to serve him another bowl. When he returned to his seat, he found that the shoes on the boy's feet looked particularly familiar - the soles were tattered and tied with two ropes.
So he recognized the man. The young man who was eating voraciously in front of him was the one who was in front of him during the body search!
It was indeed a matter of fate, but the individual body search with the shoes cut off was not a good thing, and the boy did not look happy at all, so Wei Shu guessed that he did not do well in the exam, so he did not mention it.
When the tall and thin boy was eating his second bowl of noodles, the servant squeezed out of the crowd and ran over to look for him.
He had a half-smile on his face. "Song Yao is outside the top 20. And I met someone at the top of the list who said angrily to the person next to him, 'If there hadn't been a fire, would I have scored so low?!' I think it was Song Yao. Tsk, what a high-sounding statement, didn't our young master smell the burning smell at that time? He still performed very well!"
Wei Shu raised his hand to hit him on the head with his folding fan to make him stop gloating, but suddenly he heard a violent cough coming from the side -
The tall and thin boy apologized quickly, and Wei Shu waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.
The young man behind finished his second bowl of noodles even faster, then stood up with a red face and bowed to Wei Shu to thank him. After thanking him, he left in a hurry.
He was walking too fast and the sole of his shoe fell off. He tripped and fell flat on his face with a bang.
Wei Shu and the servant hurried to help him, but he shouted "No need" and used his hands and feet to get up and walk away.
As Wei Shu watched him running away with black mud on his face and covered in dust, he felt that he was familiar - he was the arsonist who was driven out by the sergeant on the first day of the exam!
It turned out that he was not ashamed of his inappropriate words and deeds, but because he heard that he had affected other people's grades.
Wei Shu shook his head with a smile, called the servant back to the courtyard, and then immediately left the city and returned to the village to report the good news!
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