Chapter 121 [VIP]
The students entered the venue; they couldn't just wait outside forever, as the exam would last all day.
They simply went to a nearby teahouse to sit down and wait, drinking hot tea and discussing the county examination.
Liang Boqing said, "The weather has been kind to us this year, with clear skies all around. I don't think the three of them will have too much trouble."
Fang Ling nodded, "That's true. The heavy snow two years ago came at the wrong time. My husband and I heard that it snowed and the temperature dropped on the day of the exam, and 70% of the students gave up the exam."
"That's an underestimate. I heard that only about twenty people made it to the end, but they didn't do well on the exam."
This was inevitable; it would be strange if one could do well on a test in that kind of environment, not to mention that some people lost their lives in that snowstorm.
Overall, the temperature this year is warmer than in previous years. In addition, the weather is sunny and the sun has melted the snow on the ground, leaving it wet and muddy everywhere.
Around 9 AM, Cao Kun arrived with Chen Rong. "Have they all entered the examination hall?"
"We're in, everything went smoothly."
"That's good." Chen Rong couldn't help but sigh, recalling the incident that Qingyan had encountered a few years ago.
“When Qingyan took the exam, I didn’t know he had been boycotted. After sending him in, I had chores to do at home, so I went home first. I never expected to encounter such a big problem.”
Li comforted her, saying, "Even if you stay here, there's nothing we can do. You have no idea how strict the officials at the gate are. They practically break your rations into pieces, afraid that they might have contraband hidden inside."
"Amitabha Buddha, I only pray that my nephews can pass the exam in one go."
Meanwhile, those outside were worried, while those inside sat down in order of their assigned numbers.
Chen Qingyan was number 21, Chen Qinghuai was number 22, and Chen Qingsong was number 23. Although their numbers were consecutive, their seats were far apart, and eight examiners would patrol the area continuously. If any cheating or plagiarism was found, they would be immediately identified and no one would be spared.
At 1:15 AM, the county magistrate and the chief examiner from the prefectural city began their address.
The content of the speech was the same as in previous years: long and tedious. Students who had taken many exams could almost recite it by heart, but everyone still listened attentively.
Then the exam rules and schedule were announced: when the papers would be distributed and when they would be collected; and any paper with stains would be disqualified.
This test really puts students' writing skills to the test. They must write the questions and answers on scrap paper first, and then copy them onto the test paper to avoid any mistakes or omissions.
The exam papers were officially distributed at the end of Chen Shi (7-9 AM). These papers were transported from the prefectural city and were sealed to prevent leaks. They needed to be opened on the spot.
Chen Qingyan took a deep breath and began grinding ink. Last time, he was kicked out of the county examination without even seeing the paper. Five years later, he finally sat back in this position.
As the exam paper was handed to his desk, Chen Qingyan glanced at the questions and instantly calmed down.
Just as their master had said, the county exam was very simple, even less difficult than the questions their master had given them.
However, no matter how simple the question is, one should not be careless. After carefully studying the question, he began to write the answer on a blank piece of scrap paper.
Like him, Chen Qinghuai and Chen Qingsong also started writing after reading the questions. Compared to the people around them who were frowning and studying the questions, these three seemed quite different.
The magistrate turned to the chief examiner beside him and whispered, "The three examinees over there are three brothers, and I've heard they are students of the famous Liang Liufang."
Upon hearing this, the examiner sat up straight. He had heard in the prefectural city that Master Liang had taken on several disciples, but he never expected that they would be from Longquan County.
Seeing the three of them answering the questions so earnestly, he had an idea and got up to walk downstairs.
When he walked up to Chen Qingyan, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Regardless of how well he answered, his handwriting was truly beautiful!
Chen Qingyan wrote in the small regular script, but when formally transcribing, he would use the official script, which was also the font commonly used by officials in the court because it was clearer and neater and was very popular with officials who graded exam papers.
He was so engrossed in writing that he didn't notice the people around him. The examiner stroked his beard, nodded, and continued walking toward Chen Qinghuai.
After reading Chen Qingsong's exam paper, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart. The Chen family has three such intelligent children. The Chen family is about to change its status.
The exam time passed quickly, and before we knew it, it was noon. The first exam was over.
After the exam papers were collected, the students were allowed free time to move around, including going to the toilet and eating something.
Students gathered in small groups to discuss the morning's exam questions. After checking the answers, some jumped for joy, while others beat their chests in frustration, feeling they had failed the exam.
The Chen brothers didn't say anything; the three of them already had the answer in their hearts and didn't need to discuss it.
Chen Qingyan only asked her two younger brothers if they had finished the test and if they had made any mistakes in writing.
Chen Qinghuai shook his head and said, "No, I wrote everything down on paper in advance as the teacher taught me, and then copied it onto the test paper. I dared not miss a single word."
Qingsong also said, "Me too, but I wrote a bit slowly, and almost didn't finish copying it in the end."
After a half-hour break, the next exam began. The second exam was on Mo Yi, which was Chen Qingyan's forte. He glanced at the exam paper and began answering the questions.
After finishing the exam, Chen Qingyan was allowed to hand in her paper and leave the exam room early. After copying the last word, she looked at the paper from beginning to end to make sure she hadn't missed anything, and then handed it in early.
It got a bit chilly in the afternoon as the sun began to set, so he needed to conserve his energy for the third and fourth exams tomorrow.
The official invigilating the exam came over and collected his exam paper and draft paper. Chen Qingyan put his pen and ink back in the basket and was led by a minor official towards the exam hall gate.
You can't just go out when you get to the door; you have to wait for a group of ten people before the door can be opened.
Chen Qingyan stamped his feet and rubbed his hands to warm himself up a bit. Soon, candidates handed in their papers one after another, and the door was opened only after ten candidates had been gathered.
When Chen Qingyan left the examination room, her legs felt weak. She thought she wasn't nervous, but she was still very nervous.
Uncle Chen and Wang Ying were already waiting outside the examination hall. "Qingyan!"
"Why."
Wang Ying ran over carrying a cloak, took the exam basket from his hand, and let him put it on to keep warm. "Get in the car quickly, I'll make some ginger tea to warm you up."
After getting into the carriage, Chen Qingyan drank a large cup of ginger tea to warm up. "Phew... I didn't feel cold in the morning, why is it so cold in the afternoon?"
Uncle Chen said, "You're warm when you come out of the house, but no matter how many clothes you wear, they'll all dissipate by the morning, and you'll naturally get cold in the afternoon."
Wang Ying asked, "Where are Huai Di and Song Di?"
"When I came out, they were still taking the test. They should be out soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Qinghuai came out from inside. He was also pale from the cold. Uncle Chen quickly put a cloak on him and helped him into the carriage.
"Wow, it's so warm in the car!" Wang Ying handed him a cup of hot ginger tea. "Are you cold?"
"Hmm! It got colder and colder towards the end. The chairs felt like ice blocks, and my stomach hurt from the cold."
"Then you must have caught a chill. Drink two more cups of ginger tea."
Qinghuai, holding his cup, asked, "Where are my mother and the others?"
Wang Ying said, "It's not good for us to keep waiting in this cold weather. Let them go back first, and we'll go home when Qingsong comes out."
After waiting for another half hour, Chen Qingsong finally came out, his little face turned blue from the cold.
Uncle Chen carried the person directly onto the car.
Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai were extremely worried and quickly helped him sit down. "Little brother, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, it's just terribly cold," Chen Qingsong said, shivering.
"Why did it take you so long to hand in your paper?"
Chen Qingsong scratched his head, "I forgot that I could hand in my paper early. I kept writing with my head down, and when I looked up I realized that half of the people in the exam room were gone. That's when I remembered, so I quickly handed in my paper and left."
"Quickly drink some ginger tea to warm yourself up. There are two more games tomorrow, so don't get sick."
"Hey." Chen Qingsong hugged his cup and gulped down his drink, while Uncle Chen drove the carriage home.
The family had been waiting anxiously for a long time. Li Shi and Fang Ling came out every now and then to see when he would return.
"Why are we still not home? It's already dark."
"Yes, could something have happened?" The two mothers were on tenterhooks.
Before long, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside. Chen Guang opened the gate and said, "Young Master is back."
The whole family rushed out, and they only felt relieved when they saw the people in the car get off.
Instead of asking them how their exams went, the others inquired whether they were cold. Hot soup dumplings had been prepared inside, and after finishing a large bowl, the chill of the day was swept away.
After eating and drinking their fill, the three of them went to Old Liang's house to discuss the questions for today's imperial examination.
The first exam was "Pasting Classics," which involved pasting a passage from the Four Books and Five Classics down and having the examinee fill in the blanks based on the sentences before and after it, similar to a cloze test in later times.
This method tests the candidate's memory and proficiency in the Four Books and Five Classics.
This was practically a free win; the three of them had already memorized the Four Books and Five Classics so well that they could write them down with just a glance.
The second test was on the interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics. Candidates had to answer ten questions correctly to pass the test.
This was not difficult for the three of them. Chen Qinghuai even memorized the questions and wrote them down on paper. The three of them gave their solutions one by one. They were all the same as Liang Boqing's answers, and each of them had their own unique approach.
"Alright, you should all go back and get some rest, and prepare well for tomorrow's two matches."
"Yes!" The three of them returned to their respective bedrooms.
Wang Ying was afraid that Yuanbao would disturb his rest, so she took him to her mother-in-law's room early. She lit some calming incense in the room, and after he finished washing up, the two of them turned off the lights and went to sleep early.
They slept soundly through the night, and the next day, before dawn, everyone got up early, dressed, and headed to the examination hall.
Having learned from the experience of the first day, the three of them were not too nervous on the second day.
Unexpectedly, when they were queuing to enter the examination hall, someone was found to have cheat sheets on his person. The person was so frightened that he collapsed on the spot, knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, but was still dragged out of the examination hall by the officials.
Chen Qingyan was terrified. Memories he had deliberately forgotten flooded back, and he was in a state of utter confusion, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Chen Qingyan? Chen Qingyan!"
"Hey, here, right here!" He only realized what was happening when the examiner called his name and quickly went forward to prepare for a body search.
Chen Qingyan was trembling all over when he was searched. The officers thought he was guilty and searched him repeatedly for a long time before allowing him to enter.
Chen Qingyan walked step by step to her seat, looked up at the empty seat in front of her, covered her chest with her hand, and forced herself to calm down.
But his mind kept replaying the scene of the last time he was found with a dagger.
My mind went blank. I went from disbelief to despair, knelt on the ground begging for mercy, and was finally dragged away by the officials...
"Cheating, immoral, deserved it, he'll never be able to take the exam again..."
All sorts of unpleasant sounds filled his ears, making him dizzy and causing him to feel physically nauseous.
Qinghuai, who was sitting not far away, noticed that something was wrong with him, but since there was no room for noise in the examination hall, he couldn't ask him anything.
As the gong sounded, the proctors began distributing today's exam papers.
Chen Qingyan covered his head, sweating profusely, and only snapped back to reality when he looked at the questions on the test paper.
What is he doing?!
This is the county-level examination, possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Why is he thinking about irrelevant things instead of focusing on answering the questions?!
It wasn't easy for me to get back into the exam room. If I didn't achieve something, how could I repay Ah Ying for all the help she'd given me over the years, the teachers for their earnest teachings, and all the hard work I'd put in?
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gathered the jumbled memories in his mind, pressing them into a corner. He would not forget this suffering, but would only use it as a warning to avoid going down the wrong path.
When Chen Qingyan opened his eyes again, he was no longer panicked or helpless. At this moment, he had completely transformed.
A note from the author:
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