"You are such a annoying person. I always get woken up by you!" The seductress on the bed stretched out her slender hands from outside the quilt, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and scolded.
When the girl opened her dark eyes, she found that Zhu Ping'an had already put on his clothes and was about to go out. He didn't carry the strange cloth bags he usually carried, nor did he bring the broken wooden board. He was empty-handed and had nothing with him. She couldn't help but feel curious.
"Why are you going there empty-handed?" the girl asked curiously.
"The provincial examination has begun. I will go to take the exam. I have left a hundred coins on the table. You are responsible for your three meals a day. Please be careful when going out." Zhu Ping'an turned around and gave some instructions before leaving.
"Why don't you bring anything for the exam?" The girl on the bed asked questions one after another. "Aren't you called a good-for-nothing? And why didn't you even bring a pen for the exam?"
"The provincial examination is different from the county examination. We are only allowed to bring one examination certificate. No more are allowed. The examination center will be responsible for providing them." Zhu Ping'an replied calmly.
"Oh, come back and get the top score in the exam..." the girl on the bed said to Zhu Ping'an with a smile.
Damn you, this is just a palace exam! Zhu Pingan closed the door speechlessly and went downstairs.
The uncle and other students got up early and ordered a table of good wine and food in the lobby. They called every provincial examination student they knew and encouraged him. Zhu Ping'an also enjoyed his uncle's encouragement, even though he could tell at a glance that his uncle was not sincere.
Zhu Ping'an followed the crowd to the examination hall. The streets were bustling with people coming and going. Anqing Prefecture also dispatched a number of yamen runners and soldiers to stand scattered around the streets to maintain order.
The examination room for the prefectural examination was obviously much better than the county examination. It was a large mansion with a plaque on it that read "Anqing Prefecture Examination Hall". At 1:00 a.m., the gates were opened and the students were divided into four rows according to the examination papers under the command of the yamen runners and soldiers. They were inspected in turn. The inspection was quite thorough and anything other than the examination papers would be blocked from entering the gate.
He did not see his fellow villagers and students outside the gate, but saw Xia Luoming and others from Tongcheng whom he had met some time ago. Xia Luoming and others seemed quite confident, and when they saw Zhu Ping'an, they seemed to want to compete with him. They greeted each other, saluted from a distance, and then entered the gate one after another with their respective teams.
After entering the gate, four rows of students were led by four yamen runners holding lanterns to four examination rooms. There was a simple curtain fence at the entrance of the examination room, and every candidate who entered the examination room had to go to the curtain for inspection before entering.
Zhu Ping was arranged in the team to follow in the curtain for inspection. There were four sergeants in charge of the inspection. They had to take off their shoes and socks and open their clothes for inspection to prevent smuggling. Even the interlayer of clothes was carefully checked. Fortunately, they were allowed to wear inner clothes for a rough inspection, otherwise it would be a bit embarrassing.
After entering the examination room, a person in charge of guiding the students to their seats was assigned to them. The seats were small independent rooms that could only accommodate a table and a chair, with three walls open in front of them. The seats were arranged according to the county examination results, and Zhu Ping'an was given a good seat, far away from the toilet and kitchen.
After Zhu Ping'an sat down, someone brought him the pens, ink, paper, and inkstone needed for the exam, as well as the test papers.
The provincial examination consists of three parts. The first part is the Four Books and Five Classics, which lasts for one day. The Four Books and Five Classics examination is quite simple, and is mainly divided into two parts. The first part is to write an eight-part essay based on the questions in the Four Books, and the second part is to recite and write down the Four Books and Five Classics. The test questions will specify a paragraph, and you need to write down and explain its meaning.
When Zhu Pingan saw the test questions, he was already confident. The second part of recitation and dictation was Zhu Pingan's specialty, and he could recite the several paragraphs mentioned in the test questions backwards; the questions in the first part were not difficult either, and although Zhu Pingan had not tried to solve them before, he was able to solve them correctly.
During the exam period, you can take a break three times a day, and someone will bring you food and water. Although the food in the examination room is a combination of one meat and one vegetable, the taste is far worse. There is not even soup, only a bowl of water, which is barely enough to fill your stomach.
During the exam, Zhu Ping'an went to the toilet twice. He had to pull the small bell next to the table and ask for permission from the patrol officer before he was allowed to go. Every time, there was someone following him. No matter whether he was squatting in the toilet or urinating, these people would always stay with him and never mind the smell.
At dusk, people handed in their papers one after another. Zhu Ping'an checked his paper carefully over and over again, and only then did he pull the small bell beside him to make sure that there was nothing missing. Someone came over to ask what was going on. After learning that the papers had been handed in, two more people came over. One of them was responsible for covering the personal information on the paper with a piece of white paper, and putting the covered paper in a wooden box similar to a lunch box; the other was responsible for putting all the things on Zhu Ping'an's desk, such as pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, into the basket he was carrying. Then the patrol officer signaled the bailiff to come and lead Zhu Ping'an away. The sun had already set outside.
As soon as Zhu Ping'an came out of the examination room, he saw Tongcheng Xia Luoming and others already chatting happily outside the examination room. Seeing Zhu Ping'an coming out of the examination room at this time, Xia Luoming and others couldn't help but look proud.
"Brother Zhu, how do you feel about this?" Feng Shanshui walked forward and asked.
"I have finished all the questions." Zhu Ping'an replied with a silly smile.
"Now that you've finished the test, you're in a safe place, haha. Then I'd like to congratulate Brother Zhu in advance for being on the top of the list again." Feng Shanshui bowed and said with a smile.
"How dare I? Just asking Sun Shan is enough." Zhu Pingan said with a naive smile.
"Failure" means failing the exam. "Failure" means failing the exam. "Failure" means failing the exam. It shows one's true intention. One does not want to be on the A list. As long as one can be on the B list, it is enough. Anyway, the prefectural exam is just a qualification exam for the academy exam. It doesn't matter if it is good or bad. As long as one can get a place, it is enough. The academy exam is the real highlight. Why rush it
"Haha, I dare to bet that Brother Zhu will definitely get the top score in this provincial examination." Feng Shanshui smiled and waved his folding fan, with a bit of Zhuge Liang's style.
"Hehehe..." The others all laughed but said nothing.
"But I dare not. Haha, I would like to congratulate you all in advance on success in the exam. I can't bear the hardship in the examination room, so I will go to the inn to rest first." They were obviously waiting for someone, and they were not familiar with each other. Zhu Ping'an didn't want to be an eyesore and bowed to say goodbye.
"Hahaha, I'm afraid Brother Zhu can't stand the food in the examination hall, so go find some fine wine and delicious food yourself." Feng Shanshui said with a smile.
When everyone heard Zhu Ping'an say that he wanted to go to the inn to rest, and heard Feng Shanshui jokingly say that Zhu Ping'an couldn't stand the food in the examination room, they couldn't help but think of Zhu Ping'an's title of "glutton" and "Zai Yu of the time", so they couldn't help laughing.
"Unfortunately, what Brother Feng said came true." Zhu Ping'an turned around and gave a carefree and naive smile, then leisurely left the examination room amid everyone's laughter, leaving everyone with a green back.