The noise of carriages and horses is about to rise to the sky, and the list of winners has been posted in the East Hall.
The golden cuckoo flies freely in Wanli, and Santai still borrows jade money.
The reflection of wine floating on the water is as bright as the clouds, and the sun shines on the shirt with a bright and auspicious color.
On the pavilion in front of Twelve Streets, who wouldn’t look at the gods when the curtains are rolled up
—Xu You, "Results Announcement Day"
Time flies, and the time for the first prefectural examination to be announced has come again. This is the main examination, and those who are not on the list cannot take the next exam. Zhu Ping'an is once again pushed by his uncle Zhu Shouren and others to the place where the prefectural examination results are announced, that is, in front of the gate of the examination hall "Anqing Prefecture Examination Hall". At this time, the list has been hung, and it still has seat numbers written on it like the first three sessions of the county examination, and it is also divided into two lists, A and B. People are crowded in front of the list, rubbing shoulders with each other, and there is a lot of noise. Candidates and onlookers are constantly coming and going.
There were many familiar faces looking at the list, such as the handsome and smiling Xia Luoming from Tongcheng. Listening to the compliments and congratulations from the people around them, they had smiles on their faces, as if being on the list was something they had expected.
Of course, there were also some other acquaintances who had met once at the Jingxian Poetry Club. Many of them had pale faces and looked devastated. The feeling of being energetic and confident in the past was no longer there. It seemed that they had failed the exam.
Uncle and others asked for Zhu Ping'an's seat number as they did before, and then began to look at the list on tiptoe, which was much more active than Zhu Ping'an.
"Uh, why did I fail the exam... Ah, An Ge'er got the top score again, that's strange..."
One of his fellow townsmen looked through the entire list first but couldn't find his seat. He was surprised and disappointed. When he saw Zhu Ping'an's seat number appear on the A list again, he was even more surprised.
From the county examination to the current prefectural examination, Zhu Ping'an always ranked first every time, so much so that when his uncle Zhu Shouren found Zhu Ping'an's seat on the list, he was almost accustomed to the feeling of disappointment and surprise, although he also had great expectations this time.
There were about 900 students who passed the county exam in Anqing Prefecture and all of them came to participate in the prefectural exam. There were 80 students on the A list and more than 200 students on the B list, a total of about 300 people, which means that more than 600 students who passed the county exam failed. In addition to Zhu Ping'an, there was only one fellow villager on the list, and the other two fellow villagers failed. At this moment, the two fellow villagers who failed were extremely sad. In order to comfort them, the uncle Zhu Shouren and others and a fellow villager on the list surrounded the two and found a restaurant to get drunk to relieve their sorrow.
"Oh, it seems that Brother Zhu has passed the imperial examination again." Feng Shanshui and others from Susong came over with a smile.
Zhu Pingan bowed and said with a faint smile, "It was just luck."
"How can there be so much luck? It's all due to your strength. Brother Zhu, you are too modest." Feng Shanshui from Susong retorted with a smile. He congratulated him a few more times and was then pulled by his companions to go drink together.
When Tongcheng Xia Luoming passed by Zhu Ping'an, he nodded slightly, his face still full of pride.
Not long after Xia Luoming and others from Tongcheng left, Zhu Ping'an was also about to leave, but was tripped by a commotion. Turning around to look at the commotion, he saw a fifty-year-old candidate with messy hair and beard, pointing at the list and shouting:
"The harm of the eight-legged essay is even worse than the burning of books and anti-Confucianism in the Qin Dynasty!"
Someone beside him immediately sneered, "What you said is too much. It's just a personal grievance about failing the exam. You can just study hard for another year. Why bother?"
"My hair and beard are already white, I'm afraid it will be difficult..."
Amid the laughter of the crowd, the gray-haired examinee threw all the Four Books and Five Classics in his hand to the ground, and said angrily: "Eight-legged essay, eight-legged essay, will ruin Jiang sooner or later..."
Before the gray-haired candidate could finish his words, a fellow villager who was taking the exam with him blocked his mouth. Regardless of his struggle, he apologized to the people around him, saying, "I'm so ashamed, I'm so ashamed. My friend was drunk and said something nonsense. Please don't take it seriously."
People around me could also understand the feeling of failing the exam, so they stopped dwelling on it. Those who should be happy were happy, and those who should be sad were sad. The list was bustling again.
Zhu Pingan sighed, shook his head and left. If you can't change this era, then adapt to it and try your best to run to the forefront and influence this era.
After the main examination results were posted, the second exam began on the next day. The procedure was the same as the first one, except that there were fewer people and the pace was much faster.
This exam was about judging the table, which was actually practical writing. There was a very interesting question in this exam, which was about a case during the Yongle period, which was also a famous Kunqu opera piece called "Fifteen Strings of Cash". Zhu Ping'an had seen a TV series of the same name describing this case in his previous life, so it was not difficult for him to write about it.
At dusk, the candidates who had finished their test papers handed in their papers, received their exit badges and left. Zhu Ping'an checked his paper carefully twice as usual, and when he handed in his paper and left, he was almost the last one to hand in his paper.
After leaving the examination room, I found that many candidates were whispering to each other and discussing the case of fifteen strings of cash. Many of them said that this question was a bit difficult, but fortunately it was just one of the questions, otherwise they would have collapsed.
Not meeting any acquaintances outside the door, Zhu Ping'an left on his own. On the way back, he bought some food and returned to the inn.
As soon as Zhu Ping'an opened the door, the vixen in the inn screamed and snatched all the food from Zhu Ping'an's hand. Without saying a word, she sat at the table and started eating quickly in small bites.
"Looking at you, a stingy person, buying some wine, I know you did well in the exam again..."
"Hehehe... I won't fail the exam... Hehehe... You sour scholar..."
When she was about 80% full, the girl took a sip of wine, pursed her lips, and spoke with a smile.
Looking at the charming woman holding the jar of wine in her slender hands, half of her fair skin showing and still smiling sweetly, and listening to her sneer of being a stingy person on the left and a sour scholar on the right, Zhu Ping'an just smiled and shook his head, then sat down at the table to eat his dinner.
"My little benefactor, my little husband... hehe, which one do you like to hear?" The enchantress, who had eaten and drunk her fill, held her cheeks with her slender hands, looked at Zhu Ping'an who was eating with gusto opposite her, and asked with a smile.
Zhu Ping'an had something stuffed in his mouth and couldn't swallow it in time, so he couldn't speak.
Without waiting for Zhu Ping'an to speak, the witch sneered and said, "Although you are a small person, you are full of bad things. Don't think I don't know. When I first called you little benefactor, you had no expression on your face; but when I first called you little husband, the corners of your mouth moved..."
Zhu Ping'an was speechless. He was just frightened!
"Haha, look at you, you're so silly, stop daydreaming, the books are full of nonsense, wake up little brother..."
The witch rolled her eyes and sneered.
"You scholars all have the heart of a wolf and the lung of a dog. You usually wear a human skin, but once you become successful, your true nature is exposed, your teeth are bared, and you become extremely ugly..."
The evil woman held her cheeks and watched Zhu Ping'an eat, making sarcastic remarks about him.
Zhu Pingan swallowed a mouthful of rice, glanced at the demon girl, and said lightly, "You eat my food, drink my drinks, sleep with me, and even plot against me. Tell me, who is the more ungrateful one between us?"
The enchantress, holding her cheek with her delicate hands, rolled her eyes, played with her hair with one hand, and replied with a smile, "You scholars are the most insidious and cunning. Who knows if you are playing the long game to catch a big fish, and you are thinking about some messed up things in your mind..."
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but sneer when he heard this and ignored this neurotic vixen.