After returning from the other side, Zhu Ping'an went to the first cloth shop near the inn, stated his requirements, and paid fifty cents for the processing fee. Then a tailor measured Zhu Ping'an's body a few times with his palm and started working.
The big scissors cut and the needle started sewing. Before long, the student uniform was reduced by several sizes in the hands of the tailor.
Then, the tailor burned some charcoal, heated an iron-like object, and began to iron the student uniform, which was a few sizes smaller.
"This is a ironing board, used for ironing clothes. It's normal that you have never seen it since you are busy studying." The tailor who was ironing saw Zhu Ping'an looking at the iron board in his hand with curiosity, so he explained.
Never seen it
The irons I have seen are thousands of times more advanced than this one, Zhu Ping'an complained in his heart, but his face showed an expression of being educated.
The tailor didn't use a ruler to measure, but only used his palm to measure a few times for trimming and processing. However, after Zhu Ping'an tried on the modified student uniform, he found it surprisingly fit him. The student uniform was a blue robe with wide edges around it, which were not damaged after cutting. The sleeves were very loose and just long enough to fit over the hand.
After Zhu Ping'an put it on, he felt a sense of tranquility and elegance. It seems that Taizu has some wisdom in fashion design.
Zhu Ping'an was very satisfied with the trimming, thanked the tailor, and returned to the inn. When passing by the lobby, he ordered two dishes and a soup, and asked the waiter to deliver them to the room after they were ready. After arriving in the room, he changed into the student uniform completely, tidied up inside and out, ate the breakfast and lunch brought by the waiter, and then washed up again and went downstairs to the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall.
In fact, the best thing for a student's uniform is to wear a square pingding scarf, which is a hat made of black gauze. The square shape is entirely Zhu's creation, and it is stipulated that only officials and scholars can wear it. However, Zhu Ping'an was still young and had not yet been crowned. So he did not wear it.
On the way to Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, Zhu Ping'an also met many new students who were wearing brand new uniforms and heading to Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall. Everyone just bowed, greeted him, said something like "Nice to meet you" and then continued on their way.
"Is that Brother Zhu in front of you?"
Zhu Ping'an was walking when he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind. He stopped and turned around, and then he saw Feng Shanshui from Susong holding a folding fan and waving to him from afar. There were five people around him, two of whom he knew, one was Xia Luoming, and the other was someone who often followed them, but he didn't remember their names. But in addition to them, there were two others who were very unfamiliar to him.
Except for Feng Shanshui, everyone else seemed to look at him in a strange way. Xia Luoming was okay, but the other two strangers looked at him with provocation, resentment, and a little disdain, which was very complicated.
"Oh, Brother Feng, Brother Xia, uh. And a few other brothers, nice to meet you." Zhu Ping'an bowed to several people from afar and greeted them.
"I haven't congratulated Brother Zhu yet. You got first place, and I'm really envious of you." Feng Shanshui came over and teased with a smile on his face.
"It was just luck." Zhu Pingan smiled innocently.
"Brother Zhu, you are too modest..." Xia Luoming shook his head slightly, his tone somewhat sad, "I saw Brother Zhu's test paper when the results were announced yesterday. It's not something you can do by luck."
As soon as Xia Luoming said this, the two strangers next to him looked at Zhu Ping'an with more provocation, especially one of them, whose provocative look towards Zhu Ping'an was almost materialized.
The two felt that their test papers were no worse than Zhu Ping'an's. Some even felt that they were better, but the first place fell on a teenager who hadn't even grown all his hair. How could they put their faces on this
In fact, the academy examination is fine, but the provincial examination and the metropolitan examination are even more so. Thousands of test papers are put together, and except for special circumstances, it is difficult to distinguish the best few test papers. Who is selected as first and who is second depends on luck, whether the content of your test paper suits the taste of the examiner, etc.
It was also because of this that the two felt that Zhu Ping'an had simply hit the right note with the examiner, which was why he was so provocative and unconvinced.
Although it was a provocation, no one would lose their temper at this time. We were all scholars, and now we were all talented scholars. We would not lose our temper unless the opportunity was right, so as not to lose our composure.
"Come, come, Brother Zhu, let me introduce you. This is Brother Liu Qian from Tui, and this is Brother Guo Ziyu from Susong. Both of them were the top winners of the previous provincial examination. This is Zhang Tao from Taihu, whom you have met." Feng Shanshui introduced several people who were traveling with him to Zhu Ping'an with a smile on his face.
"I've heard a lot about you." Zhu Ping'an bowed in greeting.
"Brother Zhu is a young and promising man." Both Liu Qian and Guo Ziyu were friendly, but the arrogance between their brows remained.
Afterwards, Zhu Ping'an walked with them to the Jiangnan Examination Hall. They were the ones chatting mostly on the way and Zhu Ping'an felt that he was out of place. Fortunately, the Jiangnan Examination Hall was not far away and they arrived there in a short while.
After some decoration, the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall had a festive feel and was much cleaner than the examination hall.
When Zhu Ping'an and others entered the Jiangnan Examination Hall, there was already a crowd of people inside. Most of the new students from the fourteen prefectures had basically arrived, with forty from the big prefectures and thirty from the medium prefectures, totaling more than four hundred people.
There were servants in the Imperial Examination Hall who respectfully asked all the students to go to the instructors' offices in turn according to their prefectures to register. The registered instructors were all teachers and instructors who were transferred from Yingtian Prefecture School and County School. They all wore formal attire and looked very impressive.
Zhu Ping was arranged among the students of Anqing Prefecture. When the people around him learned of Zhu Ping'an's name, they all said they were ashamed and did not dare to stand in front of Zhu Ping'an, the first in the case. Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to bow and thank him and stand in the front.
When the time came, the instructor began to formally review the personal statements of the new students. Zhu Ping was assigned to the first position, so he was the first to go up and fill out the personal statement.
Zhu Ping'an picked up the pen and dipped it in ink to fill in his personal information on the confession book. His name was Zhu Ping'an, he was thirteen years old, and his native place was Xiahe Village, Kaoshan Town, Huaining County, Anqing Prefecture, Southern Zhili. All of these were easy to fill in, but there was a column at the back for personal characteristics, and Zhu Ping'an didn't know how to fill it in.
"Short and slightly fat, with a silly face and no beard."
Just when Zhu Ping'an didn't know how to fill it out, the instructor opposite him said something seriously.
Well
Why does it sound like the description of Wu Dalang? I am short because I am young, but I am still growing; slightly fat. How can I be slightly fat? I have lost weight again in the past few days of the exam, but I have baby fat on my face; silly face? Can you use thick instead of silly? I am honest, not silly; no beard, only this one fits.
However, the instructor's description could not be wrong.
Helplessly, Zhu Ping'an followed the instructor's instructions and filled in "short and slightly fat, silly face and no beard" in the remarks column with a look of pain on his face.
The instructor sitting opposite checked Zhu Ping'an's confession, took out a stamped document, and took out the one belonging to Zhu Ping'an. After checking it, he nodded, took the seal on the corner of the table, pressed it on the ink pad, and then pressed it hard on Zhu Ping'an's confession.
"Okay. Someone will send your confession to the education official, and you will be assigned to school according to your place of origin. Tomorrow at noon, the education official will summon the new students to Mingyuan Tower in the Imperial Examination Hall and perform the hairpin ceremony. Don't be late." After the instructor stamped Zhu Ping'an's confession, he looked at Zhu Ping'an twice and reminded him, "You are young and you are enrolled. It is rare in our Ming Dynasty. You have a bright future. Don't get into bad habits. You will destroy your own city wall."
"Thank you for your teachings. I will keep them in mind." Zhu Ping'an nodded respectfully, thinking that there are still many scholars who can be cautious and self-disciplined, and this instructor must be one of them.
"Well, you go ahead." The instructor waved his hand expressionlessly, indicating that Zhu Pingan could leave.
Zhu Ping'an bowed and left. When he passed by Xia Luoming and others, he apologized and left first.
Zhu Ping'an came out of Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall and hadn't figured out what to do next when he heard someone calling him.
"Hey, stop right there. I'm talking to you, you half-grown scholar!"
This is a girl's voice, and there is anger in her voice.
"Sister, don't..."
Then another girl came to try to stop them, crying.
Zhu Ping'an looked up and saw that the girl with a bun on her head whom he met in the morning had red eyes like a rabbit, as if she was crying. A pair of brothers were holding a girl of about seventeen or eighteen tightly, and the girl was glaring at him angrily.
What happened? Zhu Ping'an looked confused.
"What do you want? You silly girl, how can you let others bully you for nothing? What's wrong with us selling our smiles? We don't steal or rob, so why should we be looked down upon for nothing?"
The seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl became even angrier when she saw Zhu Ping'an's "unrepentant" expression. She pushed Zhu Ping'an's hand away, ran to Zhu Ping'an, and glared at him angrily.
"You, why did you belittle my sister and make her cry so much? I used to admire you for your noble and gentlemanly appearance, but who would have thought that you would be such a despicable person. You are like this when you are young, and you will become a beast in human form and a beast in human clothing when you grow up!"
As soon as Zhu Ping'an left the Imperial Examination Hall, he was stopped by the 18-year-old girl, who scolded him without giving him any explanation, with spit all over his face.
What the hell, I didn't do anything.
"Did you forget to take your medicine?" Zhu Ping'an was speechless.
"What do you mean? I'm not sick, why should I take medicine?" The angry 17 or 18-year-old girl looked confused when she heard this.
Well, no one in the Ming Dynasty can understand such words.
"I thought you were crazy because you went out without taking medicine." Zhu Ping'an said lightly.
"You are crazy, your whole family is crazy. I was so blind that I mistook a beast like you for a gentleman!" The seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl finally understood the meaning of Zhu Ping'an's greeting, "Did you forget to take your medicine?" She was very angry, and all the new and old grudges broke out at the same time.
The girl's movement had already attracted some people in the Jiangnan Examination Hall to look over here.
This was at the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall. I was a new student, being blocked and scolded by two women from Qinhuai River Security. Even if I used my butt to think, I knew that this situation was extremely bad for me.
In ancient times, it was normal for scholars to visit prostitutes. The government only stopped officials from visiting prostitutes. Scholars who visited prostitutes were at most considered as minors.
But if you are pointed at and scolded by prostitutes, then it is no longer a reputation for romance, it is probably just a bad reputation.
In the Ming Dynasty, a bad reputation would do more harm than good to one's future. Students would have annual examinations, and reputation was also considered as a factor in the examination.
"The scorching sun here is making things worse. Let's go to the shade over there and make our plans."
Therefore, while few people from Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall had seen this scene, Zhu Ping'an did not continue to argue with her, but immediately moved the scene to another place. (To be continued)
ps: long chapter
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