The candidates were examined one after another, from dusk to sunrise.
Such searches were not without effect. When a man standing in front of Zhu Ping'an was searched, he was found to have smuggled in his belongings. The smuggled instalments were in his quilt, which was densely covered with small characters, which perfectly matched the elegant black patterns on the quilt. It was unknown how many eight-part essays he had copied, all of which were the topics he had been asked to predict. However, the clerk who was searching still found them.
When the candidate was found out, he fell to the ground as if struck by lightning, trembling all over.
"Drag him out, send him to the Military Affairs Department for questioning, put him in shackles for a month, and punish him severely!"
The middle-aged examiner waved his hand solemnly, and then four soldiers came up, picked up the man lying on the ground, and rudely escorted him out regardless of his sobbing and pleas for mercy.
After the smuggler was punished, Zhu Ping'an stepped forward to be searched.
Zhu Ping'an naturally had no problem and he passed the inspection smoothly and entered the Imperial Examination Hall.
However, the two soldiers in charge of the search were somewhat unhappy. When they recalled this scene a few days later, they couldn't help but take a deep breath and look at the sky with deep eyes:
I just remember that it was very cold that day and we were all sweating.
The actual situation that day was that they became manual food cutters. Zhu Ping'an carried a lot of food in large and small bags, including preserved fruits, dried meat, cooked food, and even a handful of rolled noodles. The two soldiers used special food inspection knives to cut and cut for a long time, and their hands were sore. They were so active and sweaty in such a cold day.
After passing the inspection, Zhu Ping'an entered the Imperial Examination Hall and found his seat according to the examination card.
Compared with the Imperial Examination Hall in Yingtian, the Imperial Examination Hall in the capital has a relatively smaller total area. There are rows of simple houses in the Imperial Examination Hall in the capital, with earth and wood structures, densely packed in hundreds of rows. There are 100 houses in each row, and the first house is a house. According to the "Heaven and Earth are Dark and Yellow" in the "Thousand Character Classic", the so-called "Heavenly Character No. 1" comes from here. This small house is called the field house. It is also called the examination number, and some are called the number room, which is based on the same idea as the numbering of prison cells.
Zhu Pingan found his own room according to the exam card. Zhu Pingan's luck was very bad this time. He was in the "stinky room" that everyone avoided, that is, the room near the toilet.
The rooms here are different from those used in the provincial examinations. They are the same size, five feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet high. That is, they are high enough for a person to stand up without hitting his head, wide enough for you to reach the opposite wall with one arm, and deeper.
The difference lies in the layout of the dormitory. This dormitory has a northern kang, which is used for sleeping. Although it is not very spacious, as long as the head is facing inward, the legs can always be stretched straight, but perhaps they need to stretch out of the kang; this kang also serves as a seat for answering papers, which feels more comfortable than the Yingtian dormitory. The long wooden board on the kang is also used as a desk and dining table. In addition, there is a charcoal brazier and a few candles on the kang.
This room also had no door, so Zhu Pingan walked in and packed up his things. After putting them in place, he took out the pot, added water, sprinkled some seasonings, noodles, meat, and a few cabbage leaves.
Then, use the simple stand that comes with it to place the pot in place and start cooking.
Zhu Ping'an hadn't had a drop of water since he washed up and went out at midnight until now. And since he was in the stinking cell, he had just entered the tribute hall and no one was using the toilet yet, so he quickly cooked something to eat, so that the stinking cell would not live up to its name and lose this kind of environment.
Gurgle Gurgle
The meat porridge, cabbage and noodle soup in the small pot was bubbling, steaming and emitting a fragrant aroma that could be smelled from far away.
The soldier who was invigilating next to him was about to collapse. He had been invigilating for so many years, but this was the first time he saw a candidate who was assigned to the bad room. He had never seen such a tough guy before! He had never seen someone who couldn't wait to cook food right after being assigned to the bad room!
In the past, candidates who were assigned to the stinky cell were all nauseous, pale, and close to collapse! For the invigilators, it was simply blinding to see candidates like this who couldn't wait to cook before the stools were even warmed up.
The chief examiner Xu Jie, accompanied by several fellow examiners, inspected the examination room. This was also a common practice. It was to shock the examinees from the beginning and enforce strict examination discipline. On the other hand, it was also meant to encourage and mobilize the examination staff.
When Xu Jie and others were strolling almost to the Stinky Horn, they heard a slurping sound.
When they heard this sound, Xu Jie and others all changed color.
This is a stinky number, how can there be such a sound? ! In the past, when the invigilator walked here, he could always hear the complaining voices of the candidates, why is there such a strange sound today
You should know that the examination room at that time was not sanitary. At the end of the alley, there was a simple shed with a feces bucket for the examinees to urinate and defecate. For three days, all the examinees nearby relieved themselves here, and the stench was unbearable, with mosquitoes and flies flying around. Not to mention the examination, the stench was enough to make the examinees suffer.
The Stinky Toilet is located next to the simple toilet.
Out of curiosity, Xu Jie and others took two steps forward.
Then, they saw a scene that overturned their three views: a simple and honest boy who looked about fifteen years old was holding a small iron pot in the stinky horn, eating with chopsticks and slurping food enthusiastically. He was eating with great relish and concentration, and sweat was even on his head.
On the contrary, the soldier who was invigilating in front of the bad number had a pale face and looked almost collapsed, and it seemed that he had a trauma in his heart.
No way
It’s good enough that there’s no widespread misery, how can you still eat so happily!
For a moment, the strong contrast of the picture made Xu Jie remember the young man who was eating with great devotion from the iron pot in the stinky horn.
Even though he was in a stinking room, he remained calm and composed, and continued to drink as usual.
This kind of person is definitely not an ordinary person! Either he is stupid and dumb, or he is a rare genius! Interesting, very good, I, Xu Jie, will remember this person.
Zhu Ping'an was so absorbed in eating that by the time he came to his senses, Xu Jie and other examiners had already walked away.
Because he got up at Chou time, which was about 2:00 in the morning, he was seriously sleep deprived. So after eating, Zhu Pingan simply washed the pots and bowls, put everything aside, and cleaned up the kang. He spread a fur mat on the kang, lay down, and took a thick rabbit fur blanket as a quilt to cover himself, and fell into a good sleep.
The soldiers invigilating outside were speechless when they saw this scene. They ate and then went to sleep. They were doing this in the middle of the day. They had never seen such a candidate before.
After a round of inspection, examiners including Xu Jie who were returning by the same route passed by this place and immediately saw Zhu Pingan sleeping with his head wrapped in quilt and snoring loudly.
Being assigned to a bad group and sleeping after eating, this kind of candidate has already given up on himself.
Seeing this, several examiners couldn't help but shake their heads and chuckle, looking at Zhu Ping'an who was sleeping soundly with the quilt in their arms with mocking eyes.
Well, it seems that this candidate belongs to the former. I was wrong. Xu Jie shook his head slightly, a little disappointed. (To be continued.)