What an unlovable little girl!
Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly and shifted his gaze away from the scheming girl Li Shu. He no longer paid attention to this girl who was spoiled by her family. Then, he saw the chubby maid Hua'er still staring at him with curiosity and admiration, and he couldn't help but smile.
"I observed the sky at night and calculated that it would snow today."
Zhu Ping'an brushed off the snowflakes on his body and answered the question from Baozi's maid Hua'er seriously like a charlatan.
Baozi's maid Hua'er blinked, looking confused.
"Stupid Huaer, he wrote 'It's snowing today' and told you to open it only when it snows, how can it not be accurate!" Li Shu couldn't help but stretch out her slender hand and tapped Baozi's maid on the forehead.
Hua'er, the maidservant, rubbed her forehead in grievance, pondered for a long while, then suddenly raised her head and realized something, puffed up her cheeks, glared at Zhu Ping'an with her eyes and said, "Oh, it turns out that I was fooled by you again!"
Zhu Ping'an turned his head away and couldn't help laughing.
"You bad guy, I won't give you anything to eat today no matter what you say!" Baozi's maid Huaer said angrily.
The old woman and other maids behind the black-bellied girl Li Shu all laughed. There were not many entertainment programs in ancient times, so these people were looking forward to Zhu Ping'an coming to borrow books. Every time they came to borrow or return books, as long as they brought some snacks and delicacies, Zhu Ping'an would tell them a story, either about spirits, ghosts, or martial arts. However, this boy was very picky. Every time Hua'er brought snacks and delicacies, he always liked them, and Hua'er was always the most active. So when they heard Hua'er angrily say that he would not give them food, they found it funny.
The study room in Mr. Li's house is very elegant and spacious, and has a rich collection of books. There is always a book that attracts Zhu Ping'an's attention.
There was an accountant with a white beard in charge of the study. Zhu Ping'an entered the study and returned the book he had borrowed last time from his cross-body bag with both hands. Only after the white-bearded accountant had checked it could he go in and choose the books to borrow this time.
"Well, Ang'er is a book lover. How about it? The boy's test will be in a few months. Do you want to try your hand at it?" The white-bearded accountant asked jokingly after checking that the books were intact.
The Tongzi exam is also called the Tongshi exam, commonly known as the Xiucai exam, and is divided into three stages: the "County exam", the "Prefectural exam" and the "Academy exam". The County exam is held in each county and presided over by the county magistrate. In this dynasty, it is generally held in February every year, with five consecutive exams. After passing the exam, the prefectural exam, presided over by the officials of the prefecture, is held in April and has three consecutive exams. Those who pass the county and prefectural exams can be called "Tongsheng" and participate in the academy exam presided over by the provincial education officials or the academicians. Those who pass the academy exam are called Shengyuan (Xiucai). The first place in the provincial exam is called Jieyuan.
Zhu Ping'an's uncle passed the county and prefectural examinations and was awarded the title of Tongsheng, but he never passed the imperial examination. After Zhu Ping'an's family was separated, his uncle took the imperial examination twice, but failed as before. In a few months, the Tongzi examination, which is held every three years, will be held again. Of course, his uncle will participate in it again. There are rumors that his uncle has threatened to pass this time.
As for whether Zhu Pingan will participate this time...
"The boy's exam? Well, it seems that my master said a few days ago that he didn't intend to let me go, but my senior brother was at home in mourning and couldn't take part in the exam. The exam required five people to guarantee the exam together, so there was a vacancy. My master said that I should experience the imperial examination and learn from it, so that I wouldn't be so flustered when I take the exam next time. Haha, I was just there to make up the numbers, to learn from the experience of failure..."
Zhu Ping'an thought for a moment, then repeated the words of his mentor, Master Sun, and smiled self-deprecatingly at the end.
All candidates who want to take the Tongzi exam must register with the county's ritual office and fill in their name, native place, age, and three generations of resume. Applicants for the Tongsheng exam must be jointly guaranteed by five other candidates, and a student on government stipend in the county must be the guarantor. A guarantee is issued, which is called "recognition of guarantee." Zhu Ping'an's mentor, Mr. Sun, was a student on government stipend who was qualified to be a guarantor. He did not intend to let Zhu Ping'an go at first, but one of the five people who were originally guarantors went to observe mourning, so Mr. Sun added Zhu Ping'an to the list because there was one person missing. He did not expect Zhu Ping'an to pass the exam at all, he was just there to make up the numbers.
"Oh, the toad still has self-awareness. If a bad boy like you who talks nonsense and specializes in deceiving young girls can pass the exam, it would be a miracle. In my opinion, saying that you are just making up the numbers is a compliment to you. Only a literary star can pass the exam. You are just a toad."
As soon as Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, the sinister girl Li Shu who followed behind him started to sneer at him.
After the scheming girl Li Shu finished speaking, she looked at Zhu Ping'an's dazed look and started to giggle. Then the old nannies and maids behind them all started to laugh.
Although he was somewhat upset by the black-hearted girl's words, it was pleasing to see so many girls laughing in front of him.
Zhu Ping'an just smiled faintly at this.
Then he went to the study to pick out the books he needed. Because the exam was coming up, Zhu Ping'an generally picked books on the Four Books and Five Classics and the Eight-part Essay. The ancient imperial examinations also had textbooks. Don't think that the Four Books and Five Classics are all the same. The annotations by Zhu Xi and Su Shi are two different versions. The book "The Doctrine of the Mean" that Zhu Ping'an chose this time was the one annotated by Zhu Xi.
You can only borrow one copy at a time.
This rule came from the mouth of Li Shu, the black-bellied girl who had just laughed at him. Rich man Li wanted to pamper her to the sky, so he naturally nodded and set this rule.
The black-bellied girl would not let Zhu Ping'an leave and insisted that he tell a story. If he didn't tell a story, he would not be allowed to borrow the book.
When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to continue telling the story of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils that he had not finished last time.
The maids and old women also moved the stools and chairs over skillfully, took out snacks, and sat in a row.
This time, because they had offended Baozi's maid Hua'er, they had no snacks to eat. However, the black-bellied girl deliberately asked the kitchen to prepare a hot hot pot with thinly sliced mutton, fish and vegetables. She spread the food on the table and invited Hua'er and several other maids to sit around the table and listen to stories while eating the mutton hot pot. She also deliberately smacked her lips, which made Zhu Ping'an salivate.
On a snowy day, shabu-shabu seems to be the best choice.
Zhu Ping'an swallowed his saliva for no apparent number of times. He could no longer hold back and started to discuss with Hua'er: "Miss Hua'er..."
Hua'er, the maidservant of Baozi, had her mouth bulging with mutton. She looked at Zhu Ping'an and shook her hands, muttering, "Don't even think about it. I won't give you any food this time no matter what."
"No, I don't want to eat it. Please give me a handkerchief." Zhu Ping'an shook his head.
"What?"
Huaer asked puzzledly.
"When I see you guys eating, I wipe your saliva..."
Zhu Ping'an glanced at them and said lightly.
Wipe saliva
Hearing this, the girls who were eating shabu-shabu burst into laughter like silver bells.
"Look at you, you are such a loser, and you still want to take the imperial examination. I have never seen a Wenquxing who is so loser!" The black-bellied girl Li Shu rolled her eyes at Zhu Ping'an in disgust, and was very disgusted with his incompetence. "The sound of you swallowing saliva is so unpleasant!"
At this point, the scheming girl pointed at an old maid and said, "Go ask the kitchen to send over a pot."