flstandardbreds Chapter 162: The Provincial Examination Begins
Chapter 162: The Provincial Examination Begins
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye it is the day for the provincial examination.
There are three provincial examinations, one per day, starting before dawn and ending before dark.
Before dawn that day, Chen Yunyou and Song Xile woke up early. Chen Yunyou had just got up and lit the oil lamp.
Chang'an in the front yard heard the noise and hurriedly got up to wake up the sleeping young master, "Young master, get up quickly, Master Chen and the others are getting ready!"
Qian Feng was awakened by Chang'an in a daze. He immediately sat up from the bed. His mind became clear instantly and he got up and packed up.
After breakfast, before leaving the house, Chen Yunyou carefully checked the examination basket again to make sure that all the four treasures of the study were there without any omission.
At the same time, Song Xile was also busy on the side.
She prepared the water and food her husband would need for the day and put them in the examination basket one by one.
After everything was ready, the couple carried the exam baskets and walked towards the door hand in hand.
Changan and Song Ping had already been waiting at the door with their horses. When they saw them coming, they hurriedly said to Qian Feng who was sitting in the carriage, "Master, Master Chen and his men are here!"
Qian Feng poked his head out of the carriage and motioned for the two to get in quickly.
The couple stepped on the horse stool to get into the car. When Qian Feng saw the person coming, he touched his chest and couldn't help but sighed: "Are you nervous? I feel my heart beating fast."
Chen Yunyou sat down opposite Qian Feng and said to him in a soothing voice: "The prefectural exam focuses on the basics. You should remember what you should read and memorize. Don't panic. Just keep a normal mind!"
Chen Yunyou's words seemed to have magical power. Qian Feng took a deep breath and exhaled the turbid air in his heart.
After the two got on the carriage, Chang'an put away the horse stool, and he and Song Ping sat on the shaft of the carriage, one on each side, and drove the carriage slowly out of Liu'er Hutong and headed towards the examination hall.
It was just dawn at this time, and unlike the noisy streets during the day, the streets at this moment were very quiet.
The carriage moved forward in the morning breeze, and the sound of the wheels rolling echoed in the empty streets, sounding unusually clear.
Half a cup of tea later, the carriage stopped in an open space not far from the examination room.
At this time, the door of the examination room was closed, and many candidates and their accompanying family members had gathered in front of the door.
The open space in front of the examination hall was not very spacious. It was crowded with the candidates, their relatives who came to take the exam, servants, and runners who were there to maintain order.
Chang'an drove the carriage and did not dare to stay for long. After a few people got off, he drove the carriage away to avoid blocking the road.
This was the first time Song Ping had seen such a scene, and he couldn't help but exclaimed, "My God, there are too many people!"
Qian Feng didn't know whether he was nervous or because of the crowd. He touched the sweat on his forehead and said, "Fortunately, we set out early!"
According to the notice board erected in front of the examination room, they found the place where their county was located and lined up.
The provincial examination was usually conducted according to region. Candidates would enter the venue one by one after the officials called the candidates from a certain county for inspection.
The two saw the mother and son of the eldest wife who had been waiting for a long time under the notice board of Nanyun County.
Chen Yunyou thought for a moment and said, "I'll go over and say hello." After all, they were outside. They didn't take the initiative to visit them when they came to the city, so they could say that they didn't know the address, but now that they saw them outside, they couldn't pretend not to see them.
This is how scholars are. Even a disrespectful word to their elders can cause them to be criticized by the world.
Song Xile thought for a moment and said, "I'll go with you."
"No need. Please help me check the exam basket again. I'll be back soon after I say something!" After saying that, he handed the exam basket to his wife and walked towards the mother and son who were in the front of the line.
The two of them naturally saw Chen Yunyou walking towards them. Before leaving, her mother-in-law reminded her that the most important thing about this trip was Mingyuan's future, and Chen Mingyuan also knew how serious it was.
He had gone through a lot of hard work and finally passed the make-up exam. Now he cherishes this hard-earned opportunity even more and will not do anything stupid at this time.
When Chen Yun came up to greet him, the other party responded with a few distant words, which was considered a face-saving move.
Chen Yunyou returned to his wife and saw his uncle and Xile talking quietly together. He reached out to take the exam basket from his wife and asked, "What are you talking about?"
Song Xile pointed to a group of people standing next to him and asked, "Do you think that person is the one we met in Nanyang County?"
Chen Yunyou looked in the direction his wife pointed with confusion, and saw the arrogant young man at a glance.
"It's him!" Chen Yunyou whispered.
Song Xile couldn't help but remind him, "This man has a very violent look on his face, so stay away from him!"
Chen Yunyou comforted his wife and said, "Don't worry, this is the capital city, he won't dare to do anything reckless!"
Song Xile snorted in his heart, it was hard to say, Nanyang County was so close to the provincial capital, and County Magistrate Yang was so unrestrained in his actions. He didn't believe that the prefect was unaware of it. It was possible that this man and the prefect were birds of a feather.
The prefect, who was in the examination room preparing for the exam, suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his itchy nose nonchalantly, glanced at the clepsydra in the room, and seeing that it was almost time, he asked the officer to let everyone into the examination room.
The officer who received the order came out and struck the gong in his hand, "Silence, it is the hour of Mao, candidates enter the examination room."
As the gong sounded, the originally noisy outside the examination room suddenly became quiet. Rows of candidates, carrying exam baskets and with tense expressions, lined up in neat rows and slowly walked into the examination room.
Chen Yunyou waved to his wife and said, "I'm going in, you go back first!" Then he followed the team into the examination room.
First, the household registration and travel permit are checked to verify the candidate's identity. After confirmation, they will be stripped and searched. Finally, the student on the government stipend will sing a guarantor...
The process is the same as that of the county examination. The only difference is that the provincial examination requires two students on government stipends to act as guarantors.
Of course, if you want a student to help act as a guarantor, you need to pay money. Each student needs two taels of silver. For an ordinary farmer, this amount of money may not be saved even after a year of hard work.
Therefore, for students from farming families, studying for the imperial examinations was a luxury.
Not to mention the annual expenses on pens, ink, paper and inkstone, when it comes to taking the imperial examination, the accommodation and food along the way is a heavy burden.
In addition, every social interaction between classmates and friends requires financial support.
The candidates were nervous and under enormous pressure at the same time. This was really a provincial examination. Some of them had to rely on the support of their entire families to get here and sit in this examination room.
If they fail the exam this time, how will they face their families who have spent so much effort to support them?