Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 21: A Battle of Poetry and Prose!

The setting sun, like blood, spilled onto the reed mat roofs of the thousand examination rooms. The rejected students left dejectedly, their ink stains still wet.

In just one more moment, it will be dusk.

"."

The deputy examiner, Cui Mingyuan, stood with his hands behind his back in front of the school's blue steps, looking at the examination booths, sighed, and was powerless to argue with the other examiners.

Inside those examination rooms labeled B and C, impoverished young men buried their heads in their work, their chapped hands gripping worn-out pens, breathing warm air onto their tongues to keep the ink from freezing.

Meanwhile, in the Jiazi Examination Hall, the young masters of noble families were calmly and easily dissolving gold ink with inlaid jeweled inkstones.

The young master of the Lu family wore a Burmese silk scarf wrapped around his wrist, which was warm and could also add thirty strands of talent.

justice?

Where does so much justice come from?
This world, where powerful clans have prevailed for millennia, is not something a mere clerk in Jiangyin County can change.

Inside the hall, the laughter and chatter of County Magistrate Zhou and Academician Cai, mixed with the charcoal fire in the copper stove and the bubbling sound of tea boiling in the purple clay teapot, were even more jarring than the gong urging the examinees to take the exam.

Regardless, this was the crucial third round of the county examination, where only thirty out of a hundred would be selected.

One exam determines your fate!

Whether they were sons of noble families or students from humble backgrounds, they all remained calm and focused, daring not to slack off in the slightest, and giving their all.

One hundred wolf-hair brushes fell simultaneously onto the paper, rushing to finish the exam before sunset.

A young man began his calligraphy with the character "cloud," his strokes conveying a sense of calm and composure, as if he were reaching for the moon.

Some students' pens are as sharp as thunder, and their writing style as powerful as a tiger.

More of Meng Sheng's ink marks, hesitant and uncertain, gradually seeped into an impenetrable fog of sorrow in the twilight that was not yet dark.

Examination Room No. 1, Class A.

Li Yunxiao wore a fur coat and had an arrogant expression.

He learned last night in advance that the final task was to write a poem on the theme of "clouds".

He spread out a file on his desk and gave a cold smile.

The effects of the Wenchongdu's Wenjing pill he had taken not long ago were still present; his mind was still brimming with literary inspiration, and he felt refreshed and clear-headed.

The jade pendant at her waist rippled with the aura of talent, the jade bracelet on her wrist shone like stars, and the ivory cup in her bosom overflowed with frost.
The seven or eight treasures of the Mengsheng (a type of classical Chinese literature) gave him a talent reserve of up to 250 strands, far exceeding that of ordinary Mengsheng.

Naturally, I don't worry about not having enough talent to write poetry.

Li Yunxiao wrote a poem on the answer sheet, infusing it with talent, and completed it in one go.

【Clouds Above:】
Floating catkins cut from the heavenly silk, green mountains tied with jade ribbons. The wind stirs, awakening a thousand ravines, a boat plunges into the mirror-like sky.

As the pen fell, the answer sheet began to tremble automatically, as if unable to contain the burst of talent that filled the page.

"An unusual phenomenon!"
This is an unusual phenomenon! Could it possibly reach the level of 'leaving one's hometown' or higher?!

Li Yunxiao was overjoyed.

"Hmph!"

This piece, "Clouds in the Sky," took me a whole night to ponder and refine. Its theme is magnificent, and its writing is exquisite.

No one can surpass me!

Jiang Xingzhou, Han Yugui, Cao An, Lu Ming, what do you have to compare with me?

Li Yunxiao threw down his pen and smiled, feeling quite pleased with himself. He decided to name the poem after himself, since it fit the theme perfectly. He then blew the ink off the paper.

then,

"rise!"

He pinched two fingers together and released literary magic.

"Whoosh~!"

A cloud about ten feet in size burst forth from the answer sheet, floating before his eyes like wisps of silk, like jade ribbons, like a mirror in the sky.

Examination Room No. 6, Class A

Han Yugui smiled calmly.

very good!

Finally, he's entered the realm of elegant writing, which he excels at, and he's finally free from the discomfort!
What Li Yunxiao, what Jiang Xingzhou, what Cao An!
Even Han Yugui would have to admit defeat in front of him!

"It's the final stretch, time to go all out!"

Han Yugui took out a Crane Cry Pill from the examination box, bit through the pill's coating, and swallowed it. The moment he swallowed it, wisps of literary talent began to seep into his body.

【Yunhe:】
White dew forges the dome of the furnace, floating mist tempers the crystal fragments.

Sea foam is formed from eroded light; its suspended state becomes history.

As the brushstrokes moved, the walls of examination room number six in the Jia class trembled.

Han Yugui's final stroke, the crane's beak, landed, completing the "suspended as history" in that instant.

The entire examination room, No. 6 of the Jiazi building, was bathed in the glow of the setting sun, as if it were no longer a wooden plank hut or a jade house, exuding the weight of history.

Ten years of hard work and his best-kept skills are now on full display!
"Yunhe!"
rise--!"

Han Yugui pinched his fingers together and shouted.

A massive white cloud, carrying the silhouette of a flying crane, burst forth from the exam paper, soaring through the clouds. The "Cloud Crane" poetic form was instantly created. Exam Room 3, Class A.

Cao An lowered his eyes to rest, the setting sun reflecting off his jade crown between his brows—he looked like a peerless prodigy.

He closed his eyes for a moment, perfecting his plan.

Just before the sun began to set, he suddenly unfurled his scroll, picked up his brush, and began to write.

【The Ladder】
As dusk settles, the silken threads of ice melt, and a thousand strands of mermaid tears are gathered.

A white silk ribbon left by the Heavenly Weaver Girl hangs suspended in the air above the twelfth floor.

Wherever the brushstrokes passed, it was as if ice and silk were cracking inch by inch.

"rise--!"

His final stroke was brilliant, and his talent surged in the exam paper, bursting forth like a cloud of ice, transforming into a twelve-tiered cloud ladder hanging down.

You can step on this solidified ice staircase and fly upwards layer by layer.

suddenly,

Inside the main hall of the county school.

"Eh~!"

"There seems to be something unusual?"

County Magistrate Li Mo, Chief Examiner Cai Chao, and the other examiners seemed to sense something and stood up, coming to the blue steps of the school.

Suddenly, I saw

Within several examination rooms of the Class A rank, faint lights began to emerge, shining through the thatched huts, indicating the occurrence of unusual phenomena.

Even at the rear, the B and C series also have some nice different colors.

"Not bad! The lights in Examination Rooms A-1, A-3, and A-6 seem to be approaching the level of 'Wenxiang'!"

Chief Clerk Shen Yanqing observed and praised.

The levels of extraordinary phenomena are divided into seven categories: Hearing in the village, knocking on the town, leaving the county, reaching the prefecture, resounding in the state, protecting the country, and spreading throughout the world.

At the same time, this is also an extremely important criterion for evaluating poems, lyrics, and essays!
For someone of Meng Sheng's caliber, having a poem or essay that could "be heard in the village" was already something to boast about.

"The students' poetry and prose skills were so exquisite and dazzling that it seemed difficult to determine who was better!"

It seems that only we examiners can carefully discern their true nature.

County Magistrate Zhou Wenyuan smiled.

"Jiangyin County is indeed full of talented people! There was a radiant phenomenon, and more than ten people rushed out of the examination hall."

The educational commissioner, Cai Chao, stood with his sleeves behind his back, nodding and smiling.

Everything was in the planning stages.

As the county school administrator and academy director, he was responsible for educating the local people and passing on the teachings of the sages. Naturally, the better the students in the county were.

County Magistrate Li Mo ignored their discussion, but instead stared intently at Examination Room No. 7 of Class A.

All the examination dormitories in the "A" row were radiating various colors of light, and there were even some unusual phenomena. Only the seventh dormitory in the "A" row remained completely still, which made people feel uneasy.

Number 7, the examination hall for Jiang Xingzhou!

Why is there no movement?
With Jiang Xingzhou's strength, he is probably in no way inferior to Han Yugui, Cao An, Lu Ming, and others.

What is Jiang Xingzhou waiting for?
Could it be a mistake? Yun Shi's writing is mediocre at all.

County Magistrate Li Mo no longer dared to underestimate Jiang Xingzhou, a poor scholar.

In the first two exams, Jiang Xingzhou achieved a [Grade A] in the first round and held his own in the second round.

But even so.

Li Mo still has confidence.

Li Yunxiao is exceptionally talented and knew the final question about the character "Yun" in advance, so he prepared thoroughly all night.

Whether Li Jiasanlang can suppress these hundred novice scholars and win the top spot in the county's civil service examination this year depends on the judgment of this final round!
The education commissioner Cai Chao's meticulous planning has now come to an end.

As long as Cai Chao awards the second and third rounds of the [Jia Yi] competition to Li Yunxiao, he will still be in a strong position to win the top spot in the preliminary examination.

"Lord Cai, how many hours are left to collect the papers?"

Suppressing his growing unease, County Magistrate Li Mo asked.

Pack up your books as soon as possible, lest things get complicated.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the water clock still has about half a quarter of an hour left to brew a cup of tea!"

Cai Chao looked up at the sky. The sun was setting behind Wuling Mountain, and the last ray of light was about to disappear.

He was quite confident.

Unless Jiang Xingzhou submits a paper that surpasses all the other students before the last rays of dawn, the top spot in the imperial examination will most likely fall into Li Yunxiao's hands.

"Not good~!"

Suddenly, Magistrate Li Mo's eyelids twitched violently, and he looked sharply at Examination Hall No. 7, as if some strange omen was about to occur.

(End of this chapter)