No, I was just a concubine, how did I become the queen?

Lin Mingyan really didn't expect that she would become friends with such a bad actor.

When she learned that she had poisoned everyone in the backyard, her heart and eyes were filled with fear.

Unexpectedly, in the end, she was the one who could speak.

"How should I put it? Wu is quite pure," Lin Mingyan shook her head. "She's both pure good and pure evil."

Lin Mingyan sighed a few words and then threw herself into her busy work.

She was the main person in charge of the preparations for this women's Enke. Although she wasn't too busy, she didn't have much free time either.

After all, there are not many female officials available, and when they really need them, they are stretched to the limit.

But it’s not just Lin Mingyan who is busy, there are also women in the capital who are preparing for the exam.

In the golden autumn, even the sweet scent of osmanthus floating in the wind is mixed with the fragrance of ink.

In front of the stationery shops in Liulichang, you could always see little girls with pigtails clutching copper coins, standing on tiptoe to the counter and asking, "Do you have the Mencius with Mrs. Lan's annotations? I want the one with illustrations!"

The shopkeeper smiled so brightly that his teeth were showing, and he brought out a stack of newly printed books. On the blue cloth cover, the gold-plated words "Must-read for women taking the exam" gleamed in the sunlight.

No one knows who this Madam Lan is, but this book has appeared since the women's imperial examination began.

At first, the shopkeeper thought the book was a scam, but after asking the teacher in charge to take a look, he realized that the book was really worth something.

Look, after people bought it, the word spread from one person to another, and then to a hundred people. Even the copycats couldn't keep up with the speed at which people were buying the book.

Especially when the author was signed as Mrs. Lan, the woman bought even more.

There are even rumors that this book was specially printed by the Empress Dowager just to open a backdoor for women.

However, these words were only whispered in private, and no one dared to say them out loud.

No matter what, their bookstore business is booming.

Look at the rouge shop opposite, it’s as deserted as if it’s on holiday.

The proprietress watched her daughter run away with the Mencius in her arms and slapped her thigh in anger: "The world has really changed!"

In the past, there were countless women coming and going in her shop. Who wouldn’t want to try the new black ink and rouge?

Now, there are still some ladies coming here normally, but during the exam preparation period, there are only a few customers a day!

Even if someone comes to take a look, I will run across the street to buy two books, either to study myself or to give to others, so that I won’t leave empty-handed.

Many "mobile book stalls" have appeared at the foot of the Xizhimen city wall.

The peddlers put away their rouge and powder and replaced them with various books and test papers. Some even held up wooden signs that read "Copying papers for you, 100 essays per session"...

In the autumn of this year, osmanthus flowers fell in the girls' hair, just like the flying ink dots in their pens.

And those talented women who were once locked up in the boudoir will eventually soar to the sky in this unprecedented Nkoli.

On the day when the exam results were announced in the golden autumn, the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City were covered with osmanthus flowers that looked like broken gold.

Lin Mingyan accompanied the Fourth Master in the Zhengda Guangming Hall, watching the officials from the Ministry of Rites file in holding the yellow list.

Those were the papers selected by the examiners, ranked in order, and then sent over.

Everyone's papers were sealed with their names, so even the examiners who graded the papers didn't know whether these people were male or female.

All of this has to wait for the Fourth Master to reveal it himself.

The Fourth Master was a little nervous for once, whispering to Lin Mingyan: "If there weren't even a woman..."

It was he who gave the order, and his subordinates were very excited.

If no one passed the exam in the first session, he would be ashamed.

Lin Mingyan was also a little scared because most of the male students taking the exam had started learning the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood.

As for the girls, most of them are really smart and find it not difficult to learn these things. That is why they can reach the examination level in just a few years of study.

It is really uncertain whether you can pass the imperial examination.

After the Fourth Master said this, she became a little nervous.

However, she spoke calmly: "There's no point in thinking about it now, just open it and take a look."

Moreover, only the candidates who took the exam this time were Juren. If it weren't for the special examination for women, this list would not have reached the Fourth Master's hands, let alone been opened in front of him.

The Fourth Master nodded: "Alright, then let's unseal it."

This group of people are Juren from Zhili. Because of the addition of a special examination for women, there are more places available, and one hundred and eighty people will be selected.

Wait for the examiners to open the papers one by one, then call out the names and record them, picking out the women's.

When the first "female" was called out, Lin Mingyan was excited.

The Fourth Master's expression also eased a lot, at least there wouldn't be none left.

When the second, third... names of the women resounded in the Guangmingzheng Hall, Lin Mingyan's mouth corners kept rising.

These women have made unimaginable efforts to achieve what they have today.

"Reporting to His Majesty, Zhili has selected 180 candidates, including 31 women!" The examiner's voice trembled a little when he said this.

He initially guessed that having three women would be good, but he didn't expect there would be ten times that many.

You know, thirty-one doesn't seem like a lot among one hundred and eighty people.

However, there were only fifty women eligible to take the exam.

Because the number of female students in the Capital Women's University and the Imperial College totaled only a few hundred.

This group also excludes those who are still young and have not been in school for long, as well as some who are already old when they start school and can only learn the basics.

After passing several tests on his own, he recommended more than 50 women to participate in the Zhili Autumn Examination.

In other words, more than half of the people passed the imperial examination!

This is simply shocking!

The Fourth Master asked them to bring the papers to him and carefully examine them. Long Xin was very happy: "Good! Good!"

Lin Mingyan was also watching from the side, and tears filled her eyes as she watched.

Putting aside other things, just the calligraphy of the official style required hardships that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

They definitely haven't practiced it before. Generally, even if they are not practicing hairpin-flowered small regular script, they will choose the fonts that they are interested in to practice.

The official script is a font used for examinations. Women have no need for it, so no one practices it.

So they all started working hard to practice after hearing the news about the women's Enke in the past two years.

In just a few years, he was able to practice calligraphy as well as others' childhood skills or even better. No one knows the hardships involved.

But fortunately, the result was good!

These thirty-one women who were among the first group to pass the imperial examination will surely go down in history!

The Fourth Master was extremely happy. He personally drew up the golden list and wrote down the names of these women one by one.

Lin Mingyan saw two familiar words "Cao Li" at a glance.

Unexpectedly, the Cao family had to rely on a woman to make a comeback in the officialdom!