The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"Ping'an, what category do you want to sign up for?" Jinbao asked with a frown as he sat next to them. It was lunch time and the four-person group was eating and chatting in the cafeteria.

"I signed up for bamboo flute playing. It's simple and convenient. What about you?" Zhang Pingan asked.

"I haven't signed up yet. I feel like I can't learn anything well. Even if I sign up, I will make a fool of myself. But it doesn't seem good to not sign up for anything either." Jinbao feels that the past six months have been extremely difficult, and now he can't even enjoy eating.

Zhang Pingan comforted him, "It's okay, just sign up for the flute like me. We're just here to make up the numbers. The ones who will come to the fore in the end will definitely be the senior brothers from the upper dormitory. Some of them have already achieved the title of Tongsheng, and their knowledge in all aspects is much better than ours.

Xiao Yifei and Liu Shengyuan also echoed: "That's right! Jinbao, you don't have to be so nervous, we are just making up the numbers."

Xiao Yifei looked up and saw that there were no people around. He continued in a low voice, "Besides, there are people from the White Deer Academy here. They are always the most prominent and domineering every year. Among them is the second son of the county magistrate and the legitimate sons of other wealthy families in the county. If we really try to be prominent, they might target us."

Liu Shengyuan was puzzled: "How can such a simple competition have so many tricks?"

After hearing this, Jinbao finally breathed a sigh of relief and was in a good mood to eat.

Zhang Ping'an had long understood this truth and wasn't surprised. Instead, he thought of his neighbor, Li Mingxuan. Although he had never spoken to him, he could tell from looking at him that he was a proud, aloof man with a shrewd manner. In a place like Bailu Academy, where the powerful and wealthy gathered, if he couldn't learn to humble himself, his life would definitely be difficult. The last injury was the best proof of this.

Two days passed in a flash, and it was the day of the academy competition. Zhang Pingan, Jin Bao and Liu Shengyuan made an appointment to go out to Bailu Academy together. As for Xiao Yifei, his family had a special carriage and it was not on the way, so the four of them agreed to meet at the Bailu Academy's training ground.

Because students from the four academies all gathered together on this day, there were so many people that the cafeteria of Bailu Academy could not accommodate them, so the cafeteria simply did not arrange any meals that day.

There were many vendors selling food and drinks along the way in front of the academy, making it very lively. Students could buy their own food. Zhang Laoer had inquired about this situation in advance and gave his son an extra three taels of silver to avoid embarrassment in front of his classmates.

Zhang Ping'an was also looking forward to this grand gathering between academies. Even if he couldn't be in the limelight, he could at least join in the fun. It would also allow him to better understand the situation of the scholars in the entire county. Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

It was just morning when Zhang Ping'an arrived at the foot of Bailu Academy. He thought he had come early enough, but he didn't expect that a long line of stalls had already been set up at the foot of Mulan Mountain, steaming hot. The weather was already very cold, and he didn't know when these bosses got here.

Although they had already eaten breakfast, they were still tempted by the aroma of food when they passed by the stall. Jin Bao couldn't help but say, "Why don't we eat some more? It's still early!"

Zhang Pingan and Liu Shengyuan didn't care. The three of them found a stall selling mutton offal soup, sat down, and ordered three bowls of mutton offal soup.

The boss said enthusiastically, "Young gentlemen, would you like to add some noodles to the soup? It's delicious! It's only three cents more."

Jin Bao couldn't resist the temptation and ordered a bowl of noodles. Zhang Ping'an and Liu Shengyuan didn't want to eat too much, so they shook their heads and refused.

While waiting for the soup, Zhang Pingan asked curiously, "Boss, when did you all get here? It's quite early at this time!"

The stall owner was a talkative person. Upon hearing this, he replied, "We came here just after 11:00 AM. If we had come later, we wouldn't have been able to get a good spot. Every year during the academy competitions, many people come here to set up stalls. Scholars are generous when buying things and don't bargain. We small business owners love dealing with scholars the most."

Zhang Pingan thought that maybe scholars were too embarrassed to bargain!

After drinking a bowl of hot mutton offal soup, I felt warm all over.

The few of them continued walking towards the academy, and unexpectedly met Li Mingxuan along the way. Although his face looked a little pale, he was in good spirits.

When the two met, Zhang Pingan greeted him first, and Li Mingxuan also stopped to return the greeting. Although his expression was still indifferent, Zhang Pingan didn't mind. Li Mingxuan probably had this kind of personality.

Liu Shengyuan was a little curious: "Who is this? Do you know any students studying at Bailu Academy?"

Zhang Pingan didn't say much, just nodded and said, "Not too familiar, but neighbors."

Hearing that it was a neighbor, Liu Shengyuan said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions. The three of them rushed to the training ground to prepare to meet up with Xiao Yifei.

The training grounds of Bailu Academy were very large, and the four academies combined had only about 400 students, so it was not as crowded as Zhang Ping'an had imagined.

Xiao Yifei was a tall man and easy to find. After they met, they found a seat and sat down.

"I thought there would be a lot of people if the four academies were combined. I remember there were quite a lot of people signing up when we took the entrance exam," Zhang Pingan asked curiously.

Liu Shengyuan was also very curious, and he thought that Xiao Yifei was probably the only one who could answer his question.

Xiao Yifei explained: "When taking the entrance exam for the academy, everyone wanted to sign up early and know the results earlier, so there were a lot of people in the first three rounds of exams. In fact, when it came to the later rounds, there were not many people taking the exams. Moreover, the students who had studied in the academy for a few years had two final results. One was to obtain the title of tongsheng or xiucai and go to the county school and the prefectural school. The other was to drop out directly and study on their own or make a living. Therefore, the total number of students in the four academies basically remained at around 400 people."

Zhang Pingan and Liu Shengyuan nodded, understanding what was going on.

"Zhang Ping'an, Zhang Jinbao, Liu Shengyuan", shouts suddenly came from the side.

They turned around and saw that it was Luo Fugui who was studying at Jingui Academy. After six months of not seeing him, Luo Fugui had grown a lot taller and looked more mature and resolute than before. He must have gained a lot at Jingui Academy.

"Luo Fugui, long time no see. How are you doing in Jingui Academy?" Zhang Pingan and others were pleasantly surprised and walked up to greet him.

Luo Fugui smiled and said, "I'm doing okay. I've learned a lot in the academy."

After everyone exchanged greetings for a while, the competition began. Luo Fugui's classmates were urging them to start. They had no choice but to say goodbye and separate. They made an appointment to have lunch together later, and then returned to their respective academies to prepare for the competition.

The first part that started was the ritual music part. Zhang Ping'an and Jin Bao both signed up to play the flute, along with the guzheng and guqin. It looked very realistic. Xiao Yifei actually didn't know how to play any of them, he was just pretending, but with his eyes closed and his head shaking, he acted quite realistically.