The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The disciples suddenly realized that "Isn't it a pleasure to practice?" was derived from "learning and practicing regularly" and "isn't it a pleasure to learn?"

If you think about it carefully, if given enough time, they might actually be able to answer the question.

However, reality gave them a harsh slap in the face.

Qin Shuangyu: "...Li Yunyu".

Disciples: Let me think...

Zhuge Yunshu: "This comes from the Analects...'Ritual, ritual, is it merely jade and silk?'"

Wu Mochi: "...Ten-foot soup."

Zhuge Yunshu: "This comes from Mencius... 'It is said that King Wen was ten feet tall, and Tang was nine feet tall.'"

“and its vast grasslands.”

"This comes from the Doctrine of the Mean... 'When its expanse is vast, grasses and trees grow.'"

"The Kanggao of Daily Renewal also says."

"From *The Great Learning*... The inscription on Tang's basin reads: 'If you can improve yourself one day, improve yourself every day, and keep improving yourself.' The Kang Gao says: 'Make the people new.'"

"..."

"..."

Disciples: Numb...

That's terrifying, isn't it?

Qian Wenxing, Qin Shuangyu, Wu Mochi: Numbness...

The new question type that I finally came up with was easily solved... I feel so frustrated.

Zhuge Yunshu touched her nose. There was nothing she could do; besides having a good memory, she had also encountered this type of 'intercepting puzzle' before.

There are even more haphazardly pieced-together versions.

For example, the well-known phrase "Jun Furen Yang Huoyu" comes from the Analects, Book 16, "Ji Shi" chapter, which says, "The people of the state also call her Jun Furen," while "Yang Huoyu" comes from the Analects, Book 17, "Yang Huoyu wanted to see Confucius, but Confucius did not see him."

Qin Shuangyu and the others figured out the simplest 'intercepting and matching problem', since this kind of matching method comes from the upper and lower sentences of the same chapter, while the latter comes from different chapters in the same book.

It's easy to tell which is more difficult and which is easier.

Even more outrageous ones take a single sentence from different books and ask you to write a commentary on the scriptures.

You also have to find ways to forcibly connect completely unrelated sentences from different books.

That's absolutely insane.

"Junior Sister Zhuge, could you tell me how you quickly connect the randomly pieced-together sentences to their context?" Qin Shuangyu asked without shame, her eyes full of eager anticipation.

You should know that she discovered this interesting question type by chance when she was discussing articles with her senior brothers Qian and Wu.

So the three of them studied it for several days and then discovered that this method was better at testing a reader's proficiency in a book and their ability to apply it flexibly.

Then, on Qian's advice, he brought it to the academic exchange conference. This way, he could not only make a name for himself, but also embarrass the town school of Yunshui.

But alas, there are always people who are more outstanding than you, people you can only look up to.

Zhuge Yunshu felt somewhat guilty:

"Actually, I didn't understand at first, but because Brother Qian's question was so obvious, I immediately thought of the sentence in the Analects. Then Sister Qin gave another question, and I realized that this type of question actually has a pattern."

"When encountering this type of question where parts are 'interlocked,' we need to break them down and analyze the words and phrases to identify the source of the sentence. How can we quickly identify it? For example, with the phrase '习之不亦' (xí zhī bù yì), I first recall the books I've studied and find that this phrase doesn't exist. Then I break the sentence down into '习之' (xí zhī) and '不亦' (bù yì)... The Analects contains the most words of this type. Then, based on its context... '学而时习之，不亦悦乎' (xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū) instantly comes to mind..."

"But the prerequisite for doing this is that we must have a thorough understanding of all the books we've studied..."

"...I'll start with a question, everyone try it, for example: 'Gu Hong'."

Zhang Hao answered first: "That's easy. The only place where the phrase 'Gu Hong' appears is in Mencius... in the line 'The king stood on the marsh, looking at the wild geese, deer, and elk.'"

"'Seventy Miles'"

Wang Yi pondered for a moment, then said, "It comes from Mencius... 'A bo (伯) has seventy li (里), a viscount (賊) has fifty li (里)."

"..."

"That's about it. The more you see, the more proficient you'll become," Zhuge Yunshu said.

She thought that ancient scholars were truly insightful, unlike her. If it weren't for her enhanced intelligence, she would probably have had to ponder for quite some time with her brain from her previous life.

Zhuge Yunshu looked down and found that many students were still somewhat confused.

But there's nothing that can be done about it. These ordinary disciples still need to memorize what they've learned and then apply it to different types of questions in order to truly master it.

The town's schoolteacher immediately clapped and cheered:

"Although this question type was first created by the disciples of Yunmu Town School, I think that the name 'Intercepting and Connecting Question' mentioned by young friend Yunshu is more appropriate for this type of question. How about we use this name?"

Qian Wenxing, Qin Shuangyu, and Wu Mochi naturally nodded in agreement.

At that time, what they did not know was that from then on, the "intercepting question" would become a nightmare for countless scholars in the preliminary examinations.

The schools of Yunmu Town and Yunshui Town will thus be remembered for generations to come, though they will certainly be the kind of schools that make those candidates grit their teeth in hatred.

Especially the four who stole the show today.

......

As the sunlight faded, the crimson sunset cast its glow upon the students at Yunmu Town School, by which time the academic exchange had come to an end.

Despite being persuaded by the other teachers and disciples to stay, Master Wang and his three disciples, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, boarded the unique carriage of Yunshui Town School and rode away.

As they watched the carriage disappear into the distance, something seemed to take root and sprout in the hearts of Qin Shuangyu, Qian Wenxing, Wu Mochi, and Xiao An—an experience they had never had before.

This further solidified their resolve to pursue the imperial examinations in the future.

Meanwhile, on the carriage of the Yunshui Town School, Zhuge Yunshu and several others were reviewing the academic exchange that afternoon.

Master Wang said, "Do you know why I insisted that you participate in this academic exchange?"

Zhang Hao: "This is to get us used to traveling by horse-drawn carriage, since we still have a lot of study tours to do later."

Wang Yi: "In order to find out the true strength of the outstanding students in each town school, so as to prepare for the three special places in the county school later."

Zhuge Yunshu: "Let us broaden our horizons, make friends with different types of people through academic exchanges, expand our network, and learn from their strengths... Just like Xiao An's sophistry, although somewhat far-fetched, it is irrefutable... And there are the 'intercepting questions' devised by Qin Shuangyu, Qian Wenxing, and Wu Mochi... Therefore, reading should not be done blindly; we should travel, observe, and think more, so that the knowledge we gain can truly be used for our own benefit..."

Master Wang: "???"

Can he say that Zhang Hao is the only one who truly wins his heart?

Zhuge Yunshu and Wang Yi: "???"

In the end, they paid the wrong price...