The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Inside the Han Yuefu Moujiu Restaurant.

A young woman dressed as a student would occasionally peek towards the door. This woman was named Jin Shi, the same girl who shared a cell with Zhuge Yunshu.

She was very nervous at this moment, after all, this was her third time taking the academy exam.

If she fails again, she will truly have no face to go back and face her parents.

Just as she was lost in thought, she saw a disheveled maid running towards her with a happy expression. She was carrying an embroidered shoe in her hand, which looked like it had been stepped on and lost while she was looking at the list, and she hadn't had time to put it back on.

"Miss, Miss, you've won! You've won!" Before she even reached the table, her ecstatic shouts drew the attention of everyone in the lobby.

Jin Shi was also shocked by the shout of "You've won!" and stood there in place. After she came to her senses, she quickly stepped forward to support the little maid who was unsteady due to her excitement.

"Chunlan, did I...did I really get it?" Jin Shi's voice trembled; she still found it hard to believe.

Upon seeing this, the maid Chunlan's smile widened even more. "It's true. I've checked it many times. There's no mistake. Miss, you are ninth on the official list."

When Zhuge Yunshu entered the restaurant, he heard the maid say the words "ninth on the official list".

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw the female examinee who shared the same cell and was sitting directly opposite her, with an expression on her face that she couldn't describe.

But overall, joy still made up 90% of the feeling.

After all, in ancient times, for an ordinary family to allow a woman to take the imperial examination at the age of twenty, they must have been under tremendous pressure, let alone achieving such a good result as ninth place in the provincial examination.

Seeing this, Zhuge Yunshu and Zhuge Yunchu were also happy for the female examinee, so they stepped forward, cupped their hands, and said:

"congratulations!"

Jin Shi quickly took the handkerchief handed to him by the maid Chunlan, wiped his moist eyes, and then returned the greeting to Zhuge Yunshu and the other person.

She had a deep impression of Zhuge Yunshu.

Not only did he share a cell with her, but he also unintentionally helped her a great deal, so she wanted to get to know him.

"I am Jin Shi from Tongxing Prefecture. May I ask how you two sisters are addressed?" Jin Shi asked with a smile.

Upon seeing this, Zhuge Yunshu smiled and replied, "Jingling Prefecture, Zhuge Yunshu, this is my cousin, Zhuge Yunchu."

As soon as she finished speaking, a disheveled servant rushed in from outside and shouted loudly into the restaurant lobby: "The top scorer in this year's provincial examination is Zhuge Yunshu from Jingling Prefecture!"

Upon hearing this, the entire lobby of the restaurant fell silent instantly.

Even some older students picked at their ears, asked again uncertainly, and only after confirming that it was still the same name did they look at Zhuge Yunshu with great complicated feelings.

This is the top score in the academy; all the students present were well aware of its significance.

Moreover, the person who topped the list of cases in the court looks to be less than ten years old.

Even in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, you couldn't find many scholars this young, let alone the top scholar in the academy.

When Jin Shi heard that the chief scholar was Zhuge Yunshu, he was stunned for a moment. After he realized what was happening, he was overjoyed.

This was supposed to be the top honor in the academy, but it was ultimately won by a woman, and she was the youngest of them all.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but look at the faces of the boys present, who looked as embarrassed as if they were constipated. She couldn't help but feel amused. Just as she was about to say something, she was interrupted by Zhang Hao, who had just come down from the second floor.

He was extremely excited at that moment.

He was especially excited upon seeing Zhuge Yunshu, and shouted loudly from the stairs:

"Hahaha! Yun Shu, you're really something! You've even won the minor three-in-one prize!"

What? A small three-digit number?

When you are slightly better than others, you will only get jealousy and resentment; when you are far, far better than others, even to the point of being left far behind, these people will only suppress their emotions and become insincere and polite to you.

Zhuge Yunshu saw that those students who had initially looked down on her were shocked when they heard that she was a "Little Triple Crown Scholar". After they came to their senses, their expressions changed instantly, and they all came over to congratulate her.

Although she despised these people's attitudes, she knew the saying "it's hard to guard against a villain."

After dealing with these people, Zhuge Yunshu and the other four, along with Zhang Hao, went to the private room on the second floor.

When I pushed open the door, I saw that everyone there was familiar.

This time, the provincial examination admitted fifty scholars.

Zhuge Yunshu glanced around and saw that everyone in the private room was actually on the official list.

Zhuge Yunchu ranked third in the academy examination, Wang Yi ranked seventh, Qin Shuangyu ranked fifteenth, Qian Wenxing ranked thirty-ninth, Wu Mochi ranked fortyth, Zhang Hao ranked forty-fifth, Zhuge Yunjin ranked forty-seventh, and Xiao An ranked fiftieth.

After everyone checked their exam results, their faces were filled with joy.

It's a pity that Zhuge Yunshu missed out; Wang Yi was only three places short of the special quota for the county school.

However, there was no other way. The competition for the provincial examination was extremely fierce. More than a thousand students were vying for the fifty places for the county-level scholars, and the top ten students from the fourteen prefectural examinations were competing for the top ten places in the provincial examination, which was the title of "Bingsheng".

Wang Yi herself seemed to have anticipated this.

She felt that her foundation was still not solid enough, and compared with the other geniuses in the prefecture, she still had a lot to learn.

In Master Wang's words, if she hadn't correctly predicted a question from the Four Books and if the questions hadn't been in arithmetic and law, which were her strengths, she wouldn't have made it into the top ten of the provincial examination.

Therefore, she was quite satisfied with this ranking.

Zhang Hao was in the same boat. Heaven knows how painful his first exam was. If he hadn't just happened to guess one of the questions correctly, he wouldn't have been able to finish all four answer sheets.

He found it all too surreal to think that he had passed the county, prefectural, and provincial examinations all at once.

In contrast to the cheerful atmosphere in this private room, the other private room was much more oppressive.

A tall, thin scholar was seen shaking a plump, white scholar, both looking on incredulously.

"What did you say? I didn't win? How is that possible?"

The chubby scholar, named Ding Baize, looked guilty: "Junior Brother Qin, don't get excited. Although your name isn't on the main list, you're number one on the secondary list, and there are over nine hundred people below you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a short scholar interrupted him: "What place do I rank?"

The short scholar, named Wu Shi, was also a member of the trio from Yunze Town. At this moment, he was full of anticipation.

Seeing this, Ding Baize shrank back and stammered, "Junior Brother Wu, you're also very capable, ranking second..."

Similarly, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Wu Shi's excited laughter, "Hahaha, I actually passed! And I'm second in the academy exam!"

Now, even Qin Zuliang, who had always had a good relationship with him, couldn't help but look over with a jealous expression.

He even thought indignantly: No wonder this scoundrel always calls him out to relax during the day, he was waiting for him here.

That's utterly shameless!

"Um, maybe you're overthinking it. What I'm trying to say is, yes, second place on the secondary list, hehe!" Ding Baize's voice was barely audible, yet it was so clear in the private room with only three people.