The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Hello, senior sister:

Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person; I am delighted to receive it.

Having not seen each other for so long, my longing for you grows stronger every day, like spring grass sprouting.

On nights when the moon is bright and the stars are few, I sit alone by the window, gazing into the distance, and my heart is filled with memories of the time I spent with my senior sister.

Those days of playing in the town school dormitory and reading together in the library seem like yesterday, still vivid in my mind.

My senior sister's voice and smile are deeply etched in my heart, and I will never forget her, no matter how much time passes.

Recently, I have some good news that I can't wait to share with my senior sister.

Fortunately, I stood out in the imperial examination and became the top scholar in the academy, and was also awarded the title of "Minor Triple Crown".

...This is the result of my hard work day and night, and a great blessing in my life.

However, when I first heard the news, although I was overjoyed, I couldn't help but think of my senior sister and the other like-minded friends in the town... especially that sentence we often said: "Women should also be self-reliant and establish themselves with knowledge."

Now, I have finally lived up to expectations and achieved my wish.

I also hope that my senior's dream can come true...

Soon, I will go to the county school for further studies.

...The county school was a place where knowledge gathered, with a rich collection of books and a multitude of famous teachers.

I look forward to learning more, broadening my horizons, improving myself, and making classmates with similar aspirations there...

However, what I long for most is the chance to reunite with my senior sister...

I'm also looking forward to hearing about my senior's recent situation... I'm quite worried because I haven't heard back from her for many days...

May my senior sister be well and in good health.

Once I arrive at the county school, I will seek you out as soon as possible.

I hope my senior sister will not forget her old friends and will join me for this long-awaited reunion.

Wishing my senior sister all the best, and looking forward to our reunion soon.

I hope my senior sister will reply soon to ease my mind.

Zhuge Yunshu.

August 14th, 42nd year of Xuande reign.

......

Although this letter is not as long as the one written to Zhuge Yunshu, it still expresses some of Zhuge Yunshu's true feelings from the bottom of his heart.

Since Senior Sister Su Chun suddenly left Yunshui Town School last year, they have had no contact except for one letter exchange before the Lunar New Year.

Thinking this, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but take out the letter that Senior Sister Su Chun had replied to before from the drawer.

Upon opening, there were only four words on it—

I've read it, don't worry about it!

The same handwriting, but with different tones.

You should know that although Senior Sister Su Chun appears to be a pure and innocent person, anyone who knows her well knows that she has a personality that is completely different from her appearance.

Especially that talkative nature.

It's the kind of relationship where you can sleep in the same bed and chat for days and nights.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but take another look at the four large characters on the letter.

If nothing unexpected happens, she guesses that Senior Sister Su Chun must be doing something very important, which is why she didn't even have a chance to reply...

As for other possibilities, Zhuge Yunshu subconsciously dismissed them.

......

The next letter Zhuge Yunshu prepared to write was to Ms. Zhu Liangyu.

I wonder how the harvester blueprints she improved using existing ancient materials are progressing.

With that in mind, Zhuge Yunshu spent some more time improving the original version.

However, this time, it was several times more difficult than the previous one.

Especially in terms of materials.

For the iron portion, there needs to be significantly more.

It's just unknown whether the Beijing Municipal Institute of Agricultural Machinery will approve such an expensive grant for Ms. Zhu.

Taking these factors into consideration, Zhuge Yunshu suddenly had a change of heart and decided to improve the version again, taking into account the cost.

However, its functionality is far inferior to that of the more expensive one.

After all, you get what you pay for.

I understand everything!

This letter, written by Zhuge Yunshu, spanned more than ten pages.

If it weren't for the fact that it was rather strange to have such a thick envelope tied to the little pigeon's body, she could have written about ten more.

And the next period of time.

Zhuge Yunshu also wrote a letter to Zheng Tingxiu and Jin Shi, whom he had only met during the prefectural and provincial examinations, respectively.

The main content focuses on discussing academic knowledge.

Therefore, Zhuge Yunshu also specially shared some useful content from the Four Books and Five Classics that she had summarized during this period with the two of them...

After everyone has finished writing.

Zhuge Yunshu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

There's no way around it; that's the trouble with having too many friends.

Even these letters take several hours to write.

However, for some reason, Zhuge Yunshu always felt that she had missed something.

Then, after much contemplation, he suddenly realized the truth.

Also, Xie Yu, Senior Brother Xie hasn't written a letter yet.

He even forgot to reply to the letter before the prefectural examination.

Thinking about this, Zhuge Yunshu could only attribute the problem to being too busy recently.

If Xie Yu knew about Zhuge Yunshu's half-hearted excuse at this moment, he would definitely roll his eyes at her elegantly.

.....

Time flies like an arrow; it's all over in the blink of an eye.

Before we knew it, the day arrived for the exchange between the two county schools.

The Linxi County School is located in the east of the city. Two ancient cypress trees, some over a hundred years old, stand tall and verdant in front of the gate. The four characters "Mingde Zhishan" (meaning "enlightened virtue and supreme goodness") on the vermilion gate gleam in the morning light.

Master Wang, dressed in a blue cloth robe, led three disciples. As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, they saw the bronze incense burner in the center of the courtyard emitting wisps of smoke, which mingled with the morning dew to form a hazy veil.

The county school's overall layout unfolds around the Hall of Sacred Rites as its central axis, with winding corridors resembling a dragon, and copper bells hanging from the upturned eaves that tinkle as the morning breeze passes by.

Continuing inside, they saw that the windows of the library on the east side were half open, and they could vaguely see the thread-bound books stacked on the shelves. In front of the lecture hall on the west side, there was a blue stone inkstone pool with a few newly fallen crape myrtle petals floating on the surface, which made Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi and Zhang Hao stop and stare at it.

At this moment, Zhuge Yunshu noticed the mottled couplets on the corridor pillars. The first line read, "The sun and moon are the eyes of heaven and earth," and the second line read, "Ten thousand volumes of poetry and books are the heart of sages and worthies."

The sun and moon are used as metaphors for the eternal way of heaven, and poetry and books symbolize the wisdom of sages, thus emphasizing the Neo-Confucian spirit of investigating things to acquire knowledge.

As Zhuge Yunshu and the other two recited the text softly, a longing for the Linchuan County School couldn't help but rise in their eyes.

The county school in Linxi was not large in scale, and soon the four of them arrived at the Mingde Hall, the reception hall of the county school.

Just then, a piercing sneer came from inside:

"The tonal patterns of this couplet are incorrect. How can '明德惟馨' (Mingde Weixin) be paired with '格物致知' (Gewu Zhizhi)?"

The young man in the black brocade robe tapped his palm with a folding fan. "Heh, this is Pingchuan County School after all. They even have to copy ready-made phrases from the Great Learning for couplets."

"That's right, it's really a small place, they can't even present something decent, hahaha!"