The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The first day of the eighth lunar month is the hottest time of the year.

After being carefully dressed up by his family, Zhuge Yunshu arrived at the clan school before dawn.

Today is the day of the clan school's literary gathering.

Upon entering the study, Zhuge Yunshu saw his two senior brothers, Ziqing and Ziyun, reading.

Upon seeing her enter, the two senior brothers put down their books and quickly came to greet her, "Junior Sister Yun Shu, you've finally arrived! Please help us solve these problems."

Ziqing and Ziyun believed that Yunshu was the most talented person they had ever met in mathematics.

To be able to get the final answer without using an abacus—what a talent!

This is incomparable to the person who won first place in mathematics at last year's clan school literature competition.

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the difficult problems copied by his two senior brothers, organized his thoughts, and then explained them to them one by one.

In just a few words, the two senior brothers suddenly understood.

They picked up their abacuses and started calculating rapidly, and the answer came out in no time.

"Junior sister, you're amazing!" Senior Brother Ziyun exclaimed.

You have to understand, they studied arithmetic last year, but the junior sister has surpassed them after only a few days of study.

She's definitely smart; she learns everything quickly.

Listening to his senior brothers' praise, and then looking at the arithmetic problems that were comparable to elementary school level, Zhuge Yunshu, a Chinese citizen who had gone through nine years of compulsory education, felt rather embarrassed.

When Master Li entered, he saw his three disciples actively discussing arithmetic problems.

He stroked his beard with satisfaction, but still interrupted, "Alright, let's get ready to go."

Zhuge Yunshu was extremely excited, as this was her first time traveling far from home since arriving in ancient times!

On a sweltering summer day, before dawn, Zhuge Yunshu and his companions sat on a donkey cart prepared by the clan school, slowly making their way to the town.

Zhuge Yunshu originally thought that since he was representing the clan school to participate in the literary gathering organized by the town's official school, he should at least travel there by carriage.

But reality is cruel; not only did they ride in a donkey cart, but in such hot weather, they didn't even have a carriage.

"Host, are you dreaming? Horses are so precious, ordinary people like you shouldn't be daydreaming."

"Even if there's no horse-drawn carriage, an oxcart would do! If there's no oxcart, at least there should be a sunshade in the carriage!" Zhuge Yunshu complained to the system.

"Host, don't take your good fortune for granted. Look at your teachers and fellow disciples, and then look at the pedestrians on the street. What are you complaining about?"

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the calm and composed Master with his eyes narrowed and the two senior brothers who were still reading on the bumpy donkey cart, and couldn't help but feel admiration.

Looking at the old men carrying heavy bamboo baskets on the road, I couldn't help but despise myself for being so pretentious.

She is already much better off than many ancient farmers, so why is she never satisfied?

"System, I've decided that when I have the ability in the future, I will definitely build a mode of transportation that is not divided into classes and that everyone can use."

Upon hearing Zhuge Yunshu's bold words, the system only replied with two words: "Keep it up."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

The donkey cart slowly made its way along the path to town.

The constant stopping and starting makes it a real test of one's patience.

Zhuge Yunshu observed the donkey for a while and found that it could be described with three words: gluttonous, melancholy, and lustful.

Whenever they encounter tender grass, they stop and eat non-stop. When they can't eat anymore, they have to look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle with melancholy eyes for a while before they are willing to continue.

If you encounter a female donkey on the road, that's even more amazing; it will run right up to you and fawn over you.

After the female donkey really stopped paying attention to him, he started looking up at the sky in a melancholy mood, and he couldn't even eat his favorite cornbread. He looked exactly like a good male donkey that had been abandoned.

This is truly an amazing donkey.

This back-and-forth back and forth took so long that what should have been a three-hour round trip was shortened to two hours because of the donkey.

Looking at his teacher and senior brother, who seemed so accustomed to their presence, Zhuge Yunshu was filled with admiration.

And so, they finally arrived at the venue of the town's cultural and academic conference at daybreak.

The area in front of the town's school was bustling with traffic and overflowing with people.

Besides the teachers and disciples participating in this clan school literary gathering, there were also students, elders, and other clan school disciples who came to lend their support, and of course, the majority of the attendees were town residents who came to watch the excitement.

Such a lively scene would certainly attract vendors seizing business opportunities and county constables maintaining order.

Zhuge Yunshu, like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, wandered through the streets, looking at the dazzling array of goods, and couldn't help but sigh to the system: "In these eight years, this is the first time I've seen such a lively scene."

"Host, this is nothing. The county and prefecture are many times more prosperous than the town. And then there's the capital, which is said to be a city that never sleeps, a place that countless scholars yearn for."

Unbeknownst to Zhuge Yunshu, the system's words slowly took root in his mind.

She thought the world was so big, she had to go out and see it!

"Big flower~ Big flower."

Zhuge Yunshu seemed to hear someone shouting and quickly looked around.

Then, her uncle, Zhuge Laigui, pulled a girl in a pink dress and ran up to her, panting heavily.

"Uncle, what brings you here too?" She looked at the woman her uncle was leading. She had a fair complexion, a slightly upturned nose, and long, narrow eyes. She looked remarkably like the female lead in the H-country drama she had watched in her past life. She had a unique charm.

Without a doubt, she was her uncle's fiancée, so she greeted her with a smile: "You must be my future aunt! My uncle often mentions you at home."

The implication is that your uncle, Zhuge Laigui, is thinking about you all the time.

Hahaha!

"Xiao Lan, don't listen to Da Hua's nonsense," Zhuge Laigui said shyly.

"Dahua, I've often heard Laigui mention your little niece. Meeting you today, I can see she's truly extraordinary." Although her future aunt was also shy, she was much more poised and confident than her uncle.

Zhuge Yunshu quickly replied modestly, "Not at all, not at all, Auntie is too kind."

Actually, she also felt that she was extraordinary, but what could she do when humility was considered a virtue in ancient times?

"Uncle, did you take the day off today?" Zhuge Yunshu asked in confusion.

"The restaurant owner was invited by the town academy to be a guest at this literary gathering, so he's getting a day off." As if remembering something, he continued, "Look at my brain, Da Hua, you should quickly take Master Li and your two senior brothers to your aunt's house to wash up. It's just around the corner."

Even a fool would think that such a detail wouldn't come from a straight man like my uncle.

Of course, Zhuge Yunshu didn't mince words and directly led them to the Master to explain the situation.

Master Li thanked the four disheveled masters and disciples and then followed them.

After getting ready, Master Li led the three to the entrance of the town school to register. After that, they followed the crowd into the spacious square inside the town school, which was very large and somewhat similar to the playground of a modern school.

All the students participating in this clan learning gathering stood below the high platform in the square, while the teachers sat on either side of them.

Zhuge Yunshu looked around the town school and saw that it was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.