The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

In the very center of the platform sat ten scholars of varying ages, all dressed in plain long gowns. On either side of them sat five elegantly dressed elderly men, presumably prominent merchants from the town.

At this moment, the master in the center of the platform suddenly stood up, glanced at the audience, and said: "Today is the eighth annual literary gathering of the Yunshui Town School. As the headmaster of the Yunshui Town School, I am very pleased... You are the most outstanding students in the Yunshui Town primary school. I hope that all of you will not forget your original aspiration to study, cherish your friendship with your classmates, and achieve your goals in the future, serving the court and..."

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the impassioned headmaster of the town school on the stage. Sure enough, this routine was popular in every dynasty: encouragement before the competition, and the principle of "friendship first, competition second".

"This literary gathering consists of three competitions, two in the morning and one in the afternoon. They are calligraphy, mathematics, and classical studies. In each competition, ten teachers will anonymously review the papers and select the top three students. If there are any questions, the papers can be examined on the spot. Now, please line up and draw your seat cards in turn."

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the students participating in the clan school literary gathering, there were about sixty people. Based on three students per clan school, it could be estimated that there were more than twenty clan schools in Yunshui Town.

The group consisted of about sixty people, but the number of girls could be counted on two fingers.

Zhuge Yunshu randomly picked one up and saw that the rough wooden sign had six columns written on it.

That is, the position directly facing the high platform.

What Zhuge Yunshu didn't know was that among a group of fourteen or fifteen-year-old children, the eight-year-old girl stood out remarkably.

"That girl looks to be under eight years old. Which ethnic group does she attend school for?"

"It is said to be a clan tradition of Zhuge Village."

"That's not surprising. Zhuge Village's clan school is always at the bottom. It doesn't matter who comes, does it?"

"Haha! You're right."

"..."

"Junior Sister Yun Shu, I drew the Five Elements and Nine Columns," Senior Brother Zi Qing said.

“I am in the seventh row and third column. What about you, Junior Sister Yun Shu?” Senior Brother Zi Yun continued.

"One row, six columns."

Seeing the sympathetic looks from his two senior brothers, Zhuge Yunshu asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Junior sister, you're so unlucky! You drew the most conspicuous position."

"Isn't my junior sister's position something the headmaster can see with just a glance?"

Zhuge Yunshu said that the seat was irrelevant to her. "It doesn't matter where I sit. Will the questions become more difficult just because my seat is in the front?"

Ziqing and Ziyun: "..."

That makes some sense!

Zhuge Yunshu found his seat and sat down. A short while later, he saw a servant bring over the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone needed for the exam.

"The clan school competition officially begins."

As soon as the headmaster of the town school finished speaking, a huge scroll was slowly unfurled from the air.

The scroll contained relevant content from the *Di Zi Gui* (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child).

"The time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

As the competition began, the town's school and its surrounding area fell completely silent.

Zhuge Yunshu glanced up at the contents of the scroll, then quickly lowered his head, smoothed the paper on the table again, dipped his brush in ink, and began to write.

“Look, that little girl in the sixth column of the first row, she only glanced at the scroll at the beginning, and hasn’t looked at it since.”

"You haven't already memorized it, have you?"

"Remarkable for such a young age."

Zhuge Laigui, seeing the surrounding chatter, proudly puffed out his chest: "This is my little niece. She's not as good as everyone says, just a little more talented in studying and a little more hardworking."

People around: "..."

Hmph, don't think we can't understand your hidden meaning.

After the calligraphy competition ended, the students below the stage put down their brushes and waited for the papers to be collected.

Soon the calligraphy exam papers appeared in the hands of the ten teachers on the stage.

When each exam paper was quickly passed from the first teacher to the last, only three papers remained.

Then, following the previous process, starting with the first teacher, mark the calligraphy exam paper with A, B, and C. The one with the most A's is the first place winner, and the second and third place winners are determined by the same algorithm.

Master Wang frowned as he glanced at the calligraphy exam papers passing by. He quickly marked the grade and handed them to the next teacher.

He hadn't encountered a student with good calligraphy talent in a long time, but one of his works already had its own style, clearly showing some talent. However, this student must be a bit lazy, otherwise how could he still be at this level at his age? So he didn't hesitate to give him a grade of C.

Another teacher picked up the calligraphy exam paper, glanced at it, and smiled helplessly: "Brother Wang is as strict with calligraphy as ever!"

"Brother Lin, it's not that I'm being harsh, this is just my skill level."

Seeing Master Wang's indifferent expression as always, Master Lin shook his head helplessly.

However, these words still subtly influenced his score.

Soon, the results for the top three were announced.

The headmaster stood up and addressed the crowd: "First place goes to Wang Yi from Wangjia Village, second place to Zhang Hao from Zhangjia Village, and third place to Zhuge Yunshu from Zhuge Village. Congratulations to these three disciples."

After saying this, he had the three papers posted on the town school's bulletin board to demonstrate fairness.

"Xiao Lan, pinch me, I think I heard Da Hua's name," Zhuge Laigui said uncertainly.

"You heard right, Da Hua won third place in calligraphy," Liu Xiaolan said excitedly.

"Hahaha, I knew Da Hua had a talent for studying. Look at how well she wrote on that third page!" Zhuge Laigui raised the corners of his mouth, unable to resist showing off to the crowd.

Although the surrounding crowd did not recognize Zhuge Laigui, they still showed their support: "The little girl is only eight years old, and she can write such characters. She is much better than my twelve-year-old son who only knows how to play."

"His brushstrokes are clean and crisp, showing that he has put in a lot of effort."

"This year's class is truly remarkable; two of the top three spots are occupied by girls."

"Exactly, although it's hard to see the differences between the top three, the font is just pleasing to the eye."

"..."

There were those who praised him, but of course, there were also those who said harsh things.

"What? It's just third place. The first and second place winners haven't even said anything yet."

"Yeah, I think it's just so-so."

"He claims to have a high aptitude for studying, isn't he afraid of making a fool of himself by boasting?"

Hearing the comments from the crowd, Liu Xiaolan's face turned red with anger. After calming down a bit, she said to the crowd, "It's understandable that my niece is a little happy to have achieved such a good result. There are still two more competitions to go, so let's wait and see before making any judgments."

Zhuge Laigui was very unhappy. What did it have to do with these people that he was praising his niece? They were just sour grapes.

If Xiaolan hadn't stepped on his foot, he would have argued with those people long ago.

However, regardless of the circumstances, because of this little farce, Zhuge Yunshu's name began to appear in people's ears.

She also officially began to make her mark at the ethnic studies conference.