The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

"The grading of this exam was jointly conducted by the ten best teachers in the town school, and the ranking was also the result of everyone's discussion. If there are any problems, please point them out one by one. Do not gather together to cause trouble."

"My younger family member got all the math questions right, and the big questions right too, so why didn't they make it into the top three?" an elder from a student's family complained in the crowd.

"For math problems, you can't get full marks just by getting the right answer; you also have to make sure that your process is logical and well-founded," explained Headmaster Lin.

"For the final big question, everyone just plugged in the results one by one, so there's no basis for it."

"You'll find out about this by looking at the top three papers on the bulletin board later."

“We read it, and Miss Wang’s account of the process was much more detailed, explaining how Zhuge Village Clan Academy won first place.”

The teachers on the stage rolled their eyes when they heard this. The exam papers hadn't even been posted yet; where were they supposed to find them?

They strongly suspected that those stirring up trouble in the crowd were from other clan schools of thought.

The goal was to ruin the reputation of their town's school.

Just as Headmaster Lin was about to say something, Master Wang, who was standing next to him, suddenly stood up.

He looked at the onlookers with dissatisfaction, "The Zhuge clan of Zhuge Yunshu only knows how to solve the last two big questions. There are always people better than you, and there is always something beyond your understanding. Just because you don't know something doesn't mean that others don't know it either. Isn't that utterly ridiculous?"

Seeing that his junior brother was about to continue arguing, Headmaster Lin quickly interrupted, "Zhuge Yunshu, since everyone doubts your ranking, would you be willing to step forward and prove it?"

Zhuge Yunshu was of course willing. She stood up and bowed respectfully to the high platform: "This disciple is willing."

After speaking, ignoring the stares of others, he slowly walked up to the platform.

That confidence and composure earned praise from the scholars on the stage; this was the spirit a scholar should possess.

The onlookers were also discussing it animatedly.

"Is she Zhuge Yunshu?"

"She looks so young."

"The town's schools are becoming increasingly unreliable."

"..."

Ignoring the crowd's discussions, Zhuge Yunshu, at the prompting of Headmaster Lin, spoke:

"Elders, I am Zhuge Yunshu from the Zhuge Village Clan School. I am eight years old this year. Although I have only been studying for a month, I know that a scholar's reputation is very important and cannot be slandered. Now, I will prove my ability and show that the town school teacher's choice of me as the first place is not without reason."

Zhuge Yunshu's powerful and resounding answer impressed the onlookers.

But there are always some dissenting voices.

"Such a young age, yet he speaks with such arrogance."

"If he were famous, why has his name never appeared on the clan school's list?"

"What kind of books should a girl read in public? It's shameful."

"..."

Zhuge Yunshu originally intended to explain in public, but after hearing these offensive remarks, he abandoned his previous idea.

So she asked Headmaster Lin to prepare a large scroll, so that everyone present could clearly see the words after she finished writing them.

Dipping his brush in ink, Zhuge Yunshu was determined to prove himself. He was filled with a burning desire and completely forgot about his surroundings. In one go, he quickly finished writing the two major questions.

Lin Shanzhang had the paper she wrote hung in the very center of the high platform.

As the scroll slowly unfurled, the onlookers, whether they understood it or not, all looked up to see it.

"Good handwriting, remarkable for such a young age."

"It feels like I wrote even better than in the first calligraphy competition."

Now that you mention it, it does seem so.

"Hey everyone, let's get back to the topic and look at the solution."

"..."

"Well, sir, tell me what's going on," a young man urged the old accountant to explain.

"I haven't finished reading it yet, what's the rush?" the old accountant said angrily.

Time passed slowly, and the scene fell silent.

Suddenly, an exclamation broke the silence: "I see! That's brilliant! That's brilliant!"

This person was none other than the old accountant who had been so eager to see the questions earlier.

"Look, there are three different ways to solve this problem."

"This girl is incredibly capable."

"Even someone like me who's bad at math can understand this. Now I'm a math whiz too."

Zhuge Yunshu wrote in great detail, and she believed that anyone who had read books could understand it.

Headmaster Lin looked at the sun; it was almost lunchtime. He quickly interrupted the crowd's discussion, "These questions are two difficult problems brought back by the county school when they went to study in Liang. To date, only a handful of students have solved them, let alone given three different solutions. To date, only one person in Xia has done so."

"Gentlemen, do you have any further objections? Please raise them."

The onlookers had various expressions, but everyone said they were completely convinced.

Some even bowed and said in public: "We underestimated the students, especially Zhuge Yunshu. We should not have doubted the fairness and impartiality of the town's teacher. I am deeply sorry for this."

After one person stepped forward to apologize, those who had previously mocked or questioned him also bowed and apologized.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Headmaster Lin smiled and forgave them magnanimously.

From then on, the name Zhuge Yunshu became a household name in the town.

As mathematical problems spread, Zhuge Yun's methods for solving them also became famous in various universities.

After the second round of competition officially ended, Zhuge Yunshu, his two senior brothers, and Master Li reunited and prepared to have lunch together.

The town school was very thoughtful, preparing meals separately for these ethnic minority students who were participating in the competition.

"Big Flower, Big Flower."

Upon discovering Zhuge Yunshu, Zhuge Laigui immediately shouted loudly.

There was no way for these onlookers to enter the town school.

Upon hearing Zhuge Laigui's voice, Zhuge Yunshu quickly ran over and asked, "Uncle, why haven't you gone back yet?"

"It's all thanks to your aunt. She asked me to invite you all to her home for lunch. It's quieter there than at the town school," Zhuge Laigui explained.

Zhuge Yunshu was very tempted; the town's school cafeteria was indeed too crowded.

The main reason was that she felt uncomfortable because many students pointed and whispered about her.

"Uncle, wait a moment, I'll go ask the teacher for his opinion."

After saying that, he quickly ran to Master Li to explain the situation.

Senior Brother Ziqing teased, "Junior Sister Yunshu, how does it feel to be famous?"

"Uh... that's weird." Zhuge Yunshu scratched his head.

But she thought to herself, "I'll get used to it."

Seeing Zhuge Yunshu's embarrassed appearance, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Then we'll have to bother your aunt's family," Master Li said, trying to smooth things over for his disciple.

And so, Zhuge Yunshu and his group arrived at Liu Lan's house, led by Zhuge Laigui.

My aunt's house has a large area with three courtyards; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people.

When they arrived at the main courtyard, the dining table was already full of food.

At this time, only Old Master Liu and his three sons were in the room. Because there was a competition in the afternoon, Master Li declined Old Master Liu's offer to drink.

Everyone ate with gusto, their mouths greasy with oil.

Zhuge Yunshu, in particular, was very happy because she was young and had a sweet tongue. All the elders at the table served her meat and vegetables.

She can guarantee that today's meat quantity is more than the entire previous year combined.

At the same time, one has to admire Old Master Liu's generosity; looking at this table of food, it must have cost at least one or two taels of silver.

"Tsk tsk, Uncle's pretty boy is really lucky," Zhuge Yunshu whispered.