The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

"Junior Sister Yunshu, let's take a closer look next time we have time." Wang Yi pulled the reluctant Zhuge Yunshu along as they continued walking forward.

"This is the Heavenly Class. The three classrooms in front are the Lesser Heavenly Class, the Middle Heavenly Class, and the Greater Heavenly Class, and we are the students of the Lesser Heavenly Class."

"Alright, let's leave quietly so as not to disturb the Master and our fellow disciples."

After saying this, they stopped in front of an ancient building.

Zhuge Yunshu looked up and saw three large characters written on the plaque in the middle: "Selection Hall".

The three of them entered the elective hall and found an old man dressed as a teacher sitting at a desk on one side of the door.

Wang Yi stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Greetings, Master Qian. We are newly enrolled students today, sent here by our teacher to select courses."

The old man looked up at them and said, “Go ahead! There are writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones on the desk inside. Just hand over the paper you’ve written on.”

Wang Yi led Zhuge Yunshu and the other to the writing desk area inside and whispered, "You two find a place to sit down. Let's discuss what elective courses to take first."

Zhuge Yunshu sat down next to Wang Yi, who was still in a daze. She was just having a nice stroll when suddenly she had to choose courses.

"Senior sister, why do we need to choose courses? And what courses are available?" Zhuge Yunshu was full of questions.

"The town school stipulates that all new students must choose at least two elective courses, also known as miscellaneous courses. These include courses in the six arts, such as etiquette, musical instruments, arithmetic, driving, calligraphy, and horseback riding and archery, as well as some new courses added this year, such as chess, martial arts, cooking, agriculture, and engineering. There are too many to list. In any case, all students must complete six elective courses during their three years at the town school." Wang Yi sighed helplessly.

Although she prides herself on enjoying reading, she also feels a lot of pressure with so many courses!

"The schedule for each required and elective course is on the desk. Take a good look before you choose, and be careful not to overlap in time," Wang Yi emphasized.

When Zhuge Yunshu took the document, he saw that the schedule was almost full every day. It consisted of compulsory classes on one day, an elective class on the next day, elective classes on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and a break on Sunday afternoons for students to organize their internal affairs.

"Senior sister, isn't it too early for us to start learning miscellaneous subjects now? I remember that we only started learning these subjects after passing the preliminary examinations?" Zhuge Yunshu asked, puzzled.

"I know that. It's said that Master Wang was responsible for all of these. There were already enough books related to the imperial examinations..."

Before Zhang Hao could finish speaking, Wang Yi interrupted him, "Don't talk nonsense if you don't know the situation. Do you know how much effort Master Wang and Headmaster Lin put into applying for these miscellaneous courses? Do you know the current situation of Yunshui Town School? Do you know the situation of Linxi County, Pingchuan Prefecture, and even the entire Xia Kingdom? In recent years, how much manpower, material resources, and financial resources have been spent by the county, prefecture, and even the country to cultivate talents? Isn't it all because... Never mind, it's no use talking about it now. You should hurry up and select the courses."

Wang Yi actually felt sorry for her fourth uncle. He had a bright future ahead of him, but in order to help the country cultivate talents, he resigned from his official position and started from the bottom as a teacher.

Most importantly, these people also thought that her fourth uncle was making trouble for no reason.

Seeing Wang Yi's dejected appearance, Zhuge Yunshu, who had been very curious about her words, now lost interest.

"Senior sister, senior brother, what are you going to choose?" Zhuge Yunshu sensed that the atmosphere was strange and asked deliberately.

Wang Yi regretted what she had said earlier. She knew the truth, but Senior Brother Zhang and Junior Sister Yun Shu did not!

She also knew that Yun Shu was asking this question to give her a way out.

"I had already decided beforehand that I would choose arithmetic and chess."

Zhang Hao was also a little embarrassed. He knew that it was disrespectful to his teacher to criticize the master behind his back, but he didn't expect Wang Shimei to react so strongly.

"I have one subject that I'm just like Junior Sister Wang in: arithmetic. As you all know, I'm not good at math. I'm also taking etiquette as an elective."

Zhuge Yunshu glanced at the two of them and noticed that their expressions had calmed down. Then he said with a regretful look, "I wanted to take the elective courses with you, but it seems that won't be possible this year. I chose martial arts and defense."

These are both essential skills for survival and escape! Zhuge Yunshu took a liking to them at first glance.

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao were puzzled by Zhuge Yunshu's choice.

"Junior sister, have you thought this through? These two subjects are quite unpopular among miscellaneous subjects, and they are also very demanding."

Although Zhang Hao had a dream of becoming a chivalrous knight-errant, he was self-aware enough to know that he definitely couldn't endure the hardships of martial arts training.

"That's right, especially for girls like us, learning this isn't really a good idea. Junior Sister Yun Shu, please think about it carefully."

Zhuge Yunshu never expected that the two courses she chose would be so unpopular.

So he retorted, "Senior brothers and sisters, do you know what else is needed for the imperial examinations besides knowledge?"

"money?"

"Reputation?"

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

These two points seem important, but she doesn't say them.

"No, it's about physical health."

"You know, the further you go in the imperial examinations, the longer you have to stay in the examination hall. Without a healthy body, how can you endure three or four days in a simple examination hall? Even in my secluded village, I've heard stories of people who, due to illness, forced themselves to take the provincial examinations and ended up losing their lives. So we need to take advantage of our young age to train our bodies, which is why martial arts is the best choice."

"And the most important point is that mastering martial arts can save your life. Think about it, you'll be taking the county, prefectural, provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations in the future. You'll be on the road almost all year round. If you encounter bandits or robbers, you'll have a chance to escape with your martial arts skills. Don't you agree?"

"..."

"And the Yu is much simpler. It's about being able to escape more quickly when you encounter danger. There's a saying that goes, 'If you can't beat them, run away.'"

"Tell me, if you lose your life, how can you realize your ambitions?"

"Especially senior sister, you're so beautiful, you're the easiest target for bad guys. And senior brother, you look like you come from a wealthy family, you're bound to attract robbery attention, so you two must think it through..." Zhuge Yunshu was really going all out to promote these two elective courses.

“But this is really tough!” they both said in unison.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

They were surprisingly in sync.

"What are these hardships compared to life and ideals?"

"Don't hesitate, choose these two!"

Under Zhuge Yunshu's persuasion, Wang Yi and Zhang Hao crossed out the two options on the paper and wrote down martial arts and driving skills instead.

Before they could react, Zhuge Yunshu quickly handed the papers to Master Qian at the door.

It's too late to back out now, haha!

What Wang Yi and Zhang Hao didn't know was that this unexpected turn of events would save their lives in the future.