The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

"Your disciples are grateful to you, Master." The three bowed respectfully. Although their studies would be very demanding, they were deeply moved by Master Wang's wholehearted help.

"Alright, you three should hurry back and not waste any more time."

After saying this, Master Wang seemed to remember something and reminded him, "Don't forget today's homework; I will check it tomorrow morning."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Wang Yi: "......"

Zhang Hao: "......"

The three people who were just moved vanished instantly; as expected, Master Wang was still the same old Zhou Bapi Master Wang.

What can I do but study like crazy?

The next day, Master Wang sat calmly in his seat, listening to Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao recite relevant content from "The Great Learning." He then asked a few symbolic questions, and after receiving satisfactory answers, he began his pre-class speech for the day.

"You've only managed to grasp the relevant content of 'The Great Learning' in half a month. To be honest, that's a slow pace. In the next month, you must work even harder and strive to finish learning two books in half a month. Do you have that confidence?" Master Wang said, looking at the three of them.

Under pressure, Wang Yi and Zhang Hao could only reply, "~Yes~"

Master Wang: "..."

Where was yesterday's momentum?

“Speak louder! You’ve already given up at the very beginning,” Master Wang said with displeasure.

"Yes," the three said in unison.

After receiving such a response, Master Wang nodded in satisfaction and began the formal lesson for the day.

"In the imperial examination system, being able to read, recite, and understand the meaning of the classics is a basic requirement for a scholar. The simplest way to understand the classics is by copying the classics and writing the interpretations in ink."

"The 'Tie Jing' test mainly assesses the ability to recite the texts of the classics from memory, while the 'Mo Yi' test mainly assesses the ability to recite the commentaries on the classics from memory. Therefore, these tests, which rely on rote memorization, are easy points for scholars."

"However, in reality, the interpretation of the classics is a profound explanation of the sentences in the classics, and its formation, to a certain extent, constitutes the eight-legged essay. Although the Xia state did not value this style very much, there is no doubt that it was an important part of the imperial examination system for selecting officials."

"In fact, mastering the classics is, to a certain extent, laying a solid cultural foundation for policy essays."

"Policy essays were of particular importance in the imperial examinations. Simply put, it was about giving a solution to a problem, which was the practical ability that those in power valued most. The content involved covered almost all aspects of the country's economy, culture, military, geography, and so on. Therefore, to write good policy essays, one had to study extensively books on military strategy, agriculture, law, and political theory to ensure that one's policy essays were substantial."

"But don't worry too much. For the county school joint competition, you only need to be familiar with the Four Books and legal books. So for the next two weeks, your task is to memorize the Four Books and legal books."

"Alright, today we will begin with the Analects."

Listening to Master Wang's lecture, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but admire him. As expected of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), his lectures were profound yet easy to understand, and he frequently quoted classical texts. In short, the lecture was very interesting.

Although there are some gaps compared to renowned teachers within the system dedicated to serving the country and its people, they are still truly remarkable.

Since today's lesson, Zhuge Yunshu and the others have gained a better understanding of each other's abilities. It turns out that everyone's strength is far greater than they usually perceive.

Master Wang also increased the difficulty of the lessons every day, as he wanted to know the limits of his three disciples.

To his surprise, no matter how much he increased the difficulty each day, Zhuge Yunshu and the others were able to keep up with his pace, forcing him to use his best skills.

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao themselves did not expect that, despite the heavy pressure of studying, they would still be able to keep up with the pace of learning through hard work.

Is this what Junior Sister Yun Shu meant when she said that pressure is the source of motivation?

These so-called pressures are nothing to Zhuge Yunshu, since she has the cheat code of the "Serve the Country and the People" system.

Therefore, in order to accommodate the progress of Senior Sister Yi and Senior Brother Zhang, she asked Teacher Wang for permission to practice calligraphy in class or preview the contents of new books in advance.

Surprisingly, her actions only further motivated Wang Yi and Zhang Hao, who became even more enthusiastic about studying than before. Even Teacher Wang advised them to be realistic about their abilities.

Time passed quietly as they studied frantically. After a period of study, Zhuge Yunshu had mastered all the books he had bought in the system and gained a total of 16 intelligence points.

"Ding! You will be rewarded with 50 points for completing the Four Books within a month, and 100 points for completing the Five Classics within a month."

"Ding! Your calligraphy level has been increased. You have been rewarded with 1 talent point and 10 skill points."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the title of Genius. Reward: 1000 points and 5 talent points."

Looking at the results of this period of time, Zhuge Yunshu was very satisfied, despite the hard work.

"System, add all the values ​​you've obtained," Zhuge Yunshu said happily.

"Okay!"

After he finished speaking, the scroll in his mind slowly opened.

Name: Zhuge Yunshu / Zhuge Dahua

Gender: Female

Appearance: Dark-skinned (what a waste of a good foundation).

IQ: 163/200 (Genius)

Talent Values: 55/100

Laziness rating: 20/100

Points: 6738

Skill: Calligraphy (60/100)

Golden Finger: 1 Mind Peeping Card, 1 Information Card, 1 Gender Card, 1 Appearance Card, 1 Voice Card, 1 Super Strength Card (already used)

Hidden Quest: Achieve instant fame and become known throughout the land. (Ten-year timeframe)

Looking at her IQ in the information column, Zhuge Yunshu realized that she had gone from being a smart person to a genius. She felt like she was dreaming and couldn't believe it.

Genius! This is the dream of so many people and so many families.

However, after the initial surprise, once she calmed down a bit, she suddenly realized that something seemed wrong.

"System, why didn't the test questions I did add to my IQ?" Zhuge Yunshu was very puzzled. Although she was already a genius and should be satisfied, she still wanted to find out why her original IQ wasn't added.

"System rules state that those with an IQ exceeding 150 will not enjoy the privilege of additional test questions based on their IQ," the system stated.

Zhuge Yunshu thought for a moment, if all the IQ points for answering test questions were added, wouldn't her IQ be at its maximum?

So she reluctantly accepted the rule and stopped arguing with the system.

"There's one more thing. I feel like I'm thinking about studying all the time, so why do I still have 20 laziness points?" Zhuge Yunshu asked, puzzled.

She used to be lazy and didn't want to study, but now she swears that she thinks about studying all the time.

"The laziness value not only applies to reading, but also to anything that requires learning. According to the system's detection, the host still has a strong aversion to farming deep down. You should know that this era is based on agriculture, and even if the host becomes an official later, he will still need to understand agricultural knowledge."

"Therefore, experiencing farm work firsthand is unavoidable."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Unexpectedly, I studied so that I wouldn't have to do farm work, but now that I'm studying, I still can't escape this problem.

Looking at the appearance section, Zhuge Yunshu noticed that the "thin bamboo pole" description was gone, but the "dark-skinned" description would likely stay with her for life.

However, from these clues, she had roughly guessed the system's intentions and foreseen that her future official career would mainly involve doing practical work.

Serving the country and its people absolutely requires going to the grassroots level for practical experience.