The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Having no other choice, Zhuge Yunshu could only list out the natural disasters that frequently occurred in ancient times and write them down on paper.

Then, try to recall the solutions you heard about in your past life, combine them with the context of this era, and recompile and record them.

Before they knew it, the next day had arrived.

At 5 a.m., before dawn, Zhuge Yunshu was woken up by Madam Lin. After a quick wash, Zhuge Laifu brought out a bowl of dumplings for her to eat quickly.

This is a custom in Yunshui Town: dumplings are given to those who leave and noodles are given to those who welcome them.

Of course, families that follow this custom should be relatively well-off.

Anyway, she didn't know that Yunshui Town had this saying before.

While eating dumplings, Zhuge Yunshu watched her parents busily packing her things, especially her mother, Lin, who seemed to want to stuff everything usable and edible into her bundle.

"Father and Mother, I'm just going to stay in the county town for two nights, not for a year or two. I only need to bring two changes of clothes... There's so much other useless stuff that the carriage can't hold it all!" Zhuge Yunshu reminded helplessly.

She guessed that the county school's carriage was already crowded enough with the four of them, not to mention all their luggage.

After listening to their daughter's words, Zhuge Laifu and his wife thought it made sense and quickly took out some cured meat, pickled vegetables, and other things from the package.

Then, taking advantage of Zhuge Yunshu's inattention, he secretly slipped a ten-tael silver note into her personal belongings.

She thought she had done everything perfectly, but she didn't realize that Zhuge Yunshu had seen through everything. However, in order to put her parents at ease, Zhuge Yunshu let them be.

After finishing her meal, she saw her father still carrying almost as much luggage as before and sighed helplessly.

This must be what they call parental love!

Zhuge Yunshu had no choice but to carry this large bag of luggage to the town school to meet up with Master Wang and the others.

When they arrived at the town school gate, they saw Master Wang, Senior Brother Xie, Senior Sister Yi, and Senior Brother Zhang chatting in front of two carriages.

"Yun Shu, quickly put your luggage on that old carriage. Your senior brother is also going to the county school, so we'll ride in his carriage."

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the two carriages in front of her. One of them was a rather dilapidated carriage sent by the county school to pick them up, while the other, a newer carriage, belonged to her senior brother, Xie Yu.

To be honest, her senior brother clearly comes from a prominent family. Just look at his travel arrangements; they can only be described as understated luxury.

Although it looks like an ordinary carriage on the outside, it has a hidden world inside.

The carriage had soft seats on three sides and a wooden table in the middle. Xie Yu helped Master Wang sit in the main seat and then took out a tea set from a hidden compartment inside to brew tea.

Isn't this the scene of brewing tea on a carriage that she saw in a TV series in her previous life?

Unexpectedly, she got to experience it so soon.

Most importantly, Zhuge Yunshu and the others didn't feel crowded at all while sitting in the carriage.

In short, it was very comfortable.

……

Linxi County is about 120 li away from Yunshui Town, but fortunately, apart from a few sections that are a bit rugged and undulating, the rest are all smooth official roads.

Zhuge Yunshu and his four companions were originally sitting in a comfortable carriage, sometimes drinking tea and chatting, sometimes playing chess, just like on a leisurely trip, living a very pleasant life.

However, as time went on, they felt increasingly unwell, especially Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao, who rarely traveled far from home.

Zhuge Yunshu thought that, let alone a horse-drawn carriage, even a modern high-speed train would be too tiring for anyone to sit on for five hours straight.

What's more, they stopped to rest five times during those five hours.

"Hang in there a little longer. Judging from the road conditions, we should be in the county town in about half an hour," Master Wang said, trying to comfort his three dejected disciples.

He thought that he should send a few disciples on more long journeys by carriage to gain experience. Otherwise, if they could get this tired from such a short distance, there would be no point in talking about the path they would have to take in the imperial examinations.

And so, the group of five finally entered the city gate of Linxi County at Shenshi (5 pm).

When Zhuge Yunshu got off the carriage and was inspected by the city gate guards, he had only one feeling: he felt light as a feather, as if he had no bottom.

So he looked around at the county town. Perhaps because his expectations were too high, it would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed when he saw the reality.

As far as the eye can see, there are low wooden, stone and blue-tiled houses, with only a few scattered three-story inns at the highest point of view.

But overall it's still much cleaner and more lively than the streets of the town.

Xie Yu could probably tell that his junior brothers and sisters were disappointed with the scene before them, so he explained, "Linxi County is just a small county in Pingchuan Prefecture. When you have the chance in the future, you can go to the prefectural city, the big county towns in Jiangnan, or even the capital. The prosperity there is something that countless scholars yearn for."

Master Wang continued, picking up where Xie Yu left off: “What A-Yu said is right. In the imperial examination, the county town is just the starting point. If you are successful in your examinations, you will have to participate in the prefectural examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination. In that way, you will be able to witness the prosperity of the prefectural city, the county town, and even the capital.”

“If you don’t succeed in the imperial examinations and stop at the county level, you may never leave Linxi County in your entire life, let alone go to more distant places to see the different scenery of this world.”

"Therefore, the journey can be likened to one's future for scholars. The farther the journey, the greater your future will be," Master Wang earnestly explained.

Zhuge Yunshu listened to what Senior Brother Xie and Master Wang said and felt that what they said made sense.

But for some reason, whenever she thought about traveling far away, she would think of riding in a carriage, and her buttocks would hurt even more.

"My God, it must have been so tough being a scholar in ancient times. The imperial examinations only lasted three or four days each time, but the journey they had to take was a year and a half," Zhuge Yunshu muttered to himself.

She finally understood the saying, "No pain, no gain."

In order to be able to proceed normally in the imperial examinations in the future, she had to practice martial arts every day, just as a way to exercise!

Once inside the city, Xie Yu's carriage followed the county school's carriage to the inn where they needed to stay.

Upon entering, Zhuge Yunshu looked up and saw that the dining area on the first floor was filled with teachers and students from various town schools.

It's not surprising, though, since it's a free inn provided by the county school. It's normal for students from nearby towns to come and familiarize themselves with the environment beforehand.

Master Wang led them to the innkeeper, who seemed to know the way well. After registering their town school ID cards, they were warmly led by a waiter to the innermost rooms on the second floor.

"Yunshui Town is the town furthest from the county seat, so it's at a disadvantage when it comes to choosing rooms every month. For example, the best rooms in our inn are always chosen by schools in nearby towns. It's such a pity~"

The waiter paused for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and looked at Zhuge Yunshu and the others. "By the way, I heard that a scholar in Yunze Town has a relative who was promoted two ranks this year and became a high-ranking official of the third rank. This person has a bad temper, so if you encounter him, try not to go against him. Oh, I was just being nosy. You all take good care of yourselves and come downstairs to eat when there are fewer people around."

Zhuge Yunshu watched the innkeeper hurry away and had to admit that he was quite kind-hearted; it's rare for someone to be willing to say something like that to a stranger.

"If I'm not mistaken, that should be a member of the Qin clan from Yunze Town! I heard that the one in their family in the capital has been very favored by the Emperor these past few years, and has been promoted beyond his rank for two consecutive years," Xie Yu said.

"Hmph, how many more years can this kind of scoundrel be in power? That guy's old too..."

Before Master Wang could finish speaking, Xie Yu interrupted him, "Master, be careful what you say." Then, he glanced at Zhuge Yunshu and the others who were eager to hear gossip, and smiled helplessly, "Master, my junior brothers and sisters are probably hungry too. Let's go back to our rooms and tidy up first, and then go downstairs to eat together."

Zhuge Yunshu was very annoyed. He was listening to the gossip in a good mood, so why was he interrupted?

There was no other way but to go back to my room and pack my things.

I must say, the county school is really generous; they provided each student with their own room, which is much better than the two-person room she initially thought of.