The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The magistrate's early departure had little impact on the teachers, students, and onlookers in the town.

After all, he's a big shot, so it's normal for him to be busy with official duties.

Besides, they came here to watch the competition.

"Quiet!" The host looked at the noisy crowd and felt a headache coming on.

I glanced at the results I had just received, and to be honest, I was a little surprised.

"Yun No. 1 Zhenzhen School lost this competition by a margin of ten points, and Yun No. 2 Shuizhen School will advance to the next competition."

As soon as the host finished speaking, everyone in the audience was stunned by the result.

"Did I hear that right? Last year's last place team beat the fourth-to-last team team?"

"You heard me right, it's true."

"My goodness, a difference of ten points! Did Yunshui Town's school strike gold this year?"

"..."

At this moment, everyone in Yunze Town School began to doubt their own ears.

"Impossible?" The tall, thin scholar looked bewildered. The town's school, which he had the lowest hopes for, had actually...

"This question is so difficult, did the county school go easy on it this year?" the chubby scholar asked in confusion.

The other three rolled their eyes at this.

It's impossible to think of this with your brain. What is Yunshui Town School? Does it deserve to be treated like this by the county school? It seems that the town school that competed with them for fifth place last year is getting worse and worse.

"Quiet down, let's continue the competition."

And so began the duels between number three and number four, number five and number six, ... number nine and number ten.

However, things turned out quite unexpectedly; in the first competition, everyone chose to write policy essays.

However, they were more fortunate, as the content they drew consisted of sentences from the Four Books, which was much simpler than what they had drawn. Of course, the time allotted for them was reduced from four incense sticks to three.

“I have reason to suspect that the county school removed our essay question.” Zhang Hao said with certainty, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

"A brain is a good thing; use it more often," Wang Yi said disdainfully.

Although the eight topics for policy essays were always moved and rearranged, how could such a big change as changing topics go unnoticed under the watchful eyes of everyone?

"Senior Sister Yi is right, Senior Brother Zhang, you really didn't think it through."

"Junior sister has a suggestion, but I don't know if I should say it?" Zhuge Yunshu looked at Zhang Hao with sincere eyes.

Upon seeing that look, Zhang Hao felt a strange sense of familiarity with the scene, so he quickly waved his hand and said, "Since you don't know, then don't say anything!"

Zhuge Yunshu looked at Zhang Hao with amusement, thinking that he was quite quick-witted.

"Senior Brother Zhang, when you're out and about, you should keep your mouth shut, or you might get beaten up."

Zhang Hao: "......"

Since I've already decided to tell him, why bother asking him in the first place?

Time slipped by quietly as everyone chatted and watched the competition intently.

On the stage, the presiding master received the summary sheet delivered by the constable, glanced at it, and announced directly to the crowd: "The first round of the competition has officially ended. According to the rankings, Yunshui Town School ranks first with a total score of twenty-three; Yunmu Town School ranks second with a total score of eighteen; Yuntian Town School ranks third with a total score of seventeen; Yuntu Town School ranks fourth with a total score of sixteen; and Yunze Town School ranks fifth with a total score of fourteen. Congratulations to the above five schools for advancing to the next round of the competition."

Upon hearing this result, Yunze Town School, which had been praising Yunmu Town School, stood there awkwardly in place.

Not to mention them, even the Yunmu Town School itself did not expect that their long-standing first place would be taken away by an unknown Yunshui Town School.

"How is this possible?" the tall, thin scholar exclaimed, the first to react.

However, this also reflects the sentiments of other schools in the town.

The teacher leading the group from Yunmu Town School was also filled with disbelief. "Could it be that...? How could this be...?"

But as proud as they were, they ultimately didn't say what they wanted to say.

Upon hearing this result, the onlookers' first reaction was not to praise the excellence of Yunshui Town's school, but rather to question the authenticity of the results.

"Did you misread the grade?"

It's no wonder he thought that way, after all, the last place in previous years actually defeated the first place, which is something he never dared to imagine.

"If I'm not mistaken, the youngest student in Yunshui Town School is only eight years old. At such a young age, how could she possibly understand what a policy essay is?"

"That's right! I've been watching closely. The students from other towns who write essays usually hand them in after three incense sticks have almost burned out. But that girl from Yunshui Town is different. She sits there doing nothing after only two incense sticks have burned out."

"I didn't notice that."

"There must be something going on behind this!"

"..."

At this moment, both the teachers and students of the county school and the onlookers on the outskirts turned their attention to Yunshui Town School, or more precisely, to Zhuge Yunshu.

Of course, this kind of intense public attention is not necessarily a good thing.

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao, listening to the discussions of the crowd, felt somewhat indignant. Why couldn't they get first place? And what were these claims about insider dealings? It was utterly ridiculous.

When the two looked at Zhuge Yunshu, they found that their junior sister was sitting calmly in the same spot, as if the people around her were not talking about them.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhang Hao asked in confusion, "Junior Sister Yun Shu, aren't you angry?"

After all, scholars care most about their reputation. Listening to the discussions among the crowd and the inquiring looks from other townsmen, it was clear that they suspected the authenticity of their achievements.

"That's normal. People often think that what they can't do, others can hardly do either. After all, geniuses are far too rare compared to ordinary people, so acknowledging someone else's excellence is particularly difficult..."

"Besides, ordinary people already have it so hard, so we geniuses should be more magnanimous and not bother with them," Zhuge Yunshu said nonchalantly.

Master Wang and Xie Yu: "..."

While what she said makes sense, it's still quite strange to hear such words coming from an eight-year-old girl. Also, while humility isn't universally considered a virtue among scholars, doesn't her disciple/junior sister seem a bit too confident?

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao: "......"

Junior Sister Yun Shu has an unusually thick skin, but for some reason, they find it very satisfying to hear, and even their previous anger disappears completely. They should learn a thing or two from her in this regard.

At this moment, Headmaster Song frowned as he listened to the discussions in the crowd. In his view, this result was perfectly normal.

After reading Zhuge Yunshu's article, he really couldn't bear to read the subsequent policy essays. Therefore, in his opinion, none of the later articles scored higher than four points.

"The results this time are absolutely fair and impartial. The three students from Yunshui Town School have only been studying policy essays for half a month, yet they have achieved such results. Their talent far surpasses that of other students from the town school..."

"...There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Go out and see the world; you might discover that there are countless people in the world more outstanding than you..."

Headmaster Song's words were a slap in the face to everyone, especially the students from the town school who participated in the competition.

After all, as the head of the county school, for him to praise the students of a town school in such a way means that he truly recognizes their knowledge.

The other students from the town school were extremely relieved that they hadn't said anything offensive.

"Zhuge Yunshu, what do you think of everyone's doubts?" Headmaster Song looked at his most favored student, who was sitting there idly, and suddenly felt like teasing him.

"Ah~" Zhuge Yunshu was caught off guard when the headmaster of the county school suddenly turned the topic to her.

After she calmed herself down, she stood up, bowed to the teachers on the stage, and said calmly, "Reporting to the Headmaster, I, the student of the town school, am willing to accept the challenges from all the town schools to prove my innocence, and the subject of the competition will be decided by the challenging town school. I suggest that it would be best for all four town schools to participate together, so as not to delay the following competitions."

Zhuge Yunshu also had her own considerations. She wanted to verify whether the system's rewards for issuing tasks were more generous for greater difficulty.

Of course, she also believed in the abilities of Senior Sister Yi and Senior Brother Zhang. After all, the most difficult subject, policy essay, had been perfectly completed for them, and they had a very high chance of winning the next competition.