The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

As soon as Zhuge Yunshu finished speaking, the scene fell silent instantly.

"Did I hear that right? The town school in Yunshui Town is going to have one student take on four students."

"How can someone so young be so arrogant!"

"Who gave her that confidence?"

"..."

Not only were the onlookers skeptical of Zhuge Yunshu's idea, but other students from other towns also sneered inwardly, thinking it was truly arrogant and presumptuous.

"Brother Wang, your disciple is quite talented, but she is a bit too arrogant. While she is still young, you must teach her the manners of a scholar," the town school teacher of Yunmu Town kindly advised.

You should know that in this world, scholars tend to prefer humble people and often disdain associating with arrogant and conceited individuals.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, there are child prodigies who have become famous since childhood. Because they are so outstanding, they are already distant from ordinary people. So even if they don't look at others with respect, people around them will follow their example.

Zhuge Yunshu is not that kind of person, so many self-proclaimed excellent people feel slighted by her performance.

“It’s natural for a young person to be arrogant, and she has the right to be,” Master Wang said with a faint smile, looking at the old man who was speaking.

"Hmph!" As expected, the teacher and his disciple are of the same ilk.

"Is this your own idea, or is it on behalf of the town's school?" Headmaster Song was afraid that Zhuge Yunshu was young and might act impulsively.

Hearing this, Wang Yi and Zhang Hao, at Wang Fuzi's prompting, quickly said, "We support whatever Junior Sister Yun Shu does."

The other teachers and students from the town school present, seeing the warm atmosphere of the teacher's kindness and the trust between the senior students, couldn't help but feel envious.

Most of them still have too many concerns and won't gamble with the reputation of the town's school and its students.

Hearing this, Zhuge Yunshu smiled and looked at Headmaster Song, "In that case, Headmaster, would you grant my request?"

After discussing the matter with the other teachers of the county school for a while, Song Shanzhang replied seriously, "Why not?" He then summoned a constable, whispered something to him, and looked at the crowd below the stage. "After discussion, the final round of the county school joint competition will be changed to a challenge mode. At the request of the first-place town school, the next four town schools will choose two subjects other than policy essays to compete in. The final ranking will be based on the final combined scores."

As soon as Headmaster Song finished speaking, the teachers from the other four town schools quickly gathered together to prepare for the next competition.

"How about mathematics?" the town school teacher of Yunmu Town asked confidently, as this was the subject their town school excelled at.

"You actually dared to choose this? Have you forgotten the rumors about the mathematical genius that were all the rage before?" The headmaster of Yuntian Town rolled his eyes speechlessly. Don't think he didn't know that the headmaster of Yunmu Town had a good plan.

"What about the laws? They were only added this year. Given the age of the three students at Yunshui Town School, they probably don't know much about them," the teacher of Yunze Town School said weakly.

Since everyone's understanding of the law subject is about the same, he felt it was fair.

"I agree."

"We agree."

"..."

"What should we choose for the next subject? It's either calligraphy and poetry relay, those are the only two options."

“Writing the classics and explaining their meanings is too time-consuming. How about we have a poetry relay? At this stage, I estimate that all the students from the town schools participating in the competition have already memorized all the poems required for the imperial examination. Everyone is at the same pace, which is fairer.”

"We agree, let's go with this one!"

"..."

Headmaster Song glanced at the subjects chosen by the other town schools, and to be honest, they were all within his expectations.

"Students from each town, please come to your designated seats on the stage."

After a while, he continued, "The first round of the second competition is a poetry relay, which will last for four incense sticks."

"...Starting with the first-place town student, the next town student quickly adds a line based on the last character of the first-place poem/lyric. Anyone who pauses immediately ends the competition. Within this time limit, the side that adds the most lines of poetry/lyrics scores the most points."

"During this period, you may also compose your own poems, provided that they are approved by the county school teacher."

"The competition begins!"

Wang Yi spoke first: "The spring river tide connects with the sea," and the town's school official immediately followed: "At dawn, I see off my guest to the lonely Chu mountains."

Yuntian Town School: "A lone sail disappears into the vast blue sky."

Yuntu Town School: "The emperor could not get enough of looking at it all day long."

Yunze Town School: "Walking in Silk Shoes"

Yunshui Town School: "The frosty maiden has no clothes on."

"..."

After this back and forth, finally, after an incense stick had burned out, Yunze Town School was eliminated.

When the two incense sticks burned out, the Yuntian Town School also withdrew from the competition.

When the incense sticks were lit, the students from Yuntu Town hesitated slightly and were therefore eliminated.

Now, only Yunshui Town School and Yunmu Town School remain on the field.

Yunmu Town School: "Coming from the State of Chu"

Yunshui Town School: "Young women returning from picking lotus flowers"

"Returning geese fly into the northern sky"

"If Heaven has feelings, it will also grow old"

"..."

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the students of Yunmu Town School who were handling the poems with ease, especially the female disciple. She usually didn't speak, only when the other two teammates couldn't answer. And every time she spoke, the next line of poetry was always difficult to answer.

Meanwhile, the female disciple of Yunmu Town School was also sizing up Zhuge Yunshu. She was surprised that the young man had such a rich knowledge of poetry and such a sharp mind.

"This can't go on forever," they both thought to themselves.

They're about to unleash their ultimate weapon.

Yunmu Town School: "The wind is fierce, the sky is high, and the monkeys howl mournfully."

Wang Yi and Zhang Hao gave up immediately, and both of them looked at Zhuge Yunshu.

"Alas, the fragrant flowers are withered and decayed."

Upon hearing this, all the scholars, both on and off the stage, were stunned into silence.

It's not that the phrase is particularly powerful, but rather that at this stage, most of the students participating in the county-level inter-school competition are still on the Four Books, and even those who are progressing quickly are only just beginning to learn the Five Classics.

Long lyric poems like "Li Sao" will at most be studied after we've finished learning the Five Classics.

This alone demonstrates the breadth of this female student's knowledge.

Yunmu Town School: "The filth and corruption are far from being eradicated."

Qin Shuangyu racked her brains and finally remembered the poem, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Zhuge Yunshu: "The Qing people are in Peng..."

Xie Yu looked at Master Wang and asked in confusion, "Has Junior Sister Yun Shu already finished studying the Book of Poetry?"

It's no wonder he thought that way. Seeing his junior sister Yun Shu recite the lines from "Guofeng. Zhengfeng. Qingren" without hesitation, it's hard not to have such doubts.

"Yun Shu loves reading and often goes to the town school's library. As for what books he has read, I really don't know," Master Wang said truthfully.

After all, he was just a teacher, whose main job was to teach. He really didn't know what books his disciples had read or what kind of books they liked after a month of interaction.

Xie Yu: "......"

As always, they are irresponsible—no, I should say they don't care about their disciples' daily lives.

At this moment, Qin Shuangyu, looking at the teacher in charge of copying the text holding up a piece of paper with the four characters "Qing people in Peng", suddenly felt a headache.

What kind of poetry is this? I've never heard of it before.

So he smiled helplessly and said, "I give up."

Qin Shuangyu felt that Zhuge Yunshu's reading progress far surpassed hers.

This can be seen from the fact that she doesn't understand many of the poems and verses.