After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Those who ranked in the top ten in the prefectural examination would be given a seat number during the provincial examination.

"Sitting in the hall" refers to sitting in a position closer to the examiner during the exam.

The closest position allows the examiner to see your face clearly, and you can even see the hem of the examiner's clothes.

However, at this time, many prefectures gathered together to take the provincial examination, which means that there were dozens of people in the top ten of the provincial examination.

After some discussion, the chief examiners decided to abandon the top ten candidates from the prefectural examinations, since so many prefectures had already gathered, and there wasn't enough room for everyone at the front. So they decided to give all the top candidates from the prefectures a "seat name".

Jiang Xiaoqi achieved the top score in the prefectural examination, so he was eligible to be included in the list of candidates for the "hall name".

There were also six other people, the older ones were in their thirties and the younger ones were teenagers.

Jiang Xiaoqi was assigned the exact middle position among the seven people.

Before entering the examination hall, there was another round of pre-entry checks, which were even stricter than those for the county and prefectural examinations.

After all, this time we can't leave the examination hall for three days and three nights. Besides bringing one or two light clothes, we can also bring some dry food.

Those who are particular about their appearance will bring a small stove to boil water, while those who are less particular will simply eat dry biscuits.

The first day is fine, but if you eat dry food for three days straight, you'll eventually get constipated...

Of course, you can also choose to spend two taels of silver to buy food at the examination hall. Two taels of silver for a meal includes one dish, one soup, and one staple food.

The vegetables are bok choy or Chinese cabbage, the soup is tofu soup, and the staple food is steamed buns or flatbreads—basically, whatever is easiest.

Don't be fooled by the price; the food is really not good. And even though it's not good, it was all cold when it arrived. And the service from the staff wasn't very good either.

I wonder who would spend two taels of silver to buy this meal...

Jiang Xiaoqi prepared oil tea noodles, black sesame paste, and walnut lotus root powder for the three of them early in the morning. All of these were powdered foods.

Even if you were to inspect it, it's completely shattered. At most, you could just scoop it up a couple of times, but you couldn't possibly scatter it.

After all, he doesn't plan to take any fasting pills this time. He'll just eat some porridge with his grandfather and the others. It's easy to just mix it with hot water.

Now you need to get used to it. The provincial examination will last for nine days. If you don't eat or drink, it will attract the attention of those who want to.

Before queuing for inspection, the three men of the Jiang family stood in a row, looking proud and imposing.

Tan Hao and Zhao Hongxuan were speechless; this family was really good at keeping a straight face.

There were only three of them, yet they weren't in a hurry to find the guarantor. Did they anticipate running into the two of them?

The three students from the Jiang family who had passed the imperial examinations replied: "No, we simply forgot!"

Finally, it was the turn of the three members of the Jiang family to enter. After handing the examination basket to the inspector, Jiang Xiaoqi was about to take off his clothes.

"Wait!" The man stopped unbuttoning his clothes and looked at the constable with a puzzled expression.

"You don't need to strip naked like you would for the county exam; just take off your outer clothes and wear your inner clothes!"

Jiang Xiaoqi: I didn't plan to take my clothes off completely! I was planning to keep a pair of underwear on...

However, he didn't say anything, and as instructed, he took off his outer garment and handed it to the yamen runners for inspection, then opened his arms and waited to be searched.

When the yamen runners saw that Jiang Xiaoqi was so young to participate in the academy examination, they assumed he must be a prodigy who excelled in his studies. Moreover, he cooperated with the body search so readily and openly that they developed a favorable impression of him.

He took the small outer robe, touched it, shook it, and then handed it back.

Is that all? Jiang Xiaoqi thought the yamen runners were probably tired and were slacking off, but that was fine, since she didn't like being touched by big men.

Although he is now a man himself, he still feels uncomfortable.

After searching the body, it was the examinee's turn. The yamen runner opened the lid of the examinee's basket, revealing several packets of powder inside, which he opened one by one.

The yamen runner was quite particular; he stirred it with a chopstick and then rubbed it between his fingers, finding nothing unusual, before waving for Jiang Xiaoqi to enter.

Alright, I'll take care of unpacking, not packing. I packed the sesame paste, lotus root starch, and oil tea bread into the basket myself, straightened my clothes, and then went inside.

Jiang Wenqing and the landlord Jiang and his son followed the same procedure, but they didn't encounter any 'slacking off' yamen runners; they were thoroughly examined and patted all over.

Neither of them were the top officials in the government office; their seat numbers were randomly assigned. Although they weren't exactly desirable positions, at least neither of them had the infamous "chosen bad numbers."

Furthermore, the examination sheds did not leak, only some cobwebs and dust, which could be wiped clean.

After Jiang Xiaoqi entered, he quickly found his place. After all, there were only seven people in total, and there was a special person to guide him.

After tidying up, we sat down. By then, the candidates had started to enter the examination hall one after another. By the time everyone had arrived, it was just getting light.

Taking this opportunity, I looked around and saw that the other candidates were carefully wiping their desks and preparing their pens and ink.

Just like with previous exams, he didn't rush to grind the ink. Instead, he lit the small stove he carried with him and boiled some water first.

Even though it was summer, he still preferred to drink boiled water, a habit that influenced the other two men in the Jiang family as well.

Because at this time, small stoves were also lit in two other corners of the examination hall, and small copper kettles on the stoves were bubbling and steaming.

A gust of wind blew by, and the east began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

After the yamen runners handed out the scrolls, Jiang Xiaoqi calmly ground the ink as before, adding only a small amount of water. The ink stick spun steadily on the inkstone, gradually emitting a faint fragrance of ink.

The three exams lasted three days and three nights, and only three candles were given out, so they had to be used sparingly.

Therefore, although Jiang Xiaoqi was not in a hurry, she had a plan in mind. She tried to answer questions under natural light and avoided studying late into the night.

After all, water and fire are merciless. I don't want my hard-earned exam paper to be burned by accident, or I'll be so angry!

The examiner for this exam was Sun Siqi, the newly appointed academician. The term of office for academicians is usually three years, and an annual exam is generally held in the first year after they take office.

All students who are attached to, supplemented, or subsidized by the prefecture, state, or county must participate.

Therefore, obtaining the qualification of a student, also known as a scholar, was not a one-time event that determined one's entire life. Instead, one needed to participate in a review every three years.

Jiang Xiaoqi decided to visit a famous teacher after the provincial examination and study under a great Confucian scholar as a scholar.

However, even those who traveled abroad for study still had to participate in the annual examinations regularly. If you wanted to retain your status as a scholar, you had to take the 'level retention exam'.

However, this is not the time to think about these things; we still need to pass the provincial examination first.

If his father and grandfather also passed the preliminary examination, he would ask them if they wished to continue taking the imperial examinations, and he would continue to tutor them.

If he wanted to stop there, he would continue rolling them up himself, letting them lie flat on their own. Of course, they shouldn't lie completely flat; it would be best if they lay down for a while, then got up to move around and roll them up again.

After all, your fifties are the age to really push yourself!

My father is not yet forty, in the prime of his life. He should use his youth to take the provincial examination and become a minor official, so he can have someone to rely on in the officialdom.

Jiang Xiaoqi, who was multitasking, wrote with a graceful, flowing style, and her performance was not affected at all by the fact that she was thinking about movies.

The little boy, just over six years old, naturally caught the attention of Sun Xuezheng, the chief examiner sitting opposite him.

Sun Siqi had been staring at Jiang Xiaoqi for a long time. If this were an ordinary person, wouldn't their hands be shaking with nervousness?

As for Jiang Xiaoqi, she seemed completely oblivious, remaining as calm as could be!

Seeing the little boy so focused on his writing, seemingly unaffected by his surroundings, Sun Siqi became even more curious about him.

The fact that this child could sit among seven people proves that he is the head of the prefectural examination. He is a six or seven-year-old head of the prefectural examination, and this is the first time he has ever seen such a person in all his years of serving as the education commissioner!

Jiang Xiaoqi: You flatter me, I was just daydreaming~

Could you please help me rate this? I'm about to take a book test and try to climb the rankings! Thank you all in advance! (The main text has reached the word limit, so this part does not count towards the main text word limit.)

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