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

The provincial examination was held every three years, usually in August of the four years of Zi, Mao, Wu, or You.

If there is a joyous occasion in the palace, an additional provincial examination may be held, known as an "extra examination".

The provincial examinations were held in the provincial capitals and were presided over by chief and deputy examiners directly appointed by the imperial court.

The provincial examination was divided into three sessions, each lasting three days, for a total of nine days, held on the 9th, 12th, and 15th of the eighth lunar month.

Candidates must abide by strict rules during the examination, including not leaving their seats in the examination room, not exchanging answer sheets, not whispering to each other, etc.

Candidates who violate the rules will be considered to have committed a foul, and will be immediately disqualified from the exam and expelled from the examination hall.

Those who passed the provincial examination were called "Juren" and thus had the initial qualifications to become officials. However, they usually started as minor officials and gradually gained experience.

Those who become officials after passing the provincial examination (举人) do not rise as quickly as those who pass the imperial examination (进士). Of course, there are exceptionally talented individuals who can rise to the fifth or sixth rank with their provincial examination degree, but they are extremely rare.

The provincial examination was an important part of the imperial examination system. Only those who passed the provincial examination could continue to participate in the higher-level metropolitan examination and palace examination, and ultimately have the opportunity to enter a proper official career.

Today, the provincial capital of Xuanzhong Province is filled with candidates who aspire to change their fate through the provincial examinations.

"Hey, have you heard? The frontrunner for the top scholar position fell into the river yesterday on his way to a poetry gathering. He caught a cold and we don't know if he'll be able to attend in a few days..."

A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar asked the people drinking tea at the same table in a mysterious manner.

"Oh my, how come I haven't heard about this? I heard about it last night. Someone from our inn went to the poetry gathering and saw it with their own eyes. After the person was rescued, they were barely breathing!"

Another, slightly younger one, immediately looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, then came over to strike up a conversation.

"Oh my god, is it still possible to participate in the provincial examination? The exam is only a few days away!"

"Sigh~ I'm afraid it's unlikely. Unless there's a miracle doctor in the world, it's impossible to make someone who's on the verge of death come back to life immediately."

"This person has a long-standing reputation for talent and was originally a strong contender in this provincial examination. He must have offended someone..."

Before the middle-aged scholar could finish speaking, the young scholar covered his mouth.

"Woo~"

Shh! Don't talk nonsense! Words can cause trouble! Don't go looking for trouble!

The two stopped talking and used drinking tea to cover up their earlier nervousness.

But as they tried to ignore it, several more "accidents" occurred, making it impossible to ignore them. At this point, the students preparing for the exams in the provincial capital finally sounded the alarm.

Especially those with some talent, no longer dare to go out and attend any of those so-called poetry gatherings or literary parties.

Good heavens, what kind of literary gathering is this! There have been enough accidental drownings these past few days to fill a whole table!

There are also those who accidentally break their legs, get hit on the head by flowerpots while going out, or eat something dirty and can't get out of bed... all sorts of things happen.

What can we do? They're frail scholars, after all. We can only keep them indoors and have their servants or family members bring them meals to their rooms every day. Their lives are more important!

While everyone else was cautiously waiting for the provincial examination to begin, the Jiang family proceeded in an orderly and methodical manner.

Under Jiang Xiaoqi's guidance, with the active cooperation of the candidates, and with the strict security of the logistics personnel, all three candidates from the Jiang family arrived safely on the day of the exam.

Not only was it whole and intact, but it also had a ruddy complexion, was full of energy, and looked radiant.

On the first day of the exam, after the candidates' names were called and they were searched, they entered the examination room in order. The exam period was limited to one day.

The examiners will read out the examination rules, and three or four people will patrol each row of examination rooms during the examination.

Once all candidates have arrived, the exam papers and scratch paper will be distributed. Candidates will have three days to answer the questions. After three days, they can submit their papers and leave the examination room. After resting for one night, they will enter the examination room again the next morning to take the second exam.

You can answer questions until dusk each day. After dark, the examination room will provide three candles. If the three candles are used up, no more will be provided, regardless of whether there are enough.

The examination content of the provincial examination mainly included Confucian classics, policy questions, essays, and judgments, covering multiple fields such as Confucian classics, history, politics, and law.

After the examinations were completed, the examiners would hand in their papers in the first round, and the examiners would begin grading them. The chief and deputy examiners would then decide the top scorer in the provincial examination on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, who would be called the "top scholar".

If a candidate performs poorly in the last two rounds, their ranking will be lowered accordingly. Finally, the official results of the provincial examination were announced a few days after the third round, with the top scorer being the "Jieyuan".

This is why Jiang Xiaoqi disliked the county magistrate's son named "Xie Yuan" whom she met on the way; a bad first impression was one aspect.

The man's name displeased him even more. His senior brother was destined to be the top scholar in the imperial examination, and this man had been finding all sorts of excuses to cling to him all the way...

Something's definitely fishy! I hope my senior brother heeded my advice and doesn't fall for someone else's tricks.

"Aqiu~"

"Third brother, are you cold?"

"It's nothing, my junior brother is probably talking about me."

"Oh my, I must say your junior brother is truly loyal to you. Look at all those scholars who have gotten into trouble lately, sigh... it's so tragic!"

Just like in Xuanzhong Province, the same thing happened to Li Haisheng's side.

Drowning, broken legs, poisoning, diarrhea... all are exactly the same, using identical methods, without any creativity whatsoever!

Anyway, it didn't involve Li Haisheng. Oh, no, it's just that he followed his junior brother's instructions and avoided it all!