bayedsolid Chapter 1170 The Day of the Re-examination
Chapter 1170 The Day of the Re-examination
Three days after the notice was posted, the Examination Yuan was repaired. Shen Zheng, along with Jiang Zhiming and Liu Yumin, inspected the inside and outside of the building and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it.
Four days after the notice was posted, the examiner finalized the exam questions, and the scribes entered the examination hall to begin copying the exam papers.
Five days after the notice was posted, the government troops entered the Examination Yuan to clean the cells and replace the straw mats, oil lamps, and other supplies.
Six days after the notice was posted, candidates from various counties arrived in the prefectural city one after another. The "Candidate Service Station" at the entrance of the Examination Yuan was officially opened, and the prefectural government distributed examination subsidies as promised. For a time, the entrance of the Examination Yuan was bustling with noise, and there were far more onlookers than students who came to receive subsidies.
The process for candidates to receive subsidies is very simple; all they need to do is prove that "they are themselves."
Once they have proven that they are "themselves," the clerk at the service station will hand them two cloth bags and instruct them: "The examination post station is a hundred paces to the east. Check in with your household registration. Do not be late for the re-examination tomorrow."
Only after the heavy cloth bag was actually in their hands did the candidates truly appreciate the generosity of the government office.
The people watched the examinees arrive with their bundles, and then watch them leave with even bigger bundles; their envy was impossible to hide. Only now do they understand what it truly means to have "a golden house in books."
When the students from Tong'an arrived at the Examination Yuan, the sun had already quietly moved to the western side of the sky, and the clouds had turned orange.
Li Hongmao led the students to line up, and in no time at all, it was their turn to receive the subsidy.
Li Hongmao handed over the identification documents of all the students with both hands. The clerk took them, glanced at them, and suddenly looked up: "You, you... are students from Tongan County?"
How come they didn't get wind of the arrival of the people from Tong'an County?
Li Hongmao nodded slightly, his expression unchanged: "I am Li Hongmao, the headmaster of Tongan County School. I have brought eight students who passed the exam this year to participate in the re-examination. Please verify my identity."
Seeing his expression, the clerk immediately understood and adopted a businesslike demeanor, raising his identification documents to begin comparing them one by one.
“Fang Ziyan…” The clerk was the first to pick up Fang Ziyan’s identity register.
"Here!" Fang Ziyan forced a big smile.
The clerk looked at the register for a while, then glanced at Fang Ziyan a few times, and nodded after comparing: "Hmm... fair-skinned and chubby, with a mole at the corner of his eye, ranked last in this year's prefectural examination... No problem, approved, go over there to collect your subsidy."
"..." Fang Ziyan's smile froze on his face. As he walked towards the distribution point, he muttered to himself, "I don't really need to read them all out..."
Is being fair-skinned and chubby a striking physical feature?
“Pei Zhaoqi…” The clerk picked up the next identity register.
“Here.” Pei Zhaoqi stepped forward.
Upon seeing Pei Zhaoqi, the clerk's smile became much more genuine: "Chief Pei, I remember you. Just a moment..."
As he spoke, the clerk flipped through the list of candidates, compared it twice, and said, "Passed. Go over there to collect your subsidy."
Before long, the identities of all eight candidates from Tongan County were verified. After receiving their subsidies, Li Hongmao led the group out of the crowd and headed towards the candidates' station.
After they had walked several dozen steps, the candidates still in line finally couldn't help but whisper among themselves, "They're from Tong'an County!"
"That tall, thin boy is the top scorer in this year's prefectural examination, surnamed Pei! According to my teacher's prediction, he has a very high chance of winning the top score again in this re-examination!"
To take the top spot again?
As everyone watched the departing figure, a bitter feeling welled up in their hearts, like water bubbling from a spring.
Being born in Tongan County is one thing, but being so academically gifted is another...
Not only are they good at studying, but this time they even managed to earn fifty taels of silver using their brains...
Earning fifty taels of silver is acceptable...
No.
We can't just let this go.
As they pondered, someone suddenly whispered, "Do you think... Lord Shen might have known he could win first place, which is why... he set the reward for first place so generously?"
"this......"
Everyone fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a long time, no one could come up with an answer.
Just then, someone chuckled softly and asked with an ambiguous tone, "There's another person who's also going to participate in this second round of testing. Have you all forgotten?"
The meaning of this sentence was clearly vague, but after a moment of stunned silence, a name invariably popped into everyone's minds.
"You mean... Huai Shaoyong?" someone asked hesitantly.
The person asking the question slowly nodded: "It's him."
Everyone's expressions faltered, their eyes filled with realization.
Yes, how could they forget Huai Shaoyong!
This person could read at the age of three, recite poems at the age of five, and compose poems at the age of seven. By the age of ten, his writings were already quite well-structured. At the age of twelve, he even became a disciple of Headmaster Hou of Luming Academy. After that, few people saw him in Liuyang Prefecture.
Even so, the provincial examination two years ago... still caused a minor uproar because of him.
Someone fell into recollection, and after a long while said, "I remember... he left the sutra question blank, but because his essay was profound and well-structured, he was made an exception and passed the exam?"
Upon hearing this, everyone remembered.
At the same time, a new question arose in their minds—"He didn't write the Bible questions back then, can he write them this year?"
If Huai Shaoyong remains arrogant in this re-examination, then Pei Zhaoqi will very likely still pocket the fifty taels of silver.
While the discussion was raging on, Li Hongmao and his group, who had just arrived at the examination center, were suddenly blocked by two people.
Fang Ziyan was overjoyed after recognizing her: "Nan Shu! Jin Yin!"
His two best friends, his second and sixth best friends, actually came to encourage him!
......
On the day of the re-examination.
Mao Shi.
The lanterns outside the Examination Yuan burned all night, their orange light filtering through the lampshades and casting dappled shadows on the bluestone pavement.
The soldiers, dressed in black uniforms and holding long spears, stood straight on either side of the courtyard gate, the tips of their spears gleaming coldly in the lamplight.
At 2:45 AM, the sound of horses' hooves came from the end of the street, and several carriages slowly approached the Examination Yuan. After they came to a stop, Shen Zheng, Jiang Zhiming, and others got out of the carriages.
Liu Yumin immediately came forward and bowed to Shen Zheng first: "Lord Shen."
Shen Zheng nodded slightly: "Lord Liu, you and Lord Jiang go ahead with your business. I'll just take a look from the sidelines."
After saying that, Shen Zheng adjusted her collar and walked towards the student service station.
In this re-examination, she had neither the right to grade the papers nor the right to invigilate. To put it bluntly, she was a hands-off manager who only needed to wait for the grading results.
Even so, she got up very early and came to the examination hall with the examiners, because she was the one who had brought this re-examination to fruition, and she had to see the examination come to a successful conclusion.