History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 142 The Underachiever Who Suffered a Setback
Couldn't it be intentional?
The two were right, but they also overthought things. The punishment methods devised by top students always seem to have some connection to the exam questions.

Master Liu: "Let the exam begin!"

At the same time, Military Advisor Huli gave the order: "Begin writing—"

Hai Yeren couldn't wait any longer, because he had already thought of many poem titles. He was afraid that if he wrote too slowly, he might miss one and regret it later!

After writing down the titles of two poems, Hai Yeren stopped writing. Heh, luckily he poked a few holes in his clothes this morning. He was right. He's really clever. He should write down all the poem titles he can think of first, and then add his own name!

Qiu Ruizhi also had a crooked trick. Unlike Hai Yeren's method, he planned to write "Qiu Ruizhi" fifty times on five sheets of paper and then slowly add the poem title.

Both of them were simple-minded, and Changsun Fuming had poor hearing, so they were not much affected by the sound of the exam questions being asked. But Yuan Langxi was in trouble. After she wrote down a few easy-to-think-of poem titles such as "Guanju", "Juan'er", and "Gaoyang", the senior students from the university who were setting the questions kept asking, "What is the title of the poem?", which made her, like the other students, think about what the poem title was.

Thus, Yuan Langxi slowed down her writing of the poem titles. The more she reminded herself not to be affected by the noise in the examination room, the clearer she could hear each question.

However, the most frustrated person was not her, but Erzhu Rong.

Because of his resistance to studying, during his time at Cui's school, this child deliberately let the tutor teach him to write swear words like "dog," "fart," "bad," and "day." Yes, he can even write the word "swear."

When Huli, the military advisor, came over and took a look, he almost burst out laughing. He saw that Erzhu Rong had already written five lines of punishment texts, which were:

Rierzhurong.

Bad Erzhu Rong.

Quan Erzhurong.

Pierzhu Rong.

Gun Erzhu Rong.

I'm so angry! The more I write, the angrier I get! Erzhu Rong really wants to throw his pen away!

As time passed, the five academic underachievers had no time to think or get angry. They could barely hold their stance anymore; their legs, knees, and even their backs ached terribly. They were so exhausted that they were sweating profusely. After a few short breaths, Qiu Ruizhi even strained his chin, his neck thickened and his face turned purple.

Changsun Fuming was the first to admit defeat. As his strength loosened, he lost control and fell to the ground. The iron chain behind him suddenly clanged, startling him so much that he belatedly screamed!
By the time he looked at the hyena that had tried to bite him, the beast had already been dragged back by the guards.

His scream startled several students, who assumed someone had actually been bitten by a hyena. Once they came to their senses, they couldn't concentrate on answering the questions, and consequently, they answered them terribly.

A few breaths later, Yuanlangxi also ran out of strength and admitted defeat.

Immediately afterwards, Erzhu Rong and Qiu Ruizhi conceded defeat.

Only Haiye Ren grinned and laughed out loud. Fifty poem titles! He actually knew fifty poem titles! He wrote them all down!

Unfortunately, it was precisely at this moment that the first round of preliminary testing was about to begin.

This means the first round of penalties has ended.

Hai Yeren's examination paper was taken away by Military Advisor Huli. It's a pity that he wrote all fifty poem titles, but he only wrote the three characters "Hai Yeren" after the poem titles twice, so it was all for nothing!
He wrote five sheets of scrap paper.

However, one has to admire this unruly boy's stamina. Even after the iron plate was removed, he was still squatting in a horse stance because he didn't react in time.

The guards removed the pigskin tunics from the five slackers, and Hai Yeren finally let out a "whoop": "I..."

Qiu Ruizhi comforted his companion, "It's alright, it's alright, I also have five discarded papers." Hai Yeren felt a little better, but when he saw Qiu Ruizhi's discarded papers, which only had a little over four pages of names and not a single poem title, he felt even worse!
Ugh... There's a difference between being useless and being useless!

No matter how painful it is, you have to calm down and listen to Huli Canjun recount what the second round of punishment is.

"This round of penalties is called...stand, turn, squat."

“Now, five of you form a circle. You will call out the three commands 'Stand,' 'Turn,' and 'Squat' in turn according to your position. The order of the commands does not have to be followed, but you are not allowed to repeat the same command three times in a row.”

"Each command corresponds to the opposite action. When 'Stand,' squat in a half-horse stance; when 'Turn,' keep your body still; when 'Squat,' jump. Each time you don't follow the rules, you'll be recorded as one mistake. If someone fails to call out a command within a single breath, they'll be recorded as one mistake! If they repeat the same command a third time, they'll be recorded as one mistake!"

"Anyone who makes three mistakes in total will be eliminated immediately! Do you all understand?"

Changsun Fuming stood with one hand behind his back, adopting a Confucian posture, expressing his dissatisfaction: "Isn't this just deliberately making things difficult for us?"

Huli, the military advisor: "Then you can start by calling out the commands."

"Squat down." Changsun Fuming jumped up on the spot.

Only Erzhu Rong remained vigilant and made the right move, while the other three underachievers were still gloating.

Huli, the military advisor, called out to the soldier in charge of recording the scores: "Miss Yuan and Young Master Qiu each made one mistake, while Young Master Hai made two mistakes."

Hai Yeren's eyes widened into big bells: "Why did I get it wrong twice?"

Erzhu Rong deliberately shook his shoulders and laughed, trying to annoy the other party: "After he finished shouting the command, it was your turn to shout, but you didn't open your mouth like an idiot."

Hai Yeren rolled up his sleeves and raised his arm at the little brat.

Huli Canjun roared, "What do you want to do? You think the punishment is too lenient?! You're being treated like monkeys in front of so many people, don't you feel ashamed? Fine, then I'll tell you in advance, as long as you don't feel ashamed, I can live in Cui Xueguan every day and play with you!"

"And you, Erzhu Langjun! You think that by making everyone hate you, you can leave the academy and return to Xiurongchuan? Dream on!! Let me tell you, your hundred-plus Qihu warriors have already been driven out of Pingcheng by the Yuan governor! If you stir up trouble again and try to escape from the academy, the academy will expel Erzhu Maiti as well, leaving only you behind for ten or eight years!"

"Hmph, trying to scare a six-year-old?" Erzhu Rong looked around and saw the tutor, who nodded at him with a worried expression.

What do you mean? Are you serious? Erzhu Rong stared in disbelief at Huli, the military advisor.

Leaving aside the setbacks suffered by the five academic underachievers, the second round of preliminary tests concluded at the Wei Academy.

The chief examiner, Master Xue, said, "The third round of the small test is another innovation in the examination method. It will not be counted towards the score, but will focus on strengthening the body and seeking the pleasure of poetry. Come on, everyone, come to the courtyard."

Like her fellow students, Wei Yao found it all very novel; this format had never appeared in the joint examinations of her previous life. What did this mean? It meant that because of her rebirth, she had changed to the level of the examiners, and even the civil officials of the prefecture.

Wei Jing resigned from his studies, and Wu Ji skipped classes. Now there are thirteen students in the dormitory, all standing in the courtyard. Master Song watched them with a smile, clearly knowing in advance that this small test, which does not count as a grade, was going to be a quiz.

Master Xue: "First, we'll divide you into groups, then we'll discuss the examination method. Wei Yao and Wei Mao, you two will stand on the left and right sides respectively. The remaining eleven students can choose whether they want to be in a group with Wei Yao or Wei Mao."

Wei Zhen stood next to Wei Yao first. Wei Puti, who had been arguing with Wei Zhen, stood next to Wei Mao. Wei Jian, Wei Jiezhi, and the other most mischievous ones also chose Wei Mao.

Qu Rong really didn't want to choose anyone, and after dragging her feet, she finally stood at the very end of Wei Mao's group.

Master Xue didn't waste any time and briefly explained the examination method. Everyone, including Qu Rong, was happy. It turned out that they were really going to experience the joy of learning poetry while strengthening their bodies, which had nothing to do with grades or competition.

(End of this chapter)