History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 46 The February Joint Entrance Examination Begins

The flickering candlelight resembled a budding romance waiting to bloom.

Inside the schoolhouse, Wei Yao sat back, and by the light of Wei Mao's two candles, the two of them conducted their final review before the exam. Knowledge is as weighty as heaven and earth, and more benevolent than gods and Buddhas; as long as one is willing to learn, knowledge will generously reward them with a suit of armor.

Wei Mao gradually cleared his mind of all distractions and became as focused as Wei Yao.

On the path leading from the outer courtyard to the Book of Poetry dormitory, Qu Rong was panting heavily. He had only fallen asleep late last night, having already figured out how to scold Wei Yao back, so he had to be the first one there…

Oh no! The sharp-tongued Wei Yao and Young Master Mao have made up again.

As dawn broke, around 5 a.m., the number of schoolchildren on the road gradually increased, far more than usual at this time.

At 1:15 a.m., all the children from the various classrooms and dormitories of Weizu Primary School had arrived.

The Book of Songs was being recited when Master Duan arrived. Half a quarter of an hour later, the whispers and low recitations all ceased, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

At 2:45 AM, the chief examiner, Master Xue, arrived, much earlier than in the previous two joint examinations! Moreover, Master Xue brought two of his students with him. One of them, wearing a flat turban, was named Xue Nixia, and the other, with his hair tied up and adorned with a hairpin, was named Wei Daozi. Each of the students carried three scrolls in their hands.

Is this a test question?
The servants then came in to distribute paper, and the students conscientiously cleaned their desks, leaving only their writing brushes, ink, and inkstones.

Xue Nixia sat to the left and behind Master Xue, while Wei Daozi sat to the right and behind Master Duan. Master Xue looked around at the students waiting to take the exam and said, "Some of you may have heard about the leaked exam questions. The questions that the mischievous boy who stole the questions saw are indeed today's joint exam questions... They will all be on the exam!"

How could Wei Jing not be excited? The underachiever was about to rise up! He covered his nose with his left hand to hide his embarrassment, his mouth agape in a wide grin.

Master Xue continued sternly, “Disciples, you must know that the various academic decrees issued by the court are not intended to make things difficult for you! Examinations are the most effective way to test what you have learned, and they can help you find your shortcomings in the shortest amount of time, encouraging you to strive for improvement. I also want to tell you that this month’s exam will not only not be canceled due to the leak, but it will also be a regular exam format in the future!”

"Now I'll explain the exam rules. As usual, it will be divided into three small tests, focusing on your listening and debating skills, as well as your basic knowledge of reciting poems. Each test will last half an hour. Before each test, please listen carefully to the answering rules I will explain to avoid answering every question incorrectly."

"Time's almost up, now let's talk about how to answer the first round of questions."

"First of all, I'm saying the words 'asking the question' to remind you all to pay close attention to the question immediately."

"Then, your senior brother Xue Nixia will recite a line of poetry. After you hear it clearly, write down the next line of the poem. For example, if the title of the poem you just learned, 'Yang Zhi Shui,' is 'Bu Liu Shu Xin,' then you should write 'Bi Qi Zhi Zi.' Just write one line; do not write more."

At the same time, the chief invigilator of another school was saying the same thing.

Xi Jiao mentally waved the victory flag, he had guessed right! "Everyone taking the exam" was not a pretext, it was the real joint entrance exam!
The students of Cui Academy were both relieved and uneasy. It was normal to guess the questions before the exam, but this time it was different. They had guessed the questions by taking advantage of a prince of the imperial family stealing the questions. Would that be considered cheating?
Cui Zhi was particularly upset. The dozens of poems he had written had been circulating around the Xunyi Academy and it was impossible for them to be completely different from the poems in the joint examination. If his behavior were investigated afterward, would it be more serious than the mistake of a certain imperial prince?
The Goodness School is located next to the Goodness School.

Yuan Heng watched as the chief proctor's mouth opened and closed. He began to drift off, recalling the scene when he stole the exam questions. He opened the wooden box, inside which was a scroll with the words "This Month's Exam Questions" written on it. He opened it, and the words inside transformed into slaps that "slap slap" all over his face.

He shuddered, snapped back to reality, and the teacher had just finished explaining the rules for the first round of questions.

Weizu Academy.

Master Xue continued, “Your senior brother Wei Daozi will follow and recite another line of poetry. All disciples must write the line preceding this line! Note that it must be the line preceding the line! Taking ‘Yang Zhi Shui’ as an example, the title line is ‘不流束薪’ (not flowing firewood), and you write ‘Yang Zhi Shui’ (Yang water).

"The intervals between Xue Nixia and Wei Daozi reading the questions are not fixed and will gradually shorten. The same will be true between each set of questions! Therefore, you will need to choose, based on your own abilities, whether to listen to a set of questions and answer them together, or to answer them separately."

"Regardless of which answering method you choose, you must pay attention to my 'question setting' reminder. Because the papers will be graded in 'groups', answering only half a group of questions correctly will not count towards your score. For example, if you haven't finished answering the previous group of questions when I remind you of the word 'question setting,' you must immediately decide whether to abandon the previous group of questions or abandon the new group of questions."

"These are all the rules for the first round of the test. There's still half a quarter to half past 5 a.m. Anyone with questions, raise your hand now. Anyone who speaks up afterward will be expelled for disrupting the exam." The already limited wisdom in the students' eyes was diminished by each rule, making them seem like terrified little quails.

Wu Ji raised his hand tremblingly: "Master, I didn't understand a single word. Could you explain it again?"

Master Duan coughed and summarized, "For the poem recited by Scholar Xue, you must answer the next line. For the poem recited by Scholar Wei, you must answer the previous line. One line, one line, remember, one line, one line. Listening carefully to the questions is the most important thing. It doesn't matter if you can't answer one, don't worry about it. Listen carefully to the next question, maybe you can answer it. Also, pay attention to Master Xue's reminder to 'present the question.' When he shouts 'present the question,' put down whatever you are writing and listen carefully."

Master Xue nodded: "Is there anything else you don't understand?"

If anyone understood the situation best, it would definitely be Wei Yao. She had a feeling that the "all-test" format wouldn't be canceled due to the leak, but she didn't expect the test format to skip the adaptation phase for the students and jump directly to a half-easy, half-difficult stage. It seemed that the act of stealing the questions had angered the stern-tempered Master Liu.

The key point is that this is only the first round of the test today. There are still two more rounds to go!

"despair--"

They are water droplets dripping from the water clock.

Xue Nixia and Wei Daozi each opened the first volume of the examination questions.

"Drip—" Another drop of water marks the time.

It's half past 5:00 AM.

Master Duan unleashed his pent-up energy in one swift voice: "What are you all standing there for? Get ready to write!"

Master Xue: "Here's a question—"

Xue Nixia spoke clearly, enunciating each word distinctly: "Not flowing firewood."

This is the example I just gave!

Excellent! All fifteen students in the first dormitory of the Book of Songs answered this question correctly: "彼其之子".

Ten breaths later, Wei Daozi, sitting on the far right, loudly recited: "Do not let the firewood flow."

The students breathed a sigh of relief. It was still an example question, and they all wrote down the correct answer: "Yang Zhi Shui".

In the entire city of Ping, only Yuan Heng, having not heard all the rules, rewrote "that son of his" in bewilderment.

Silence, ten breaths.

Master Xue: "Here's a question—"

Xue Nixia uttered three crisp words: "Left Handle Reed".

Oh, that's wonderful! Some of the students are starting to smile happily while writing.

(End of this chapter)