History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 48 The Even More Difficult Second Trial
Wei Yao was unaware that her exam paper had been reviewed beforehand, and even if she knew, she wouldn't be uneasy. She was confident that she hadn't answered any questions incorrectly or made any spelling mistakes. She was glancing at Wei Zhen to her side when, oh no, her fellow student Zhen was wiping away tears. Wei Yao then turned back to check on Wei Mao and Wei Jing to see how they were doing.

Wei Mao had already prepared two paper balls, waiting for her. He aimed, threw them at her, aimed again, and threw them at her. He was about to explode with frustration! He had guessed in advance that "everything would be on the test," but she still failed miserably.

Wei Jing's mouth could bulge out for two miles.

Okay, she'll stop asking.

Ahead, Senior Brother Xue Nixia informed the students: "The rules for the second round will be explained at 1:15 AM, and the exam will begin at 2:45 AM."

Wei Jing squeezed in to sit next to Wei Mao and called to Wei Yao, "Fellow disciple Yao, fellow disciple Yao, did you get them all right?"

Wei Yao nodded and whispered, "I think I answered correctly."

"Sigh," Wei Zhen also came over dejectedly, and Wei Yao made room for her on one side.

Wei Zhen muttered, "You know what? In the end, I was so busy remembering the poem topics that my two senior brothers gave me that I didn't have time to think about the answers at all."

Wei Jingshen agreed: "Yeah! I remember every question in the set perfectly now! It was only when the papers were being collected that I realized, why did I memorize the questions? Also, why can't Senior Brother Xue and Senior Brother Wei sit together? They sat so far apart, it made my eyes look like this and then like this..." He tilted his eyes to the far left and then to the far right to describe the discomfort he had just experienced.

Wei Zhen was amused and felt much better.

Wei Jiezhi leaned forward and joined in: "Have you all heard about Yuan... stealing the exam questions?"

Wei Mao made a "shh" gesture, indicating that the two teachers were still there and that they should not mention this matter loudly.

Wu Ji returned from the outhouse, excitedly squatting down and asking, "What are you saying? What are you saying?"

Mischievous children love to join in the fun, and Wei Jian also joined in, squeezing Qu Rong so that she couldn't sit down.

Wei Jian told Wu Ji, "I also know about the leaked exam questions. It's been around for a while, but unfortunately, nobody took it seriously."

Qu Rong was indignant: It's spread everywhere? How come I didn't know! We're studying in the same dormitory, and you all avoid spreading gossip about me, right? If I had known about this earlier, I would never have been as stupid as you, treating the real exam questions as fake ones!

Snapped--

As the ruler struck, Master Xue explained the rules for the second round of the exam: "This time there is no reminder of the word 'asking for questions.' It will still be two questions per group. Xue Nixia and Wei Daozi will take turns extracting sentences and words from the poems. You will answer with the poem title and the corresponding complete sentence based on the extracted sentences and words."

There is no time interval between the first and second halves of the question, and there is no time interval between groups of questions.

"Xue Nixia and Wei Daozi, you two give detailed examples to our fellow disciples."

"Yes."

Xue Nixia first raised his voice and said, "For example, if I say 'jujiu,' my fellow disciples must answer with the poem title 'Guanju,' and then answer with the line where 'jujiu' appears: 'Guan guan jujiu.' To prevent my fellow disciples from mishearing the words, I will read each question twice and then give a brief explanation. Taking 'jujiu' as an example again, I will say it like this... Jujiu, the jujiu, the king jujiu bird, with deep affection but different characteristics."

Wu Ji raised his hand and asked, "When you say 'Answer the question about the location of the ospreys, Guan Guan Ju Jiu,' do you mean we only need to write 'Guan Guan Ju Jiu'? We don't need to write the words 'the location of the ospreys,' right?"

This child has an extraordinary way of thinking!

Wei Jing raised his hand in agreement: "That's what I wanted to ask too." Two good friends.

Wei Daozi suppressed his laughter so hard his mouth and nose distorted, and answered "no need" for Ni Xia. It was his turn to explain the rules: "I will continue to read the second half of the question. Junior brothers, please note that each of my questions also has only two characters, but they are not connected in the poem. The lack of connection determines whether the answer is one line of poetry or two lines of poetry. I will also use 'Guan Ju' as an example."

“For example, if my question is ‘Zuo Mao’, I will say ‘Zuo Mao, Zuo Mao’ twice, and then explain ‘Zuo…the left of left and right, Mao…helps to choose’. At this time, the junior disciples will be able to distinguish which ‘Zuo’ and which ‘Mao’ it is. First answer the poem title, and then immediately write down the poem line containing ‘Zuo’ and ‘Mao’…the left and right are Mao.”

Several underachievers frowned upon hearing this: "Senior, you really have a lisp! How do you think I can tell which character 'Mao' it is just because I heard 'you zhu er cai zhi'?"
Wei Daozi continued, “If my question is ‘Qiu Mao’, I will repeat it twice, and then explain ‘Qiu…a matching pair, Mao…helpful in choosing’. After you write the poem title ‘Guan Ju’, you must write two lines of answers to be considered correct. The answers are ‘Junzi Hao Qiu’ where the character ‘Qiu’ is located, and ‘You Zuo Mao Zhi’ where the character ‘Mao’ is located.”

At the same time, at the Shanyi Academy of Cui School in Xicheng.

Hai Yeren slammed his fist on the table and roared, "What utter nonsense! I'm not taking the exam! The 'Guanju' poem I studied isn't that hard!"

He shook his head, withdrawing his wild imagination, and hurriedly raised his hand: "Hehe—Senior brother spoke too fast, can you give me the example again?"

Yuan Ning sat behind Yuan Heng, wishing she could glare him to death: It's all your fault, you idiot! You stole a question and went around shouting about it, angering Master Liu and making the joint entrance exam so difficult!
Beicheng State Academy.

Xi Jiao took a deep breath... No, I don't have enough confidence. Let's try again.

He initially thought the second round of testing would be faster than the first, but it turned out to be a completely different test format. Wait a minute! The change in format is secondary; this new format has a major problem!
Wei Xue Guan (尉学馆).

Wei Mao raised his hand: "This disciple is confused. The proctor just said that there is no time interval between questions or groups of questions. So, if we wait until we hear our senior brother's explanation of 'truncated sentences' and 'truncated characters' before writing our answers, will it be too late?"

"Hmm." Master Xue nodded: "This is a comprehensive test! This round focuses on your understanding and memorization of the poems and annotations, as well as your proficiency in recognizing characters and forming words. All disciples should be able to write down the poem title and corresponding verses immediately upon hearing the question for the first time! If you have to hear the explanation before you can write it down, then make a choice and skip the next question or even the one after that."

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..." On the main road of the western city, Governor Yuan rode ahead of his cavalry, heading towards the eastern city. Accompanying him from Cui Academy were Master Liu, the examiner of the joint examination, and Master Kong from the Xunyi Academy. Accompanying him from the prefectural academy were Master Sima and Master Li from the eight departments, as well as Master Song and Master Du, the best teachers of the Book of Poetry from the old academy.

After giving Song a wink, Du Fuzi and Song Fuzi deliberately lagged behind. Du Ling asked, puzzled, "The governor just gave the order in such a hurry, is he going to the east city?"

"Go to the Wei Clan Academy."

"Why?"

"We'll know when we get there," Master Song said, unwilling to elaborate to Master Du. Governor Yuan was His Majesty's confidant, and naturally understood His Majesty's desire to promote Han learning better than others. Therefore, even a small monthly examination was taken extremely seriously by Governor Yuan. The difficulty of this year's questions was evident to all. Given the difficulty and the large number of questions, if a student could achieve a perfect score, that would be far more significant than a hundred perfect scores on easier questions!

"despair."

Another drop of water fell from the water clock.

It was 2:45 AM.

The second round of preliminary tests has begun.

At the moment that drop of water fell, all the students at the elementary school in Heijo picked up their pens to prepare.

芼 (mào): means to select or choose.

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(End of this chapter)