History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 79 April Joint Examination

The question Wei Yao answered was "the tail".

The word “頳尾” comes from the poem “Ru Fen”. She straightened the bamboo slip and immediately wrote down the answer: “頳” means red, because fish turn red when they are tired.

After finishing writing, she pushed the bamboo slip forward with her left hand, and when she turned her hand back, she took another bamboo slip, and wrote the answer as soon as she straightened it, as if she were copying a book.

The bamboo slips that have just been written on are pushed forward because the ink needs to dry before they can be put back into the tube.

After Du Ling looked at the three questions, he shifted his right foot outward. Master Li thought that Master Du was about to move, but Du Ling simply shifted his weight to the other foot and continued to watch Wei Yao answer the questions.

Which student can say they are not affected by being under constant scrutiny during the exam?

Having been reborn, Wei Yao was able to maintain a calm mindset, but Du Ling's slight shift in posture made him very conspicuous in her peripheral vision.

With a large number of questions and limited time, if she continues like this, she will definitely be slower than if she answers all the questions normally.

Fortunately, Wei Yao already had a way to deal with this guy. She changed her brush. She rinsed the one she no longer wanted in the brush-washing tub, then looked up at Du Ling: Are you going to leave or not? If not, I'm leaving you alone.

Normally, Du Ling would definitely be displeased: Why change the brush for no reason?
But this was an exam, so he sat back down in his teacher's seat without any expression.

The old campus of the prefectural academy in the north of the city.

Hu Wuwu, a young woman from Chang'an, finally realized the difference in poetics between the old capital and ordinary cities! After understanding the exam rules and answering two or three questions with a hundred bamboo slips, she knew she couldn't finish.

Hu Wuwu remained calm and undeterred. Confident in her intelligence, she believed her poor performance wasn't due to stupidity or lack of diligence, but rather to the incompetence of her poetry teacher. Had she studied in Pingcheng last year, Wei Yao might not have been the poetry champion!

Eight branches.

After the first round of tests, Xi Jiao breathed a sigh of relief. He had just finished answering all the questions. This time, he had to get into the top three and attend classes at Cui Xueguan Xunyi Academy for a period of time. Otherwise, the gap between his poetry level and Wei Yao's would only widen.

Weizu Academy.

Master Li announced the second test, which tested the mastery of the poem's sequence. Each person would have one hundred bamboo slips and would write the next line after a given excerpt from the poem's sequence.

The format of this exam prevented some small schools from participating. It wasn't that they lacked blank bamboo slips, but rather that the time between the release of the question bank and the start of the exam was very short, and ordinary schools didn't have enough time to find enough people who could write to help prepare the exam questions.

The directors of these schools cannot guarantee that the joint examinations will be held at the same time, so they cannot obtain the question bank. As a result, their students lack the experience of taking the joint examinations compared to students from prestigious primary schools.

The school where Bu Yanzhen studied was in this situation.

The school's solution was to have Bu Yanzhen and the others wait outside the Weishi Academy. After the Weishi students finished their exams, the teacher would copy the questions from the question bank, and the disciples would use their own abilities to ask familiar Weishi students what questions they might face in the exams.

Many of the students in the different schools were strangers to each other, so no one paid attention to Du Tongding.

The Book of Songs, "One House".

Title: Defending the country and being oppressed.

Wei Yao wrote: The people are not close to us.

This poem's preface comes from the "North Wind" section of the "Bei Feng" chapter.

Title: Warfare Never Ceases.

Wei Jing wrote: Men and women abandon each other.

This poem's preface is exactly what Wei Yao mentioned when she tutored him; it comes from the poem "Leaving the East Gate" in the "Zheng Feng" section.

Title: The merit of building a magpie's nest is due to this.

Wei Zhen wrote: The State of Zhaonan.

This poem's preface comes from the "Lamb" section of the "Zhaonan" chapter.

In the past, Wei Zhen might have confused this question with the poem "Magpie's Nest" from the "Zhao Nan" chapter. But not now. Wei Yao's advice was right. You have to review the poems you learned before every day. No matter how well you memorized them at the time, they will become unfamiliar and your memory will become confused after a long time.

Qu Rong also answered the question, and was even more grateful to Master Du. Master Du said that he would take some time to help him review all the poems he had learned before.

So this is what it feels like to be well-read! It's wonderful. Qu Rong increasingly felt that Master Duan's teaching wasn't as highly praised as people thought. The one who truly taught well was Master Du. Fortunately... He was startled by his own sudden thought and quickly dismissed the distracting thoughts to continue answering the questions.

Title: A Virtuous Person Unappreciated.

Wei Mao wrote: "A petty person is by my side."

This poem's preface comes from the "Bai Zhou" section of the "Bei Feng" chapter.

He wrote those four characters with powerful strokes! Scenes of Master Duan teaching despite his illness flashed through my mind. Master, Wei Yao, my fellow disciples, and I will avenge you!
Cui Academy, Wenyin Academy.

The chief examiner's surname was Wei, and Master Wei was getting restless. He was about to be sifted through the weirdos by Master Cheng, the head lecturer of the academy. "Brother Cheng," Master Cheng said, "is it really necessary? The academy just rearranged the students and put the most mischievous ones in your Wenyin Academy. One troublesome child is hard to teach, but ten troublesome children are easier to teach."

Master Wei got up and made a round of the examination hall.

Let's first look at the most composed eldest grandson, Fuming. It's said that this student is terrible at the *Erya*, but that doesn't mean he's bad at the *Classic of Poetry*...

You scoundrel!

How could such a despicable student be allowed into Cui's school?!

Look at the answers this unworthy student gave!
A virtuous person is not found... nor is he found by anyone.

Warfare never ceases... so does love.

The magpie's nest is a testament to its merit... a bird's nest.

Master Wei continued walking and stopped in front of Hai Yeren, who was grinning widely. "What are you laughing at! You haven't answered a single question on the exam, what are you grinning about!"
Hai Yeren scratched his neck, quickly pretending to answer the question. Hmm... it's hard to pretend. I don't know this question. Let's try another bamboo slip. Hmm... I don't recognize the characters. Let's try another one.

Master Wei only made half a round before sitting back down. As soon as he sat down, he and Master Cheng exclaimed in unison, "Sigh—"

Weizu Academy.

The third round of trials begins.

Master Li read out the rules of the exam: "This short test is called... You ask, I answer. I will first ask a short poem, and the student who answers first will be the first questioner, and will choose one person from among his classmates to answer."

"The first questioner will recite a line of poetry as the question, and the respondent must answer with the next line within one breath."

“The student who answers correctly can become the questioner for the second round, following the previous rules. Note: ... a student who has already been selected cannot be selected again.”

"If the respondent cannot provide the correct verse within a single breath, I will record a lower grade. After the respondents have taken their turn, I will provide another verse, and this cycle will continue."

"Any student who receives three lower grades will have their exams terminated. The student with three lower grades will remain and, along with four students from the other four Poetry Schools, will take another exam with additional questions. The lowest grade in this month's joint exam will be determined on the spot."

A collective gasp filled the air.

Sure enough, they shouldn't have thought this joint exam would go smoothly; it turns out they saved their dirty tricks for last!

Qu Rong didn't even have time to gasp; instead, she glanced frantically at Wei Yao. Oh no, she'd definitely choose him! Didn't all his previous two exams amount to nothing?
This kind of exam is so unfair!
Master Li asked, "Anyone with questions about the examination rules may raise their hand now."

Wu Ji raised his body and hand: "Does the teacher know everyone's name? When recording the grades, please don't write down other people's inferior grades under my name."

Wei Jian objected: "Hey? Who are you cursing!"

Master Li tapped the ruler and said, "Wei Jian, this is your first warning. Raise your hand if you have any questions, and do not say anything unrelated to the exam."

Wu Ji was relieved. As long as he wasn't confused with Wei Jian, he wouldn't suffer any losses.

Master Li: "Since there are no questions, let's begin the test. Disciples, listen to the question... but you are not thinking." He spoke slowly at first, but then recited the poem at lightning speed.

Wei Yao responded even faster: "So be it!"

Qu Rong was filled with grief and indignation.

頳尾: red tail.

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(End of this chapter)