Top Scholar

Chapter 259 State Examination
"There are always people better than you, and mountains beyond mountains. I dare not be arrogant," Su Lu said modestly.

“Hongzhi is here to support me,” Zhu Jie said with a smile. “We don’t need to read his articles.”

"That won't do! We absolutely must see the work of Luzhou's number one scholar!" The local scholars smiled as they took Su Lu's article, and after reading it, they were all full of admiration. "Truly deserving of his reputation, truly deserving of his reputation!"

"Such a masterpiece must be seen by all the students in Luzhou!" The teachers then ordered their servants to make a copy so that they could take it back and spread the word.

Don't underestimate their abilities. These people control public opinion in Luzhou City. Through their propaganda, soon all the scholars in the city will know about this article.

Although it won't be of much help to Su Lu, who is already well-known, most candidates are unknown and desperately need this opportunity to be known!
Moreover, Mr. Feng is a close advisor to Prefect Jia. If he takes the article back, he might present it to the Prefect.

The provincial examination is just a few days away. Who wouldn't want the prefect to see their essay beforehand? So no matter how high Mr. Feng's fees are, there are always people asking him for calligraphy and paintings...

After all the instruction on the articles was completed, the village teachers returned to the lecture hall to receive the students' bows and thanks.

As the meeting adjourned, the hosts presented the examinees with small gifts such as study paper and ink, demonstrating their refined and thoughtful manners. This deeply impressed upon them the selfless dedication of this prominent family to the education of their hometown.

~~
After holding several literary gatherings, it was already the first day of the fourth lunar month.

Just as dawn broke, the lights came on at the Su family's house. The landlady and Su Tai were up early and busy, and even Xiao Tiantian helped boil water.

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the examinees got up, and Little Fish and Little Shrimp brought them hot water to help them brush their teeth, wash their faces, and get dressed.

In the living room, Manager Tian had already set out a table of light yet nutritious breakfasts, each dish carrying a beautiful meaning—clearly Chef Hu's creation.

After the meal, the proprietress and Manager Tian packed the food and drinks into a basket and brought it to the three of them for their inspection.

"Let's go." Su Youcai stood up and was about to leave for the exam.

"Second Uncle, wait a minute!" Chun-ge reminded him, "We haven't paid respects to our ancestors yet."

"I wasn't prepared for this." Su Youcai was caught off guard. Sacrificial rites were always the responsibility of the eldest son's family; he had never had any concept of them before.

“I’m ready,” Chun Ge’er said in a deep voice.

He glanced at Su Tai as he spoke. Su Tai nodded, then solemnly carried an exquisite mahogany box to the base of the north wall and placed it carefully on the long table.

Then she took out incense and candles, lit them quickly and arranged them, and then stepped aside.

Su Man then looked at everyone with a serious expression and said, "This contains a treasure left by our ancestors, which can bless us to succeed in the imperial examination!"

"Ah, we have this treasure in our house?" Su Youcai was stunned. "How come I never knew?"

"I only obtained it by chance a few years ago, but it has worked every time." Su Man, being an upright gentleman, would not lie even if he wanted to keep a secret. "In short, Second Uncle, don't ask too many questions. If you believe, it will work; if you ask too many questions, it won't work anymore."

"Oh, oh," Su Youcai quickly stopped talking.

Su Man then glanced at Su Lu and said, "Why don't you bow as well?"

Su Lu finally understood what his two older brothers had been secretly doing during the county exam. In this atmosphere, he didn't dare say anything more. Besides, praying before the exam couldn't hurt; he'd even prayed to Newton in his past life, so what was one more time...?

He then followed his elder brother and father, kneeling and bowing respectfully to the mahogany box.

After kneeling and bowing, Su Man stood up and said to Su Youcai and Su Lu, "Let's go, our ancestors will bless us with literary success."

"Let's go." The two nodded and followed Su Man as she turned and left.

Before leaving, Chun-ge looked at Xia-ge deeply, thinking, "Today, I can only rely on you."

Su Tai nodded emphatically, "Don't worry, brother, I will definitely persevere to the end!"
~~
When the three members of the Su family arrived on the street, the gates of the county government office were also open. Mr. Zhang, carrying a lantern, led his fourteen disciples out in single file.

"Set off the firecrackers!" Steward Tian shouted, and Yu Men and the others immediately lit the firecrackers that had been hanging on the bamboo whips.

The red flowers crackled and popped all over the dark Pearl Alley, and everyone in the town hall came out to loudly offer their blessings.

"Let's go!" Mr. Zhang said in a deep voice.

The group then formed a team and marched proudly towards the state school!

The Luzhou Prefectural School was located on the west side of the prefectural seat, near the Bell and Drum Tower.

The organization of the state examination was much better than that of the county examination. The state set up a fence at the entrance of the school, with a large group of officials on duty. Only candidates and their guarantors were allowed to enter, while family members accompanying them to the examination were not allowed to pass.

Su Lu and his two companions took the examination baskets from the page and Steward Tian, ​​waved goodbye to the landlady and Xiao Tiantian, then turned and passed through the fence to join the crowd of people taking the exam.

Although the group accompanying the examinees were separated from the crowd behind them, there was still a huge throng of people in front of them. "I thought there wouldn't be many people for the prefectural exam, but I didn't expect there to be so many," Li Qiyu exclaimed. "There must be over a thousand people."

"About that," Ma Zhaizhang said. "This year, two hundred people passed the county examination, and there are also those who failed the prefectural examination, making up four times the number of this year's total, which adds up to exactly one thousand."

“There isn’t a single one of these thousand people who is worse than you,” Cheng Wanfan said quietly to 'Sun Shan'.

"Stop talking, or I'm going to cry," Li Qiyu said dejectedly.

"Be content." At this moment, Mr. Zhang laughed and said, "At least we only have one prefecture and three counties. If it were a prefecture with more than ten counties in Jiangnan, the number of people taking the prefectural examination would be four or five thousand, but the number of officials would not be much more than ours."

"So, we actually benefited?" Li Qiyu said.

"Of course, so do your best on the exam," Mr. Zhang encouraged his disciples. "There are a total of one hundred spots for the academy examination, and each of you must take one!"

"Yes, sir!" the disciples replied in unison.

As they spoke, the group arrived at the square outside the academy gate, searching for lanterns with the words "Hejiang" written on them... The state examination required roll call by county, and after each county was called, the candidates would enter the examination hall one by one.

Fortunately, there weren't many counties; besides Luzhou, there were only three: Naxi, Jiang'an, and Hejiang. The examinees found the large lantern with the words "Hejiang" written on it, and the instructor Hai standing under the lantern, without much effort.

Hai Han arrived in Luzhou two days ago specifically to escort the examinees. He held a pen in one hand and the list of candidates from his county who were going to take the provincial examination in the other, marking the name of each candidate as they arrived.

"Your Excellency, Instructor." Su Lu also lined up and walked up to Instructor Hai, saying politely, "Student Su Lu has come to report for duty."

"Mr. Su has arrived." Instructor Hai was even more polite, ticking off his name as he smiled and said, "The top ten in your county don't need to queue here. Just wait at the entrance of the academy."

He whispered, "Our county has the most people, a total of 317. I don't know how long we'll have to take attendance."

Each of the three counties in the prefecture has the same quota of fifty people. The fact that Hejiang has the most candidates only means that they have the fewest people who passed the prefectural exam, and they've all been crammed into this final stage.

"Alright, let's go then." Su Lu then called to Lin Zhihong, Qiao Feng, and Cheng Wanzhou, and amidst the envious gazes of their fellow villagers, they arrived at the gate of the academy.

"Halt!" The officers stopped them at the gate.

“Brother, we are candidates who have applied for a seat in the hall.” Su Lu and the others then showed their tickets, which were stamped with the character 'Hall'.

The officer then carefully examined the four people's tickets by the light of the lantern, compared them with the roster, and even compared the information on the tickets with the physical characteristics of the four people. Only after confirming that everything was correct did he allow them to pass.

After entering through the gate, the prefectural clerk, dressed in the robes of a ninth-rank official, ordered four men to take all the items out of the examination basket and place them on the table. He meticulously inspected everything, even breaking the snacks in half...

The clerk ordered the four men to remove their shoes and socks, take off their hats, and loosen their belts before being searched.

To be honest, it was a terrible experience, ten times stricter than airport security, and even more torturous for someone with high self-esteem. Su Lu finally understood why Mr. Gangshan would rather never pass the imperial examination than suffer this humiliation.

Su Lu and the other two were alright, but Cheng Wanzhou couldn't bear the humiliation and started sobbing. Fortunately, Su Lu and the other two were there with him, so he didn't break down.

As he was getting dressed again, he said with a sob in his voice, "If I had known that getting a place in the hall would be this bad, I would never have bothered to be in the top ten."

This system originated from the Song Dynasty's tradition of "separate examinations" to prevent cheating. Simply put, it involved bringing the top-performing candidates from the county examinations to the Minglun Hall to take the exams under the watchful eye of the prefect.

It's not hard to understand why they were searched so thoroughly. How could the lower-ranking officials possibly allow them the opportunity to openly cheat in front of the prefect?

Of course, having a seat in the prefectural hall also has many advantages. Their papers will be given special attention by the prefect, and they will also have the opportunity to receive an additional interview, making their chances of admission significantly higher than those of candidates from other places.

After the search was completed, the four of them dressed themselves again, put the items back into the examination basket, and then entered the academy first.

~~
On the other side, Su Youcai and Su Man waited for another half an hour before all the candidates in the county finally arrived.

Hai Jiaoyu hurriedly reported to the judge in charge, but by then the candidates from Luzhou and the other two counties had already arrived, so he could only patiently wait for them to finish searching.

As a result, it wasn't until dawn that the inspector arrived with his search team... The good thing was that the search was naturally less strict; they only briefly searched their exam baskets and touched their bodies before letting them in.

But there's nothing to be thankful for, because the forty candidates who have secured a place in the main hall will occupy at least thirty of the admission slots. These nine hundred and sixty non-professional candidates will have to compete for the remaining seventy spots. The competition is exceptionally fierce!
As they split up to find seats, Su Man said to Su Youcai in a deep voice, "Second Uncle, just go for it! Our ancestors will protect us!"

"Yes, good luck always!" Su Youcai nodded emphatically. He actually had no idea what was going on, but he couldn't let it affect his nephew.

He looked up at the sky and saw that the weather was perfect, with not a cloud in the sky, making it a good day for the exam.

Su Youcai suddenly smiled. Having come this far, he had no regrets; all that remained was to enjoy the process…

As for the results, we have the younger generation to rely on!
(End of this chapter)