Dream of the Red Chamber: Starting with winning over Daiyu's favorability

No matter how unwilling Deng Zechen was, Lin Daiyu's figure had already disappeared into the Land of Illusion.

Deng Zechen was left alone in the palace. After putting down the paper filled with Lin Daiyu's handwriting, Deng Zechen looked around but found nothing different.

For a moment, Deng Zechen couldn't figure out the pattern either. The last time he suddenly broke free was because Feng Ziming saw that he was asleep and called a doctor to wake him up.

I wonder if Lin Daiyu's sudden disappearance was similar to my own.

Forget it, let's finish processing what we've got first.

He immediately calmed himself down, sat down at the table, and carefully read the manuscript about the county examination left by Daiyu. Only after confirming that he had completely memorized and understood it did he reluctantly put it down.

It's a pity that the things in the Land of Illusion can't be taken out. I wonder if Lin Daiyu's manuscript will be preserved here forever.

While speculating, he walked out of the palace, preparing to check other places as usual.

Since entering the Land of Illusion, Deng Zechen has conducted countless checks and has never found any trace of anyone else. Has Lin Daiyu's appearance brought about some new changes?

Unfortunately, there were no new changes.

Before long, Deng Zechen stood in front of the jade archway. As he faced the archway and thought about escaping the Illusionary Realm, the scene of the Illusionary Realm quickly faded away, and Deng Zechen returned to his familiar residence.

Deng Zechen tried to travel back and forth between the Land of Illusion and reality several times, but he was unable to enter Lin Daiyu's dream through the Land of Illusion again.

Although the Land of Illusion is mysterious, the more important thing right now is to copy down Lin Daiyu's writing about the exam questions and practice imitating them. After the exam, there will be plenty of time to carefully study the Land of Illusion.

After Deng Zechen had finished organizing and copying all the information he had recorded in the Land of Illusion onto a piece of paper, he read it silently for a long time to make sure he had memorized it. Then he burned the paper full of exam questions and fell into a deep sleep under the cover of night.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and Deng Zechen felt that he had digested all the content and was at ease.

With only one day left, I stopped studying and started adjusting my mindset to prepare for the exam.

We must be in the best possible condition to prepare for the county examination over the next five days.

As the moon set and the sun rose, a group of students, each carrying their belongings, waited early in order outside the examination hall.

After everyone took their seats according to their assigned numbers, Deng Zechen set out his writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone before carefully examining the first day's topic:

The Four Books: Confucius said, "If you do not desire it, even if you are rewarded, you will not steal it."

The title of the Book of Songs: Serving one's father near home, serving one's ruler far away.

Trial poem topic:

The poem, "Leaving behind a loyal heart to illuminate history," uses the character "青" (qing, meaning green or blue), and consists of six rhymes in five characters.

The first day's county exam questions indeed tested basic knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics. As long as one was familiar with the classics, there wouldn't be any problems. Unfortunately, he didn't have much talent for poetry. Deng Zechen only hoped to be decent and not too bad. After thinking it over, Deng Zechen made a mental draft before starting to write his answer on the draft paper:

The sage's theory on the fundamental way to quell theft lies in clarifying its source and purifying its origins.

Theft arises from desire, and no desire is greater than this. If you yourself do not desire, then the people will naturally return to a sense of honor and shame…

Apart from the proctors patrolling back and forth, the only sounds in the room were the rustling of pens and the soft turning of pages as the candidates wrote furiously.

After a night, Deng Zechen felt that he had answered well and was much more relaxed. When he saw today's policy question, he almost burst out laughing. The reason was that the question was exactly within the scope of Lin Daiyu's predictions!

Policy issues:

Nowadays, displaced people migrate and gather to become bandits. Suppressing them is beyond our capabilities, while appeasement only leads to their rebellion.

How can we ensure that the people have a stable livelihood, live in peace and contentment, and prevent theft before it occurs?

This time, Deng Zechen didn't even need to prepare a mental draft; he immediately picked up his pen and wrote his answer on the draft paper:

I believe that the thieves of today are not born to steal, but are forced to steal out of necessity.

There are two reasons for this:

First, natural disasters are frequent; second, man-made disasters follow one after another. Natural disasters, such as drought and locust plagues, result in complete crop failure.

Man-made disasters... Guan Zhong once said, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette," and Mencius said, "Those who have constant property have constant hearts."

If these four policies are implemented, the people will all be happy to work and cherish their own lives and property. Even if they are driven to become thieves, they will certainly not be willing to go.

In this way, theft will cease without being stopped, and disorder will be quelled without being suppressed.

While the other candidates were still racking their brains, Deng Zechen had already completed most of the content on his draft, and his confident demeanor attracted the attention of everyone in the examination room.

The supervising examiner frowned and shouted:

"Answer your own questions! Stop looking around!"

Deng Zechen remained completely unaffected, focusing intently on copying his answers into the case file. After finishing, he carefully checked it several times to ensure there were no mistakes or omissions before finally relaxing.

The chief examiner, Magistrate Li, who was sitting in the main seat, had a general view of the whole situation from the high platform. He naturally noticed Deng Zechen and became more curious about him.

Another good night's sleep. Unlike the other anxious and exhausted students, Deng Zechen was still full of energy after two days of exams. He was even more overjoyed to receive the third day's answer sheet than the day before.

Topic: On the Responsibilities of Local Gentry.

Magistrate Li is indeed a pragmatist; the questions he sets are all closely related to people's livelihoods. Daiyu, you are my golden finger for passing the imperial examinations!

Almost all the questions they predicted were correct!

That's great! Those who passed the county-level trial might even be able to compete for the top spot in the county examination!

Deng Zechen happily picked up his pen and wrote his answer on the draft paper:

"If a scholar is born in the countryside, then the customs and traditions of the village are his responsibility. Is his responsibility not heavy?"

The role of the gentry is to assist officials in governing the country. When in high office, they should worry about the people; when in retirement, they should worry about the ruler. This is the common sense of the scholar-official class…

On the third day of the exam, half of the participants had already been eliminated, so Deng Zechen, who wrote with great skill, naturally attracted the attention of Magistrate Li once again.

Magistrate Li raised his hand to beckon his subordinates to inquire:

"Whose child is this? Who is his teacher?" After saying that, he pointed to Deng Zechen, who was engrossed in writing.

The subordinate looked up at the candidate that Magistrate Li was pointing to and answered in a low voice:

"He was orphaned at a young age and raised by his uncle. He was known in the area for his diligence. I heard that his uncle also went missing a year ago, and he was able to continue his studies thanks to Lord Lin's financial assistance."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Li nodded slightly, stroked his beard, and said no more.

The final judgment question reminded Deng Zechen of a long-forgotten memory; this question type was indeed very similar to a case analysis:

Please draft a judgment in the case of "impersonating another person to take an exam".

The five-day county examination finally came to an end. Deng Zechen and the few remaining students left the examination hall to go home and wait for news.

On his way back to his residence, Deng Zechen couldn't help but hum a soft hum, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

I was only hoping to get a passable score, but I didn't expect Daiyu's predictions to be so accurate. I'm sure I'll be among the top students now!

Lin Daiyu truly deserves to be called the most beautiful poet among all the beauties, with a clever and insightful mind!

Even though Deng Zechen had made ample preparations for the county examination, he still felt extremely tired after everything was over. After returning to his residence, he suddenly relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Lin Daiyu was preoccupied with her own thoughts, and for the past few days she had been dreaming of the same figure talking to her.

Is he a demon or a deity?

His words were something no one had ever said to her before, and at first glance they seemed a bit unconventional, but upon closer reflection, Lin Daiyu found them quite reasonable.

With such conflicted thoughts, Lin Daiyu tossed and turned on the soft couch, unable to fall asleep until late at night.

Will he appear in my dreams again tonight?