Chapter 74 (2/2)
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The afternoon was the literary exam. When the math section ended, it was closely followed with the literature section and the rites section. Previously still leaning on the feeling of pride from extreme self-satisfaction, Ning Que instantly was blindsided – Sang Sang’s worries were reasonable. All day long busily eating hot and sour noodles with a fried egg, and going to the Red Sleeves to accompany girls and chat, braving the rain and going to Spring Wind Pavilion to kill; a pitiful youth worried about earning a few silvers today to carry on a few pockets truly didn’t have time for those several entrance exam topic scrolls and carry them back – and even if he carried them back it was no use. A fellow who spent the whole year on making a living in the Gra.s.slands, where would he get what things? If he was to write a response from memory about the Daoists it was no problem, but about anything else was unthinkable.
Ning Que didn’t think about becoming a blank test hero – that was too pretentious, as pretentious as the State Master and the Imperial Brother in the pavilion outside of the Academy. So he honestly swapped two brushes, extremely honestly cramming two exam scrolls from head to tail. As for the contents of his response, in the end it didn’t have half a relations.h.i.+p with the topic – that wasn’t within the scope of what he had considered, he was just absurdly hoping that the beautiful and tidy scroll appearance would make the Academy instructors score him with compa.s.sion and mercy.
While responding to topics, he also touched upon a small idea – because he knew that within these two sections, his sole advantage was that his handwriting was better than the people beside him by much more, so since the math section, he put all of his attention on writing. Also…….he meticulously used his own very smallest Hairpin Flower Small Script.
Using Hairpin Flower Small Script wasn’t to hide anything – alright, indeed it was to hide his gender, wanting to have instructors think the owner of this exam paper was a beautiful, stupid little Miss of an official’s family and skilled at letters, thus giving a little more unspeakable of a score.
The bell once again rung, and the literary text had concluded. Ning Que walked from the examination hall with a shortage of enthusiasm. To Sang Sang with a face full of expectancy he opened his hands, showing an innocent expression, and he prepared to accompany Chu YouXian on a special trip to hastily find a place to eat at the Academy, then to begin preparing for the martial test in the afternoon.
Regarding the three examinations of music, shooting and Imperial examination sections, Ning Que was extremely confident. So facing the Academy’s instructors and officials with an earnest gaze, to that room full of musical instruments, he didn’t hesitate to choose…..to give up.
It’s not like I’m the musician for the Red Sleeves – how would I have the skills to play these? He was annoyed thinking these d.a.m.n words, following the flow of examinees to the great gra.s.sfield outside of the Academy. Unknowingly when, tens of pairs of army steeds had been led to the gra.s.sfield, and a military officer in charge had come from the army and stood to a side, indifferently looking at the eager or perhaps pale faces of the students.
The shooting section was shooting arrows, and the Imperial section was a free choice for riding a horse or driving a horse. Of course Ning Que chose to ride a horse – in the Gra.s.slands for these few years, he always dealt with horses and arrows, and believed he wouldn’t be lacking more than anyone else.
Beside the gra.s.sfield at a distance, Sang Sang holding up the big black umbrella with her small fists cheered him on.
He smiled, and with an encouraged mindset he turned to the field and went over.
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While the examinees who were partic.i.p.ating in the entrance exam took the last three martial tests, within a clear and bright open room in the Academy, instructors were surrounding the place reading and scoring examinations from the morning’s three sections. The vast majority of instructors were already white haired, who had gone through this scene an unknowable amount of times, and were naturally not nervous, grasping teapots and sucking on smoking pipes leisurely and relaxedly – and occasionally writing down a score in ink and occasionally lifting their heads and chatting with their colleagues. An instructor commented on the difficult of today’s exam papers saying,
“This year’s entrance exam was from Senior Brother. His temperament is gentle and naturally it wouldn’t be too hard. If it was like the last topics from Second Senior Brother, who knows if there would’ve been a bunch of crying and weeping in the exam hall today?”
“The rites section and the literary section were still fine. This math section’s question was simply giving away points – anyone would know that Master that old man is fond of wine. Half of one jug and continuously halving it into one drop, would Master still need to use his sword to chop that drop of wine into halves? Such a simple math section and there’s actually this many examinees that got it wrong. I truly don’t know how their brains work!”
An instructor curiously asked, “Even if it seems simple it’s not simple, but what I’m more worried about is, back then when Master was traveling abroad and first went to XiLing Divine Mountain, how many jugs of wine did he drink? How many catties of peach blossoms did he cut?”
Someone answered with a laugh, “That year Master drank seven big jugs of wine, and plucked all of the peach blossoms bare on XiLing Divine Mountain.”
“But it’s said that, that year the one who drank wine was Master, and the one who plucked bare the peach blossoms on XiLing was someone else, Senior Uncle who followed Master traveling. I also think that Master has a refined temperament, rather Senior Uncle’s violent temper seems more fitting.”
Mentioning the words ‘Senior Uncle’, the Instructors were a bit taciturn, and then returned to normal. Someone said smiling, “But on our Academy lawn, those peach trees were personally planted by Master. Every time those old Daoists come from XiLing’s Clear Sky Temple, the unsightlyness of their faces are even more miserable than when their mothers died – I really think Master is very bad!”
The instructors within the scoring room all had a big laugh. Making fun of the world’s most sacred XiLing shrine, for them it was a daily form of routine entertainment and the laughing seemed to be especially arrogant.
It must be said that the Academy south of ChangAn City was truly a very wondrous place.
The instructor’s laughter gradually subsided, and began to turn to scoring. “Master drank two jugs of wine, and cut the whole mountain’s peach blossoms…..is the correct answer. Before in the exam hall I noticed that an examinee called Ning Que answered the quickest, and could be regarded as top cla.s.s.”
“Top cla.s.s without objection, just that I have one question – why did that examinee answer with two (er) jugs and not two jugs of wine?”
“Perhaps that is a personal habit? Or perhaps this “two” word has something particular to it? It truly is puzzling.”
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