74 I Chopped a Mass of Peach Blossom that Spring II (2/2)
Ning Que was conscious that there were many more candidates than usual recommended by the Military Ministry this year. At first, he thought that it might be because the court worried about deficiencies in the military generals, and never thought there would be strings pulled behind the scenes. Thinking of how he fought bravely on the battlefields, chopped woods in the forest, toiled away, and accrued military merits all of those years to be able to pass the preliminary examination evaluation, Ning Que felt indignant. He cursed in a low voice, ”2,000 taels of silvers… which is no bigger than half of a spread-open blanket—I can't believe such money could buy your way into the Academy!”
Upon hearing this, Sangsang, who stood quietly next to him on the other side, lifted her head and looked up at Ning Que. She thought to herself, ”I know you are upset about this Young Master, but why on earth have you brought up that matter?”
”2,000 taels of silvers? Are you kidding me? It's not enough to even bribe the lodge porter of the Academy! My old man supplicated all the people he could reach and spent 20,000 taels of silvers… That's just for the evaluation qualification, and no guarantee for enrollment!”
Chu Youxian glanced at him with contempt and said, ”There is no ministry of the Tang that can guarantee enrollment, as that is beyond the realm of those officials, not even His Majesty can. So save your disdain for me. My old man told me that I just need to take the examination and gain experience so that I can have a good marriage in the future.”
The two continued talking thus. Then the prince, Li Peiyan, accompanied by some officials and instructors, walked down their way, taking notice of a thin and weak little girl, Sangsang, while completely ignoring Ning Que and Chu Youxian nearby. He turned around to the instructors and said smiling, ”It's amazing to watch such a little girl come and take the exam. I guess she's even two years younger than Wang Ying, who we saw in Lin City.”
Wang Ying was a prodigy that was brought by an instructor of the Academy from a distant rural institution to Chang'an. He was almost 14 and the new sensation introduced by officials to the prince. No one expected to see such a swarthy little girl here—judging by her dress, she was simply too plain…
”She's my handmaiden,” Ning Que explained, making a bow with his hands in front.
Li Peiyan felt a bit embarrassed to be mistaken about a person. The officials that followed had a quick response, glowered at one instructor, and asked, ”How could a handmaiden get in on commencement day?”
The middle-aged instructor appeared not to notice the anger of the officials and answered composedly, ”There's no restriction on the entrance of handmaidens and servants into the Academy. This is the commencement ceremony, not the examination—she's only banned from entering the exam rooms later.”
Having been answered defiantly thus by the instructor, the official, no matter how high-ranking he was and how much power he could wield, could not even lose his temper. In the Academy, it was pointless and useless. The prince smiled embarrassedly, stretched his hand and patted Ning Que's shoulder, saying no words. He then carried on with all the officials.
Looking at the instructor beside Li Peiyan and nudging Chu Youxian gently by his shoulder, Ning Que praised in a low voice, ”Hey, this is called not salty (not ”Xian”). I think I'm growing more and more fond of this place.”
The bell was tolled for a second time, indicating that it was the last call.
One instructor loudly declared the rules of the exam without emotion, and yet the students were too nervous to remember because the rules were too loose to follow—no limit on talking and on asking questions, except that answers were not allowed to be passed around.
At the sound of the bell, the students, with their long robes billowing in the breeze, tread on the petals of peach blossoms on the slate ground. They all entered their rooms ready to take the exam, leaving Sangsang standing alone outside on the stone ground. As spring rain started to fall, Sangsang lifted her head and squinted at the rain, before she opened the big black umbrella that was tied on her back.
The Academy Entrance Exam was similar to the Imperial Exam of the Tang and was divided into 6 disciplines: Etiquette, Music, Toxophily, Driving, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. The exams in the morning were Etiquette, Calligraphy, and Mathematics, and first among them was the math exam, which did not often fall into the specialty of the Tang people. Or in other words, they could not care more about it.
It was quiet in the exam rooms, where pink blooms outside the window were matched with white walls like a beautiful scenery painting, creating a meditating atmosphere. Upon receiving the exam papers, the candidates behind their desks were all in turmoil, bemoaning and sighing.
”Why comprehensive questions again?” Some cried out with their hands tightly clutching their hair.
”Aren't we so unfortunate?” Some complained with pale faces.
Because a rule of no noise simply did not exist, all the candidates could not help expressing their complaints and grief in all sorts of ways. It was known to all that the comprehensive questions were the most difficult ones in recent years, usually devised by literature and mathematics professors. Sometimes, the candidates would even have problems comprehending the questions.
Ning Que put his writing brush on an ink slab, deeply inhaling the chilly air. He then opened the exam papers, on which only one question was presented that was merely a few dozen words. Written as follows:
”In the spring, the Headmaster of the Academy was touring around different countries and encountered a mountain of peach blossoms. He then climbed up to enjoy the scenery and have a drink. At first, the headmaster cut off one mass of peach blossoms and drank one bottle of wine. Later, he cut off one mass of peach blossoms, but saving his wine, he only drank half of the bottle. And then one mass, half of half of the bottle… In this way up to the summit of the mountain, all the bottles of wine were finished. The headmaster looked around blankly, and asked all of you, 'How many masses of peach blossoms have I cut off today? And how many bottles of wine have I drunk?'”
…