Volu Top Marks in the Imperial Examination (1/2)

Volu Top Marks in the Imperial Examination

In the sixth month of the sixteenth year of Xiande, Suiyun arrived in Jianye In the eighth month, he attained the top yuan</e envoy arrived to propose a e alliance

In the twelftharrived in Southern Chu In the first le ed to Southern Chu’s Crown Prince, Zhao Jia Princess Changle was appointed as Crown Princess

4</sup> of Yong As Princess Changle’s birth coincided with Gaozu’s ascension to the throne, she was ranted the title of Princess ChangleSouthern Chu Dynastic Records</e Suiyun</e the exarounds, I stretched my tired body These last several days had worn me out The individual examination room was narrow and small As I did not have money for bribes, by the third day, the entire rooulfed by the smell of the chamber pot If my father and I had not previously wandered far froh some difficult ti while in that rooal with le coin left in my possession There was still half a month before the results were announced What should I do until then? Perhaps I should sell calligraphy and paintings, or help others write letters

Returning to the inn, I calculated thatthe four treasures of the study,⁶ I decided to set up shop before the Confucian Te to help him write two letters, I was allowed to set up a stall in front of his store Unfortunately, business wasn’t too great Those who ca letters were all rapher’s skill After waiting for a long while without any custo housewife in an azure⁷ dress walked over Judging by her attire, I could tell that she was aBut she seehteen or nineteen years old What a pity

Timidly, she said, “Sir,⁸ I⁹ wish to file a co up the brush, I questioned, “What kind of lawsuit? Who are you suing?”

Blushi+ng, she replied, “My⁹ husband was unfortunate and passed away I⁹ wish to remarry, but my father-in-laill not per for some details, I wrote a few lines:

<blockquote class="Quote">12</sup> should I wed or not?</blockquote>

Baffled at the words that I had written, she asked, “Sir, just these words … aren’t they too few?”

Proudly, I replied, “Rest assured, as long as you file the coree to your wish to reave ratefully and thought to myself, Here is today’s dinner I have to work harder</eain, there was no more business

Before two hours¹³ had passed, thereturned delighted, thankingthe complaint Once the daren¹⁴ saw my lawsuit, he approved ht The current Ih value on ethics andwould only cause her to lose her chastity However, if she had an affair, then it would becoleft, htfall, I had earned enoughexpenses Of course, I did not dare to write too many complaints for lawsuits If someone wished to file a lawsuit, I would try to think of ways to dissuade the too many petitions for lawsuits would harm my reputation

After several days, I had earned enough money to able to stay in Jianye until the results were released Closing the stall, I spentto other people converse A pot of tea was enough to last h I had closed the stall, if people were to look for me, I would continue to write letters for them I had to pass the tie to use what I had learned froes¹⁶ to help predict other people’s fates Quite honestly, my predictions weren’t all that accurate But with the help of my observations aided by my keen senses, I swiftly becah money to use, so I limited my fortunes to three per day with one additional fortune told for free Strangely, this quickly piqued the interests of others and thein To protect edsome medicine to make my face look more yellow

On one particular day, noon was fast approaching I had already told three fortunes and decided to close up shop once I had told the free fortune A young man rushed over in a hurry and asked, “Sir, I aht word that ive birth But she was unwell I rushed back, but have not yet returned home I don’t knohy, but my heart is very uneasy Would you¹⁷ please divine whether the labor will go well and the gender of the baby?”

Fiddling around with the divination tools, I calculated for so, “No problem, minor risks but overall safe It may be risky for your sick wife, but as you both have perforo well You will have children of both genders Brother¹⁸ is really fortunate”

How did I know this? I actually did not This was not so that one could predict, but surely I couldn’t say soitate him half to death However, his face looked honest and considerate and his body looked healthy Froood relationshi+p with his wife There shouldn’t be any proble additional children As for the health of his wife, I put it down to his absence Without the husband present, of course a wife about to give birth would become unhappy Once the husband returned, his ould undoubtedly be happy and would give birth without any probleirl, allowingman was about to happily pay, I infor ed man ran over and happily said, “Third brother,¹⁹ you’ve returned! Sister-in-law²⁰ has given birth to twins of enders!²¹ Co man froze for aoff I took a deep breath As I reveled in ood luck, I noticed the looks of admiration on the faces of others, and quickly becaray seated by the entrance stood and walked before me Calmly, he asked, “Sir, please predict arded him He seemed to be about twenty-seven years old He possessed a tall and vigorous body, and had a calm look on his handsoed man dressed in azure⁷ and an attendant dressed in black Hesitating, I responded, “I²² have already coray-clothed man replied, “I knoould be difficult for Sir, but I a the capital tomorrow, thus would like for Sir to help, however reluctant you may be”

I looked at the three individuals I could see froray-clothedcoreen-clothed man seemed somewhat disdainful, there was also a look of hope on his features As for the attendant, there was alook on his face It see the days and realizing that the results of the imperial examination would be released the day after tomorrow, I replied, “Fine,²³ it’s alood This divination will be ray-clothedbecause of his actions Puzzled, he could only ask, “I am about to embark upon a journey and would like to knohether it will be o the divination tools for some time, I answered, “The abysmal, water, six at the top Bound with cords and ropes, shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls, for three years one does not find the way, misfortune²⁴ I am afraid that sire’s²⁵ journey will be difficult with every step” After concluding, I stole a look at his facial expressions and thought, People like you are usually confident; for you to waver with indecision, then the situation you face must be troublesome

His expression dull, he asked, “May I ask: what is the difficulty?”

How could I know? Thinking, I concluded that the man must be a soldier from his demeanor Of the two others, they ray-clothedhappening in Southern Chu? Regardless, I only needed to be a bit auity, I replied, “In-fighting within, strong ene as sire is careful and prudent, there uous, ray-clothed h, he turned and left The green-clothed ed man took out a banknote and left it on the table When I took a look at the banknote when they had gone far away, I discovered that it orth a thousand taels of silver I al the banknote into my clothes, I quickly closed up shop and left

After a few more days passed, the results of the imperial exahth month I was a bit hesitant If it was a few days earlier, I hoped for nothing reat result But noith a pocketful of retful of my earlier decision to take part in the exao to see the results Instead, I stayed inover the drafts of o off outside A shop assistant and the owner of the inn excitedly pushed the door open and entered In a loud voice, they proclairatulations lord!²⁶ Lord has cost the three candidates of the iyuan</ereat fortune to be able to cater to you!²⁷ Would the lord yuan please write a few characters for this humble shop?”

So ht not necessarily chance upon the fall of Southern Chu Furthermore, I had heard that Hanlin Academy’s Library possessed over a est library, and I once again beca of Southern Chu had issued an edict to collect books and calligraphy from all over the world in order to build the Palace of Sublime Culture²⁸ I probably would have the chance to participate

That night, around 5 PM, I brought rounds The area outside of the entrance was filled with the new jinshi+,²⁹ all of ere dressed with new clothes and were in high spirits When I arrived at the entrance, I realized that everyone was looking atit strange, a scholar with a square face and big ears approached, inquiring, “Is this brother³⁰ here to participate in the Qionglin Feast³¹ for new my head, I replied, “Yes, exactly Pardon me,my words, the scholar revealed a look of respect before responding, “Turns out that the new yuan has arrived Please excuse my lack of manners I²² ayan</einally, seventy-nine new athered at the entrance before I had arrived, waiting only for yuan</ee looks in their eyes All the other new s Just as I was finding it difficult to handle everyone co official leading a nu our nuanized by rank with the yuan at the head, and led towards the palace Behind yan and tanhua, respectively, with the rest of the seventy-plus new h the streets towards the royal capital, the route was lined with the coress We entered the royal capital via the Chaoyang Gate³² As the ate to enter the inner city, typically only the Eate The only other individuals ere perate were the new lin Feast After entering the palace grounds, I noticed that other than the rock gardens and flora, I could hear the sounds of wo at us

Reaching the Qionglin Garden, ere led to our assigned seats by the eunuchs of the Palace Directorate of Ceremonies³³ As ere seated, a eunuch announced in a high-pitched voice, “His Majesty arrives!” I saw an old roup of court ladies enter the garden With everyone else, I prostrated !”³⁴

The king weakly and without strength replied, “All³⁵ arise”