Chapter 2: I, Xuedong, Am Not Simple
Li Xiaonan bowed her head and body to Mr. Gao, then threw herself into her eldest sister’s arms, feigning weakness as if she were about to faint.
“My brother is exhausted. I’ll carry him back first, and he can ask the teacher to explain it tonight,” Li Jinzhu quickly pulled Li Xiaonan up and ran off with him on her back.
“Hurry back and rest! You don’t need to come tonight, let him rest well! Don’t come!” Mr. Gao followed Li Jinzhu for a few steps behind her and waved his hand, calling out.
Alas, Xuedong is too thin and weak. He has been studying too hard lately, and it has taken a great toll. Alas, it’s not easy for these siblings.
Mr. Gao looked at Li Jinzhu’s clothes, patched over and over, and Li Xuedong’s frailty. He felt a pang of sadness for a while before pacing back to continue waiting for the other two students.
Li Jinzhu carried Li Xiaonan on her back and ran all the way into the small woodshed behind the tavern.
Her second sister, Li Yuzhu, who was sitting by the woodshed door mending clothes, suddenly jumped up, dropping a pile of old clothes.
Li Xuedong, disguised as Li Xiaonan, was sitting next to Li Yuzhu, his head bowed as he unpicked an old small jacket. He was thrown backward by Li Yuzhu’s sudden movement.
Li Yuzhu lunged forward, but before she could embrace Li Xiaonan, Li Jinzhu’s legs gave out, and she fell to the ground.
“It’s nothing, nothing at all, everything is going smoothly,” Li Xiaonan quickly explained, seeing that her second sister’s face had turned pale with fright.
Li Yuzhu let out a sigh, her legs weakened, and she sat on the ground, raising her hand to wipe away a cold sweat.
Her heart had been in turmoil all day, as if being fried and boiled.
“Did the teacher not recognize him?” Li Xuedong crawled in front of Li Xiaonan and asked in a low voice.
“No,” Li Xiaonan stretched her neck, looked around, and pushed Li Xuedong into the woodshed. “Hurry and change back!”
Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu each took charge of one, quickly combing their hair and changing their clothes. Li Xiaonan let out a long sigh, “Alright, Eldest Sister, keep an eye out. I’ll explain the exam questions to Brother.”
Li Jinzhu took the needlework and sat by the door mending clothes, watching for any movement. Li Yuzhu went to the kitchen to boil water.
Li Xiaonan and Li Xuedong put their heads together, meticulously explaining the exam questions from that day, how she had approached writing the two essays and the poem, what else she had thought of, and the examination process to Li Xuedong.
After Li Xuedong understood, he recited them until late at night, memorizing the two essays and one poem by heart.
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The next day, the results were posted in the morning, and the hall session was in the afternoon.
As the sun just began to rise, two yamen runners came out, beating gongs, and posted a bright red notice on the white screen wall outside the county school.
Mr. Gao, a tall man, stood far away, looking over the crowd at the lively scene in front of the screen wall with a calm expression.
He had brought three students to the examination but held no hope.
He knew his three students inside and out; none of them were particularly intelligent, their studies were all very ordinary, and moreover, no one from their Gao Family School had ever passed.
Mr. Gao was just recalling the items her mother had asked him to buy and bring back when he suddenly heard someone call out Li Xuedong’s name. He froze for a moment and quickly asked the two students, “Did they just call Li Xuedong?”
The two students nodded in unison.
“I’m going to see!” Mr. Gao said, and then ran forward, holding the front of his long gown.
Before long, Mr. Gao, with his hat askew from pushing through the crowd, saw the two students. He couldn’t speak and burst into laughter, “It really is Xuedong, sixth place! Not bad, not bad at all! Quickly look, where is Xuedong?”
Li Xuedong placed sixth in the inner circle. Mr. Gao’s other two students were both outside the outer circle.
County Magistrate Huang posted a notice stating that students outside the circle were permitted to participate in the subsequent examinations.
Li Xuedong’s sixth place greatly encouraged Mr. Gao, who immediately decided to let the other two students continue to participate in all the examinations to broaden their horizons.
In the afternoon, County Magistrate Huang met with the twenty students from the inner circle and thirty students from the outer circle in the main hall of the county school.
According to their rankings, Li Xuedong stood in the front row.
County Magistrate Huang did not ask random questions or conduct random examinations. Instead, he selected one current affairs essay from each of the top ten students and explained it in detail, pointing out what was good and what was lacking.
Mr. Gao stood outside the main hall, craning his neck, listening with admiration.
County Magistrate Huang was a genuine Jinshi scholar from two examinations; his level was indeed high!
After explaining ten ink scrolls, County Magistrate Huang looked at each of the top ten students one by one. He stopped in front of Li Xuedong and smiled, “Li Xuedong, lift your head, don’t be afraid.”
Li Xuedong nervously lifted his head and looked at County Magistrate Huang.
County Magistrate Huang’s thin face was deeply wrinkled, and his eyes were bright and gentle.
“Your essay, ‘On Being Human,’ and your interpretation of ‘Choosing the Doctrine of the Mean’ are excellent, extremely excellent! Study hard,” County Magistrate Huang said with a smile, patted Li Xuedong, and moved on.
Li Xuedong let out a breath, feeling a cold sweat on his back.
When County Magistrate Huang called him, he thought the magistrate had discovered that his sister had impersonated him for the exam.
Impersonation for an examination was a serious crime!
The next day, the morning was spent on the third examination, and the afternoon on the fourth and fifth examinations.
The morning session included one current affairs essay and one classical discourse, with over a hundred characters to be memorized of the legal statutes.
In this examination, Li Xiaonan followed her usual principle of blending in, leaving neither too early nor too late, and immediately rushed into her eldest sister Li Jinzhu’s arms.
Mr. Gao looked at the genuinely weak-looking true Xiaonan, who was impersonating Xuedong, with immense concern and affection, repeatedly urging Li Jinzhu to quickly carry Xuedong back, as there was still an hour and a half before the afternoon session, and he needed to sleep.
The afternoon had two sessions, each lasting an hour. For each session, students could choose one from current affairs essays, poetry and prose, classical discourse, or parallel prose, and then recite the first two sentences of the morning’s legal statutes.
For the fourth session, Li Xiaonan chose a current affairs essay, and for the fifth session, she chose a five-character, eight-rhyme poem. After finishing, she appeared exhausted and collapsed onto Li Jinzhu’s back, escaping back to the tavern.
After a six-month break, I’m refreshed and starting a new novel!
I will update regularly at 8 PM every night. For this book, I plan to challenge myself to update on time until the end, without any breaks. Please give me your encouragement!
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This novel continues to reference the Northern Song Dynasty as its basic background. However, there will undoubtedly be many places altered for the sake of the story, so please don’t be too critical.
Most of the Imperial Examinations in this chapter are from the “Record of Imperial Examinations in the Qing Dynasty” published by the Palace Museum Press. This book contains many details about the imperial examinations.
The Imperial Examinations, starting from the Sui and Tang dynasties, were basically finalized in the Song dynasty. The overall framework remained largely unchanged thereafter, but details, such as the scope of examination questions, were certainly constantly changing.
These are just references; there’s no need to scrutinize them too deeply.
After all, I am writing an entertainment novel, not a research paper, right?
Finally, please vote!
