Chapter 105: The Examination
At the third quarter of the Mao hour, the disciples of the Lu Clan preparing for the examination had all arrived, exceeding three hundred in number, a grand sight unseen in previous years.
At this moment, the staff of the Ritual Education Institute surrounded Steward of Ritual Education Lu Yi, appearing under the plaque of Sanwei Hall.
Lu Yi was also dressed in a silver-gray scholar’s robe, but wore a double fish pendant at his waist and a folded black gauze cap on his head, displaying his distinguished status as one of the Lu Clan’s Eight Great Stewards. As he appeared, everyone in the hall fell silent. Whether they were disciples participating in the competition or fathers and elder brothers who came to see them off, they all bowed in unison to Lu Yi, greeting their clan’s Fourth Steward.
Lu Yi’s face was refined and his expression was calm, without any hint of arrogance. He courteously clasped his hands towards the crowd, signaling them to dispense with formalities. Then, a manager from the Ritual Education Institute ordered all examination disciples to stand in a line before Lu Yi. The fathers and elder brothers who came to see them off voluntarily moved to the sides.
Facing the juniors taking the exam, Lu Yi finally revealed the imposing authority of a leader in charge of his clan’s ritual education and literature. He spoke to the disciples in a deep voice, saying, “Our Lu Clan upholds the Way of Confucius and Mencius, with a scholarly family tradition and cultural influence spreading in all directions. Every disciple in the clan has studied since childhood, understanding our teachings and observing etiquette. Therefore, this selection will be based solely on essays to determine merit. All examination disciples, regardless of lineage, must compose an essay within two hours according to the prompt. The best among them will receive a recommendation from our clan to participate in the Nine Rank Official Appraisal held a few months later.”
This was all common knowledge and expected, so Lu Yi did not linger on unnecessary words. After a few simple remarks, he turned and said, “Follow me inside!”
The disciples then solemnly adjusted their robes and lined up, following Lu Yi into Sanwei Hall. They first stood in the main hall. After Lu Yi offered incense to the memorial tablets of their ancestors, they all knelt and kowtowed together, receiving the ancestral inspection.
After standing up, Lu Yi led them through the front hall to the open courtyard between the main hall and the front hall. The courtyard in Sanwei Hall was also very spacious. At this moment, it was densely packed with over three hundred low tables, with several sheets of white paper neatly placed on each table, and cushions in front of them.
In front of the rows of low tables stood a high table, on which rested an object covered by red silk, presumably related to today’s examination.
This was the examination hall for this competition. At this time, in addition to stewards and servants, there were two Lu Clan elders responsible for invigilation. After the disciples paid their respects to the two elders, they took their seats in turn before the tables.
Once all the disciples were seated and had arranged their writing implements, Lu Yi’s stern gaze swept across the hall, and the over three hundred disciples immediately fell silent.
Seeing that there were still over a dozen empty tables, Lu Yi frowned slightly and said, “Where are they?”
A steward beside him quickly reported, “They must have forfeited the exam.”
“To register but not dare to take the exam, what’s the difference from deserting in the face of the enemy?” Lu Yi said sternly, “Investigate the identities of these people and remove them from the Ritual Education Institute!”
The disciples could not help but show shock. The Lu Clan’s Ritual Education Institute was in charge of disciples’ examinations and appraisals. Once removed, it would mean these disciples would almost certainly have no future.
After declaring the end of the future for more than a dozen disciples with a single sentence, Lu Yi showed no sign of emotion and calmly instructed, “Begin the examination.”
The Steward of Ritual Education responded, then lifted the red silk from the high table, revealing an ancient-style zither. At the same time, someone opened the clepsydra, and the dripping water sound reminded the disciples that time had begun to flow…
The disciples hurriedly focused on the ancient zither, racking their brains. This era valued quick thinking, so even in exams, there would be no detailed prompts. They would only be given an object, or a few words, and then the examinees would be free to improvise. While the content was free, the format had to strictly adhere to the rules of parallel prose, with no deviations allowed.
Lu Yun looked at the zither and silently began to draft his thoughts. Just as he conceived an opening, he inadvertently glanced at Lu Xi, who was sitting in front and to his side, already writing furiously. Lu Yun couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, thinking that this young man indeed had the capital for his arrogance; just this quick wit made him feel inferior.
However, he quickly regained his composure and ignored everything outside of the essay, immersing himself wholeheartedly in the composition. It took him a full half-hour before a magnificent piece of writing finally took shape in his mind. Only then did he unhurriedly grind his ink and prepare to write.
At this moment, Lu Xi had already finished and submitted his paper. Under the astonished gaze of the collecting steward, he strode out of the examination hall. As he passed by Lu Yun’s seat, he glanced at Lu Yun’s test paper and saw it was completely blank, not a single word written. Lu Xi couldn’t help but sneer and, in a voice only Lu Yun could hear, uttered two words: “Idiot!”
Lu Yun didn’t know what grudge this Eldest Young Master held against him, but it didn’t stop him from retorting. He also gave a low, cold laugh and said, “Plagiarism!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xi’s expression changed drastically, as if his unspeakable secret had been exposed. He merely glared fiercely at Lu Yun before fleeing the examination hall as if escaping.
Seeing Lu Xi’s reaction, Lu Yun knew his guess was correct. After his initial admiration, he quickly realized that while there might be individuals with extraordinary quick wits, it was fundamentally impossible to write an essay without any thought or draft in an exam that determined one’s destiny.
It must be known that parallel prose has requirements for parallelism and rhyme, and it emphasizes every word choice. Even those with exceptional talent would have to first conceive the entire piece, write a draft, and then refine it word by word, replacing unsuitable words and phrases to achieve perfect tonal harmony and neat parallelism.
Therefore, Lu Xi likely received the topic in advance and had someone prepare the essay for him, enabling him to write without hesitation. Of course, it’s also possible he was a genius blessed by the Literary Star. But if Lu Xi, as the direct grandson of the Great Elder, possessed such unparalleled talent, why would he have been omitted from the initial list of four, and be reduced to competing with us small fry?
In that instant, Lu Yun understood Lu Xin’s earlier implied meaning. It was clearly hinting that no matter how well he wrote this essay, there was no hope of being selected. After all, without Lu Yi’s help, even the Great Elder’s grandson couldn’t have obtained the exam topic in advance. And since Lu Yi could give the topic to Lu Xi, he certainly wouldn’t let that sole quota go to waste!
Having figured it out, Lu Yun did not feel dejected, but instead felt a surge of mockery from the bottom of his heart. The esteemed Lu Clan, boasting a scholarly family tradition, was engaging in such sordid deeds. If this was the true nature of noble clans, what right did they have to be exemplars for the world and pillars of the Great Xuan Dynasty?!
Composing himself, Lu Yun suppressed the distracting thoughts and began to write the first character. By the time he had finished his draft and refined it, a full hour and a half had passed. Lu Yun then meticulously transcribed his essay onto the test paper. When he wrote the final stroke, the clepsydra was almost full.
Lu Yun let out a long sigh, rubbed his wrist, and reread his essay. At this moment, the dripping sound stopped, and the collecting steward said in a deep voice, “Stop writing!”
At this time, the vast majority of disciples had already finished their articles. Some straightened up with looks of satisfaction, others with furrowed brows. However, there were still laggards who wanted to write a few more words on their papers. The consequence was that all of them were declared to have exceeded the time limit by the collecting steward and their examination papers were rejected.
Although the disciples whose examination papers were rejected looked dejected, they were not overly agitated. After all, with only one person to be chosen out of three hundred, they knew clearly that they had no chance, having not even finished their articles…
The collecting stewards gathered the more than two hundred examination papers and sent them to the Ritual Education Institute for grading. The disciples then left the examination hall in groups, all feeling relieved no matter what…
Because the name of the selected person would be announced later that day, the fathers and elder brothers who accompanied them for the examination had brought provisions in advance. Most disciples did not go home, but gathered outside the examination institute, eating provisions while waiting for the final result.
Although the hope was slim, who could give up their fantasies until the dust settled?
