Chapter 061: Sexy Operation
Did the prefect make a mistake on the test paper? He was clearly praising my essay, so why did he include Shen Yichen?
Xu Donghai still couldn't believe the result in front of him. Maybe this was the first time for him to experience the ups and downs of life at his current age...
"Thank you, Lord Prefect, for touching my forehead with your red robe."
When Shen Yichen saw that his test paper was circled, he immediately bowed and expressed his gratitude.
"Don't thank me too soon. I still need to test you."
Li Min had a smile on her face. Although she said so, the operation procedure was reversed. In theory, the test should be conducted first and then the selection should be made.
Therefore, the examinations for those who come in later are obviously just a formality to avoid giving others something to talk about.
When the other candidates who were waiting to hand in their papers saw this scene, they felt extremely complicated emotions inside. The examiner's favoritism was too obvious . If he didn't have real talent and knowledge, there must be some shady manipulation behind this!
"Please ask the prefectural governor to give the questions."
Li Min was really stumped as to how to set questions to test Shen Yichen in class.
With the talent displayed by Shen Yichen, a couplet of normal difficulty would certainly not be difficult to write, and it would not demonstrate his strength to convince the public.
If the questions were too difficult, I would have to select the best answer first and then test him. If Shen Yichen couldn't answer them, it would be really embarrassing.
However, when Li Min saw the unhappy expressions on Xu Donghai and the others' faces, he immediately had an idea in his mind: he must make Shen Yichen show off his skills today!
"The field is lined up east and west, and two beams of literary light align with the Big Dipper."
This first couplet is very exquisite, and each word contains profound meaning. The "field list" refers to the fact that the Xiajiang examination hall was set up in an east-west direction, "Wenguang" represents literary talent, and "Beidou" is even simpler, similar to the way of describing Wenquxing in ancient times.
Therefore, the first line of this couplet is Li Min's self-narration that all the candidates who passed the examination were people of great talent.
The first couplet has been given, and now it is Shen Yichen's turn to be troubled. It is not difficult to match the groups of words together, but the difficulty lies in making them also contain profound meaning.
To be honest, if the prefect had not already chosen the right answer in class, Shen Yichen would have suspected that Li Min was trying to make things difficult for me. How could such a difficult couplet be given in any previous exams?
Shen Yichen was not the only one who thought so. Several other candidates who had submitted their papers early also had doubts in their hearts. They had originally thought that Li Min's decision to select the candidates first and then to examine them was too obvious, and there might be some shady manipulation behind it.
Now, looking at the difficulty of this couplet, it doesn't seem like it can be answered with just two sentences. To be honest, if this kind of test question were given to me, I would probably not be able to think of a good second line for a while.
Seeing Shen Yichen's face showing difficulty and not answering, the prefectural chancellor Du Shi next to him tried to smooth things over and said, "Sir, even if I were to answer this question, it would be difficult for me to come up with an answer in a short time. How about changing the question?"
On the one hand, Du Shi was trying to smooth things over, but on the other hand he was also speaking from his heart, "What the hell is this prefect doing? If you want to pick the middle one, just pick the middle one. Why did he go to the trouble of coming up with such a difficult first couplet? Now you're stuck, right?"
Not to mention the chancellor Du Shi, even Li Min felt a little embarrassed at the moment. If he had known earlier, he would have just gone through the normal form of the test in class, but he suddenly decided to increase the difficulty to make Shen Yichen convinced.
Now, the public has failed to be convinced. Tomorrow, rumors will spread that the examiner is partial to his own interests. He will never be able to clear himself even if he jumps into the Yellow River...
"Why……"
Li Min sighed, regretting her actions, and decided to take the opportunity given by the chancellor and test Shen Yichen with a simpler couplet. Now that things have come to this, the circle has been drawn on the test paper, and she has to go through the process even if she has to bite the bullet.
"Your Excellency, I have already thought of the second line."
"Oh, come on."
Li Min immediately felt relieved. She really was not wrong about Shen Yichen. Isn't there a second line of the couplet?
"The curtain is divided into inside and outside, and there is no ventilation at all."
The "curtain" in the second line refers to the door curtain of the inn, and the "joint" is a metaphor, referring to the acts of bribery and solicitation through favors, money, back doors, etc.
In the first couplet, Li Min boasts that he only selects people based on their talents. Although this is more from his own perspective, it also objectively points out that Shen Yichen is a man of literary talent.
So in the second couplet, Shen Yichen also praised back that there was no bribery or favoritism inside or outside the examination room, and the chief examiner was honest and upright, without any connections at all.
It can be said that Shen Yichen's second couplet is perfect in both parallelism and intention, it is absolutely perfect!
"You really lived up to our trust. Yichen, you can leave first. We'll wait for the announcement of your exact ranking."
Perhaps because she was very satisfied, Li Min directly used the more intimate name "Yi Chen". In theory, in the important imperial examination area, there is only the difference between examiners and candidates, and favoritism is not allowed.
But Li Min still did it, which was enough to prove that his respect for her was not empty talk.
However, Li Min did not point out the rankings for this provincial examination, but asked Shen Yichen to wait until the results were announced. The reason was that the provincial examination was much more important and standardized than the county examination. At least there was a title of Tongsheng, which meant that one was considered a formal scholar.
"Thank you, Lord, for your kindness. I will take my leave."
Shen Yichen bowed and said goodbye, then turned and left in a very cool manner, leaving Xu Donghai and the others standing there with envious eyes.
Just when Shen Yichen walked out of Duzhi Building, Zhu Qingyu and others handed in their papers in advance, wanting to get the chief examiner's review in class.
When Xu Donghai and others saw that all the Zhu clan members submitted their papers early, they couldn't help but feel resentful even though they had already accepted the result.
Could it be that the private school of Duke Chengguo's Mansion is so full of talented people that it has completely surpassed the best Zhaowen Academy in Yingtian? Otherwise, how could it be possible for several people to answer the questions fluently in the palace examination?
Of course, as more and more people handed in their papers early, it was impossible for these people to get the chance to have their papers reviewed in class. So Li Min just took the papers and signaled that they could leave first.
Shen Yichen walked out of the "Dragon Gate" of the examination room, looked at the warm spring sun, and let out a long breath.
To be honest, the whole process of today's exam was not as easy as it seemed, especially the second question. Shen Yichen had no idea at all and was simply betting that he could find another way to succeed.
Those who can achieve great things do need a little bit of luck, and Shen Yichen won the bet. Li Min's perfect solution was not about "etiquette" but about "order".
However, this incident also gave Shen Yichen an inspiration, that is, in future imperial examinations, he should not only consider the questions, but also the examiner.
In other words, you should know the examiner's writing style preferences in advance and check the test papers he has selected in previous years. In this way, you can deliberately cater to his preferences and minimize the risk of gambling.
In addition, Shen Yichen almost couldn't answer Li Min's last couplet. The main reason was that time was tight. It was not
Especially since the questions Li Min asked were so difficult, coupled with that underworld question, Shen Yichen couldn't help but wonder if this prefect of Yingtian had a bad taste in playing tricks on students?
After adjusting his mentality, Shen Yichen quickly recovered and strode towards home.
The prefectural examination was different from the county examination. If he passed the examination, he did not need to take the second examination. In other words, he only needed to wait at home for someone to announce the good news.
In the courtyard of her home, Shen was weaving while silently thinking about her son's provincial examination. After several years of elementary school, this was the closest moment for Shen Yichen to become a student, and he didn't know if he could pass this time.
After all, by the time of the next provincial examination, Shen Yichen would be 20 years old, the latest age for men in ancient times. By then, he would not even be able to be called a student, and should be called a scholar boy instead.
Thinking that he didn't even have the formal status of a scholar at the age of twenty, even though Shen trusted her son very much, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
Just when Shen was feeling worried, the courtyard door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. When she saw that it was Shen Yichen coming back, Shen's first reaction was not joy, but her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that her son had finished the provincial examination early?
"Chen'er, have you finished the exam?"
"Well, the test is over."
Hearing this answer, Shen's heart sank to the bottom. Her son actually went home early to prepare for the next session.
However, in order not to discourage Shen Yichen's information, Shen still forced a smile and said, "It's okay, Chen'er, you are still young, we can fight again next year."
"Will I take the provincial examination next year? Mother, will I take the provincial examination next year?"
"Provincial examination? Chen'er, are you talking nonsense because you've been using your brain too much during the exam? You haven't even passed the prefectural examination, so how can there be any provincial examination?"
"Mom, who told you that I didn't pass the palace exam? I only went home after I passed it."
Shen Yichen was a little amused and helpless. Every time he wanted to give his mother a surprise, the reaction he got was always a fright.
Maybe it was because she had failed the imperial examinations so many times before that my mother had developed a habitual way of thinking.
"Don't we have to take two examinations for the provincial examination? And it's still early now, how can you possibly pass it so quickly?"
Shen didn't understand any rules about passing the exam in class. He only knew that the county exam lasted five days, the prefectural exam lasted two days, and it started in the morning and ended in the afternoon.
Shen Yichen returned home just after noon, so none of the time matches.
"I was selected by the prefect in advance, and now I can be called a student."
"Chen'er, are you serious?"
In the eyes of many children of officials, the title of "Tongsheng" is not even considered a high rank. But for Shen, her hope for the imperial examination for so many years was that her son would obtain the title of "Tongsheng" and become a formal scholar.
"Mom, would I lie to you? Someone should come to our house in a few days to announce the good news and the results of the provincial examination."
Although Shen Yichen was a poor student, he had never cheated on his grades before, so when he heard this, Shen no longer had any doubts.
"That's great, that's great, Chen'er, you can finally be called a scholar!"
"Mom, you have to fulfill your wish quickly. Oh, by the way, go to the street and buy some good wine and meat. Call your neighbors to celebrate your passing of the exam."
According to the custom in ancient times, those who passed the imperial examinations and achieved honors such as Tongsheng and Xiucai would usually hold a banquet to celebrate.
Shen Yichen and his mother didn't know many people, and because of their special status, even fewer people were willing to contact them, so they just cooked a good meal at home and invited the neighbors.
"Okay, let's celebrate happily today."
Shen Yichen responded with a smile. He actually didn't have any special feelings about Tongsheng, but it was worth it as he could make his mother happy.
