Chapter 49

The county examination is presided over by the county magistrate. The county examination in this dynasty is held in May every year for three consecutive days, with one session per day.

The first session was the main one. After the papers were handed out, Song Cun counted a dozen or so sheets of paper. First, he took a rough look at the papers. After he had a good idea, he picked up a pen and wrote down his personal information, and then began to do the questions one by one seriously. , The test is the ability to recite the Four Books by heart, and some simple arithmetic problems. These are not difficult for him, and he wrote them one by one.

The last thing is to compose a poem. Song Cun didn’t worry too much about composing a five-character and six-rhyme poem according to the requirements. He practiced composing poems for two months and still made some progress. He felt that it was enough to meet the county test.

The sun was shining, and he was not in a hurry to write poems. It was lunch time, and he was hungry. He took out the dry food he had prepared, and asked the invigilator for boiling water. After eating the dry food and drinking water, he went to After going to the hut, I slowly figured out how to write poetry when I came back.

The examinee on the opposite side was still burying his head in writing. He glanced at Song Cun and saw that he was asking the invigilator for boiling water, food, and going to the latrine without any haste. He frowned and looked at him again. I don’t know which young master it is, he is so relaxed in the examination room, just like at home, and I don’t know if he is here for the exam or for fun, he must not have much talent, and he will definitely fail the exam.

Song Cun didn’t care about the examinee’s eyes from time to time. His Four Books is relatively solid in literature. Although he is weaker in poetry, there must be no problem. After writing it out, he deliberates word by word again, and if he feels that the word is not used properly, he replaces it with another word and tries it back and forth. Good poems are copied on paper.

After copying, and the exam was not over yet, Song Cun checked the paper twice again, and put the paper on the examination table if he found no mistakes. .

The examinee on the opposite side frowned subconsciously when he saw him sleeping in the examination room. Such a lazy person should not come to take the scientific examination.

Song Cun didn’t know what the examinee opposite him thought of him, and he didn’t care if he knew it. If he was diligent enough, he would have enough confidence in the examination room. It’s not that you are nervous, as if you are facing a big enemy, you will definitely pass the exam; on the contrary, you have a calm attitude, and you are not so nervous, you may not fail the exam.

When handing in the papers, some candidates didn’t finish the questions. It’s not that they didn’t finish the questions due to lack of time, but some of them couldn’t. Wait for the invigilator to come and collect the papers.

Song Cun walked out of the examination room and saw Zhou Qilue standing outside waving to him,! , he smiled, walked out with Kao Lan, and when he approached, Zhou Qilue asked: “Song Cun, how did you do in the exam?”

Song Cun smiled and said, “Play normally.”

Zhou Qilue breathed a sigh of relief: “It’s good to perform normally, and you will definitely pass the exam if you perform normally.”

“laugh!”

There was a sneer from the side, and the two turned their heads to look sideways. Song Cun found that it was an examinee sitting opposite him in the examination room. He didn’t speak, Zhou Qilue flashed anger in his eyes, and asked, “What are you scoffing at? ”

The man looked at Song Cun with disdain, said nothing, and swaggered away with his test basket.

Zhou Qilue was extremely dissatisfied with that arrogant look, even more arrogant than him. He pointed at his back and asked Song Cun, “What does he mean?”

Song Cun didn’t know that although the two sat across from each other during the exam, they didn’t have much contact with each other. After thinking for a while, he said, “Maybe you think you are talking big when you say that I will definitely pass the exam, so you don’t bother?”

Zhou Qi curled his lips slightly, and said disapprovingly, “It’s just a small county test, do I need to talk big?”

Although he himself has no skills and is not capable of taking the county examination, he really doesn’t pay attention to the county examination. After all, his elder brother and father are both Jinshi. The county test is not good either. Master Liu of the Imperial College said that Song Cun had no problem taking the examination for a scholar, and that the county examination was just the beginning of a scholar, so there must be no problem.

Song Cun smiled: “You don’t need to care about people you don’t know.”

Zhou Qi snorted slightly, and said in his heart that Song Cun could not pass the exam, and I want to see if you can pass the exam.

Go back to the inn, get out of the carriage, and go to the inn.

“There is a candidate across from me. I don’t know which young master it is. Everyone is doing the questions seriously, but he is at home at ease. If he doesn’t pay attention to the county test, I really don’t know what test he is taking.”

“He doesn’t pay attention to the county test, and the county test doesn’t pay attention to him. If one more person fails, we will have one more chance.”

“His friend also said that he will definitely pass the exam, and he doesn’t know where the confidence comes from.”

Song Cun and Zhou Qilue heard their words when they entered the door. Zhou Qilue looked at them and said, “Isn’t that the person who looked down on you just now? Who is he talking about?”

Song Cun chuckled, “Isn’t the examinee opposite him just me? I thought I didn’t ignore the county exam. I did all the questions that should be done and checked everything that should be checked. Why do I pay attention to the county exam?” inside?”

Zhou Qilue went up and wanted to argue with them, Song Cun took his arm: “There is no need to be as knowledgeable as them. We will see and see when the time comes.”

Zhou Qi snorted slightly, walked to their table, glanced at them meaningfully, and went upstairs with Song Cun.

That group of people face! Looking at each other, the candidate opposite Song Cun didn’t think there was anything wrong. He felt that he was telling the truth, so he said confidently: “The one who is slightly taller next to me is the candidate opposite me. Look at him, he must be Which young master came to take the exam for fun…”

The length of the Taoist behind was heard, and the others were embarrassed, and did not echo his words.

The previous exams in the second and third rounds were similar to those in the first round, with an additional essay on filial piety, and finally a five-character and eight-rhyme test post poem. Song Cun was in the same state in the three exams. Only when he was composing a poem, he was a little bit embarrassed, and there was nothing wrong with the others. What it copied on the paper did not ignore the county test as the candidate opposite said.

After the test, you need to wait three days for the results. After the rare exam, Song Cun did not read in the house, but went out to play for two days, bought some current specialties, and some local gadgets, and planned to take them back to his aunt and two younger sisters.

Three days later, on the day when the list was released, when Song Cun and Zhou Qilue arrived in a carriage, the place where the list was posted was already full of people.

Zhou Qilue said: “Hurry up, you have finished the county test, shall we go back?”

Song Cun looked at him amusedly: “You don’t want to go back?”

Zhou Qilue really didn’t want to go back, so he suggested: “Why don’t we go to Fuzhou, we go back after you finish the government exam?”

Song Cun said: “It’s not too late to go back to see my aunt and sister. The government test is in July, which is still early. You don’t want your father and big brother, don’t you miss your mother too?”

After speaking, he joked and looked at Zhou Qilue.

Zhou Qi paused, and said, “That’s fine. I’m afraid that my stepfather and elder brother won’t want me to come out again.”

The two were talking, when the boy ran over panting, “I passed the exam!”

Zhou Qi was overjoyed and looked at Song Cun.

Song Cun was not surprised, but asked, “Where is the ranking?”

The boy panted: “Second, second place.”

Song Cun nodded and didn’t say anything. He didn’t expect that he could get the second place in the exam.

Zhou Qilue clapped his hands: “This is a good result!”

Song Cun smiled and said, “Since we have read the list, let’s go back to the inn.”

! Back at the inn, Zhou Qilue saw the examinee who was sitting opposite Song Cun during the exam, and seeing his dejected face, he walked over swaggeringly and asked, “This great talent must have passed the exam, right? I don’t know.” How many places did you get in the exam?”

The examinee blushed and glared at Zhou Qilue in shame and indignation.

Zhou Qilue opened his eyes wide and shouted, “Hey, you won’t be listed as unknown?”

The examinee turned his head and ignored him.

The examinee became angry with embarrassment: “Could it be possible that your partner passed the exam again?” He didn’t believe that he could pass the exam with that person’s appearance.

Zhou Qilue said with a smile: “Don’t tell me, he not only passed the exam, but also came in second.”

The examinee’s face turned pale, and he glanced at Song Cun. Seeing him smiling, he ran away in shame and indignation.

Zhou Qilue looked at his back and said in surprise, “I thought he was so arrogant! Are you scared away?”

Zhou Qilue sighed, “Okay!”

Not seeing her son for more than a month, Aunt Li took her son’s hand and looked at it again and again, without asking how he was doing in the exam. He made up for himself.”

Song Cun said with a smile: “Auntie, I’ll go wash up first. After driving for a few days, my body is very dirty.”

Aunt Li said, “Okay, okay, you go wash up first.”

When Song Cun went to his yard, Song Shuqing asked the boy who followed Song Cun to take the exam, “How did the young master do?”

The little boy said with a smile: “The young master got the second place in the exam.”

Aunt Li said in surprise, “Amitabha! Buddha bless you!”

Song Shuqing and Song Shulan also looked happy.

Aunt Li said: “The young master won the second place in the exam, and everyone will be paid an extra month’s salary.”

The boy was pleasantly surprised: “Thank you, Auntie, for the reward!”

Song Cun came out of the wash, finished his meal, and asked, “Did anything happen at home?”

Song Shuqing said: “It’s nothing else, it’s just that the Hou Mansion came over to ask about the situation. Knowing that you went to take the county test, my mother asked Mother Liu to pick me up and reprimanded me, meaning that you took part in the exam. Why didn’t the county test tell her? Didn’t she be ignored after the family was separated? Didn’t I tell her about this? Didn’t the second brother tell her mother? After hearing what I said, she looked very pale. Not good. Then the second brother came back, and he let me go back. ”

Song Cun nodded.