The examination room of the Spring Examination is a row of small black rooms, called "number houses". After the students enter, the guards in charge will lock the door, leaving only a small window for delivering exam papers.

For the whole day, the students eat, drink, and relieve themselves in the small black rooms.

The candlelight is dim, and the small room is dyed with a yellowish hue. Xu Erlang sits at the desk, playing with the inkstone and pouring clear water, grinding it slowly.

There is still a long time before the exam starts, and this time is enough for him to calm down and think about some things.

Since ancient times, the imperial examination has attached great importance to the study of classics and neglected poetry and essays. In addition, the poetry world in The Great Feng has been declining for a long time. Therefore, this imperial examination is just a formality for most students.

When he first entered the examination hall, the familiar students were talking and laughing, feeling relaxed and content. Unlike the previous two exams, their faces were serious and their mentality was tense, as if they were going to battle.

However, while others can relax, Xu Erlang knows that he cannot be careless.

He is a student of the Yunlu Academy. According to the attitude of the court officials towards the students of the Yunlu Academy, after passing the imperial examination, either he will be sent to a remote and desolate place, or he will be delayed in receiving an official position and be hidden away.

Xu Erlang has his own ambitions. He doesn't want to be sent to a remote and desolate place, nor does he want to be hidden away in the capital.

"The road ahead is long..." Xu Xinnian sighed.

At this moment, the guard outside the door knocked on the small window and said in a muffled voice, "Master, the exam papers have arrived."

Those participating in the Spring Examination are all juren, and juren have the qualifications to become officials. The guards directly refer to the students in the examination hall as "masters".

Xu Xinnian took the exam paper and spread it out on the table. By now, it was already bright outside, but the sun had not yet risen.

Under the orange candlelight, Xu Xinnian focused and looked at the question, which was a sentence from "Cheng Zi's Gan Ge": "The three armies can be deprived of their commander, but a common man cannot be deprived of his aspirations."

Xu Erlang, who is well-read, instantly grasped the essence: praising aspirations!

He stared at the exam paper, his expression difficult to control, but there was disbelief in his eyes.

"Did my eldest brother step on dog poop before entering my room?" Xu Erlang muttered.

He could guess this?

The incident of drawing lots the other day, Xu Erlang regarded it as dealing with his annoying eldest brother. Although he could guess the questions in the Spring Examination, it was limited to classics and policy essays, as there were traces to follow.

Poetry and essay topics, on the other hand, completely depended on the mood of the examiners. They could come up with anything, even using the name of roadside wildflowers.

And he could guess this?!

Unless his eldest brother stepped on dog poop that night, Xu Erlang couldn't think of any other possibility.

Wait a minute... Xu Xinnian's shocked, confused, and bewildered expressions all turned into excitement and excitement.

Eldest brother guessed the question right, eldest brother guessed the question right!

He suddenly straightened his back and couldn't help but want to shout three times to express the excitement in his heart.

"With my eldest brother's poetic talent, since he guessed the question right, then in the third round of poetry, I, Xu Erlang, will be respected. I, I might be able to compete for the top scholar."

The one who passes the provincial examination is called "gongshi", and the top scholar is called "huiyuan".

He thought so for a reason. First of all, the provincial examination is anonymous, so his identity as a student of the Yunlu Academy will not be exposed, and he will not be excluded. Secondly, Xu Xinnian is a natural seed of learning, the proud disciple of the Great Scholar Zhang Shen. In addition, with the advantages of the Confucian system, such as photographic memory and quick thinking, his own level far surpasses the students of the Imperial Academy.

Finally, in order to prevent cheating in the imperial examination, The Great Feng has arranged three chief examiners, and multiple candidates will take the exam together. The situation here is complicated, as the three chief examiners must come from different factions.

There might even be hostility between them.

Even if someone can bribe one chief examiner, it is impossible to bribe the other two.

Therefore, in each session of the provincial examination, there will be a fierce competition among the examiners, followed by negotiations, compromises, and final decisions.

"Heaven did not give birth to me, Xu Xinnian, the provincial examination is like a long night for eternity."

Even though Xu Xinnian is proud, at this moment, with no one in the room, he completely loses control of his emotions. He dances with his hands and feet, laughing like a fool.

If there was a bed, he would roll on it, or twist and turn like a maggot.

"Eldest brother is really my lucky star! Calm down, calm down, what was the poem about aspirations that eldest brother gave me..."

Xu Xinnian calmed himself down and forced himself to calm down.

Fortunately, as a Confucian scholar of the eighth rank, he has long been able to memorize things at a glance, and the poem given by his eldest brother is indeed good. His memory is still quite deep, and he quickly recalls it.

Dipping the brush in ink, he unfolds a piece of draft paper. At this moment, he realizes that his hand is still trembling slightly.

"No backbone, it's just the provincial examination, and I'm so excited. Father said that I have the potential to be a prime minister."

After joking with himself, Xu Xinnian's mood relaxed a bit, his hand no longer trembling, and he quickly wrote on the paper:

A golden cup of clear wine, worth ten thousand coins,

A jade plate of precious delicacies, worth a million coins.

I stop the cup and put down the chopsticks, unable to eat,

I draw my sword and look around, my heart lost.

I want to cross the Yellow River, but it is blocked by ice,

I want to climb the Taihang Mountains, but they are covered in snow.

In my leisure, I fish in the clear stream,

Suddenly, I board a boat and dream of the edge of the sun.

The road is difficult, the road is difficult, with many forks,

Where am I going now?

With the wind breaking the waves, there will be times,

With the clouds hanging the sail, I will cross the vast sea.

(Translator's note: The poetry in the imperial examination, also known as "fu de shi", usually follows a five-character eight-rhyme, four-rhyme, or six-rhyme pattern, rather than a seven-character pattern. In this different world, I made some modifications for the convenience of the plot. Another note: This is not meant to be historically accurate!)

After writing the poem, Xu Xinnian read it several times to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. But a new doubt arose in his mind.

"What is the Yellow River? And what is the Taihang Mountains? 'In my leisure, I fish in the clear stream, Suddenly, I board a boat and dream of the edge of the sun.' Are there any allusions to these two lines..."

Xu Erlang frowned.Xu Xinnian, who had read many books, couldn't find the Yellow River and Taihang Mountains in his memory. Based on his understanding of poetry, "Leisurely fishing on the green creek" and "Suddenly boarding a boat, dreaming at the edge of the sun" should be two allusions.

"Big brother, he didn't even write annotations when he wrote poetry. How can I understand his state of mind and his profound intentions?"

"The Yellow River and Taihang Mountains should be the names of a river and a mountain. We can change them. As for the line 'Leisurely fishing on the green creek' and 'Suddenly boarding a boat, dreaming at the edge of the sun,' even without allusions, it's not difficult to understand the meaning they want to express. It's not a big problem."

So, after changing the names of the Yellow River and Taihang Mountains, Xu Xinnian picked up his pen to answer the question:

"A Poem on the Difficulties of Traveling"

.............

The chief examiners for this year's spring examination were Zhao Tingfang, the Grand Academician of the East Pavilion, Liu Hong, the Right Imperial Censor, and Qian Qingshu, the Grand Academician of the Wuying Hall.

Unlike the students, the chief examiners and the other examiners had not left the examination hall since the start of the examination. The doors were locked, and unless they had wings, they couldn't leave.

To prevent collusion and cheating between the examiners and the students, the examiners had to wait for the list of successful candidates before they could leave the examination hall.

Compared to the chaos and tension during the previous two rounds of grading, the attitudes and emotions of the examiners had undergone significant changes.

"This is nonsense. How dare they present such mediocre poems in the examination?"

"Using bamboo as a metaphor for people, it's a good angle, but there's more about bamboo than about aspirations. The priorities are reversed."

"Ah, I've read them all, but not a single poem is impressive."

"It's been the same in previous years. We're used to it."

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The examiners, also known as the officials behind the curtain, graded the papers while giving comments. At first glance, the atmosphere seemed full of gunpowder, but in reality, it was the most relaxed and carefree.

Poetry was not highly valued. If it was well-written, it would be an embellishment, but if it was poorly written, it didn't matter. After all, they were all rubbish. The poems written by the students were considered decent if they followed the rules. They were not worth the serious attention of the examiners.

In the capital city, when it came to poetry, there was one person who couldn't be ignored, and that was Xu Qi'an, the Nightwatcher. He was hailed as the leader of the poetry world in The Great Feng, or perhaps the savior of the poetry world in The Great Feng.

"If Xu Qi'an were to participate in the examination, at least this year's examination would produce a masterpiece that would be passed down through the ages."

"Who says otherwise? Unfortunately, Xu Qi'an is not a scholar. In the future, when the history books record the great poems of the Yuanjing era, they will all come from him. What face do we scholars have?"

The attitude of the scholars towards Xu Qi'an was complicated. They were glad that he had risen to fame and had produced a few poems in the past two hundred years that could be shown off, so as not to be ridiculed by future generations.

But they also lamented that he was a martial artist, not a scholar, which was also something that would be laughed at by future generations.

In The Great Feng for two hundred years, there were thousands of scholars, but they were not even comparable to a martial artist.

"All the mistakes, it's all Xu Pingzhi's fault."

Just then, one of the examiners unfolded a copied paper, looked at it for a few seconds, and froze. His body seemed to petrify, motionless.

But his mouth kept muttering, repeating the same words.

After a few minutes, the examiner suddenly stood up, looked around at his colleagues, took a deep breath, and said loudly, "Who said that scholars in The Great Feng cannot write good poems? Who said that?"

The other examiners looked over, confused about what had gotten into him.

The examiner walked over with curiosity, picked up the paper, and took a closer look.

The madness seemed contagious. The examiner held the paper, trembling with excitement. "A great poem, such a great poem! Hahaha, who said that scholars in The Great Feng cannot write good poems? Who said that?"

Now, the other examiners realized that a masterpiece had emerged, and they swarmed over, passing it around and reading it.

"What a great poem, it's worth a thousand pieces of gold."

"The strong wind will break the waves at times, and the cloud sails will directly cross the vast sea... This is the kind of poem scholars should write."

"How can a student write such a profound poem?"

"Perhaps he has failed the examination many times and uses poetry to express his aspirations."

The appearance of this poem, "Difficulties of Traveling," was like a golden phoenix among a group of ordinary chickens, exceptionally precious. The examiners in the room kept passing it around, excitedly commenting on it.

"Cough, cough!"

A forceful cough came from outside the door. Zhao Tingfang, the Grand Academician of the East Pavilion, with his white hair, stood at the doorway with his hands behind his back.

He had been attracted by the noise.

The examiners in the room immediately fell silent.

"What kind of behavior is this, making so much noise?"

Grand Academician Zhao Tingfang scolded them for a few words, then asked, "I heard someone say that this poem, once it is published, will become famous worldwide?"

Immediately, an examiner stepped forward and respectfully handed him the paper.

The Grand Academician of the East Pavilion glanced at everyone before taking the paper and squinting at it... His hand holding the paper trembled slightly.

Anyone could see that this was a great poem, an inspiring one.

But different experiences brought different feelings.

This poem was both about aspirations and a tumultuous life journey. From "Lost and confused, traveling is difficult" to "The strong wind will break the waves at times, and the cloud sails will directly cross the vast sea," anyone who had similar experiences could quickly empathize.

And the last line was both about aspirations and the finishing touch, elevating the artistic conception of the entire poem to a high level."This young man is absolutely talented. If his knowledge of classics and policy questions are both excellent, I will definitely select him as the top scholar!" The senior scholar in the East Pavilion thought to himself.

......

The day after the imperial examination, Xu Xinnian found that his treatment at home had plummeted. In the past, every early morning, his mother would have the kitchen prepare a bowl of hot milk for him.

At noon, it would be a bowl of fragrant chicken soup, and in the evening, ginseng soup.

During this time, his mother would also show concern for him. Although there were no tangible actions, it showed enough importance.

His father and elder brother would also ask him a few questions at the dinner table. His younger sister, Xu Lingyue, would do the same. Even his youngest sister, Xu Lingyin, would occasionally shout, "Second Brother, you must work hard!"

But ever since the last round of the examination ended, there was no more milk, no more chicken soup, no more ginseng. After asking when the results would be released, everyone seemed to lose interest.

At the dinner table, Xu Qi'an asked, "Second Brother, you seem to be in a bad mood. Did you not do well in the last round?"

Xu Xinnian didn't say anything. After dinner, he pulled his elder brother into the study room and stared at him, "Elder Brother... you guessed the examination questions correctly."

At this result, Xu Qi'an was both surprised and not surprised. He nodded and asked, "Was it about patriotism or expressing aspirations?"

"Expressing aspirations!"

Xu Xinnian asked, "Where are the Yellow River and Taihang Mountains? 'Leisurely fishing on the green creek, suddenly dreaming of sailing to the sun', where does this come from?"

...Huh? This sentence has a reference? I don't remember. Xu Qi'an looked confused.

"'Leisurely fishing on the green creek' is because I like fishing. 'Suddenly dreaming of sailing to the sun' is, is... Oh, why are you talking so much nonsense? The examination is over, and you're still babbling.

"Quickly tear up the Four Books and Five Classics, I'll take you to the Official Brothel Sector to have some fun tomorrow."

Xu Qi'an grumbled and ran away.

When he returned to his room, he found Zhong Li sitting on the bed, bandaging her head, with blood seeping out.

"Did you fall again?"

"Mm."

Zhong Li nodded somewhat aggrievedly and said, "I found that your sister is very tough."

"Which sister?" Xu Qi'an asked.

......

PS: I argued with myself today. I spent two hours looking for information about who the chief examiners were in history and what their official positions were. I found that there is only a general division of official positions on the internet, which is not accurate.

I wanted to go to the library, but the library was closed, which made me angry.

Although I could just make it up, I feel that I should be more rigorous. I'm a person who is afraid of being argued with.

I'll update first and revise later.