The swallows do not return to the spring, and the apricot blossoms are cold in the smoky rain.
In the capital in February, although the spring is still cold, but spring has already been eager to show its prominence. The warm sunlight from the rising sun streamed down from the sky, melting the hard ground and warming the ice surface of the moat. The sound of running water grew louder and louder every day, flowing happily down the river in accordance with the force of gravity.
When the swallows appeared on the hazy flower bones of the swaying apricot trees, it seemed as if the capital had been filled with spring light overnight.
Today was already the last day of the examination, and on this day, before dawn, Zhu Pingan had already woken up and washed up, put on his mask once again, and then roasted some dried meat and fruits over the fire pit, stuffing his stomach with great difficulty. It has been eight days and seven nights, except for the first day when he made stewed meat porridge and noodles, the rest of the meals were all so tasteless and chewy to deal with, for Zhu Pingan who is a foodie, this is almost unbearable torture.
In addition, he hadn’t washed his hair yet, let alone taken a bath. Other people were fine, but being in a stinky number himself, this was almost havoc! After such a long time, one’s body seemed to be saturated with the smell from next door, and the two sets of clothes one had brought with one were almost all covered. The body is also tired, much more tired than the countryside examination.
Fortunately, today is the ninth day, is the last day of the examination.
Stinky number, today again endure you half a day!
Zhu Pingan cleaned up properly, then the number of houses to tidy up a bit, will once again across the board between the walls of the number of houses, set up the pen, ink, paper and inkstone, laying out the examination paper and draft, will be their own yesterday’s examination is not completed to continue to the end.
Yesterday afternoon around three o’clock, Zhu Pingan had already finished writing all the questions of the third session neatly on the draft paper, and by the evening had already transcribed the answers to the two questions on the draft on the answer sheet. In other words, today, as long as the remaining three questions on the history and history strategy are copied onto the answer sheet in order, this session of the examination will be successfully completed.
Closing his eyes and resting his mind, when his body and mind were adjusted to the best state, Zhu Pingan took a brush and dipped it in ink, and concentrated on copying the answers to the last three questions on the draft on the history and history policy onto the answer sheet.
While Zhu Pingan was carefully copying, there were already candidates who had already written their test papers. After packing up their things and putting the written test papers away, they finally looked back carefully at this place where they had struggled.
There was a rule in the assembly examination that after handing in the papers, one had to wait until the last day before going out. The exit is divided into three batches to hand in the papers, a batch before noon, a batch after noon, and a batch in the evening. So, these students who handed in their papers early, can only wait until the very beginning of the first batch of pre-noon release.
When Zhu Pingan finished copying the second question. He heard the sound of footsteps outside the number house, noisy sounds from the neighbourhood, raised his eyes and looked, he saw a number of supervisors outside the number house of the big soldiers walking back and forth, in addition to more clerks to and from.
Doubtful, then heard a number of clear hit cloud board sound came, and then there are clerks in the number house outside shouted: “scalp release card time is up, have done to hand over the examination paper candidates can raise their hands to indicate hand over the paper, after the issuance of the signature tokens out of the field.”
The first batch of candidates who handed in their papers, heard this. Then they couldn’t wait to hand in their papers one after another, received their cards, and were led by the invigilators to go out. The nine days and seven nights of the examination, almost every candidate had lost a circle of weight, every candidate who appeared on the stage had experienced an exceptionally fierce battle, and had long been unable to resist wanting to go home and recuperate.
Zhu Pingan had to wait for the second batch of candidates to hand in their papers because he still had one question left to copy.
With plenty of time, Zhu Pingan copied the last question in a fair and square manner, and the font was almost at the best level, the pen was exquisite and the ink was marvellous. The writing was excellent, the ink was exquisite, and the power of the brush was through the paper.
When the scribe prompted the second batch to hand in their papers, Zhu Pingan also raised his hand to signify the handing in of the papers. One of the officials receiving the papers came to collect the papers, and after checking Zhu Pingan’s papers, he began to seal them. After checking the examination paper, he started to seal it. Zhu Ping An filled in the biographical information (name, age, appearance, place of origin, whether he had committed any offences, the situation of taking the examination, and the names of his father, ancestors, and great-grandfathers) at the beginning of the examination paper, folded the cover, and stamped the “sealing official’s guard” on the riding seam, and then put it away to be sealed by the supervising official with a red seal, and stamped it with a number of the same red characters as that of the examination paper.
This is one of the ways to prevent fraud in the imperial examinations.
After receiving the scroll, the officer handed over a release card to Zhu Pingan. Zhu Pingan put on his packed travelling bag and carried his examination basket. After exchanging greetings with the invigilator soldier who had been accompanying him for nine days, he followed the guiding soldier and walked towards the outside of the arena in large strides.
It was raining and snowing.
Seeing the sun appearing to disappear.
The farther away from his own stinky number, Zhu Pingan will be more and more feel the sunshine is so good, the air is so fresh. The test is long, finally finished, the mood is not generally good ah.
Zhu Pingan is so feel, but one side of the candidates waiting to go out together is not so feel.
You left the stinking number, you feel the air is good, but have you ever thought about us!
The nearby candidates carrying test baskets and travelling bags, all of them coincidentally stayed far away from Zhu Pingan. Although they did not know each other, the smell emanating from Zhu Pingan’s body still caused the candidates to look sideways.
Some of the candidates were the ones who saw Zhu Pingan come out of the stinky number and whispered to the people around them, so people even hid far away.
Well, this person is the unlucky one who has a stinky number, we have to stay away from him, so that the bad luck will not be passed on to ourselves. To know, since the history of a, all in the stink of the number of examination candidates, never a test out of good results, more than ninety per cent have failed. Hundreds of years, there has never been an exception, this is the famous examination room biggest bad luck ah! We have to be as far away from this person as possible, to save being infected by bad luck, their own test is still good.
Therefore, the surrounding people look at Zhu Pingan contemptuously, hide far away.
For the surrounding people’s contempt, Zhu Pingan turned a blind eye, slightly hooked lips waiting to be released out. Who says that a stinky number can’t leap the Dragon Gate!
Finally, the gate opens, Zhu Pingan and their second batch of people who handed in their papers also came out one after another, Zhu Pingan followed the crowd out of the tribute courtyard.
At this time outside the gate of the sea of people, accumulated many candidates and waiting family members, there are the first batch of candidates to hand in the paper outside waiting for their friends to take the test together, there are also family members waiting for the test candidates, in twos and threes, three to five groups, talking to each other to discuss the same topic – the test. They exchanged answers, asked how they did in the exam, or talked about what happened during the exam, which was very lively.
This situation was similar to the high school exams, except that the people wore different costumes, giving Zhu Pingan a feeling of returning to modern times.
As soon as the others came out, there were people welcoming them, shushing them and asking how they did on the exam.
However, the family members who crowded at the entrance dressed in gorgeous clothes waiting for the candidates, as soon as they got close to Zhu Pingan, they all coincidentally pinched their noses, despised and hid far away.
Outside the waiting candidates and family members, no one knows that Zhu Pingan will test in the stink number, just when Zhu Pingan personal hygiene habits are not good.
Why is this person so smelly! It’s not like he fell into the bucket! Or he is not nervous about the exam, he drowned in his trousers! Look at his hair, this person how so unkempt, a face of bad look, just punch him this all smell, also can be sure that he can not get Wenquxing’s favour, a look know that he is no chance of this examination.
Alas, this person hygiene habits how so bad, not to mention the examination is not good, is to marry a daughter-in-law is a problem, don’t look at the lift, don’t want to marry a door to the right girl, can only get together to marry a village woman or something!
“Auntie, we’re here.”
When the people in the neighbourhood gave Zhu Pingan a sideways look of contempt to the point of no return, only a clear and soft voice was heard.
Then people were dumbfounded to see a gorgeously dressed, very pretty bun girl, happily running with her skirt, the target just like that teenager whom they despised to no end!
