Chapter 202

After the servant finished announcing the rankings of all six candidates, Wei Shu asked him to take a break and inquired about the total number of people accepted in this year’s examination.

The servant replied, “A total of two hundred and sixty-three people were accepted.”

The Imperial examination usually accepts two to three hundred people. With the current emperor’s short reign, it was a time to cultivate more talent.

Therefore, in the previous examination, which was the one Mu Yunchuan took, they accepted over three hundred and fifty people, slightly more than the previous years.

This year, however, there were nearly a hundred fewer candidates compared to the previous year.

Although still within a reasonable range, it was evident that there were quite a few candidates affected by the “toilet demon”. While it was somewhat lamentable, everyone from Cui Wei had made it onto the list, which was a great joy.

Cui Fei’s ranking was again near the red line.

But Cui Fei himself was overjoyed— the principle of “diligence leads to success, idleness leads to failure” was well understood by scholars.

Many people who wasted several years would find it impossible to catch up no matter how hard they worked later.

After wasting so many years, he passed the provincial examination on his second attempt, which was already a pleasant surprise.

This was his first time participating in the Imperial examination, and he passed it at once!

Moreover, there was an old saying, “Fifty Yrs old is for Jinshi.”

What does that mean? It means that if someone becomes a Jinshi at fifty yrs old, it’s considered quite promising.

He was only in his twenties now, and he was already on the list!

So even though Cui Fei performed the worst among the scholars from the academy, he was the most excited one, his eyes reddened, and he even stumbled a couple of times.

Seeing this, the others hurried to help him sit down.

Cui Fei felt dizzy for a while before finally coming to his senses.

It’s fortunate that this happened in Cui Wei; no one would ridicule him here.

Otherwise, in other places, people like Mei Ruochu and others who were at the top would undoubtedly mock him for being at the bottom…

it would surely become gossip.

Lao Buyu was also excited, his eyes reddened, but he didn’t want his students to see it, so he turned away and said to Shen Cui, “I originally thought that according to Pang Cifu’s temperament, he would probably disrupt their rankings, but I didn’t expect… really didn’t expect…”

Shen Cui was also somewhat surprised and excited, but after some thought, she guessed that this matter was related to the “toilet demon”.

It’s quite ironic, really.

If the “toilet demon” hadn’t caused trouble, perhaps the young men wouldn’t have obtained their rightful rankings as Lao Buyu had anticipated.

As these unexpected and exciting emotions brewed, Shen Cui felt immensely relieved!

Later in the evening, the messengers of good news also arrived.

Shen Cui had already prepared some money as gifts and distributed them to the messengers.

However, for now, they had to keep a low profile.

With the palace examination coming up on the fifteenth day of the third month, Shen Cui only gave some money to the servants and asked them to buy some groceries.

Zhou Shi would handle the cooking, and Shen Cui herself would assist, preparing a rich feast.

After everyone in the academy had finished eating together, they considered it a simple celebration.

After the celebration, it was back to studying.

The palace examination only tested policy essays, so the young men only needed to prepare for that.

Lao Buyu had taught them all he could by now, so there was no need for him to accompany them anymore.

After coming and going for a few days, he brought back two things.

One was a collection of previous palace examination papers published by the Ministry of Rites, which would serve as study materials for the young men.

These were genuine materials, and it was difficult to find them for sale every year.

To be able to obtain them at this time meant that it must have taken more than just personal connections, but also a considerable amount of money.

Shen Cui wanted to ask Lao Buyu privately about the specific expenses, thinking that they should at least share the costs.

However, Lao Buyu refused to tell her, only waving his hand and saying, “Don’t embarrass me with talk of money, Headmaster Shen. We both charge the same tuition fees for our students, but you take care of their daily needs as well as other matters like distributing gifts and selecting locations. On the other hand, apart from teaching and occasionally gathering information, I haven’t had any other expenses in these years. I’ve been living in the academy for years, so there haven’t been many expenses. I’ve also saved quite a bit of money, so let me contribute a bit to the students. Consider it a token of my goodwill.”

“The Master’s words aren’t entirely correct either. Being a tutor and nurturing talents are both what you deserve,” Shen Cui said,

But since they were no strangers to each other, there was no need for formalities.

Since Lao Buyu had decided to show his sincerity in this matter, she didn’t inquire further.

Later, when the young men gathered together to start reading the collection, Lao Buyu separately handed Shen Cui the second item.

This second item was several copies of newspapers from the capital.

These were purely meant to alleviate Shen Cui’s boredom.

At present, with the examination results just released, the news in the newspapers naturally revolved around this event.

Candidates like Mei Ruochu, Shen Aoshuang, Mu Er Pang, and Wei Xi were among the top ten candidates in the examination and were thus the focus of attention.

The newspapers not only detailed their life experiences but also made sure to note that they were “unmarried” at the end.

Shen Cui thought that it was fortunate that since they arrived in the capital, except for a few days at the post station, they had been as inconspicuous as possible.

Otherwise, the academy might have been inundated with visitors.

There would have been endless visits from people eager to make connections or propose marriage.

Regarding the news about the young men, she glanced over it and confirmed that the newspapers had slightly exaggerated their life experiences, attributing qualities like “prodigy” and “genius” to them.

However, unlike some newspapers in later times, they didn’t dig up any dirt on perfectly decent people, so she didn’t pay much attention to it.

What she paid attention to was the newspapers’ criticism and ridicule of the “toilet demon”.

Many candidates failed in this year’s examination, and their anger and resentment were understandable. Naturally, the scapegoat, the “toilet demon,” became the target of their venting.

Scholars were masters of verbal abuse, far superior to ordinary people.

They didn’t use dirty words or vulgar language but could make someone seem utterly worthless.

Shen Cui found it immensely entertaining. When the servants went out to buy groceries later, she asked them to buy several more copies of different newspapers.

After reading them all, Shen Cui specially found a box to collect these newspapers, intending to keep them for future reference after passing through customs.

…

In early March, before the palace examination, there was another round of reexamination.

This reexamination was presided over by the Minister of Rites, Wang Shangshu.

The candidates went to the Baohe Hall in the palace to participate.

At that time, Wang Shangshu would randomly select a topic and then give the candidates about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to think about it.

After thinking, they would answer orally on the spot.

This exam didn’t involve rankings but ensured that the candidates truly had talent and learning, so that the emperor wouldn’t be disappointed by the lack of competence among those presented before him.

After the examination, officials from the Ministry of Rites would also teach the candidates certain etiquette to prevent them from behaving improperly during the palace examination.

This was a somewhat perfunctory examination, but of course, there were still some tricks involved.

Lao Buyu had experienced it before, so he shared his insights from when he took this reexamination.

Among his peers at that time, there was someone ranked ahead of him, who answered questions fluently and did quite well.

But when it came to the actual palace examination, Lao Buyu didn’t see that person again.

Obviously, that person was eliminated in this reexamination.

The reason was not difficult to guess.

That person had a slight limp, barely noticeable, walking with a slight hobble.

Perhaps they had worn specially made shoes before, so the problem wasn’t obvious.

However, sharp-eyed officials from the Ministry of Rites still noticed it.

So this seemingly perfunctory reexamination was actually an interview, eliminating candidates who didn’t meet the physical requirements mentioned in the saying “judging a person by their appearance.”

The young men from Cui Wei were all outstanding individuals, and even the least impressive among them, Cui Fei, was now just a bit sturdy.

There was really no need to worry about this.

Moreover, they were somewhat acquainted with Wang Shangshu, and they had already experienced a similar process at the Lu Ming banquet after the provincial examination.

So although they all took this reexamination seriously, they weren’t particularly nervous.

On the day of the reexamination, the members of Cuiwei Academy all woke up early.

The time to enter the palace for the reexamination was at nine o’clock in the morning.

They arrived at the palace gate an hour early and found that many candidates were already waiting there.

When the appointed time arrived, officials from the Ministry of Rites and eunuchs naturally came to verify their identities and escort them into the palace.

Before entering the palace, they also underwent a body search.

But since these candidates were already on the path to officialdom, there was no need for them to strip completely as they did in the previous examinations.

They only needed to let the eunuchs and soldiers pat them down from head to toe to ensure they weren’t carrying any weapons.

It was also because Shen Cui had heard about the process from Lao Buyu that she didn’t worry about Mei Ruochu like she did before.

Candidates who had reached this stage were all outstanding individuals, so not only did they not carry any so-called weapons, but they even thought to switch their hairpins to wooden or jade ones with blunt ends in advance.

So in just half an hour, more than two hundred and sixty candidates passed the body search smoothly and entered the palace.

Without needing any reminders from the palace staff, after passing through the palace gates, the candidates spontaneously formed a long line and silently followed the leading officials.

Mu Er Pang and the others were positioned neither at the front nor at the back of the queue.

The architecture of the palace was naturally grand and solemn, with towering walls and long corridors, and the roads were paved with clean blue stones.

Under this magnificent architecture and silent atmosphere, many people’s heartbeats unknowingly accelerated.

Some candidates were too absorbed in looking around, and as a result, they slipped and fell.

Because the people in front and behind them were also distracted, several others were brought down as well.

Fortunately, the officials from the Ministry of Rites were lenient and didn’t make things difficult for those who stumbled.

They even slowed down their pace and allowed them to gradually calm down.

After walking for about two quarters of an hour, the candidates arrived at the Baohe Hall.

Wang Shangshu, who was chubby and kind-hearted like the Maitreya Buddha, was already waiting inside with other officials.

Once the candidates stood in place, they all bowed to him.

Wang Shangshu waved his hand to dismiss their courtesy, then smiled as he glanced at everyone.

Seeing that many of them were visibly nervous, he shifted his gaze to Mei Ruochu, Mu Er Pang, and a few others, beckoning them forward with a smile. “Let’s start with you all,” he said.