Chapter 203

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang were certainly a bit nervous, but compared to others, they had the advantage of being acquainted with Wang Shangshu.

Knowing him to be particularly approachable, they appeared calm and composed.

There was no need for them to consult each other.

With tacit understanding, they approached according to their rankings in the examination.

Similar to the Lu Ming banquet after the provincial examination, Wang Shangshu had a box at hand from which he randomly selected topics for them to answer.

However, there was one difference: this time, Wang Shangshu didn’t choose who would answer which question.

Instead, they had to answer whatever question they drew.

Wang Shangshu randomly assigned topics to the six of them, then gave them a quarter of an hour to contemplate.

Mei Ruochu drew a question on historical discourse.

It was quite tricky: “Zhuge Liang did not have the intention of reform like Shen Buhai and Shang Yang, but he employed their methods. Wang Anshi implemented reforms, but avoided association with these two figures. Discuss.”

The term “Shen Buhai and Shang Yang” referred to Shen Buhai, who assisted Marquis Han in his reforms, and Shang Yang, who implemented reforms to strengthen the state of Qin.

The question essentially asked about “reforms,” and Wang Anshi’s reforms had always been controversial—some believed they were successful to some extent, as they solidified the court’s rule.

Others believed they were a failure and even considered this bold reform to be the greatest calamity for the Northern Song Dynasty.

The question itself was already difficult, suitable as a concluding question for the historical discourse section of the examination.

What made it even more challenging was that in the current era, someone had just proposed reforms but had been blocked by a group of old officials.

The difficulty of navigating this question lay in the hands of the candidates themselves.

This question was the most difficult one in this seemingly perfunctory reexamination, yet Mei Ruochu was the first to draw it.

However, apart from luck, he had no shortcomings.

With the question in hand, he only needed half of the allotted time to organize his thoughts.

Mei Ruochu advocated implementing reforms when the country was clearly weak, but as for how to implement them, he believed that historical lessons were crucial.

To save everyone time, and since he had nothing to hide at this crucial juncture, he completed his answer first.

He calmly cited classics, detailing the actions of Shen Buhai, Zhuge Liang, Wang Anshi, and others, expressing his own views without any pause.

Such a splendid opening made Wang Shangshu’s smile even warmer.

Following them were Shen Aoshuang, Mu Er Pang, and Wei Xi.

Their topics were much simpler:

Shen Aoshuang improvised a poem on the spot,

While Mu Er Pang and

Wei Xi discussed the principles of the Four Books.

After they finished, Wei Shu and Cui Fei also came up with answers to their questions.

Although their answers were slightly inferior to those of the previous four, especially Cui Fei’s, which was barely passable in comparison, Wang Shangshu didn’t reprimand him.

Instead, he even gave him an encouraging look.

With these six leading the way, the other candidates, who were not familiar with Wang Shangshu, also realized that he was approachable, and their nervousness eased.

Later, Wang Shangshu divided the candidates into groups of twenty and continued examining them from morning till afternoon before finally concluding the reexamination.

Before the candidates left the palace, Wang Shangshu and the officials from the Ministry of Rites spent another hour teaching them about etiquette.

As dusk fell and before the gates of the palace were closed for the night, the candidates left the palace along the same route they had entered.

Once they left the bustling streets near the palace, the previously silent procession gradually resumed conversation.

However, everyone had been highly focused throughout the day and hadn’t had a proper meal in the palace, only receiving some steamed buns and soup.

Thus, they didn’t have the energy for much conversation.

Only the candidates who were acquainted with each other either walked together or exchanged greetings before going their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Mu Er Pang and the others let out a collective sigh.

Cui Fei was the first to speak. “We were the first to answer today, and afterwards, I didn’t idle either. I listened to the answers of the candidates from the same year, glanced at them, and found that none of them gave particularly outrageous answers or failed to pass the ‘personal conduct’ test. Therefore, the same group of people will likely participate in the palace examination.”

This result wasn’t surprising, as anyone with even a slight physical inconvenience, unlike Wei Xi who was fortunate to have complete access to medication and possessed strong willpower, had already underperformed during the “Toilet Demon” turmoil.

The fact that nearly a hundred fewer candidates were selected for the palace examination compared to the previous year also proves that Pang Cifu, the chief examiner, was selective and didn’t randomly select candidates to fill the quota just because many candidates underperformed this year.

With such a significant decrease in the number of candidates compared to previous years, Wang Shangshu and the other officials from the Ministry of Rites wouldn’t easily dismiss anyone.

Having said that, the students from Cuiwei Academy returned to the academy after a night’s rest.

The next day, they resumed their routine of studying.

As the day of the palace examination approached on the fifteenth of March, they woke up before dawn.

Since they were going to meet the emperor, Shen Cui had already prepared new robes for them.

Knowing that a large number of shopping points were about to be credited to her account and that passing through the checkpoint was imminent, Shen Cui didn’t hesitate to spend her shopping points directly from the system mall, all of which were designed by herself.

The style was the simplest straight-cut, with the emblem of Cuiwei Academy, the orchid, embroidered on the chest and cuffs.

After changing into the new robes, each of the students appeared confident and dignified.

Shen Cui inspected each one of them, and finally stood in front of Mu Er Pang.

Unknowingly, she had crossed over for six years, and her own chubby son had transformed from a chubby little boy who only knew how to eat and sleep into a talented young man.

Feeling a myriad of emotions, Shen Cui didn’t say much in the end, just straightened out the minor wrinkles on his clothes.

The palace examination also began in the morning and lasted until the afternoon when the papers had to be handed in.

There were breaks in between, and a simple meal would be provided.

Additionally, there was no rule against using the restroom during the examination, but given the nature of the palace, candidates would need to be accompanied by palace attendants when leaving and entering.

Moreover, the emperor would be present—although he wouldn’t stay there all day, as he would move to other halls to rest, eat, or attend to other matters, his presence would always be felt.

At this stage, even those with poor eyesight would refrain from frequenting the restroom midway; instead, they would rather endure the discomfort for the entire day.

Therefore, before the start of the examination, Shen Cui bought medicine from the system to reduce the urge to excrete for them.

They even refrained from drinking much water the night before.

After getting dressed neatly for the day, everyone felt a bit thirsty, but they only dared to drink a little warm water to moisten their mouths.

After eating some dry rations, they left the academy together.

Entering the palace for the palace examination was a bit more complicated than the previous round of examination.

Apart from the body search, there were also various rituals and ceremonies such as the roll call, paper distribution, praising of the law, and paying respects.

The body search this time didn’t require candidates to strip naked, but if anyone was found carrying anything suspicious, they could be immediately expelled and punished.

At this stage, as long as there were no major slip-ups, the worst-case scenario would be the candidate obtaining the same rank as an Imperial Scholar, so no one would risk cheating and jeopardize their lives.

After completing a series of procedures, the candidates were divided into two groups: those with single names in one group and those with double names in another.

After the division, they were arranged according to their ranks.

Therefore, one group was led by Mei Ruochu, and the other by Wei Xi.

They were escorted to the desks in the hall.

More than two hundred desks were neatly arranged, separated only by an aisle.

At first glance, it seemed like the least supervised exam, but with the emperor watching and surrounded by skilled palace guards and observant courtiers, the possibility of cheating was almost nonexistent.

Shortly after they stood in place, Emperor Xihe arrived.

With the crack of a whip, a eunuch announced, “The Emperor is arriving.”

All the candidates then bowed and kneeled to welcome the Emperor.

Soon, Emperor Xihe took his seat on the throne at the head of the hall and spoke gently, “Please rise, gentlemen, and take your seats.”

The candidates stood up and sat at their respective desks.

Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang were in the front row due to their high ranks, seemingly close enough to Emperor Xihe that they could hear his breathing.

They found Emperor Xihe’s voice unusually young, and of course, they were curious about this emperor, who was of a similar age to themselves.

However, according to the rules, they couldn’t look up, so they just focused on their own papers, waiting for the examination to begin.

As Mu Er Pang was ranked third in the provincial examination, he naturally sat in the middle of the first row.

He had sat under the scrutiny of the chief examiner during the county examination, but the pressure from the emperor was incomparable to that of the county magistrate.

So his heart couldn’t help but beat a little faster, and he couldn’t help but think that although the examination environment in the hall was good, spacious, and well-ventilated, it would have been better if he could bring his luggage in like the previous exams.

At this moment, if he lights the incense his mother prepared, it will definitely make things easier.

After zoning out for a while, Mu Er Pang finally managed to calm down.

He still didn’t lift his eyes to look at Tian Yan, only observing his surroundings with his peripheral vision—Shen Aoshuang was as usual, hugging his arms and closing his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

Wei Xi was also glancing at him with his peripheral vision, seeming a bit nervous.

Mei Ruochu, who was a bit further away, he couldn’t see, but Mei Ruochu had always had the best psychological qualities among them, so there was no need to worry about him.

As for Wei Shu and Cui Fei, who were behind, they were far from the emperor, so they shouldn’t be too nervous either.

Mu Er Pang exchanged a quick encouraging glance with Wei Xi, and both of them stopped paying attention to others.

Soon, the exam papers were distributed.

The beginning of the palace exam paper was the same as the previous exams, asking candidates to write about their birthplace and the three generations of their ancestors’ experiences.

After writing these, it was time for the main topic.

Usually, there was only one main topic, but the question would be much longer than before, usually around two to five hundred characters.

With such a long question, naturally, the answers written by the candidates would also be longer, requiring about two thousand characters.

For scholars who had reached this stage of the exam, writing two thousand characters in broad daylight wasn’t a difficult task.

What was difficult was writing it well, well enough to stand out and be remembered by the emperor.

Although it was said earlier that the ranking of the provincial exam generally corresponded to the ranking after the palace exam, there were exceptions every year.

After all, the emperor was the ruler of the country, and his power was immense.

Many scholars who were not good at exams but excelled in writing essays were now putting in extra effort to improve their rankings.

Mu Er Pang took a deep breath and began to look at the exam question:

“The emperor’s governance should extend over the entire realm, nurturing and fostering civilization. It is imperative to promote moral conduct and ensure the well-being of the people. Let the commoners value agriculture and sericulture… considering the dependence of the common people, agriculture and sericulture are crucial… the decline of education. Many who claim to be scholars pursue empty fame without cultivating real knowledge. Falseness is being promoted… The successes and failures in the lives of the people and scholars are well understood. Let each express their learning to promote education and nurture.”

The question was indeed long, but its meaning was not hard to understand.

Mu Er Pang quickly extracted the keywords—agriculture and education.

So, naturally, his essay would revolve around the theme of ‘promoting agriculture and education.’

With a direction in mind, Mu Er Pang’s heart settled slightly, ready to start drafting on the paper.

However, he inexplicably felt that someone’s gaze had been fixed on him.

He didn’t instinctively look for that gaze because he knew that Shen Aoshuang and Wei Xi beside him must be fully focused on the question and wouldn’t be looking around at this time.

Mu Er Pang couldn’t help but wonder if he was just too nervous, thus overthinking things?

But answering the question was the priority.

Mu Er Pang closed his eyes, disregarding that somewhat elusive gaze, dipped his brush in ink, held his breath, and began to draft.