Chapter 140

At this point, He Qing’s awkwardness had finally eased.

Mu Er Pang asked when they would be available. He Qing, fearing he might say something wrong again, replied, “We owe it to Brother Zhang for bringing us to the prefectural city. Whatever Brother Zhang decides, I’m fine with it.”

Zhang Zian wasn’t a fussy person and added, “We usually just stay in the inn reading books. We’re not familiar with the area, so we don’t go out much. Brother Mu, you can bring people over whenever.” After saying this, he left their inn’s address for them to visit.

After a brief conversation, it was almost noon.

Shen Cui invited them to stay for lunch, but both families declined.

Zhang’s father politely said, “The children can gather again another time. We adults are here to accompany them for the exam. A quick meal will do. Besides, it’s already midday, and the children need to focus on their studies. We’ve already taken up half of your morning, it wouldn’t be right to disturb you further.”

So, before lunch, He Qing, Zhang Zian, and their parents bid farewell.

By evening, the other residents of the academy returned from the prefectural school.

After dinner, Mu Er Pang discussed the meeting time with them.

Wei Shu said, “It’s easy to arrange with Ren Shun. His brother asked me about it today, and I’ll reply to him tomorrow.”

Cui Fei nodded and added, “It won’t be difficult with the Zhao family either. We have frequent interactions with them, and I’ll pass on the message when I get home.”

Mu Er Pang was reassured by their competence in handling things. After finalizing the details, he said, “Brother Mei and Junior Brother will definitely be there. Brother Wei and Brother Fei, who helped in the selection, should also attend.”

Shen Cui chimed in, “Why don’t we hold the gathering in our academy? Everyone should participate in this small gathering.”

All the young men looked at Mu Er Pang. Despite being the youngest, he was the main character of this gathering, so they followed his lead.

However, Mu Er Pang shook his head. Shen Cui asked, “Is there any inconvenience at the academy?”

Mu Er Pang explained, “There are two inconveniences at the academy. First, He Qing seemed a bit uncomfortable when he first came here. It seems he’s not used to being in such a grand house like ours. Secondly, it’s a mother’s issue…”

Shen Cui raised an eyebrow, listening as he continued to explain, “If we invite people to our home, we can’t be too casual about the meal. Mother has always been frugal. A table enough for eight people to eat would cost quite a bit if we were to purchase it from outside. If we were to cook ourselves, with only you, Aunt Yao, and me, it would be quite a hassle. Besides, I haven’t met Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen yet. Although I trust our brothers won’t choose randomly, it’s still better to meet for the first time outside. So, let’s have breakfast outside, just like before.”

Mu Er Pang, who used to be just like a young steward, now seemed to have the demeanor of a master after gaining experience.

Shen Cui didn’t interfere and let them handle it themselves.

They quickly settled on a specific time, two days later, on the day when the prefectural school was closed for rest.

The gathering place was not far, it was a teahouse next to the inn where He Qing and Zhang Zian stayed.

People arrived one after another. In terms of age, He Qing was twenty years old, Ren Shun nineteen, Zhao Xiuwen eighteen, and Zhang Zian sixteen.

Mu Er Pang was still the youngest among those who were covenant partners this time.

However, being the newly appointed top scorer in the county exam, combined with Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen being carefully selected as covenant partners by Wei Shu and the others, they all had good temperaments, and no one would look down on Mu Er Pang.

There was no one like Huang Junping, who was annoying to talk to last time.

The ones who were going to form the covenant first talked briefly about their backgrounds.

Ren Shun had started learning from a teacher at home and also took the county exam this year, ranking third in their county.

Zhao Xiuwen’s hometown was the same county as Ren Shun’s, but they didn’t know each other before.

They had only seen each other’s names on the list, and he ranked fifth.

Their performance in the county exam was excellent, and the county they referred to was the largest county under Qingzhou Prefecture.

The competition was particularly fierce every year, so the value of their rankings was also high.

He Qing, who had stumbled into passing the exam, couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous again.

But Zhao Xiuwen, being from a farming family himself, after hearing He Qing talk about his background, picked up some interesting farming anecdotes to chat with him, which helped alleviate his nervousness.

Ren Shun was not very talkative; most of the time, he listened attentively, with a warm and humble smile on his face.

Now, the most uneasy one was Zhang Zian.

While He Qing had a bit of “ignorance is bliss” attitude, Zhang Zian didn’t.

Seeing the excellence of the others present, especially the outstanding scholars from the academy, including Mei Ruochu, who had been a child prodigy, Zhang Zian felt a bit dizzy.

He couldn’t understand how he qualified to sit at the same table with them and chat.

Moreover, he wasn’t good at speaking, so he remained mostly silent.

But with Wei Shu being so adept at socializing and Mu Er Pang occasionally bringing him into the conversation, Zhang Zian didn’t feel out of place.

The morning tea went very smoothly, and it wasn’t until noon that they dispersed.

The registration matters were handled by Mu Er Pang and the others themselves.

Shen Cui naturally had to contribute as well.

Since she had helped with a special training program for poetry writing during the county exam, she went to ask Lao Buyu what kind of training they should arrange this time for the prefectural exam.

Lao Buyu thought for a while and said, “Han Shan doesn’t need to worry about the calligraphy classics; his miscellaneous essays are quite good. For the policy and legal topics in the essay question, I’ve been having him review legal texts recently. However, many of the topics don’t have a so-called correct answer and are closely related to the preferences of the chief examiner…”

Shen Cui understood. So now, she needed to inquire about the preferences of the chief examiner.

But soon, Shen Cui found herself useless again because Wei Shu, Wei Xi, and Mei Ruochu had already taken the exam.

Typically, officials like the prefect served a term of three years.

The prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture was still the same one from before.

Two years ago, when Wei Shu and Mei Ruochu took the exam, they had already done their homework.

They shared the information with Wei Xi last year.

This year, they only needed to inquire if there had been any major events in the past year that could change his disposition.

The prefectural school had many well-informed people, and they quickly helped gather information and even obtained some articles written by the prefect in his early years, making it easier for Mu Er Pang to gauge his preferences.

Finally, Shen Cui said with satisfaction, “You’re all grown up now. I don’t need to worry about everything anymore.”

Mei Ruochu said, “It’s because we’ve already taken the exam before. So, as experienced individuals, we can help Han Shan. But when it comes to exams we haven’t taken yet, we’ll still need the elder’s guidance.”

After saying this, he paused, his face slightly blushing, “And there’s one thing that only the elder can help Han Shan with ‘special training’.”

Shen Cui immediately nodded, urging him to continue.

Seeing Mei Ruochu’s embarrassment, Wei Shu approached and whispered, “Elder, do you know about the ‘feces seal’?”

Shen Cui really didn’t know about it.

When she read this book on the imperial examination, it was from Mu Yunchuan’s perspective.

The original author almost idolized him like a fallen immortal, so how could there be any indecent scenes related to bodily functions?

Wei Shu explained to her, “During the prefectural examination, we have to stay inside for four days without leaving. So not only meals and daily activities but also using the toilet has to be done inside. There will be a chamber pot placed under each exam seat for urination…”

At this point, Wei Shu, who had always been outgoing, also felt a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat before continuing, “Urination can be done at the exam seat, but for defecation, one has to go to the toilet. They must raise their hand to indicate, hand over their exam paper first, and then be escorted by a guard. After using the toilet, the exam paper will be stamped with a black seal. This is what we usually call the ‘feces seal’. Usually, exam papers with this seal receive special treatment…”

There was no need for him to explain what ‘special treatment’ meant. Shen Cui guessed that it meant the papers wouldn’t be graded.

No wonder Mei Ruochu felt embarrassed while talking about it.

It turned out she was supposed to give Mu Er Pang ‘special training’ in this aspect.

Shen Cui nodded, indicating she understood. Then she curiously asked them, “What about you guys…?”

There was no need for Wei Shu to help explain this time. Mei Ruochu said, “We’ve been preparing to take this path since we were young, so we were trained when we were kids. And it’s not just us; basically, anyone who wants to take this path goes through the same.”

After all, it was a matter of personal privacy, so Shen Cui didn’t ask further. She just sighed that novels were novels, and life was life.

The road to the imperial examination was not easy, requiring not only knowledge, a broad mind, luck, and a strong physical constitution, but even rules like the ‘feces seal’ could be considered a violation of basic human physiology.

Mu Er Pang had an exceptionally strong physical constitution, evident in all aspects, including his highly regular biological clock.

Since the young men ate and stayed together, Shen Cui mentioned this to them.

However, the rules of the ‘feces seal’ made his biological clock a hindrance. But there was no need for any ‘special training’ because Shen Cui found relevant medicines in the system store.

For 50 shopping points, one could purchase a medication without side effects that temporarily suppresses the need to defecate.

One dose could last for four to five days, so Shen Cui bought some for Mu Er Pang and even put a few extra doses in the shopping cart, thinking that when the other residents of the academy took their turn later, each of them would need one dose.

In the blink of an eye, April arrived, and the prefectural examination began.

It was Mu Er Pang’s first time participating in this kind of marathon-like long-distance examination.