Chapter 177

On August 14th, it was the third session of the provincial examination.

When Shen Cui called them to get up in batches, they were all so tired that they could barely open their eyes.

While others could still hold on a bit, Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi were in worse condition.

Mei Ruochu had taken two sessions in a row at the smelly place. Even with a strong endurance, he was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Wei Xi, on the other hand, had a problem with his physique. He had lost 2 points in the first session, which Shen Cui made up for, but then he lost 3 points in the second session.

During their exams, the routine of the academy was suspended.

Shen Cui had used up all the remaining shopping points to buy medicine for them during the breaks of the first two sessions. There was no more left now.

So Mei Ruochu was supported to the examination hall by servants from the Wei and Cui families, while Wei Xi was carried there by Wei Shu, who had rested overnight and recovered quite a bit.

Last time, after they came out of the examination hall, there were only the two of them left, and Wei Xi had Wei Shu carry him.

This time, setting off from the house, there were servants from both the Wei and Cui families. It wasn’t really necessary for Wei Shu to do it himself.

So Wei Xi didn’t immediately lean on him like last time.

Seeing him like this, Wei Shu chuckled, “Wei Er, come up quickly. Don’t let the smell on others rub off on you. I just freshened up again, and I smell good!”

Wei Xi blushed and muttered, “I was confused last time and said nonsense. How come you still remember?” But he still let him carry him.

In total, there were three sessions of exams, but Wei Xi had already been carried twice.

Feeling awkward about it, after muttering, he assured Wei Shu, “You’ve been troubled. I’ll exercise more in the future.”

Earlier, Wei Shu had been practicing archery with Mu Erpang every day, and even after entering the prefectural school, he occasionally rode horses.

He had also tried to persuade Wei Xi to join him.

Wei Xi thought that his body had been fine these years, and he was naturally quiet, not liking those activities. So he had never gone.

Only in the academy, when Shen Cui watched the morning exercises, would he be willing to move a bit.

Now he truly regretted it.

If he had put even one-tenth of the effort into exercise as he did in his studies, Wei Shu wouldn’t have to carry him back and forth like this.

Wei Shu chuckled and gave him a little shake. “With your thin arms and legs, can you even tire me out? But it’s definitely a good thing if you want to exercise. It’ll only benefit you.”

He paused for a moment and couldn’t help but say, “Don’t mind me lecturing you like an elder brother. In this last session, if you really can’t hold on, just submit your paper early and leave. As the old saying goes, ‘Leaving a green mountain ensures there’s always wood to burn.’ How old are we? Are we still afraid of not having opportunities in the future? Don’t sacrifice yourself for fame and end up harming yourself.”

If Wei Shu had said these words a few years ago, Wei Xi would have retorted with eight hundred sentences.

But now, their relationship was close, and Wei Xi could hear his genuine concern, so he just murmured in agreement.

During the exam, Shen Cui, Lou Buyu, and servants from the Cui and Wei families all came to see them off because they were worried about the young men’s stamina.

After watching them enter the examination hall one by one, Shen Cui remarked in surprise, “Why do I feel like… there are a lot fewer examinees in this third session of the provincial examination?”

Lou Buyu, who hadn’t come to see them off, couldn’t directly answer.

Just then, some other parents who were seeing off their children passed by and sighed after hearing Shen Cui’s words. “Isn’t that so? This autumn is unusually hot, and many people were carried out after the first two sessions. Like a scholar from the same town as my son, he’s only in his twenties. He wasn’t carried out in the middle, but he collapsed yesterday after going to sleep… He came alone. Luckily, my son had agreed to wait for him to enter together every day. When he didn’t respond to knocking on his door, we had to break into his room and found him unconscious. My son also woke up feeling unwell this morning, so I’m worried about him entering alone. I rushed here first and had to ask the shopkeeper to send that scholar to the clinic. We don’t even know if he’s alive or dead… Well, I have to go to the clinic to check on him.”

Shen Cui couldn’t help feeling sorrowful after hearing this.

Actually, if Shen Cui hadn’t had the system from the beginning, which allowed her to see the strengths and weaknesses of the students in all aspects, she might have been like many others.

Thinking that cultivating students’ academic talents was enough and wouldn’t have considered nurturing their physical fitness, mood, luck, and so on.

After all, even in modern times, students’ physical fitness isn’t highly valued by schools and parents, let alone in this environment.

…

In the third session of the provincial examination, it tested the comprehensive knowledge from the previous two sessions.

There were two questions on classics, one poem, one prose, one policy essay, and one eight-legged essay.

The amount of questions seemed unchanged, but the difficulty had advanced further, especially since it was now August 15th, the seventh day since they entered on the 8th.

The candidates were exhausted, and many had struggled just to hold on until now, let alone hope for a good performance.

Like Wei Xi on the light screen, he was already lying on the template, finding it difficult to straighten his back and maintain the good posture he usually had.

But fortunately, his physical condition had improved compared to before, so he managed to endure it.

As for Mei Ruochu, after his seat was changed, he was closer to the latrine.

Shen Cui had deduced this by noticing that he brought both types of towels and barely ate anything during the final session.

Shen Cui didn’t go to look at their test papers this time, as she cared more about their health than their scores.

So she focused on observing their various physical indicators.

Early in the morning on the last day of the exam, Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi submitted their papers one after another.

Mei Ruochu couldn’t bear the smell and, combined with barely eating anything during the last session, couldn’t hold on any longer.

Wei Xi, on the other hand, felt physically uncomfortable.

He had consumed all the various pills Shen Cui had prepared for him but still couldn’t sit still.

Although he knew he could hold on a bit longer with sheer willpower, thinking of what Wei Shu had said earlier, he didn’t dare to joke about his own health and decided to leave early.

When they came out, Shen Cui was already waiting at the entrance of the examination hall.

After receiving Mei Ruochu, Shen Cui skillfully pulled out a wooden basin from under the carriage seat and asked him to quickly vomit into it.

As for Wei Xi, Shen Cui took out some supplements and urged him to take them.

She had negotiated with the system for two or three days and finally managed to get a prescription like the one Mu Erpang had initially.

After getting shopping points from the daily routines of the academy, the system deducted directly from the account.

In the afternoon, Wei Shu, Cui Fei, and Shen Aoshuang also came out one after another.

Wei Shu had always been in good health, so his condition was still the best among them, just walking a bit slower than usual.

Shen Aoshuang, even when his five senses were out of whack before, the system mentioned that his constitution was still at 70 despite such poor senses, so apart from lacking a bit in mental vigor, there was nothing wrong with him.

As for Cui Fei, although he also underwent significant changes under the influence of Cui Wei, his heart condition healed, and he even lost half of his weight.

If the rules wanted to influence him, it was actually very simple.

But perhaps because he didn’t have a name in the original book plot, and considering his level, he couldn’t possibly pose any threat to Mu Yunchuan’s position in the future.

Or maybe the rules, based on his past assistance to Mu Yunchuan, thought that he could continue to serve Mu Yunchuan in the future, just in case, so they didn’t ‘take action’ against him.

Before dusk, everyone from Cui Wei’s group returned to the house, leaving only Mu Er Pang who hadn’t come out yet.

When Shen Cui opened the light curtain, she saw that he had spread out all the scrolls in one place, and other areas had been transcribed, but the poetry section remained untouched.

The title of the poem was only four characters: ‘Clearing Accumulated Dust’.

Mu Er Pang had also written a line on the draft paper—

《Baopuzi》: ‘Clearing accumulated dust, rectifying evil and upholding righteousness’.

Obviously, he had thought of the source.

Shen Cui couldn’t help but guess that “Baopuzi” is a classic of Taoism, strictly speaking, it is not part of the orthodox Four Books and Five Classics system.

It’s already very difficult for ordinary candidates to think of the source.

Did the chubby son not finish because he didn’t understand the meaning due to not studying this book much in the past?

Actually, Shen Cui’s thoughts were not wrong.

Mu Er Pang did not delve deeply into Taoist classics like “Baopuzi” and could not understand every word thoroughly.

But since he had already thought of the source, it means he still had some understanding of the book.

So he also knew the meaning of this sentence, which was to eliminate errors and return to the right path.

Eliminate errors… so what is considered an error?

Thinking back to the topics before and after the three examinations.

Mu Er Pang couldn’t help but recall the debate topic about whether it was reasonable for scholars to be exempt from land taxes.

Although they were divided into three separate exams, when the examiners reviewed the papers, they would seal and transcribe all of them together for unified evaluation.

If he followed the line of thought of this topic and expressed strong agreement, saying that all errors and outdated things should be immediately eliminated, wouldn’t it contradict his previous affirmation of that established system, making him appear as someone who only knows how to blindly cater to those in power?

But if he didn’t express agreement, what if the examiner’s intention wasn’t that profound, and the evaluations were done separately without continuity? Would they see him as a troublemaker going against the grain?

Up until now, not having completed the poem, it was because Mu Er Pang couldn’t determine the main theme of the poem.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but miss the county magistrate he encountered during the county exam.

If there was still such a ‘barometer’ now, he wouldn’t be struggling like this.

With little time left, Mu Er Pang calmed his mind and once again recalled the life of the chief examiner, Wang Shangshu—initially, they didn’t know much about Wang Shangshu, but since getting acquainted with Lao buyu and the merchant in the capital, they learned more.

Wang Shangshu tendering his resignation to the current emperor wasn’t truly because of his old age, but rather because two years ago, when the current emperor ascended the throne, he was young and ambitious, eager to implement reforms.

Reform was undoubtedly a good thing, but because it wasn’t fully prepared, it caused concern among many old ministers.

Wang Shangshu was one of these concerned old ministers, and despite several attempts to advise against it, he found himself ineffective and somewhat discouraged.

At that time, it wasn’t just him who proposed resigning; several old ministers jointly submitted their resignations, causing quite a stir, almost becoming common knowledge throughout the capital.

Although the current emperor was ambitious, he was also a wise ruler. Realizing that he had hurt the feelings of the old ministers, he immediately stopped.

Sending Wang Shangshu to be the head examiner for the provincial exams further demonstrated his attitude.

Mu Er Pang finally straightened out his thoughts and immediately began writing the poem.

Before nightfall, he submitted his paper.

By now, there were hardly any people left in the examination room, and even the soldiers guarding the door, feeling the unusual heat, found a place to rest.

Naturally, Mu Er Pang also saw his mother who had been waiting for a long time.

Finally, everyone from Cui Wei’s group had successfully completed the provincial exam safely and smoothly.