I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 101 College Examination (Part )

What Jia Cong grew was not just his strength.

He also practiced the Hun Yuan Sutra diligently every day.

Although due to the slow growth of experience, there has been no breakthrough so far.

However, the growth of internal strength is also real.

As his inner strength grew, Jia Cong found that his five senses became sharper, his body more coordinated, and his thinking more acute.

In short, the Hunyuan Sutra brought him great benefits.

Jia Cong washed up and went to bed to rest.

The next day, the sisters came over as usual and played for a while before leaving.

Shi Xiangyun did not come that day. It turned out that she was entangled by Jia Baoyu.

Shi Xiangyun probably knew Jia Baoyu's character, and was afraid that if she came to Jia Cong's place, she might bring Baoyu over as well, which would make Jia Cong uneasy.

On the third day, Shi Xiangyun angrily came to Jia Cong's yard with her sisters.

Shi Xiangyun's eyes turned red and she was extremely angry.

Seeing Jia Cong, Shi Xiangyun couldn't help but say, "Third Brother Cong, please give me some advice. How can you love your brother like this?"

Jia Cong didn't know what they had a conflict about, so after hearing what Shi Xiangyun said, he couldn't help but smile and asked: "Sister Yun, tell me, how did Baoyu bully you again? Tell me and I will take care of it for you."

Shi Xiangyun said angrily, "Third brother, I went to Brother Ai's place today and saw him fooling around with the little girl again."

"I couldn't help but give him some advice, saying that he didn't want to stay in our team forever and should read more books."

"If you study as hard as my third brother, you will be able to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. Not only will you make the old lady and the wife happy, but you will also be able to become an official in the future."

"Who would have thought that he would turn hostile and chase me out with a stern face, and even told me never to go to his yard again, so as not to ruin my career and finances!"

"Huhu, I'm so angry! He is really like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, he doesn't know the kindness of a good person! I will never talk to him again!"

Hearing this, Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh.

He remembered that in the book "Dream of Red Mansions", Shi Xiangyun had also advised Jia Baoyu in this way, but it ended up being quite unpleasant.

And this time, Shi Xiangyun even used herself as an example and asked Jia Baoyu to learn from her.

I'm afraid it will make Jia Baoyu even more angry.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Bao doesn't like reading anyway. No wonder he got angry when you said that to him."

"You two had a quarrel today, but you will get along the next day. Once you calm down, everything will be fine."

Hearing this, Shi Xiangyun said angrily: "Third brother, who are you in the same group with? Why are you speaking for my beloved brother?"

Before she finished her sentence, Shi Xiangyun had amused herself.

The other sisters also started laughing.

Shi Xiangyun, on the contrary, calmed down because of this, which shows that she is very tolerant.

The sisters were chatting and laughing together, and it was quite lively.

……

Time has unknowingly entered the middle and late May, and the weather is getting hotter.

The sales of the Rouge and Powder of the Crimson Pearl were very hot, and the Chamber of Commerce formed by the eight of them was gradually getting on the right track.

Jia Cong did not ask too much about these matters.

What Jia Cong was actually afraid of was that something might happen before the Chamber of Commerce was established.

Now that the Chamber of Commerce has been established, the interests of these eight major groups are consistent.

The combined strength of these eight families is enough to dominate Daxia.

June is coming soon, and Jia Cong focuses his energy on the final stage of the college entrance examination.

The academy examination is the last stage of the examination for students of higher learning. As long as one passes it, one can obtain the title of scholar.

Although the position of scholar is insignificant, passing the examination to become a scholar is already considered a leap in status.

A small scholar in the capital was nothing, but if he was placed in a county town, he could be exempted from corvée, did not have to kneel when meeting the magistrate, and could not be tortured at will.

Those with the best grades were called "Bingsheng" and were given food on a monthly basis by the government.

In fact, for Jia Cong, as long as he could pass the examination and become a scholar, he would have a talisman on him.

Therefore, Jia Cong also attached great importance to this academician appointment.

Soon, time entered the golden month of June.

Jia Cong became more and more bitter about his experience.

Not to mention the people in Jia Cong's courtyard, even Jia's grandmother had already begun to instruct everyone in advance not to disturb Cong'er.

If anyone disturbs Cong'er from studying and causes him to do poorly in the exam, she will definitely not let him off easily.

Therefore, as the college entrance examination approached, the entire Rongguo Mansion began to become nervous.

Time soon came to the day before the exam. On this day, Aunt Mei began to check the pens, ink and other items that Jia Cong would need for the exam over and over again.

This time, perhaps because Grandmother Jia was afraid of affecting Jia Cong's exam performance, she did not call him over to ask.

Instead, she sent Yuanyang over so that Jia Cong would not have to go to the front to greet her during the exam and could just focus on the exam.

Well, in fact, even if Lady Jia didn’t say it, he had never been there.

He lived far away, and since he was a child, Grandmother Jia had never liked him and had never allowed him to go over to pay his respects or ask how she was doing.

……

After the first two exams, Jia Cong has become more calm and composed.

The main reason was that he was well prepared. He had already mastered the Four Books and Five Classics to the highest level and was not far from perfection.

The eight-legged essay was almost reaching the realm of perfection.

This level may not be enough for participating in the provincial and metropolitan examinations.

Now it’s just a matter of taking part in the college entrance examination, which is enough.

At night, Jia Cong went to bed early as usual, got up when the cannon was fired, and went out when the cannon was fired twice.

Then Zhao Guoji took him out of the examination room with ease.

On the day of the exam, the examiners, instructors, and students gathered outside the examination hall gate waiting for it to open.

Accompanied by the third cannon shot, the yamen officials held up signs with the students' names on them, guided the students into the main gate, and waited in line in front of the second gate (the ceremonial gate).

At this time, the external search officers arrived and two of them searched the student from the front and the back.

Although I have taken the test twice and been searched twice.

However, Jia Cong still found it difficult to adapt to body searches.

It was so humiliating to have to take off all my clothes and be searched by two men, even my hair was not spared.

Because Jia Cong came from a noble family, he was treated slightly better than other candidates.

It is said that when those children from poor families were searched, even the valleys were not spared.

At least Jia Cong's anus was not checked...

After passing this inspection, people will enter the examination room through the ceremonial gate, and each group of 20 people will be searched again by the internal search officer.

Then the candidates came before the academician, had their identities confirmed by the stipend guardian, and then submitted the statement to the clerk next to them in exchange for answer sheets.

The clerk will assign seats to the students in the examination room and record them on the form on the answer sheet. The students must take their seats without hesitation after receiving the answer sheet.

The seats in the examination room are divided into east and west sides, arranged according to the order of the Thousand Character Classic, and seats in the same column are identified by numbers.

By the time all these procedures were completed and Jia Cong found his seat according to his exam number, it was already dawn.

At this time, a clerk wrote the first question of the exam in large letters on a sign.

He walked back and forth holding a sign and showed it to the candidates in the audience.

(End of this chapter)