I'm in the Red Mansion

Chapter 90: Palace Examination (Part )

After much difficulty, Jia Cong finished two rough pancakes with tea, and even took a nap.

After waking up, he calmly copied all the test questions onto the test paper.

He was not the first one to hand in his paper. Instead, he waited for half an hour before finally seeing the first candidate hand in his paper.

Then, Jia Cong also rang the small bell in the room.

After the bell rang, a messenger came over, covered his name on the test paper, took away his test paper, put it all in a box, and took away his writing brush, inkstone, paper and draft paper.

Then, Jia Cong was led out and waited quietly.

It doesn't mean that you can go out just after you hand in your paper. You have to wait until a group of 40 or 50 people have been released before you are all let out.

Another quarter of an hour later, more than forty people finally gathered. The police finally opened the door and let out all the first group of people who had handed in their papers.

After leaving the examination room, Zhao Guoji came forward from afar and took the examination paper from Jia Cong.

"Third Master, you must be tired after a whole day of exams. Come on in the car."

This Zhao Guoji is a man with good sense.

Jia Cong nodded, got on Zhao Guoji's carriage, and soon returned to Rongguo Mansion.

And he was directly pulled to Lady Jia by Zhao Guoji.

Jia Cong had no choice but to go to Rongqing Hall to pay a visit to Grandmother Jia.

Grandmother Jia hurriedly asked, "Brother Cong, how did you do in the exam? Did you pass?"

Jia Cong couldn't help but say: "Grandfather, I have answered all the questions, but I don't know whether I can pass the exam or not."

Grandmother Jia did not ask any further questions, but instead ordered the kitchen to serve the dishes and let Jia Cong go after he had eaten.

This time, the results of the first round will be announced three days later.

This time, Jia Cong was ranked first in high school again.

In fact, Jia Cong had some predictions about this ranking.

The first level only tests memory-related questions.

Jia Cong was confident that not a single word would be wrong, and that calligraphy would also be a bonus.

It is not difficult to take the first place.

The next day, Jia Cong continued to take the second round of exams.

This exam is about essays, such as essays and tables.

This is the genre you will need to use after entering officialdom.

For Jia Cong, this level was also not difficult, and even not challenging at all.

Because for this type of writing, the most important thing is correct formatting, followed by rigor.

As for writing style and literary talent, it is not important.

And Jia Dairu had already prepared for this.

Jia Cong had done a lot of special training beforehand.

Therefore, Jia Cong passed the second exam easily and qualified for the third and final exam.

The last stage is a policy essay, which mainly examines the candidates' views on laws, current affairs, and official administration.

This is different from the previous two exams.

After all, these are all very subjective things. Good or bad depends on personal opinion and is not as intuitive as the first two games.

But after all, it is only the second smaller level of the first major hurdle of the imperial examination and is not that difficult.

However, the number of questions this time is more than twice that of the previous two rounds.

After all, the third round of exams lasts for two days, and you have to spend a night in the examination room.

The first day's exam was a test for Jia Cong.

But I still finished answering the questions without any trouble.

I slept in the examination room all night. The cold and hard bed, as well as the rough and smelly bedding, made it really difficult to fall asleep.

After tossing and turning for half the night, Jia Cong finally fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, he was reluctant to get up.

On the second day, I took the exam for most of the day before I finished answering all the questions.

After finishing the paper, I checked it and found no omissions.

Only then did Jia Cong rang the bell and handed in his paper.

This was the first time he spent the night in an examination room.

After leaving the examination room, Jia Cong couldn't help feeling dazed.

After returning home, Jia Cong took a nice hot bath and had a delicious meal.

At this time, Aunt Mei couldn't help but ask, "Brother Cong, I wonder how you did in the prefectural examination this time? Can you pass it?"

Before the palace examination, including the three exams in between, Aunt Mei had been refraining from asking Jia Cong any questions, for fear of putting pressure on him.

After all the tests were completed, Aunt Mei finally couldn't help but ask.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Mother, who dares to say that he will definitely pass the exam? It will probably only take a few days. Just wait a few days and you will know."

Aunt Mei said helplessly: "You are a young man, but you are too calm."

Jia Cong smiled and said nothing.

That night, Jia Cong did not have any liver problems, but instead had another rare night of rest.

The two-day exam was very exhausting, so he just took a break.

Starting from the second day, he continued his liver-attribute undertaking.

The provincial examination is over, but the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard.

In less than two months, the college entrance examination will begin again.

Only after passing the academy examination can one obtain the title of scholar.

There is no provincial examination this year. I can only take a short break after I finish the college examination.

Soon, three days passed.

On this day, Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun and Lin Daiyu, four girls came to visit together.

Jia Cong guessed that the fact that the four girls were able to come together was probably because their plan had paid off.

As expected, as soon as she entered the room, Tanchun couldn't wait to say, "Third brother, these are the three patterns we designed in the past few days. What do you think of them? Can they be used?"

"If it works, fine. If it doesn't, tell us what's wrong with it and we can modify it."

As she spoke, Tanchun handed the pattern she had already set up to Jia Cong.

When Jia Cong took it and looked at it, his eyes lit up.

Among these three designs, one is of plum blossom fragrance, and the poem used is: Sparse shadows slant across the shallow water, and the faint fragrance floats in the moonlight at dusk.

The other two are about peony and crabapple, and the verses used are: Only peony is the true national beauty, and the capital city is moved when it blooms.

The poem about Begonia is: I am afraid that the flowers will fall asleep late at night, so I burn high candles to illuminate their red beauty.

These three patterns are well-used in pictures and the poems are also well-chosen.

When Jia Cong saw it, he nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, these three are just right."

"Sisters, please wait a moment."

As he said this, Jia Cong went inside, took out three silver notes worth one hundred taels and handed them to Tanchun.

Tanchun did not take the banknote, but waved her hands repeatedly and said, "Third brother, what are you doing? We just helped you a very small favor, how can we really take your money?"

"If Third Brother really wants to thank us, he can just invite us to be his host. Why would he need so much money?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Your design is worth so much money. Take it and use it to buy some jewelry. It can be regarded as a small token of my appreciation as your elder brother."

Tanchun declined several times but failed to get away with it, so she accepted it reluctantly.

Beside her, Xichun immediately clapped her hands and said with a smile: "Third sister, we have silver! Come, come and divide the silver, there is also a share for me!"

(End of this chapter)