Fortunate Young Gentleman

Chapter 65 of the main text of Ruyi Xiaolangjun How can this be! After receiving the test paper, Tang Ning first looked at the questions.

It was indeed a poem and a ci.

"The bellows of the furnace are forged by the hand, and they are very hard and discouraged." This is the title of the poem, with only such a simple sentence.

The imperial examination has been carried out for so many years, and the routines have almost been summarized by people.

Of course, that is for most candidates. Tang Ning is somewhat fortunate. Fortunately, he and Zhong Yi had a long talk at night, otherwise, even if he turned on the cheating device, he would have fallen into the pit in today's exam.

First of all, from the two sentences of the question, it can be seen that the poem about objects in this test is about lime.

Secondly, this is a seven-character quatrain.

The seven-character quatrain has four sentences, each with seven words, and there are strict rhythm requirements in terms of rhyme and parallelism. It is definitely not possible to write it as a five-character quatrain or a five-character regulated verse.

If the examinee does not know that this is a seven-character quatrain with only four lines, and writes an eight-character or other seven-character regulated verse, he will basically miss the next exam and can pack up and go home.

Of course, there are too many poems from ancient times to the present, and the title of the poem cannot be made casually. There is also such a thing as the exam outline. As long as the examinee memorizes those thick poetry collections, he will not make such a low-level mistake in the exam room.

Tang Ning really can't remember many poems about objects and lime.

To be precise, he only remembers one.

"Thousands of hammers and chisels are used to dig out the deep mountains, and the raging fire burns as if it is nothing. I am not afraid of being crushed to pieces, I want to leave my innocence in the world."

This "Lime Chant" is very famous. I learned it when I was in elementary school. Tang Ning remembers it very clearly. Moreover, this poem was written by Yu Qian, not the Yu Qian who tells crosstalk, but the Yu Qian who saved the country in the Ming Dynasty.

This "Lime Chant" is a true portrayal of his life.

There was no Ming Dynasty in this era, and naturally there was no Yu Qian, so it can be copied.

Tang Ning carefully checked the question again, and confirmed that there were no omissions before writing this "Lime Chant".

After a short rest and eating a few cakes, he looked at the next question.

The second round had two questions, one poem and one ci.

The title of the ci was simpler, with only three words, "Bodhisattva Man".

Bodhisattva Man was originally a Tang Dynasty Jiaofang song, and later used as a ci form. It was a double-tune short song, composed of five or seven words, 44 words, and the rhyme was changed every two sentences. There were four rhyme changes, and the level and oblique tones were changed...

Compared with poetry, the title of ci was simpler and cruder. Three words defined all the rules. If there were candidates who were not familiar with this ci form, this exam would end here.

Of course, there were many ci forms, and the content of the exam was just to choose one from dozens of commonly used ones. Almost all candidates would remember those ci forms rules.

Speaking of "Bodhisattva Man", the first thing Tang Ning thought of was Wen Tingyun's "Small hills overlap and gold shines and fades", which was also a ci he liked very much.

"The hills overlap, the golden light flickers, the clouds in the temples are about to cover the snow on the cheeks. I am too lazy to draw my eyebrows, and I am late to put on makeup.

Looking at the flowers in the mirror, the flowers and faces are reflected in each other. The newly embroidered silk blouse has two golden partridges."

This is Wen Tingyun's masterpiece. The language is refined to the extreme, and it is almost impeccable in terms of language beauty and rhythm.

Of course, the most important reason is that Wen Tingyun is a poet of the late Tang Dynasty. In this world, the Tang Dynasty existed less than 150 years, and Wen Tingyun happened to be missing...

It takes a whole day to write a poem and a lyric. It seems that there are only a few dozen words, but it is not easy.

It is not easy for other candidates.

Writing poems and lyrics is not a simple answer to fill in the blanks. It requires inspiration and long-term deliberation. It is common to deliberate on a poem for several months. Over the years, there are almost no poems and lyrics handed down from generation to generation. They are obtained through the imperial examination.

Tang Ning finished answering two questions in less than an hour. The imperial examination does not allow early submission of papers. It can only be done after the gong sounds in the afternoon.

He waited until the ink on the test paper dried, put it away, and then leaned against the wall to rest.

There was still a lot of time left, enough for him to watch a few episodes of TV series. There were still a few episodes left of "The Judge of the Song Dynasty" that he watched a few days ago, and this time was just the right time to finish watching it...

Anyway, Xiaoru made a lot of pastries this time, and the quantity was large and full...

...

After the gong sounded, Tang Ning handed in his paper as soon as possible.

He was worried that if he handed it in too late, there would be too many people and he would be recognized and watched.

After the gong sounded, it would take another hour to completely clear the room. Most of the candidates were still doing the final deliberation. At this moment, only a few people walked out of the examination room.

Two people walked past Tang Ning, and one of them asked with some envy: "Brother Chen, you are best at poems about objects. You should have written a good poem about lime, right?"

The other person looked puzzled: "What poem about lime?"

...

Soon, Tang Ning heard a scream from behind him. When he turned around, a figure had already fallen straight down, and an officer was running over quickly in the distance...

He shook his head. In the future, this would probably be considered as a composition going off topic, and the consequences would be even more serious, because this time, only the composition was tested, which was equivalent to going off topic...

Zhong Mingli was standing at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall. When he saw him coming, he asked: "How is it?"

Tang Ning nodded and said: "Not bad..."

Even if it was the poetry section, it had a lot to do with the examiner's preferences, but a work that could be passed down through the ages in another world would not fail to pass even a state examination.

Zhong Mingli nodded, turned around and left. Tang Ning walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall, and Xiaoru and the others were already waiting outside.

Zhong Yi was not as cautious as he was in the first exam, and asked, "What did you write this time?"

"A poem about lime and a poem about Bodhisattva Man." On the way back, Tang Ning recited the poem again.

Tang Yaoyao looked at Tang Ning with a strange look: "I am too lazy to draw my eyebrows, and I am late in putting on makeup and washing. Looking at the flowers in the mirror, the flowers and face are reflected in each other. Newly embroidered silk blouse..., why do you always like to write women's poems?"

This poem is very straightforward, and Tang Ning knew that Tang Yaoyao, an illiterate person, could understand it.

He glanced at her and asked back, "Who said that men can't write this kind of poetry? Do you understand the graceful school?"

"I don't understand." Tang Yaoyao answered honestly.

It's not terrible to be uneducated, but it's terrible to be so self-righteous without education.

Tang Ning took a deep breath, looked at her, and asked back: "I am not afraid of being torn to pieces, I want to leave my innocence in the world..., is this also a woman's poem?"

Tang Yaoyao looked at him and said uncertainly: "You just said... innocence?"

Tang Ning took a deep breath, what is crossing the river and destroying the bridge, what is repaying kindness with enmity, what is ungratefulness, Tang Yaojing is a living example.

Zhong Yi looked at the two of them and said helplessly: "Go back quickly, we still have to prepare for the last round..."

...

Lingzhou Gongyuan, it was late at night, and a hall somewhere in the Gongyuan was still brightly lit.

More than a dozen examiners were still reviewing the candidates' papers overnight.

Compared with the last time, the expressions on their faces were much more relaxed. This time there were not such a large number of questions, and the number of test papers was much less. They could drink tea while appreciating the students' poems and lyrics.

An examiner took a sip of tea, put a test paper aside, and said with a smile: "Such a simple question, someone actually got it wrong, what a pity, his poem is not bad..."

An examiner next to him laughed and said: "I just had one here, the poem is okay, it can be rated as above average, but the rhyme of the poem is wrong, which is also a pity..."

Liang Dong has read several test papers, but he didn't find any obvious mistakes, but there was no work that surprised him.

It was not until he picked up another one that his eyes suddenly lit up.

"I am not afraid of being crushed to pieces, I want to leave my innocence in the world..." He couldn't help but stand up and praised: "What a good poem, a scholar should be fearless and have such a dignified and upright spirit!"

"If this person is in the court, he will definitely be a loyal minister who would rather break than bend. A good man should have such an ambition!"

"I want to see if you can write such a magnificent poem!" After praising him like this, he almost couldn't wait to turn the page and read aloud: "The overlapping hills are like golden flickering, and the clouds in the temples are about to pass the snow on the cheeks. I am too lazy to draw my eyebrows, and I am late in putting on makeup and washing. Looking at the flowers in the mirror, the flowers and faces are reflected in each other. New embroidered silk blouse, pairs..., pairs of golden partridges?"

When he read the last sentence, his tone rose, and the expression on his face changed from excitement to a little confused.

He turned to the previous page again, and the confusion on his face deepened.

Even if he was torn to pieces, he was not afraid, and was willing to leave his innocence in the world...

How come he was such a fearless and upright man on the previous page, but when he turned the page, he started to wear a silk skirt embroidered with golden partridges, lie lazily on the bed, draw his eyebrows, straighten his clothes, and dress up...

Liang Dong looked confused and murmured: "How can this be, how can this be..."