Chapter 12: The County Examination

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Wu Jingcheng was blinded by beauty and failed to catch the deeper meaning in his good brother’s words. All he knew was that he had to work hard to pass the county examination so that he could proudly go to the beautiful lady’s home to propose, and from then on live a blissful and happy life.

The seating for the exam was decided by drawing lots, and Li Yu was lucky enough to be assigned a seat far from the latrine. The "latrine" here referred to the toilet; the teacher had said that the metropolitan and provincial exams were stricter, and if a candidate went to the latrine, their exam would be invalidated by a stamped mark. However, the county exam was not so strict. As long as one went under the watchful eyes of the proctors, they could use the latrine without anyone stamping their paper.

This, however, meant that the smell from the latrine was somewhat overwhelming, and candidates seated nearby were inevitably distracted by the pungent odor.

Once they found their seats, the bailiffs began bringing them charcoal braziers to keep warm. While others received a thin layer of charcoal, Li Yu was given a full brazier. Having connections was truly a blessing! The bailiffs even placed extra charcoal nearby and gave him a knowing look, implying that if he felt cold, he could slowly add more.

Outside, the spring rain fell chillily, but Li Yu’s eyes grew moist from the warmth. How could one’s luck be so extraordinary? With such a wonderful stepfather, he wondered what good deeds he had accumulated in a past life.

The county exam spanned five sessions, overseen by Wang Ju, the county magistrate of Yingshan County. Magistrate Wang would eat and sleep in the examination hall with them for these five days. He wore a formal teal official robe embroidered with mandarin ducks on the rank badge, and his official hat had square rounded corners, dressed just like an official of the Ming Dynasty.

The first session in the morning was the simplest: copying from memory about a hundred characters of the “Imperial Edict’s Extensive Instructions.” There could be no mistakes or corrections. Though this session was very easy, some candidates couldn’t even pass this basic level.

As Magistrate Wang walked through the rows, he had already seen the fates of several candidates. He felt somewhat heavy-hearted; after all, the number of successful candidates from the county was a reflection of the local officials’ year-end performance. If too few talents emerged, it would be a blow to their reputation.

When he reached Li Yu’s seat, steady as a rock and writing each stroke carefully, Magistrate Wang’s gaze lingered on his exam paper and he was momentarily stunned. It wasn’t because Li Yu’s handwriting was exceptionally beautiful, but because he noticed that every sentence was first drafted on scratch paper before being neatly copied onto the exam sheet. As a result, his paper was clean, tidy, and error-free.

Wang Ju couldn’t help stroking his beard in admiration and nodded approvingly. “Plan before you act. This is a promising talent!”

When he glanced at the candidate’s admission ticket hanging at the desk, he was stunned once more and suddenly felt that Li Biqun’s stepson might have gotten lucky.

The afternoon sessions tested the candidates’ foundational knowledge, focusing on their familiarity with and application of the Four Books and Five Classics. This was the easiest day of the five.

Li Yu continued drafting on scrap paper, confirming accuracy before writing neatly on the exam paper. The first session was effortlessly passed.

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The true difficulty began with the second session: three essays on the interpretation of texts, each requiring at least two hundred characters, and four essays on classical interpretations, each needing over three hundred characters. This tested the candidates’ literary skills, but with eight years of study under his belt, Li Yu was steady and didn’t even smudge a single ink blot.

The third session was a single argumentative essay of no less than three hundred characters, plus one memorial, one edict, and one official report each, and five commentary pieces. By this time, Magistrate Wang had taken a permanent position beside Li Yu’s desk.

The fourth session comprised five essays on the classics, history, and current affairs, each requiring over three hundred characters. These essays posed no problem; even Li Yu’s teacher had praised his writing, and Magistrate Wang’s frequent nodding confirmed it.

The biggest challenge was the final session, when candidates had to compose a five-character, eight-line poem on the theme of “Ode to the Plum Blossom.” Although Li Yu was a modern man and should have found memorizing poetry easy—he could have astounded with any poem from the Three Hundred Tang Poems—this world’s timeline had been altered by a certain hometown traitor six centuries ago, who had slaughtered the noble families. This traitor had memorized nearly all classical poetry and prose from the great Tang and Song masters, which remained required memorization for students.

Thus, Li Yu had to compose the poem himself, but poetry was truly not his strength. He fretted so much he nearly scratched all the pimples from his face.

Don’t ask why he had pimples. Imagine living in an exam hall for five days straight without washing your face or brushing your teeth—wouldn’t you break out?

Magistrate Wang had long since come over to quietly observe, curious about what sort of poem this outstanding young writer could produce. However, Li Yu sat there blankly for half an hour, unable to write a single word, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

Could it be that he was poor at poetry?

With half an hour left until the county exam ended at noon, Magistrate Wang checked on him three or four times but still saw no words written. He gently knocked on the desk, pointed to the hourglass, and reminded him that time was running out, as this also affected his own official evaluation.

There weren’t many promising candidates from their county, so losing one would be a shame. Poetry wasn’t a crucial part of the exam; as long as it rhymed and stayed on topic, it would suffice. The imperial exams valued essays above all.

Li Yu knew this well; he wanted to submit a near-perfect paper, but time would not wait. If he handed in a blank poem, all his effort in the previous four sessions would be wasted.

“No matter, just make do,” he thought, and began to write:

Snow flies, cold piercing the bone,
Plum blossoms bloom, fragrance contained.
Jade petals dance in the wind,
Crystal branches reflect moonlight’s adornment.
Ice skin condenses a pure shadow,
Cold elegance defies frost’s sharpness.
Alone guarding serene seclusion,
Fragrance rises in dreams untamed.

Magistrate Wang sighed in relief upon seeing the poem, though a faint disappointment lingered. The poem was too ordinary.

But only slightly…

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After all, even if the poem was a mere flower, a mediocre essay would still be a loss. At the metropolitan and provincial exams, and the palace exam beyond, poetry composition was no longer tested.

With his excellent essays and steady temperament alone, Wang Ju believed this young man’s future was limitless. He resolved to cultivate good relations with the Li family in the future.

During these five days, Li Yu took full advantage of the extra charcoal and ate and drank warm meals. The only downside was poor sleep. Compared to days spent cutting pigweed, he found this life much easier. But Wu Jingcheng, who had grown up pampered and smooth-sailing, was struggling.

His face was pale as he clung to Li Yu’s shoulder. “If I have to endure even one more day, I fear I won’t survive…”

Seeing the other candidates watching them, Li Yu hurriedly helped him walk out.

“You’re exaggerating.” It was only the fifth day; what would nine more days of exams be like?

Outside the exam hall, Li Ying looked anxiously at the exhausted students and spoke to her mother.

“They all entered full of vigor, and now they look like withered eggplants. I wonder how Brother Yu and Meng Zhen are faring.”

Brother Yu was used to hardships, but Jingcheng had been spoiled since childhood…

Zhang Sanniang pinched her nose gently, affectionately reminding her, “You should call him ‘Wu family brother,’ not by his given name.”

Li Ying pouted, linking arms with her mother. “There’s no one else around. Besides, we’re a small family—we don’t have to be as formal as the big noble houses. Being casual makes everyone more comfortable.”

Li Gang laughed and gave her a warning glance. “No rules, and if someone sees you acting so unruly, they might regret their decision. You’ll have no time to cry later.”

Fortunately, Master Wu was attending to patients today and wasn’t present, or Lady Wu might have stood with them and teased her daughter for being eager to marry.

“She wouldn’t dare!” Li Ying said, but stood up straight obediently. “If he dared to break his promise, he wouldn’t deserve to be a scholar.”

At that moment, she spotted two familiar figures and exclaimed excitedly, “Father, Brother Yu and the others are coming out! Why is he supporting Wu family brother?”

Everyone turned toward the exam hall’s gate and saw the pale-faced Wu Jingcheng being helped out by Li Yu, whose cheeks were flushed but wore a look of disdain.

“What’s going on here?”

Lady Wu immediately went to check her son’s pulse, while Li Gang and the others approached with concern. Zhang Sanniang’s face showed worry, though she privately doubted whether the frail Wu Jingcheng could ever bring happiness to Li Ying.