Chapter 33 33 House Examination

In order to reach Fucheng before dark, An Chuxia and the others only stopped at noon to eat the dry food they had brought and drink water.

Quickly and slowly, we entered the Nanlinfu City Gate before the city gate closed.

The carriage went to several inns near the entrance exam hall, all of which were full of candidates.

An Chuxia and the others had no choice but to stay in an inn a little further away.

Because there are so many people staying during this period, the hotel has also adjusted its accommodation prices.

In an ordinary inn, a high-end room now costs 5 taels of silver a night, a medium room costs 3 taels, and a low-end room costs 1 tael.

The lower-class room was very noisy downstairs next to the lobby. Finally, An Chuxia decided to live in the middle-class room on the second floor after discussing it with her teacher Gu Tongsheng.

In order to save money, An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao lived in the same room, Gu Tongsheng suggested that he and An Chuxia's third cousin, An Shouyu, live in the same room.

Although An Shouyu was afraid that sharing a room with Mr. Gu would disturb him, but he heard that it was expensive to stay for one day, so he stood aside silently and decided to listen to their arrangements.

An Chuxia and the others came two days in advance because they were afraid that they would be late and the inn would be full.

An Chuxia stopped reading after arriving in Fucheng. She spent most of her time resting. Gu Fangmiao gradually came under her influence and unknowingly let go of her nervousness.

An Shouyu came with the mission of shining a light on the entire An family. Although they settled in Liushu Village, a village with mixed surnames, there were only five families passed down from one ancestor.

But no matter how big or small the clan is, they still have a sense of honor that shares the same clan and virtues.

When they arrived, except for An Shouli, a member of the An family who did not recognize any of his relatives, the other An family members heard their mother say that An Chuxia was going to Fucheng to take the imperial examination.

They all came to bring money to An Chuxia, a girl from the same clan who was about to take the imperial examination. No matter how much it was, it was all a token of their gratitude.

Two days after arriving in Fucheng, he saw An Chuxia resting and eating. This rough man didn't dare to ask or tell, and there was a circle of blisters on his mouth because he was holding it back.

When Gu Tongsheng saw his beard curling up like this, he comforted him: "Girl Xia knows what's going on. You don't need to worry so much."

An Shouyu was quite convinced by Gu Tongsheng. After listening to his comfort, he calmed down a little and took care of his clan niece with peace of mind.

Gu Fangmiao is a little girl who loves to eat and loves to sleep. After two days of relaxing rest, she felt very energetic.

The third day of April is the day of the official examination.

The procedures for the prefecture examination and the county examination are similar, except that the county examination has five exams and the prefecture exam has three exams, and one more junior student must be admitted.

The examiner of the prefectural examination is the prefect.

An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao got up before dawn, checking the paper, ink, pen and inkstone in the test basket to see if there were any problems or omissions, and preparing food and water for the break.

After everything went smoothly, the two began to walk out of the room carrying the test basket.

An Shouyu saw them coming out and took the test basket from their hands without saying anything.

An Chuxia saw Gu Tongsheng following behind, stood at the door of the inn, looked at the dark sky, turned her head and said, "Teacher, please don't go! We can go alone!"

Gu Tongsheng raised his head stubbornly, passed An Chuxia and his granddaughter, and followed An Shouyu who took the lead.

An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao looked at each other, smiled helplessly and followed.

Arriving at the examination compound, An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao followed the crowd and lined up for inspection.

There were more female students this time, twenty or thirty people, and the male students were even more crowded.

And among these hundreds of students, only about fifty were admitted in the government examination and became this year's children.

The examination in the government examination is similar to that in the county examination. Female students are taken by the female historian to a small room by the door, where they take off their coats, untie their hair, take off their shoes and socks, and check whether there are any entrainments inside.

I heard that the inspections for male students are stricter than for female students.

The pancakes brought by An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao were torn into several pieces by the female historian. Neither of them said anything. Gu Tongsheng had already told them about this situation, and both of them were mentally prepared.

After successfully passing the examination, An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao made an appointment to wait at the door after the examination, and then separated to find their own examination positions.

The contents of the three government examinations include poetry, fu, policy, theory, sexual theory, and sacred edicts.

An Chuxia would carefully check every time after taking the test to see if there are any violations of temple taboos (the name of the late emperor), imperial names (the name of the current emperor), etc.

Someone will fail in every exam, and those who fail will not be able to take the next exam.

There were less than 200 students who made it to the last session, and there were less than five female students left, one of whom was Dong Linlin.

An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao still sat firmly in the third examination room.

Because such test questions are not difficult for the two of them, let alone Pei Yanhua, a famous teacher who has taught them for several months.

Even An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao have read all the Gu family's books, and their knowledge is more than that.

After the three government examinations, the two of them finally exhausted some energy and looked a little pale.

But Dong Linlin, who walked past the two of them, looked frighteningly pale, as if she was sick.

She glared at them fiercely and walked over with shaky steps, as if she didn't even have the strength to speak.

Every time An Chuxia and An Chuxia took exams, An Shouyu was waiting for them outside, and it was the same this time.

When he saw the two people coming out, he ran over quickly, took the test basket from their hands, and asked, "Would you like to rent a carriage to take you back?"

An Shouyu asked this question because he saw many students staggering out of the examination room. Some who were close were helped back by their families, while those who were far away hired carriages.

An Chuxia saw that Gu Fangmiao was in good spirits, but still asked her what she meant with her eyes.

Gu Fangmiao shook her head, "There are too many people on the road, so it's difficult to walk by carriage. Let's walk back slowly!"

An Shouyu followed the two girls and watched them. If he felt that they were weak, he would quickly hire a carriage to take them back.

The time for the list of government examinations to be published is different in each place. In some places, it takes five days for a large number of candidates, but only three days for a small number of candidates.

After An Chuxia paid for the inn room and got the results of the prefectural exam, although her teacher Gu Tongsheng said she spent money indiscriminately, she obviously wanted to know the results of the prefectural exam as soon as possible.

In the past few days, except for Gu Tongsheng and An Shouyu who were thinking about the results of the government examination, An Chuxia and Gu Fangmiao completely let themselves go after resting and recovering.

She went shopping every day to buy gifts for her family. An Chuxia not only bought ready-made clothes for her brother An Jinchen, but also bought four pieces together.

Every time Brother Runsheng sent her to and from school, he was hurt because of his brother. How could he be left out?

Brother Runsong stayed at his house for several days last time. He never spent money on food or drinks, so he had to return the favor.

Mu Tan, my brother and the others have to rely on him to treat their injuries this time, and the medical expenses are not confiscated. Everyone else has it, so he is not missing out on this one.
Chapter completed!