Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 838: Xu Family’s Son

County Magistrate Fang was one of the proctors. After the exam began, he led several clerks and Government Officials to patrol the examination hall back and forth. It was nearly an hour before he returned to the front courtyard main hall and bowed to County Magistrate Zheng: "My Lord."

He also saluted an elder in the room: "Ma Teachings."

Ma Teachings was one of the instructors from the Prefecture School, and had been ordered to come to the government office to supervise the exam.

However, Ma Teachings was known for being easy-going and understood his place and status. He was only responsible for accompanying the proctors and wouldn’t overstep his authority.

Ma Teachings had a kind appearance and was an old scholar. Hearing this, he nodded and bowed in return to County Magistrate Fang.

County Magistrate Zheng looked at County Magistrate Fang and said with a smile, "Lord Fang has worked hard."

County Magistrate Fang shook his head: "It’s just proctoring, not hard work. The hard part is for those candidates."

County Magistrate Zheng saw he was feeling nostalgic and asked with a smile: "Is Lord Fang reminded of his own exam days?"

County Magistrate Fang nodded: "It was tough then. Looking back now still makes me fearful. It was exam after exam, with no end in sight."

The county examination was merely the beginning of the imperial examination path. After the county examination, there were the Prefecture Examination and the college examination. Only after passing the college examination could one become a Scholar, a true scholar.

After becoming a Scholar, one must still take the exams for scholar and scholar, truly endless, enough to exhaust you to death.

County Magistrate Zheng chuckled, "Lord Fang, in the imperial examination path, you are already a leader; many have turned gray without achieving high marks."

County Magistrate Fang heard this and smiled shyly, "My Lord praises me too much, but I am not on par with your esteemed family, which has countless members with official positions."

The Jinling Zheng Family was a noble family, officials for hundreds of years. Within the family, there was a family school where young family members could study for free once they reached the appropriate age.

County Magistrate Zheng smiled but didn’t discuss the Zheng family’s affairs much. Instead, he asked County Magistrate Fang, "Has Lord Fang seen the Xu Family’s son?"

The Xu Family was a large household in Tianfu County, possessing vast lands and managing many shops. However, they seemed to lack official positions; despite their wealth, they had remained ordinary civilians for generations.

Elder Xu longed day and night, finally seeing his golden grandson, Xu Zhao Ming, hoping for his triumphant success.

County Magistrate Fang nodded, "I have seen him, graceful in demeanor, outstanding in talent. I heard he is a student at the Jinling Honghu Academy, tempered for years, waiting for this event to win the small three yuan and make a name for himself."

Ma Teachings, who was not much of a talker, spoke up upon hearing this, "Honghu Academy is a renowned academy in Jinling; those who study there are all talents. It seems this Xu Family’s son has some ability. I very much look forward to seeing his paper soon."

"Small three yuan?" County Magistrate Zheng smiled, suspecting the Xu Family’s calculations were futile due to the presence of Gu Jin’an this year.

He wasn’t sure about others, but County Magistrate Zheng knew Gu Jin’an well. Over the past three years, he had read many of Gu Jin’an’s essays and poems, all excellent works. His poetry and prose were different from the delicate style of Jianghuai and Jiangnan, written with grandeur and Northern majesty.

County Magistrate Fang, hearing this, asked, "Does the Lord mean to say the Xu Family’s son won’t win the small three yuan?"

As the chief examiner of the county examination, County Magistrate Zheng naturally wouldn’t speak recklessly. He smiled, "Haven’t seen the papers yet, don’t know if he will do well. Besides, winning the small three yuan isn’t just about doing well in the county examination. It also depends on the Prefecture Examination and college examination."

County Magistrate Zheng said this, and without further conversation, he stood and said to Ma Teachings, "Let’s go take a look around the exam hall."

Ma Teachings nodded, "Yes, it’s time to take a look around." He was there to supervise the exam, after all; it was his duty.

County Magistrate Zheng and Ma Teachings, accompanied by several clerks, a team of Government Officials, patrolled the exam hall for half an hour in February’s cold wind, then handed over the supervision to County Magistrate Fang, rotating as such to maintain continuity.

In the afternoon at the hour of You, County Magistrate Zheng ordered to drum three times and began lighting incense.

After the clerk finished lighting incense, he shouted in the exam hall, "The incense has been lit; when it burns out, the papers will be collected. We hope all candidates will answer quickly and seal their names!"

Upon hearing this, the candidates were very nervous. Two timid and unfinished candidates fainted directly.

The county soldiers quickly went to notify County Magistrate Zheng.

County Magistrate Zheng heard this and shook his head, "With so little determination, how can they stand firm in future official positions? Write down their names and take them out."

"Yes." The county soldiers received their orders and took the two fainted candidates out of their examination rooms, placing them in a room in the Ritual Room, to be thrown out once the Dragon Gate opened.

The incense used by the government office was very short, burning out in just a quarter-hour.

Thump thump~ Thump thump~ Thump!

The drumbeat sounded again, no longer as enthusiastic as at the beginning of the exam, but dull and slow-paced.

As the drumbeats sounded, County Magistrate Xu, County Magistrate Fang, Ma Teachings, along with the clerks, began collecting the exam papers row by row.

All papers were sealed by the candidates themselves. Once the ranking was determined, the County Magistrate, County Magistrate Fang, and the supervising Ma Teachings would open the seals together, strictly preventing any cheating.

After bustling for another half-hour, all the papers were finally collected.

Candidates watched their papers being taken away, feeling as if their souls were taken too, anxious and uneasy.

County Magistrate Fang shouted to the candidates, "The first exam is over, everyone follow the county soldiers out, the Dragon Gate will open for the retest tomorrow morning!"

The candidates followed the county soldiers out of the exam hall, and by the time they left the Dragon Gate, it was already dark outside.

Outside the Dragon Gate, there was still a racket of voices, all family and servants waiting to pick up the candidates.

Gu Dashan and others, accompanying the exam for the first time, were very nervous. After delivering Gu Jin’an and the four others to the exam hall in the morning, they went to the Luo Family Escort Agency, then returned on the mule cart before the hour of You and waited until now.

"Good Brother An, Good Brother An has come out." Zezi spotted Gu Jin’an at a glance.

Gu Dashan and the men from several families heard this and quickly ran over, seeing their sons, the first question from each was: "How did it go?"

Gu Jin’an looked at Gu Dashan and smiled, "It went well." His smile was relaxed, evidently having done well.

Qi Kangming was also looking relaxed, indicating he had performed well too.

For Gu Qingtian and Gu Qingliang, who were just there to try the exam, Gu Damu didn’t even bother to ask how they did; any result was fine.

Gu Dexing was unsure, looking at Gu Dafu and then Gu Dagui, saying, "Father, second uncle, I don’t know if I can pass."

Gu Dafu comforted him, "It doesn’t matter, failing isn’t a big deal."

Gu Dagui also smiled, "Right, Brother Xing, don’t be afraid. If you don’t pass this time, we’ll try next time."

"Fie! How can you say such things, if you can’t speak auspicious words, shut up. What do you mean ’don’t pass’? I’ve prayed at every Daoist Temple, Mountain God Temple, Earth God Temple in the county, how can Brother Xing not pass?" Mrs. Chen, eager to be the scholar aunt, detested anyone suggesting Gu Dexing wouldn’t pass.

Gu Dagui, scolded, hurriedly said, "Alright alright, I was wrong, don’t scold. Let’s quickly head home, or the city gates will close."

Hearing this, several families hurriedly called for Gu Jin’an and the others to board the mule cart, heading toward Da Feng Village in Qingfu Town.

They could have stayed in the county city, but Gu Jin’an and others said they felt more at ease at home, with less anxiety. Besides, with a mule cart, traveling back and forth didn’t take much time.

...

Gu Jin’an and several others returned home and continued to go to the county the next day for the retest.

The retest was the second session, with questions much harder than the first, and the third session was the second examination, with even more difficult questions.

Many candidates handed in half-finished papers in the third session, but Gu Jin’an was at ease, and after three consecutive exams, he was still full of energy.

After finishing the third exam, Gu Jin’an encountered Xu Zhao Ming.