After signing up and going home, Wei Chen moved into the small courtyard by the lake again.
Every day when he gets up early, Wei Chen reads a collection of scriptures, and then practices Shiwen under the guidance of Zhuang Jun.
In the previous imperial examination, in order to cater to Shen Du's preferences, Wei Chen changed his writing style to be gorgeous and parallel, and thus won the first place in the imperial examination.
Zhuang Jun upholds the concept of managing the world for practical purposes and is not a corrupt scholar. He can understand Wei Chen's approach of trying to take advantage of the situation, but he does not agree with it.
After reading Wei Chen's article during the imperial examination, he said this: "Although your writing is neat and beautiful, it can't help but be reduced to inferior quality. Such an article will not work when encountered by a dabbler like Shen Du who likes gorgeous rhetoric. You can get a good ranking, but if you meet a real scholar of the Fang family, it won't work."
In fact, Zhuang Jun doesn't need to say it, Wei Chen himself knows that his article, which won the first place in the government examination, was originally written to cater to the prefect Shen Du. In the eyes of knowledgeable people, this is an act of charming people with literature, and the style is of course It is relatively low.
Therefore, even if Zhuang Jun disparages his article as not worth mentioning, Wei Chen has nothing to refute.
Didn’t you hear that Zhuang Jun said that the dignified prefect Shen Du was just a dabbler?
This is Zhuang Jun's confidence as a great scholar in the world. Even if Shen Du himself is here, he still has to bow his head and be punished.
After commenting on Wei Chen's article during the imperial examination, Zhuang Jun talked about Wei Chen's new article "On the Return of the Perfect Jade to Zhao".
"Your ancient prose is much better than Shiwen. I haven't seen such a wonderful article for a long time. If your Shiwen can be like your ancient prose, it takes off the ink decoration and expresses the eternity. If you have an indelible opinion, it is the best article in the world!"
After listening to Zhuang Jun's words, Wei Chen felt his eyes suddenly become brighter.
In the past, when he wrote articles, he mainly imitated his predecessor Cheng Wen and groped step by step. Wei Chen was actually very confused about the next path.
Zhuang Jun's words directly cleared away the clouds for Wei Chen and pointed out a bright road for him. As long as Wei Chen works hard in this direction, one day his article will be completed.
Wei Chen couldn't help but secretly admire that Zhuang Jun was indeed a world-famous scholar. He had a sharp eye and could see his own problems at a glance. He was really lucky to have such a wise master.
In the days that followed, Wei Chen locked himself in the room to read and write. During this period, except for a few visits from Chen Jun and Tao Dazhi, Wei Chen never met any strangers.
But Sheng Changbai has never been to the courtyard.
I don’t know why, but this guy seems to have always avoided Zhuang Jun.
Wei Chen was quite puzzled by this, but since Sheng Changbai didn't want to mention it, he wouldn't ask further.
On the morning of the day of the hospital examination, Wei Chen got up early and felt refreshed and had the pleasure of breaking through.
After breakfast, Wei Chen checked his examination cards, pen, ink, paper, inkstone and other items, then walked out of the small courtyard with the examination basket. Tao Dazhi was already waiting outside the courtyard in a mule cart.
After loading Wei Chen, the two took a car together and rushed to the examination booth.
As soon as I got off the car, I saw sparks and people buzzing in front of the examination shed's gantry.
There are about 800 children who came to take the college examination this time, which is much less than that of the government examination. It is not even comparable to the scale of the Youyang County examination.
During the county examination, the candidates were mostly fourteen or fifteen years old. During the government examination, the candidates were mostly eighteen or nineteen years old. But when it comes to the college examination, the number of people in each age group is almost the same, and the age gap between them is extremely exaggerated.
There was no other way. I took fifty out of the three thousand in the government examination. Even if I were to make up the admissions later, I would just take dozens more people. It took me an unknown number of years to save up these eight hundred children. Naturally, there were old and young, and they were uneven. I think back then, Wei Chen’s mentor, Shi Kai, was almost forty years old and was just a boy.
As soon as Wei Chen arrived at the examination room, he and Tao Dazhi looked for traces of Sheng Changbai and Chen Jun. The four of them were among the top ten in the imperial examination this time. According to the rules, they also had to mention their hall names during the imperial examination, so they could enter together. However, at this time, the sky was only dimly lit and the line of sight was blocked. It was quite difficult to find two people among the more than 800 children.
Wei Chen looked around and didn't find Sheng Changbai or Chen Jun, but he found an old acquaintance.
"Mr. Shi?"
Seeing the middle-aged man in a green shirt in front of him, Wei Chen couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
He immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Mr. Shi, you are here too."
The middle-aged man turned his head and glanced at Wei Chen, but hurriedly denied it: "Who is your husband? You got the wrong person!"
After saying that, he hurriedly covered his face and left.
Wei Chen looked confused. He remembered Shi Kai's face clearly, so he shouldn't admit his mistake.
When Wei Chen saw the middle-aged man ducking into the crowd, he hurriedly chased after him.
But after walking a few steps, Wei Chen stopped again. He suddenly understood that the man was clearly Mr. Shi, but why he refused to admit it.
The former student was now the same age as him. Shi Kai's self-esteem made it difficult for him to accept this sense of gap in identity and status, so he chose to avoid it.
Under this situation, even if Wei Chen catches up with Shi Kai and forcibly recognizes him, it will only make Shi Kai more embarrassed.
"Let's wait until we finish the college exam before we meet again..."
Wei Chen let out a long sigh, and finally stopped and stood there, watching as the familiar figure gradually disappeared into the crowd.
"Good brother!"
While Wei Chen was sighing, he suddenly heard an excited shout from behind. He turned around and saw that it was Sheng Changbai, so he happily said: "Brother, I had a hard time looking for you. Where is Brother Chen?"
Sheng Changbai said: "Brother Chen and Brother Tao have joined together. They are both waiting outside the dragon gate. You are the only one missing."
"Okay, let's go together now."
After Wei Chen heard this, he immediately walked towards Longmen with Sheng Changbai.
On the way, Wei Chen saw Sheng Changbai's expression was very bad, so he asked: "Brother, what's wrong with you? Your forehead is covered with sweat?"
"Um, really?"
Sheng Changbai was slightly startled, then reached out and took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
Only then did Wei Chen realize that Sheng Changbai's palms were also covered in sweat.
After wiping the sweat from his forehead, Sheng Changbai said in a panic: "Brother Xian is amused. Brother Fool didn't sleep a wink last night. He asked the maid next to him to make ginseng soup to refresh himself, so that he had the strength to take the exam."
Wei Chen said in surprise: "Brother, you are second in the imperial examination, why are you so nervous?"
Sheng Changbai smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Fool, how did you get the second place? Brother Xian, you also know, isn't it because we were lucky and got the exam? In terms of real talent and practical knowledge, I barely ranked in the top five in the government examination.
This academic examination is no different from the government examination. The new academic administration is taking the examination in person. This official, Hai Xuezheng, has always been upright and strict. He is also a well-known writer, but he is not so easy to get along with!"
When Wei Chen heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that Sheng Changbai was not afraid of the exam, but was afraid of doing it like a walrus!
Unexpectedly, Bolan, who has always been very cautious in advancing and retreating, would be in such a state of embarrassment.
Could this be some kind of telepathy?
Seeing that Sheng Changbai began to sweat again on his forehead, Wei Chen had no choice but to comfort him: "Brother, please relax, your essay is not inferior to mine, so what about the college exam? As long as you test carefully, you will not make a mistake." Wei Chen was also helpless. He couldn't just stupidly tell Sheng Changbai that Walrus Gan was your future father-in-law. It was normal for you to be afraid of him, right?
"I hope so..."
Sheng Changbai held the handkerchief that was mostly wet and sighed quietly.