On the ninth day of August, at the beginning of Yinshi, the three gates of Gongyuan opened at the same time, and Gu Chengyu lined up to enter the examination room.
There are three chief and deputy examiners and fourteen co-examiners for this rural examination. The chief examiner is Fang Huai, a lecturer of the Hanlin Academy. This is what Gu Chengyu found out in the past few days. The two deputy examiners are also officials of the Hanlin Academy.
After Fang Huai personally fired the cannon at the middle gate, Gu Chengyu lined up to be inspected. This inspection was much stricter than before. The autumn morning was naturally cold, and Gu Chengyu wore three single clothes and stepped on his feet.
It's single shoes.
Even the examination baskets are only allowed to be made of bamboo or wicker. The examination baskets bought on the street before were all exquisite and had the same bottom surface. The vendors are already very familiar with the examination baskets. They have this style every year, and they also have to
Sell until sold out and make a huge profit.
Gu Chengyu put some food in the test basket, that is, some dried meat and steamed buns. He had already asked the store to cut the steamed buns into small pieces in advance, so that the guards would not have to use their big knives to help him cut them. The big knives had no idea what they had done. He also
Too dirty!
You can already bring your own food for the provincial examination. Of course, the examination room will provide it, but you have to spend money to buy it yourself. Gu Chengyu only brought food for two days. After all, in this weather, if you bring too much food, it will go rancid.
Suddenly, when it was the turn of the candidate in front of him, the scene became chaotic. Originally, it was normal to take off his clothes because it was necessary to check to prevent cheat sheets from being included. The student was not uncooperative. After he took off all his clothes, the guard said that he still needed to check.
shoe.
The candidate didn't hesitate. He took off his shoes and handed them to the guard. The guard looked around a few times, endured the stench, rummaged through them, and returned them to the candidate after finding nothing unusual. Who would have thought that it was such an unlucky thing?
, I didn’t pay attention when giving it, and the shoes suddenly fell to the ground.
Something happened all of a sudden, maybe it hit the heel of the shoe.
A drawer the size of a matchbox slid out from the heel of the shoe. Inside the drawer was a small book. The book was really big. When the officer saw this, he immediately called other officers over.
He opened the small book. With his night vision, Gu Chengyu saw several folded pieces of paper as thin as cicada wings. They were about smaller than a matchbox! Gu Chengyu took a look and saw the Four Books of Zengguang written on them.
Prepare edict.
Needless to say, this must be cheating. Such a small book must have been written with mouse whiskers, otherwise it would not have been written at all.
"This, this is not my thing!" As soon as the candidate saw the small box that popped open at the heel of the shoe, he knew that he was doomed. However, he was still taking chances and wanted to make a quibble.
"The thing that fell out of your shoe is not yours, but who does it belong to? Quick, take him down!" The officer called the other two people to hold the student down and drag him out.
"I didn't, it's such an injustice! This is not mine, please let me go!" The examinee struggled while being dragged away, still shouting that he was being unfairly accused.
But before he could shout twice, the guards blocked his mouth with his socks, and all the students started to get excited.
"They were all found in his shoes. If it's not his, whose shoes are they? How brave!"
"That's not necessarily true. Who knows what the situation is? It might be someone else's trick. I don't think his behavior seems like he wants to cheat."
Gu Chengyu listened to the discussion of the candidates in front and felt sorry for that candidate. Regardless of whether he was framed or not, he was afraid that the scholar's reputation would not be preserved.
It was also his bad luck. He had already finished the inspection, but who knew that the shoe would fall to the ground and be hit on the heel? Thinking about it this way, Gu Chengyu felt that he was more likely to cheat. After all, if not
The heel of the shoe just hit the ground, and the pamphlet still couldn't pop out!
I really didn’t expect that cheating exists in every generation! Now, not only will the scholar’s title be revoked, but he will also be sent to the army.
"The general is here to advise you not to ruin your own future! You all know what to do!" At this time, a guard shouted such words, and Gu Chengyu was very surprised.
Later, Gu Chengyu saw the candidates in front of him were hesitating and not knowing what they were doing, some were bending down, and some were making some strange postures. He suddenly realized and looked at the ground.
At this time, a few small notes appeared on the ground out of thin air. It seemed that these were self-made cheat sheets by candidates trying to fool them.
Gu Chengyu was simply stunned. There were really so many people who wanted to challenge the authority of the imperial examination?
Not long after, it was Gu Chengyu's turn. Gu Chengyu took off all three pieces of clothing, as well as his pants, shoes and socks, and stood naked in front of the officer.
This made him feel extremely shy. Although there was a scarf next to him, the scarf could barely cover a key part. This was because he was afraid that the candidates would have any private contact with the guards.
The guard glanced at Gu Chengyu, who had red lips and white teeth, and then at his fair body. He glanced down, looked at the resume in his hand, and twitched the corner of his mouth.
The smile on Gu Chengyu's face froze. What does this mean? He is still a little kid, okay?
Another officer looked through Gu Chengyu's clothes one by one and found nothing unusual before returning them to Gu Chengyu. As soon as Gu Chengyu took the clothes, he quickly put them on.
"Take your hair off!" Gu Chengyu did as he was told, fearing that there was a cheat sheet hidden in his hair. He took off the hair tie and handed it to the guard. After the guard confirmed it, he handed it back.
There was also a guard checking the test basket next to him. After carefully checking the Four Treasures of the Study in the test basket, he looked at the steamed buns and dried meat and saw that they had been cut into pieces. However, he still stabbed them with a knife a few times and looked at them.
Chopped steamed buns and dried meat, no inclusions were found, so Gu Chengyu was allowed into the examination room.
Gu Chengyu really doesn't care about checking whether there is any entrainment before the exam. Fortunately, it is autumn now and it is not too cold in the morning. Waiting for spring will be fatal! If you take off your clothes, people can freeze to death.
Gu Chengyu looked at the number in his hand. It was Xuanzi No. 8. He searched for a long time before he found his number in a corner of the second row. He looked around and saw that it was okay, although
It's a bit close to the clean rooms, but they're not right next to each other after all. There are two dormitories separated at the back!
He couldn't help but feel lucky that his luck had always been good, otherwise he would have vomited in these three days and two nights.
I walked into the dormitory, put the test basket on the bed board, and first observed the environment of the dormitory. I looked at the roof above and found that it was intact. It should be no longer afraid of rain. I put it in the small dormitory.
There is a hardwood bed with only a mat and a quilt on it. There is a small red stove on the left side, which is used to heat meals for candidates.
Looking above, there is a lantern. Although the lighting is not very clear at night, it is still barely visible.
Gu Chengyu took out a handkerchief and wiped the table and stools clean. He first took out the food in the examination basket and placed it on the bed, and then took out the four treasures of the study.
The dormitory this time is different from the previous exam. This dormitory has a door with a small window on it, facing the table, allowing light to come in. But after everyone has arrived, the dormitory will
It has to be locked up, and it will not be opened until you ring the bell when you need to use the toilet.
In such a small dormitory, it would be frustrating to be around so many people. Gu Chengyu decided to finish the work as quickly as possible and leave the dormitory.