Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 96, Main Scene, Part 4

Lu Chuan silently withdrew his gaze.

Although Lu Chuan wanted to get away from this noisy place as soon as possible, his eleven years old still made him the focus of attention.

"Look, that's Lu Chuan, the eleven-year-old top scholar of the prefecture."

"Young friend Lu, young friend Lu, please wait."

Before he could leave, several gentry and some students eager to find out more information surrounded him.

"Chief Lu, in your essay 'The People Are the Most Important,' which approach did you take? Did you cite the Book of Rites or the Book of Documents?"

"Lu Prodigy, in that examination poem, did you use the characters '迷' (mi) and '溪' (xi) in the eight rhyme schemes?"

Lu Chuan felt as if countless noises were rushing towards him, and he looked exhausted.

"Esteemed seniors, I, Lu Chuan, am of limited talent and knowledge. I have already given my all in the room. My mind is now a complete blank, and I truly cannot recall where I left off." His tone was calm, neither distant nor giving anyone anything to criticize.

After finally getting back to the inn with his father, the real torment was just beginning.

In the days leading up to the release of the exam results, the inn was filled with the sounds of students discussing and exchanging questions.

"Oh dear, I went astray with my writing on the topic of filial piety."

"Oh no, oh no, it seems like one of the words in my poem is out of rhyme."

Lu Chuan hid in his room, but he could still hear these discussions.

This anxiety is uncontrollable.

Even though he is mentally mature, he still gets nervous before the results are in.

Seeing his son staying indoors all day, Lu Shouye felt a burning anxiety in his heart.

The father didn't understand anything; all he knew was that his son was tired.

So, for the past few days, Lu Shouye has stopped going to the docks to work and has been going out before dawn every day to run all over the city to buy herbs that can calm the nerves.

"Chuan'er, don't think about it anymore. I've heard from outside these past few days that everyone is saying you're a sure thing to be the top scholar in the prefecture."

Lu Chuan took the soup his father handed him and chuckled to himself.

Three days of torment are finally over.

By the time dawn broke on the fourth day, the area in front of the examination hall was already packed with people.

Lu Shouye got up before dawn.

He refused Lu Chuan's request to follow, leaving only the words: "Chuan'er, you are a scholar, you shouldn't be sweating and making a mess with people. Your father is strong enough to show you."

In the throng of people, Lu Shouye appeared so small.

He gritted his teeth and desperately squeezed through the gaps in the crowd.

"Make way! Make way!"

With the sound of several gongs, two constables carried the red notice and slowly posted it on the screen wall.

"I passed! I passed! I came in nineteenth place! I'm a scholar now!"

A scholar in his forties suddenly let out a long howl. He tore open his clothes and stumbled out, crying and sobbing as he ran.

A scholar diagonally in front of him, upon seeing that his name was still not at the end of the list, instantly went limp, slid to the ground, stared blankly at the ground, his lips trembling but unable to utter a sound.

Some people, unwilling to give up, climbed trees or rode on their companions' shoulders, tracing the list line by line and word by word with their fingers, muttering repeatedly, "No, it must be missing. I was first in the county exam, how could I not have passed?"

Lu Shouye finally squeezed to the very bottom of the list.

His heart was pounding, and his eyes were wide open.

He started looking from the bottom of the list, but there was nothing there.

He kept looking up, and the rankings kept getting higher and higher.

When his gaze fell on the words "Fourth place: Qingyang County, Luchuan", Lu Shouye felt a buzzing in his head.

"Fourth... how could it be fourth?" he muttered to himself, his expression changing.

In the mind of this illiterate man, Chuan'er was a literary star descended from heaven. He had been the top scorer in the county and prefectural examinations the first two times. How could he have fallen short in the provincial examination?

Lu Shouye rushed back to the inn in a daze. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Lu Chuan sitting calmly at the table, drinking tea.

"Chuan'er... Father has checked, it's fourth."

"Did the academic official misunderstand? We used to always be number one."

Lu Chuan put down his teacup, looked at his father's expression, and smiled nonchalantly.

"Dad, please sit down and rest. Fourth place is a good result."

Lu Shouye was stunned: "A good ranking? The first place is the top scholar!"

"Father, look at Yingnan Prefecture, how many places like Qingyang County are there?"

Lu Chuan pushed open the window and pointed to the bustling street outside. "There are so many powerful people in this world. The children of wealthy families start studying from the age of three. For my son to be able to break into the top four in the entire family at the age of eleven is already a great honor."

"Furthermore, the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled. The first two first places already put my son in the spotlight. This fourth place not only preserves his status as a student, but also gives others room to catch up."

Seeing his son say this, Lu Shouye finally felt relieved.

With the rankings finalized, the status of a scholar was already secured, but this was only the end of the main event.

Lu Chuan knew that the preliminary examination was not over yet; the next "second examination" was the real key.

If a candidate who is admitted through the regular admission process performs poorly in the second round of interviews, their ranking will still drop significantly, and it may even affect their chances of being admitted to the university for further studies.

Lu Chuan did not attend any celebratory banquets; instead, he locked himself in his study.

With the experience gained from previous exams, Lu Chuan's mindset became increasingly calm and composed.

Before officially entering the second round of interviews, Lu Chuan pulled his father aside to talk.

"Father, don't think that just because the list of successful candidates has been posted, everything is settled." Lu Chuan picked up the teapot, dipped it in water, and drew a circle on the table. "This imperial examination is divided into the main examination and the re-examination. The main examination is to screen people and kick out those who are not qualified; the re-examination is to determine the ranking of the candidates."

"The questions in the retest are often more tricky than those in the main test, and they may even test our memorization and on-the-spot reaction. If you do poorly in the retest, your ranking will drop, and you may even be suspected of cheating in the main test by the university administration, and your name will be removed on the spot."

Lu Chuan held up three fingers and listed the items to Lu Shouye one by one:

"First, we must memorize the 'Imperial Edicts and Extensive Instructions.' This is a rule set by the founding emperor. It contains several thousand characters, and not a single character can be wrong, nor can a single ink smudge be made."

"This test assesses loyalty, to see if you have the court in your heart. A single wrong word will result in a demotion at best, and disqualification at worst."

"Secondly, you must write an essay on the Four Books and a five-character, eight-line poem. You must complete them in one go within a few hours. This tests your talent, to see if your ability is stable, and whether you will reveal your true colors after the main exam."

"The most crucial thing is the six-tier system after the re-examination. Those who pass the first and second tiers are the 'subsidized students' and 'extra students,' who not only get to study at the prefectural school, but also receive a monthly stipend of grain and silver from the imperial court. This is how they escaped rural life and started eating the government's food."

"If you get into one of the lowest grades, you're considered a 'supporting student,' which sounds prestigious but doesn't offer any real benefits."