Good luck with koi carp

Chapter 138
The most important thing for her daughter now is to study and take the imperial examination. Mrs. Xu doesn't let too many chores at home disturb her, so she doesn't let Chi Li get involved in the matters in the back shop, and she handles them all by herself.


Anyway, after being a housekeeper for many years, Xu is quite comfortable with these things and it is not difficult.


Chi Li was just chatting and made some suggestions casually. She turned around and put the matter behind her and continued to study hard.


After Chi Xiucai arrived, Chi Li still went to Xue's house in the morning, and stayed at home in the afternoon to be led by Chi Xiucai for systematic exam practice.


In modern terms, this is called a mock test.


The process of the college examination is similar to that of the previous examinations. It is divided into three sessions, namely examinations on scriptures, essays and policy papers. Anyone who has taken the examination will know the specific process. In addition, after each examination, a large number of excellent answer sheets will leak out. After supply, People learn by reference, so there are actually quite a lot of materials that can be used as practice questions.


As long as you are willing to spend a little more money and get in touch a little earlier, it is easy to buy real selected topics over the years.


As a teacher, Chi Xiucai naturally has no shortage of these past papers. Nowadays, some of these classic and special questions have been compiled by him for his daughter to practice.


There is only so much content in the Four Books and Five Classics. Basically, as long as the examiner does not set too many unfamiliar questions, Chili will always encounter one or two slightly familiar question types during the exam.


This is also called a pledge.


Whether you win or not depends entirely on luck.


Chi Li was also quite surprised. She didn't expect that there were such advanced teaching models in the ancient world. Although it was not yet systematic, thinking about the vast number of students who tried almost all kinds of methods in order to squeeze into the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination. How could the learning methods be any worse than those of modern people?

Fortunately, Chi Li knew from the beginning that her father was very good at teaching and educating people, and he also knew how to teach students in accordance with their aptitude. He knew that his daughter had a good memory and a good understanding. However, she had never thought that women could take the imperial examination before, so she didn't take it seriously. He had studied in the field, so he was less accustomed to the imperial examination. He didn't hold back at all. He directly broke up all the relevant knowledge, kneaded it finely, and stuffed it into her mind. He wasn't afraid that Chili wouldn't be able to learn it or remember it. .


And it turns out that Chili is indeed suitable for this learning style.


Therefore, she never questioned her father's teaching methods. She followed his guidance obediently throughout the whole process and moved forward step by step. While steadily improving herself, she also learned how to better adapt to the imperial examination model.


Time flies by, and before anyone can react, it has already arrived on December 14th, and tomorrow is the 15th day of the month, which is the day when the college exams start.


That night, both Xu and Chi Xiucai tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.


Unable to bear it anymore, Ms. Xu suddenly stood up, put on her coat and wanted to run out, but Chi Xiucai stopped her: "Where are you going?"


"Let me see if Li'er is asleep."


Mrs. Xu said without turning her head. After her words fell, she disappeared at the door. After waiting for a while, she walked back slowly. Chi Xiucai, who had been waiting on the bed, saw this and hurriedly asked: "How is it? Li'er. Have you slept?"


"Slept like a little piggy."


Seeing that her daughter was so worried, she had to take exams the next day, and she could sleep so soundly tonight, Mrs. Xu was inexplicably relieved. She returned to the bed and nudged Chi Xiucai: "Let's go to sleep quickly. We have to take Li'er to Gongyuan tomorrow morning."


"understood."


Chi Xiucai is actually the kind of person who has a big heart. Back then, he could sleep soundly before the college entrance examination, which made him more energetic than others on the day of the examination. This was why he won the title of scholar after three attempts. This was already better than most people. Students of the same age are much better.


It's just that this time the same thing happened to his daughter, he became nervous and anxious as a father. No wonder it was difficult to be a parent. He had to worry about everything for his children.


In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, a large number of students preparing to take the exam once again gathered in front of the gate of Gongyuan.


It was clear that most of the people had been eliminated in the government examination, but when it came to the hospital examination, Chi Li felt that the number of people was still not small at all.


Looking around, there are densely packed human heads.


And this time there was something different. If Chi Li could still see a few female students here and there during the government examination, now that it was the college examination, she felt as if she was the only female student in the entire exam.


Directly dreaming of returning to the county examination.


This can't help but make people sigh, but there is nothing they can do about it. This is the first time that women are allowed to take the imperial examination. Before, people didn't know that women still had such a path in the future. Even the woman who had studied did not deliberately Studying for the imperial examination, so when the opportunity comes, you will inevitably be a little unprepared, and it will be difficult to compete with those male students who have been studying seriously for many years.


In order to show fairness, it is also necessary to avoid obstacles for women to become officials in the future. In other words, this is also the result of the game between all parties. Anyway, although Her Majesty the Empress successfully created a historical precedent, she was unable to obtain more preferential treatment for women.


She also doesn't want to create a women's literary examination just like the martial arts examination. If this is the case, I am afraid that the women who pass this exam, even if they do have real talents and learning, will be questioned by those men, and eventually end up with His official career will be hindered.


In this case, it would be better to put both men and women on the same track and compete openly from the beginning. Even if this is actually unfair to female students who have only a short study time, only in this way can we truly compete. Make good decisions for their future.


Her Majesty the Empress believes that even if you are looking for a needle in a haystack, there will always be a few female students who can stand out.


As long as they can take such a step on their own, come to her, and enter the official career in the future, she will naturally train these outstanding talents and make them the pillars of the country, which will also make her authority more solid and no longer subject to opposition. The courtiers check and balance the woman who becomes emperor.


The power struggle among the top people has not affected Chili, a small fish. She continued to follow the route that she had already determined, step by step, and entered the gate of Gongyuan where the college examination was about to be held.


The heavy vermilion door opened and closed, signaling the beginning of another exam.


Although the general content of the college examination is similar to the previous examination, the difficulty of the questions has increased linearly.


Cut-off questions, trap questions, hidden question types, all taking turns, bombarded the candidates so dizzy that they almost died on the spot.


No, people are already starting to fall.


Chi Li, who was concentrating on doing the questions, suddenly moved her ears, raised her eyes and glanced outside through the door panel.


She couldn't see, but the thin door panel couldn't block the transmission of sound, so she could vaguely hear the noisy noise outside, as if someone was shouting something and someone had fainted.


It seems that someone fell in the examination room.


This is not a surprising thing. Every time there are exams, some candidates will force themselves to take the exam due to various reasons, such as illness, excessive psychological pressure, sudden illness, or A large number of candidates die in examination rooms across the country every year due to emotional breakdown and collapse due to the soaring difficulty of the questions.


Because the Gongyuan will not open the door before the exam is over. Even if someone is sick and is about to die during the exam, he can only be placed in a small room in the Gongyuan and be taken care of temporarily by a specially hired doctor. As for whether he can survive in the end. The moment the exam is over, you can only resign yourself to fate.


The only thing Chili could do was to say pitiful words, silently wishing that the other party would be safe and sound, and then continue to focus on the questions.


The questions in this college examination were difficult, and it felt like walking in the mud. It seemed that every stroke was extremely difficult, so Chili had to think carefully before writing.


She didn't know who the examiner was. To be precise, most of the students in this examination room didn't know who the examiner was. Maybe there were some people with strong connections who knew something about it. Anyway, Chi Xiucai When I first went to find someone to inquire, I couldn't find out any information for my daughter.


Therefore, it was impossible to predict the examiner's preferences in advance. In the end, Chili was only told to do her best.


Therefore, during the exam, Chili did not say that she would write any simple or gorgeous words in order to cater to the examiner's preferences. She just did what she felt comfortable with.


But the too difficult questions still make people bald.


Fortunately, it was still useful to answer a lot of questions before. At least when Chi Li encountered the traps hidden in the questions, she was able to discover them in time and avoid them, thus avoiding many deduction points.


Although she was not completely satisfied with the success of the final paper, she could still read it.


Chili thought uncertainly.


When she walked out of the Gongyuan gate after the day's exam, Chi Li was in a trance. Her state was not unique, it was even a slightly better one. There were many students next to her who were in a much worse state than her. As soon as some people came out, they knelt down on the ground and cried bitterly, beating their heads with hatred. It was obvious at a glance that they had failed the exam and were feeling regret.


"Pear!"


Chi Xiucai anxiously searched around the crowd before he found his daughter. Seeing that she looked strange, he didn't dare to ask any more questions. In fact, he could tell just by looking at the state of the students.


This college examination will definitely not be easy.


After signaling the accompanying maid and mother-in-law to carefully help her daughter into her carriage, Chi Xiucai paused for a moment, but still did not ask. He only handed his daughter a bag of food as if to comfort her, and coaxed softly: "The exam is over. But, don’t think too much, eat something first, then go home and have a good rest.”


"Ah."


Chili was rarely silent this time. Like a puppet, she followed her father back home to eat, wash and sleep in one go.


After she confirmed that she was asleep, Mrs. Xu, who had been worried, dared to ask her husband: "What's wrong with Li'er? Didn't she do well in the exam?"


"It's almost the same. I've asked someone about it. They said that the questions in this year's college examination are very difficult and many students failed. Our Li'er is not an exception. It's just that the child is still young. Maybe he can't bear this. A blow will only cause you to be temporarily depressed. Don't worry too much. I'll talk to Li'er personally until tomorrow so that she can relax." Chi Xiucai coaxed his wife.


Although the college examination is very important, in Chi Xiucai's opinion, it is still not as important as his daughter's body. Moreover, he was already prepared that his daughter would just go through the motions this time, so even though he knew that the questions in this college examination were very important, It was difficult, and he didn’t feel much about it.


The only thing that needs to be worried about now is whether the child can think about it on his own, and don't be too affected by the failure in this exam.


Chi Xiucai had already prepared a draft for his conversation with his daughter the next day. However, the next day, Chi Li, who woke up more energetic, took the initiative to cut off his father's words.


"Mom and Dad, my daughter is going to school."


"Okay, you go."


Chi Xiucai, who was originally ready to have a long talk with his daughter, was stunned, but in the end he could only let her go.


But he was really worried, so he couldn't help but walk back and forth outside his study door with his hands behind his back, until Chi Li, who had been inside without knowing what he was writing, came out with a few pieces of paper and handed them to Chi Xiucai.


"Dad, this is the question I took for this exam. Please take a look at it."


It turned out that Chi Li had just gone to write down the test questions and her own answers, and asked her father to help comment on them.


Upon hearing this, Chi Xiucai immediately took the paper and read it carefully. After a long time, he sighed and said, "These questions are indeed difficult."


Even he was not sure how his daughter would fare in the end.


But now I have only taken one exam, and there are two more to come. Everything has to wait until all exams are completed.


After a day's rest, Chi Li redressed and entered the examination room with a good attitude.


She behaved so abnormally after coming out in the previous game, not because she was shocked by the difficulty of the test questions, but because she spent too much brainpower and energy during the test, which made her behave like that.


After the second exam, Chi Li turned into a dull person again, as expected, and was once again taken home by her father full of worry.


Only after experiencing Chi Li personally did she know how humane the college examination rule was, which allowed one exam and one rest. If there were three joint exams, she didn't know how many of her brain cells would have died.


I can't imagine that in spring, I will be locked up in a small dormitory for nine consecutive days to take exams. During these nine days, I have to eat, drink, and defecate inside, and I can't even leave the house. What a terrible torture it is.


Chili decided to wait until she had passed the test in the hospital. After she returned, she would find ways to improve the physical fitness of this body, otherwise she might not be able to cope with the next exam.


The strategy for the third game was slightly smoother.


Perhaps after experiencing the torture in the first two games, Chi Li has begun to adapt to this difficult type of questions, and one of the questions in the policy essay happened to be chosen by her father. Not only the question type, but also the question stems were exactly the same. This is totally a question for giving points!


Chi Li couldn't see it herself, but her eyes lit up on the spot. After carefully reviewing the question to make sure she didn't read anything wrong, she immediately started writing and solved the question smoothly and quickly.


Looking back, she found that the time she spent on this question was quite short. The shorter time it took to write one question, naturally freed up time to think more about other questions, which invisibly gave Chili an advantage.


Chi Li, who came out of the third test, was in better shape than ever before.


This time, she didn't need to wait for her father to find her. She found the location of her carriage and walked over, giving her father a big surprise.


When Chi Xiucai saw his daughter, his first question was: "Isn't the question difficult this time?"


"It's difficult, but there is a surprise."


There were many people talking around. Chi Li pushed her father into the carriage first. After the father and daughter were in the carriage, she told her father the good news that he had won the exam with a smile on her face. Chi Xiucai was so surprised that Chi Xiucai could not bear it. Always smiling.


"Really, so good, so worthy of being my daughter, she is so lucky!"
Although he was the one who bet on the correct question, Chi Xiucai praised his daughter. In his opinion, his daughter was good at everything, so he couldn't praise her enough.


After returning home, the same good news was told to Mrs. Xu, which made Mrs. Xu happy.


Even though everyone knows that just one question cannot determine everything, but who cares, just be happy.


After the hospital test, Chili could finally relax for a few days.


The provincial examination is held every three years. I already took it once last year. I will have to wait until August two years later to take the examination back to my hometown. Regardless of whether I have passed the examination in Chiliyuan or not, it is still early. Even if I am anxious to study, I will not be short of this. How many days.


So almost counting the time, as soon as the hospital exam was over, Chili was immediately asked by Zhang Dabao to go out to play.


Recently, a new silver shop opened in Fucheng. It has many fashionable styles from Kyoto, which is very popular among the ladies in the city.


In order to reward her daughter for working hard to study and take exams, Mrs. Xu gave Chili 20 taels of silver and asked her to go to the silver shop and buy two pieces of jewelry she liked.


Although the family bought clothes and jewelry for Chili every season, the ones she chose were still different from the ones her mother chose for her, so Chili happily accepted the money and went out happily to go shopping with Zhang Dabao in a silver building.


It was also at this time that she showed some of the behavior of a little girl at her age, which made Mr. Xu laugh.


"Li'er, this way, this way."


Today, the Zhang family sent a carriage to pick them up. As soon as Chi Li took the maid out, she was attracted by the call of Zhang Dabao, who had been waiting on the carriage.


She walked over and got in the car, while the maid sat at the car door, staying with Zhang Dabao's maid.


As soon as they entered the carriage, Chili was held by Zhang Dabao's hand and asked with concern: "I heard from my cousin that this college exam is very difficult and many students failed. How about you? Don't worry, tell the truth. I I won’t laugh at you.”


"I can't tell." Chi Li shook his head and said, "But I have tried my best. After reading the answers I wrote down, my father also said that the final result may be between acceptable and impossible. It depends on the examiner's final decision. .”


In fact, her father's original words were left unsaid. Chi Xiucai said at the time that his daughter's specific ranking would depend on the performance level of the candidates in the same session.


The college examination only takes the first 50 students for admission. If everyone does not perform well, the corresponding admission score will be lowered as a whole. Even if Chili is trapped by difficulties, she is not without hope.


It's just that this kind of guess that relies too much on luck cannot be accurately predicted before the specific results come out, so Chi Xiucai just talked to his daughter in private and didn't mention it again.


Hearing what Chi Li said, Zhang Dabao roughly knew the situation. She didn't say any lies, comforting her that she would be able to pass or try harder next time, and simply changed the subject and chatted about what kind of jewelry she wanted to choose for a while.


"I want to buy a hairpin, a pair of bracelets, and preferably a pair of earrings. My mother made me a silver fox cloak a few days ago. It's very beautiful, but I don't have any matching jewelry in my makeup box, so this is You have to be very selective when you return."


Chi Li thought about whether she had any missing jewelry, and finally found that all her makeup boxes were filled to the brim by her mother. She didn't lack anything at all, so she could only say: "I'll go look at the jewelry over there later." Let’s talk about the style.”


If she sees something she likes, she will naturally buy it. If she doesn't like it, then she should go shopping with Zhang Dabao.


Including the money given by her mother, Chili's original pocket money, and the little pocket money she saved after returning home, Chili has about 80 taels. This money is enough for her to buy any of her favorite jewelry, but Chili has Li’s trip had another purpose.


Buying a birthday gift for her mother.


Xu was born near the end of the year, so her birthday is very late every year, while Chi Xiucai's birthday is at the beginning of the year, and Chi Li missed it before returning from Kyoto.


When we arrived at the Silver Building, we could see that the business of this store was good. There were ladies and ladies in rich clothes coming and going, mostly young ladies.


"Li'er, let's go in quickly."


Zhang Dabao took Chi Li's arm affectionately and walked into the silver building.


As soon as the two of them entered the door, a delicate woman who looked like a maid came forward to greet them. She bowed to the two of them and asked softly: "Hello, ladies, do you have any jewelry that you would like?"

Her lowered eyes accidentally caught a glimpse of the seals on their waists, and she paused for a moment. Then the maid's attitude became more respectful without a trace, and there was a hint of admiration.


Chi Li keenly noticed the changes in the maid, and was a little surprised by the other party's knowledge.


But think about it, being able to work as a maid in a silver house is just like a waiter in a restaurant. It requires more or less eyesight. It is not an exaggeration to be able to recognize this seal.


It turns out that the seals on the waists of Chi Li and Zhang Dabao are the signs that they have passed the government examination and become children.


Although Tongsheng did not have various privileges like scholars, they were also different from ordinary people. According to the regulations of the imperial court, all Tongsheng could obtain a seal produced and distributed by the government to represent their status and as an encouragement.


If you can get a scholar, this seal can be taken to the government and exchanged for a scholar's seal. This is the real proof that a scholar has entered the rank of scholar.


Of course, what made the maid admire was not the little boy's seal, but the owners of the boy's seal, who turned out to be two women.


This means that they have performed a feat that most women cannot do, walked out of the boudoir, and taken steps toward official careers. They have also successfully competed with those men and occupied a place in the circle of scholars.


Obviously, there are many people who can recognize this Tongsheng Seal.


After all, those who can enter the bank to buy things basically have some wealth. Many of them have scholars in their families, and some are famous people, so they naturally recognize the Tongsheng Seal. Therefore, Chi Li and Zhang Dabao unknowingly... became the center of attention.


There seemed to be some whispers coming from the corner, but they were ignored by the two of them. Together they came to the counter where the jewelry was displayed, and slowly began to look at it. When they saw some jewelry they liked, they put it on after asking the accompanying maid of the bank. Try it on.


After looking back and forth twice, one person finally picked a few items and planned to check out.


Zhang Dabao chose a pair of jade-inlaid silver bracelets with ingot bells and a flying bird gold hairpin. Chi Li chose an auspicious cloud gold-inlaid jade bracelet and a pair of small pearl earrings with silver tassels.


This silver building is called Yin Building, but in addition to silver jewelry, it also sells other gold and jade jewelry.


After asking about the price, Chili’s items were a bit more expensive.


Because the gold and jade bracelet she chose was more expensive, with an asking price of 35 taels, while the earrings were cheaper, with an asking price of [-] taels.


The total price of Zhang Dabao's things is only 28 taels.


Both of them brought enough money, but when they were checking out, the shopkeeper told them that the owner had given them a discount. In the end, they only needed to pay [-]% of the original price for what they bought.


Meeting the two people's stunned gazes, the female shopkeeper, whose face had been stained with the traces of time, but could still vaguely see the beauty of her youth, smiled and said: "My shopkeeper admires learned women the most, but she has only loved them since she was a child. In business, I can't study, and I can't bear the pain of studying, but I admire these two virgin ladies very much, so I must give you a discount and treat them as if they know each other."


"Since we want to get to know each other, why don't you let your master come by yourself?" Zhang Dabao asked.


She began to be curious about the owner behind the shopkeeper.


Since that person knew her two identities and was still in the silver building, he must have just seen them in the silver building, so why didn't he come out to meet them so secretly?


"I'm really sorry. I stayed at the master's house with the intention of making friends with the two young ladies, but suddenly something happened and I had to leave in a hurry. I could only tell the young lady to remember to give you a discount on the things I bought before leaving. ." The shopkeeper explained to his master with a look of helplessness on his face.


Chili could see that the other party had no ill intentions, and indeed just wanted to show kindness to them, but she was unwilling to accept favors from strangers. Who knew if she would suffer a loss in the future if she took advantage now?

And they don’t lack this little money, so there is really no need.


So in the end, he declined politely: "We appreciate your store owner's new ideas, but I'm really sorry, these things should be paid for whatever they cost. If the shopkeeper is really in trouble, we can also buy things from another store."


As soon as these words came out, the shopkeeper also saw that Chi Li and the others were resolute and had no choice but to accept the price at the original price and then send the person away respectfully.


"Li'er, what do you mean by the owner of that store?"


After leaving the silver building, Zhang Dabao asked Chi Li. She was not stupid. She could see the other party's proactive attitude, but she was not sure of the other party's true intention.


"It's not interesting. Maybe it's just a whim. Once it's over, you'll forget about it. Don't worry about it."


Chi Li was right. After a few days, when he saw that no one was approaching, Zhang Dabao understood that what happened in the silver building today was really just a whim of the other owner's family.


Maybe it was rare for people to see women who could pass the government examination, and they met two at once, so out of curiosity, they started to make friends with each other. After being declined, they didn't express any more.


This matter was quickly forgotten by Chi Li, and her family was now in the same state as before when she released her exam results.


Waiting anxiously for results...


After half a month of trying in the hospital, the results day is finally coming.


Almost everyone is concerned about whether they can be selected as a scholar, but the decision is based on whether the students can truly achieve the watershed of class crossing. This is a fate-deciding time for countless people and families, and they cannot help but be nervous and concerned. .


This time, the Chi family did not wait at home to send the wedding official to their door.


Chi Xiucai went into battle in person, accompanied by two tall and strong men as guards, and rushed to the front. He crowded with a group of people in front of the list, waiting for the government officials to come out with the red list and post it.


Too many people tend to generate heat. Even in this winter season, Chi Xiucai was sweating profusely. He raised his sleeves and wiped it casually twice, not caring, and continued to pay attention to the time when the results were released.


at last.


"It's time, release the list!"


Accompanied by loud shouts, countless government officials came out with long sticks in their hands. They raised their sticks to separate the crowd in front of the list. After a passage was cleared that could accommodate two people passing side by side, there was an official who clearly looked like one. The middle-aged man held a red list with names written all over it and pasted it on the wall with paste.


Before it was posted, someone from behind excitedly tried to push forward to take a look, but was pushed back hard by the yamen servant: "Don't push, don't push. Be careful in the back, don't push each other."


Under the maintenance of this government officer, the order at the scene was finally not too chaotic. After the officials posted the red list, they posted another list of different colors next to it, and then turned around and left.


As soon as he left, the government officials also retreated. Without any hindrance, the crowd immediately rushed forward, frantically searching for the name they wanted to see.


The same goes for Chi Xiucai. Under the protection of two guards, he occupied a place with a better view. He raised his head and bravely looked directly at the center of the red list.


I thought about looking from front to back, but I saw a girl with the same name as my daughter.


He was stunned at first, thinking he was a student with the same name, but the place and place of origin behind him were all very familiar, almost exactly like their family. After about a quarter of an hour, he finally realized what happened and his eyes widened. His eyes were so big that they almost fell out of their sockets, and then he yelled and laughed like crazy, grabbing the people around him and saying frantically: "I got it, I got it, my daughter got it, she is No. 5 in the hospital exam, she got it." !”


His voice was hoarse with excitement.


Because he was too excited, his words were slurred, so people around him could only hear clearly what he said: "I've won, I've won." They immediately understood that this person or someone in his family had passed the college entrance exam, although he didn't know who he was, or who he was. Which student it was specifically, but it still attracted a lot of envious, jealous and hateful looks.


How great it is to be able to pass the exam to become a scholar.


Afraid that their master would hurt himself in his excitement, the two guards quickly supported Chi Xiucai on the left and right, and led him to squeeze through the crowd and walk out.


"father."

"Li'er's father."


This time Mrs. Xu learned her lesson. She booked a window seat in the teahouse opposite the government office early. On the day when the results were released, she and her daughter waited in the teahouse for her husband to come back from reading the results.


Unexpectedly, they saw her husband at the window looking so excited that he was almost crazy. The mother and daughter were so frightened that they ran out to greet him, fearing that something might happen to Chi Xiucai.


Mrs. Xu, who had not yet asked why her husband was behaving like this, was grabbed by Chi Xiucai's arms as soon as she approached. The joyful news came to her ears: "It's hit, Li'er's mother, our daughter has been hit by the hospital." Try, No. 5, No. 5, hit, hit!"


"What? Hit! Hahahaha..."


The next moment, right in front of Chi Li, her parents held hands happily, danced on the spot, and sang "hit, hit, hit".


Chi Li: "..."

(End of this chapter)