Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 57: Ten Thousand Words Question
"Can you do it, my Lord?"

Anxiety and worry appeared in Mu Tie's eyes. He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. His mind was full of bad things. Wasn't it a waste of time to write in a busy city?
Although many students kept quiet consciously, there were still too many random and insensitive noises, and the scene outside the Ministry of Rites and Imperial College was no different from a bustling downtown.

The eunuch from the palace had no intention of taking care of the children and just stood aside to watch the fun.

Mu Tie frowned.

"What will happen to you, sir?" Wang Qinian sat cross-legged on the stool, holding a sesame seed cake in his mouth, with a nonchalant look on his face. He calmly pointed out Jiang Shan, "Don't worry too much. You should take care of the feelings of the thousands of students present."

Mu Tie didn't understand and sighed softly.

Wang Qinian explained in a very easy-to-understand way: "Let me tell you this. If you enter the Supervisory Council, the number of documents in the warehouse will at least double, otherwise they will not be worthy of attention."

Mu Tie ignored him, as he was used to Brother Qinian's frequent outrageous remarks.

An hour later, Mu Tie's face suddenly stiffened, and he looked at Wang Qinian with his mouth wide open: "Sir... you are so fierce."

Wang Qinian said sincerely: "I, Wang, always tell the truth."

After receiving the test paper, Lin Ruo only thought for a quarter of an hour before he began to write. In the blink of an eye, an hour passed without blinking, and no one saw the person on the stage pause for even a second. They watched as their ideas flowed, and they wrote exaggeratedly and fluently, filling more than four pages of rice paper.

Not only answering questions, even copying books is probably not as good as writing so fluently and brilliantly.

The expressions of the students present kept changing, looking in disbelief as if they had seen a ghost.

"He must be writing nonsense. How can he write without thinking?"

"It's been an hour, and you haven't even stopped writing to take a break. What on earth is going on in your mind?"

Some students from the academy sighed when they thought of the feat of staying in the study building for five consecutive days. They did not think there was anything wrong with it at all, but instead blamed the people around them for making a fuss.

This is what a well-read person is like. He writes with inspiration and his thoughts flow smoothly.

I don’t know who made the rumor that others cheated, but some students from the academy who already admired Lin Ruo very much were outraged and cursed.

There were all kinds of voices in the audience, and it was definitely not the questioning mood at the beginning.

The thick black pen tip was sketching on the rice paper, and Lin Ruo would occasionally look up and around to relieve the eye fatigue from staring for a long time.

Then, suppress all distracting thoughts and continue writing.

Three hours passed, the sun set, Lin Ruo stopped writing and looked to the side.

Feeling the gaze passing by, the dozing Eunuch Hou quickly sat up straight, got up from his chair, took a breath, and said sharply with the calmness of a big shot from the palace:
"Student Lin, it's getting late. Please don't be lazy and make His Majesty wait anxiously."

Lin Ruo looked over, stood up and said politely: "Eunuch, I have finished answering."

Eunuch Hou had just taken a sip of the tea handed to him by the guard, and before he could swallow it, he spat it all out after hearing these words, spraying the guard in the face.

Without caring about his manners, he picked up the test paper and looked at it...

In the restaurant and inn, some students were still racking their brains to write the previous text, biting their ink-soaked brushes, when they suddenly heard noise and commotion coming from outside.

Then I heard words like "finish writing" and "hand in the paper".

The students glanced at each other and dropped the things in their hands. In less than half a minute, the restaurant and inn were empty, and piles of draft papers were flying everywhere.

"Hurry up, copy quickly. If you are negligent, you will be punished." Eunuch Hou could not hide his excitement. The task was successfully completed and he wanted to go back and report.

More than a dozen officials stood on the stage, copying out nearly ten thousand words of policy questions, with beads of sweat the size of beans hanging on their faces, which they dared not wipe away.

……

In the bedroom of the imperial city, after last night's night meeting and this morning's court meeting, and reviewing memorials all morning, Emperor Qing took a short rest for the whole afternoon before getting out of bed.

Hearing the noise, the eunuch brought hot water. Emperor Qing waved his hand impatiently, and the young eunuch, who was preparing for the next move, bent his body and left the room.

After testing the water temperature and finding it suitable, Emperor Qing wrung out the towel and covered his tired face with it. Hot mist rose up and he felt refreshed and comfortable.

"Come back." Emperor Qing waved his hand, and an emotionless voice came out from the towel.

The young eunuch went and came back, kneeling down and asked: "Your Majesty, what do you want?"

"No news yet?" Emperor Qing asked in confusion.

"Your Majesty, the eunuch has been ordered to leave the palace. Only three hours have passed." The young eunuch said softly. He naturally knew what His Majesty was asking.

Emperor Qing let out a long breath, twisted his sour neck, and said self-deprecatingly: "It seems that I got up too early. I need to sleep a little longer."

Seeing that His Majesty was in a stable mood and even joking, the eunuch who was observant of His Majesty's words and expressions immediately flattered him: "Your Majesty is wise and brave, and you are diligent in governing. You are a blessing to our Qing country."

Emperor Qing smiled and said nothing.

The young eunuch said again: "Your Majesty, please take a rest for a while. Maybe Eunuch Hou will be back soon."

Emperor Qing frowned, sneered and scolded: "Nonsense, if you don't come back to report in a quarter of an hour, then I will only hold you, my servant, accountable."

The young eunuch realized that he had said too much, so he quickly shut up, stepped out, and lit some sandalwood to nourish His Majesty.

Lying on his side on the couch, Emperor Qing held the book in his hands and read it carefully for less than a quarter of an hour.

The young eunuch rushed into the room, knelt on the ground, and said happily: "Your Majesty, Eunuch Hou is back."

Emperor Qing's body tilted and he almost fell off the couch.

Eunuch Hou rushed into the room, knelt down and presented the letter: "The imperial edict has arrived. The emperor's grace is great. I am fortunate to have fulfilled my mission."

"Three hours?" Emperor Qing looked at the test paper in great surprise.

Eunuch Hou nodded and smiled: "Yes, I finished writing this policy in three hours."

"The time is too short, not enough." Emperor Qing suddenly showed a sense of disappointment, thinking that this was just a perfunctory question.

Eunuch Hou was sweating slightly and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, why don't you take a look first? I think the student wrote it very seriously."

Seeing this, Emperor Qing picked up the test paper casually, glanced at it with displeasure, and after just one glance, he immediately threw the book in his hand aside.

He rubbed his brows and waved his hand: "Go to the study, I want to mark the papers."

……

In the spring season, as the sun sets, a drizzle of rain dotted the interior and exterior of the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall.

The red wall on the left side of the examination hall was originally used for the announcement of the results of the spring examination, and that time had not yet come. But at this moment, it was surprisingly filled with a large number of people who did not care about the weather.

The students in long gowns stared intently at the articles posted on the red wall.

The scene was unusually quiet. Even though the raindrops fell on their gowns, the students pretended not to hear anything. They all kept their composure and did not look around or talk to each other.

After a long while, low murmurs were heard.

“It’s well written.”

The four words spread from front to back, all around, and gradually, the students who were unable to get close to the outside, and the students who were taking shelter from the rain in restaurants and inns, all heard it.

Gradually, it spread throughout the streets and alleys of Kyoto...

(End of this chapter)