Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 258 Da Baoyu: This is too much!

……

The day passed quickly and night fell.

The entire examination room was silent. There were guards patrolling outside, and their coming and going were disturbing and distracting. Fortunately, Jia Rong was well prepared. He stuffed cotton in his ears, turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside, and slept peacefully.

The next morning, it was bright and clear.

The clerk in charge of distributing the test questions has arrived holding a sign.

The old soldier at the door took the test paper and the draft paper and handed them over respectfully. Jia Rong took them and thanked him.

Open the test paper and take a look.

first question:
When beasts force others to do the same...they are close to being beasts.

The title comes from "Mencius, Duke Wen of Teng".

There are only nine words, but it is an extremely obscure topic.

The introduction is inconsistent with the conclusion.

The topic covers a wide range of content and is complicated. It is extremely difficult to write such an essay well, especially in the imperial examination.

But this does not pose a problem for Jia Rong.

After more than ten years of hard study and writing, I have absorbed every sentence in the Four Books and Five Classics and absorbed them deeply into my heart.

Jia Rong picked up his pen and wrote on the scroll:
When trying to pacify harm to things, one should also think about the harm to people’s hearts.

Madam, you are not one of the beasts. It is worrying that you are forcing others, let alone getting close to them?
Moreover, people cannot dominate animals, just as great men cannot dominate small men. When the lowly dominate the noble, the situation is forced. When the noble dominates the lowly, the situation is close. It is not good for people to be equal.

Jia finished the first performance of more than 280 words in less than an hour, just like practicing eight-legged essay in the morning.

next question.

Jia Rong took a look and found that it was from a passage in The Analects of Confucius.

"Ci, do you think I am knowledgeable because I have learned a lot?"

He replied, "Yes, isn't it?"

He said, "No, I have a consistent way of thinking."

The Annotations to the Four Books explains: "Zi Gong's learning is extensive and he is able to understand. The Master wanted him to know the origin, so he asked him questions to develop his understanding."

When solving a topic, solving the meaning is the most important, followed by solving the sentence, and then solving the words is the least important.

This is most of the time.

But there are exceptions, such as this one.

Jia Rong had just done this a few days ago when he was practicing his essay in the morning.

I didn’t expect that I would pass the exam.

Obviously, the main theme of this article lies in the four words "consistent".

At this time, breaking the sentence is the best option.

After having a general idea, Jia Rong did not rush to write, but lit the fire and started boiling water and cooking.

This is one of the items that all candidates must know. If you don’t know it, you will have to rely on dry food.

As the aroma of rice wafted in the air, the examinees in the nearby examination rooms began to drool.

The finest Mita Rouge rice.

Having said that, in the past two years, with the influx of fragrant rice from Southeast Asia, Japan, and Taizhou Island into the Central Plains, the price of rice has dropped a lot, especially the high-quality refined rice, which is not much different from Southeast Asian rice and has begun to enter thousands of households.

……

Two days passed by in a flash.

sunset.

After a careful inspection, Jia Rong put his seven articles in order and knocked on the window.

"carry out an assignment."

The old soldier at the door smiled and said, "Sir, you are probably the first one to hand in your paper. I see no one has gone over to Minglun Hall yet."

"Oh? You have good eyesight, bro."

Jia Rong stepped out of the examination room where he had stayed for two days and was finally able to stand up and speak.

The old soldier came forward and led Jia Rong, laughing and saying, "As we get older, we can see farther."

"Master, please."

"Brother please."

The two of them walked all the way to Minglun Hall and put down the test papers.

Someone immediately separated Jia Rong's test paper and the draft paper, sealed them, and passed them in. Then there was a clerk who was responsible for copying them, and a series of tedious procedures followed.

None of this has anything to do with Jia Rong.

With the end of the first exam, the outcome is basically decided.

As for the next two exams, they are just formalities. Everyone has already achieved the title of Juren, so as long as they don't make any mistakes, the following exams will be easy.

Return to the inn in a moment.

There was no one in the room, only a note on the table.

"I have something to do at home, so don't worry."

Jia Rong breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally gone...

Not long after, Xie Jiwen, Ye Mengshu and others returned one after another. They sat together to discuss the test questions, wrote out the articles from memory and compared them, and then hurried back to bed.

First of all, I'm really tired.

Secondly, there are two more exams waiting for me. Although they are not very important, I must give my best to avoid any regrets.

After all, no one wants to wait another three years.

……

It is said that after Lin Ruhai and Lin Daiyu spent the New Year in their hometown of Suzhou, they officially set off on the 16th day of the first lunar month.

The father and daughter traveled along the way and it was already mid-February when they arrived in Kyoto.

"You arrived at the right time. Rong Ge should still be taking the exam right now." Lin Ruhai said with a smile.

Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Dad, you have also read Rong'er's article. Who is better, you or him?"

"Of course..." Lin Ruhai paused and said, "As the saying goes, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. It's hard to say."

After several years of polishing, Jia Rong's articles have indeed reached a very high level, especially his writing style of ancient Chinese prose. Sometimes he has to sigh: The waves behind push the waves ahead.

"That means... they are equally matched?" Lin Daiyu asked with her eyes wide open.

Lin Ruhai felt that his position in his daughter's heart was about to be surpassed by someone else, so he said with a stiff upper lip: "Father should be a little better than Rong'er... After all, old ginger is still spicy." "Daddy is really awesome!"

"That's natural!"

Lin Ruhai stroked his beard and smiled.

"Oh, by the way, this time when I come to Beijing, I will probably live there permanently. I will definitely have an official residence, but I will also have to buy a private house, which will be more convenient for living."

"Are you going to live at home or at your grandmother's?"

Lin Daiyu lowered her head and said, "Daddy said."

Lin Ruhai thought for a moment and said, "It will take a few months for your two aunts to settle down before they can come to Beijing, and I will definitely live in the government office permanently. How about you live in your grandmother's house first, with your sisters?"

Lin Daiyu was overjoyed, but she still managed to maintain her dignity: "My daughter will leave it to you, father."

At one point, the official ship docked at the Kyoto Pier, and the father and daughter each took a sedan chair to the Rongguo Mansion. Lin Ruhai did not stay long because he had to take up a vacancy in the cabinet.

When Lin Daiyu reunited with her sisters after a long separation, she naturally had a lot to talk about.

"Hehe, girl Lin is back!"

"Call me auntie now. It's legitimate now."

Several people pulled Lin Daiyu and forced her to call her aunt.

Lin Daiyu was helpless.

"Second aunt."

"Third aunt."

"Little aunt."

"I'll give you a salute, okay?"

"Hehe, okay!"

"Niece Lin!"

"Wrong, it's my niece's wife!"

"Hello, niece-in-law."

Several people pulled Lin Daiyu and chattered.

Yingchun suddenly said, "Sister Lin, you may not know yet, our eldest sister has returned home."

Lin Daiyu was stunned: "Sister Yuanchun...Aunt?"

Tanchun smiled and said, "Yes, I just came back a while ago and asked about you, but you were in Suzhou at that time."

"Come on, I'll take you to see Big Sister."

"Um……"

Lin Daiyu agreed shyly.

Everyone went to Yuanchun's residence together.

At this time, Yuanchun had returned home for many days and was temporarily living with Lady Jia.

After returning home, Yuanchun realized that what worried her most was not her mother, but her younger brother Jia Baoyu.

After not seeing him for many years, my younger brother has grown up into a pampered man.

He knows nothing about the Four Books and Five Classics, and every day he just goes out to hang out with his bad friends. He has no ambition at all.

"Baoyu, you are already grown up, you should study hard and can't go on like this."

"Got it. I'm going out."

Jia Baoyu waved his hands impatiently.

My sister is really something. When she comes home, she does nothing but watch me read the Four Books and Five Classics every day.

What the hell is this?
I won't be a parasite.

Not even death.

As for being bullied by Sister Zhou and others at home...

He has resigned himself to his fate.

As soon as I walked out of the yard, I suddenly saw Yingchun, Tanchun, Xichun, and Lin Daiyu whom I hadn't seen for a long time.

Jia Baoyu was a little dazed for a while.

"Sister Lin..."

"Brother Bao!"

Xichun walked forward and asked with a smile, "Are you going to the academy to study?"

"I!"

Jia Baoyu looked at Xiao Xichun who was blocking his way, and he was so angry that he had no place to vent his anger. He gritted his teeth and said, "What I do is none of your business!"

Xichun smiled and said, "Of course I don't care, but I heard from the master that he would gather all the younger generations of the family together in a few days to hold a family exam!"

"There will be rewards for those who do well in the exam."

"Those who don't do well on the test will be beaten."

"Brother Bao, you must work hard and don't get hit by the stick."

Jia Baoyu: "..."

I rely on!

A family exam?

Whose bad idea was this!

Can't I just not participate?

"By the way, the master also said that anyone who does not take the family exam will be punished according to the family rules." Xichun added.

Jia Baoyu: "..."

Deceiving too much!

I can't live this day!
I want to be a monk!
"Hey, Brother Bao, don't run away. Let's have a good talk..."