Yesterday, the results of the long case examination were announced. As expected, Gu Chengyu ranked first, while Gu Wanhua did not make the list. Gu Wanhua had anticipated this outco. When he left ho, his grandfather didn’t have high hopes, only advising Gu Wanhua to return ho early after the exam.
Gu Wanhua was sensible this ti, possibly because he had learned his lesson from the last incident or perhaps because he was concerned about Yan Bi at ho. He returned swiftly. On his way back, he took his own carriage, and Gu Chengyu did not interact with him, not wanting to invite any more trouble. He hoped that if anything went wrong, it wouldn’t be blad on him.
Today is the re-examination, the second session of the provincial exam. Half the number of candidates compared to the first session attended. This session mainly tested the recitation of Classics, strategic questions, arithtic, and an examination poem. This ti, Gu Chengyu sat at desk number four in the Ganzi section. He glanced at Chen Xuewen, seated at the head, and unexpectedly, Chen Xuewen was also looking at him, even smiling a little.
Gu Chengyu found it a bit strange. Logically, although no foul play was possible in this exam, it didn’t an their relationship could suddenly beco friendly, right? Could it be that Chen Xuewen thought Gu Chengyu hadn’t discovered the secret inside the stead bun? He shook his head, redirecting his thoughts back to the exam paper in front of him.
As the exam paper was just handed out, Gu Chengyu quickly skimd through it—ignoring the Classics recitation and strategic questions, as they were nothing to worry about. He focused more on the arithtic and examination poem. Ancient arithtic couldn’t be tackled with modern formulas but had to use ancient thods. Fortunately, only the answers were required, not the process.
There were two arithtic questions in total. Gu Chengyu directed his attention to the first question, "999 coins and 1,000 pears, 11 coins for nine pears, and four coins for seven fruits; what is the cost of the pears and fruits?"
Gu Chengyu thought this question was quite simple; it should be an algebra problem from a previous life. He ntally verified the problem and already had the answer in his mind.
Then, he focused on the second question, which was a poem. This question was apparently more difficult than the previous one, "From afar stands the lofty tower of seven levels, with red lights adding sparkle. With 381 lamps in total, how many lamps are at the tip?"
Gu Chengyu read it twice. This seed like yet another algebra problem, and it wasn’t too difficult.
Back in the private school, Mr. Wen had ntioned that in any exam, there might be at most one arithtic question. Even if one got it wrong, as long as other answers were good, one could still pass, though not with a high rank. From this, one could see that scholars regarded arithtic questions lightly, considering them insignificant.
Thus, Mr. Wen didn’t teach much arithtic, focusing instead on the Four Books and Five Classics, which might reflect the mindset of most scholars in the Dayan Dynasty. However, it might also be because Mr. Wen wasn’t proficient in arithtic, so he couldn’t teach it deeply.
Fortunately, Gu Chengyu had a foundation from a previous life, or else the arithtic questions would have been quite a headache. He didn’t expect there to be two arithtic questions this ti, causing Gu Chengyu so worry for Sun Xian and the others.
The last part, the examination poem, caught Gu Chengyu’s attention. The topic was "Heavenly Mirror, obtaining the year character." Gu Chengyu frowned; this poem was quite challenging. The phrase "Heavenly Mirror" was likely from the poetry of Yan Yan of the Southern Dynasty Song, aning "the ruler looks over like the heavens above and the sea reflects like a mirror."
This question was quite obscure. Gu Chengyu had read it before, but he wondered if other candidates had.
There was no rush to compose the poem. He decided to first write down the previous questions on scratch paper, filling in the answers along the way. By the ti Gu Chengyu completed both arithtic questions, it was ti for lunch.
The food was the sa as yesterday: stir-fried eggplant with minced at and two stead buns. To be cautious, Gu Chengyu didn’t touch the eggplant dish and swapped the two buns with ones from his storage.
He went out to use the latrine and was almost overwheld by the stench. The weather was hot, and many had visited the latrine that morning. It emitted a toxic sll making it hard to approach. Gu Chengyu covered his face with a handkerchief, holding his breath as he entered, glancing at a fellow candidate by the latrine on his way out.
The candidate looked pale and didn’t touch his food, with a face showing utter despair. Gu Chengyu sympathized with him for a few seconds. Alas! Brother, you can only hope for the best.
Secretly relieved not to be in the foul number, even winter would be bearable, but sumr was intolerable, enough to be fatal. Especially with the flies attracted inside, even with mosquito-repelling herbs burning, the buzzing sound was enough to make one want to bang their head. Heavens! It was unimaginable.
Gu Chengyu returned to his spot, washed his hands with clean water, and dried them with a handkerchief before laying out the exam paper and scratch paper again.
Now that the arithtic problems were done, it was ti to compose the examination poem. Gu Chengyu pondered for a while and wrote on the scratch paper, "Elegant is Yan’s praise, in the second eighth year of Huiming. Observing the sky with symbols, mirror reaching the boundless sea."
Here, it’s worth noting. The twenty-eighth year of Huiming refers to the current Holy Emperor’s reign. The current ruler is Emperor Huiming, currently in his twenty-eighth year. Even though people commonly refer to it as the Dayan era in honor of the Grand Ancestor Emperor, who was Emperor Jia Ren, reigning for thirty-three years, with the Crown Prince ascending at twenty-five and now ruling for twenty-eight years.
When the Grand Ancestor passed away, Emperor Huiming, known for his benevolence and filial piety, insisted on keeping Dayan as the state title. The year titles could be spoken both ways, but everyone, from officials to commoners, was accustod to using the Dayan title. Still, writing "twenty-eighth year of Huiming" here wasn’t incorrect, though less commonly used.
Gu Chengyu had his own reasoning for writing it this way. He believed that although Emperor Huiming wanted to reflect his filial piety, no ruler would prefer being continually associated with the first emperor rather than himself, would they? Here Gu Chengyu gave a subtle complint. Although the Emperor might not be aware of it.
This poem took so ntal effort. By the ti Gu Chengyu finished writing it and checked the ti, it was exactly 3:30 PM. He went over everything to ensure nothing was missed and rang the small bell nearby.
After sealing his exam paper, Gu Chengyu stood up to stretch his muscles before leaving the exam venue with the constable. The other candidates were truly envious and jealous! They were still wrestling with the poetry. The exam paper this ti was incredibly difficult, leaving many candidates scratching their heads. So couldn’t even solve the arithtic problems.
But lantations were not allowed in the exam hall, or chaos would ensue. This exam was far harder than in previous years, right? Everyone thought with resentnt.
Regarding Gu Chengyu, even those who didn’t know him before now knew who he was. The news of Gu Chengyu receiving the Holy Decree had spread everywhere. Everyone felt envy over this matter. Seeing Gu Chengyu submit his paper so early, no one was surprised. Even if he didn’t perform perfectly, failing to secure first place, the second place was surely his. Who else dared to outshine him?
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