Early in the morning, even before dawn, everyone in the Jiang family was up, not a single one slept in.
Chef Yang had already prepared breakfast: chicken-filled buns, made with chicken and flour brought from ho. The chicken bones were boiled for soup to send the two off in a good state.
The remaining chickens were kept. When the two ca out of the examination hall, they would be used to nourish their bodies.
The whole family then moved together to carry the two’s belongings to the examination venue, even Wang Fu tagged along.
Liu Ze was his young master, how could he be absent at this ti!
It seed they had arrived early enough, but when they reached the venue, it was already teeming with people, and carriages couldn’t get in, they had to stop outside.
Luckily, everyone moved pretty efficiently, and after squeezing for about a quarter of an hour, they reached the examination gate.
They took out the exam pass issued by the governnt office, also known as the admission ticket. After checking and confirming its authenticity, they were allowed to pass.
At this ti, the family handed over the items to a Governnt Official, who inspected all the belongings brought into the examination hall.
Except for books, possible cheating notes, any other items, as long as you could take them in, they wouldn’t bother.
Eggs were fine, you could cook and eat them, almost every candidate brought so.
However, when they saw that bag of fine rice and noodles, and the green beans and rock sugar, not only the Governnt Official but even the Confucian scholar checking the exam passes couldn’t help but give them a few more glances.
Were they here for the exam or on a vacation?
Were it not for the fact that both carried the sa items, dressed in ordinary student robes, and held exam passes, they would’ve suspected there was a servant here just for chores!
But looking at their appearances alone, one was youthful and vigorous, the other gentle and refined, neither looked like a servant.
Upon seeing the large bag of charcoal, one of the inspecting Governnt Officials couldn’t help but twitch his cheek.
"Every year, we host hundreds of candidates here, but it’s the first ti seeing ones like you."
Usually, everyone brought mostly gruel, which could be eaten by pouring hot water, eliminating the need for much charcoal.
These two seed geared up to cook als!
Jiang Yu laughed, "You’ll get used to it next year. We’ll be back next year too."
Next year would be winter, easier to store things, estimating that mother would prepare even more!
The Governnt Official was montarily speechless, then said, "You’re also the first ones thinking they won’t pass even before entering the exam, planning to co again next year."
Jiang Yu was even more straightforward, "We’re young, our knowledge is insufficient. Even if we barely pass, we probably won’t rank well. Why not settle down a bit and treat this as gaining experience?"
This was originally the headmaster’s words, but now he said them so frankly and calmly that those who heard turned to look.
A thin young man in his twenties directly mocked, "You think too highly of yourself, as if this provincial exam is as simple as the preliminary student exam?"
Although others didn’t speak, so looked at them with displeasure, even disdain.
Apparently, Jiang Yu’s overly calm and composed attitude did not sit well with them.
Indeed, by age, most of them probably had gone through multiple provincial exams, maybe once, maybe three tis, maybe five, but appearing here today ant they hadn’t passed.
There weren’t many fourteen or fifteen-year-old lads, let alone like Jiang Yu and Liu Ze who were twelve or thirteen.
But the two didn’t pay any attention to the others. Once the Governnt Officials finished inspecting, they got soone to help carry the items in.
Seeing them get in, Jiang Hu then left the main gate with others.
By now, it wasn’t early anymore. The sun was up. From now, they had to wait for nine days to co here again to pick up Jiang Yu and Liu Ze.
After the exam, they would wait another three days for the results to be released, then they could go ho.
Once inside, Jiang Yu and Liu Ze soon parted ways. Jiang Yu followed a Governnt Official to his place.
Even though beforehand they had been clearly told about the exam venue, he couldn’t help but twitch his cheeks upon seeing it.
It was styled like a pig pen at ho, a very large room with small compartnts, but the walls resembled a prison with wrist-thick logs, palm-wide gaps for convenient patrolling outside.
Inside the room was small, at the farthest a three-foot wide bed, in the center an exam desk, where they would write their papers.
At the foot of the bed was a chamber pot, with a small stove at the door, and a small clay pot with a set of bowls and chopsticks, used for cooking.
The laborer placed his items inside and left. The Governnt Official gestured for him to enter and then locked the door from outside.
"Alright, you can’t co out until the exam is over. Rember, no cheating on the exam, no looking around, the venue provides a bucket of water daily, but you can buy extra ice and water, one wen per bucket."
The Governnt Official gave so instructions.
"If midway you can’t persist and want to give up, just tell us when we patrol nearby."
Jiang Yu was a bit surprised, "You can give up midway?"
The Governnt Official nodded, "So candidates lack the ability, others quit for health reasons."
"Oh."
"You can tidy up, the exam starts in half an hour."
With that, the Governnt Official left. Jiang Yu looked around. The lower part of the walls were regular walls, the desk was quite low, and every desk was in the center of the room.
This way, each exam position was quite far, at least five ters away, making it hard to see another’s paper with the naked eye.
Moreover, the walls obstructed view and Governnt Officials patrolled constantly.
The court valued the exam highly, under these circumstances, cheating was absolutely not tolerated.
As Jiang Yu was surveying the surroundings, he heard a ’humph’ from beside. Turning his head, oh, it was that person who mocked him earlier outside.
Jiang Yu ignored him and began taking out his belongings.
He had to take out the pen, ink, and inkstone. The clothes were placed in the book chest, the bamboo basket of food by the bedside, then he took out a bamboo flask for water.
At ho, they directly brewed tea in a teapot and poured it into a tea bowl. Here, it wasn’t convenient, so Jiang Hu made them a large bamboo flask.
Like this, a cup of water could last most of the day, avoiding much hassle.
But water hadn’t arrived yet, so he just placed the cup on the desk.
A set of bowls and chopsticks was provided here, he also brought one, to have one for rice and one for soup or dishes later.
The only slight miscalculation was probably that there was only one clay pot here, good for making porridge and soup, but none for cooking dishes.
Jiang Yu expressed his regret.
He didn’t think, how many scholars could cook? Forget cooking dishes, even to boil so hot water to make gruel from what they brought was quite good enough, let alone frying dishes.
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