The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 022 Fall Of Prosperous Times Part 3
In the early morning of the second day, Tang Shen entered the examination hall carrying his exam basket. He sat in front of his desk with a calm expression, as if no one had knocked on the door last night and he had not heard anything about the imperial coup more than twenty years ago. Tang Shen calmly opened the test paper. Jia Liangsheng was sitting in front of him, looking at him expectantly.
The sanyuan of tongshi examination was an honor to Tang Shen, and it was also a good literary reputation to Jia Liangsheng. It was his first time to be the county magistrate of Gusu City. If under his governance a candidate who received the sanyuan title appeared, it would be an auspicious event. So in order to prevent Tang Shen from going off topic, he specially made three simple questions for this academy examination.
Tang Shen, you won’t go wrong with this, right?
Tang Shen opened the paper, looked at the questions above, and was instantly startled.
The first question: "Is it not delightful to learn with constant perseverance and application." (TN: from The Analects of Confucius)
Tang Shen was dazed for a while and subconsciously flipped to the second question.
The second question: "It is wise to hold what you know." (TN: from The Analects of Confucius)
Tang Shen: "..."
Okay, there was no need to look at the third test poem. It was also definitely a frequently heard phrase and impossible to write off-topic answers to!
Tang Shen subtly raised his head and met Jia Liangsheng's eyes.
Jia Liangsheng's eyes were earnest: Write well and make no mistakes, you will be the an shou this year!
Tang Shen: "..."
The unspoken rules of ancient examination halls were really harmful! He clearly didn't want to be the an shou, so why were there people rushing to give him the title? Ai, then he could only accept it reluctantly.
Tang Shen lowered his head and began to answer the question, but his grin secretly stretched to his ears.
Hehehehe…
Hehehehe!
At the end of the first exam session, Tang Shen handed in his paper, and Jia Liangsheng eagerly took his paper and read it. He carefully read the two eight-legged essays and one test poem, nodding frequently.
Tang Shen also breathed a sigh of relief. If there were no exceptions, he was probably the an shou in the academy exam this time as well.
"I am indeed a genius!" Tang Shen thought to himself.
When he returned home in the evening, Tang Shen did not hide his joy. He directly said to Yao San: "Invite Accountant Lin and his family, let's celebrate."
Yao San: "What is the little boss celebrating?"
Tang Shen laughed and said, "Congratulations on my passing the academy examination."
Yao San never imagined that Tang Shen would be so sure that he could pass the academy examination in which he had just taken the first test session, and there were still four more. But he trusted Tang Shen very much and happily invited Accountant Lin's family.
Accountant Lin had experience. He stroked his beard and said, "It seems that the little boss is very confident. He answered very well today."
Tang Shen smiled and said nothing.
Aunt Yao cooked a table of delicious food, and everyone ate the food to celebrate. Yao San and Accountant Lin even had a few drinks. Accountant Lin drank too much and said that Tang Huang had memorized three more poems recently. The little girl was not shy at all and recited the poems on the spot with great pride.
As the sky got darker, Tang Shen left the crowd and quietly opened the door.
Liu Haozi was seen standing outside the door, and the two looked at each other.
Tang Shen asked: "Have you found out the information that Xu Yuzhi asked you to check?"
Liu Haozi said: "I fod a lot of information, but I don't know which one he wants. But Xu daren didn't say it was not good. He should have got what he wanted."
"Tell me clearly what you and he said."
Liu Haozi told Tang Shen the news he found out today.
"...That Daoist Hua is called a daoist priest, but he married three wives. He is also from a wealthy family on Tongde Lane. When he came back yesterday, he mentioned to his wife that he wanted to find a way to leave Shengjing and return to Guys City. Because his two senior brothers who were on duty in the palace on the night the meteor fell to the ground half a year ago did not come back from the palace that night."
Tang Shen: "The night the meteor fell to the ground… eh, was it that night?"
Liu Haozi: "Is there anything else, little boss?"
"No. You can go back. Remember that what I asked you to do today, you must not say a word to anyone else."
"Yes."
After closing the door, Tang Shen thought about it but still felt it was not enough. He called Yao San: "Give Liu Haozi fifty taels of silver and have him leave Gusu City immediately and never come back from now on."
Yao San guessed that it was related to what happened last night. He nodded in agreement and went out with the money.
Ten days later, the academy examination results were released.
Sun Yue and Tang Shen came to the entrance of the academy together, and most of the classmates from Ziyang Academy were also present.
It was still dark, and the stars were shining in the sky. Tang Shen was a little sleepy and yawned a few times, but Sun Yue stared at the academy gate with wide eyes.
Tang Shen: "How sure are you about passing the academy examination?"
Sun Yue: "I'm not sure at all, but what if I'm lucky? This time the questions were so simple that it's hard to write anything stunning, but you won't make any mistakes either. Look at the old xiucais in our academy. Although their literary talent is better than mine, but they may not be better than me when it comes to answering 'Is it not delightful to learn with constant perseverance and application'. I can also write an essay on this topic!"
Tang Shen smiled, and said calmly: "I wish you the last place."
Sun Yue wasn't angry either: "It's good to be in the last place, how good it is to place last! The last place is also on the list. If I get on the list, I will be a gongsheng. I can go to Jiangnan Academy to report, and I can take the provincial examination next year!"
"That's all the ambition you have!"
Tang Shen scolded in amusement, but in his heart he also hoped that Sun Yue could pass the exam. Fatty Sun looked unreliable, but he was actually very serious about his studies. Every day, he carefully completed the homework assigned by his teacher and never slacked off. Among all the wealthy children in Ziyang Academy, he was the most diligent one, such that Tang Shen even felt ashamed–—after all, he still had to manage the business of Zhenbao Pavilion and Tang's Logistics and did not put as much effort in his studies as he should.
There was actually no difference between the first place and the last place in the academy examination, both were gongsheng and could take the provincial examination. If Tang Shen hadn't already taken two top spots, he wouldn't be interested in the third one. The title of an shou was not valuable, there were three of them every year!
Finally, when yin shi (3-5am) arrived, two government workers and an academician official came to the front of the academy with the red list.
The red list slowly opened. Some people cried bitterly, while others were ecstatic. This frenetic dream-like scene had appeared in the land of China for thousands of years, year after year, without interruption. The imperial examination was really pedantic, and the eight-legged writing technique stifled students' thinking and made them constrained by the Four Books and Five Classics. But was this not the greatest fairness that the ancients could achieve?!
No matter rich or poor, everyone took the exam in the same examination hall.
This was the best way to change one's life. This was a broad road laid out in front of the people. Even the very old would never give up.
Soon, someone reported the good news to Tang Shen.
"Congratulations, Tang sanyuan!"
"Congratulations, Tang Shen!"
"Tang sanyuan, you have to treat us at Qianqiu Tower."
Tang Shen smiled and cupped his hands: "Thank you all, my classmates, I will see you all at Qianqiu Tower tomorrow at noon."
After a while, Tang Shen discovered that Fatty Sun was missing. He searched and found Sun Yue in the crowd.
"What, did you pass Sun Yue?"
Fatty Sun slowly turned around, and Tang Shen was shocked to find that the little fatty was actually crying. Sun Yue excitedly rushed forward and hugged Tang Shen. His beefy embrace almost crushed Tang Shen: "The last place, really the last place! Tang Shen, your words are a blessing, next time you must say that I can pass the juren exam, I will be satisfied with the last spot! Oh, right, you just said that you are going to treat us at Qianqiu Tower at noon tomorrow? No! Dear classmates, I, Sun Yue, will treat you all at Qianqiu Tower at noon tomorrow, I will pay!"
Tang Shen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
After the academy examination results were released, Tang Shen hung out with his classmates for a while. When he returned home, he unexpectedly saw someone.
Tang Shen was shocked and hurried over: "Why are you here, sir?"
This was the first time Liang Song came to his house.
Liang Song sat on a wooden chair in the center of the yard and said with a smile, "Is this your sister?"
Tang Shen glanced at Tang Huang: "Yes, her name is Tang Huang, she is ten years old this year."
"Tang Huang, which ‘huang’ is it?"
The little girl immediately said: "The ‘huang’ for yellow."
Tang Shen: "The ‘huang’ for jade. "Book of Changes: Da Zongbo" says, xuanhuang is used to pay homage to the north. Sir, it is this ‘huang’."
Tang Huang looked at her brother in astonishment.
Liang Song saw the reaction of the siblings, nodded and said: "’Huang’, beautiful jade, it is a good name."
Tang Huang stood dazed for a long time, and then she ran to the kitchen excitedly, yelling as she ran: "Aunt Yao, I have a name, Tang Huang, not ‘huang’ for yellow, but ‘huang’ for jade! Even Liang daru said it is a good name...”
Tang Shen covered his face. Wasn't it just a name? Why couldn't this girl be more reserved and maintain her dignity in front of sir?
Liang Song stood up and said, "Tang sanyuan?"
"Ah, sir, you already know."
“En, I knew it one night before you did. Come, Tang sanyuan, let's go out for a walk."
"Yes."
The two of them went out and walked through the neighborhood.
The house Tang Shen rented was next to a small river. Small rivers could be seen everywhere in Gusu City. The two of them walked along the river for a while.
Liang Song said: "Yu Zhi came to see you a few days ago?"
Tang Shen was silent then said, "Yes."
AN: Little Tang Lang: What the hell, the Wang family hasn’t gone bankrupt yet?!
The young and old of the Wang family: Meow, meow, meow??? Madam, you...???
Next door•Still not showing up today•old Wang: My wife is a spendthrift, please excuse him everyone.