Chapter 298: Might Be a Trap

The sky gradually darkened. At this time, in the exam hall, the sound of gongs rang out.

It was finally time to collect the papers.

The entrance to the Prefectural School was crowded with people, all with their eyes wide open, looking forward.

Soon, thousands of candidates walked out from inside.

The waiting crowd swarmed up, squeezing and pushing to find their family members or masters.

Those who found them hurriedly pulled them away, so as not to occupy the road.

Those who didn't find them continued to stretch their necks and look inside.

Seeing the entrance was as crowded as a traffic jam, Du Ruo simply didn't bother to join the fun.

What was there to squeeze for? Anyway, they would come out sooner or later, and such a big person wouldn't get lost.

Master Yan wanted to squeeze, but he was old and couldn't squeeze in at all.

He was anxious about the exam results, especially the 'Xiushan Twin Pride'. The academy had high hopes for them, looking forward to one of them becoming the Prefectural Top Scholar to boost the academy's reputation.

After waiting for about two quarters of an hour, the students of Xiushan Academy finally all came out. According to the previous agreement, they gathered under the big locust tree.

They came out, but their faces were not good, looking exhausted and listless.

"Oh, I'm starving to death!" Bian Dou Dou slumped his shoulders and cried.

A classmate next to him asked curiously: "Didn't you buy food to eat?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Bian Dou Dou rolled his eyes. "I even bought two portions! But I couldn't eat it after one bite. It was too disgusting."

It was comparable to the dishes at the Scholar Restaurant.

That classmate felt the same, but he wasn't as delicate as Bian Dou Dou. "It was okay, barely edible."

The key was that he was starving; without physical strength, how could he do the questions?

Bian Dou Dou tugged on Jiang Zhan, looking at his complexion. "Huh? A-Zhan, why do you still look so energetic? Did you buy food?"

Jiang Zhan shook his head. "No, I'm not hungry."

"Not hungry? People say half-grown boys eat their fathers poor. You're only sixteen, the age of being 'hungry and thirsty', how can you not be hungry?"

Pfft.

The classmate next to him sprayed. "What 'hungry and thirsty', Bian brother, you used the wrong word!"

Bian Dou Dou waved his hand indifferently. "Doesn't matter, everyone understands anyway."

Turning his head, he happened to see Jiang Fuzi standing behind, so he asked casually: "Jiang third uncle, have you eaten?"

Jiang Fuzi spoke indifferently, concise and to the point. "Not hungry."

Bian Dou Dou: "..."

He gave the two a thumbs up. "You Jiang family members are really something, enduring hunger and starvation. Admire, admire."

Du Ruo couldn't help but want to laugh on the side.

There was no such thing as enduring hunger and starvation; it was just that there was medicine carrying the burden for them.

After chatting for a while, Master Yan started taking roll call. Seeing everyone was there, he led the team back to the county hostel.

After returning, he first let everyone have a full meal and then urged them to go back to their rooms to rest well.

Although the first session was over, there were two more sessions, so they couldn't relax.

Of course, if they didn't pass the first session, they wouldn't be qualified to participate in the second session and would just pack up and go home.

"A-Zhan, Liangchen, you two stay."

Master Yan called them.

The others saw this and knew what was going on. This was to ask about their answers, so they all tactfully took their leave.

Du Ruo naturally followed.

She could barely help with mathematics, but as for policy essays and such, sorry, it wasn't her strength, and she could even say she was completely ignorant.

Professional matters should be left to professional people.

Master Yan led the two proud students into his room, closed the door, and then couldn't wait to ask, "How was it? How did you do?"

Jiang Zhan replied: "Passable."

Xiao Liangchen was silent for a moment. "I always feel that the questions were too simple."

Simple?

Master Yan was puzzled and hurriedly asked him to sit at the table and write out the exam questions.

Seeing the questions, his eyebrows tightened. "Not good."

Jiang Zhan and Xiao Liangchen looked at each other and asked in unison: "Why?"

"Sigh, you are both taking the imperial examination for the first time, so you don't know the tricks."

Master Yan explained patiently, "The imperial examination is to select talents. The simpler the questions, the more likely it is to be a trap. Think about it: thousands of candidates, those who are similar or almost the same are everywhere. Wanting to stand out from them is simply as difficult as ascending to heaven. So the key point is breaking the topic."

He looked anxiously at the two handsome young men. "Hurry up and write out your articles; let me see."

"Yes, Master."

The two sat facing each other, one on each side, and Master Yan helped grind the ink on the side. After half a quarter of an hour, four articles were written out.

Master Yan took them with trepidation and read them.

First, he looked at Xiao Liangchen's.

After reading it, half of his heart was put down, and he nodded with satisfaction. "Very good, the topic-breaking is innovative, not old-fashioned, and counts as excellent. Don't worry, the ranking won't be bad."

Xiao Liangchen was always steady, and hearing this, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

Although he might not be able to win the Prefectural Top Scholar title, a high ranking was always good.

Master Yan then picked up Jiang Zhan's draft.

To be honest, although Jiang Zhan and Xiao Liangchen were both the most excellent students in the academy, the one he valued most was still Jiang Zhan.

First, Jiang Zhan was the County Top Scholar, and this factor would also be considered when ranking. Second, the matter of Jiang Zhan making a wager with Duan Xiu had already spread. If Jiang Zhan could win over the grandson of the old Lord Duan, then the Xiushan Academy would surely become famous, soaring instantly, which was a great thing.

For public and private reasons, he hoped Jiang Zhan could win the Prefectural Top Scholar title.

So he looked at Jiang Zhan's two articles especially carefully, weighing them almost word by word.

He almost held his breath.

He read them under the lamp for two full quarters of an hour before finally finishing.

Master Yan raised his head, his hands shaking a bit.

"Good, good, too good!" He was so excited he was incoherent. "If such an article is not the first place, it would be intolerable by heaven!"

Jiang Zhan was blushing from the praise. "Master, you overpraise me."

Master Yan laughed loudly, feeling refreshed. "No, I didn't overpraise you; it's a fact."

Saying this, he handed it to Xiao Liangchen on the side. "You take a look too."

Xiao Liangchen was a bit unconvinced.

He naturally believed Jiang Zhan wrote well, but to say it was so good that it was intolerable by heaven, he didn't believe it.

Xiao Liangchen took the article with both hands and lowered his head to read.

His expression became more and more serious. After reading it all, he was stunned for a long time, and then looked at Jiang Zhan, his face slightly disappointed.

"A-Zhan has high talent; I am convinced."

If he hadn't won the County Top Scholar title before, he would still be a bit unwilling, feeling that he didn't lose to Jiang Zhan, but just because the chief examiner, Lord Lin, happened to know Jiang Mo Nian, so he gave the first place to Jiang Zhan, and he was second.

Now that he had read these two articles, he felt ashamed of his previous pettiness.

In terms of diligence, Jiang Zhan was not half a bit worse than him.

In terms of talent, Jiang Zhan was Jiang Mo N

What reason does he have to be unconvinced?

Although that is so, he still felt somewhat dejected in his heart; if Mother knew he had failed to win against Jiang Zhan again, she would surely be disappointed...

"However, A-Zhan, you must not speak of this until the matter is settled."

Master Yan reminded him, "In terms of talent and learning, I believe you are absolutely no less capable than that Young Master Duan, but in terms of family background, you are far behind. Although the Imperial Examination emphasizes literary talent, it cannot avoid the clashing of interests. If the two of you are of equal level, it is hard to say who the chief examiner will ultimately appoint as the top scholar."

In other words, it is very likely that Su Qingyao will choose Duan Xiu as the top scholar for the sake of interests.

Jiang Zhan did not care about this, smiling slightly, "It is fine, I have already done my best; as for the result, I leave everything to Heaven's will."

After the three of them finished talking, it was already very late.

Just as they were leaving, Master Yan suddenly remembered something, "Right, according to past practice, if the first round is too simple, the second round is very likely to increase in difficulty. You two should review your mathematics and poetry well over these two days, especially mathematics; I fear this year's difficulty will far exceed the past."