Tang Shen hunched over on his desk and covered his mouth and nose with his hands and sleeves. He felt like stars were popping up in his vision and he was about to faint.

Simply farting wouldn’t be so smelly. The two candidates on his left and right had just… excreted into the jar they brought with them!

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Even if the jar was sealed with a lid, the stench would inevitably spread to the candidates seated close to them.

Tang Shen was so dizzy from the foul odor that his “fair and good-looking” face was now as black as the bottom of a pot. He only prayed that three more people submit their papers as soon as possible, so that he could leave the examination hall early!

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, perhaps it was likely some people also couldn’t stand the smell wafting everywhere in the examination hall, and finally three more people handed in their papers. The county deputy called out the names of the ten people to take them out of the examination hall. When he called Tang Shen of Gusu City, Jia Liangsheng suddenly raised his head and said, “Who is Tang Shen?”

Tang Shen was holding his nose in suffering. Suddenly his name was called, and he was startled to find that the person calling him was Jia Liangsheng. He put down his sleeves, bowed solemnly, and said, “My lord, this student is Tang Shen of Gusu City.”

Jia Liangsheng looked at Tang Shen. He didn’t expect that it would be such a young child. After being stunned for a moment, Jia Liangsheng said: “You may go.”

Tang Shen was confused but left with the other students.

As soon as they left the examination hall, Tang Huang and Yao San hurriedly walked up to him. Seeing his family, Tang Shen could no longer hold on and fell down, but was supported by Yao San. The stench still lingered on his clothes, lingering for a long time. Throughout the whole day, Tang Shen only ate one bite of flatcake and didn’t drink a drop of water. He also spent energy writing two eight-legged essays and one eight-legged test poem.

It was always said that when the ancients took the imperial examination, it was just like taking a trip to the gate of hell. Tang Shen now understood.

Yao San: “Little boss, are you okay?”

Tang Shen shook his head: “I’m, I’m fine… Yao San, I’ll be sleeping first, and when the county exam results come out, you can then tell me whether I’m in the top ten.”

Yao San said: “What are you talking about, little boss? This is the first session of the county exam, and you have four more sessions to take!”

Tang Shen sat up in shock when just a second ao he was on the verge of dying, and said in horror: “There are four more sessions?!”

“Yes.”

Tang Shen closed his eyes, kicked his legs, and this time he really fainted.

Yao San was right. In Gusu City, even non-scholars know that the imperial examinations were not just one session at a time. Each exam usually took five consecutive days, and the results were released seven days after the exam was completed. The first session of every exam was the most important, as it basically determined your future ranking. However, if you missed the next four sessions, your results would be invalid.

But as long as you do well in the first session and don’t make any mistakes in the next four sessions, your ranking would be guaranteed.

The first session of the Gusu Prefecture County Examination was over, and Tang Shen was carried to a nearby clinic by Yao San where Tang Huang anxiously asked the doctor to treat her brother. Tang Shen was still unconscious. On the other side, Jia Liangsheng and the county deputy had returned to the government office with the examination papers. In the government office, the academidician officials from Gusu City and Wu County had already arrived and were waiting to grade the papers.

The three exam sessions of the tongshi were all small tests, and there was no need to disclose the candidate names. As soon as Jia Liangsheng entered the room, he carefully placed an examination paper on the desk and said, “Dear colleagues, this paper is to be designated as the an shou of this county examination. Do you have any objections?” (TN: candidate who ranked 1st in imperial examination on prefecture or county level)

As soon as he said these words, the whole room was in an uproar, and the academician officials came forward one after another, wanting to take a look.

“Man has a period of prosperity, Heaven has a response to peace. Interactions between Heaven and man, such opportunities are very good. It is said that this is Heaven at peace and harmony, rather than a sign of human affairs. I don’t believe it…”

“In the past, “The Doctrine of the Mean” talked about sincerity and foreknowledge, but now it says that when a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens…”

After reading the first eight-legged essay, the academician officials were all stunned and speechless for a long time.

“I don’t believe it?”

“I don’t believe it! It’s novel in conception, sharp in writing style, and has the potential to feed the horse and sharpen the weapon!”

There was also an academician official who said: “I don’t believe it, this candidate… his name is Tang Shen, yes? Is this Tang Shen too boastful and arrogant?” He continued to read: “This essay “the marriage of Wu” is written quite conservatively, with no problems, and it can be rated as above second rank. As for the last piece “Endowed With The Neighing Of The Fine Steed”, although it has the eight-legged essay, it is only in the form and not the content. And you see these two sentences…”

Everyone followed his finger and looked.

He continued: “The level and oblique tones are wrong.”

Jia Liangsheng: “Oh, I actually didn’t notice.”

Jia Liangsheng also didn’t expect that Tang Shen, who was so amazing and talented, would make such undue flaws. But how could he know that Tang Shen could not be blamed for this. The level and oblique tones of these two sentences were correct in later generations. But in today’s era, the level and oblique tones were different from that of later generations. No matter how careful Tang Shen was, he could not help but to accidentally make a mistake under the attack of the foul odor in the examination hall.

Another academician official said: “It’s also not considered wrong. This word has multiple pronunciations, and ‘xiang’ can also be found in “The Classic of Mountains and Seas”.”

“In “The Classic of Mountains and Seas”, it specifically refers to mountain demons and ghosts, so it is read as ‘xiang’. In my opinion, this person’s first essay is too sharp and eccentric, but the second essay is indeed a masterpiece. The test poem possesses the meaning of the eight-legged essay, but not the soul, and there is a minor flaw. If he is the an shou, it is better to look at this examination paper.”

Everyone looked over.

The academician official said: “This person’s two essays are steady and sure, his meaning clear. Let’s look at the third test poem. It is simply wonderful! A horse’s bones are shocking, but no one’s eyes can see… No one knows the bright moon, and no one knows the course of the floating clouds. I am willing to take off the salt truck now and travel thousands of miles for you… Beautiful scenery, beautiful meaning, what a wonderful poem!”

Jia Liangsheng looked at the second candidate’s paper, nodded and said: “Yes, this test poem should be the first in this exam.”

It took the whole night for everyone to read all the papers for the county exam.

Jia Liangsheng rubbed his eyes and said: “Dear colleagues, in this exam, we must all have a conclusion on who should be given the three first-rank grades in this exam. This official thinks that the second essay “the marriage of Wu”, first rank should be given to Tang Shen of Gusu City. The test poem “Thoroughbred Horse Neighs” first rank should be given to Yang Zhifan of Wu County. As for the first essay “When a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens”… first rank should be given to Tang Shen from Gusu City!”

An academician official said: “This essay by Tang Shen is too arrogant. Might it be inappropriate?”

Jia Liangsheng pondered for a moment: “What do you think?”

It was still dark, and the lights in the government office were brightly lit.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Tang Shen. It was still dark, and he was supported to the entrance of the examination hall by Yao San and Tang Huang with his legs dragging and the examination basket in hand.

The handsome boy looked at the closed door of the examination hall, and then at the fellow candidates around him.

Tang Shen almost cried.

Tang Huang: “It’s really strange, Brother. The doctor said that you are not sick at all. You are just hungry and you will be fine after you eat something. Why are you still so weak today?”

Tang Shen said weakly: “What do you know? The shadow on the soul is a hundred times more painful than any physical trauma!”

Tang Shen would never forget that moment in his life. He was eating a flatcake when the examinee next door suddenly took off his pants and started shitting in front of him.

Never! In! This! Life!

Yao San had also heard about the difficulty of the imperial examination. He said: “Little boss, just bear with it. It will be over in four sessions.”

Tang Shen: “…”

You really don’t know what not to mention, four sessions! There were four more sessions to go!

Tang Shen encouraged himself deceivingly: “Yes, there are four sessions left. As long as I am in the top ten, I win.”

Tang Shen’s eyes shone, as if he saw hope.

Four days later, he staggered out of the examination hall, fainted again, and was caught by Yao San. Before he passed out, the last words Tang Shen said were: “In this life, I, Tang Shen, will definitely invent a flush toilet! In this life, I will definitely!!!”

The county exam ended on the 5th, and Tang Shen lay at home for a whole day before he recovered. He was already considered lucky, having a good physique in the first place, and Yao San and Aunt Yao had prepared enough for him. In the examination hall, some candidates from poor families and had weak physiques became seriously ill after just one exam session and were absent from the rest of the county examination.

Tang Shen first went to visit Liang Song and told his teacher about his experience in this exam. He did not mention the exam answers he wrote, because Liang Song said: “The test paper of the an shou of each imperial examination, as well as all first-rank essays and test poems for that exam, will be made public.”

Tang Shen: “…”

Okay, I will definitely get the first rank, just wait.

Then, Tang Shen spent two days forgetting everything that happened in the examination hall. In the early morning of this day, several uninvited guests suddenly arrived.

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As soon as Madam Tang entered the courtyard, she said to her son: “Tang Yun, now you still dare to say that Shen’er has done wrong to our Tang family? Do you know your wrong? Tell your younger cousin, what happened that day, how you misunderstood him and what a big mistake you made!”

AN: In this chapter, Yang Wanli was quoted in “when a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens”; Tang Bohu was quoted in “the marriage of wu”. Two test poems are quoted from Chen Quji and Meng Haoran~

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