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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Along the way, Tang Shen thought carefully about Liang Song’s words, and he suddenly became more confident about the county exam the day after tomorrow.

In the past four months, Liang Song could always find flaws in the essays and test poems he wrote. However, now he finally understood that the flaws his teacher picked out were never that the content he wrote was not good, but that he could express his thoughts in a better form.

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Compared with the ancients, what was Tang Shen’s advantage? His advantage was that he had a free mind and soul that transcended the times! He would not be shackled by this era, and his vision would always be a step higher than that of people of this era. This was his greatest advantage, and perhaps one of the reasons why he was accepted by Liang Song as his student.

Tang Shen had some thoughts about the county exam, and suddenly he remembered something.

“Sir, were you really unable to climb Xiangshan today?”

Liang Song was stunned and asked, “Why do you ask that?”

Tang Shen: “Sir, you just want me to climb to the top alone?”

Liang Song: “Haha, you kiddo, you think a lot. I’m old and can’t climb anymore. The mountains stand tall and the scenery stops. Although I can’t reach it, my heart longs for it!”

The teacher and student stayed at Zhao juren‘s house for another night. Tang Shen copied the books. The day before the county exam, they returned to Gusu City.

On the day of the county examination, crowds of scholars gathered before dawn outside the examination halls in the five counties of Gusu Prefecture.

Under the sky full of stars, government officials guarded the entrance to the examination hall, and the local county magistrate was present in person. The governor of Gusu Prefecture was Liang Bowen, but during the imperial examinations, Gusu City was merged with the adjacent Wu County for the examination. Wu County Magistrate Jia Liangsheng arrived early, wearing official robes and a black gauze official hat, holding a long white jade ceremonial tablet.

Jia Liangsheng sat in the middle of the entrance door of the examination hall. At this time, one main door and two side doors of the examination hall were all opened. There was a table and chairs in front of the main entrance, and Jia Liangsheng sat there. The two side doors were each guarded by government workers.

When the time came, Jia Liangsheng shouted: “The candidates may come in.”

The county deputy took the order, stepped forward, and called out the candidates’ names. Each time he called out five candidates, the five candidates would walk out of the row of candidates, and look at each other to confirm that the other four were correct. The county deputy called again: “Who is the guarantee?” At this time, a xiucai came forward and called out his own name, indicating the name and place of the people he guaranteed.

This was the five-person joint guarantee system of the ancient imperial examination.

Before the exam, five candidates must be found to jointly guarantee each other. The five people then find someone of a scholarly rank together and ask the scholar to vouch for them: guaranteeing that the candidate was who they say they were, had a clean background, and had no criminal history in three generations of their family. If anyone among these five people and the guarantee scholar cheated, the remaining five people would all be disqualified from the imperial exam, lose their honors, and be thrown into prison for trial.

The county deputy shouted: “Sun Yue, Li Jin… Tang Shen!”

Tang Shen stepped forward and confirmed each other’s identities with Sun Yue and the others. And with a xiucai acting as a guarantee, their group also passed.

The county deputy confirmed that all candidates have vouched for each other, and the chief registrar of Wu County then came forward. Each time he called out the names of two candidates, the two candidates each walked to a side door.

Gusu Prefecture was a prosperous place and an important place for imperial examinations, with many talented scholars. Each candidate carried a long-eared examination basket and walked to the side door and handed his identity booklet to the government worker. After the government worker checked it, he was then released into the examination hall.

“Gusu City, Tang Shen!”

Tang Shen walked to the side door on the left. A government worker took his exam basket and checked whether there was anything he shouldn’t have brought. Another government worker took his identity booklet and looked at his face.

The identity booklet stated: Tang Shen, tall and slightly thin, with no birthmark, fair face and good looks.

“Pass!”

After the body search, Tang Shen entered the examination hall carrying his examination basket.

After all the candidates entered, they gathered in the open space in front of the examination hall. Wu County Magistrate Jia Liangsheng came in and ordered the examination hall door to be closed. The three doors were immediately closed. After Jia Liangsheng completed the inspection, everyone took their seats according to the number cards they were issued.

There were a total of 120 seats in the examination hall, arranged in ten columns and twelve rows, arranged according to the heavenly stems and earthly branches. Tang Shen’s position was ding wei (forty fourth year D8 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1967 or 2027), which was the fourth column and eighth row.

This examination hall was completely different from when Liang Song brought Tang Shen to see it last year. In addition to one hundred and twenty more desks and chairs, a roof was built in the examination hall to prevent the examination papers from being exposed to the sun and rain. However, no matter how well prepared the yamen was, once the 120 people were seated, the examination hall soon became stuffy and smelly.

Tang Shen sighed, already very satisfied.

Gusu Prefecture was a main place for imperial examinations. The government here attached great importance to the imperial examinations, and had the conditions to provide more than 100 desks, chairs, and a roof for candidates. As for some poor and remote places, don’t even think about building a roof. Candidates had to even prepare desks and chairs by themselves and carry them into the examination hall. Sometimes scholars from poor families could not find a desk at home, and even had to borrow tables and chairs from restaurants and teahouses to use as tables and chairs for the exams.

All candidates sat down and the government workers began to distribute test papers and answer sheets.

Hearing the crisp ringing of the gong, Tang Shen opened the test paper and read the questions clearly.

The first question: “When a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens.”

Tang Shen was stunned.

This question was so simple!

The county examination was the only one among all the imperial examinations in which the county magistrate could independently make questions. In order to show their erudition and talent, many county magistrates would come up with some weird and bizarre questions, such as the rumored intercepting questions. Tang Shen pondered about it and realized that Jia Liangsheng, the magistrate of Wuxian County, was only twenty-six years old this year and had only taken up his post in Wuxian County last year. He had no roots in Gusu Prefecture, nor was he an old-school county magistrate, he had no intention of making it difficult for the candidates.

This sentence “When a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens” comes from “The Doctrine of the Mean” Chapter 24. The original sentence was “When a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens; when a nation or clan is about to perish, there are sure to be ill omens.” It meant that when a country or clan was about to prosper, there would be auspicious signs and when the country or clan was about to fall, there would be evildoers causing trouble.

The question was not obscure and the meaning of the question was very clear.

The question was simple so candidates were less likely to make mistakes. But simple questions also made it more difficult to get high scores and get a good ranking.

His teacher once said that his greatest advantage was that he could see further than people of this era and think more openly than people of this era.

After thinking for a long time, Tang Shen opened his eyes and wrote the first sentence on the draft paper.

“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.”

After writing this sentence, Tang Shen looked at it carefully. This time he was very aggressive in breaking the topic. If he made a mistake here, he would make mistakes every step after. But this was what he wanted to say: I don’t believe it!

After breaking the topic, Tang Shen had the rest in his mind, and he started writing as if words flowed out of him. Soon he finished the initial leg, middle leg, later leg, and final leg all in one go.

After he finished writing, he checked it carefully to make sure there were no flaws, and then copied it onto the answer sheet. You could scribble freely on the scratch paper, but there should be no stains on the actual answer paper. If there were traces of modification or smearing, the most you would receive was a deduction of points in the modern world, but in this era, it could directly turn an excellent essay into scrap.

After finishing copying in Guange style, Tang Shen was already sweating profusely.

He looked at the second question. This second question was also not difficult at all. The title was “the marriage of Wu”, which comes from “The Analects of Confucius·Shuer”. The original sentence was “I have heard that the gentleman is not partisan, but maybe he can be since Prince Wu took a wife with the same surname, saying that she came from ‘the elder family of Wu.’ If this prince knew the rules of propriety, then who doesn’t know them?”

It was about a passage by the Minister of Justice Chen criticizing Confucius.

The Minister of Justice Chen asked Confucius if Duke Zhao of Lu was a man who understood etiquette. Confucius said yes. After Confucius left, he said to Wu Maqi, I heard that a gentleman (Confucius) never protects others biasedly. Would a gentleman also be biased? Duke Zhao of Lu married a woman of Wu whose surname was also Ji, so he asked her to change her name to Wu Mengzi. Was Duke Zhao also aware of etiquette?

Tang Shen did not intend to take any more risks with this question. For the sake of conservatism, he broke the topic by saying, “It was disrespectful for Duke Zhao to marry someone with the same surname and have the other change their surname.” He quickly wrote a well-organized essay.

After finishing the second eight-legged essay, it was already noon, and some candidates took out dry food and started eating.

Tang Shen carefully copied the essays on the draft paper onto the answer sheet. He wanted to solve as many test questions as possible while he still had the energy and the examination hall environment was good. Otherwise, by the time an issue cropped up, it would be too late.

After finishing transferring over the answer to this question, Tang Shen took out the dry biscuit in his exam basket and began to eat it. He had just eaten half of it when he smelled a foul stench.

Tang Shen: “…”

Whose fart was that? It stank to high heaven! ! !

Suddenly the mood for eating was gone, and Tang Shen looked at the last test poem.

When solving test poems for exams in the previous dynasty, candidates were only required to write a five-character and six-rhyme poem according to the topic. In this dynasty, the late emperor, on the basis of the previous dynasty, required that eight-legged essays could be added to the test poems. This meant that when candidates wrote test poems, they had the option of only writing poems regardless of content. But if the poem written by the candidate had an eight-legged essay incorporated, and it was not just a poem, only then could they get high marks.

Whether it was essay or poetry writing, there were four levels: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. In other words, if you want your test poem to get first-rank, you must write an eight-legged test poem. Otherwise, even if you were the Poet Immortal reincarnated, you would only get a second-rank at best.

The topic of Jia Liangsheng’s test poem was “Thoroughbred Horse Neighs”.

Thoroughbred horse, a fine steed.

An ancient article “On Horses” immediately appeared in Tang Shen’s mind! There was no “On Horse” written by Han Yu in this era.

Only after Bole came into the world were there horses able to gallop one thousand li. Such horses are common, but a Bole is rare.

But does this mean there are truly no good horses, or that he does not understand horses?

Tang Shen immediately had an idea, and he wrote: “The fine steed is a confidant, its neighing suddenly became abnormal…”

After finishing writing, he pondered over words’ level and oblique tones, changed a few words, and copied the poem onto the answer sheet.

After doing all this, Tang Shen looked up again and found that the sun was already setting. At this time, the earliest prescribed time for handing in papers had passed. Six candidates had already handed in their papers and were sitting in their seats waiting. Each time, ten candidates’ papers must be collected before the door could be opened. The first ten candidates who submitted their papers were the most distinguished and were called the “top candidates.” When they leave, there would be ceremonial gongs and drums to see them off.

Tang Shen checked his paper to make sure it was correct and handed it to Jia Liangsheng.

Jia Liangsheng glanced at Tang Shen, took his paper and put it on the desk. He glanced briefly at Tang Shen’s paper. The first thing he looked at was the test poem “Endowed With The Neighing Of The Fine Steed” written by Tang Shen. Jia Liangsheng’s eyes lit up and he nodded frequently. Then he looked at the second essay “the marriage of Wu”, and his expression didn’t change much.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

When he saw the first essay, “When a nation or clan is about to flourish, there are sure to be happy omens”, Jia Liangsheng was stunned and astonished. Then, as if his whole body was struck by lightning, he stopped secretly peeking in astonishment. Instead, he held the paper in front of himself openly and read the essay seriously.

This scene was seen by the candidates who had already handed in their papers. They were all startled. They knew that Magistrate Jia’s reaction was that the paper was either brilliant or terrible. But among the seven people who had already submitted their papers, Tang Shen was the only one who didn’t notice Jia Liangsheng’s actions because…

He was about to faint from the odor!

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Tang Shen was scolded by Sun Yue for three days. Only after he agreed to treat Fatty Sun to a big meat bun sold at the entrance of Ziyang Academy did he finally vent his anger.

Sun Yue: “How could you only be the young master of the Tang family? You definitely have a share in Zhenbao Pavilion!”

Sun Yue was not a fool. There were many rich people in Gusu City, but to be able to enter Ziyang Academy, one at least had to pass the standards of Zheng Shanchang and have some real talent and learning. When Tang Shen and Madam Tang unveiled the red cloth in front of them, how could he not know Tang Shen’s identity?

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

After thinking about it, the little fatty was still upset: “You have to treat me three times!”

Tang Shen: “That’s all the ambition you have!”

The two laughed.

After eating the buns, the two talked about the county exam in five days.

Sun Yue said: “Are you sure about the county exam in five days?”

Tang Shen thought to himself: This was not a question of whether one was sure or not, this was a matter of passing the exam no matter what.

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Tang Shen asked, “What about you?”

Sun Yue let out a long sigh: “I came to school last year and have been studying for a year and a half now. In addition to the seven years of studying privately at home, I have been studying for more than eight years. You are only fourteen this year, and I am already fifteen years old. Did you know that my cousin became a xiucai at the age of fifteen?”

Tang Shen said: “There is no injury without comparison, I understand.”

Sun Yue’s eyes widened: “You understand? What do you understand? Tang Shen! I originally thought that we were grasshoppers on the same rope, advancing and retreating together. Who would have thought that you plan to pass and become a xiucai!”

“Isn’t this too soon to say?”

Sun Yue: “You will definitely pass the exam. God, why must I be your classmate? If you don’t pass the exam, that’s fine. But if you pass the exam, my mother will definitely nag me. I have studied longer than you, yet I’m far lacking in studies than you! Brother Tang, my Brother Tang, could you spare this little brother this time?”

Tang Shen said calmly, “You are not the only child who has been vexed to death by your Brother Tang since childhood. Go study hard, Fatty Sun.”

“Hah?”

“Nothing. Do you still want to eat meat buns?”

“Let’s go!”

Tang Shen was determined to pass this county exam.

Five days before the county exam, the students of Ziyang Academy were given a vacation, allowing them to study on their own. Almost all the students in the school had achieved a scholarly rank, but there were also a few like Tang Shen and Sun Yue who had to take the county examination.

Tang Shen originally wanted to study hard at home for five days, reviewing the past and familiarizing the new. Unexpectedly, early on the first day, a carriage stopped in front of his house. Tang Shen went out to greet Liang Song who got out of the carriage and said, “Yu Zhi went to Jinling for some business. I’m going to Shazhou County in the next few days, will you come with me?”

Tang Shen was stunned: “Sir, I will take the county exam in five days.”

Liang Song: “You can’t pass the exam?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“…”

I want to be in the top ten! ! !

Tang Shen couldn’t say this. Liang Song looked at his awkward expression while holding back his words, which finally made him look his age. Liang Song laughed and said, “Let’s go. If you can’t pass the county exam, don’t call yourself my student in the future.”

Tang Shen accepted the order, packed his things and left with Liang Song.

The carriage left Gusu City and headed north. The weather was getting warmer, but there was still a bit of chill. The carriage was equipped with a small heater. Tang Shen remembered that when he went to pick up his teacher at the city gate a month ago, his teacher gave him this thing to warm his hands.

The teacher and student didn’t chat in the carriage, they both read books separately. Sometimes Liang Song would ask Tang Shen to answer several questions. Tang Shen would answer them one by one, and Liang Song would point out the flaws.

In the evening, the two arrived at Shazhou County.

Shazhou County was in the northernmost part of Gusu Prefecture. The snow in Gusu Prefecture City stopped three days ago, but Shazhou County was still covered in snow. The endless fields were thinly covered with a layer of silver-white snow, and several villages were dotted among the endless white. The driver drove the carriage to one of the farm houses.

The carriage stopped in front of a small courtyard. Before they even got off the carriage, the owner of the house went out to greet them.

This was an old man with gray hair and a stooped back. He walked to the carriage with a cane, bowed to Liang Song, and greeted: “Liang daru.”

Liang Song got out of the carriage and saluted back: “Zhao juren.”

Tang Shen was stunned. He didn’t expect that this old man, who seemed to have an ordinary appearance and an ordinary background, was actually a juren.

Zhao juren invited them in and arranged a room for them.

Liang Song said: “I came to borrow two books from him and take a look around Shazhou County. We will leave the day after tomorrow. My eyesight is dim and he is no longer the age to read and write. As Yu Zhi is not here, you will take his place and help me copy down the two books.”

Tang Shen smiled bitterly and said, “Yes.”

So he was dragged over to do hard work!

Zhao juren gave Tang Shen two books on the customs, people and sentiments of Shazhou County, and Tang Shen copied the contents carefully. He didn’t write quickly, especially as when writing such small characters, one had to hold the brush with the wrist in the air. After copying a few pages, he felt a little tired. Tang Shen rubbed his arms and continued to copy.

Liang Bowen was a great contemporary Confucian scholar, but he liked all kinds of books.

Tang Shen once went to his teacher’s study room, where thousands of books were kept. From astronomy and geography to poetry, song, legends, and Confucian miscellany, there was everything one could ever want to read about. Liang Bowen never stuck to any kind of genre. He was erudite and knowledgeable.

When Tang Shen began to copy the second book, it was already dark.

“When making a hook, restrain the sharpness.”

Tang Shen was stunned for a moment and almost made a mistake, but inevitably, there was still a small ink dot on the book. He raised his head: “Sir?”

Liang Song stood beside him at some point, quietly watching Tang Shen write by candlelight.

Tang Shen never liked studying at night. As the saying went, to stay up late to read. Tang Huang once joked about this, saying that her brother was not diligent enough and he did not want to go to school. However, Tang Shen said confidently: “To study with the light of the oil lamp, do you want your brother to gain myopia at a young age?”

Ah Huang didn’t understand what myopia meant, but she could see Tang Shen’s firmness.

The warm candlelight swayed gently, Liang Song stood at the table, and Tang Shen sat copying books.

Liang Song: “Continue.”

“Yes.”

Tang Shen wrote more carefully, concentrating on his handwriting. Halfway through writing, Liang Song said: “It is indeed effective for you to practice calligraphy every day, but you always show your sharpness when writing.”

“Isn’t it good to reveal your sharpness?”

“It’s not good to show off one’s sharpness and edges. But you only do so a little, so it’s not a big deal, rather it gives your writing more character. If this handwriting is too much, wouldn’t all the masters of remix cursive script in the world be considered sharp and arrogant? But Tang Shen, you must remember that you are just a common scholar without any rank. If you want to take the exam, you must be able to write in the Guange style.”

Liang Song held Tang Shen’s hand and guided him to write. In an instant, beautiful ink characters appeared on the paper.

Perhaps in this era, many fathers once held their sons’ hands and patiently taught them: “Square and round, beautiful and gorgeous. Do not stand out of line, and do not reveal the sharpness of the hook. Each word is of the same size and detailed. You must write the Guangge style well, otherwise even if you are wenquxing reincarnated, you will not be able to pass the palace exam.”

There was silence in the room. After a long time, Tang Shen said: “Sir, when did I say that I wanted to pass the palace exam?”

Liang Song laughed and scolded: “You little rascal, are you implying that if you want to pass the palace exam, you can pass the palace exam? I’m afraid you won’t even pass the juren exam!”

Tang Shen thought very seriously: “If I fail to pass the juren exam, wouldn’t it mean that sir’s reputation will be ruined? I will be the first of your students to fail the juren exam?”

“Begone, you!”

“Ai!”

Tang Shen was guided by Liang Song to write two pieces of paper, then Liang Song had him write a few more pieces by himself.

“Okay, go to bed first and continue writing tomorrow.”

Tang Shen: “I want to write for a while longer.”

Liang Song: “Go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow to go have a look around Shazhou County.”

Tang Shen had no choice but to accept the order.

After resting one night at Zhao juren‘s house, the teacher and student took a carriage and headed to Xiangshan in the north of Shazhou County. The carriage reached the foot of the mountain, and the two got out of the carriage and walked along the path. Xiangshan was the highest mountain in Shazhou County, more than 100 meters high. There were yew and masson pine on the mountain. The green trees cover the sound of the stream but the sound of birds singing amidst the white snow could be heard.

Tang Shen was young and fit, and he did not find it difficult to climb up with his luggage on his back. However, Mr. Liang was old, and he was already gasping for air after they reached Peach Blossom Stream. At this spot they could see the mountain of green pine trees buried in silver snow and when one stepped on it, the snow reached their ankles.

Liang Song stopped and said, “I really can’t walk anymore. Tang Shen, go up the mountain by yourself.”

Tang Shen was stunned: “Sir?”

“I’m old and there’s still some distance to the top of the mountain. You go up by yourself.”

Tang Shen didn’t want to go up. He came to climb the mountain with Liang Song. If Liang Song didn’t even climb anymore, what was the point of him climbing alone? But Liang Song also said that he had climbed up to this point, and he had more ambition than strength. Tang Shen might as well climb to the top and take in the panoramic view of the scenery.

So Tang Shen climbed up alone.

“Where is the scenery that sir promised!” Tang Shen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

In fact, this was true, this Xiangshan was just an ordinary little mountain in Shazhou County, Gusu Prefecture. In his previous life, Tang Shen climbed Mount Tai, the first of the five mountains, and Huashan, which was famous for its rugged and steep cliffs. Compared with the former two, Xiangshan was nothing to mention.

After going down the mountain, Liang Song asked: “How nice was the scenery on the mountain?”

Tang Shen thought for a while: “The mountain is high and the air is refreshing. It is cloudless today. Although I can’t see Gusu City after reaching the top, I can get a clear view of Shazhou County. The scenery is quite good.”

“Standing at the top of the mountain is better than being within the mountain, with a new atmosphere and a glimpse of the grand view, yes?”

Tang Shen was about to answer when suddenly he was stunned and stared straight at Liang Song.

“Sir… did you not bring me out for some fun?”

Liang Song asked back: “When did I say it was for fun?”

Tang Shen himself laughed first, and said: “So it’s like that! Sir asked me to copy books because you are testing my calligraphy skills and teaching me to write in the Guange style. But now that sir has brought me to mountain climbing, I don’t understand.”

Liang Song: “You are going to take the county exam the day after tomorrow, are you worried, scared?”

“It would be a lie to say I am not afraid, but I am also not very afraid either.”

“You are arrogant, but you are also honest. Tang Shen, you have been in Gusu City for half a year and have been my student for four months. In these four months, you have written more than 200 eight-legged essays. Do you have any reflections made?”

Tang Shen thought carefully: “Sir, do you think I did not write well?”

“No, you wrote very well.”

“Sir?”

“Do you know what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are?”

Tang Shen didn’t know.

Liang Song: “Your shortcoming is that your writing style is mediocre, and occasionally there are minor mistakes regarding the level and oblique tones. But your advantage is that your style is free and unrestrained!”

Tang Shen suddenly realized.

In the past four months, Liang Song asked him to write more than two hundred eight-legged essays. He taught Tang Shen what breaking open the topic was and what the middle leg was. The eight-legged essay had a certain format, and even in some details, it occasionally required the writing to have level and oblique tones. Liang Song was like the most strict teacher, not allowing Tang Shen to make any mistakes.

But he never taught Tang Shen how to write an eight-legged essay!

What he taught was format, neat words and sentences, the form and template that must be required for eight-legged essay writing.

But he never corrected Tang Shen’s thinking.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“Shen’er, when you break open the topic, you often have brilliant insights. You are always unconventional, just like the sentence, ‘the great spirit can be exceedingly great, heaven and earth exude righteous energy; it commingles with objects and gives them forms.’ You have your own spirit! You see further and broader than many people, in fact, you are even more free and magnanimous than I, your teacher. I hope that you will remember that all the mountains in the world have their own shapes, and you should never stick to one mountain. You have to climb to the top to see its grand view.”

Tang Shen looked at Liang Song steadily and said loudly: “This student will remember the words of sir’s teachings.”

Liang Song smiled and said, “Let’s go back.”

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