Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 106: The East Hall List Is Up
The noisy carriages and horses are heading towards the sky, and people are checking the list that has already been hung on the eastern hall.
A golden-winged eagle soars across thousands of miles, while the Three Platforms still borrow jade coins.
The conversation floats like the shadow of wine, and the red sunset is dazzling. The sun shines on the robes, and the auspicious colors are fresh.
On the towers before the twelve streets, who wouldn’t look upon the immortals as they roll up the curtains?
——Xu Yin’s Announcement Day
Time flew, and the day of the prefectural examination’s first official result announcement arrived. This was the main round, and anyone not on the list would not be allowed to participate in the next round. Zhu Ping’an was once again pushed by his uncle Zhu Shouren and the others toward the place where the prefectural examination results were posted, in front of the Anqing Prefectural Examination Hall. By then, the list was already hanging there. As in the earlier county examination, it displayed seat numbers and was divided into A and B lists. The area in front of the list was packed, people jostling shoulder to shoulder as voices filled the air. Candidates and onlookers came and went without pause.
Among those looking at the list were several familiar faces, such as the elegant, smiling Xia Luoming of Tongchengg and his companions. Listening to the compliments and congratulations around them, they beamed as though making the list had been expected.
Of course, there were also familiar faces Zhu Ping’an had met at the Jingxian Poetry Gathering, many of whom looked pale and dejected. The sharp, energetic air they had shown before was gone, replaced by a sense of loss. It seemed they had failed to make the list.
Uncle Zhu and others are still like before, asking for Zhu Ping’an’s seat number, then standing on tiptoe to look at the list, much more eager than Zhu Ping’an himself.
“Uh, why did I fail… Ah, An-ge’er is on the A-list again, strange…”
A fellow from their hometown was the first to finish reading the entire list and couldn’t find his seat number. He was shocked and disappointed. When he saw Zhu Ping’an’s number once again on the A-list, his surprise grew even more.
From the county examination through the prefectural examination, Zhu Ping’an had made the A-list every time. By the time Uncle Zhu Shouren found Zhu Ping’an’s seat number on the A-list again, disappointment and surprise had almost become routine, although this time he had come with high expectations.
In Anqing Prefecture, about nine hundred scholars who had passed the county examination came to take the prefectural examination. The main-round list had eighty candidates on the A-list and more than two hundred on the B-list, for roughly three hundred in total. That meant more than six hundred of those who had passed the county examination were eliminated. Besides Zhu Ping’an, only one other fellow villager made the list. The other two did not. The two who failed were heartbroken. To comfort them, Uncle Zhu Shouren and the fellow villager who had passed surrounded them and headed to a tavern, probably planning to drink heavily to drown their sorrows.
“Oh, looks like Zhu Xian-di has made the gold list again,” Feng Shanshui from Susong and others joked as they walked over.
Zhu Ping’an cupped his hands and smiled faintly, saying, “It’s just luck.”
“There’s no such thing as luck, it’s all about strength. Zhu Xian-di is being too modest,” Feng Shanshui laughed and rebutted, then congratulated him a few more times before being pulled away by his companions to drink.
When Xia Luoming from Tongchengg passed by Zhu Ping’an, he nodded slightly, his face still full of pride.
Not long after Xia Luoming and the others left, Zhu Ping’an was about to leave as well, but he was stopped by a commotion. Turning to look at the source of the noise, he saw an older candidate with graying hair, his beard and hair disheveled, pointing at the list and shouting:
“The harm of the eight-legged essay is even worse than Qin’s burning of books and burying of Confucian scholars!”
Someone nearby immediately sneered and said, “Your words are too much, just because you failed and are angry. Just study hard for another year, why make a fuss!”
“His hair is already white, it seems it’s too late…”
Amid the laughter, the older candidate, enraged, threw the Four Books and Five Classics on the ground, shouting, “The eight-legged essay will destroy the country…”
Before the old candidate could finish speaking, a fellow from the same village who was also taking the exam rushed over and stopped him, apologizing to the surrounding people, saying, “I’m sorry, my friend has had too much to drink and is talking nonsense. Please don’t mind him.”
The people around could understand the frustration of failing and did not pursue the matter further. Those who were happy celebrated, while those who were sad mourned, and once again, the area in front of the list was filled with noise.
Zhu Ping’an sighed, shook his head, and then left. If he couldn’t change this era, then he would adapt to it, doing his best to run to the front and influence this era.
After the main exam list was posted, the second round of exams began the next day. The process was the same as the first round, except that there were fewer people, so the speed was much faster.
This round tested biao and pan, forms of practical official writing. One particularly interesting question was based on a case from the Yongle era that later became the subject of the famous Kunqu opera Fifteen Strings of Cash. Zhu Ping’an had seen a television drama about the case in his previous life, so it was not difficult for him to write.
By dusk, the candidates who had finished their exams began handing in their papers and leaving with their exit passes. As usual, Zhu Ping’an carefully checked his answers twice, and by the time he handed in his paper and left, he was almost one of the last to submit.
Upon exiting the examination hall, he noticed many candidates whispering and discussing the Fifteen Strings of Cash case. Many said the question was quite difficult, but fortunately it was only one of the questions. If it had been the entire examination, they feared they would have collapsed.
Not encountering any acquaintances outside, Zhu Ping’an left on his own, buying some food on the way back to the inn.
As soon as he opened the door, the seductive woman inside immediately leapt up, snatching the food from his hands with a loud cry. Without a word, she sat at the table, eating quickly in small bites.
“Look at you, being so stingy. You bought alcohol again. It must mean the exam went well…”
“Hehehe… I won’t fail… hehehe… sour scholar…”
When she had eaten about eighty percent of the food, the young woman took a sip of wine, pursed her lips, and smiled as she spoke.
Looking at her delicate hands holding the wine jar, her fair skin exposed as she smiled mischievously, Zhu Ping’an merely smiled and shook his head before sitting down to eat his own dinner.
“Little benefactor, little young master… hehehe, which one do you like to hear?” After eating and drinking her fill, the seductive woman rested her delicate chin on her hand, watching Zhu Ping’an eat with great interest.
With his mouth full, Zhu Ping’an couldn’t respond immediately.
The seductive woman didn’t wait for him to speak, instead giggling and saying, “Although you’re not much older, you’re full of bad ideas. Don’t think I don’t know, the first time I called you little benefactor, you had no reaction; but when I called you little young master, your mouth even twitched…”
Zhu Ping’an was speechless. That was due to shock, not anything else!
“Hehehe, look at that silly expression on your face. Stop daydreaming. All those things in the books are nonsense. Little brother, wake up…”
The seductive woman rolled her eyes and mocked.
“You scholars are all as evil as wolves and as cruel as dogs. You wear a human skin during the day, but once you’re out in the world, your true nature shows—teeth bared, hideous beyond measure…”
As she propped her chin, watching Zhu Ping’an eat, the seductive woman continued her teasing.
Zhu Ping’an swallowed a bite of food, glanced at her, and said coolly, “You eat my food, drink my wine, sleep in my bed, and yet you mock me. Tell me, who exactly has the wolf’s heart and the dog’s lungs between us?”
The seductive woman, propping her chin, rolled her eyes again, played with her hair, and replied with a smile, “You scholars are the most cunning and deceptive. Who knows if you’re just pretending to catch a big fish with a long line, thinking about all sorts of nonsense in your mind…”
Zhu Ping’an sneered at her words and no longer paid attention to the neurotic vixen.