Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 179: The Special Examination Date Is Out
“Zhu Ping’an, you can come in, but that fat pig is not allowed to enter.”
While Zhu Ping’an looked at the red-nosed fat man with a headache, the study door opened, and the scheming girl Li Shu peeked out from inside. With a pout, she reluctantly called out to Zhu Ping’an, her face full of unwillingness.
“If it weren’t for Father telling me to make sure you use the study before leaving, I wouldn’t let you in!” The scheming girl pouted and rolled her eyes at Zhu Ping’an.
The fat man, whose head had been caught by the door, upon hearing this, cast a creepy, gleaming little look back and forth between Zhu Ping’an and the scheming girl.
“Then you wait for me outside.”
Zhu Ping’an originally didn’t want to leave the fat man alone inside, but seeing the state of the fat man, he immediately left with a parting remark and a pat on his behind. Though the scheming girl had a stinky face, she was still much easier to look at than the fat man’s creepy one. Moreover, since he was there to return and borrow books, it was better to be practical.
Zhu Ping’an entered the study, returned the book, quickly borrowed two more, and was about to leave when the scheming girl stopped him.
“Something wrong?” Zhu Ping’an asked, looking at the scheming girl.
“Of course, if nothing was wrong, why would I stop you!” The scheming girl said with disdain. “Next time you come to borrow books, you must bring me a story of at least five thousand, no, at least six thousand characters, and it must be handwritten. The handwriting must be neat, consider it as practice for you.”
After saying that, the scheming girl stared at Zhu Ping’an, waiting for his response.
“Alright, I’ll try my best.” Zhu Ping’an nodded.
“What do you mean by try your best? It must be done!” The scheming girl complained, showing her little tiger teeth.
On the way back to Zhu Ping’an’s house from the Li family, the fat man’s face was full of gossip expressions. He kept asking if the study was where they met secretly, and what they had been doing in there for so long…
“You were born in the wrong era,” Zhu Ping’an glanced at the fat man’s face, saying in a dull tone.
“Huh?” The fat man didn’t understand.
“Some things can only be understood, not said,” Zhu Ping’an shook his head, pretending to be mysterious.
“Heh, you’re just changing the subject. Speaking of which, what were you two doing in the study…” The fat man began gossiping again.
The sounds of frogs croaking, birds chirping, and the fat man’s gossip filled the air…
By evening, the village head of Xiahe Village, with two young men carrying bags of rice, flour, oil, and meat, entered Zhu Ping’an’s house.
“Village head, what’s this for?” Zhu Ping’an’s father came out of the room upon hearing the sound and was surprised when he saw what the village head and the young men were carrying.
“Brother Zhu, this isn’t something I’m doing, it’s a stipend from the county for your second son, as per the regulations.”
The village head smiled broadly and gestured for the young men to place the items in the yard of Zhu Ping’an’s house.
“That’s quite a lot of stuff.” Zhu Ping’an’s mother, Chen, came out of the room and looked at the rice, flour, oil, and meat the young men were carrying. She couldn’t stop clicking her tongue. There was a sack of rice, a jar of oil, a small bag of flour, and a large piece of meat—enough to last a long time.
Zhu Ping’an, Fatty Xue, and his elder brother Zhu Pingchuan came out as well. When the village head saw Zhu Ping’an, he smiled and cupped his hands. “I haven’t congratulated you yet. His Majesty has graciously decreed a special provincial examination. Now Young Master Zhu can show his abilities.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. This is something the county sent to the town. The town asked me to pass it to Master Zhu,” the village head continued, tapping his head, and pulled a red paper with a seal from his sleeve. He handed it to Zhu Ping’an.
“Thank you, Village Head,” Zhu Ping’an said as he took the red paper and cupped his hands in gratitude.
“You’re welcome. It’s just a little something on my way,” the village head waved his hand, all smiles.
The village head chatted for a while in the Zhu family’s courtyard before leaving. Zhu Ping’an opened the red notice and found the detailed announcement for the special provincial examination. The opening was full of ceremonial praise, while the latter part gave the date: the fourth day of the eleventh month.
The fourth of November?
At first glance, when Zhu Ping’an saw the time, he was somewhat confused, because the number four has always been considered an unlucky number in our country, and people in the common folk tend to avoid it, let alone in the imperial court. However, after thinking about Emperor Jiajing’s character, Zhu Ping’an was relieved.
Emperor Jiajing was known for his deep affection for alchemy and immortality practices. He also liked to consult with gods and immortals about matters of fortune, in a rather unique way. He would write his questions on paper, seal it, and have a eunuch deliver it to a Taoist priest, who would then burn the paper as an offering to the gods. Then, two eunuchs would place two branches on a sand table, using their fingers to hold them in place. When the gods manifested, the two eunuchs would close their eyes and, while holding the branches, make random marks on the sand table. The Emperor would then interpret the “divine script” shown on the sand table to understand the gods’ will.
It is possible that the date, the fourth of November, came from such a practice.
When Fatty saw the date, he jumped as if his backside were on fire. “Why is it this year? I thought it would be early next year! Doesn’t that mean I have to go back and prepare for the qualification examination?”
The qualification examination Fatty referred to was the selection held before the provincial examination. It was administered by the Education Commissioner to choose, from among shengyuan and jiansheng, those qualified to sit the provincial examination. Ordinarily it followed the annual examination, but Zhu Ping’an and the others were newly admitted shengyuan that year, so they only needed to take this qualification examination.
The qualification examination used six grades. The Education Commissioner usually placed most candidates in the third grade, while grades below third were uncommon. Only candidates placed in the first or second grade qualified to sit the provincial examination.
Fatty was so anxious because the first- and second-grade places were limited. Each county and prefecture had a fixed quota. If Zhu Ping’an remembered correctly, it would be another five or six years before the quota system was adjusted in proportion to previous provincial-examination admissions.
Across Southern Zhili there were only around two or three thousand such places distributed among the various counties, and an individual county might receive only around ten. A county could have hundreds of shengyuan, yet only a small fraction would qualify for the provincial examination.
The qualification examination was difficult, but by custom an academy-examination anshou such as Zhu Ping’an would normally have little trouble obtaining one of the qualifying grades.
Therefore, Zhu Ping’an wasn’t too worried about it.
Soon, the guard who had accompanied Fatty to Xiahe Village arrived with an overnight message from the Xue family in Fengyang Prefecture, urging him to return at once and prepare for the qualification examination.
The fat man reluctantly left the Zhu family…
“Godmother, that pickled cucumber…” It must be said, the fat man’s way of being reluctant was also quite unique.
“Godmother will give you a whole jar.” Chen, from the courtyard, brought out a freshly pickled jar and placed it on the fat man’s cart. She genuinely liked this fat godson, who had only stayed with the Zhu family for a few days.
“That’s too much…” The fat man said this with his mouth, but his hands didn’t slow down. In a few moves, he quickly stuffed the jar of pickles into the carriage.
“What’s wrong with that? I can pickle another jar in a few days.” Chen waved her hand nonchalantly.
“Godmother, what about the dried mushrooms…” The fat man pointed to the dried mushrooms in the yard, still reluctant. Last night, the chicken soup stewed with the mushrooms had been so delicious.
“Godmother will pack them for you…” Chen was very generous.
“Godmother, then…” The fat man took the mushrooms, and once again, became reluctant…
“Enough already, at least leave me something!” Zhu Ping’an stepped forward and shoved the reluctant fat man into the carriage.
Zhu Ping’an’s actions made Chen laugh and scold him at the same time. She then gathered up more of the fat man’s favorite foods and stuffed them all into the cart. The fat man was so happy that he kept giving Zhu Ping’an playful winks.
“Childish. Don’t spend all your time eating and sleeping. Read more, so you don’t embarrass yourself in the qualification examination and the provincial examination.”
Zhu Ping’an scoffed at the fat man’s childish behavior.
“Do you think I’ll embarrass myself? Just wait and see!” The chubby man puffed out his face and rode off in the carriage.