Autumn Examination

Li Shiming rode in an ordinary carriage, with the driver and the young servant Mo Yan seated on the shaft. Inside, Si Qin kept checking the items in the exam basket, afraid even one thing might be missing.

He had not wanted to bring Si Qin, but no matter what, she insisted on coming.

Considering that Si Qin had spent many days preparing things for the Autumn Examination, he brought her along after all.

Not far behind the carriage followed several guards from the residence. This was essential whenever Li Shiming went out.

Several major incidents had happened in Nanling Prefecture in succession, but they did not affect today's bustle.

The main road was packed with people everywhere. Aside from the candidates taking the Autumn Examination and their families, there were also many onlookers.

There were also far more yamen runners and prefectural soldiers on the streets, stationed there to prevent any accidents.

"Young Master, the Imperial Examination Hall is here!" Mo Yan reminded him from outside the carriage.

"Si Qin, stay in the carriage. Don't get out!" Li Shiming instructed, pressing down Si Qin, who wanted to step down.

At this moment, the area outside the Imperial Examination Hall was a sea of people. Even the low walls and trees were full of children.

Many people had brought their children over just to catch a bit of scholarly aura, hoping their children would one day have the chance to take the Autumn Examination like these Xiucai.

In the eyes of ordinary commoners, Xiucai who were able to take the Autumn Examination were all as good as the God of Literature descending to earth.

That was only natural. Every Xiucai here was among the top few in their own region. Put them back home, and they were absolutely the God of Literature descended to earth.

And if they happened to pass the Autumn Examination, they could no longer be called Xiucai. They had to be addressed as Master Juren and would possess the qualifications to become officials.

Li Shiming carried the exam basket and walked toward the main gate of the Imperial Examination Hall. A few Xiucai he knew glanced at one another but did not greet him.

The soldiers searching people at the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall were not prefectural soldiers of Nanling Prefecture, but soldiers transferred in from elsewhere.

The soldiers did not know Li Shiming, so his body search was no different from that of the other candidates.

Great Xia placed great importance on the imperial examinations. Any act of cheating in the examinations was a capital offense, and because of the importance of the imperial examinations, Great Xia had adopted many methods to prevent cheating.

Even at the Autumn Examination in Nanling Prefecture, Li Shiming could not enjoy any special treatment as the prefect's son.

Li Shiming watched as the snacks Si Qin had prepared so carefully were crushed by the soldiers. Fortunately, Si Qin could not see it, or she would have been upset again.

After the body search ended, a soldier led him into the Imperial Examination Hall. His luck was not bad. Among the rows of Examination Cells, though his spot was not the best, it was not so bad as to be beside the dry latrine either.

He took a brush, ink, inkstone, and paperweight from the exam basket, then took a little water to mix the ink.

Because the Server Room Space existed, it was as if he had stored every book from the residence study in his mind. He also had the computing and analytical power of the IBMz15 Mainframe, as well as the foundation of many outstanding essays from the history of his Previous Life.

More importantly, his strength had reached Qi Refining First Level, and the nourishment of spiritual qi had greatly enhanced his memory, analysis, calculation, and other abilities. He was not worried about the Autumn Examination at all.

The Questions for the first day were handed out. The exam tested Tie Jing.

Although he had studied the Four Books and Five Classics, when it came to ancient examinations, he had still been observing with the feeling of a bystander.

Only after truly taking part in the Autumn Examination did he realize just how difficult this exam was.

Of course, this difficulty was not for the current him, but in comparison with the students of his Previous Life.

The simplest Tie Jing and Mo Yi drew any passage from the one hundred seventy thousand characters of the Four Books and Five Classics and turned it into a fill-in-the-blank question.

This required the Four Books and Five Classics to be completely memorized in order to handle the Tie Jing and Mo Yi exam.

Li Shiming swept his eyes over the Questions, and the answers appeared in his mind. He did not even need to use the IBMz15 Mainframe.

He only needed to pay attention to writing the characters clearly and not staining the exam paper.

Stroke by stroke, he finished writing the answers, and only a little more than an hour had passed.

He realized he had answered too quickly. This entire fill-in-the-blank paper was the content for a full day's examination.

He heard candidates wailing nearby, followed by the warning cries of soldiers.

By evening, lanterns were hung one after another, and the candidates in the Examination Cells also lit their oil lamps.

Li Shiming sat on the crude wooden plank bed, took the Spirit Gathering Disk out of the Server Room Space and sat on it, then began cultivating the Five Elements Qi Absorption Art.

Even the Autumn Examination could not interrupt his cultivation.

There was nothing he could do about it. The four glowing stones on the Spirit Gathering Disk had already grown very dim and truly would not last much longer.

Wasting any chance to cultivate would be an enormous waste.

Besides, inside the Examination Cell, no one would disturb a candidate unless they discovered obvious cheating behavior.

Spiritual qi poured into his body, following the opened Spiritual Vein into the Spiritual Qi Vortex.

It seemed to have reached a limit. The Spiritual Qi Vortex contracted slightly, then expanded by a full circle.

For some unknown reason, a gust of wind arose throughout the Imperial Examination Hall, making the lanterns sway constantly. The soldiers hurriedly checked the situation.

After inspecting everything, the soldiers discovered nothing unusual and simply treated it as an accident caused by the weather.

Li Shiming opened his eyes. A ray of light flashed through them, then disappeared.

Finally, Qi Refining Second Level! he thought to himself in delight.

After reaching Qi Refining Second Level, he could try learning Spells. This counted as truly stepping over the threshold of immortal cultivation.

He put the Spirit Gathering Disk away into the Server Room Space, not wasting even a little time.

He could tell that the Spirit Gathering Disk could last at most another three days. After that, he would no longer have such good cultivation conditions.

As for the glowing stones inside the Spirit Gathering Disk, he had not been able to find out where any might be in Nanling Prefecture.

Besides, even if there were glowing stones, he did not have a method to activate the Spirit Gathering Disk.

He lay on the plank bed and spent his first night in the Examination Cell.

The next day tested the classics. The Questions were rather obscure; just from the sighs that drifted over now and then from the other Examination Cells, one could tell how difficult this round's Questions were.

But no matter how obscure they were, they could not break free of the Li Family's Selected Classics. The Four Books and Five Classics totaled one hundred seventy thousand characters, yet over so many years the Li Family had expanded their interpretations to more than six million characters, which showed just how deeply they had studied the classics.

Almost every passage had a corresponding interpretation. No matter how they tested it, it Cannot Possibly go beyond the scope of the Four Books and Five Classics.

The third day tested the Policy Essay. The Policy Essay looked at one's literary ability and practical study of the classics.

Li Shiming did not write it himself. Based on what he knew of the examiner, he selected an excellent Policy Essay from the historical database of the IBMz15 Mainframe that suited the examiner's tastes.

This time, he did not start writing right away. Instead, he waited two hours before putting brush to paper.

At youshi in the afternoon, the three-day Autumn Examination finally ended.

Si Qin stood on the carriage, her eyes fixed on the gates of the Imperial Examination Hall.

One exhausted candidate after another walked out through the gates. The three days of exams had almost drained every last bit of their energy.

Some candidates could only leave the Imperial Examination Hall with soldiers supporting them.

At the end of the Autumn Examination every year, there were always candidates who fell seriously ill, and some even never recovered.

"Young Master is out!" Mo Yan cried in delight.

There was no need for him to say it. One only had to look at the youngest candidate coming out of the gates—the only one still bright-eyed and full of energy—to recognize him at a glance among all the candidates.

Si Qin stood on the carriage and waved hard, signaling that she was here.