Grand Princess Shangde
She couldn't help laughing. "Those two little clever clogs." She stopped in her tracks.
At the speed those two girls were going, she would never catch up, so she might as well save her strength. When someone else came along, she would have another performance to put on.
A woman hiding behind a dense clump of bushes called out, "Take a rest. You'll need plenty of strength again in a little while." In any case, the two girls had passed her test.
Xu Xue knew nothing of the trickery behind it. After running for a while, she saw that the old servant woman hadn't chased after them and stopped. Both excited and indignant, she said, "She must have stolen that pouch. She didn't even dare chase us. Hmph, and she had the nerve to threaten us. I'll tell the examiners what she looks like later, and I'll make sure they find her."
Xu Xi smiled without saying a word.
The academy was not actually very large. They had walked for so long because the examiners had deliberately laid out a winding route, making it seem far. After walking all that way and running for a stretch, the two went on for another half a cup of tea's time before they saw the words "examination hall" written outside a large building ahead.
"We're here." Xu Xue was delighted.
Xu Xi and Xu Xue went over and introduced themselves to the two old servant women guarding the entrance. "We're here to take the examination."
"Please go in." One of the women gestured for them to enter and let them through.
The room was very large, about the size of the lecture halls where Xu Xi had attended large classes at university in modern times. Rows of desks and stools had been set out inside.
Three people sat at the head of the room. One was Madam Cui, who had gone outside earlier; she sat in the lowest-ranking seat. In the next seat was a middle-aged woman in her forties. The woman in the highest-ranking seat was in her fifties and carried herself with dignified grace. Judging by the phoenix hairpin on her head and the embroidery on her clothes, she ought to be the academy's head, Grand Princess Shangde.
Besides the three of them, several maids and old servant women stood or sat around the room. A few seated at the back had desks before them and were writing something with their heads lowered. Judging by their dress, they too were probably the three ladies' servants.
Xu Xi hurriedly paid her respects to the three women. "Xu Xi pays her respects to Your Highness the Grand Princess, Madam, and Madam Cui."
Xu Xue was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly followed Xu Xi's example and paid her respects to the two women.
Madam Cui and the other woman examined them with serious expressions. Grand Princess Shangde, however, was more amiable. Smiling, she asked Xu Xi, "Do you know us?"
Xu Xi lowered her head and replied, "This commoner has not had the good fortune to behold Your Highness's countenance. I merely judged from Your Highness's seat and the designs on your clothing and jewelry. As for Madam Cui, when she went outside the academy gates just now to announce the start of the examination, Xu Xi was nearby and heard others say that her surname was Cui. That is how I knew."
She looked up and glanced at the woman in the second seat, smiling apologetically. "As for this lady, Xu Xi has never met her."
Grand Princess Shangde looked down at the phoenix design on her clothes and smiled. "I see."
She introduced the woman. "This is Madam Zhang, one of the chief examiners this time. If you are fortunate enough to study at the academy, she will teach everyone music."
Xu Xi paid her respects to the woman once more. "Xu Xi pays her respects to Madam Zhang."
Xu Xue followed suit and paid her respects to Madam Zhang as well.
Only then did Madam Zhang speak. "All right, go and sit down."
A maid immediately stepped forward to lead them to their seats.
"Wait a moment." Xu Xi took the pouch from inside her robes, handed it to the maid, and told them what had happened on the way.
She stopped after recounting what had happened and looked at Xu Xue.
Although Xu Xue was somewhat naive and sweet, she was quick-witted too. Seeing what her older cousin had done, she knew Xu Xi had given her half the chance to distinguish herself. She hurriedly described the old servant woman's clothing and appearance, then said, "We suspected the pouch wasn't hers, so we didn't dare hand it over to her."
Xu Xi nodded to show that she thought the same as Xu Xue. She was very pleased with Xu Xue's performance.
Before these noble ladies, they should not say too much; it was enough to make their point and stop there. Xu Xue had not said she suspected the old servant woman was a thief, leaving the three ladies to judge for themselves. Her words had been measured; she had not talked nonsense and jumped to conclusions before people of such standing.
What if the old woman was someone's servant, and her mistress wanted to shield her while the others had no wish to pursue the matter? If you said too much, you left them no room to maneuver.
That was why, in great noble households like these, there was a great deal of care involved in how much one said and how one said it.
That was also why she did not want to return to the marquis's residence-living that way was too tiring.
"All right, we'll look into this and deal with it," Madam Zhang said.
As she spoke, she signaled to a maid. The maid took the pouch and poured out the silver inside to examine it. Another maid came forward and led the two girls down to their seats.
After they had gone down, Grand Princess Shangde, Madam Zhang, and Madam Cui each wrote a few words on the sheets of white paper before them, probably scoring their performance.
Since Xu Xi and Xu Xue were the first two to enter, they were assigned seats in the front row. They were not seated at the same desk, however, but separately.
Judging by the stools and the four treasures of the study laid out on the desks, each desk was meant for two people.
The desks were not long, about the same size as classroom desks in a modern secondary school. That would have been fine in modern times, but people in ancient times wrote with brushes. Once the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were spread out, they took up a great deal of space, and the sheets of paper were larger than modern students' exercise books.
That would make it somewhat inconvenient for two people to share a desk.
Perhaps this was another test?
As Xu Xi considered this, she sat perfectly upright and waited for the others to arrive.
Xu Xue remembered what her older cousin had told her outside the gates. Seeing Xu Xi sitting straight, she immediately straightened up too, without hunching her shoulders, slumping at the waist, or rounding her back. Still less did she dare look around. With eyes lowered and thoughts composed, she stayed quietly in her seat.
Presumably to keep the stages arranged in the courtyard from being disturbed by others, they had either deliberately delayed the candidates during registration at the side gate or arranged some other scenario farther along. Xu Xi noticed that the next few groups entered at intervals of roughly half a cup of tea's time; the timing was managed extremely well. It further confirmed her suspicions.
Some of these people came in alone; others had probably met on the way and agreed to travel together, entering in groups. Once inside, they reacted differently when faced with Grand Princess Shangde and the other two women. Some were so nervous that they stammered and fumbled through their greetings; some were carefree and casual; others were poised and at ease in their responses.
As for the pouches, roughly four out of every ten people brought one in and handed it to the three ladies. Of those who did not hand one in, some told them what had happened and said they had returned the pouch to the old servant woman. Others did not mention it at all; there was no knowing whether they had forgotten out of nervousness or simply had no intention of handing the pouch over.
Those who had not handed over a pouch, or had not said what had become of it, turned deathly pale after taking their seats and hearing later arrivals mention the matter. Only then did they realize that this might have been a test.