Posting the Results
Zhao Ruxi was a registered resident of Beijing, and all the students taking the exam with her were also registered residents of Beijing. Her classmates at the Beining Women's Academy were all taking the exam in Beining, not together.
For women from powerful and wealthy families, participating in the imperial examinations and achieving high scores, such as becoming a scholar or a provincial graduate, was a source of pride and recognition, earning them the title of talented women. However, failure would lead to ridicule and accusations of overestimating their abilities.
The disadvantages outweigh the advantages, and the losses outweigh the gains.
Therefore, they rarely participated in the imperial examinations.
Those who came to participate were either self-assured and eager to compete with the men, or from families with a long tradition of scholarship and hoping to earn a reputation as talented women. However, there weren't many of them.
After all, studying is hard and tedious. Even if a woman gets excellent grades, it's not very meaningful if she can't achieve success or make a name for herself. Why should she suffer like that?
So, in the entire capital city, only these five women participated in the imperial examinations. Apart from Zhao Ruxi, three of them were students at the Capital Women's Academy; the other was a student who had been taught at home by her grandfather in a private school and had voluntarily registered to take the examinations.
Not long after Zhao Ruxi sat down in the examination room, the two examiners arrived.
Leading the group was a slender man in his forties or fifties, dressed in the robes of Principal Fourth Rank official. He was handsome and had an ethereal air about him. The man following behind him was slightly younger, appearing to be around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, and wore the insignia of Principal Fifth Rank.
The slender man entered with a serious expression, glanced at everyone, and said, "I am Qin Zhe, and I am your chief examiner." He then sat down and remained silent.
Qin Zhe?
Upon hearing this name, Zhao Ruxi couldn't help but raise her head and take a closer look at the old man.
If the "Zhe "in Qin Zhe's name is composed of two "Ji" characters, then the person in front of her is a powerful figure she has never had the chance to meet.
The Great Jin boasts two masters of calligraphy and painting. The calligraphy is by Master Mingcang Qin Zhe also Xiao Ruotong's teacher; the painting is naturally by Mister Kumu, Kang Shilin.
Xiao Ruotong's pure and untainted temperament was related to the personality of her master, Qin Zhe.
This Master Qin was extremely arrogant and aloof, and he disdained to pay attention to ordinary people, which was completely different from Kang Shilin.
These two also disliked each other due to their personalities and usually ignored each other.
Qin Zhe was the late Empress's elder brother and the true brother-in-law of the Great Jin Dynasty. He was originally indifferent to worldly affairs, but because of the Crown Prince, he still held a nominal position in the Ministry of Rites.
It must have been difficult for the Emperor to invite him to be the chief examiner for the women's imperial examination.
The deputy chief examiner, named Xie Yu, was an official at the Imperial Academy.
Xie Yu read out the examination rules for a while. When he saw that the time was up, he distributed the exam papers.
Zhao Ruxi had already thoroughly reviewed all the past imperial examination questions, so this county-level exam mainly tested rote memorization and posed no challenge for her. After looking through the exam paper and finding nothing she couldn't answer, she ground ink and began writing furiously.
Qin Zhe glanced at her, then at the other four candidates, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea.
She acted as if no one else was around; no one else was as carefree as her.
There were only five candidates, but four grown men—two chief examiners and two assistant examiners—were watching them intently. How could the young girls withstand that? The three girls from the Capital Women's Academy were alright, but the other girl from a family with a long tradition of poetry and literature was greatly affected, holding her pen for a long time without knowing what to write.
The imperial examinations of the Great Jin were influenced by Empress Shengyao in terms of question design, and their content differed somewhat from that of ancient China.
The county-level examination tests the basics, mainly assessing the candidates' mastery of the Four Books and Five Classics. The questions are numerous, cover a wide range of topics, and vary in depth. Without a thorough memorization and understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics and Five Classics, it is difficult to achieve a good score.
Zhao Ruxi has a good memory and strong comprehension skills, so these basic things are naturally a piece of cake for her. The annual exams at the Women's Academy are set according to the standards of the county exams, so it's no fluke that Zhao Ruxi was able to get a perfect score.
However, she was not arrogant. The imperial examination papers were not allowed to be marked, not even a drop of ink was permitted.
Zhao Ruxi was extremely careful when doing problems and strived for neat handwriting.
However, all that practice in calligraphy wasn't for nothing. Whether she was practicing calligraphy or taking notes, she always strived for neatness and beauty in order to earn points, and over time she developed excellent handwriting habits.
Therefore, although she was careful when solving problems, she was not slow.
After she finished the extremely long test, she glanced at the incense sticks burning above her; there was still a third left. She checked the test, stood up, and handed it in.
Qin Zhe picked up the exam paper, glanced at it, and waved for her to leave.
For men taking the county-level examination, although they could submit their papers first, they had to wait outside the government office for at least ten people before being allowed to leave. Since there were fewer female candidates to begin with, this problem naturally did not exist for them.
Zhao Ruxi went straight out of the courtyard, found Qingfeng and the others who were waiting there, and got into the carriage. "Let's go home."
Back at the manor, the old lady and the others were worried about Zhao Ruxi. They were surprised to see her return so early. "Why are you back so early?"
"I'll be back as soon as I'm done," Zhao Ruxi said.
The three exchanged glances, not daring to ask how the exam had gone.
Lady Zhu said, "Are you tired? Go and rest. There's some soup simmering in the kitchen; I'll have someone bring it to your yard."
After watching Zhao Ruxi return to Slender Bamboo Courtyard, the old lady asked Zhao Yuanxun, "Jing'an and that young master from the Xu Family, have they both gone to take the exam? They haven't returned yet?"
"He hasn't returned," Zhao Yuanxun said. "I sent a servant to the examination hall to inquire about the situation, but he hasn't come back either."
The old lady was somewhat worried.
Lady Zhu laughed and said, "We don't need Miss Xi to pass the imperial examination and receive tax exemptions or bring glory to the family. What does it matter how well she does?"
Upon hearing this, the old lady immediately relaxed and laughed, "I was bewitched."
After a long while, the servant who had gone to inquire about the situation returned and said, "Our young lady is truly remarkable. She was released much earlier than the first batch of men. She must have been confident to submit her paper so early; she will surely top the list tomorrow."
Even though the old lady knew the servant was only saying that to flatter her and get good luck, she still rewarded him.
The results were announced the next day. Zhao Ruxi sent Ma Wushi to check the list, while the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun sent the same servant as before.
This young servant was indeed clever, and he was very willing to work hard for the reward. He was better at weaving through the crowd Ma Wushi, and he ran faster than anyone else after seeing the notice.
As soon as he entered, he exclaimed, "Madam, Lord, Madam, congratulations! Your daughter has topped the list of successful candidates!"
This startled Zhao Yuanxun and the others.
Zhao Yuanxun asked, "Did you see it clearly?"
"Look carefully, the first place is clearly written with the girl's name."
Zhao Yuanxun turned to look at Zhao Ruxi in disbelief.
Zhao Ruxi was also somewhat surprised.
She was confident about her exam. After all, this exam was all about rote memorization, and the examiners wouldn't be biased when grading; right was right, and wrong was wrong. And she knew during the exam that she had written the correct answers.
But to get first place is still unbelievable.