A Heavy Burden and a Long Road Ahead

"No need for such modesty Layperson Zhiwei," Shanggong Bai said with a smile. "I've been in the palace for fifteen years and have heard of many people and things, but it's rare to meet such an extraordinary woman as Layperson Zhiwei, so I'm quite curious."

She stared at Zhao Ruxi with her beautiful eyes full of curiosity. "I wonder if Layperson Zhiwei has the ability to remember everything he sees, which is why he is so good at studying?"

Both women were talented. Shanggong Bai was curious about Zhao Ruxi, and Zhao Ruxi was just as curious about her.

However, this is the imperial palace, so one must be careful with every word and action, and many topics are taboo.

Suppressing her curiosity, Zhao Ruxi smiled and said, "I wouldn't say I have a photographic memory, but I can remember an article after reading it two or three times. I guess I'd consider myself to have a pretty good memory."

She looked at Shanggong Bai: "It seems Shanggong Bai's memory isn't bad either."

Shanggong Bai and she exchanged a glance and both laughed.

Sometimes, all it takes to reach a consensus is a single glance.

After that, the two stopped asking each other questions and started talking about the books they had read.

Although Shanggong Bai was busy in the palace, she read quite a lot of books; Zhao Ruxi also read a lot of books in order to write her policy essays. The two chatted more and more congenially, and before they knew it, they had arrived at East Glorious Gate.

Shanggong Bai stopped and said to Zhao Ruxi, "I have always admired the talent of the Layperson Zhiwei, and I specifically asked the Emperor to grant me this opportunity. It has certainly been worth the trip. It is my good fortune to be able to meet the Layperson Zhiwei. It is a pity that I cannot leave the palace and cannot have a deeper relationship with the Layperson Zhiwei, which is truly regrettable."

She bowed respectfully to Zhao Ruxi: "Bai Wei wishes Layperson Zhiwei a bright future and ever-increasing blessings."

Zhao Ruxi also curtsied, saying, "How fortunate I am to have met Shanggong Bai today. Ruxi wish Shanggong Bai good health, longevity, and happiness."

Bai Wei helped her up and said, "Your carriage has arrived, please get in."

Zhao Ruxi glanced back, nodded to Bai Wei, and turned to leave.

There are many things that cannot be said. Bai Wei also has her own pride. Therefore, Zhao Ruxi does not need to show any sympathy or regret towards her; they met by chance and may never meet again, so there is no need to be reluctant to part.

But they will both remember their appreciation for each other.

At the Earl of Suiping's Residence, despite having already gone through the previous examinations, Lady Zhu felt uneasy during the palace examination. By the afternoon, she couldn't sit still and kept pacing back and forth at the second gate.

Upon hearing from the servants that Zhao Ruxi had returned, she hurried out to greet her and asked, "You're back? Did the exam go well?"

Zhao Ruxi smiled and took her mother's arm as they walked towards her grandmother's courtyard. She said with a smile, "Anyway, I finished writing what I wanted to write and then handed in my paper. The exam went smoothly. As for the score, I don't know yet."

Hearing this, and seeing that her daughter looked perfectly normal and nothing seemed amiss, Lady Zhu's heart finally settled down.

This wasn't the first time her daughter had been to the palace. She had even been summoned by the Emperor when she was helping with the Ministry of Revenue's accounts. Lady Zhu herself didn't know what she was worried about.

Zhao Ruxi glanced back and saw that Lady Zhu had only brought Caidie with her; Qingfeng and Lady Luo, who had returned with her, were also her confidants. So she told Lady Zhu about Bai Wei's matter.

Finally, she asked curiously, "How did such a female official enter the palace? She is so talented, her family must be well-off. How did she end up as a palace maid? Did her family commit some crime and she was reduced to slavery and sent to the palace?"

"You," Lady Zhu laughed upon hearing this, "You're usually so clever and insightful, how come you've acted so foolishly again? The palace won't take the daughter of a disgraced official. What if these people are after revenge?"

"Yes, yes, I just didn't quite get it right." Zhao Ruxi knew she had made a mistake as soon as the words left her mouth.

Her thinking was influenced by the buyer's tactics.

"However, these talented palace maids, though not daughters of disgraced officials, are in similar situations. Their families have fallen on hard times and they simply can't survive. Entering the palace as maids at least ensures they have enough to eat and wear, and they even receive a salary. The luckier ones might even rise to the rank of concubine, and with money, they can ask someone to help their families. Otherwise, they can only marry into poor families, suffering themselves and their children, and they can't help their families either. In short, they are all unfortunate people," Lady Zhu sighed.

"Then what about their lives..." Zhao Ruxi had no idea about the female official system in the Great Jin.

"If they are favored by the Emperor and become concubines, then needless to say, they will stay in the palace for life; when the Emperor dies, they will be sent to the Imperial Ancestral Temple; if they are not favored, they can apply to leave the palace when they reach a certain age. With some savings, they can find a widower to marry after leaving the palace, and have someone to rely on for the rest of their lives. If they really do not want to marry, they can go back to their parents' home and become nuns. How their lives turn out depends on fate."

"Because they couldn't control what kind of life they would lead after leaving the palace, most female officials were unwilling to leave. No matter how the throne changed hands, as long as they weren't disliked, they could stay in the palace steadily, managing some affairs of the harem, having power and servants to serve them, and taking on a few apprentices. Their lives were quite comfortable."

Zhao Ruxi sighed.

These women were talented and beautiful, and having spent so much time in the palace, they had accumulated considerable wealth. Yet, even after leaving the palace, they still had to rely on men for their livelihood. This shows that women's status was still merely that of appendages to men, and their independence was not recognized by society.

Many modern independent women not only live excellent lives on their own, but also earn the envy of others.

Striving for women's rightful social status is a long and arduous task.

The time limit for the palace examination was set at nightfall. When the light in the palace dimmed and the words could no longer be clearly seen, it was time to hand in the papers.

After Zhao Ruxi handed in her paper, Duan Chen handed it in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The other candidates all handed in their papers before evening. The remaining few stayed until it was too dark to see before finally handing in their papers.

The Ministry of Rites divided the examination papers into two sets, sending one set to the left side hall and the other to the right side hall.

The grading of the palace examination was completed in just one day. That is to say, the list of candidates for the palace examination had to be released before the end of the day, and the grading of the examination papers was carried out in a rotating manner. That is, each grader had to read all the examination papers. Although there were only a little over a hundred papers, instead of the more than three hundred papers at the founding of the dynasty, it was still a very arduous task.

With limited time and heavy workload, and considering that the provincial examination was more rigorous than the palace examination, requiring more manpower, resources, and funds, the top ten in the provincial examination were already the result of strict selection. Therefore, officials throughout history had a way to cut corners: the rankings in the palace examination were basically based on the provincial examination rankings. At most, a candidate's position might be moved up or down depending on whether their essay was exceptionally good or bad. The top-ranking scholars (一甲进士) were only selected from the top ten in the provincial examination.

From the top ten in the provincial examination, the top three scholars were selected: the first, second, and third. The remaining seven were also ranked among the top few in the second class of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest level of the imperial examination).