Chapter 112 - The Student must Go All out
Just as Zuo Shaoqing put on his clothes, the steward knocked on the door, “Master San… Is San Ye up? The old master has been waiting in the front hall for a long time!”
Zuo Shaoqing frowned as he let Luo Xiaoliu open the door while he slowly washed his face and rinsed his mouth.
When the butler saw that Zuo Shaoqing was still washing up, he could not help but exclaim: “Master San, please hurry. Although Conference Test only starts in the second quarter of an hour of the morning, today's Academic Institution entrance is definitely packed to the brim, and we still have to search ahead of time. If we're late, we won't be able to squeeze in.”
Zuo Shaoqing wiped his hands with a dry cloth. Then, he turned to the butler and smiled, “What you said is reasonable. The things have been packed. Let's go.”
Outside, the sky was bright and misty. Even though it was early spring, it was still cold outside.
In the front hall, Zuo Shaoqing saw Zuo Yunwen standing at the door, waiting for him. Even Mrs. Xue was already sitting in the hall.
Before Zuo Yunwen could say anything, Zuo Shaoqing took the initiative to admit his mistake. “I've made father and mother wait for a long time. My son had some insomnia last night, so he woke up a little late.”
Zuo Yunwen originally wanted to scold Shao Qing, but he immediately swallowed his words and squeezed out a smile: “Shao Qing, thank you for your hard work. Quickly go in and eat breakfast. The kitchen has already prepared food for the whole day, we won't be eating anything from Academic Institution today on the first day.”
Academic Institution had all the food and clothing that one needed during the exam, and it was provided free of charge, so those students who were short on money would usually enter with their hands empty, and use Academic Institution to deliver items.
However, when there were conditions in the family, they liked to prepare their own food, such as charcoal, ink, paper, and clothing. The things they prepared were always better than the things inside.
Zuo Shaoqing used a lot of breakfast, but it was just dried rice and dried vegetables. He could skip the soup and water, in case there were too many times that he had to go to the toilet when entering the exam room, which interrupted his train of thought.
After breakfast, Zuo Shaoqing suggested, “Father, mother, son wants to go see brother.”
The couple shook their heads at the same time. The former reason was that they didn't need to disturb him since Zuo Shaoyan hadn't woken up yet. In fact, they were afraid that Zuo Shaoqing would make a mistake.
The latter ridiculed Zuo Shaoqing's improper attitude and wanted to show off in front of Zuo Shaoyan.
It had to be said that Mrs. Xue's eyesight was quite good. Zuo Shaoqing wasn't shy to be seen through so he went along with Zuo Yunwen's topic, “Since Big Bro didn't wake up, then your son won't disturb you. I hope Big Bro will recover soon.”
Mrs. Xue hated Zuo Yunwen to the point that her teeth itched, but she didn't dare to make a move against him. After all, Zuo Yunwen treated him as a treasure.
Luo Xiaoliu and attendant brought out Zuo Shaoqing's luggage. The luggage and the luggage were all sent by the Liu Steel Manor. It was obvious that they were not ordinary goods. This was the first time Mrs. Xue saw it.
Since Zuo Yunwen had grown up in the capital, he had more understanding of Conference Test than Zuo Shaoqing. After helping him inspect it once, he found that there was nothing that he had missed, even things like knee and wrist guards.
“After the exam is over, Shao Qing will personally go to the Wu Steel Manor to express his gratitude. These things are not cheap.” Zuo Yunwen said with a red face.
Zuo Shaoqing rubbed a piece of Qilin paper, and a knowing smile slowly appeared on his face.
After getting on the carriage, Zuo Shaoqing brought along two stewards from attendant and Zuo's Mansion to rush to Academic Institution. Zuo Family was actually not too far away from Academic Institution, it was just that there were too many people and carriages on the street, so the carriage could only move slowly.
Zuo Shaoqing got down from the carriage and looked at the black mass of people. There were several captains lined up, and they were examined by Wu Tie from the capital. There were also the examiners at the side.
Along the way, the several streets leading to Academic Institution were sealed, and only examinees and their families were allowed to pass. If not for them, there would definitely be more commoners coming to watch the show.
A well-built general ran to Zuo Shaoqing and greeted him with a bow, “Is it Third Master Zuo?”
“The student is indeed!” Zuo Shaoqing looked at this young man with a black face and a simple and honest face. From his clothes, it could be seen that he was a high rank general.
The young man said in a low voice: “Please come with me. I've instructed me to bring you into the examination hall.”
When Zuo Shaoqing heard it was Lu Zheng's arrangement, he saw the identity token hanging on his waist, so he dismissed the butler and the other attendant and let Luo Xiaoliu carry the things to follow him.
The young man carried Zuo Shaoqing's case onto his shoulder and led him towards the other passage. Only then did Zuo Shaoqing realize that, compared to the other long lines, the number of exam takers here were clearly fewer. Moreover, they were all wearing unusual clothes, showing that they were all members of aristocratic families.
Zuo Shaoqing remembered that when he passed by an examinee, he muttered in admiration, “Having connections is good.” He also understood that this passageway was probably not one that ordinary students could walk through.
“Which family is this young master from? Why haven't I seen it before?” In the crowd, many people stared at Zuo Shaoqing's unfamiliar face and asked.
The young man led Zuo Shaoqing into the line, touched his head and said, “These civil officials are trouble, they say they treat us equally. Other than giving us a special passage, there are a lot of other tests.”
Zuo Shaoqing smiled at him and explained to the civil servant, “The imperial government should treat the examiners as equals. Otherwise, wouldn't it be unfair to the Humble Class students?”
In Zuo Shaoqing's opinion, having this kind of special passage was already a different matter. If these famous and noble disciples didn't even need to search their body when entering the exam, the other examinees would doubt the authenticity of the exam.
After all, there would be many students who would participate in the examinations.
The young officer looked at Zuo Shaoqing's smiling face and mumbled, “No wonder no wonder!”
Zuo Shaoqing wanted to ask him something, but he heard a ruckus coming from the front. He looked over and saw two Janissary Guard carrying a well-dressed teenager.
“Let go! What do you want to do? Do you know who I am?” The well-dressed youth mumbled loudly, but didn't attract too much attention.
There were too many voices like this this this morning. The supervisor walked over and said in a deep voice, “Young Master Zeng, according to the rules of this court, the examinees are supposed to strip a High Scholar of his identity. Even if Tutor Zeng came, he would say the same thing.”
When Zuo Shaoqing heard the words “Tutor Zeng”, he gave a serious look to the youth. When the dynasty's tutor, Zeng Bingsheng, was a civil servant who supported the late emperor in the past, the late emperor had always regarded this civil servant highly since he became the late emperor. His Zeng Family also slowly reached the same level as his Zuo Family back then.
I just heard that there is no one else in Zeng Family, so Tutor Zeng's son and grandson are all useless.
Who would have thought that the grand tutor's grandson would be able to do such a thing? Many students scoffed at his words and even shook their heads with emotion, “My upbringing isn't strict!”
The youngster knew that he was in the wrong and left hatefully. After that, he began to investigate even more closely. Not only did he carefully inspect everything in the food box, even the charcoal brought by the examinees had been pried apart.
This was because Young Master Ceng had stuffed the slip of paper in the middle of the charcoal. If it wasn't for the bit of white paper that was exposed, it would have been difficult to find.
When it was Zuo Shaoqing's turn, the young officer said something to Janissary Guard and the overseer. Zuo Shaoqing didn't hear what the young officer said and only saw that those people were looking at him strangely.
Although the overseer's face was still cold, his voice became softer after looking through Zuo Shaoqing's information: “You are this year's youngest Top Scorer? Very good, take the examination!”
Zuo Shaoqing immediately replied with a student salute, “This student will definitely give it his all!”
Two Janissary Guard began to open the box to check, while the other two went forward to search. According to the convention, the examinees who were searched would have their clothes ripped off to check, and if it was cotton clothes, the edges would be clearly checked.
Seeing that his four hands were about to touch Zuo Shaoqing's body, the young officer hurriedly coughed twice and looked over with a sharp gaze.
The two Janissary Guard shook and didn't know where to start.
Zuo Shaoqing didn't make things difficult for them and took off his jacket for them to check. Today, he intentionally didn't wear any cotton clothes, instead, he wore a thick fox fur coat.
Janissary Guard heaved a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know what the relationship between this young man and the old man was, a fourth grade light carriage lieutenant who could lead the way definitely wasn't an ordinary person.
Most of Zuo Shaoqing's things had been prepared by Lu Zheng. Even officials who disliked Lu Zheng would not question Zuo Shaoqing's character. Therefore, the items marked on the door were only slightly read through by Wu Steel.
After everything was recorded, the overseer gave him a plate number, and waved to let him pass. Zuo Shaoqing respectfully bowed again, and then walked into Academic Institution with a box of items in his hand.
After arriving at this place, Luo Xiaoliu would not be able to follow them in. He would spend the next nine days here by himself.
He found his own cubicle according to the numbers on the numbers. Inside, there was a table and a chair, a single bed, and a thin mattress in the shop.
This Academic Institution allowed the examinees to bring their own food and drink, but it did not allow the examinees to bring quilts.
The cubicle was very small, and they had already lit up the charcoal brazier. However, it didn't last long, and the cubicle was still cold and gloomy.
The Academic Institution was opened only once every three years, and normally, there was not even a little bit of popularity.
Zuo Shaoqing moved the brazier backwards, in case the written exam papers were accidentally thrown into ashes. Then, Zuo Shaoqing would be too deep for tears.
As the students entered the room one by one, Zuo Shaoqing was just about to set up his brush and ink when he saw an old acquaintance walk into the cubicle. When the student turned around, Zuo Shaoqing cupped his hands towards him with a smile.
Receiving a surprised smile from the other party, Zuo Shaoqing thought to himself: What a coincidence, Jiung Hengzhou.
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