Chapter 736: The Third Examination (3)
There were five questions in the policy paper, each of which required more than a thousand words. Sun Shan studied each question carefully and wrote down the key points carefully on the draft paper.
I did each question carefully, and when I raised my head, it was dinner time.
The first day of the third examination passed so quickly. I opened my eyes and it was dark the next moment I closed them.
After dinner, Sun Shan really felt like vomiting. The foul smell coming from next door was very unpleasant.
I quickly applied some cooling oil to my nasal cavity, and then I felt a little better.
Sun Shan stood up and stretched his muscles, feeling a little better.
Looking at the dim candlelight and the burning charcoal fire, I let out a long sigh of relief.
I only finished two questions in one morning and one afternoon, and I have to hurry up to finish the three more questions.
Sun Shan didn't dare to do the questions step by step because the weather was unpredictable. If the weather turned from sunny to cloudy and then to light rain, it would be bad again.
Therefore, the best thing to do is to finish the questions as soon as possible.
Sun Shan boiled another pot of brown sugar ginger soup and drank a bowl of it, feeling much better.
Although the stench from next door lingers from time to time, as I keep smelling it it seems as if I have lost my sense of smell, like entering an abalone shop where I no longer smell the stench.
Maybe it's called "not knowing how lucky you are."
Sun Shan approached one side of the examination room and listened to the movements of Leng Mojun next door.
I found Lengmojun really quiet. I don't know what he was doing. Apart from the occasional rustling sound on the paper, his other movements were very light and he didn't even snore. He was really a quiet candidate.
Lengmojun is probably around thirty years old, and judging from his appearance this is not his first time entering the scene.
Perhaps the aftereffects of failing the exam last time had not yet dissipated, so he seemed cold and silent.
After gossiping about what Lengmojun was doing, Sun Shan continued to do his homework.
In the long night, if you don't do more exercises, you will feel sorry for yourself.
Sun Shan raised his head and lowered it until he was extremely sleepy and fell asleep.
I woke up the next day, had breakfast, and continued to do the questions.
Although the topics of this examination were not predicted correctly, they were all "currency" and very common questions, and there were no extremely difficult questions.
It seems that the temperament of the chief examiner, Lord Wei, has been smoothed out over the years.
Or maybe because it’s the first session, I just hope to get through it safely.
Sun Shan shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and continued to work hard on the questions.
Suddenly there was a commotion, which was then stopped by the staff.
Sun Shan looked at the time. It was noon. If the candidates had finished the questions, they could leave the exam.
Could it be that he was too excited when he came out, feeling that he had finally finished the exam and was finally liberated, so he started to act crazy before he even walked out of the exam room?
Sun Shan shook his head. This candidate was too impulsive. If he encountered a strict patrol team and made loud noises in the examination room, he would be kicked out in minutes.
Just as I was about to continue answering the questions, I suddenly felt another palpitation.
Sun Shan felt strange. Why did the atmosphere become a little weird? He heard some faint voices, but he couldn't tell what they were talking about.
Just as I was continuing to do the questions as if nothing had happened, I suddenly heard bursts of rapid footsteps.
Sun Shan was not in the mood to answer questions at this time. Something big must have happened, otherwise there wouldn't be so much noise.
But Sun Shan was in the corner, having no idea what was going on. He looked outside cautiously. Leng Mojun next door did the same. He then looked at Sun Shan, turned around and hid back in the examination room.
Walking through the examination room next to Lengmojun's, I saw another candidate looking around anxiously. I didn't know what the person next to him said to him.
Then he exclaimed, "What? Check for cheating? How do we check?"
Sun Shan couldn't hear clearly what he was shouting, but he vaguely heard the word "cheating".
Then he saw a patrol team coming over and shouted, "No peeking around, no noise!"
Sun Shan quickly hid back in the examination room, fearing that he would be warned by the staff or stamped with a "violation of discipline" stamp in the next second.
Sun Shan guessed that one of the candidates must have cheated, and then was discovered somehow.
Then the candidate yelled: Please, give me another chance, I won’t dare to do it again, I won’t do it again, please…
Usually when someone is caught doing something bad, they will hear lines like this.
Sun Shan believed that the cheater must be struggling desperately. Even though he knew there was no hope, he still begged for mercy with hope.
The consequences of cheating in the imperial examination are very serious.
If you have the ability to pass the college entrance examination, you can cover up the truth and get away with it.
When it comes to the provincial examinations, the imperial examinations become difficult.
It is very difficult to buy off the connections of the imperial court to send invigilators.
If one has the ability to buy off connections, he doesn't even have to go into the examination room. He can enter the Imperial Academy through connections, and be appointed as an official directly after graduation, or become an official through imperial favor.
How could one put the cart before the horse and take part in the imperial examination with great difficulty?
Sun Shan shook his head and ignored it, concentrating on doing the questions well.
There was still one question he hadn't finished, so he planned to use the afternoon to finish it, then check for any missing points, make some revisions, and then copy it in the evening. He would wait until noon tomorrow to hand in the paper, and his examination would officially be over.
Sun Shan picked up the brush, but found that it had run out of ink, so he bent down and filled the bucket with water.
Then he took a closer look and found a small object next to the bucket.
Sun Shan frowned, picked it up curiously and opened it.
His face instantly changed from normal to pale and then to blue-gray.
This, this, why is there a cheat sheet here!
Sun Shan's hands shook and he almost threw the cheat sheet out.
The so-called "cheat sheet" is a cheating tool, a pocket version of a book.
The imperial court issued an edict: "The edict strictly prohibits kidnapping and transmitting things. The offenders will be sent to the court for questioning and will be shackled in front of the Ministry of Rites for one month." "They will be shackled in front of the Ministry of Rites and beaten and sent back to their hometowns to become civilians."
That is, if a candidate is found to have "smuggled" materials during the search, he will be punished by being shackled for a month before being questioned. After being shackled for a month, he will be beaten with a stick, and then his title of Juren will be stripped and he will be demoted to a commoner.
Sun Shan held the cheat sheet tightly in his hand, sweat breaking out on his forehead.
I really don't understand why the "cheat sheet" suddenly appeared next to the bucket. It was definitely not brought in by him.
If he didn't bring it in, there are only three possibilities: one is that it popped up from the ground, two is that it was originally in the examination room, and three is that Leng Mojun from next door threw it over.
To the left of Sun Shan was a toilet, to the right was Leng Mojun, behind him was a wall, in front of him was an aisle, and in front of that was the back of the examination room.
Front, back, left, right, up and down, there is only one neighbor, Lengmojun.
If the "cheat sheet" was man-made, it must have been brought by Lengmojun.
Sun Shan's hands, which were tightly holding the cheat sheet, broke out in a cold sweat. He felt weak and his head was swollen.
I looked ahead and saw that it was empty.
Without saying a word, Sun Shan tore the cheat sheet into pieces, then instinctively swallowed it.
It’s not that Sun Shan wanted to eat the paper, but he only wanted to destroy the evidence. The best way to avoid having any evidence against the person is to eat it.
Sun Shan swallowed the cheat sheet with tears in his eyes, but the paper was so disgusting that it almost choked him to death.
He quickly scooped up a bowl of water and gulped it down.
After swallowing the cheat sheet, he collapsed on the wooden board, his eyes looking up and shining, a few drops of saliva flowing from the corners of his mouth.
The limbs were unable to support themselves, and they fell vertically, with the whole body exhausted.