Chapter 18 Imperial Examination

Li Shiming rode in an ordinary horse-drawn carriage, with the coachman and a young servant named Moyan sitting in front by the shafts, while Si Qin continuously checked the items in the exam basket inside the carriage, fearing something might be missing.

He had not intended to bring Si Qin along, but she insisted on coming no matter what.

Considering that Si Qin had prepared for the Imperial Examination for many days, he decided to bring her along.

A number of family guards followed not far behind the carriage, which was an essential part of Li Shiming's travel arrangements.

Several major events that had occurred in Nanling Prefecture did not affect the bustle of the day.

The streets were crowded with people everywhere, including candidates for the Imperial Examination, their families, and many onlookers.

There were also many more government officials and government soldiers on the streets to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

"Young Master, we've arrived at the exam hall!" Moyan reminded from outside the carriage.

"Si Qin, stay in the carriage and don't get out!" Li Shiming instructed as he held Si Qin back from exiting the carriage.

At that moment, the area outside the exam hall was packed with people, and even the low walls and trees were occupied by children.

Many people brought their children here to catch some of the scholarly aura, wishing their children could one day have the opportunity to participate in the Imperial Examination like these scholars.

In the eyes of the common people, the scholars who could participate in the Imperial Examination were like the embodiment of Wenquxing descending to earth.

This was understandable, as each of these scholars was among the top few in their respective regions, easily seen as a descent of Wenquxing where they came from.

And if they passed the Imperial Examination, they could no longer simply be called scholars; they had to be addressed as "scholar officials," earning the qualifications to become officials.

Li Shiming, carrying the exam basket, walked toward the great gate of the exam hall. He exchanged glances with a few acquainted scholars but greeted none.

The soldiers searching at the entrance of the exam hall were not from Nanling Prefecture but had been transferred from other areas.

The soldiers didn't recognize Li Shiming, so the body search was no different from that of any other candidate.

Great Xia took the examinations very seriously; any act of cheating during the exams was punishable by death. Due to the importance of the exams, Great Xia used various methods to prevent cheating.

Even in the Imperial Examination of Nanling Prefecture, Li Shiming couldn't enjoy any preferential treatment as the son of the Magistrate.

Li Shiming watched as the soldiers crumbled the pastries meticulously prepared by Si Qin. Fortunately, she couldn't see it, or else she would be heartbroken again.

After the search concluded, a soldier escorted him into the exam hall. He was quite lucky; although he didn't get the best spot among the rows of cubicles, his seat wasn't miserably located next to a dry latrine either.

He took out the writing brush, inkstone, and paperweight from the exam basket and prepared some ink with a bit of water.

Thanks to the space in the meditation room, he had essentially loaded all the books from the family study into his brain. He boasted calculation and analysis capabilities akin to a large server, IBM z15, and had a wealth of outstanding essays from history in his former life as a foundation.

Moreover, since his strength had reached the Qi Refining First Level, the nourishment of Spiritual Energy had significantly improved his memory, analysis, and computational abilities. He wasn't worried about the Imperial Examination at all.

The topics for the first day came down; it was to emend scriptures.

Though he had studied the Four Books and Five Classics, he still observed the ancient examinations with the detachment of a bystander.

It was only when he truly participated in the Imperial Examination that he realized how difficult it was.

Of course, this difficulty was not relative to him now, but compared to the students of his former life.

The simplest scripture emendation required selecting a passage from the 170,000 characters of the Four Books and Five Classics to fill in the blanks.

One needed to memorize the Four Books and Five Classics completely to cope with the scripture emendation exam.

Li Shiming scanned the questions, and the answers immediately came to mind, without even necessitating the computational power of IBM z15.

All he needed to do was ensure the characters were neatly written and avoid staining the examination paper.

He completed writing the answers in less than two hours.

He realized he had answered too quickly; the entire fill-in-the-blank paper was supposed to cover a day's worth of examination.

Li Shiming heard the mournful cries of candidates, followed by the warning shouts of soldiers.

At night, lanterns were hung one by one, and the candidates inside the examination cells also lit their oil lamps.

Li Shiming sat on a simple wooden bed and took the Gathering Spirit Plate from the Spatial Room, placing it beneath him to start practicing the "Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique".

Even the Imperial Examination could not interrupt his cultivation.

It was a necessity, for the four luminous stones on the Gathering Spirit Plate were already quite dim, barely able to last much longer.

To waste any opportunity for cultivation was an immense loss.

Besides, within the examination cells, no one would disturb a candidate unless they were found to have engaged in clear acts of cheating.

Spiritual Energy surged into his body, following the opened spiritual meridians into the Spiritual Energy Vortex.

It seemed that it reached a certain limit, the Spiritual Energy Vortex contracted slightly, then expanded greatly.

A mysterious wind arose within the entire examination hall, causing the lanterns to sway continuously, and the soldiers hurried to investigate the situation.

After a thorough inspection, the soldiers found nothing amiss and attributed it to a freak act of nature.

Li Shiming opened his eyes, a flash of light passing through them before disappearing.

"Finally reached Qi Refining Second Level!" he rejoiced silently within.

After reaching the Qi Refining Second Level, he could attempt to learn spells, truly stepping onto the threshold of cultivation.

He put away the Gathering Spirit Plate into the Spatial Room, not wasting a single moment.

He could tell that the Gathering Spirit Plate could at most last three more days; afterward, he would no longer have such favorable conditions for cultivation.

As for the luminous stones inside the Gathering Spirit Plate, he hadn't heard where to find them in Nanling Prefecture.

Moreover, even if he had the luminous stones, he lacked the method to activate the Gathering Spirit Plate.

He lay on the wooden bed, spending his first night in the examination cell.

The second day's examination was on the classics, and the questions were rather unusual. Just from the occasional sighs coming from other cells, one could tell how difficult the questions were this time.

Regardless of how unusual they were, they couldn't deviate from the selections from the Li Family on the classics; the seventeen thousand characters from the Four Books and Five Classics had been expanded by the Li Family over many years to more than six million characters, which demonstrated the depth of their research on the classics.

Nearly every section had corresponding interpretations, and no matter how the examination went, it could not exceed the scope of the Four Books and Five Classics.

The third day's examination was on policy essays, assessing literary ability and practical research on the classics.

Li Shiming did not write on his own. Instead, based on his understanding of the examiners, he selected an outstanding policy essay that matched the examiners' tastes from the historical databank of the large server IBM z15.

This time he did not start writing immediately, but waited for two hours before beginning.

In the evening, the three-day Imperial Examination finally ended.

Si Qin stood on the carriage, her eyes fixed on the entrance of the exam hall.

One by one, the exhausted candidates walked out of the entrance, the three days of exams having nearly depleted every ounce of their strength.

Some candidates even needed the support of soldiers to leave the exam hall.

Following the conclusion of the Imperial Examination every year, some candidates would fall severely ill, and there were even those who would be bedridden thereafter.

"The young master has come out!" Mo Yan exclaimed with joy.

There was no need for him to point out; just by looking at the youngest candidate who emerged from the entrance—a candidate brimming with energy among the crowd—one could easily recognize him.

Si Qin stood on the carriage waving her hands vigorously, signaling her presence here.