Chapter 40

Twenty young men sat in the spacious and bright hall, with all the necessary writing tools on the tables. The examiner was an elderly man in his fifties, with a kind face and a warm smile, holding a steaming cup of tea.

Xu Hao chose a corner, lowered his head, and glanced at the questions on the paper. One was from the Analects of Confucius, "The followers saw it," and the other was from the Mencius, "They wept in the courtyard, but the good man did not know it, and he came in leisurely from outside."

Many of the young men looked greatly disappointed. They had thought it would be just a matter of composing a few couplets and a couple of poems, but who knew they would have to write an eight-part essay. This type of essay, though seemingly simple, had caused many to spend their entire lives studying the Four Books and Five Classics, only to fail even the scholar examination, with many old students still having white hair.

Xu Hao did not understand the eight-part essay and had no intention of learning it. The questions were indeed the same as those written in Zhu Gaozhi's letter. According to the original plan, he just needed to write down the two memorized essays and then wait for good news.

But suddenly, Xu Hao felt that cheating this way was not fair and honest. As the young man had said earlier, it was like being a fraud, and the truth would eventually come out.

Xu Hao's confidence came from the formal education he had received in his previous life. He believed his education level was at least equivalent to that of a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, and he was much more comprehensive than a scholar. History had already proven the direction, and the eight-part essay would inevitably be eliminated, regardless of what it represented.

The opening should break the topic, which means clarifying the topic at the beginning, and it could only use content from the Four Books and Five Classics. The opening for the Analects was "The followers conveyed the message, reflecting their sincerity." In the early Ming Dynasty, the word limit for essays on the Four Books was 300 characters, and for the Five Classics, it was 500 characters.

At this moment, Xu Hao ignored all the old rules and directly wrote, "I am mad for you." He directly stated his purpose, what could be done about it? For the承接题 (the part that connects the opening to the main body), he wrote, "A commoner can set an example for the world, and a word can be a teacher for the world."

Next came the four parts, which were the main body in modern terms. This was the most difficult part, involving a detailed analysis of the positive and negative aspects, testing the students' analytical and understanding abilities, as well as their ability to match words and change tones, like four couplets. The words had to be of the same part of speech and tone.

Xu Hao thought for a moment and casually wrote, "Raising a cup to invite the moon, three shadows together, drunk in the flower garden, who can remain drunk and never wake? Drawing a sword to cut the water, raising a cup to dispel sorrow, the world's sorrows, who can enjoy life without worry?" He even added punctuation marks on a whim.

Since he was already being a literary youth, he decided to go all the way. Xu Hao wrote a series of things that even made him shudder, and finally, it was time to conclude, which was the ending of the whole essay, requiring eight sentences.

Xu Hao thought for a moment, and a sudden inspiration struck him. He remembered the annual summary report and shamelessly wrote, "Serve the young master wholeheartedly, do your job well, love your profession.

First, have a sense of responsibility; that is, a proactive attitude, a solid and thorough style, and a serious and responsible spirit. The young master's studies are my responsibility.

Second, have passion; passion is the wind that blows the sail, the driving force of work. Just as inspiration can create timeless poetry, passion can help the young master complete his studies happily.

Third, have a grateful heart; the sage said, a good attitude determines everything. The Mu family is my bread and butter, and I must know how to be grateful and repay. Like a mirror, if you smile at it, it will smile back. Treat the young master with gratitude."

After writing this messy pile, the handwriting, to put it nicely, was like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, unrestrained and free. To put it bluntly, well, it's better not to say.

Xu Hao blew on the ink on the paper, signed it as "a commoner from the previous life, Xu Hao from Jinling," and then stood up and walked to the examiner, handing over the paper.

At this moment, the nineteen young men who were buried in their writing, the fastest had just finished a draft of one question. Everyone was amazed at someone's speed.

In this era, submitting early was not a good thing. Even in the future, submitting early would give the teacher a bad impression, indicating a lack of seriousness.

Sure enough, the examiner did not even look at the paper and said, "Your essay is still far from ready. Go back and study hard. If you come again in two years, I will take you."

"Cough, cough, my surname is Xu," Xu Hao reminded him softly, then said formally, "Sir, please give me a chance for an interview, so I don't come here in vain."

"Oh, oh," the examiner blinked and pretended to ponder, pointing to the young men below, "Alright, I will give you a couplet to test you. The hall is divided east and west, two beams of light shoot towards the sky."

"The curtain divides inside and outside, not a hint of corruption can pass through," Xu Hao immediately replied, like a password.

The examiner laughed and said, "Seeing your sincerity, I will take you." "Thank you, sir," Xu Hao smiled slyly, bowed, and left.

The young man closest to them frowned and muttered to himself, "This couplet seems familiar."

If he had been a scholar who had taken the imperial exams, he would have seen it before, but he was not. The couplet was displayed in the high hall of the Jiangnan Imperial Academy, meaning that this exam was fair and transparent, with no cheating. Zhu Gaozhi deliberately used this couplet as a password, showing his disapproval of such behavior.

Xu Hao did not disappoint him. He did not copy at all. When the examiner picked up the paper, he was stunned. In all his years of reading, he had never seen such an essay!

By the rules, this was complete nonsense. But after reading it carefully, he could not deny that the essay was very novel and touching, with some merit. However, the writing was too verbose, almost entirely in plain language.

The examiner shook his head. Since he was entrusted, he would do his best. He directly handed the paper to the inner chambers. After everyone finished the exam, he selected the best five or six papers, including Xu Hao's, and gave them to the steward.

Before leaving, the examiner specially explained, "One of these is intended to make the lady and the young miss laugh. Remember to explain clearly."

The steward, confused, entered the inner chambers and gave the papers to the maid, who then presented them to the lady. The Lady of the Marquis of Qian was resting with her eyes closed, and Mu Ningsnow picked up the stack of papers.

The maid remembered the steward's instructions and said, "One of these, the master said, will surely make the lady and the young miss laugh."

"Is that so! Read it to Mother," the Lady of the Marquis of Qian became interested.

Mu Ningsnow picked up the top paper and chuckled, "Just a rogue."

"What did he write?" the lady asked, more interested.

Mu Ningsnow, blushing, said, "The opening is 'I am mad for you,' it's all nonsense, completely irrelevant, really."

The lady laughed heartily, "So he came for my son, hehe! This is not a real exam, he can write however he wants, read it to Mother."

"Yes," Mu Ningsnow sighed and reluctantly read it to her mother. The first sentence, "A commoner can set an example for the world," made the Lady of the Marquis of Qian marvel, "What a great ambition."

Mu Ningsnow said disdainfully, "Arrogant."

"That's not a good way to say it," the lady said seriously, "Who among the nobles in the court was not once a poor person? There's an old saying, 'Do not look down on a poor youth,' you must not underestimate people."

Mu Ningsnow nodded obediently, but when she read "Drawing a sword to cut the water," the lady savored it for a long time and nodded with a smile, "Good, indeed talented."

"Mother, this is just repeating others' words," Mu Ningsnow could not help but say.

"I just think it sounds good, it touches my heart," the lady sighed, "Since your father passed away, I really want to be drunk and never wake up."

"What a show-off, how hateful."

Seeing this, Mu Ningsnow did not say anything more and continued to read softly, "I want to open my heart, let the gentle breeze blow through, dispelling the gloom in my heart. I don't care about the cold eyes of the world, no matter how time flows, I will remain silent in a corner of the world, calmly watching the dust and rain, smiling at the rise and fall of the world. As long as I keep my inner peace and strength, no matter how the world changes, I will remain calm and peaceful."

Mu Ningsnow frowned and savored it, and the lady was equally moved, "I have never heard such a touching essay before. Compared to those poems and lyrics, this simple language touches my heart more."

In fact, Mu Ningsnow was already stunned. These words seemed to describe her inner self, completely speaking for her. She did not know that this was a common trait of all literary young women, a vulgar term for being shameless. In fact, a famous line would touch anyone who heard it.

Who could have written such novel words? Could it be him? A figure appeared in Mu Ningsnow's mind.

Mu Ningsnow hurriedly read on, "To love someone, to appreciate her; to see the snow on the high mountains, to quietly guard the flowing years, to silently guard the light clouds and clear skies, to hold a proud and fragrant beauty, to face the ups and downs of life, to walk through the four seasons; to scoop up a handful of joy, in the simple four seasons, to hold hands with the loved one, to quietly watch the sunset and the flying rain, to enjoy the pure and simple days, to live a life full of poetry and beauty."

After reading this paragraph in one breath, Mu Ningsnow could no longer sit still. She gently put down the paper, stood up gracefully, and left with a lingering step.

After a long while, the lady sighed, "Bring this scoundrel into the mansion, I want to see what kind of divine being he is. How dare he think of my precious daughter, first give him eighty lashes."