Chapter 172: Finally Done
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The first question was on the subject of I Ching.
More specifically, the Bo Zixia’s "Zixia Anthology".
Of course, such titles were not in the script. In this world, there was no Bo Zixia or Zixia Anthology. They did not exist.
There was only the "Law of Dao".
Fang Zhengzhi’s pen scratched the paper as he began work.
"The hexagram predicates that there is the right time for every action. Softness belies toughness. By closing oneself off of outside influence, one can achieve growth of character."
"Humility comes with satisfaction, such is the law of the world…"
The question was referring to the balance of your inner and outer spirit. The answer to this was in the original scriptures. Although these were testing on I Ching, it was not hard to answer them.
After finishing the first question, he quickly jumped to the next.
The second question immediately delved into " The Works of the Sage of Ghost Valley" and it was on one of the articles stated within. The question asking about the Three Rites and required students to provide their own interpretation of the Three Rites.
It was hard to admit but the Imperial Examinations were indeed demanding.
Without studying "The Works of the Sage of Ghost Valley", and without knowing the articles within, they required candidates to determine the origins of the Three Rites and provide their own interpretations. It was indeed something beyond the understanding of an average person.
However, this did not pose a difficulty to Fang Zhengzhi. His mind contained the modern interpretations, and also included the most in-depth and elegant analysis of the texts.
Interpretation?
The best interpretation would the conclusion arrived after thousands of years and generations of work.
The second question was quickly dealt with. He continued onwards to the next question…
…
Fang Zhengzhi wrote at top speed. The scratching sound between the pen tip and the paper surface could be heard by the whole room because everyone was looking at him.
Those eyes looked like they saw a ghost.
Even Ping Yang could only stare dumbly at the unstoppable Fang Zhengzhi.
After that, she rubbed her eyes hard. She could not believe that one person could blast through the rigorous examination script at such incredible speeds.
Last night, she saw with her own eyes the few palace officials wrecking their brains and scratching their heads as they tried to finish the paper.
Every single one of them was scrunching their eyebrows that they were going white.
However, why is it that the same paper, in front of Fang Zhengzhi, looked like a child’s play. There was no pause at all.
Ping Yang sat on Fang Zhengzhi’s left. Therefore, she could clearly see his actions. After a single look at the script, he would immediately take his pen and start writing.
Then, he would move on to the next question.
In no time at all, the first page was almost filled.
"Is this copied?" Ping Yang really wanted to stand up and report Fang Zhengzhi. However, she remembered she had answers on her too so she suppressed the thought of exposing him.
This was the first time Yan Xiu took part in the Imperial Examinations together with Fang Zhengzhi, therefore he did not know the state of Fang Zhengzhi when he took the Imperial Examinations. He was briefly taken aback by Fang Zhengzhi’s ridiculous speed.
A thought unconsciously surfaced in his mind. Did he do the script before?
On second thoughts, that couldn’t be right…
If Fang Zhengzhi really did the same script before, he would not have kept it from him. Furthermore, the probability of this happening was infinitesimal.
Then, was he messing around?
The thought was popped by Yan Xiu as soon as it bubbled up.
He got the Roll Champion title for both the theory examinations at county and province level. There was no way Yan Xiu could believe that Fang Zhengzhi was simply doodling on his papers.
"He could do it so fast?" Yan Xiu looked at the examination script on the table. He took a deep breath and gradually exhaled. After that, he calmly began answering.
However, Yan Xiu did not start from the first question. Instead, he flipped to the back and started from there.
Currently, Fang Zhengzhi was burying his head in the script, scribbling away. He did not notice the actions of Yan Xiu.
In fact…
It was not only Yan Xiu, the other candidates were also carefully choosing which questions to answer. In the whole room, there was no one like Fang Zhengzhi who could tackle all the questions in order.
Even Ping Yang, who possessed the answers, was no exception.
Eventually, the room was filled with the sounds of pen scratching paper. This indicated that all the candidates had begun to answer their questions. No one had time to bother with Fang Zhengzhi.
Those who did not know him naturally thought, "How did this fellow even get into the Imperial Examinations?"
While those who knew him could only silently sigh. Did he have to be so outrageously good?
…
The minutes slowly ticked by.
After two hours, Fang Zhengzhi was still maintaining a consistent speed. In his hands, there was still half of the papers that were untouched. He pushed on.
However, those that noticed Fang Zhengzhi’s actions were flabbergasted.
"Is...is he aiming to finish everything?!"
This thought rose up in many people’s minds. After that, it was swiftly and forcefully suppressed by them.
Because it was simply impossible.
More importantly…
There was no need to do that.
Fang Zhengzhi did not care about that. He was currently completing the questions one by one in order. As he was doing, he realized a peculiar trend.
In every sheet of the examination script, a few couplets would periodically appear.
"As expected of Yan Capital, the people here sure knows how to play. These couplets that even three-year-olds could do… Must it really appear in the Imperial Examinations? This… Was this something they came up with last minute?"
Fang Zhengzhi felt that such a question was too much of an insult to his intelligence. However, there was nothing he could do about that. Since it came out, he would pair them with some of his own.
To prevent his intelligence from degrading, he wrote a few extra lines under each couplet. In other words, for every line that needed a complementing line, he gave more than 5 lines to be coupled with.
After doing that, he felt a bit better.
"One line with 5 possible pairings! This would fit the demands of the Imperial Examination…"
…
Time trudged on under the sounds of the candidates’ pen scratching the paper. Before they knew it, another hour had passed.
Ping Yang had started to check her answers at this point. She might look like she was checking but it was merely an act.
Compared to Ping Yang and Yan Xiu, the rest of the candidates were not looking as well. They were basically still burying their nose into the table, writing with all their might. There were even a few that were sweating bullets and shaking under the stress.
Fang Zhengzhi’s pen did not stop either. He still had the last page to finish.
In front of him, there were already eleven fully answered pages.
At this point, Fang Zhengzhi raised his head and looked around. He found that Yan Xiu was refining his answers while Ping Yang was leisurely swaying her head as she checked her answers.
A small minority of the rest of the candidates were also done but the majority was still facing their scripts and scribbling away.
"All of them are doing so fast?" Fang Zhengzhi remembered when he took part in the county and provincial examinations. He basically slept half the time yet he did not expect that the Imperial Examinations gave him such a hard time.
In the last fifteen minutes, he still had one page unfinished.
"Why you… Who in the world...came up with so many questions?" Fang Zhengzhi silently cursed. With no more time to look around, he quickly resumed writing.
Time once again flew.
The last question on the last page. Fang Zhengzhi thought that it would be the same as the provincial examinations. The subject would be something related to military formations and matrices. However, that was not the case. The question came out of the "Book of Rites".
It tested on the Meaning of the Ceremony of Capping.
On this point, Fang Zhengzhi was familiar with it. This world had their own rites for the Ceremony of Capping. However, it was different from the Ceremony of Capping in his world.
In his previous world, by taking part in the imperial selection and passing the Adolescent’s Examinations, one could take part in the Capping Ceremony.
There was an iron-clad rule regarding the Ceremony of Capping in this world. One must be at least the age of sixteen. The age of sixteen was perceived as the time when people transit from adolescence to adulthood.
Thinking about this, Fang Zhengzhi suddenly remembered Yan Xiu’s household also had rites to come of age at sixteen. Therefore, Yan Xiu probably did the Ceremony of Capping before leaving the Yan Clan.
Previously at the Divine Constabulary great banquet, Yan Xiu said something that Fang Zhengzhi remember even until now. He said that after two years, he would reach the first-class position.
Fang Zhengzhi did not understand what it meant then.
Two years?
Eighteen years old...
"Dong!"
As he was figuring this out, the gong signaling the collection of scripts sounded off.
Fang Zhengzhi’s eyes swept around and realized that the four invigilators were starting to collect the script from all four directions. Without any further delay, he added his last sentence on the Meaning of the Ceremony of Capping with lightning quick speed.
After writing everything, he finally let out a sigh of relief, "Damn, finally done!"