It was called a year-end examination here. Every year, the questions posed by the imperial teachers were different. This year’s exam required students to point at things available at the exam site and compose an original poem based on those things. The students will be paired up and will point at things for each other, then they must compose poems based on those things. Altogether they must make nine stanzas of poetry, with each based on one theme.
Finally, the imperial teachers would judge all poems and decide which are the best, then finally present them to Emperor Lin. Students who wrote the top three best poems would then be given awards.
Lin Feilu thought this was much more difficult compared to the time she had to take seven or eight courses of classes in her past life.
Composing poetry wasn’t a simple task. There was no way you could just simply make something up under pressure.
Obviously, Lin Jingyuan thought the same. His little head was filled with big question marks, “Why are we not testing on memorization anymore? Or debate? Or even calligraphy? I’ve memorized all the books, prepared for debates and practiced my calligraphy! But ultimately, this year’s year-end exam turned out to be poetry??”
He had fully intended to perform well this year to make everyone admire him!
He felt this was too unfair.
He wanted to pretend to be sick and skip the exam. Finally on the day of the exam, he reluctantly went to school under Lin Feilu’s supervision.
This time, all students were not required to enter the study hall. The imperial teachers set up the examination grounds in a different courtyard. Although it was cold in winter, the snowy scenery was quite inspiring, naturally it was a good place for composing elegant poetry.
Since there was no need to enter the study hall, it was alright for Lin Feilu to follow along. This was the first time she could see all the children of royals and nobles who were studying in the Imperial School. In order to prevent students from cheating, their study companions were not allowed to be present at the examination grounds.
Lin Feilu was really curious how the ancients conducted their year-end examinations, so she wanted to tag along to have a look-see. As she approached the examination grounds, she was stopped by an elderly imperial teacher.
Fortunately, Lin Qing and Lin Ting were around. WIth the support of the crown prince and the eldest imperial prince, the imperial teacher realized this young girl was the fifth imperial princess, so he did not block her from entering the grounds, instead he asked her to stand quietly to a side and not interrupt the exam.
Lin Feilu obediently obliged. Upon entering, she saw there were already more than a dozen desks displayed in an open space. The desks were all equipped with pens, inks, papers and inkstones. The imperial teacher asked all students to pair up among themselves and sit down.
Lin Qing glanced at Lin Ting and smiled, “Eldest Brother, how about you and me sit together?”
Lin Ting was silent for two seconds, not knowing what he was thinking, and finally nodded.
Lin Feilu looked at Lin Jingyuan from a distance and saw that he was talking to Xi Xingjiang. Finally the two unscholarly muscleheads sat down together somewhat begrudgingly.
When she looked around, she felt that the number of students did not match up. She mentally counted their numbers and realised there was an odd number of students. Once all students were paired up, they would sit down at their desks. Finally, all present realized there was one person who was singled out.
Song Jinglan sat alone at his desk at the far end of the exam grounds. No one was paired with him.
The imperial teacher then remembered that the Third Princess Lin Xi who still remained on the roster of attending students had already left the palace a long time ago.
The others glanced over a few times, finally they withdrew their gazes, as if they had been accustomed to such a situation. Even in the study hall of the Imperial School, the hostage prince of the Song Kingdom had also sat alone. Even Lin Xi, who used to harass him, did not want to sit next to him in class, as she felt it was insulting.
Everyone talked among themselves and the atmosphere at the exam grounds was friendly, but there existed a bubble surrounding Song Jinglan that was quiet and silent.
Despite this, he still put on a smile on his face. His eyes were lowered as he held up his sleeves while grinding his inkstone.
He looked like a poor little girl who was being isolated by her classmates in school.
It was a tolerable situation, but Lin Feilu could not tolerate this.