A Records Of An Alpha’s Life In Ancient Times - Chapter 14

At night, the temperature finally dropped, and there was the faintest trace of an evening breeze. Shen Qingshu forced herself to eat a little. She ate very little, partly because she was not hungry and could not get anything down, and partly because she wanted to use the toilet as little as possible.

A soldier would follow her when she went to the toilet, which meant she had to expend a large amount of mental power.

On top of that, after so many scholars had gathered here, one could imagine the condition of the temporary latrines that had been built. That was definitely a smell she never wanted to experience again in her entire life.

Probably the kind of smell that even stinky socks, stinky tofu, and rotten salted fish combined could not match one ten-thousandth of.

After eating, she drank a little rice wine. It was brewed from pure, natural, ancient grain, without any additives, and did not taste much like alcohol. It was sweet, and she rather liked it. It helped with sleep too.

Shen Qingshu carefully put away her exam papers. With the two wooden planks put together, they became a bed, only a little over one meter long.

She was only thirteen now and not yet one and a half meters tall, so if she curled her legs, she could still barely sleep on it. Thinking of Senior Brother Gao, who was 1.8 meters tall, Shen Qingshu felt cramped on his behalf.

At night, the soldiers would also hand out quilts. In truth, this weather did not need one at all. Shen Qingshu worked hard not to think about how many people had used it before and took it to pad the wooden planks. At last, lying down became a little more comfortable.

It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury back to frugality. After more than a year in Count Chengyi’s estate, a life of pampered wealth had already made her delicate. After sleeping on this hard wooden plank bed for one night, she actually woke up with an aching waist and sore back.

In the faint morning light, inside the narrow examination cell, Shen Qingshu bared her teeth and paced two circles, massaging her arms and stretching her legs. It barely counted as moving around.

The examination site at this hour was still fairly quiet. Aside from the subtle, wonderful sounds of all things in nature gradually waking, there was only the rustle of exam papers being turned.

The continuous snores from last night were gone. Those who still had not gotten up by now—how exactly had they passed the first two rounds?

Everyone cherished the precious morning light.

Shen Qingshu simply washed up and tidied herself. After sitting down, she began working on the only question left from yesterday—the poetry and rhapsody question.

This time, she was required to write a five-character, six-rhyme poem related to “serving the country.”

Six rhymes meant twelve lines. Shen Qingshu first wrote the title: A Poem Composed on Serving the Country. She sat in a daze for ages and finally thought of the first line, beginning a poetry-writing process as agonizing as constipation.

She muttered the rhyming pairs she had memorized. “The great desert raises war dust, mm… great land pairs with vast sky, so vast sky should be usable, right?”

“Vast sky, war dust… what should war dust pair with? Snow… cold snow, no, falling snow, flying snow… Raise, raise should pair with fall.”

“The great desert raises war dust, the vast sky lets flying snow fall. Should be all right. Good. Second line. Family pairs with country…”

Shen Qingshu practically racked her brains dry before she managed to patch together the poem before handing in her paper at noon. She felt like a pot-mender, and her poem was that battered, broken pot covered entirely in patches.

If she had done wrong, then please use mathematics to make things difficult for her. Absolutely do not use poetry.

Just talking about it was heartbreaking enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.

In the afternoon, the second round began. The mathematics added to this round was completely a piece of cake.

After suffering through three days, the exam finally ended. Shen Qingshu felt certain that she must have gone sour all over. But after living in a shop of dried fish for so long, one no longer noticed the smell. Her nose had long since lost function and could no longer sense it.

She had not rested well for two consecutive nights. Her brain had also been operating at high speed the whole time, and she had constantly been using mental power. When she left the examination site, stepping on the ground felt like stepping on cotton, light and floating, as if she might ascend into immortality at any moment.

But Shen Qingshu still could not immediately rest. To avoid exposing her identity, she had to remain awake and wash and bathe herself.

Letting herself sleep while smelling this sour was impossible. It would be impossible for her entire life.

She slept this time until heaven and earth seemed dim. When she woke, it was already dusk the next day. Her mind was empty, like a building after thieves had emptied it out, and her stomach had recovered its senses too, rumbling with hunger.

The kitchen had been keeping hot food ready for her. As Shen Qingshu drank porridge, she listened to Steward Liu report the information he had gathered. To avoid distracting herself before the exam, she had not looked into it earlier.

“…The Provincial Education Commissioner Hong, who presided over this exam, is said to favor young talents. The last time he admitted students, most of those ranked near the top were young people. Lord Hong belongs to the faction that supports war, and this time’s poetry topic seems to have been set by him… Among Young Master’s opponents, Guan Yiming of Wenshui County is the most threatening. He placed first in both the county exam and prefectural exam…”

Looking at it this way, her probability of taking first place was still very high. Shen Qingshu set down the porridge bowl and wiped her mouth with a cloth towel, thinking silently.

In that case, she could not immediately set off back to the capital. She had to wait until the list was posted. Otherwise, if she became the top scorer but did not attend Education Commissioner Hong’s teacher-thanking banquet, she would be seriously embarrassing Lord Hong.

During the period of waiting for the list to be posted, the inns in the prefectural city were especially lively. Everywhere, one could see people wearing blue-green scholar’s robes. Some gathered with friends, some held literary meetings, and some talked loudly and expansively.

Shen Qingshu was alone and had no social connections here. Not many people invited her anywhere, and even if there were people who wanted to curry favor with her, she did not want to bother with them.

Every day, she lived in seclusion and seldom went out. On the day the results were posted, Steward Liu had long since reserved a second-floor window seat at Sanyuan Tower, near the examination site. Fu An had also been waiting at the place where the list would be posted.

There were truly too many tongsheng waiting to see the results. Sanyuan Tower was completely full. Everyone was excited and nervous, sitting in groups of three or five and talking to ease their emotions.

Sitting alone, Shen Qingshu inevitably felt somewhat anxious as well. She shook her fan and drank tea cup after cup, yet could not taste anything at all.

Time passed slowly, minute by minute and second by second. After who knew how long, a sudden commotion rose downstairs, and someone shouted, “The list is out!”

The noise in the tower suddenly stopped. The whole space fell into an eerie silence for a moment, then immediately became even noisier. Some people stood up and crowded toward the windows, while others took off at a sprint, rushing downstairs to look at the list.

Shen Qingshu did not want to squeeze together with a crowd of grown men. Barely managing to remain calm, she stayed seated. Only, she could no longer drink tea. She stared at the stairway entrance, waiting for Fu An to come up and report.

“Young Master, Young Master, you’re the top scorer in the academy exam! I saw it, you’re the first name!” A study attendant dressed in blue-green shouted excitedly, rushing as he shouted toward a table farther inside.

Shen Qingshu’s heart sank. That was not Fu An. She had not gotten first place in the academy exam. Even though she was already an adult and had lived two lives, she still could not control the discomfort and disappointment in her heart.

“That’s the Little Three Yuan in succession! Congratulations, congratulations!”

“Congratulations, Brother Guan! Felicitations, Brother Guan!”

“Hey, we should call him Top Scorer Guan now.”

“Right, right, hahaha. Congratulations, Top Scorer Guan!”

“To achieve three firsts in Sanyuan Tower—what an auspicious sign!”

At that table, congratulatory voices had already risen one after another. Shen Qingshu looked over and saw that the one at the center of the crowd was a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth with a face as round as a full moon, dressed in a moon-white robe.

He stood up very modestly and returned everyone’s greetings. “Not at all, not at all. Guan thanks you all.”

This should be Guan Yiming, the one Steward Liu had mentioned. Little Three Yuan in succession. Even Shen Qingshu felt somewhat jealous.

With her hope of becoming top scorer gone, Shen Qingshu lowered her head and drank a mouthful of cold tea. All she tasted was failure, bitterness filling her mouth. Inevitably, her spirits dampened.

Fu An also returned from looking at the list then. He knew Young Master’s goal, so he walked to Shen Qingshu somewhat hesitantly. “Young Master, you… you’re second.”

Second?

Shen Qingshu came back to herself and immediately understood. Her results and Guan Yiming’s were probably neck and neck. Although she was younger, she had not won first place in the prefectural exam. The Education Commissioner would naturally prioritize fulfilling the Little Three Yuan in succession.

After all, second place did not affect her becoming a xiucai. A thirteen-year-old xiucai could still be given the title of child prodigy.

But she had indeed become too attached to appearances. She had kept thinking about taking first place.

In her previous life, after her parents passed away, she had understood early on the principle that “in life, things go against one’s wishes eight or nine times out of ten, so one must often think of the one or two that go well.”

She should have died and gone to the Yellow Springs, yet by fortune, she had survived. That alone was already an enormous blessing. After studying for only a little over a year, she had passed and become a xiucai, already surpassing others several times over.

Second place allowed her to directly become a stipend student, and every month, she could receive money and grain from the court. Compared with those old tongsheng whose hair had already gone gray, yet who still had not passed and were now crying bitterly, what was there for her to be dissatisfied about?

In her previous life, she had laughed while watching Fan Jin pass the provincial exam, never expecting that when it happened to her, she too could not avoid being ordinary.

After thinking this through, Shen Qingshu immediately felt the gloom in her chest dissipate. She became happy again, and could even smile and tease Fu An. “Why are you making such a mournful face? People who don’t know better might think your young master failed. All right, second place is also an extremely good result. I’m very satisfied. Hurry and send someone to the estate with the news.”

“Yes. Young Master will definitely take first place next time.” Hearing this, Steward Liu and Fu An exchanged a glance. Seeing that she was not forcing a smile, they also smiled and agreed.