Chapter 456: Chapter 445: The Top Scorer from a Farming Family
Next November, just like last year, the examinees entered the examination venue with blessings from relatives and friends. Ye Qiu wore a blue cotton robe, not for looks, but for warmth, as this year’s winter was much colder than last. His three sisters insisted he wear multiple layers, fearing he couldn’t endure the cold in the examination venue.
"Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems," Ye Qiu comforted them, then casually joined the queue.
The results of the Imperial Examination directly affect whether examinees could become officials in the future and whether they could be exempted from taxes, making it much stricter than the Provincial Examination. To prevent cheating, examinees even had to strip for checks in small booths.
Some examinees appeared indifferent, some felt extremely humiliated after coming out. Ye Qiu showed neither sadness nor joy, he complied with the instructions calmly, which improved the attitude of the government officers significantly.
Who would wish to see the body of another man of the same sex? They’re not homosexuals. But these are the rules handed down from above, and they must follow these rules. It’s unclear for whom these humiliated examinees are showing their expressions.
Actually, this was already an improvement. In the past, there weren’t even small booths until a few years after an incident involving a noble’s son sparked changes.
After passing the inspection, Ye Qiu was led by a government officer into his own compartment, which was equipped with a writing desk, a simple bed, and a small stove. As the weather was extremely cold and the duration of the Imperial Examination was five days, examinees were allowed to light fires to boil water and cook.
However, the amount of charcoal was limited, and the time for burning fires was fixed and also limited. Lighting a fire outside the designated times could even lead to disqualification.
Each compartment was separate and all faced one direction; examinees could hear the voices of other examinees next door but could absolutely not see each other. Examinees were not allowed to converse with each other, and every three compartments were guarded by a government officer. Additionally, several groups of government soldiers patrolled intermittently. Even for using the restroom, two government officers would accompany the examinee, making cheating almost impossible.
Ye Qiu felt quite lucky as he was neither positioned near the drafty areas nor next to the latrines. After making some preparations, a government officer came by distributing the examination questions.
Ye Qiu never drafted his responses; his writing flowed as if divinely assisted, extremely smooth. Some cautious thinkers would ponder for half the day before answering in the afternoon, but not Ye Qiu. He would answer in the shortest time possible, then peacefully boil water, wash up, and sleep.
His leisurely attitude in answering quickly caught the attention from above. Thus, on the third day when he began answering a policy question, the Prefect of Dingshui State silently arrived in front of his booth. Although he was present in the examination venue every day, he was not an examiner. Examiners were not allowed to view the examinees’ papers before marking them, but he didn’t mind.
Ye Qiu actually noticed him right away but pretended to be fully absorbed and did not pay him any attention, continuing to write his answers.
The Prefect appeared to be a middle-aged man around forty years old. He first examined Ye Qiu, nodding secretly to himself upon seeing Ye Qiu still bright and clean on the third day.
His gaze involuntarily glanced at Ye Qiu’s paper. Before even reading the content, he praised the good handwriting, and as he continued to read the essay, he unknowingly became engrossed, quickly synchronizing with Ye Qiu’s writing.
He couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful, wondering why there were only so few characters? What was the content that followed? How was he planning to write it?
As the Prefect stayed for quite a while, Ye Qiu could no longer pretend, so he stopped writing, bowed, and made a salute to the Prefect.
The Prefect, coming back to his senses, sheepishly accepted the bow, fearing that his actions might disrupt the examinee’s upcoming examination, yet he felt quite regretful that he could not finish reading the article.
Returning to his invigilating position with a heavy heart, Ye Qiu felt nothing, but the two examinees beside him exhaled deeply in relief.
The next two days of examination flew by, and Ye Qiu’s expression hardly changed from when he first entered. Seeing him, Xiuya and her two sisters finally set their minds at ease, but even so, Ye Qiu still had to undergo the usual pulse diagnosis by the doctor and dietary care.
Speaking of diet, Xiuying, who had a particular love for fine foods, not only created many new meals but also restored many recipes from the previous dynasty. Just with these recipes alone, she sold them for a good amount of money, and it seemed that she had her own plans. She sold only a few recipes, intending to open her own restaurant in Shangjing once she had enough money.
Initially, Ye Qiu and his family were considering setting up a restaurant for her, but unexpectedly, at only nine years old, she had already made her own arrangements, aiming to impress.
Among the three sisters at home, Xiutong had the business of rose flowers, Xiuying had plans to open a restaurant, which made it seem like Xiuya wasn’t skilled in anything.
But if you think so, you are mistaken. Xiuya handled all the big and small affairs at home, including social and business interactions where frictions are inevitable. However, every time frictions occurred, Xiuya would step in and resolve them very well. Thus, despite appearing to have no special talents, both Xiutong and Xiuying have decided to share their profits with her in the future.
Adding all this up, it seemed that Ye Qiu has become a scholar who was good for nothing. He would often tease himself about this, much to the amusement of his three sisters.
However, what worried the three sisters the most was not the business matters, but still, their elder brother Ye Qiu. He was turning eighteen this year and had no plans to marry, nor did he even wish to consider it, claiming that having three sisters was enough.
How could this be acceptable? He was the only man of the Ye Family, and the family was counting on him for future generations. Although they had many sisters, they would eventually get married and leave. If he never married, would he really end up alone?
This time, not only Xiuya and Xiutong but even Xiuying, who was initially the least willing for Ye Qiu to bring a sister-in-law into the family, began advising Ye Qiu.
But every time marriage was discussed, either he found an excuse to leave, or he would change the subject, causing the three sisters to shake their heads and sigh every day.
"Okay, little housekeepers, worrying so much isn’t better than going out to enjoy yourselves. Once you get married, life won’t be so easy. Where else can you find such a good elder brother like me?" Ye Qiu raised an eyebrow at them with a smile, then left again.
The three sisters felt a rush of affection through their annoyance, uncontrollably reminiscing about the year their mother, Ye Li, died. Those were truly hard times; the whole world seemed to have lost its luster.
In the end, it was their elder brother who held up their world, giving them a carefree life and freedom.
They didn’t wish to pressure their elder brother into marriage, but the thought of him ending up alone in the future made them unbearably sad.
"If it comes to that, I’ll just not marry and bring a son-in-law into our home so I can stay with elder brother forever," Xiuying said cheerfully, unaware that some things were not for her to decide.