Chapter 44

Hearing this, Zhen Tingyun also corrected his attitude and did not dare to delay any longer. He neatly put away the Ziyu Xiao in his hand, and followed Madam Chu into the carriage.

As for Ma Lantou who was brought over by her - this horse is indeed very spiritual. Seeing that Zhen Tingyun got into the car, it obediently followed the carriage and followed him all the way.

The curtain was lowered, the coachman sitting in front waved his whip silently, and the carriage began to drive towards the Kyoto Girls' School. There were only Madam Chu and Zhen Tingyun in the carriage.

Mrs. Chu sat in the middle, holding a volume of books in one hand and pressing the pages in the other, as if she was about to turn her head down. After Zhen Tingyun got into the car, he was somewhat restrained, so he had to sit close to the entrance of the carriage without making a sound.

For a while, the carriage was surprisingly quiet, only the sound of the hooves of horses and the sound of wheels running over the bluestone slabs.

In such silence, Madam Chu suddenly put down the scroll in her hand and asked, "Is it very hard?"

Zhen Tingyun was startled and looked up at Madam Chu.

Madam Chu raised her eyebrows slightly, her eyebrows curved. saw her slowly raise her hand and lift a corner of the curtain of the car window.

The early morning light shone into the carriage through a corner of the curtain, as if a thin cloud of gold powder had been sprinkled from the sky, shining brightly.

Mrs. Chu raised her eyebrows and turned her eyes to look out of the car window. The pale golden light reflected on her delicate profile, and her expression seemed a little obscure.

I just listened to her slowly going down: "I can hear the injustice and sadness from your flute. I was also young, and there were times of hardship, so I understand it as soon as I hear it..."

For some reason, Zhen Tingyun was so angry with Pei last night that he couldn't sleep all night, even when he saw Mrs. Zhen, his grandmother, he forced back his tears and forced a smile. Even if he rode his horse to find Mrs. Chu early in the morning, he was full of anxiety, and his eyes were dry without a single tear.

Until this time, until she heard Mrs. Chu's gentle and calm words, she suddenly felt a soreness in her eyes, and the tears in her eyes fell unconsciously.

The sorrows and joys in the world are like torrents, passing by in waves, never flowing, and even more different.

Therefore, such a sentence "you will understand as soon as you hear it" is actually a very rare word of relief.

Zhen Tingyun gritted his teeth and held back his tears, and only whispered: "Many things are hard work."

She didn't hypocritically say that it wasn't hard, but she didn't want to complain, she could only say this.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Chu seemed to remember something when she heard the words, she smiled and replied softly: "Yes, people in this world will always encounter some things that make people feel hard and uncomfortable. I was young. I fell in love with a person at that time, and I fell in love with him, because he loved reading very much and couldn’t put down scrolls. I also learned the same way of reading and learning from him... Later, I separated from that person and came to the capital from the southwest with only a carload of scrolls. At that time, I knew: whether it is love or hate, no matter how intense it is, it will not last long, only what we have seen and learned can accompany us for the rest of our lives and will never fail us.”

"Stop the cloud, study will be very hard, but also very happy."

Mrs. Chu looked at her tenderly and spoke to her word by word.

Zhen Tingyun's tears finally couldn't be held back, drop after drop, like beads with a broken thread, falling down rustling.

Tears wetted her dress, leaving a cloud of water marks.

*********

By the time the carriage arrived at the Kyoto Girls' School, Zhen Tingyun's eyes were red from crying.

Madam Chu was also dumbfounded by her appearance, so she had to keep a straight face and deliberately tease her: "If you are like this, if I lead you in, others will only think that I'm robbing a good girl to be an apprentice!"

It was the first time that Zhen Tingyun met such a nice person as Madam Chu.

Or, for some reason, as soon as she saw Madam Chu, she felt that she was a very good person.

Hearing Madam Chu's joke, she also burst into laughter: "You can't cry with joy."

Mrs. Chu handed her a handkerchief and said with a smile, "If I can wipe away my tears now, I believe I'm crying with joy."

Zhen Tingyun was finally amused by her words, and then she stopped crying, and followed Madam Chu to enter the Kyoto Women's School with red eyes.

Since it was almost time for the exam, Zhen Tingyun didn't have the time to look around even though it was the first time he came to the Kyoto Women's School. He just followed Mrs. Chu to a specially reserved exam room.

If those female students came to take the exam with vouchers, then they had to come early and choose the exam room and seat first - this is also to prevent the candidates from cheating with each other after knowing the location in advance. And Zhen Tingyun, who was directly introduced by a female gentleman in the women's school, didn't need to draw a seat, and could go in directly. Anyway, there are only a few female gentlemen in the women's school, and each female gentleman has only one recommendation place. No matter what, there is no way to fill such a specially allocated examination room.

While walking on the road, Madam Chu just remembered and explained to Zhen Tingyun: "Those students who are recommended by Mrs. Women's School can be exempted from the certificate, but they must also be tested in this room - this is strict, and can To prevent someone from cheating in private, it can also be less talkative.”

This is what Zhen Tingyun has known for a long time. Hearing that, he just nodded to show his understanding.

Mrs. Chu thought for a while and then said, "But generally there are not many people, and this year is probably the same. When the time comes, I will tell the teacher who supervises the test, you can go in by yourself, just pick a seat and sit down. Wait until the test time. , someone will send you a paperwork."

After a pause, she was afraid that Zhen Tingyun would not understand this, so she added a few words on purpose, "In the morning, the exams are common sense, arithmetic and calligraphy. Be careful to drop ink on the paper, calligraphy is approved, etc., that is to say, you will fail... As for the four subjects of ritual, music and imperial archery, the test is in the afternoon. Therefore, after the test in the morning, most of the female students will not pass the test. I want to stay at school for lunch. When you finish the exam, I will come and take you to the dining hall for lunch."

Zhen Tingyun thought about it and felt that there was no problem, then nodded.

Mrs. Chu's long story was short, and soon everything that should be explained was finished, and the two also walked to the door. Mrs. Chu obviously knew the female teacher in charge of supervision, and greeted people with a smile. Then she pushed Zhen Tingyun, who was following behind her, and introduced her again, saying that this was her new disciple. , who was also the one he recommended this time, and left in a hurry.

The female teacher seemed surprised, and looked down at Zhen Tingyun.

Zhen Tingyun came forward slowly, with a calm expression, and solemnly bowed to the female teacher.

The female teacher quickly retracted her gaze, nodded slightly, and motioned for Zhen Tingyun to enter the examination room.

Zhen Tingyun couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then he stepped inside, and then quietly looked at the specially set up examination room in the space of walking.

As Mrs. Chu said, this examination room was reserved for the female students who were recommended by Mr. Women's School. There were indeed very few people in it, even if Zhen Tingyun was added, it was only three people.

There were originally two girls sitting inside, one on the left and the other on the right. One was wearing a high bun and wearing a bright moon on her ear. She was dressed in a bright purple short jacket and a long silver skirt. Meaning; one with double flat buns, wearing a red begonia jacket and a lotus-colored dress, petite and cute, with a lively demeanor.

Because there were only two of them in the examination room, they were looking at each other, and they were facing each other. When they suddenly saw another person, the two girls couldn't help but be a little surprised, and they all looked up.

Zhen Tingyun had just passed the thrill of almost not being able to enter the examination room. Although his eyes were red and swollen, his expression was calm. Even if she was stared at by the two girls, she was neither panicked nor panicked. Instead, she nodded to the two of them as a sign, and then she chose a seat from them.

As a result, the situation in this examination room has changed from a rivalry between two sides to a tripartite confrontation.

Zhen Ting Yun was at ease. First, he raised his hand and carefully inspected the four treasures of the study on the table. In order to prevent the female students from carrying things, the four treasures of the study were all prepared by the examination room, but the quality was definitely not good, so it was even more important. Check, otherwise it will be bad if the pen is broken in half of the writing......

After checking the Four Treasures of the Study, Zhen Tingyun moved the bluestone inkstone in front of him, rolled up his sleeves, picked up the ink stick and began to study ink.

When she is stupid - the quality of this set of four treasures of the study is only usable, especially the bluestone inkstone and ink sticks, which are mostly shoddy. If you are really sitting in the position stupidly waiting for the paper to be issued and then researching the ink, why not waste more time?

Speaking of which, compared to those daughters who were raised in deep boudoirs, Zhen Tingyun had enough strength to grow up in the countryside, and Zhen Tingyun was used to using these cheap things in the past, even if the ink sticks slipped a little, she was still there. He was familiar with the road, but secretly said in his heart: She has to work so hard. don't know how much effort it takes for those weak and slender girls who are used to good ink and inkstone to develop ink?

Zhen Tingyun thought about it while researching ink, but called the two girls who were looking at her quietly and paying attention to her for a while, and then reacted slowly, quickly took out his inkstone, and began to study ink like her. prepare.

For a while, the atmosphere in the room also eased a lot. After all, the inkstone and ink sticks are very rough, and it is not easy to study ink. The three of them are all bowing their heads and concentrating on studying ink, and they really can't care about other people.

Just when Zhen Tingyun's inkstone was grinding out a little ink, he suddenly heard a loud bell from outside.

There was no break, followed by another bell.

The full three bells were deafening, resounding through the entire Kyoto Women's School.

This is the exam.

The female teacher who was guarding the door just now walked in from the door, took out three papers from a box in the room, and distributed them to the three candidates sitting in the room. Furthermore, everyone has three pieces of scratch paper as spares - after all, this first exam is also a test of calligraphy. Most of the students need scratch paper to make a good draft, and then use the font they are good at to copy it on the paper. For examiners to appreciate calligraphy. Of course, in order to prevent cheating, the name should also be written on the draft paper, and it must be accepted in the end.

It was the first time for Zhen Tingyun to take such an exam, so he was inevitably a little nervous. After getting the paper, he read the questions above carefully, and then heaved a sigh of relief: the paper was not difficult.

The paper is mainly divided into three parts. The first part is about common sense, and involves the interpretation of the Four Books and Five Classics, but after all, this is not the imperial examination. Most of the tests are basic common sense. These questions are really not remote. The second part is a few arithmetic problems, which are a little difficult and should take some time; the third part is a strategy topic, the title is: "The Master said: Learn and learn from time to time, you can't say it." What is the meaning of this statement?

The test time is one and a half hours in total.

Zhen Tingyun read the whole paper, and slowly thought about how to write the strategy topic. He turned the paper to the front again, and began to write his name on the scratch paper, and then mentioned it. The pen wrote the previous general knowledge problem on the scratch paper.

In fact, Zhen Tingyun has been hurrying and rushing these days, but he is just picking up the most important studies. What he lacks most is these basics and common sense. Therefore, she carefully looked at these topics one by one, although not all of them, some still need to be thought about, but it did give her the opportunity to recognize her own foundation. Moreover, these common sense questions are not uncommon. Zhen Tingyun answered most of them very smoothly. When she finished answering the questions and then looked back, she actually answered them all - seven or eight out of ten of them are hers. She barely filled in the remaining points, at least it was better than leaving it blank.

Zhen Tingyun was quite satisfied: after all, she also knew her own situation very well, and it was impossible to compare with those girls who had been girls since elementary school, but now she has performed exceptionally well.

Then, Zhen Tingyun started flipping through the math problems in the second part. Then, she was stumped by the first arithmetic problem.

The title is: Today there is a woman swinging cups on the river, and the official of Jin asked, "Why are there so many cups?" "There are guests at home." The official of Jin said, "How many guests are there?" Soup, four people share meat, and every cup uses sixty-five, I don’t know how many guests are?”

A cup here means a bowl, and sharing a meal for two means that two people share a rice bowl.  …

Zhen Tingyun felt a headache looking at the series of numbers above, so he had to take out a piece of scratch paper and began to draw circles on it, one circle was the rice bowl, and two people were recorded in the circle, indicating that the two shared the same rice bowl; one circle was the soup bowl , with three people in the circle, it means that three people share one soup bowl; one circle is a meat bowl, and four people in the circle means that four people share one meat bowl. Finally, she drew a large circle, including all three circles, and wrote sixty-five, indicating a total of sixty-five bowls.

Therefore, this question can be regarded as clearly expressed and understandable. But, how does this count?

Zhen Tingyun had a headache again. She didn't have a deep foundation in arithmetic. Looking at these questions, she felt a little flustered - this is only the first question of the arithmetic question. How to do?

However, she quickly stabilized her mind. The number above is actually not very big. If you can't think of a simpler solution for a while, you can also use a stupid algorithm to solve the problem roughly:

Twelve people, a total of six rice bowls, four soup bowls, and three meat bowls.

Six bowls, add four bowls, add three bowls, and you get thirteen bowls.

If thirteen bowls are used as a stack, then sixty-five bowls can be divided into five stacks.

Twelve people in a stack, sixty people in a stack of five.

Zhen Tingyun figured out the answer. Although he was still a little uncertain, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked down again, and his mood gradually relaxed. In fact, as long as you don't panic and solve the problem slowly, it doesn't seem very Is it difficult. As a result, the following two arithmetic problems were quickly found by Zhen Tingyun, and they were all solved!

I have to say that this topic was actually simpler than Zhen Tingyun imagined, so she quickly wrote all the arithmetic questions, and then set her sights on the last strategy topic.

The topic of Dao policy seems to be simple, as if asking people to answer the words of the sage, and this sentence "The Master said: Learn and practice with time, it's not like saying it." Yes, it can be called a famous sentence through the ages, as everyone knows. Therefore, this sentence seems to be a score-giving problem.

But if you calm down and think about it carefully, you will understand, and you will find that this question has a deeper meaning.

It should be known that there are several interpretations of the phrase "learning and learning from time to time, it is a pleasure". For example, the commentary on this sentence in the popular "Four Books" in this dynasty is "Learn and practice it from time to time, then what you have learned is familiar, and the center likes to say, it can't be done by itself", that is to say, "the time is not enough". "Xi" is understood as "review from time to time"; in addition, some people understand "shixu" as "practice at the right time", that is, "learned, and then practice it at the right time, aren't you happy?" ...

Beyond that, there are some more exotic interpretations. This is what Zhen Tingyun doesn't know at the moment - it is impossible to say that there is a girl who has a lot of knowledge and Guangji specially selects those uncommon interpretations, and interprets the words of the sage in a different way, so as to distinguish them from others.

Therefore, this question should be for people to choose an interpretation and interpretation, and then analyze it in depth. As long as they can justify themselves, they should be able to pass the test. If you want to get a high score, you must write well, according to the wishes of Mr.

Because of his late start, Zhen Tingyun was very concerned about learning methods, so he simply chose the latter interpretation, talking about the importance of learning methods from his own perspective. Because of her smooth thinking, she was actually very fluent in writing all the way, and she wrote down word by word, filling up most of the draft in a dazzling manner.

After she stopped writing, she read it again from the beginning, and began to consider the words word by word and adjust the sentence structure.

After she finished writing the entire policy theory on the scratch paper, there was only half an hour left.

That is to say, she is going to copy the answers on the draft paper to the scroll in the next half an hour. Because this involves the score of calligraphy, she must be very careful, both the font and the scroll. You can't go wrong. So Zhen Tingyun didn't dare to take it lightly, instead he took a deep breath and dipped the pen again in ink.

However, it was at this time that she discovered that the ink in the bluestone inkstone was almost dry, and it was simply not enough to copy the scroll.

Zhen Tingyun had to stop the pen and start to pick up the ink stick again to study the ink. She was thinking about the rest of the exam time in her heart, but she also knew that this matter should not be rushed. The more urgent it is, the easier it is to make mistakes. Therefore, Zhen Tingyun had to forcibly suppress the anxiety and anxiety in his heart at this time, estimating that the ink was not enough, so he reused the tip of the pen, dipped it in ink, and started copying the paper.

Copy it from the beginning to the end, by the way, check her answer again for the last time. Occasionally, when she encounters something she doesn't understand, she pauses and reconsiders how to answer it. After she finished copying this entire paper, there was less than a quarter of an hour left for the exam.

Zhen Tingyun began to look through his papers.

In fact, at such a time, it is impossible to change the answer even if it is for the score of calligraphy, she just turned to look at it for reassurance.

Before she could finish reading the policy theory she had written, a loud bell rang from outside the window.

The female teacher sitting at the top coughed after the bell stopped, and said in a low voice, "It's time to stop writing."

Since there were only three female students in this room besides the female teacher, it was quiet. As soon as said this, could hear the subtle sound of putting down the brush, and even the rustling of the pages when the pages were turned. sound.

Soon, the female teacher stood up from her seat and began to put away the three answer sheets one by one, and said: "The morning exam is over, you can go to the school canteen for lunch, There is about a half-hour break after dinner. When the first bell rings in the afternoon, you will go back to the classroom, and I will be responsible for taking the three of you to take the afternoon exam. "

While speaking, the female teacher had already put away the three papers and the three drafts. Then, she looked up at everyone present, and asked with a smile, "Do you understand?"

Zhen Tingyun followed the other two female students to stand up, bowed to the female teacher, and replied, "I understand."

The female teacher nodded in satisfaction, then got up and left with the things in her hands.

Seeing the back of the female teacher disappear from his sight, Zhen Tingyun breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the other two female students, and introduced himself very friendly: "My surname is Zhen and my name is Tingyun. I don't know. What should the two girls be called?"

I saw that the tall girl in the bright purple short jacket didn't say anything when she heard the words, but raised her eyebrows slightly, and glanced at Zhen Tingyun coldly.

Zhen Tingyun was inexplicably seen by her, and was about to speak, but the other party snorted coldly, and then stepped out.

Instead, the girl in the red dress of Begonia smiled at Zhen Tingyun, and took the initiative to introduce herself to Zhen Tingyun: "My surname is Yang, Yang Qionghua, Qionghua who 'has never been compared to Qionghua, and will never kiss Yushu'." As she spoke, she He raised his eyes, looked at the other girl who had already walked to the door, lowered her voice, and said softly, "As for the sister in the purple jacket, you must have heard her name. When talking about talented women in Beijing, some people More to say, 'appreciate the green bamboo and watch the viburnum flowers, lean on the fence to see how many spring flowers and autumn moon' - the green bamboo here refers to her Zhou Qingyun."

Qingyun means green bamboo, but Zhou Qingyun has the arrogance of Qingzhu Ning.

"Then Qionghua must be referring to you, sister?" Zhen Tingyun asked with a smile.

Yang Qionghua nodded slightly, not arrogant.

Zhen Tingyun asked curiously, "I came to the capital for the first time, and I didn't know this. I don't know which people are referred to in this 'appreciating green bamboo, watching Qionghua, leaning on the fence, how many spring flowers and autumn moon'?"

Yang Qionghua thought about it for a while, and then explained it to her in detail: "This is originally made by outsiders, there is no ranking, just everyone is joking. If you ask the name, it is: Zhen Yiyun, Lin Chunqiu, and others. It's me and Zhou Qingyun." After a pause, she seemed to have reacted just now, blinked at Zhen Tingyun, and asked, "I heard your name, it's quite similar to Zhen Yiyun?"

Zhen Tingyun really didn't expect that Zhen Yiyun, who only came to the capital last year, would be able to make a name for himself, so he could only honestly say, "It's my sister."

Yang Qionghua seemed to have expected it, but just smiled, looked at her face, and asked with a mocking expression, "If that's the case, why don't you go to Yuhua Women's School?" After all, Yuhua Women's School is not inferior to Kyoto Women's School. Since Zhen Yiyun is in Yuhua Girls' School, Zhen Tingyun, who is a younger sister, should follow her, and the two sisters can take care of each other when they are in the same place - this is what people usually think these days.

Zhen Tingyun's expression didn't change, but he said, "This is a long story."

Just don't want to say it.

Since Yang Qionghua can be called a talented woman, she is naturally not stupid, on the contrary, she is smarter than others. As soon as she heard Zhen Tingyun's words, she immediately understood: there must be some "interesting" stories here, and it may be related to Zhen Yiyun as her sister...

Thinking of this, Yang Qionghua couldn't help raising his hand to cover his lips, and blinked at Zhen Tingyun.