CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 10 MINGXIANG BUILDING

As Gu Chengyu carried the examination basket and prepared to exit the examination hall gates, it indeed began to pour. Standing at the entrance of the examination shed, Gu Chengyu could hear the cries of anguish from the examinees. Fortunately, he finished early and handed in his paper, otherwise, even with an umbrella, it would have been useless, as the rain was too heavy.

As soon as Gu Chengyu stepped out of the gate, he saw through the curtain of rain that Mr. Gu and the others were waiting outside the examination hall. The rain was so heavy, accompanied by strong winds, that the umbrella swayed back and forth under the downpour, requiring Mr. Gu to exert great effort to barely keep it steady.

"Father!" Gu Chengyu braved the downpour, running up to Mr. Gu and taking shelter under his umbrella.

"Walk slower, the rain is too heavy! Where’s your umbrella?" Mr. Gu shouted to Gu Chengyu.

"Father! Uncle! Uncle He! Let’s go to the tea house across the street to shelter from the rain. The rain is too heavy, we’ll wait until they come out before going to meet them."

Gu Chengyu tugged them towards the Mingxiang Building, and by the time the four reached the tea house, the hems of their clothes were soaked.

"Father! Why didn’t you come in earlier to take shelter from the rain? If you catch a cold, what then?" Gu Chengyu reprimanded Mr. Gu for not caring for his own health.

"I was worried you wouldn’t see me if you came out! You left early without knowing it would rain today. The He family’s young man might not have brought an umbrella. In the afternoon, seeing the weather change, we rushed to the examination hall entrance to give you umbrellas. But where’s your umbrella? Why didn’t you use it? Why did you come out earlier than usual for the exam today?"

Mr. Gu was also worried that Gu Chengyu wouldn’t find them upon coming out. Besides, the Gu Family no longer had to be so frugal; they could afford the silver to drink tea in a tea house. It’s just that Mr. Gu was used to being frugal, and did not immediately think of it. And since the other two families weren’t particularly well-off either, they naturally opted to save whenever they could.

"My family’s Shunian left without an umbrella; I wonder if he got caught in the rain?" Uncle He was concerned about his son during the exam, worrying that if his exam papers got soaked by the rain, it would all go to waste after three sessions.

"Uncle He, don’t worry. With permission from the chief examiner, I gave my umbrella to Brother He. Brother He’s examination shed is in the second row, so he shouldn’t get too much rain."

It was only He Shunian who didn’t bring an umbrella! Sun Xian was a cautious person, and would surely bring something as important as an umbrella. Gu Wanhua and Ye Zhiqiu had also been advised by him and formed the habit of bringing umbrellas after the previous exam.

"Gentlemen, would you like a pot of tea?" A waiter came forward to inquire. Since they came to the tea house, naturally they would drink tea; a tea house wouldn’t let people sit for free.

"A pot of Longjing, please!" Mr. Gu wasn’t knowledgeable about tea. Gu Chengyu thought that since he had brought them in, he should be the one to pay the silver.

"Alright! Please wait a moment, gentlemen!" The waiter sang out loudly, swiftly flipping the cloth originally draped over his shoulder.

"Longjing isn’t cheap, is it?" Uncle Gu, having tasted Longjing before while out with others, knew it was a rare treat.

"On a trip outside, some silver is necessary to spend; a pot of tea is just right to warm us up." Gu Chengyu saw that the tea house was near the county government and appeared upscale; if they ordered something cheap, it might not be available.

Several tea patrons were already in the tea house, but their attention was still directed towards the examination hall, likely family members of the examinees.

"Senior brother! Here! Come up quickly!" Gu Chengyu and his company looked down from the second floor of the tea house, perfectly able to see the arrangement of the examination hall.

Gu Chengyu waved and called to Sun Xian and the others, seeing Sun Xian emerging with He Shunian and Ye Zhiqiu, though Gu Wanhua was still missing.

"Chengyu! You’re here early again. The rain is really heavy." As soon as Sun Xian and his group entered the tea house, they wrung their soaked robes before heading upstairs.

"You all came out, only Hua is missing!" Uncle Gu’s mood was heavy. With such rain, if Hua finished, he would have come out already; staying back meant he hadn’t finished.

"Uncle Gu! Junior brother is in the second row; the rain won’t seep in too much. With an umbrella, it shouldn’t be a problem." He Shunian understood Uncle Gu’s worry, recognizing that they had all come out except for Gu Wanhua, who remained in the examination.

The atmosphere in the tea house began to liven up, due to the hefty rain, with some examinees also coming in to take shelter and familiar faces starting discussions about the exam topics.

"This test poem is really difficult! The word ’Bi,’ I could only recall the ancient He Shi Bi, but couldn’t remember which book mentioned this passage, truly a regret of not having read enough books in time!" lamented one scholar, shaking his head ruefully.

"Alas! Even if you recall it, so what? The word is really hard to find inspiration for a poem. This time, everyone’s roughly on the same level, just hoping for a chance to pass! After all, we’ve gone through three sessions!" another examinee noted, realizing that many in the tea house couldn’t remember the word’s source. So, if everyone’s scores were about the same, the hope of passing seemed greater.

"Chengyu! How did you do on this poem?" Ye Zhiqiu saw Gu Chengyu blowing on his teacup gently, sweeping aside the floating tea leaves with the lid, and taking a delicate sip of tea. The steam from the teacup obscured Gu Chengyu’s brilliant eyes.

Ye Zhiqiu was truly impressed. Even at this moment, Gu Chengyu remained calm.

"Not bad!" Gu Chengyu thought for a moment; he believed he could be among the top few, but dared not say it aloud.

He Shunian also looked toward Gu Chengyu, "The teacher mentioned this once before; it should be a line from ’Han Feizi,’ but I can’t quite recall the specifics. I just remembered the general meaning and scribbled a few lines based on it. Who knows if it will pass."

’Han Feizi’ isn’t the primary book for the exams, so this tests whether the examinee’s reading is broad or not.

"It comes from a line in ’He Shi,’ ’Jewel fears to be offered again, Bi laments the three submissions.’ Even not knowing the source, one could still compose a poem. However, lacking the source would deduct some points. In ancient exams, examiners mentally scored the test papers. A perfect score could be ten points, depending on how many you earn."

Perhaps due to the large number of candidates this time, the chief examiner decided on this topic. For well-read scholars, it’s simple; but for those focused solely on the Four Books and Five Classics, it’s undoubtedly more challenging. Fortunately, the weight of poetry composition in the exam score isn’t large.

"Then I probably didn’t remember it wrongly. I still don’t know if I’ll get through; I feel uncertain. Junior Brother Ye, you must have managed too, right?" He Shunian eagerly inquired about Ye Zhiqiu’s situation.

"I heard the teacher mention it before, so I remembered it’s from ’Han Feizi,’ but I’m not sure if my poetry will meet the standard." The teacher once said that Ye Zhiqiu’s poetry held some talent; if he spent more time on it, he might even become renowned. But focused on the imperial exams, he naturally couldn’t do so.

At the private school, the only one who could match him in poetry was Gu Chengyu. However, Gu Chengyu rarely composed poetry, reluctant to spend time on it, much to Mr. Wen’s regret.