Chapter 270: End of the Spring Exams
# 270. End of the Spring Exams
The examination hall for the Spring Imperial Examinations consisted of rows of small dark cells known as *haoshe*, “numbered rooms”. Once a candidate entered, the supervising *haobing* “number guards” would lock the door, leaving only a small window for delivering the exam papers.
For the entire day, candidates had to eat, drink, and attend to nature’s calls inside the small, dimly lit rooms.
Under the faint glow of the flickering candle, the tiny room was bathed in a warm, yellowish light. Xu Erlang sat at his desk, slowly adding water to the inkstone, preparing to grind ink.
There was still plenty of time before the examination began, and this interval was enough for him to calm his mind and think.
Historically, the Imperial Examinations emphasized the Confucian classics while paying less attention to poetry and prose. Moreover, the poetry scene of the Great Feng had long been in decline. Thus, for most candidates, the final round of the examinations was merely a formality.
When entering the examination hall earlier, the scholars Xu Erlang was acquainted with had been laughing and chatting, relaxed and carefree. Unlike the first two rounds, where they had worn serious expressions, tense and focused as if marching into battle.
Others could afford to relax, but Xu Erlang knew he couldn’t afford to be careless.
He was a student of Cloud Deer Academy, and given the court's attitude toward the academy’s scholars, even if he passed and became a *jinshi*, he would either be sent to a remote, impoverished area or left to languish without an official post.