"He actually left!"
This scene immediately shocked the elegant and noble Madam Cui into fury. She pointed at the main gate, her face trembling with rage.
In ancient times, this was no trivial matter.
The way the nobility maintained their rule was specifically expressed through 'propriety.'
Cao Pi's own son Cao Zhi had merely run his horse through the Sima Gate, and that alone essentially stripped him of his qualification to compete for the succession, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people in the aftermath.
The main gate of a noble clan's estate was likewise a symbol of inviolable dignity.
As an illegitimate son, Song Shi'an's temperament wasn't particularly good, but he was merely lazy and mediocre. Over these past twenty years in the Song Estate, he had basically kept his head down and behaved himself, never once using the main gate.
Even during a torrential downpour when the side gate was unmanned, he had honestly waited there, not daring to break the rules.
But now, he had brazenly walked through it right in front of them!
And he hadn't even snuck through surreptitiously!
"That bastard... how dare he!"
Completely enraged, Song Jing's fury was touched to the core, his anger erupting uncontrollably.
"Master!"
At this moment, Jiang-shi ran over with a panicked expression, hurriedly pleading: "Shi'an only did this absurd thing because he was stimulated by drowning and became confused. Please don't blame him—when he returns, I'll severely punish him..."
"You cheap woman, it's all because of your poor upbringing that you raised such a bastard!" Madam Cui pointed at Jiang-shi and cursed viciously, her face full of disgust.
"Say no more. My Song Estate has no such troublemaking scoundrel. If he dares to come back, I'll beat him to death myself!"
Song Jing meant what he said—these were no empty words. Jiang-shi knew he wasn't joking. She immediately dropped to her knees and grabbed his leg, tears streaming down her face: "Master, Shi'an he..."
"Pull her away and lock her in her room."
But Song Jing showed no mercy. He pointed at Jiang-shi and said sternly: "If you dare plead for him one more time, you can get lost along with him!"
"Master, today is the young master's important examination day. Don't let your anger get the better of you, don't let it..."
Song Gan hurriedly used this reason to console him, and indeed it managed to calm Song Jing's emotions somewhat.
He couldn't forget about his legitimate son's important day just because his illegitimate son was a bastard.
But if that illegitimate son dared to come back, he truly was as good as dead.
The Song family's legitimate daughter was seeing her father this furious for the first time. She also trembled in fear, looking toward the estate gate.
………
Life—had he truly lived tens of thousands of days?
Or had only a single day passed, repeated tens of thousands of times?
Song Shi'an knew that by impulsively barging through the main gate like this, his mother's days would be very difficult.
But Jiang-shi had already endured such difficult days for over ten years.
Things had been better at first. Cui-shi had given birth to several daughters in succession, and Song Jing only had him as a son.
Back then, Song Shi'an had still felt the warmth of his father's embrace.
The name 'Shi'an,' with its meaning of health and stability, was something Song Jing had chosen with care.
But after Madam Cui gave birth to Song Ce, the situation became completely different.
After all, he was a legitimate son.
So, was he supposed to keep repeating these days forever?
Who the hell crosses over into another world just to keep acting like a turtle?
If he waited until after becoming famous and distinguished to reclaim his lost status and respect, he'd only be labeled as 'petty and opportunistic,' making people think he was vindictive and narrow-minded, lacking magnanimity.
But if he dared to resist now, while still a piece of shit, then after making something of himself in the future, the evaluation would become: In his youth he was extremely unruly, different from ordinary people—one who harbored great ambitions.
It all came down to this examination.
Once he actually finished the exam and passed as a juren—and with a decent ranking at that—his old man wouldn't refuse to let him come home for the rest of his life.
Of course, he definitely couldn't go back today.
He couldn't be certain whether a second restart would still allow him to transmigrate.
After leaving the estate gate, he saw the carriage ahead preparing to depart, so he immediately chased after it.
"Stop."
When he reached the side, he called out to the coachman.
The coachman glanced at him and froze.
Then in the next moment, Song Shi'an climbed up from the back of the carriage and directly sat down beside Song Ce.
"..." Song Ce was even more wooden than the coachman, turning his head to look at him with complete bewilderment.
"How's your exam preparation going, little brother?"
Song Shi'an seemed to pay no attention whatsoever to this strange treatment. After adjusting his position, he settled comfortably in the carriage.
Song Ce, sitting beside him, didn't respond. He continued looking down at the poetry collection he held in one hand.
Since the young master in the carriage made no demands, the coachman simply drove the carriage forward.
Thinking about Song Shi'an's earlier shout of 'stop,' he snorted with contempt.
This illegitimate son must have hit his head—who the hell did he think he was?
When Song Ce didn't engage with him, Song Shi'an didn't continue pestering him either. As the carriage moved forward, he pulled aside the curtain on the side and stuck his head out, observing with considerable interest.
Although it was called a provincial examination, this didn't mean it took place in the countryside. Rather, it was held in the administrative seat of each prefecture—equivalent to a provincial capital.
Sheng'an was the capital, though not a direct municipality. Administratively, it belonged to Si Prefecture.
All the examination candidates from Si Prefecture traveled to the capital to take the provincial examination.
Incidentally, the exam questions were the same nationwide. The test papers were escorted to each prefectural seat by the Jinyiwei—there was no separate question-setting.
Song Shi'an's family estate was located within the Palace City.
The court's imperial guards, main institutions, internal affairs treasury, Court of Judicial Review, high-security prisons, and so forth were all established within the Palace City. Officials of the fourth rank and above also basically had their estates built within the Palace City.
First, this distinguished their status from ordinary citizens. Second, security was better in the Palace City. Third, high-ranking officials needed to regularly attend morning court sessions, and Sheng'an city was too vast, with traffic in the outer city being cramped—just the commute alone would take over a full shichen, far too distant.
However, living in the Palace City also had its inconveniences. There was no entertainment, and the streets didn't even have stalls selling flatbread.
The location for Si Prefecture's provincial examination was at the examination compound in Sheng'an's outer city.
After leaving the Palace City, everything immediately felt different.
Even though this wasn't a dedicated East Market or West Market, the main streets were bustling with voices, filled with all trades and professions, peddlers and laborers—extraordinarily lively.
During this period, the level of production and economic prosperity felt to Song Shi'an roughly equivalent to the early Tang Dynasty.
In some respects, it even had a Song Dynasty feel to it.
On the streets, quite a few examination candidates could already be seen.
Among the provincial examination candidates, privileged sons like Song Shi'an and Song Ce were actually in the minority.
The majority came from the small landowner class.
There were also quite a few from humble backgrounds or poor families. But those who were completely from humble origins and could succeed in the examinations were truly exceedingly rare.
Among the juren, the hot prospects for sub-yuan (top ten) basically all had fathers who were officials.
After half a shichen, the carriage finally arrived outside the examination compound at the announcement board area.
Just like at a college entrance examination site, the major street outside the examination compound was already crowded with people, packed densely together.
Supposedly, Si Prefecture had nearly two thousand candidates this year. But those who would pass numbered less than one hundred.
In other words, the acceptance rate was under five percent.
This might seem not too low, but these candidates were already xiucai.
Passing the xiucai examination had already filtered out ninety percent.
Of course, the difficulty of passing the xiucai exam wasn't particularly high. Those who had taken it many times without succeeding were mostly just literate, able to recite some poetry, but spent most of their time providing labor for their families, farming and working the fields, rather than studying.
Those who genuinely studied properly couldn't possibly fail to pass the xiucai exam.
If someone failed the xiucai exam, they shouldn't blame feudal oppression or government conspiracies.
"Tell my mother that I won't be coming home these few days after the exam. I've made plans with the son of the Northern Capital Commandant."
After getting off the carriage, Song Shi'an tossed the coachman the small string of cash he had left on him.
"Thank you, young master."
The coachman received it with both hands, nodding with a smile.
But as soon as the other turned around, he immediately changed his expression with disdain and pocketed the money.
Song Ce walked along the road holding his book. Without realizing it, Song Shi'an had already drawn alongside him, walking quite naturally.
Song Ce paid no attention.
"Jingming!"
Just then, three people spotted Song Ce. One of them called out his courtesy name, and then they all came over together.
At the same time, as if Song Shi'an didn't exist, they completely ignored him.
Zhu Song, legitimate son of the Deputy Envoy of National Trust—essentially the Deputy Minister of the Great Yu's Foreign Affairs Department.
Lu Qingyan and Lu Mingbo, two legitimate sons of the Si Prefecture River Supervisor—essentially the Director of Si Prefecture's Water Conservancy Bureau.
Although all three came from distinguished families, they were still somewhat inferior to Song Ce. Add to that the fact that among the four of them, his scholarship was the highest and his appearance the best, so the walking formation naturally became one where he was surrounded in the center.
Song Shi'an was just fucking squeezed out.
"Hey, what do you all think the policy essay will cover?" Zhu Song asked.
"I feel like it'll be about redundant officials," Lu Qingyan said.
His younger brother Lu Mingbo beside him countered: "But that topic's been tested before."
"Then might they fabricate a hypothetical case for us to respond to?"
"That's also possible."
"Indeed, it seems like the past several sessions have been like that."
"After all, some matters are too sensitive."
As everyone expressed their own views, Song Ce, who typically didn't speak up proactively and was rather silent, opened his mouth: "This year's military situation with Qi in the north might be worth paying attention to."