After 3 days

Edo, Yoshihara.

"Mashima, it's almost time to get the test results released." Guasheng said to Okata who was standing beside her.

"Yeah." Okaba looked up at the position of the moon above his head and nodded, "It's true that time is coming. I'm almost leaving to see if I've passed the text test."

It was already 3 days ago to participate in the "Yuqian Trial" literary test.

Long before the literary test began, the government announced that the results of the literary test will be released at Miyu 9:00 (20 pm) three days after the literary test ended.

At that time, the list of people who passed the literary examination will be posted on a large wooden board.

In addition to listing the names of the passers-by, the names of the people who obtained the top 10 in this exam will also be listed.

The location of the announcement happened to be very close to Yoshihara, located on the Japanese dike.

The government probably considered that when the results were released, there would definitely be a large number of people to see if they had successfully passed the literature test or just joined in the fun. In order to avoid crowding, the location of the results was set on a relatively empty Japanese embankment.

Early this morning, the government officials had already set up a large wooden sign on the open space not far from Yoshihara.

It's almost time to release the results. There are already many participants in the "Yuqian Trial" or who just want to join in the fun gathered in front of the big wooden sign.

They are all waiting for the list of the names of the passers-by and the names of the top 10 personnel.

Ogata had already found Silang Bingwei in advance and asked Silang Bingwei for leave and asked Silang Bingwei to allow him to leave Yoshihara temporarily and go to the place where he released the list to see if his name is on the list.

Shiro Bingei naturally agreed very readily to Ogata's small request, who had made great contributions to Yoshihara.

Because the release location is close to Yoshihara, Ogata is still not in a hurry to set off and is still performing his mission tonight: standing guard in the first half of Nakanocho.

Guasheng had just led a few colleagues to patrol around Yoshihara as usual.

After returning to the first half of Nakanocho, I saw Okata who had not set off yet, so I came to talk to Okata and chat with him, and also relaxed my feet that had been patrolling Yoshihara for several rounds.

"I don't know if it's because everyone is watching the list or joining in the fun, but I feel that there are so fewer people coming to Yoshihara tonight." Guasheng said with a wry smile.

"Isn't this just right?" Okata shrugged and said in a half-joking tone, "There are fewer people coming to Yoshihara, and we will also have less pressure on patrols and stand guard."

After saying that, Okara looked up again at the moon above his head.

"...It should be time, Guasheng, then I'll leave first. I'll go back."

"Yeah." Guasheng nodded vigorously, "Then I'll see you later, I'm almost going to continue patrolling Yoshihara. Don't be nervous! I think you can definitely pass the literary test!"

"I'm not nervous..." Okabaya smiled bitterly and waved his hand to Guasheng, bid farewell to Guasheng, and then walked out of Yoshihara.

As he gradually moved away from Yoshihara, Osuki felt that his heartbeat was a little nervous.

What Okabata said to Guasheng just now, "He is not nervous" is actually a lie.

Although he was quite sure to pass the literary test successfully, Ogata was still a little nervous.

Worrying, "What if I fail the article test?"

If you fail the literary test, you will not only lose face, but it will not be easy to explain to Hasegawa...

With a little worry, Xu Fang finally arrived at the release location.

At the end of the field of vision, a large plaque composed of three plaques stands.

And at this time, several large pieces of paper were posted on this big card.

Because the distance is a bit far, Okabaya couldn't see clearly what was written on this big piece of paper, and only saw dense black dots.

Maybe it was because Okata came early, so there were not many people gathered in the list at this time.

Aiming at the "weakest" place in the crowd, Ogata rushed straight to him.

After approaching the crowd gathered in front of the list, Okabaya gradually heard the conversation of these people.

"Okay! I have my name!"

"Well... so good..."

"Fortunately, I have never forgotten to study Chinese studies."

If there are people who are lucky enough to pass the literature exam, there are people who cry or roar because they don’t see their names on the list.

"Hey! Why is there no name on it!"

"Give me an explanation! Why I didn't see my name!"

Nearly 20 fully armed officials stood around the standing sign.

Thorny, ten hands, and all lighting lanterns are available.

In addition to protecting the list of the posters who passed the test, these officials are also responsible for dealing with these guys who have caused trouble because they did not see their names on the list.

When I asked "Why is there no name on the list?", I answered "This list is evaluated by the ratingor."

If someone tends to cause trouble because of this, he will "remind" them not to cause trouble in a polite tone.

After hearing the "reminder" from the official officer, basically all the emotional people will calm down.

After all, only a few people have the courage and ability to provoke officials in the ruling center of the shogunate.

In addition to the cheers of the crowd for being glad that they passed the literary test and the roar of dissatisfaction and anger that their name did not appear on the list, there were other voices.

"Hey, who is the first name of Wenshi? Have you heard of it?"

"I haven't heard of it."

"Are you a foreigner? I have lived in Edo for so many years and have never heard of this person."

"If it's a ronin from a foreign country, then the fun will be great. I heard that there are many flag book members, and the Yu family has participated in this 'Yuqian Trial'. As a dignified flag book member, the Yu family can't even compare with the foreign country, hehe."

"I'm so envious. The guy who got the first name has 100 taels of gold to get. Such a large sum of money is enough for me to live a life without worrying about food and clothing for several years."

...

A large number of people were discussing the title of the literary test.

After getting closer to the distance that you could see the words on the list clearly, Yu Yi stopped.

Okata's height, which was far above the average, came in handy again at this moment.

You don’t even need to tiptoe, you just need to look up normally.

Because I heard a lot of people discussing the title of the article test just now, Okata couldn't help but become curious about the mysterious title of the article test.

This list of pieces of large white paper spliced ​​together has 10 names on the far left.

The leftmost of these 10 names are marked from top to bottom with 10 numbers one to ten in turn.

On the right side of these 10 names are hundreds of dense names.

Even if it is different from others' introductions, Okata can see at a glance the 10 names on the leftmost list, which are among the top 10 in this literary test.

The remaining hundreds of names listed on the right of these 10 names are those who pass the literary test and can perform the following martial arts test except the top 10.

I don’t know how much time it takes to find the name “Mashima Goro” from these hundreds of names, so Ogata plans to take a look at who the first name of this article was hotly discussed.

Okara slowly moved his gaze to the top 10 list on the leftmost list.

Then...

Okata's expression froze.

Because after turning his attention to the list of the top 10, Okabaya suddenly saw the number "I", which was written with a name that was so familiar to Okabaya for this period.

Goro Mashima.

Next to the number "One" that represents the first name of the text test, the name indicated is "Goro Mashima".

...

...

Three days ago, when the article exam was officially started, Takikawa was once panicked because there was a strange question on the test paper, but after returning to peace, Takikawa wrote the article he was most satisfied with in his life as if he was helping him.

After the literary examination, Takikawa impatiently wrote down the article he wrote at that time and handed it over to friends who had good relationships and were quite talented in daily life to circulated.

Everyone who reads Takigawa's articles can't help but exclaim and appreciate.

In addition to giving it to friends for circulating, Takikawa also gave it to his master, Chunshui to watch.

As a famous master of Sinology in Edo, Chunshui is 58 years old this year.

Because he was old and lacked energy, he had a serious illness some time ago, which caused him to stay at home during this period.

While devoted to practicing Sinology, he also cared for his body that had just recovered from a serious illness.

In order to get the evaluation of "Songsheng Chunshui", Takikawa rushed to the mansion where "Songsheng Chunshui lived and personally handed his article to the eyes of "Songsheng Chunshui".

Yunsheng Chunshui agreed to this small request made by his apprentice.

After reading it carefully, Xiangsheng Chunshui gave a very high evaluation of Takikawa's article, and even directly stated that "it is worthy of being one of my most proud disciples."

After receiving high praise from his master, Takigawa was determined to win the first name of the literary test.

Tonight when the article test results were released, Takigawa and his friends who were also determined to show their skills in the "Yuqian Trial" gathered in a high-end tea house.

The reason why they all gathered in this high-end tea house for banquets without watching whether their names were on the list was for two reasons.
To be continued...