In terms of vernacular, the four classical novels are dominated by outlaws of the marsh, which is much higher than the vernacular of the Three Kingdoms because of its strong plot. Similarly, there is a series of three words and two beats in vernacular novels, which are not as wonderful as the characters in the Water Margin, but they are also familiar with the mode of using words and choosing words to make sentences. After reading these things, the acceptance rate of some words in classical Chinese will be higher. You can read China's classical short stories.
Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, Notes from Yuewei Caotang, Continuation of Harmony and Different Grass in a Firefly Window are all short stories with simple words, a little mystery and high readability. Notes on Learning about Old Age, Poems on Dongpo, Notes on Meng Xi, and Essays on Rongzhai are all note novels in the Song Dynasty, which record the contents from the imperial court to the scenery of the four seas, and then to what delicious recipes new friends said ... with a wide range and a very literati narrative style, the writing style is a little more difficult than before. Among them, the original version of Rongzhai Essays is very long, so you can find a carefully translated version and read it while reading notes. The legend of Tang is also very interesting. There is a biography of Liu Yi in high school textbooks. Lu Xun chose a collection of legends of the Tang and Song Dynasties, which contains all the classic stories and is very readable. In recent years, a translated version has also been published.
If you are interested in the life of the ancients, you can look at Li Yu's Leisure in Qing Dynasty. This man lives at home, engaged in literary creation, opera rehearsal, making furniture, designing gardens, planting flowers and trees, making jewelry, cooking ... almost decathlon. These things are written in my spare time, and the words are easier to understand than the notes of Song people.
After reading these, you can start reading history books. You can start with the age or person you are interested in and find his biography. It is best to have a translation or annotation to help you understand. There is no need to buy a bunch of history books, just use the internet and some anthologies. Zhonghua Book Company and People's Literature Publishing House have published selected annotated versions of historical books, which can be read selectively. Generally speaking, the closer the dynasty is to modern times, the easier it is to read the characters, the longer the story, the more famous the characters, and the easier it is to read. Shi Ming is much better than the Spring and Autumn Period.
If you want to cope with the exam, you'd better read some biographies of history books. You can't bet on the topic, but you can get familiar with the narrative method of history books.
In addition, you must have an ancient Chinese dictionary and look it up frequently. It's best to have a dictionary of allusions (or anecdotes) for future reference, or read them as story books when you have nothing to do.