At this, Wei Tu felt a surge of helplessness.
Everyone else bribed their way through, yet he alone did not. It was only inevitable that his ranking on the list would fall.
In a word.
Such was the way of the world.
"Still, if you make a decision like this next time, I hope Uncle-in-law will tell your nephew beforehand. Otherwise..." Wei Tu said in a deep voice.
The Huang Family had helped him this time, but he did not believe Master Huang had done it entirely for his sake.
Master Huang had used Imperial Examination fraud to make him the Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar of this county examination. This benefited the Huang Family in two ways.
First, it made him owe them a favor.
Second, after becoming the county examination's Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar, this Imperial Examination fraud would naturally become a stain upon him—a handle others could use against him.
"Of course." Master Huang's heart tightened, but he smiled and replied.
Only now.
Did he realize that he seemed to have underestimated Wei Tu. Upon learning that he had been named Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar, Wei Tu had not been delighted. Instead, he had warned him.
—From beginning to end, Wei Tu's expression had remained calm, without the slightest trace of anger on his face.
As his words fell.
They had also arrived at the entrance to the Li Residence.
Wei Tu lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down from the shaft. He casually accepted the reins of the Green Dappled Horse handed over by a Huang Family servant, then walked to the side gate of the Li Residence and knocked several times.
"Let's go, back to the residence..."
Master Huang watched Wei Tu's back for a short while from inside the carriage. Then he lowered the curtain and spoke to the coachman.
Yet after the carriage sped along for a while, Master Huang soon sneezed several times in succession. Mistaking it for the chill of the night, he spread the soft blanket in the carriage over his legs to ward off the cold.
The next day.
The martial examination's military strategy test began.
This examination was no longer held in the City God Temple plaza, but had been moved to the examination sheds used for the civil examination.
The questions were simple.
Three memorization-and-explanation questions about "Ji Xiao."
And one policy essay question concerning the Battle of Yanran between Zheng State and Jing State a hundred years ago.
Thanks to Master Huang's bribe, Wei Tu had obtained the questions before entering the examination hall. Thus, he smoothly finished the three memorization-and-explanation questions.
For the final policy essay question, Wei Tu organized his thoughts and answered them one by one according to the strategies Martial Graduate Dan had taught him.
Very soon.
He finished the examination paper.
However, when it came time to submit it, Wei Tu deliberately delayed until near the end, turning it in fourth from last.
Two days later.
The County Martial Examination results were posted.
"Wei, you're the Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar of the county examination..."
Before the County Yamen, people surged like a tide. Xinghua, who had taken leave, had dragged Wei Tu there early in the morning and secured a good spot to view the list.
Thus, the instant she saw the yamen clerk post the results, she saw Wei Tu's ranking.
He was first in the martial examination—the Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar!
"Once the provincial examination is over, once I earn a degree and take office and have some silver..., I'll return to the Li Residence and redeem you..."
After Xinghua's joy had subsided somewhat, Wei Tu led her away from the yamen and made her this promise on the road back to the Li Residence.
Although he had taken first place in this martial examination, he was not happy in his heart—not nearly as ecstatically joyful as Xinghua.
After all... his title as Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar had been obtained for him by the Huang Family through dishonorable means.
"The prefectural examination..."
"The provincial examination..."
"The Huang Family will have no room to interfere then. Whatever results I earn at that time will naturally be upright and aboveboard..."
Wei Tu clenched his fists.
"Mm." Xinghua's cheeks flushed slightly. She lowered her head and nodded, softly answering, "Mm," without noticing Wei Tu's unusual state.
After the results were posted, Wei Tu did not remain long in Qingshan County. After thanking the Li Residence for allowing him to lodge there, he mounted the Green Dappled Horse and headed for Qing Feng Prefecture's Prefectural City.
To await the prefectural examination in April.
"Brother Yangong."
The moment he arrived at the Prefectural City, Wei Tu followed the address Dan Yangong had given him and headed straight for Dan Yangong's residence there.
"Wei, it's been a long time." Dan Yangong showed a wistful expression and sighed.
Two months ago, when he had left Sanyuan Township, Wei Tu had merely been one of his father's disciples, with no reputation to speak of.
Yet two months later, Wei Tu was already Qingshan County's Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar.
Given the strength he had displayed, earning the title of Martial Scholar in the provincial examination was already as certain as a nail driven into a board.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Dan Yangong led Wei Tu into the inner quarters to pay respects to Madam Shan Min, and introduced his wife to Wei Tu.
"My wife is frail and has long held a grudge against my younger sister. So, to avoid making herself unwelcome, she sent Father a letter during the New Year and stayed home to manage the household affairs..."
Dan Yangong said.
At this.
Wei Tu nodded. Dan Fang's personality truly was not pleasing. She had taken in a husband who married into her family, thereby gaining the right to contend with Dan Yangong for the family estate. Over time, the sisters-in-law naturally could not have remained too harmonious.
After introducing the household, Dan Yangong led Wei Tu to a separate courtyard in the residence and assigned him a maidservant and a male servant to handle his daily needs during this period.
That night.
Dan Yangong hosted a banquet.
To welcome Wei Tu and wash away the dust of his journey.
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, Dan Yangong asked curiously, "I say... Wei, after becoming Qingshan County's Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar, why do you seem... somewhat unhappy?"
His face was full of puzzlement.
By "somewhat unhappy," he did not mean that Wei Tu was unhappy, but that Wei Tu had not shown the joy and pride one ought to feel after becoming Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar.
Dan Yangong thought to himself that even if Wei Tu was mature beyond his years, he should not be so composed.
At this.
Wei Tu considered for a moment, then told Dan Yangong about the methods the Huang Residence had employed.
Martial Graduate Dan was his master, while Dan Yangong was Martial Graduate Dan's biological son. Dan Yangong and he were practically bound together in glory and disgrace.
To put it bluntly.
If the Zheng State court investigated this Imperial Examination fraud case, Martial Graduate Dan and Dan Yangong would inevitably be implicated. At best, they would be stripped of their degrees; at worst, they would suffer imprisonment, and their entire clan would be reduced to official slaves.
Therefore.
Wei Tu was not in the slightest worried that Dan Yangong would leak this matter.
"Master Huang truly deserves to be called a merchant by birth. He's far too cunning and treacherous." After hearing everything, Dan Yangong sighed and said.
A spear in the open was easy to evade; an arrow in the dark was hard to guard against.
Wei Tu and Master Huang had acknowledged one another as kin. What one's relatives did would naturally implicate Wei Tu himself, let alone the fact that Master Huang's scheme had been to cheat on Wei Tu's behalf.
"But Wei, you needn't worry too much. As long as you perform brilliantly in the provincial examination sparring matches, even with this Imperial Examination fraud, others will only regard it as idle gossip..."
Dan Yangong comforted him.
The provincial examination's "sparring matches" were more than ten times as brutal as those of the county examination. At that point, rankings could only depend on one's own Martial Way strength.
"I understand." Wei Tu nodded heavily.
He also wanted to wash away his humiliation in the provincial examination sparring matches.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye.
June arrived, and the provincial examination was about to begin.
Over these four months, relying on his status as Martial Arts Examination Top Scholar, Wei Tu easily passed the prefectural examination and achieved the excellent result of sixth place.
"Unfortunately, the Health Cultivation Technique still hasn't reached perfection and allowed me to enter the Qi Sensing Realm."
"Otherwise, in the prefectural examination matches, I could at the very least have taken the title of Prefectural Examination Martial Arts Champion."
At the Dan Residence in the Prefectural City, after practicing the Health Cultivation Technique more than ten times, Wei Tu wiped away his sweat. Then his consciousness sank into his mind, where he examined his Late Bloomer fate.
"Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique (91/100): Practice nine times a day, and it will be achieved in five years." "Tiger Crane Double Form Fist (33/100): Practice seven times a day, and it will be achieved in three years."
"Still, Tiger Crane Double Form Fist has broken through to minor mastery, and my saber techniques have improved as well, making up for my final shortcoming."
Wei Tu reflected.
The county examination had been in February, and the prefectural examination in April.
Between them, he had two months to improve his saber techniques.
Thus, before the prefectural examination began, after his unremitting efforts, Tiger Crane Double Form Fist had finally broken through to the realm of minor mastery.
His stance training broke through.
His saber techniques broke through along with it.
Benefiting from this, he earned Grade A results in both the prefectural examination's "Blade Dancing" section and its "Sparring Match" section.
PS: The pace has been sped up somewhat. Since the county examination was written in detail, the prefectural and provincial examinations will not be described in detail.
Before you continue