Hundred Battles, Remaining Soldiers

With a swish, the gleaming blade stopped precisely at the man's neck, casting a deathly pale shadow on his face...

"From the Zhang family?"

"Yes! My master is the father of the Minister of War. If you dare kill me, your entire family will be wiped out, not a single chicken or dog will be left alive!"

"So it really is the old scoundrel Zhang's family. Then... very good!"

Chii! The blade flashed, and a head flew off!

Lin Su raised his hand, and the long saber cut through the air, felling all four horses simultaneously. Their heads landed on the ground.

Four horses, four men, all slaughtered!

Lin Su helped the old man up. "Elder, you've been troubled because of me this time. Come with me, I'll treat your wounds!"

It took over an hour to get from the riverbank back to the Lin family residence. The main reason was that Lin Su had forcibly activated a War Poem, greatly depleting his energy. His stamina was far from its peak, and carrying an injured person further slowed their progress.

As they reached the entrance of the house, the old man's pale face showed surprise. "This is the former Marquis of Dingnan's Estate."

"There is no Marquis of Dingnan anymore! Only the Lin residence. Elder, I am the third son of the Lin family, Lin Su."

The old man was startled and immediately knelt down. "Deng Zhongtang pays his respects to the young master!"

"Elder..."

The old man slowly looked up, tears streaming down his face. "This old man, Deng Zhongtang, was once a subordinate of General Lin. I followed the general to fight in Chishui City, Dongzhou. Because I was only skilled in naval warfare and not land combat, I did not accompany him when the general was guarding the southern border."

Lin Su's heart stirred. "In Chishui, Dongzhou, a hundred thousand naval soldiers died on the battlefield. Only four hundred and three survived, all of them maimed. Elder..."

The old man pulled his right leg out from the tightly wrapped bandages. Only a stump remained where his leg used to be; his foot was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Su stared at the severed leg for a long time, his chest burning with emotion. "From this day forward, this will be your home! Uncle Deng, let's... go home!"

The mansion gates opened wide, and the old butler came to open the door, holding a lantern. Upon seeing Lin Su, he was greatly surprised. "Third Young Master, you..."

Lin Su directly reached out and covered the butler's mouth. "Don't wake my mother. Take this elder to the guest room, find a doctor to treat his injuries, and take good care of him."

"Yes!"

Lin Su turned and entered his own room. As soon as he stepped inside, a shadow flickered by the door, and Lin Jialiang appeared behind him. Lin Su turned around and met his extremely serious expression. "Third brother..."

Lin Su gave a wry smile. "Second brother, I'll give you a piece of advice through painful experience: you really can't submit your exam papers early in future imperial examinations. It's a disaster..."

"Submit early? You submitted early? How much earlier?" Lin Jialiang's face shifted dramatically. Seeing Lin Su tonight, his heart sank. At this time, Lin Su should still be struggling with the imperial examinations at Qiankun Academy. How could he have suddenly returned home?

Now he understood. Third brother had submitted his exam papers early.

"Three hours!"

"Three hours early? You... you..." Lin Jialiang was furious, then suddenly frowned. "That's not right. Even if you submitted three hours early, you should still be leaving the examination hall tomorrow morning..."

"I didn't say I submitted three hours early, I only used three hours..."

Lin Jialiang almost jumped out of his skin.

"Don't worry, I guarantee I'll pass. No problem!"

"You... what makes you guarantee it? You... I'll go find Mother right now... Sigh, forget it, let Mother have a peaceful night's sleep! Waking her up with this matter at this hour would mean she wouldn't sleep at all. Third brother, I know you're just testing the waters in this year's imperial examinations, but your attitude is too... Forget it, you must be tired from your journey. I'll have Xiao Tao prepare some water for you to wash up and rest... Sigh..."

He let out a long sigh and left the room.

About five minutes later, Xiao Tao entered. She helped him take off his clothes and prepared the bathwater. Lin Su sat in the bathtub and let out a satisfied sigh. Suddenly, he crossed his hands to cover his lower body, glancing up at the ceiling and around the room...

He didn't notice anything unusual. Wasn't Dark Night monitoring him?

Not safe!

"Dark Night! Let's set some ground rules, how about it?"

There was no response. No movement from inside the room, nor from the distant pavilion.

"You can monitor me, but under three circumstances, it's absolutely not allowed. First, when I'm bathing. Second, when I'm using the latrine. Third, when I'm sleeping..."

From the shadows of the distant pavilion, Dark Night bit her lip. Set ground rules? Bathing, using the latrine? Who would watch you bathe or use the latrine? Disgusting, pointless!

Wait...

Sleeping? He knew she monitored him while he slept? Last night you got up in the middle of the night and wrote a vulgar little piece. You scoundrel, were you intentionally trying to humiliate me?

Dark Night was enraged.

Lin Su stretched his legs out comfortably. "Also, don't forget our previous agreement. If I pass the exam, you have to prove to me that you are a woman..."

Still thinking about that little matter, Dark Night's pent-up rage finally exploded. Her eyes snapped open, and a flash of light streaked out...

With a soft chi sound, Lin Su's bathtub suddenly split in two, and the bathwater spilled all over the floor. Lin Su sprang up, lightning-fast, and used his clothes to cover his lower body. He was furious. "Do you have any bottom line at all..."

Dark Night smiled silently.

She loved seeing Lin Su flustered and in a mess...

Xiao Tao, who was outside, rushed in. Upon entering, she was greatly shocked. The third young master was not wearing any clothes, holding a piece of clothing, his backside exposed...

"Ah..." Xiao Tao immediately covered her face with her hands.

"You go out first!" Lin Su shrank back and hid behind the screen.

Xiao Tao turned away, her face red. Looking at the water flowing from her feet, she was a little surprised. "Young Master, what happened?"

"I guess I woke up a bit too early today. Got screwed by a ghost!" Lin Su stomped his foot in frustration. "Forget it, you don't need to prepare separate bathwater for me. I'm already clean..."

The night passed without incident, and the next morning, trouble arrived.

Lin Jialiang hadn't slept all night. When Madam Lin woke up, he gave her a report.

Upon hearing it, Madam Lin jumped up immediately, her first thought being to fetch the family disciplinary switch. That scoundrel, he thought he could do anything he pleased! With a little bit of skill, he'd turn the world upside down. To mess up something as important as the imperial examinations, it was something even his ancestors for eight generations couldn't tolerate. How could she not teach him a lesson...

Lin Jialiang grabbed her arm, talking her down with a long explanation.

"Forget it, Mother. Third brother was just there to get a feel for the atmosphere. Did you really expect him to read all the classics and pass in just over a month? Besides, he's been busy with the winery all this time. The livelihood of the estate, the big picture, he turned it all around. Where would he have the leisure to study..."

Madam Lin's chest heaved, but her expression slowly calmed. Finally, she let out a long sigh. "Second son, if third son isn't cut out for it, I wouldn't think this way. But he's a genius! He has a mountain of gold and yet he doesn't value himself. How can I not be angry? Call him here. I'll set the rules for him now. For the next three years, he must study according to my arrangements! If he can't pass the provincial examination in three years, I... I won't recognize him as my son!"

"Mother, third brother returned home yesterday and nearly drowned in the river. He only just fell asleep..."

"Ah? What happened? Is he injured? Did you call a doctor?... He's really okay? I'll go take a look..."

Madam Lin entered Lin Su's room. Lin Su was fast asleep on the bed. Madam Lin quietly covered him with the blanket and waved her hand, signaling everyone to leave.

As soon as she left, Lin Su opened one eye.

When had he been asleep?

He just didn't want to discuss the imperial examinations further with his mother and elder brother. The results would be announced this afternoon anyway, so why waste more words?

At Qiankun Academy, five gongs sounded, signaling the official end of the provincial examination.

The scholars walked out of the examination hall with various expressions.

Some were beaming with pride, while others were dejected and lost.

Zhang Haoyue was among the former. He raised his hand, unfurled his fan, and walked with a spring in his step...

"Brother Zhang, how did you do?"

"Not ideal. The second poem was quite difficult. Fortunately, I've studied the affairs of the four nations quite a bit..."

"Brother Zhang, as the son of the current Minister of War, tackling such a topic is truly advantageous..."

"Heh heh, in the future, I can also discuss military and national affairs with Brother Li more often. It might be quite helpful in the metropolitan examination..."

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Zhang!" The young man surnamed Li was overjoyed.

Writing policy essays was essentially participating in political discussions.

The imperial examinations tested literary talent, but even more so, the ability to govern. Literary talent might be innate, but knowledge of military and political affairs depended on one's social circle.

Someone like Zhang Haoyue, born into an official family, associated with the future generations of politicians, and through constant exposure, became familiar with military and national affairs.

Where could the sons of ordinary families learn about such matters? They were completely in the dark regarding military and national affairs.

Therefore, in the realm of policy essays, the sons of ordinary families could not compare to those from aristocratic families. This was also the key reason why aristocratic families almost monopolized the imperial examinations.

For the sons of ordinary families, there was only one way to significantly improve their policy essays: to break into their circle.

As the group walked, Zhao Ji appeared ahead. There were even more scholars around Zhao Ji. Why? Because he was also from an aristocratic family. His father, Zhao Xun, held the rank of Grand Master of the Left, half a rank higher than the Minister of War.

Furthermore, he was widely recognized as a rising genius in the Literary Way among the younger generation in Qu Prefecture, and the most anticipated candidate for Jieyuan in this Haining provincial examination.

However, Zhao Ji's expression was somewhat strange.

This expression inexplicably excited Zhang Haoyue. Could he have failed?

Heaven knows, the world of scholars was also very complex. Although Zhao Ji and Zhang Haoyue were close friends and treated each other like brothers, if the other party performed poorly in the examination, they would definitely feel a sense of excitement...

"Brother Zhao, how did the exam go?"

"What's good or bad about it? It was all as expected..." Zhao Ji said, "That kid submitted his paper early."

Submitted early?

Was it Lin Su?

How early did he submit?

"Less than three hours after the exam started, he submitted his paper and left..."

Hahahaha, all the scholars burst into laughter.

Not to mention the 23 people who had bet against Lin Su, even the other scholars who had performed terribly felt a strange sense of excitement. So it wasn't just them who were failures; there was someone worse than them. At least they had managed to finish the exam, unlike someone who looked at the questions, realized they couldn't answer, and just gave up and left...

"Let's go back. We'll go to the Lin family first. Don't let this kid slip away. It's probably the kind of shameless thing he'd do to collect his bet before running off."