Collecting Gambling Debts

The students returned from their journey, and the whole city welcomed them.

Countless servants from wealthy households came to greet their young masters, offering warm blessings along with the grandeur of great families.

Even the poor students had people waiting for them—wives, parents, brothers, sisters, and the like. In ancient times, there was no age limit for examinations. Even white-haired old men could take them, so not every student was young and unmarried. There were even fathers and sons taking the examination together.

For the children of wealthy families, passing merely added flowers to brocade.

For poor students, passing was a true leap across social classes, and they received the greatest degree of attention.

"My wife, if I should earn a place on the golden list this time, riding my horse in the spring breeze down a ten-li avenue, I will never fail the years you have spent painstakingly holding our household together..."

Words like these were more lethal than any love talk, often moving young wives in coarse clothing to tears...

By the river, that snow-white Little Fox appeared again. She poked her adorable little head out from the grass and watched the students above, flushed with the spring breeze of success. Her peach-blossom eyes were full of peach blossoms. The allure of the literary path truly had nowhere to go. Why did I like human poetry and ci so much? Mother said it was an illness. If it really is an illness, then I must already be beyond cure...

Suddenly, Little Fox gave a sharp start and burrowed into the grass. A girl in white appeared where she had just stood—it was Zhang Yiyu.

Zhang Yiyu lightly flicked her hand, and a fox hair floated up from the ground and landed on her fingertip. She sniffed it softly. "Little Fox, there is no need to fear. Your hands have not yet been stained with human blood, so I will not kill you. But remember this: humans and demons are ultimately different. If you dare lay a hand on humans, your end will be death and the dissipation of your soul!"

Though her words were gentle, a terrifying aura of the Great Dao blanketed heaven and earth. Little Fox trembled all over, and the peach blossoms vanished from her eyes...

The students above suddenly gathered into a surging torrent and headed for the south of the city.

Faint discussion drifted through the wind—it was about the pre-examination wager!

Twenty-three students had gambled against one man. That man was Lin Su, who had displayed considerable poetic talent some time ago. Their agreement was...

The expression on Zhang Yiyu's face gradually became more vivid. So this was the matter Boss Ding had mentioned. It could be settled very soon...

Suddenly, a voice entered her ears, and Zhang Yiyu froze.

Lin Su had only taken the examination for three hours. He had already left the examination grounds and departed Qiankun Academy yesterday.

The examination began at the hour of the dragon, which meant noon.

He had spent three hours taking the examination, so by the time he came down the mountain, the sun would be setting. Since he had left early, he naturally could not take the examination Book Boat and had needed to cross the river by ferry. Who else could that scholar crossing the river at that time have been but him?

Could the man who had recited a War Poem yesterday and joined forces with her to slay the black flood dragon actually have been him?

But the handwriting was completely different!

She had personally seen the two poetry manuscripts at Haining Tower. The characters on them were no different from those commonly used in this world. The handwriting was not even good; it could even be called rather clumsy.

Little Fox, hidden in the grass, heard those words as well, and felt rather annoyed. The great talent Lin had already crossed the river yesterday? I was far too playful. If I'd acted sooner yesterday, perhaps I could have taken care of him last night...

The twenty-three-against-one wager drew the entire city. A long procession followed behind the students, and a huge crowd surged toward the Lin Family. Even Zhang Yiyu, who was rather absentminded about worldly matters, vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

So many people?

Was that brat really going to run naked?

Was this what they called losing face all the way to his maternal grandmother's home—assuming his maternal grandmother lived in the city too...

Lin Su wandered around the western courtyard. He had actually awakened very early, but he stubbornly refused to leave it. Outside, Xiao Yao guarded the door for him. If anyone came, she would say that Third Young Master was still asleep...

It was true that Xiao Yao loved food, but she had one virtue: her original heart was pure, and she had a sense of mission—whoever gave her good food, she listened to. Thus, while guarding Lin Su's door, she would not even go to the latrine!

All morning, Madam Lin, whose heart felt as though cats were clawing at it, failed to see Lin Su...

But in the afternoon, a huge group of people suddenly arrived outside Lin Manor. The moment Lin Jialiang stepped out, he was greatly startled. Madam Lin heard what was happening outside through a crack in the door, and nearly failed to catch her breath...

My ancestors...

Forefathers of the Lin Family...

Open your eyes and look at this worthless son...

See how he turned a fine hand of cards into utter ruin...

Where is the family discipline? Bring it here! No one is stopping me...

Lin Jialiang's face turned livid as he strode toward the western courtyard. Xiao Yao's wide eyes and hands planted on her hips were no use at all!

He reached out, picked Xiao Yao up by the collar, and entered the western courtyard. Lin Su was cooling himself beneath the shade of a tree. Judging by his lazy appearance, he had likely been lying there for quite some time...

"Third Brother, did you make a wager with more than twenty people yesterday?"

"Have they come?" Lin Su asked directly instead.

"They've all come. Outside the Lin Family is almost a marketplace, and the entire city has come to watch the joke. Third Brother, I truly must speak to you about this. Do you know what running naked through the entire city would mean for you? Do you know..."

Lin Su raised a hand. "Second Brother, do you believe me?"

His voice was low, yet carried a strangely infectious force.

Lin Jialiang was slightly stunned.

"Don't worry. I can win!"

Lin Su rose to his feet and strode toward the gate.

Outside the gates of Lin Manor, ten thousand people watched. Two or three dozen students stood at the front, leisurely waving folding fans. Old He of the Lin Family was extremely nervous, but fortunately, those students had not brought people to force their way through the gates.

They merely stood outside.

As soon as Lin Su reached the gate, Madam Lin in the main hall immediately rose, seized the cane at hand, and looked ready to have it temporarily play the role of family discipline today...

Before she could leave the main hall, Lin Su had already reached the front gate. He cupped his hands and bowed at the waist. "Gentlemen, why have you gathered at the Lin Family?"

Zhang Haoyue opened the folding fan in his hand and strolled forward. "Brother Lin, do you still remember the wager you made before yesterday's examination?"

"Precious Brush and Precious Paper, ink laid down as an oath, witnessed by all the sages. How could I not remember?"

That casual sentence nearly made Madam Lin, who had just reached behind him, collapse. My heavens, the wager had even been written with Precious Brush and Precious Paper. Who could defy such a wager? My genius son's path of literature is about to come to an end. Ancestors, why give me this hope, only to turn it into despair? What wrong has the Lin Family done? Why must this happen? For a moment, her heart was filled with utter bewilderment...

"Good that you remember!" Zhao Ji stepped forward as well. "Yesterday, you spent three hours on the imperial examination and left early. Your fellow students feared that Brother Lin had fled Haining to destroy his word and break the agreement, so..."

"Haha, so you were worried I'd run away!" Lin Su laughed. "Do you know why I only took the examination for three hours?"

Zhao Ji smiled faintly. "When one cannot answer the paper, why suffer through it? Leaving early does not change the outcome!"

Everyone behind him laughed.

The result would be the same anyway. If I could not answer the examination paper, could I not simply slip away?

Lin Su said, "There is only one true reason. To defeat all of you, I only needed three hours!"

The entire crowd fell silent!

Madam Lin's whole body suddenly shook. Her lifeless eyes turned toward her second son. Lin Jialiang was looking at her too, and in both their eyes flickered the tiniest spark of hope.

"Haha..." Zhao Ji threw back his head and laughed. "You claim you completed the imperial examination in three hours?"

"Yes!"

"The policy essay... you understand it?"

"Better than you do!"

Haha, everyone burst into laughter.

Did you know who stood before you?

Had you seen the earth-shattering policy essays he had once written?

Even if you studied for another ten years, you would not match a fraction of his skill, yet you dared claim to understand policy essays better than him...

The students outside erupted. Countless filthy insults, utterly unbefitting their status, began to fly wildly...

Lin Su gently raised his hand, and the comments throughout the crowd gradually fell silent.

"The bells of the Literary Temple will ring soon. Why not go witness the victory and defeat on the spot?"

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Six Golden Bell chimes rang in succession, spreading through Great Cang's three thousand Literary Temples.

The imperial examination results were unveiled!

In an ordinary Feudal Society, grading imperial examination papers would have been a massive undertaking. But in this world, it was simple and convenient. The papers were basically graded as soon as they were submitted. Do not ask how it was done—how could ordinary people possibly imagine the Holy Hall?

Thus, a great procession marched grandly toward the Literary Temple.

Lin Su walked at the very front. Behind him were Zhao Ji, Zhang Haoyue, and the twenty-odd people who had wagered against him. Behind them came the other students who had taken this imperial examination, and behind them came the melon-eating crowd.

No one in the city could resist this juicy spectacle.