The eastern sky had only just revealed a sliver of fish-belly white, while a few stubborn stars remained in place, unwilling to leave just yet.
A gentle breeze stirred, morning dew rippled, and all things grew. The entire world seemed to be fawning over Li Mu Yang, who had just gotten out of bed.
Li Mu Yang stood before the window and stretched his limbs, then followed the movements of the Body-Breaking Technique and began pacing swiftly around the room. Li Mu Yang realized that only a strong body could produce good academic results. In his previous state, dazed and listless all day long, he could not do anything at all—except sleep.
A great man from ancient times had said the same thing: The body was the capital of revolution.
Only after he had walked until he was drenched in sweat did he enter the washroom for a shower and change into the new clothes his mother had prepared for him.
He looked in the mirror and discovered that he was much fairer than before. In the past, he had been as black as ink, so deep and bottomless that no light could penetrate it. Now, his skin was a lustrous bronze.
"Isn't this the empire's idol, Louis Koo?" Li Mu Yang said to his reflection.
He blinked, then stretched his mouth into a grin.
The smile quickly vanished, and he scolded himself contemptuously, "Shameless."
It was still early, and Li Mu Yang had no intention of spreading out his books to consolidate his revision.
After opening his pencil case to inspect it and packing his schoolbag neatly, he sat before his desk and watched the flowers and potted plants in the courtyard, watched the sky and stars, watched the black clouds churn and the white clouds cover the heavens.
He watched the fish-belly white turn yellow, then a red sun with a shy expression slowly rose over the eastern horizon.
If this had happened a month ago, Li Mu Yang would not have needed to worry about any of it.
What did it matter to him whether there was an exam or not?
As usual, he would sleep until he woke naturally, grab two steamed buns, stroll around the examination venue, or take another nap.
When others handed in their papers, he would hand in his. When others went home, he would go home.
With no hope, there could naturally be no expectations.
Yet in just over a month, he had already begun preparing for the Literary Examination. He was about to clash and battle with those scholars who had studied bitterly for many years, fighting for those scarce places of advancement.
Looking back on the past, he scarcely recognized his present self.
Only when the cries of roosters and dogs rang out did the courtyard begin to bustle.
His mother rose to wash, his father rose to practice his martial arts, and even Li Sinian got up. She stood before the windowsill, reading ancient poetry with dramatic rises and falls.
"Li Mu Yang—" Li Sinian called from her room.
"Sinian, don't call your brother. Let him sleep a little longer." His mother, Luo Qi, lowered her voice.
"Mom, I'm already up." Li Mu Yang poked his head out of the window and said with a smile, "I've been up for a while."
"Mom, I knew Big Brother was awake. He has an exam today, so of course he couldn't sleep soundly." Li Sinian looked smug. "Li Mu Yang, are you ready?"
"I've prepared everything I should have." Li Mu Yang smiled. "All that's left is to leave it to fate."
"Hee-hee, you'll definitely do well."
"Why?"
"Because I made a wish for you before I went to bed last night." Li Sinian looked as if it were only natural. "My wishes are very effective. I said you should stand up, and you stood up. I said you should become clever, and you became clever. I said you shouldn't grow more handsome than me, and you turned into a piece of black charcoal—"
"—" Li Mu Yang often suspected that this little sister of his was not really related to him. Otherwise, how could she always strike at him so mercilessly?
"Huh, Big Brother—" Li Sinian suddenly cried out in surprise.
"What is it?" Li Mu Yang asked curiously.
"Brother, how did you become fair?" From where she stood, Li Sinian could see Li Mu Yang bathed in the rising red sunlight. His eyelashes were long, his features deep-set and sharply defined, and his skin delicate as celadon. His back was ramrod straight, and his smile was gentle and confident.
He was no longer timid or sleazy, and he no longer looked so thin and gaunt that a gust of wind might blow him away.
His body radiated a layer of gentle light, as though a banished immortal had stepped out from among ten thousand rays of sunset glow.
"—"
"You really did become fair!" Li Sinian danced for joy. "I don't believe it. Let Mom and Dad take a look—You didn't secretly use my skin cream, did you?"
"—"
Luo Qi prepared breakfast. To honor that ancient proverb and seek an auspicious omen for her son's exam, she specially boiled two eggs for Li Mu Yang and prepared a fried dough stick.
Li Sinian glanced at the eggs and fried dough stick in Li Mu Yang's bowl, then said slyly to her mother, Luo Qi, "Mom, did you prepare two eggs and one fried dough stick because you hope Big Brother will score a hundred on his exam?"
"That's right." Luo Qi nodded with a smile. "You have some too."
"But Big Brother has three subjects to take today." Li Sinian looked troubled. "Could it be that you hope he'll score a hundred across all three subjects combined? So you need to prepare six eggs and three fried dough sticks. That way, he can score a hundred in every subject—"
"Huh? So many?" Luo Qi looked troubled. "Then I'll go prepare more—"
Li Mu Yang's mouth was stuffed full of egg, his cheeks bulging high. His face turned green when he heard Li Sinian's words. He grabbed his mother's arm and said, "Mom, you can't listen to Sinian's nonsense. If you prepare six eggs and three fried dough sticks for me, I won't need to take the exam. I'll die of overeating right here at home—"
Luo Qi smacked Li Sinian's hand with her chopsticks and said angrily, "You girl, all you know is how to bully your brother."
"I was only joking." Li Sinian stuck out her tongue at Li Mu Yang. "I was just livening up the atmosphere and keeping Big Brother from getting nervous."
"Whenever you speak, I get nervous." Li Mu Yang finally swallowed the egg and said irritably, "You'd better stop talking. You'll scare someone to death."
"Cheapskate," Li Sinian muttered.
After breakfast, Li Mu Yang bade his parents farewell, picked up his schoolbag, and prepared to head for the examination venue.
Li Yan wanted to take Li Mu Yang there, but Li Mu Yang refused. He had already gone to the examination venue to learn the route, so there was no need for an adult escort.
Li Mu Yang felt refreshed from head to toe, his steps light, without the slightest trace of nervousness before the major exam.
"Maybe I prepared too thoroughly," Li Mu Yang said to himself.
Thinking this, he felt that the feared Literary Examination was nothing special after all.
He had just reached the courtyard with his schoolbag when a man in black robes descended from the sky.
"Looks like I came at exactly the right time." The black-robed man laughed darkly, his eyes fixed tightly on Li Mu Yang.
Guantang Teahouse.
The wealthy young master Yan Xiangma sat near a window on the second floor, drinking tea. It was fine tea, the most renowned Lion Peak Longjing in Jiangnan City. Beside him, a songstress in a teal embroidered qipao plucked a pipa and sang a little tune. Her soft, lilting Wu dialect made his heart and liver melt.
He liked this sort of melody. This was the bearing a cultured and refined young wastrel ought to have.
Those good-for-nothings who spent all day doing nothing, taking a pack of lackeys into the streets to harass respectable women and raise such a ruckus that chickens flew and dogs leaped could only be called hooligans. Although he very much wanted to be such a vile hooligan himself, he was worried that his father would break his legs—his mother would beat him too.
"Young Master, we've already found out everything. This is the only route that Li Mu Yang must take to sit the Literary Examination—from where you're sitting, Young Master, you only need to glance outside from time to time, and you'll see at a glance whether he has come by." A middle-aged man in a black jacket stood beside him with his back bent, his face full of obsequious flattery.
"The reason I'm the young master is that I was born to enjoy myself. I have beauties for my eyes, fine music for my ears, delicious food and fragrant tea in my hands, yet you dog are making me glance outside from time to time and distracting me. If I divide my attention, is this beauty still a beauty? Is this fine music still fine music? Does this food and fragrant tea still taste the same? How vulgar."
"Yes, yes, it's my fault." The middle-aged man hurriedly apologized. "Young Master, just enjoy the beauty and listen to the music. Leave everything else to us. I've already had the brothers keep watch below. I'll stay upstairs with you and watch—once that Li Mu Yang comes by, I'll rush out, club him over the head, stuff him into a sack, and carry him away."
"At least you're quick-witted." Yan Xiangma closed his eyes and lightly tapped his finger to the beat. "Even if that boy takes the exam, he certainly won't get into Xifeng University, but we should still make absolutely sure. Besides, what if he does get in? I'll knock him unconscious so he can't attend Xifeng University or Imperial Capital. Then we'll give him an admission letter from Jiangnan University. Do you think he'll accept it or not?"
"He will. Of course he will." The middle-aged man chuckled. "Jiangnan University is a famous school. I took the exam for three years and still couldn't get in."
Yan Xiangma's expression changed drastically. "You couldn't get in even if you took the exam for thirty years. A famous school like Jiangnan University is somewhere an idiot like you could get into?"
Remembering the young master's educational background, the middle-aged man hurriedly changed his tune. "That's right, that's right. Let alone thirty years, I couldn't get in even after three hundred. Applying to Jiangnan University would only be inviting humiliation. It's simply impossible."
"Mm. Silence." Yan Xiangma waved his hand. "Don't ruin the mood."
"Yes, yes—"
"I told you to shut up."
"Yes—" The middle-aged man covered his mouth and dared not speak again.
Half an hour passed. Yan Xiangma looked up at the sky outside, then asked with a puzzled expression, "Why hasn't that boy come yet?"
"Young Master, may I speak now?" the middle-aged man asked cautiously.
Yan Xiangma was furious. Pointing at the lackey, he exploded, "Are you taking a shit right now?"
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