The Journey

Chapter 50: The Journey

"These are some travel dishes I prepared for you. Take them along to eat. There's also a new set of clothes—I'll have you wear them during the examination." Zhao Yu spoke softly, carefully going over every detail.

"Alright." Chen Mo nodded, accepting the bundle she handed him, along with four clay jars wrapped in coarse paper.

This time, Chen Mo was not the only one heading out to take the xiucai examination. Everyone going was granted a day off beforehand, allowing them to return home and share the news with family and friends.

After Zhao Yu learned of it, she hurriedly prepared some travel dishes for him.

So-called travel dishes were food meant for the road. Every dish was heavy on oil and salt, allowing it to keep for a long time.

Though Chen Mo would have cart inns to rest at along the way, the food they provided was mostly only enough to fill one's stomach.

With these travel dishes, they could at least improve a few meals on the road.

"I'll be gone for at least half a month. Don't worry about anything else—just keep doing business steadily. If you run into trouble, go to the barracks, give them my name, and find Ma Cai. He'll bring people to help you." Chen Mo gave her these instructions before leaving.

"Mm. Be careful on the road." Zhao Yu gave him one last reminder. Watching Chen Mo's receding figure, she let out a soft sigh.

He rode hard back to the barracks, and by then curfew was near. After resting peacefully for the night, Chen Mo rose early the next day to make preparations.

He did not have much to bring, and he would not be traveling alone this time.

Besides himself, General Sun's adopted son, there would also be General Sun's distant nephew and his sister's son.

Moreover, General Sun himself would be accompanying them.

Though Chen Mo and the other three were taking the examination, General Sun had to avoid any appearance of favoritism by the rules.

But avoiding suspicion was one thing; it merely meant he could not serve as an examiner.

By accompanying Chen Mo and the others, he was also making his stance clear.

He wanted the officials serving as examiners to know that these people were his men, that he valued them enough to come personally.

Thus, in more subjective assessments—such as saber forms or policy essays—Chen Mo and the others would receive somewhat better scores.

After all, with General Sun appearing in person, any official responsible for grading who did not wish to offend him would weigh the matter and make their results look better.

Of course, in letters there was no first, and in martial arts there was no second.

The martial examination was not the civil examination. If one could not make the cut, one could not make the cut. Even with General Sun helping them, Chen Mo and the others could only gain an advantage in one or two assessments. To truly earn official rank, they had to possess solid strength themselves.

"Mo-ge." Xu Dabao sat in the carriage, and when he saw Chen Mo approach, he hurriedly waved to him.

"When are we setting off?" Carrying his things, Chen Mo climbed into the carriage, found a comfortable spot, and sat down as he asked.

Xu Dabao was General Sun's sister's son, and he would be taking the martial examination alongside Chen Mo this time.

"I don't know. We'll wait for my uncle." Xu Dabao shook his head. He was a year younger than Chen Mo, but he had inherited his family's saber art and had trained in martial arts since childhood.

His chances of passing the martial examination this time were very high.

Not long afterward, Sun Shouren strode over, boarded the carriage as well, and chatted idly with them.

Xingyuan Prefecture was more than five hundred li from the barracks. Riding would certainly be faster, but after arriving, they would inevitably be worn out from the journey and in poor condition.

Since Chen Mo and the others were going to take an examination, they naturally needed to rest as well as possible beforehand and avoid exhaustion.

Not only them—the horses they usually rode would be going along too.

Though horses were provided during the martial examination, one's own everyday mount naturally coordinated better than a horse supplied at the last minute.

Thus, their party was quite sizable: four carriages alone, along with three tall, fine horses traveling with them.

They traveled at an unhurried pace for a full day before finding a cart inn to rest at. Chen Mo took out the travel dishes Zhao Yu had packed for him and shared them with the others.

The food was heavy with oil and salt. They were all martial men and had traveled for a whole day, so naturally it tasted especially good.

They continued onward the next day. Finally, at the hour of the Snake five days later, Chen Mo's group caught sight of the prefectural city.

Xingyuan City, the seat of Xingyuan Prefecture, had a population of nearly three hundred thousand and was the most prosperous place in the entire prefecture.

Countless merchants came and went, selling goods brought from distant prefectures and even other provinces, then purchasing Xingyuan Prefecture's specialties to sell elsewhere for enormous profits.

At last, the prefectural city's walls were no longer like those of other county towns, riddled with decay and damage.

Though the ancient walls, weathered by centuries of wind and rain, bore countless mottled scars, they still looked solid as a whole at a glance.

Xingyuan City's main gate was built incredibly wide, likely six or seven zhang across. Even with endless carriages and horses passing through, it did not feel crowded.

Bluestone roads were laid throughout the city. Every slab was remarkably level, without a single pothole or crack.

From this, it could be seen that Xingyuan Prefecture's prefect was most likely a fairly upright official.

At the very least, even if he had embezzled funds meant for repairing roads, he probably had not embezzled very much.

"I have a residence in the city. We'll go there and settle in first." Sun Shouren instructed his adopted son, nephew, and the others.

He did not normally live here; even his family did not reside here.

Yet the house in the city, the maidservants and servants within it, as well as the manor outside the city, its fields, and tenant farmers, had long since been gifted to him by someone.

The moment the imperial transfer order declaring his appointment as garrison commander of Xingyuan Prefecture was announced, people had already begun seeking connections, intending to come to his door with gifts.

Before he had even taken office, congratulations and gifts had arrived one after another, everyone terrified that their present might be delivered later than someone else's.

He did not dare say he could remember everyone who gave him gifts, but anyone who failed to give him one—those, he would certainly remember very clearly.

The coachman drove the horses to a rather imposing residence. It had five successive courtyards, front to back, and covered a full two or three mu of land.

There were not many servants in the residence, only several dozen. Sun Shouren immediately ordered people to tidy the rooms and prepare a meal.

He himself did not stay long. Ever since his carriage had entered the city gates, people had been delivering invitation cards, asking him to attend banquets.

The prefect of Xingyuan had invited him personally, so he could hardly refuse the courtesy. Besides, he was also the chief examiner for this year's martial examination in the prefecture.

Chen Mo and the others each found a clean side room to stay in for the time being, while the servants brought over all manner of dishes.

"Mo-ge, want to trade a few moves?" Xu Dabao asked with interest after they had eaten, picking up a weapon.

"Forget it. If I don't go all out, I'm no match for you. If I do go all out, it won't be good if you get hurt again."

Chen Mo shook his head lightly in refusal. It was obvious that neither of them could use their full strength when sparring with each other.

If they relied on skill alone, Chen Mo was far inferior to Xu Dabao. He had only practiced the spear for half a year.

Xu Dabao, meanwhile, had trained in saber techniques for a full twelve years. Even if Chen Mo had some talent, it could not make up for Xu Dabao's twelve years of training through the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer.

But if Chen Mo went all out, one sweep of his spear with that strength of his would leave Xu Dabao unable even to hold his weapon steady, let alone fight back.

Skill was certainly important, but when speed and strength surpassed the other side by far more than a single level, even the most exquisite techniques had no room to be used.

"That makes sense." Xu Dabao thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

He knew that Chen Mo possessed the strength of twelve hundred jin—more than enough to take the juren examination.

He himself only had seven hundred jin of strength. Compared to Chen Mo, there truly was quite a gap.

This was not a difference of a mere hundred or so jin. Chen Mo was nearly twice as strong.

The gap was simply too vast, so vast that skill could never bridge it.

"I'll fight you." General Sun's distant nephew spoke up. The difference in strength between the two of them was not that great.

Over the following days, Chen Mo and the others rested and recuperated in the residence. Only three days later did the day of this year's martial examination finally arrive.

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