Miss Yu

Jiang Shuo and Li Zicheng exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing at the same time. If not for Chen Zhiqing's interference, they would most likely have successfully joined the Hundred Flowers Sect. But they could not blame anyone else for this; they had only themselves to blame for being careless and leaving behind evidence against themselves.

Chen Zhiqing arrogantly raised his head, watching the losers make their exit.

"You think this will help you save face? You still lost that wager in the end—you have no right to point fingers at me." Before leaving, Jiang Shuo turned to Chen Zhiqing and spoke calmly.

Chen Zhiqing's expression changed. He said coldly, "And you still have the nerve to flaunt the results you got through cheating? You truly have no shame."

The cheating was indeed real, but Chen Zhiqing's words made no sense. After giving it some thought, everyone present understood: no matter who had copied from whom, there had to be one perfect score, and all signs pointed to Jiang Shuo as the one who had earned it.

"There's no need to argue with him. Let's go." Li Zicheng tugged Jiang Shuo away. If the Hundred Flowers Sect was the sort of sect that twisted black into white, then they were better off not joining it.

"Young men, please wait." Just as the two turned to leave, a voice suddenly rang out. Everyone's line of sight fell in unison upon the old man in the wicker chair. Zhao Zhi was startled. He hurried to the old man's side and asked uneasily, "Elder Bian..."

"Our Yushan region is currently suffering from famine, and doctors are scarce. Training new ones from scratch takes both time and effort, and I fear it will not put out the fire at our eyebrows. These two young men seem quite talented to me. Zhao Zhi, why not keep them?" Though phrased as a question, Elder Bian's words sounded more like an order.

"But Elder Bian, the rules of our Hundred Flowers Sect..."

"Well..." Elder Bian pondered for a moment, then bypassed Zhao Zhi and asked Jiang Shuo directly, "Young fellow, how about letting the two of you stay in the Hundred Flowers Sect and do odd jobs for the time being?"

Those words were already a roundabout form of favoritism. Being close to the water, one caught the moon's reflection first; given enough time, as long as they performed well, they would naturally have a chance to become official Hundred Flowers Sect Disciples.

Everyone's eyes reddened with envy. Jiang Shuo and Li Zicheng exchanged a look, and in the end, unable to refuse such generous kindness, they did not disappoint Elder Bian's goodwill and nodded in agreement.

Chen Zhiqing, who had been fanning the flames all along, was instead left hanging at the side. He looked toward Zhao Zhi, but Zhao Zhi only wore a bitter expression and helplessly shrugged, signaling that there was nothing he could do either. Chen Zhiqing clicked his tongue in frustration and could not help casting Elder Bian a resentful glare. Sensing it, Elder Bian looked back at the same time. Their eyes met, and Chen Zhiqing felt as though two sharp beams of light were scorching his eyes with pain. He hurriedly turned his head away, yet he had already broken out in Cold Sweat, his heart pounding wildly without cease. He had not expected the Hundred Flowers Sect to be a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons lurked—this Elder Bian was unfathomably deep.

With the farce over, the results continued to be announced. Of those participating in the selection, only one or two out of ten passed, though there were exceptions like Jiang Shuo and Li Zicheng.

"Zhao Zhi, place them under you and your other three fellow disciples. As for these two..." Elder Bian looked at Jiang Shuo and Li Zicheng, pondered for a moment, and said, "I heard that the little girl surnamed Yu who recently arrived under your fourth junior brother Feng En is there. Let them do odd jobs under her."

"Yes, I will follow all of Elder Bian's instructions." Zhao Zhi clasped his hands respectfully. He secretly glanced at Jiang Shuo, his gaze venomous. He had wanted to use this opportunity to put on a good performance before Chen Zhiqing, only to make things worse through cleverness. And the culprit behind it all was this Jiang Shuo, who did not know what was good for him.

Afterward, those without the ability to remain left dejectedly. Only around twenty people remained in the Hundred Flowers Sect's courtyard.

Zhao Zhi arranged for Chen Zhiqing to be placed under his own tutelage for instruction, while everyone else was assigned at random. As for Jiang Shuo and Li Zicheng, he did not bother with them at all, merely telling them to go to the rear courtyard and find Miss Yu.

"Brother Jiang, that was so satisfying just now! Did you see Chen Zhiqing's face? He was so angry his face went black." On the way to the rear courtyard, Li Zicheng spoke happily. Then his tone shifted. "But you should avoid this sort of thing whenever possible. Chen Zhiqing is connected to the Imperial Court, after all. If we can avoid provoking them, we should."

"Mm." Jiang Shuo replied casually.

Li Zicheng was rather speechless. He felt that Jiang Shuo had not the slightest fear of the Imperial Court. That sort of temperament would sooner or later lead him into serious trouble. "Say, you don't even know what a reign title is, do you?"

"What is a reign title?"

Li Zicheng shook his head at his own wasted effort and explained to Jiang Shuo word by word, "This is the Chongzhen era, and the state is called Great Ming. The soldiers you encountered at the city gate, as well as the father of County Magistrate Chen Zhiqing of Yulin City, are all Enforcers of the Imperial Court. Provoking them is the same as provoking the Imperial Court. Such a powerful force could crush us as easily as crushing an ant. We have no choice but to be careful."

Jiang Shuo narrowed his eyes and silently committed this information to memory, though he still lacked an accurate understanding of it. Back in Chiyun Village, Jiang Shuo had gained some knowledge of Huaxia's history through ancient books. As for the words "Great Ming," he did not know much; he only vaguely knew that it was a dynasty much like Xia, Shang, and Zhou.

He knew Li Zicheng meant well, so he nodded solemnly. "Alright, I understand."