Lord Feng

"I'll have three pages copied." Feng Yuan selected a passage from each of the three pages and instructed his attendant to copy them down.

The Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy had been compiled over several years by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites of the Great Qin Dynasty. It brought together poetry, the Records of the Grand Historian, governance and agriculture, the Art of War, and other subjects.

It could be said that anyone who mastered even a small part of the Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy could pass the examinations and bring prosperity to a region.

But in turn, with so many subjects jumbled together, the material was exceedingly abstruse and difficult to understand.

Even though he had selected only three excerpts, fewer than a thousand words in total, it was unlikely anyone could memorize them all within two hours.

What was more, the three passages he had chosen were not random. He had selected them with a purpose in mind.

The first combined poetry with military strategy and was the most difficult, since military strategy was the hardest to memorize. He had deliberately placed it on the first page.

The second and third passages covered history, governance, and agriculture. They were much simpler, so he had put them on the other two pages.

It was a trap. Anyone who fixated on memorizing the hardest first passage would inevitably waste a great deal of time and neglect the other two pages.

At first glance, it tested memory. In truth, it also tested adaptability.

"Would you care to take a look, Mr. Lu Hong?" Feng Yuan picked up the three copied pages and slid them over to Lu Hong.

"Certainly."

Lu Hong was already curious about the newly compiled Poetry, Politics, and Military Strategy. Since Feng Yuan had set the questions, he wanted to look them over first.

But the moment he looked at the first page, his expression changed. When he moved on to the second and third, it eased somewhat.

"Lord Feng is wise."

"Heh. Aren't you worried, Mr. Lu Hong?"

Feng Yuan turned his teacup, his eyes fixed on Lu Hong like an eagle's.

There was another reason he had added this extra test: one of the candidates taking this Academy Examination was the son of a private-school teacher.

And Lu Hong had written the questions for the Academy Examination.

Private schools were the Great Qin Dynasty's most basic institutions for selecting talent. In small places like Willow Town, they were poorly supervised, and favoritism and cheating were common.

Although he and Lu Hong were close, and had even been classmates for several years, human nature was hard to fathom. Feng Yuan despised dishonesty above all, so he had added the test.

At this, Lu Hong jumped in fright. He hurried to his feet and stammered, "Lord Feng, I swear this Academy Examination followed the Great Qin Dynasty's requirements to the letter. No one but me knew what the questions would be..."

Lord Feng was testing him!

Feng Yuan neatly folded the pages without even looking up. "Why are you so flustered, Mr. Lu Hong? I'm simply asking what you think of these three pages. Were the excerpts well chosen? Do they make suitable examination questions?"

Lu Hong looked at the four sets of copied pages and felt a quiet bitterness in his heart.

You're the official here. What you say goes.

Besides, you've already ordered them copied. Why ask me now whether they're any good?

"Lord Feng, the material is highly representative. The military strategy on the first page in particular is difficult to memorize, but that's not the most important part. It tests one's ability to adapt..."

The outer hall.

After the boys taking the Academy Examination had started off by teasing Huang Lu, their impatience grew as the wait dragged on.

"Why hasn't it started yet?"

"Yeah, I'm going crazy waiting. My mother's waiting for me to come home for dinner."

"Could it be canceled?"

"Don't say that! The sooner we take it, the sooner we're free!"

"..."

While everyone whispered among themselves, Lu Hong entered with a stack of papers, his face stern.

"It's starting!"

The boys hurried to find desks and sit up straight.

Chu Ming took the nearest seat at the back and waited for the papers to be handed out.

He had to admit, it really did remind him of exams in his previous life.

But the atmosphere only got to him for a moment. He soon settled back into his usual calm.

He had taken major exams, minor exams, monthly tests, and term exams more times than he could count in his previous life. He was long accustomed to them.

The other boys, however, were another matter. Some looked tense, while others were so nervous their hands shook.

Chu Ming glanced at Huang Lu beside him. The boy's desk was nearly shaking beneath him.

The closer the papers came to being handed out, the worse it got. Once the questions were actually in front of them, they would feel much better.

"The Academy Examination lasts two hours. No one may leave before it ends. When you receive your paper, write your name first. No whispering. Anyone who breaks the rules will have his score voided and will be barred from taking the Academy Examination for three years!"

"..."

Lu Hong went through the examination rules as usual, then began handing out the papers.

Chu Ming looked at the question sheet on his desk, his expression calm.

The Academy Examination covered the same three books as in previous years: General Theory of the Book of Songs, Collection of Classics and Histories, and Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration.

With his ability to read ten lines at a glance, he quickly finished looking over all three pages of questions.

The first two pages consisted of recitation questions. In terms of his previous life's language exams, they were made up of sentence-punctuation exercises, filling in missing words, writing out poetry, and reciting passages.

The first half of the third page was similar, with only the final two questions testing comprehension.

Though they were called comprehension questions, what they really tested was how well the candidates remembered the contents of the three books and whether they knew how to apply them.

For Chu Ming, none of it posed the slightest difficulty.

But the other boys couldn't write with the same ease.

Take the tall boy from earlier. He scribbled a few lines here and there, clearly unable to answer much. He was writing down whatever he could still remember, lest he forget it later.

Huang Lu beside him had at last managed to steady the desk that was rattling from his nerves. But aside from his crookedly written name and answers to the first few easiest questions, he couldn't remember anything else.

The other boys were no better. Many scratched their heads, chewed on their brush handles, stared blankly at their papers, or wrote down a jumble of nonsense.

In the entire outer hall, apart from Chu Ming, only Chi Lin, Guan Chong, and Lu Xian remained composed. One leaned back in thought, while another bent over his paper and wrote from memory.

Every movement the boys made was visible to Lu Hong at the front of the hall.

He had set the questions, and although he hadn't leaked them, he had often marked out key points for Lu Xian in private.

If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Xian would surely place first in the Academy Examination.

The only thing troubling him was the extra test Feng Yuan had added. But then he thought it over: Lu Xian had the best memory among the boys. If his son couldn't remember the material, no one else would be able to.

Lu Hong swept his gaze over the room, keeping a close watch on every boy.

At the same time, in the courtyard, Feng Yuan sat upright on a stone stool, teacup in hand, his gaze sharp as he watched the outer hall.

Time passed. Before the two hours were up, Chi Lin, Guan Chong, and Lu Xian finished writing one after another. Excitement lurked in their expressions; they seemed pleased with their answers.

The three glanced at the others from the corners of their eyes, their gazes scornful. But when their eyes met, their expressions turned sharp.

After that, more than ten boys finished in succession, though their faces showed some unease. Their answers were clearly only average.

Chu Ming, however, kept checking his paper over and over instead of putting down his brush.

He wasn't checking for mistakes. He was looking for places where he could make some.

After all, getting every answer right would make him stand out. He wanted to deliberately get a few things wrong and disguise his ability.

But he didn't dare change too much, since he had no idea how well the others had done. So he altered only a few minor answers.

He drew a line through a correct answer and wrote down a wrong one, then crossed that out and wrote the right answer, then crossed that out and put the wrong one back—making it look as though he couldn't settle on the answer and kept changing his mind.

Once he was done, Chu Ming glanced at Huang Lu beside him. The boy had actually fallen asleep with his head on the desk...

Before long, the two hours were up.

"Everyone put down your brushes and leave your papers at the edge of your desks," Lu Hong called sternly as he began collecting them.

"Mr. Lu, he's still writing."