Literary Brilliance (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"No!"

"It wasn't just about connections!"

Xu Xing calmed down.

Cheating in the imperial examinations was no small matter.

County Magistrate Wu had neither kinship nor friendship with him; he would not joke with his official hat over such a thing.

The reason he had accepted his examination paper right there in the hall was inseparable from what was written in it. Xu Xing was no hopeless Adou who could not be propped up. If his paper truly had not a single redeeming quality, County Magistrate Wu would at most have entered him on the secondary list out of personal favor, rather than treating him like this...

After the first county examination, there were primary and secondary lists, fifty names on each. In the end, after two examinations, the final fifty remaining on the primary list would be entered into the collective register.

Under normal circumstances, it was difficult for the fifty on the secondary list to squeeze their way onto the primary list.

Just as with Taste Classics Academy's minor and major examinations, in order to demonstrate fairness, all accepted examination papers had to be publicly displayed.

Only thus could favoritism and malpractice be eliminated.

"What calculations! What scheming!"

"As expected of the father and mother official of an entire county..."

Xu Xing sincerely came to admire County Magistrate Wu.

There were only a little over twenty people from Taste Classics Academy who had come to Jingyang County to take the imperial examinations. After all, Taste Classics Academy served all of Qin Province, and quite a few people, like Chen Jian'an, took the examinations in their counties of household registration. Excluding licensed scholars, there were not many academy students whose native registration was in Jingyang County.

Only a little over twenty people.

Thus, it was not difficult for County Magistrate Wu to remember every one of them.

That was also why, upon seeing him submit his paper, County Magistrate Wu had roused himself to read it...

Saying his "essay was mediocre" had in truth merely been a turn of phrase... Coupled with the clerk's words before the examination, it was difficult not to think that County Magistrate Wu had accepted him on the spot out of consideration for Headmaster Liu and Taste Classics Academy.

That way, any inexperienced candidate would surely be deeply grateful to County Magistrate Wu.

If today's words spread outside, it would become County Magistrate Wu giving Taste Classics Academy some face.

And if someone questioned whether County Magistrate Wu had engaged in favoritism or malpractice... the academy candidates' papers were not something that could not withstand scrutiny.

At worst, he could simply say, "When recommending the worthy, one need not avoid relatives."

With a few simple words, he gained reputation, profit, and sold a favor as well.

A true old hand in officialdom!

"This student, Xu Xing, thanks Your Excellency for bestowing the vermilion-robed touch upon my brow today."

Xu Xing bowed and spoke loudly.

Though a thousand thoughts had flashed through his mind, in reality, he had not hesitated in the slightest.

The vermilion-robed touch upon the brow meant being favored by the chief examiner and selected in the imperial examinations.

Under Tang regulations, those below the third rank and above the fifth wore crimson robes. Crimson was red.

"Mm... not bad. A talented fellow."

"Our Jingyang County also has Headmaster Liu's school to thank. Otherwise... this official's assessment in literary education would once again fall to the bottom among Jingzhao Prefecture's counties. Forget it, there is no need to speak of such matters to a junior like you..."

County Magistrate Wu shook his head. After briefly praising Xu Xing, he ordered him to withdraw.

"This also owes to the merits of you, the county's father and mother..."

"Your Excellency is too modest..."

The several clerks at the side understood the elegant tune upon hearing the string's first note, and immediately chimed in with flattering praise.

"Father and mother of the county" was another title for a county magistrate as a father-and-mother official.

He stepped out of the examination hall.

Just as his left foot hung suspended over the Dragon Gate threshold.

A new line, still condensing, appeared on Xu Xing's panel.

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[Literary Brilliance (White) ↑]

He fixed his gaze upon it and looked at the second-level page of the new fate.

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[Literary Brilliance (White ↑): Latent fate of the Literary Star; when studying literature, one becomes clever and quick-witted in every way, and writes without needing a single revision.]

"A white Literary Brilliance fate... it seems to be of no use to my circumstances in the real world."

"But this fate can advance..."

"The county examination is not yet over. If I become the county's top candidate, perhaps I can advance it into a red fate. Red fates are more noble than white fates, and the benefits they bring will be greater as well."

Xu Xing withdrew his gaze and began considering how to seize the position of county top candidate.

Although County Magistrate Wu had placed him on the primary list, Xu Xing knew that his chances of taking first place in the first county examination were infinitesimal. Otherwise, no matter what, County Magistrate Wu could not have gone against his conscience and called the top candidate's paper "plain and unremarkable."

His only opportunity lay in the next several examinations.

But... once a candidate became the top scorer in the first examination, he would basically remain the top scorer from then on.

Compared with the first round of the county examination, the latter two rounds were not nearly as important.

The first round was called the main examination, which showed just how important it was.

"Brother, please make way."

Just then, the candidate behind Xu Xing could not help urging him.

It was already the hour of Shen. Several hundred candidates were packed in a dark mass behind the Dragon Gate, and because Xu Xing had handed in his paper early and gotten out ahead of the others, the brief moment he hesitated was enough for a crowd to pile up behind him.

"Please..."

Xu Xing gave the middle-aged scholar behind him a slight nod and stepped half a pace to the left.

The next moment, the candidates streamed past him like carp crossing a river.

"The Dragon Gate!"

"One step early, one step late."

"They are all carp leaping over the Dragon Gate. Why fight over who goes first?"

"The rafter that sticks out rots first!"

Xu Xing suddenly understood.

Becoming the top scorer would certainly bring him a moment of glory, but after that... danger would lurk at every turn.

First, he would be the first to enter the sights of the Elder Brothers Society's big shots, and unforeseeable dangers would surely follow one after another. Second, if he remembered correctly, a great event would erupt in June this year—the Hundred Days' Reform!

And the reason Kang and Liang had succeeded in submitting their petition at the imperial examination gathering, then gone on to launch the reform movement, was inseparable from the help of two men: Liu Guyu, the headmaster of Taste Classics Academy, and Censor Song Bolu...

"Wait!"

"Wait a little longer!"

Only after the candidates had all filed out did Xu Xing slowly make his way outside.

Outside the examination sheds, the crowds had already thinned. Only small groups of scholars, disregarding the chill of the evening, stood discussing that day's examination questions. When they saw him emerge from the examination hall, several candidates familiarly asked him how he had tackled the Four Books and Five Classics questions.

"My aptitude is mediocre. By the time I finished my paper, it was already the hour of Shen."

Unable to bear their pestering yet unable to berate them and drive them away, Xu Xing answered tactfully.

Unlike Jia Dao's painstaking-chanting school, which might gain something from such effort, most people were merely of ordinary talent. No matter how long they savored and pondered, it was difficult to pluck out any marvelous lines. After all, "Writing is born of Heaven; deft hands only happen upon it."

"Forgive us. We brought up your painful matter."

Seeing this, the candidates stopped badgering Xu Xing and let him leave.

Those who left the examination hall last might not necessarily fail, but they would certainly not achieve any excellent results. These candidates ostensibly wished to exchange learning, but in truth were also taking the chance to cultivate connections.

No one would try to keep a person of no value.

By convention, the results would be posted on the third day after the main examination.

During that time, Xu Xing remained in the dormitory, intending to keep reviewing his books. Although he had memorized the Confucian classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics, revisiting old knowledge brought new understanding. The imperial examinations did not test one's ability to recite from memory, but one's foundation in composition.

Writing eight-legged essays could not be separated from an understanding of subtle words and great meanings.

Moreover, this show of diligence could leave a good impression on his fellow students and instructors at the academy.

Xu Xing had not forgotten the opportunity Master Ma had mentioned.

It was not that he did not want to relax properly.

To go off and revel amid flowers and wine.

It was only that... if his character were too poor, then even with the xiucai degree, Headmaster Liu might not acknowledge him as a student of Taste Classics Academy, an heir to the Guan School lineage.

Wang Mang was humble and courteous before he usurped the throne.

And with the pressure of a threat to his life, Xu Xing could only suppress his restless heart.

However—

An accident occurred.

Filial Righteousness Hall sent word, ordering him to kill! To kill an official!