Double-A Honor?

Fang Yun looked at the six incense sticks, lowered his head, and recited silently in his heart.

"The first is for Mother. I may never be able to return. Forgive your unfilial son, and please take care of yourself."

"The second is for the deceased Fang Yun. Thank you."

"The third and fourth are for Fang Yun's parents, and the fifth for Sister Yuhuan's father. With me here, I will never let Sister Yuhuan suffer again."

"The sixth is for Meng Haoran. My thanks for the poetry of the sages before us."

Fang Yun gazed at the incense and candles for a long while. The melancholy filling his heart finally turned into a sigh, as though he were bidding farewell to the past.

After offering the incense, the two sat facing each other at the dining table.

Fang Yun said, "Sister Yuhuan, let's set a rule for this meal."

"Please give your orders, little Licentiate," Yang Yuhuan said with a smile. She had not smiled this happily in a very long time, because the burden on her shoulders had finally grown a little lighter.

"Today's rule is this: you take one chopstickful, I take one chopstickful. However much you eat, I eat the same! You need not argue; this rule cannot be changed! How much I get to eat today depends entirely on you."

Yang Yuhuan quietly watched Fang Yun, warmth surging through her heart. All at once, she felt that with those words from Fang Yun, all the hardship and exhaustion of these past years amounted to nothing.

"Our little Yun has grown up. He knows how to care for his sister now. You're a Licentiate now, and our family will be much better off in the future. Once you become an Academy Student, fish and meat will no longer be anything special. Today, your sister will enjoy a good meal thanks to you."

Fang Yun picked up a glistening piece of braised pork and held it to Yang Yuhuan's lips. "No," he said softly. "It is I who have benefited from you. Without you, let alone studying, even surviving would have been difficult. I have always remembered that."

Yang Yuhuan's eyes reddened. She opened her mouth, ate the braised pork, and slowly chewed.

Only those born into poor families knew how precious meat was.

Fang Yun took a piece of braised pork for himself. After eating it, he picked out a chicken drumstick from the clay pot and placed it in Yang Yuhuan's bowl.

"One for each of us."

"Mm!"

The two rarely ate meat even once a year. Today, they ate to their hearts' content and finished every last bite.

Yang Yuhuan looked at the empty plates, feeling a little embarrassed. She had eaten far too much just now.

The two had eaten until they were stuffed and could not be bothered to stand. They exchanged smiles and chatted happily, filling the room with warmth.

Before long, noisy sounds came from the neighboring house. Old Wang had drunk too much and was lecturing his child to study hard and pass the Beginner Scholar Examination.

The two smiled. Yang Yuhuan glanced at the sky and said, "The three examiners should be grading the papers now."

Fang Yun nodded.

Inside the Literary Academy.

The spacious grading hall was brightly lit. Rows of long tables stood neatly arranged, with the examination papers of more than two thousand candidates laid out across them in order, covering the tabletops in a magnificent sight.

The three examiners stood solemnly before the statue of Confucius at the far end of the grading hall, with ten instructors from the County Academy behind them.

County Magistrate Cai said, "Appeal for Sage Judgment!"

"Appeal for Sage Judgment!" everyone echoed in unison.

A strange power descended from nowhere. Wind rose within the room, yet every examination paper remained utterly motionless.

Most of the papers showed no change, but nearly half of them suddenly began to emit orange light.

Literary Qi manifested.

Some of those orange glimmers were stronger than others. The highest Literary Qi among them rose close to three feet, just short of reaching the State-Ringing level.

The Literary Qi of the second-ranked paper barely reached one foot, leaving an enormous gap between the two.

Then, a fierce gust swept through the room, sending examination papers flying everywhere.

When the wind stopped, a great number of papers had piled up in one corner. Only one hundred remained on the tables, arranged from most to least Literary Qi.

"Select people by Literary Qi, rank them by writing!"

After County Magistrate Cai spoke, the ten instructors each took an answer sheet for Appeal to the Sage's Words. Starting from the back, each selected nine examination papers and began grading them.

The ten papers with the most Literary Qi remained untouched.

County Magistrate Cai naturally stepped forward. "Since a poem nearly at the State-Ringing level has appeared, this magistrate will not stand on ceremony. I shall feast my eyes first." With that, he happily walked over to Fang Yun's paper.

The reason grading had begun so late was that after candidates handed in their papers, specialists covered their names with sealed slips of paper, making them invisible during grading to prevent cheating. Only after the rankings of the top fifty had been determined could their names be seen.

The poetry section lay on top. When County Magistrate Cai saw the words "Spring Dawn," he could not help frowning. The handwriting was fairly neat, but in his eyes, it was still far too poor. Then he remembered that Fang Yun came from a Cold Gate family and understood.

Practicing calligraphy consumed great quantities of ink, brushes, and paper. Cold Gate students could not afford such expenses. They either practiced with branches on sand or dipped brushes in water and wrote directly on tables. Even the latter method still required quite a few brushes.

County Magistrate Cai looked at the poem and involuntarily read aloud, "Sleeping in spring, one does not notice dawn; everywhere, birdsong is heard. Last night came wind and rain; how many blossoms have fallen?"

The three examiners were all stunned. The language of the poem was exceedingly simple, understandable at a glance, yet why did a faint sense of regret arise after reading it?

The other two examiners also studied Fang Yun's paper, pondering it carefully.

"It feels as though something is missing from my heart," Academic Examiner Wan said.

County Magistrate Cai was an Associate Metropolitan Graduate and held Principal Seventh Rank, while Academy Director Wang and Academic Examiner Wan were merely Provincial Graduates, both holding subordinate Seventh Rank.

County Magistrate Cai read it over and over. Then he suddenly sighed. "Wonderful. Though the language is plain and natural, its value lies in one word: 'truth.' The scene is true, and the feeling is true. The structure is also extraordinary. Look at the four lines: not knowing, knowing, knowing, not knowing. The first 'not knowing' opens the poem, while the last leaves blank space, making the reader wonder: just how many blossoms have fallen? And why ask about the fallen blossoms?"

Once those words were spoken, the grading hall fell silent. It was as though everyone were contemplating the same question: how many blossoms had fallen?

A mere five words had stirred the thoughts in everyone's heart.

Academy Director Wang nodded. "Brother Cai has captured the poem's brilliance in a single statement. The reason this poem is true is that every line contains spring, and every line follows its title: spring drowsiness, spring birds, spring rain, spring wind, spring flowers. It seems filled from start to finish with scenery, yet it conceals unspoken feeling. Most precious of all, its language is simple, plain and unadorned, natural to the utmost, and easiest to spread far and wide. Unless this candidate stumbled upon it by chance, he is surely no ordinary scholar."

The other two nodded repeatedly. Ease of transmission was far too important. Literary fame was one of every scholar's pursuits; even Half-Sages could not escape worldly desires.

Academic Examiner Wan said, "I could also write words like these, but to make a poem unfold like a painting before one's eyes, to blend feeling into it, and to do so with such naturalness—that is difficult."

Academy Director Wang said, "When the results are posted tomorrow, I will write a letter recommending this poem to Li Grand Academician, the director of the provincial academy. I hope he can recommend it to Sacred Way, so that this poem may be Transmitted Under Heaven."

"If this poem can enter Sacred Way, it will greatly raise the literary fame and literary spirit of our Jing Kingdom!" County Magistrate Cai said expectantly.

Yet Academic Examiner Wan's expression darkened, and he said quietly, "I am nearly fifty. I have written hundreds upon thousands of poems and essays, yet not once have I appeared in the monthly Sacred Way journal."

Academy Director Wang smiled bitterly. "Sacred Way is published by the Sacred Academy. Every piece selected over the years has been a masterpiece. Those who publish in Sacred Way are either masters of poetry and lyrics, Great Scholars of Classic Interpretation, eminent writers of policy essays, or at the very least possessors of some remarkable art. We dare not indulge in such fantasies."

County Magistrate Cai nodded, dipped his brush in vermilion ink, and wrote beneath the paper: Plain script, true feeling, excellent poem, lasting meaning. It should stand first among all students. A!

"Do either of you object?"

"For this year's Beginner Scholar Examination, no poem but Spring Dawn deserves the A grade!" Academic Examiner Wan said.

"No objection."

County Magistrate Cai set the paper bearing Spring Dawn aside and said, "This man's literary talent is extraordinary, but if he wishes to contend with Fang Zhongyong for the position of Case First, we must still see his Appeal to the Sage's Words."

County Magistrate Cai looked at the handwriting on the Appeal to the Sage's Words paper and secretly shook his head. Then he carefully read the first question, his eyes lighting up. "I never expected this boy to be so extraordinary! Even if I had encountered this question in my youth, I absolutely could not have answered it correctly."

The other two examiners had also seen the answers. When they lowered their heads to look, they were deeply astonished, because neither of them would previously have been able to answer this question correctly. Even though they were Provincial Graduates, the question was simply too obscure, involving geography and deductive ability.

County Magistrate Cai held his brush in his right hand and continued reading. After finishing the first three sheets, his expression turned grave. The other two examiners, one on his left and one on his right, were also grading at the same time, and for a long while, neither could speak.

County Magistrate Cai's brush never came down.

After staring blankly for a moment, Academic Examiner Wan asked, "No mistakes?"

"Not a single omission or error. It is simply inconceivable!"

County Magistrate Cai continued reading, going through the remaining twenty-seven papers in one breath. He simply set his brush aside.

"Still no mistakes?" Academy Director Wang was somewhat shocked.

County Magistrate Cai said solemnly, "It is almost divine. Not only are there no mistakes, there are no incorrect characters, no revisions, and no stains. I have never seen the like in my life."

"Could his Appeal to the Sage's Words also receive an A grade? Since Appeal to the Sage's Words became part of the Imperial Examination, our Jing Kingdom has never had an A-grade paper. Even Sage Chen received only a B grade in his day."

County Magistrate Cai said, "What a pity. I would very much like to give him an A grade, but his handwriting truly is ordinary. If I give him an A grade, I will inevitably be assailed by the scholarly world."

After speaking, County Magistrate Cai wrote on the Appeal to the Sage's Words paper: Poor script, no errors, upper B.

"What a pity."

"What a pity."

County Magistrate Cai reluctantly set down Fang Yun's paper and picked up Fang Zhongyong's poetry paper.

Fang Zhongyong had written a poem that became County-Exceeding. In the Beginner Scholar Examination anywhere, he would receive twice the attention from examiners, who would surely lavish praise upon his paper. Unfortunately, he had encountered Fang Yun—and County Magistrate Cai, who was still brooding over his regret.

County Magistrate Cai looked at Fang Zhongyong's poem without saying a word, casually wrote "middle B," and did not even leave a comment.

There were four major grades in total: A, B, C, and D.

No matter the examination, each subject could have only one A grade.

The B and C grades were then divided into upper, middle, and lower ranks, while D was not divided further, because anyone receiving a D in any subject would not be admitted.

The three examiners remained immersed in their regret at being unable to grant Fang Yun Double-A Honor. They graded in silence, and whenever they found an error, they marked it without hesitation, finally assigning grades according to the number of mistakes.

After grading the top ten papers with the most Literary Qi, the three examiners would grade the poetry and Appeal to the Sage's Words sections of the remaining ninety papers.

These hundred people would ultimately be ranked by their Appeal to the Sage's Words grades, and the top fifty could become Licentiates.

If their grades were equal, the one with fewer mistakes ranked higher.

If they had the same number of mistakes, they would be ranked by their poetry grades. If their poetry grades were also equal, the quality of their handwriting would be compared. If the fiftieth-ranked candidate and those behind him could not be distinguished, they would need to request a Half-Sage examiner's ruling. Usually, several extra Licentiate slots would be added.

By the time grading was finished, it was already late at night. Yet no one was permitted to leave the Literary Academy, and each slept in their own quarters there.

Early the next morning, the three examiners and ten instructors rose at six. After washing and eating, they began the "second review" at seven, the hour of the dragon, checking everything anew to ensure there were no problems.

Should there be a major error in judgment, a Half-Sage would intervene. The examiners would not only lose face, but might even be stripped of office and thrown into prison.

As he entered the grading hall, County Magistrate Cai said as he walked, "I could not sleep for a long time last night. Even now, my heart remains unwilling."