"I read your essays as well."
A middle-aged man casually picked up a stack of examination essays and leafed through them, smiling. "How should I put it? Writing like yours can only be called ordinary."
"Being ordinary would be one thing, but I can see the miscellaneous learning of poetry, lyrics, songs, and rhapsodies seeping through your writing. Anyone who has passed the provincial examination can see it."
"You have neglected orthodox learning and muddled it with miscellaneous studies. Naturally, passing the provincial examination will be difficult."
"If you settle down and stop dabbling in those outside studies, you might pass in ten years."
As Shang the Cultivated Talent hesitated, the words those men had spoken to him echoed in his ears.
No, I cannot go back.
Shang the Cultivated Talent gritted his teeth, a muscle twitching in his face. "Must I spend another ten years living in poverty, my ambitions thwarted?"
He knew the extent of his own learning. He did possess talent, but becoming a Provincial Graduate would be no easy feat.
From Cultivated Talent to Provincial Graduate was one hurdle, and from Provincial Graduate to Presented Scholar was another!
Even if he became a Presented Scholar, would that guarantee a meteoric rise?
There were so many powerful people in Capital City. Any one of them could crush him underfoot like a grasshopper in the weeds, leaving him dead without even a place to be buried!
Shang the Cultivated Talent needed a backer, and he needed time to climb even more!
He was no longer young. He could not afford further delays!
Was all his burning ambition, all his desire to escape his present circumstances, to come to a halt because of one woman?
"A true man need never fear being without a wife!" Shang the Cultivated Talent's