The contact! All the mysteries! [Six-thousand-character update, an extra chapter for Black 21]

Scholars across the land were stunned.

The essay Xu Qingxiao had written was actually a Thesis Article.

No one had expected this.

Even the three Masters in Southern Yu Prefecture found it hard to imagine.

After all, no one could say for certain whether a Thesis Article was good or bad.

The only certainty was that Xu Qingxiao really would become famous this time.

Had it been a Discourse on Governing the Nation, everyone would merely have marveled that Great Wei had produced another great talent.

But a Thesis Article was bound to draw a flood of disputes, and Xu Qingxiao would inevitably be pushed to the forefront. He might earn respect, but far more would come in the form of doubt and rebuttal.

Of course, if Xu Qingxiao publicly declared that his article expounded Sage Zhu's thesis and that he firmly supported Sage Zhu's judgment, there would be little trouble.

Of the scholars in the world today, ninety percent studied Sage Zhu's teachings. Support Sage Zhu, and nothing would be a problem.

But no one knew how matters truly stood.

For Xu Qingxiao seemed to have evaporated from the mortal world. No one knew where he had gone.

No one would have guessed.

Xu Qingxiao, who now held the attention of scholars across the land.

At this very moment, he was galloping down an official road.

At a normal pace, the journey from Southern Yu Prefecture to Ping'an County took five days.

But Xu Qingxiao traveled through the night, paying to exchange his horse whenever he reached a relay station. By repeating this, he could reach Ping'an County in two days.

Along the way, Xu Qingxiao also came to realize something.

With money, you could travel the world; without it, you could hardly take a single step.

A good