I'm the Top Scholar?

For the first time, Jiang Xiaobai learned something.

A single kick really could send someone flying ten meters!!

And for the first time, he saw what a forty-meter saber looked like!!

Boom!

A dull impact rang out.

Jiang Xiaobai flew like a torn burlap sack and crashed hard beside a pillar in the hall, his back scraping against the flagstones with an ear-piercing screech.

The excruciating pain nearly blacked out his vision.

Before he could catch his breath, a bone-chilling cold had already reached him.

Jiang Xiaobai raised his head with difficulty.

The next instant, he froze.

In the center of the hall stood a middle-aged man holding a saber.

Its edge was tilted slightly upward.

Yet the radiance of that blade extended outward as though it were solid.

It stretched all the way from the center of the hall, pointing straight at his face.

Cold light rippled through it, as though one more inch forward would cleave him in two.

Was this... a dream?

That was the only thought left in Jiang Xiaobai's mind.

But the next instant, the searing pain coursing through his body snapped him awake.

This definitely wasn't a dream!

Could I have... transmigrated?

The moment that thought emerged, a vast flood of unfamiliar memories surged madly into his mind.

Boom!

Jiang Xiaobai felt as though someone had slammed a hammer into his skull.

Countless unfamiliar scenes flashed through his mind.

A short while later.

Jiang Xiaobai sat blankly on the floor, his expression dazed.

He really had transmigrated.

He had arrived in a dynasty called Great Hua.

And he was the heir to the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate.

More coincidentally still, this body's original owner had shared his full name.

And the man who had just kicked him across the room was his father in this world.

The Northern Guardian Marquis, Jiang Jingcheng!

A martial expert at the seventh realm, Origin Return.

This world actually had martial cultivation?

At that thought, Jiang Xiaobai couldn't help swallowing.

But that raised a question.

Why would his own father strike him so brutally?

Before he could search his memories, Jiang Jingcheng's low, furious voice rang out. "For generations, which of our ancestors didn't claw his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood?"

"Yet you refuse to train in martial arts and earn merit, refuse to take the field and slay our enemies, and buy yourself scholarly fame instead!"

"And you even bought the title of top scholar!!"

"Is this your idea of bringing glory to our ancestors? You're slapping me in the face! You're slapping every one of our ancestors in the face!"

Huh?

Buying the top scholar title?

You could actually buy that?

He immediately searched his memories and finally understood.

Indeed, Great Hua had neither a metropolitan examination nor a palace examination. Whoever placed first in the imperial examination became the top scholar!

He also understood why his father was angry.

In Jiang Jingcheng's eyes, most so-called civil officials were nothing more than a bunch of men who hid in the Imperial Court and flapped their tongues.

When war broke out, they dared not take up a blade and march into battle. When a city needed defending, they dared not don armor and climb its walls.

Once the fighting was over, they would clutch their books of sages and hold forth in the imperial throne hall.

The court took the credit, while the generals took the blame.

One brush and one mouth could outweigh ten years of blood spilled by the soldiers on the frontier.

Furthermore, according to his memories, his predecessor had been a genuine wastrel, a worthless good-for-nothing.

Eating, drinking, and carousing-he excelled at them all.

But when it came to studying...

According to his memories, the fellow couldn't necessarily even write his own name properly.

And now someone like that had actually placed first in the imperial examination.

Who would believe it?

Wasn't this treating every official in court and every scholar under heaven like a complete fool?

At that thought, cold sweat broke out across Jiang Xiaobai's forehead.

No wonder his father was so furious. One wrong move, and this could turn into a catastrophe!

"My lord! My lord!"

Hurried footsteps sounded just then. Jiang Xiaobai looked up and saw a middle-aged woman rushing toward them.

She wore simple, elegant clothes, and her gentle face held a dignified air.

The moment she entered the hall and saw the scene, her expression changed drastically. She threw herself in front of Jiang Xiaobai. "My lord, whatever it is, take it out on me!"

"Xiaobai... Xiaobai is still just a child!"

Huh?

Jiang Xiaobai froze at her words, then couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

But he soon understood why.

The woman before him was his mother, Shen Yun.

Jiang Jingcheng stared darkly at Shen Yun as she stood in his way. After a moment's hesitation, he finally put away his saber, but the anger on his face did not lessen in the slightest.

"A child?"

Jiang Jingcheng sneered. "He's become like this because you've spoiled him rotten!"

As he spoke, Jiang Jingcheng's gaze fell on Jiang Xiaobai again, and his anger flared anew. "Who doesn't know that I, Jiang Jingcheng, despise civil officials above all others?"

"And yet... this unfilial son secretly bought himself first place in the Civil Service Examinations! Tell me, how am I supposed to stomach that? Where am I supposed to put my face now?"

"My lord, you're far too rigid!"

Hearing this, Shen Yun couldn't help grumbling, "Our son wanted to surprise you!"

"I'm rigid? And this is a surprise? I think you're the hopeless fool!"

Jiang Jingcheng raged, "I can set my reputation aside for now, but... but who doesn't know exactly how much our son is worth?"

"Once the results are posted, all it takes is one person raising doubts, and we'll have irrefutable proof of the Official-Purchase Scandal!"

"Not only does that mean deceiving the emperor, it tells everyone under heaven that the Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate has become shameless enough to do this just to keep up appearances!"

"My lord, is it really that serious?"

At those words, Shen Yun's expression shifted slightly as well.

"Of course it is!"

Jiang Jingcheng said coldly, "Buying an office is already a grave crime, let alone buying the top scholar title!"

"Then think of a solution, my lord!"

Shen Yun panicked at once. "We only have this one son left. If anything happens to him, I won't go on living!"

"And your Jiang family line will end for good!"

"You..."

As Jiang Jingcheng watched Shen Yun weep, his clenched fists creaked.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaobai quickly understood from his memories why Shen Yun had said that.

He had once had two older brothers.

But both brothers had already died on the battlefield. If something happened to him, the Jiang family line truly would end.

Yet this business of buying an office... didn't seem quite so simple.

According to his memories, for this examination, the vice minister of rites-one of the chief examiners-had approached his predecessor of his own accord.

The man had kept tempting him, saying that if he could secure the top scholar title, the Jiang family's position at court would become even more secure.

And he himself would go from a worthless wastrel scorned by everyone to a heaven-favored prodigy admired by thousands.

Under the man's persistent coaxing, his predecessor... had actually believed him.

Everything afterward had gone almost too smoothly. Obtaining the questions, having someone take the examination for him-there had been practically no obstacles along the way.

Now that he thought it through carefully, it all looked more like a trap someone had laid well in advance.

On the day the results were posted, the list itself would be irrefutable evidence.

When that happened, not only he but the entire Northern Guardian Marquis's Estate would likely be dragged down.

But why would the vice minister of rites, one of the chief examiners, do such a thing?

Jiang Xiaobai pondered for a moment.

A possibility began to take shape in his mind.

The Jiang family's Marquis's Residence controlled the military forces of the entire northern frontier and held immense weight at court.

If the Jiang family fell... who stood to benefit most?

Could it be... His Majesty?

The moment that thought arose, Jiang Xiaobai couldn't help shuddering.

But he quickly suppressed the conjecture.

Indeed, affairs of the Imperial Court were complicated. Perhaps there was someone else pulling the strings behind this.

Still, resolving this crisis wouldn't be too difficult for him.

He had, after all, earned a doctorate in the humanities in his previous life. He just had to prove he truly deserved to be the top scholar!

But... the problem was that the Jiang family already commanded a powerful army. If they produced a top scholar as well, then even if the emperor hadn't laid this trap...

The emperor probably still wouldn't tolerate him.

Just as a troubled look crossed his face, Jiang Jingcheng sighed. "Alas, as things stand, I'm afraid there's only one viable solution..."

Jiang Xiaobai looked up from beside them, suddenly energized. "Oho, rebellion?"