Xu the Smooth Talker Takes the Stage

Those who had given the purses to the old servants without saying whose they were had fared better. Of those who had intended to pocket the purses outright, one rushed straight up to the three madams and knelt to beg forgiveness. She took the purse from her bosom and handed it over, saying she had forgotten about it earlier.

Another girl had intended to pretend to be calm and take a chance that these people did not know. Seeing what happened, she was badly frightened and hurried forward to kneel and admit her mistake, handing over the purse.

Although Grand Princess Shangde was nominally the head of the academy, Madam Zhang managed it day to day.

Disgust appeared on Madam Zhang's face. She said to the two girls, "I had intended to deal with this after you finished the examination, so as to delay those who came after you. But there's no need now. Hand over the purses and leave. Our academy cannot admit people of such poor character as yourselves." With that, she waved to the old servants behind her.

The old servants immediately came forward and drove the two girls toward the side door.

Naturally, neither would leave, and they cried and pleaded for mercy. The old servants cut through the tangle with a sharp blade, clapping hands over their mouths and dragging them out through the side door. Quiet returned to the room.

The others felt a lingering fear at the sight, but were also relieved that they had handled the matter correctly. Those who had returned the purses to the old servants also knew their handling of the matter had been improper, and that they would likely lose some points.

Everyone had different thoughts on their minds, and their words and actions inevitably grew somewhat uncomposed. Some even began whispering to the people at their tables.

Xu Xue naturally had plenty going through her mind. Seeing someone nearby whispering, she turned to glance at her older cousin, hoping to exchange a look with her. But Xu Xi was still sitting as she had at the very beginning, upright and composed, her bearing poised and elegant. The girl sitting next to her had leaned over to speak to her, but she paid her no attention.

Xu Xue's heart tightened. She hurriedly straightened her posture and sat up, no longer daring to look around at random, much less pay attention to the little movements of the girl beside her as she shifted her things closer to Xu Xue's side.

The same situation kept repeating itself as girls arrived one after another.

The servants sitting behind the three madams recorded everyone's behavior one by one.

Xu Xi had been counting the girls and matching each announced name to a face. By the time Madam Zhang announced the start of the examination and ordered the maids and old servants to hand out the papers, a total of sixty-seven girls had entered to take it.

From what Xu Xi had seen outside the academy, there had been far more than one or two hundred applicants. Presumably, some had already been eliminated on their way inside.

With fifty to be chosen out of sixty-seven, it seemed she and Xu Xue had a fairly good chance of getting in.

Xu Xi gathered her thoughts and looked at the examination paper she had just been handed. It appeared to be printed, and there were only five questions. The first consisted of a mere four characters: "Ru he wei zhe."

In classical Chinese, questions often used inverted word order, placing the object before the verb. The correct order of the sentence should have been "Ru wei he zhe?" In modern Chinese, it meant, "Who are you?"

This called for a self-introduction.

Aside from that one, the other four were all essay questions. Some gave a statement and asked for her opinion on it; others presented a case and asked her to analyze whether a particular person had acted correctly and, if not, what she thought that person should have done.

Very good. This really was modern. Presumably, these questions had been modeled on the way that empress set her questions, and they made Xu Xi feel as though she were back in college taking a psychology exam. The questions were not difficult, but the answers could reveal the respondent's character, moral conduct, thinking, and manner of acting.

Sure enough, compared to academic ability, the academy placed greater importance on these aspects.

That being the case, Xu Xi did not intend to puzzle over how to make her answers brilliant. Instead, she decided to answer according to her own nature.

If she was not admitted, it would mean that the academy's guiding principles did not align with hers. Even if she got in, she would inevitably come into conflict with the academy or have her actions restricted against her wishes. In that case, she would be better off not enrolling in the first place.

There was no prescribed word count for the questions, and there were not many of them. The examination lasted one shichen, or two hours, so there was plenty of time. Xu Xi had no desire to hand in her paper early, either.

So she dripped clean water onto the inkstone and slowly ground the ink while composing her answers in her head. Once the ink was ready, she wrote the answers on her draft paper and revised them repeatedly. Only when she felt there was nothing wrong did she carefully copy them onto the examination paper.

With the original owner's memories, she had little trouble with either brush writing or classical Chinese phrasing.

Of course, the system had given her brush writing one Wisdom Point, which showed that the original owner's writing had not been particularly good. At best, it could be called reasonably neat.

"Time is up. Leave your papers on your seats and depart one after another. Come to the academy gate tomorrow to see the posted results." At Madam Cui's command, everyone put down their brushes.

Even though Xu Xi had taken her time, she had finished her paper long ago. She placed the paperweight on it and checked once more that everything was in order, then left her seat and nodded to Xu Xue, signaling for her to leave with her.

Xu Xue had also finished long ago.

Some, however, seemed not to have finished and quietly pleaded with the maids and old servants collecting the papers. But they had already received their mistress's orders and collected the papers without showing the slightest leniency.

"Cousin, how did you do? Do you think we can pass?" After what had happened earlier, Xu Xue had been badly frightened. She no longer had the carefree attitude she had shown when entering the grounds, and even spoke in a low voice.

"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see tomorrow," Xu Xi said.

"Host, host, you've been admitted." The system, which had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, its voice full of excitement. "Host, you can finally enter the Women's Academy and study the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Haha."

As it spoke, it seemed to turn a somersault, and Xu Xi heard a patter of skipping footsteps in her head.

Xu Xi rolled her eyes, though that did not stop her from pitching her ideas to the system and brainwashing it. See? You weren't wrong to choose me as your host back then. My IQ is high, and my EQ isn't low either. If you listen to me, I guarantee my life will turn out much better than if I follow your plan.

"Y-yes, I suppose?" The system wanted to deny it, but had to admit that Xu Xi studying the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting at the Women's Academy was much better than going back to the marquis's manor to study.

Never mind that the teachers here were bound to be better than those hired by the marquis's manor; the time spent studying alone was sure to be several times longer than at the manor. After all, this was an academy dedicated to teaching, so it could not possibly hold classes for only half a shichen a day. There were classes here both in the morning and in the afternoon.

What was more, there were many girls studying alongside her, and they would compare themselves with one another, while the female teachers would give regular examinations. Such a learning atmosphere would surely give Xu Xi a tremendous boost.

In the original plot, wasn't Zhao Ruyu able to surpass Xu Xi precisely because she had been taught by a governess at the marquis's manor from childhood, with a learning environment and conditions far better than Xu Xi's?

Granted, Xu Xi had now entered a women's academy in the county, and its teachers were not necessarily better than those at the marquis's manor. But the host bound to it was no ordinary host-her IQ was very high. In learning environments that were not too different, Xu Xi would certainly learn better than Zhao Ruyu.

At that thought, the system seemed to see a broad, open road ahead.