Seeking Truth with a Sword
Chapter 63 - 58: Praying for Blessings

Chapter 63: Chapter 58: Praying for Blessings

Li Ang wrote the answers on the examination paper swiftly. The preliminary test at the Academic Palace was divided into three parts: Scriptures, Strategies, and Poetry.

There were fifteen questions in the Scripture section, excerpts from the "Spring and Autumn Annals," the "Chief of Staff," and other examination texts that required filling in the context and annotations.

Li Ang was confident he could correctly fill in twelve of them. The remaining three questions, derived from "Yili" and "Zhou Yi," he was unsure if he had answered right.

There was only one question in the Strategy section: "The matter of prison and market affairs has been a long-standing difficulty; weighing leniency against severity is not simple in current times. If too lax, deceit will prevail; if too harsh, schemers will find no refuge. Light or heavy, shallow or deep, I await your esteemed advice."

The students were asked to discuss the criminal laws of Yu Country, to argue whether they should be lenient or strict.

The ideal answer, naturally, was that punishment should strike a balance between leniency and severity. However, crafting an impressive answer required considerable sophistication. It demanded prose that was both extravagant and smooth. The article needed to reference classics and integrate them with contemporary realities, presenting clear arguments supported by abundant and reliable evidence. The logical progression should be neither rushed nor slow, but rather steady and composed...

Li Ang cast a glance around using the corners of his eyes.

The same examination room held fifty candidates from various places and two proctoring officials—each candidate’s desk was separated from the others. Many were scratching their heads and shifting restlessly in their seats; some were even sweating profusely, repeatedly lifting their sleeves to wipe the sweat from their foreheads, fearing it might drip and stain their papers.

A solemn and forbidding atmosphere enveloped the examination hall, while the two supervising officials seemed unsurprised as they sat leisurely at the back of the room, sipping tea. Had it not been for the fear of making noise, these two might have already brought in a chessboard and started playing.

"RUSTLE—"

The sound of paper rubbing against the desk surface rang out. Li Ang saw the girl with willow-leaf eyebrows sitting next to him, expressionless and wearing a jade hairpin, quietly move her paper, filled with delicate ornamental script, farther away.

Hmm?

Li Ang was slightly taken aback, then realized that she didn’t want him to peek at her answers. Internally, he scoffed, Is that really necessary? I’ve sat more exams than you’ve had hot dinners.

Considering the exams he remembered from the Otherworld, he indeed had amassed a volume of practice that could awe the vast majority of students in this one.

Li Ang shook his head, focused his mind, and having put in considerable effort, finally finished answering the strategy question, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the sound of a candidate wailing in the adjacent room broke out, but before the other candidates could raise their heads, the crying ceased abruptly, returning to silence.

Soundproof Talisman, Li Ang raised an eyebrow. Someone caught cheating, perhaps...

In over three hundred years, the Academic Palace’s examination system had become more refined. Countless cases proved that cheating never ended well, yet there were always those who challenged the rule.

Those proctors from the Ministry of Rites might seem like mere ornaments, but the Instructors and Doctors from the Academic Palace are all Cultivators of the Rain Listening and Cloud Patrol Realm. The petty tricks of ordinary candidates could never escape their notice.

Li Ang shook his head and calmly turned his attention to the final two poetry questions.

They require specific topics—one poem and one prose piece—similar to a directed essay.

Li Ang pursed his lips; the topic for the poem was rivers, lending itself to literal praise of rivers nourishing the common people or using the scenery metaphorically for people or events.

The topic for the prose piece was "Ban Dingyuan Pacifying the Western Regions."

Both topics were standard. Li Ang had previously written similar poems and essays to prepare, so it didn’t take long for him to finish the exam. He raised his hand to submit the paper ahead of time.

The girl with willow-leaf eyebrows at the desk next to him also raised her hand to submit her paper simultaneously. Their gazes met in the air, and they both squinted their eyes at the same time.

The initial tests at the Academic Palace were not just about answering questions. In addition to Scriptures, Poetry, and Strategies, Horse Riding and Shooting was a required subject.

The vast grassland by the riverbank was set up for the Horse Riding and Shooting event.

The Academic Palace had prepared hundreds of fine horses. Students needed to select their own steeds and complete a lap within the elliptical track enclosed by fences. The shorter the time, the better the score.

Those who finished the written exam first could go to the horse field to select a fine horse, run first, and then proceed to the archery range for the Archery subject.

Students who were late in submitting their papers naturally had to choose the tired horses that had already run several laps, and their Imperial Examination scores would inevitably be lower than others.

It was a matter of choice. For example, the few students recommended by the Ministry of War, aware of their lack of literary talent, quickly completed the written papers and submitted them ahead of time to go to the horse field to choose a horse. With their discernment, they naturally selected the finest steeds. They aimed to compensate for their inadequacies in Scriptures, Poetry, and Strategies through bonus points in Horse Riding and Shooting.

"RUSTLE."

The proctor brought over shredded paper and glue, pasted their names onto the top left corner of Li Ang’s and the neighboring girl’s papers, then casually nodded, saying, "You may leave..."

Before the proctor could finish speaking, both of them slammed their desks and dashed toward the examination room’s rear exit.

In the pavilion downstream, Chai Cuiqiao was still praying earnestly, "All you gods and deities, you must protect my young sir. Medicine King God, Earth Deity, Zixia Yuanjun, Queen Mother, Child-Giving Guanyin, Sweeping Star Lord..."

"TSCH—"

The elegantly dressed girl sitting next to Chai Cuiqiao was already struggling to hold back her laughter. When she heard Chai Cuiqiao’s low prayer for the "Sweeping Star Lord," she finally couldn’t contain it anymore. She raised her left hand to cover her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Hmm?"

Chai Cuiqiao raised her eyebrow and gave the other a displeased glance.

The girl beside her was dressed in a white gown of fine silk gauze, adorned with gold and silver threads. She wore a silk mantle over her shoulders, her hair styled in a Chaoyun Jinxiang Bun, and also wore a jade hairpin. The lower half of her face was veiled by a pale yellow gauze. Not far away stood elite guards clad in leather armor, a clear sign of wealth or nobility.

Under normal circumstances, Chai Cuiqiao would have surely analyzed the value of the other’s dress and the quality of the rouge and powder used. However, her mind was entirely on Li Ang in the examination hall, and she had no interest in examining the other more closely—there were plenty of families of nobility and officials in the pavilion praying for their children.

Slightly annoyed, Chai Cuiqiao pursed her lips and closed her mouth, continuing to pray silently in her heart.

"Miss, are you also praying for someone in your family?" the elegantly dressed girl lowered her palm and asked softly through the gauze, her voice gentle with curiosity.

Chai Cuiqiao opened her eyes and glanced at her, responding tepidly, "Praying for my family’s... cough, Eldest Son." In Yu Country, there was no term for "young master." It was more proper to refer to him as sir or Eldest Son in front of others. She almost slipped up.

Pretending to cough, Chai Cuiqiao casually asked, "And you, young miss?"

"Ah, I..." Li Leqing, the Yu Country Princess, unconsciously pinched the Turtle Breath Talisman on her right wrist through the sleeve of her gown. "No, not I. One of my elder brothers is already a Disciple of the Academic Palace. I came this time to... to watch the examinations."