Chapter 9: Do Not Compare Answers After the Exam

The Lady on the couch lazily flipped through several answer sheets sent by Steward Wu.

Steward Wu bowed and reported: "As ordered by the Lady, all male servants of the Zhao family who are sixteen but not yet eighteen, and who live near Jingzhou City, have arrived. There are forty-seven in total."

"After Mr. Shen's selection, these five answer sheets are from those who answered best."

The person on the couch seemed not to hear, only the sound of paper turning could be heard.

After a long while.

Clang~

The tapping sound rang out again.

Steward Wu immediately said: "Among them is one named Zheng Fa, whom Mr. Shen considers to have the highest talent."

The person inside pulled out Zheng Fa's answer sheet.

"I have already checked; Zheng Fa studied in the elementary school for only one year, so he knows few characters. Although his answer sheet is full of wrong characters, he actually remembered more than ninety percent, over twice as much as the others."

The Lady on the couch stood up, placed the several answer sheets aside, and finally spoke:

"Do you think Zheng Fa is the best?"

Her voice was even clearer and more pleasant than the sound of the golden hairpin striking the jade ring just now.

"My vision is shallow; I can only speak of what I see," Steward Wu said with his head bowed. "Compared to others, he certainly has shortcomings. The others have more knowledge, have studied for several years, and some even obtained official titles. As for Zheng Fa, one can only say his talent is slightly superior, but he still needs polishing and is probably not usable at this time."

The shadow behind the curtain nodded lightly, seeming to think what he said made sense.

But after a while, she suddenly let out a light laugh: "This handwriting is the neatest, and the answer sheet with the most memorized content besides Zheng Fa's belongs to that one named Gao Yuan? I recall he is the only son of the High Steward of the Second House?"

"The Lady's insight is clear!"

Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Steward Wu's spine.

"Very well, these three," the Lady said, pulling out Zheng Fa's answer sheet and two others and handing them to a maid nearby. "Send them all to Xu Zheng for him to see."

"Yes!"

Steward Wu took the answer sheets handed to him by the maid, kept his head down, and slowly walked out of the small building. Outside, the warm breeze blew gently, yet a chill surged through his entire body.

Although the Lady did not manage much, spending her days in high repose, even deigning to speak few extra words to others,

her mind truly understood everything. One sentence made him tremble with fear—the Second House's High Steward and he had some discord in past years, something few knew, and even after many years, when he spoke up for Zheng Fa, his rejection of the High Steward stemmed from some unspoken little schemes, which he had thought were hidden.

The Lady...

Steward Wu shook his head, knowing that as long as the Lady still sent him to do things, she had not truly lost trust in him.

In the water pavilion, the youths gradually began to talk to each other.

Being within the Zhao family compound, they dared not move about freely, but their youthful nature left them with little patience for waiting.

At first, everyone was wary of Mr. Shen and Steward Wu next door. Later, through the windows, they first saw Steward Wu walk outside, and not long after saw Mr. Shen slowly pace away. With no more concerns in their hearts, they gathered together and began talking about this assessment, one sentence from you, one from me.

Since the test was merely recitation from memory, everyone actually had an idea of their own results.

Some even understood who had more hope just by glancing when handing in their papers.

At this moment, half the people were surrounding a youth wearing a silk cap.

"Brother Gao, the position of page boy is likely already in your grasp," another young scholar said with a touch of reluctance, clasping his hands.

"That cannot be said for certain." The youth surnamed Gao shook his head very quickly, though a smile he could not quite hide remained on his face. "Brother Chen's talent is no less than mine. Are you trying to flatter me to my destruction, Gao Yuan?"

The youth surnamed Chen shook his head. "I have spent all day reading books of the Confucian Method; Daoist scriptures are precious, and I have never encountered them before. Even the 'Sutra of Purity and Tranquility' sounds to me like gibberish. In this regard, I am naturally inferior to you."

Seeing him speak so honestly, Gao Yuan did not know how to express his own modesty.

After all, he himself felt he was likely the one who answered best among them.

The other youths naturally saw his confidence, and hearing even Chen, who was already considered the most outstanding among them, say so, naturally felt Gao Yuan had the greatest hope.

Zheng Fa watched this group of youths from the side. Although none were older than seventeen or eighteen, their minds were far more mature than their peers in another world.

They surrounded Gao Yuan, flattering him somewhat awkwardly, yet they quickly cast aside the mindset of viewing him as a competitor—or rather, they became clear-headed very fast, correcting their positions within a short time.

They were incredibly agile in their conduct.

"After today ends, let us go to the Gathering Star Tower for a feast, to celebrate for Young Master Gao!"

Some even began calling him Young Master.

"Yes, we took the same exam, which can be considered fate."

"Let us go together, let us go together!"

Huang Yu, who had originally been in the crowd flattering Gao Yuan, came out dejectedly not long after and walked to Zheng Fa's side, looking at Gao Yuan, who was talking loudly in the crowd, with a slightly envious gaze.

Zheng Fa turned to look at him, a hint of question in his eyes.

On Huang Yu's flushed face was some unwillingness: "They are going to the Gathering Star Tower to drink... Gao Yuan won't pay, the others will pool their money together. I... my family has money... but I didn't bring any."

Understood.

Even flattering has a threshold.

Zheng Fa nodded and said very naturally: "Then I cannot go either; my family has no money, so even if I wanted to bring some, I couldn't."

Huang Yu looked at Zheng Fa, then turned to look at those youths who did not even consider him worthy of their attention.

Before, he had thought Zheng Fa was putting on an act.

But now, in comparison, he found Zheng Fa's face much more likable, and unconsciously felt closer to Zheng Fa.

"How did you answer?" Huang Yu regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.

Zheng Fa shook his head and said nothing.

He had always held a principle: do not compare answers after an exam. Yes, he viewed this as a gambling behavior with little return but extremely harmful consequences.

Seeing him say nothing, Huang Yu felt he understood Zheng Fa's method's idea.

He had studied in the elementary school for five years, yet this time he wrote less than ten percent.

Zheng Fa was naturally even worse than him.

It is normal to be ashamed to mention it.

"It's fine, I didn't do well either!" Huang Yu forcefully patted Zheng Fa's shoulder and encouraged him sincerely: "Although I might be a little better than you, just a little bit! But it doesn't matter, you definitely won't be selected!"

After speaking, he quietly leaned close to Zheng Fa's ear and muttered: "I figured it out long ago; the one with the surname Gao is just from a family of stewards and has a bit more money. If you had such good conditions, you wouldn't be any worse than him!"

Zheng Fa looked at his sour face, automatically replaced every "you" in his last sentence with "I" in his mind, and then understood his true intention.

While the two were chatting idly, Zheng Fa suddenly saw the few people sitting by the window sitting upright and proper, and suddenly felt a sense of "the teacher has arrived."

Indeed, the steward Wu's figure was walking toward the waterside pavilion.

Beside him, Huang Yu enthusiastically invited: "Steward Wu has arrived; we probably need to head home together. How about you come to my place to play today?"

Before he finished speaking, Steward Wu had already strode through the door.

"These three come with me; the others may leave first." Everyone saw him holding three answer sheets in his hand.

"Gao Yuan."

"Han Cheng."

Then, holding the last answer sheet, he paused briefly before speaking: "Zheng Fa."

Huang Yu turned his head blankly, looking at Zheng Fa beside him.

Zheng Fa stood up while responding to his earlier invitation—his face carried a trace of sincere apology, and he spoke with a slightly embarrassed tone: "I'm afraid I have no time today; how about another day?"