Chapter 43: The Connected Person

Others took the Licentiate exam for fame and status, while Xu Qing took it purely to lie in his coffin more securely. The starting points were different.

"Brother Xu, why are you joining in the fun?"

"I'm going to lead the way for my two nephews; I'm familiar with the road to the government office!"

Xu Qing didn't mention that he, this "old vegetable," was also going to take the exam. It wasn't worth mentioning. He just treated it as an ordinary matter; if there was an opportunity, he would sign up. When the county and prefecture exams arrived, he would close the shop, give himself a day off, and take the entry-level scholar and licentiate exams—that would be the end of it.

If the officials came to collect various miscellaneous taxes or demand corvée labor, he could flash his status plaque.

Look, I'm a Licentiate, at the very least!

On the first day of the third month, a drizzling rain fell on the eaves and streets. Even in such weather, many scholars taking the exam held oil-paper umbrellas or simply ran through the rain to the government office to register their names and origins.

Xu Qing led the two young men, who were not much younger than himself, to wait for the rain to stop in the government hall.

Don't say, there were quite a few people coming to register for the exam today. Handsome or ugly, wearing brocade or patches, the youngest was a child of eight or nine with a topknot, said to be a prodigy from the Shuiyan Academy, who wanted to pass not just the entry-level scholar exam, but the licentiate exam too!

Of course, there were also old scholars over fifty with graying hair coming to register.

Looking at them, it seemed that as long as they had a breath left, they would crawl to the exam hall!

Wu Zhiyuan stood on tiptoe, looking inside, muttering: "If I had known we'd have to wait so long, I would have brought a book to read. What's the point of just waiting here? Haven't you heard that an inch of time is worth an inch of gold?"

Wu Wencai smiled and said: "It's not a matter of a day or two. Better to put down the book and rest your spirit. It's not like you'll fail the exam just because you read a little less now."

Xu Qing listened to them talking and was about to chime in when he heard a familiar shout from the front.

"Brother Xu, why are you in line too? Could it be you're also taking the exam for status?"

Xu Qing looked sideways and saw Private Secretary Tang waving at him with a smile.

Wu Zhiyuan and Wu Wencai watched Xu Qing go over to chat with the government secretary. Although they didn't know what they were talking about, they seemed very close.

Here, after Xu Qing finished talking with Secretary Tang, he returned to the hall and lowered his voice to the two Wu brothers: "No need to wait in line, just follow me inside to register."

Wu Zhiyuan hesitated: "Is that really okay?"

Hearing this, Wu Wencai nudged his honest cousin's waist with his elbow and gestured toward a certain place in front.

Wu Zhiyuan followed his cousin's gaze and saw many scholars in brocade robes walking toward the side passage of the front hall.

Those were candidates taking the express lane to handle their spring exam admission proof.

Xu Qing chuckled. These two brothers—one honest and dutiful, the other lively. If they really passed the exam, he wondered how their paths would differ.

After the three finished registering and got their admission tickets, Xu Qing parted ways with them and went to the morgue alone.

The government's three classes and six offices were all under one roof, so it was inevitable to run into acquaintances.

Sure enough, just as Xu Qing finished the procedures and walked a few steps out of the front hall, he bumped into Zhao Zhonghe leading a group of government office runners.

As the saying goes, enemies often cross paths. When two people who didn't get along met, it was a disaster. Zhao Zhonghe's eyebrows immediately shot up, as if he had seen a rabbit stray into a tiger's den, and he bared his teeth.

"Stop! This is a government office, who told you to come in?"

"Did you commit a crime and come to surrender?"

Xu Qing held his oil-paper umbrella and looked up at Zhao Zhonghe, who was soaked and steaming.

Such strong blood energy!

He could faintly perceive that the other's martial arts cultivation was at least at the Inner Refining stage, and might have already touched the threshold of Meridian Opening.

"Today is the day for the government to register students for the spring exam. How could Constable Zhao not know? I am untalented, but I am one of the thousands of students, barely counting as half a scholar. I hope the Constable will forgive my intrusion."

Constable Zhao choked on his breath and continued to ask: "To handle this, just go to the front hall. Why are you going inside?"

"The government office mortuary worker Wang Ling is my senior fellow apprentice. We scholars are, after all, not bears or wild monsters, and we value etiquette above all else in our daily lives. Since I am passing by, it is only natural that I go and greet my senior fellow apprentice."

Xu Qing's tone was calm from beginning to end, but to Zhao Zhonghe's ears, it felt sharp.

Seeing that the other's answer was reasonable, he couldn't find fault. Only after Xu Qing left did he ask the government office runner beside him.

"Did that kid just say I was vulgar and couldn't compare to them scholars?"

The government office runner shook his head; he hadn't heard that.

"Then did he say I didn't understand etiquette, like a bear?"

The government office runner hesitated for a moment, then shook his head again, saying he hadn't heard that either.

Zhao Zhonghe spat on the ground and cursed: "A yellow-mouthed child who only knows how to use his tongue. If he ever falls into my hands, I'll fold him in half and see if he's still sharp-tongued!"

On the other side, Xu Qing licked his fangs with the tip of his tongue and probed them with his finger.

His zombie fangs needed grinding again...

Outside, the drizzle continued, but the morgue remained dry and cold.

When Wang Lingyuan heard that Xu Qing was going to take the spring exam, he sighed with emotion.

He thought, no wonder Master Liu would take him as a personal disciple; this level of effort alone was something ordinary people couldn't achieve.

Xu Qing didn't know what Wang Lingyuan was thinking; he was currently focused on how to transcend the corpses in the morgue.

"Senior Brother, I want to try reading the case files independently and observing the corpses to see if I can deduce the details of the cases."

Wang Lingyuan thought for a moment, pointed to two of the corpses, and said: "I've already examined these two with Constable Zhao at the scene. You can inspect them at will, and I'll see if your results match mine."

Hearing this, Xu Qing had already captured some information.

These days, he had been reading the forensic books Wang Lingyuan gave him. The Great Yong "Coroner's Order" stated that anyone who died from severe fighting and could not be moved should not be carried to the examination. If the cause of death was strange and unclear, or the appearance was cruel and incomplete, the local official should lead the coroner to examine it on-site.

Wang Lingyuan saying this proved that these two corpses must not have died peacefully.

Xu Qing lifted the shroud, and when he saw the faces of the deceased, he couldn't help but freeze.

He was very familiar with this corpse; this person was among the government office runners who had privately sold corpses to his shop.

He had thought that few people had been sending corpses to the office lately, but he hadn't expected that the person sending the corpses had died.

Xu Qing leaned in, inspected them carefully, and found no wounds on the bodies.

He lifted the eyelids, pried open the lips, and worked for a long time, but couldn't find the cause of death.

Could it be a heart attack, a sudden death? But it didn't look like a heart attack.

After a brainstorm, Xu Qing finally stood up, his expression extremely grave.

Sure enough, compared to forensic reasoning, he still preferred watching the "running horse lamp" (replaying memories) of the corpses.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 44 =====