[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m":3,"chapter-simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-chapter-41":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Simultaneously Transmigrated: My Cheat Skill Is Myself",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2315296,4528,"Chapter 41: The Provincial Exam Is In Progress","simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-chapter-41",41,"\u003Cp>“Renjie, younger brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Chen.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Water Margin world, in a roadside inn in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie was greeting a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, I’ve prepared everything you needed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Jinlian hurried over to Zhang Jie’s side and said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.” Zhang Jie nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Haha, Madam Pan, no need to rush,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>today is only registration day; the provincial exam officially begins tomorrow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Pan Jinlian panting and flustered, the middle-aged scholar Chen Xiucai smiled and reminded her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I knew the exam procedure already, and I told Pan Jinlian not to be so anxious,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but she kept worrying and rechecking the exam supplies over and over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, Brother Chen’s reminder came from good intentions, and Zhang Jie appreciated it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, no one is obligated to help another; Chen Xiucai didn’t have to say anything,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but since he did, Zhang Jie owed him this favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, no one is obligated to help another; it was Chen the Scholar’s right not to speak up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Jinlian’s voice was sultry, her gaze toward Zhang Jie clinging like silk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was so excited because “my wife” was how a man introduced his wife to others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie’s words had just formally established her status!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her greatest hope before had merely been to become a concubine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, her origins were far too humble—she had been a servant sold into servitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at Pan Jinlian, her eyes brimming with affection, Zhang Jie felt utterly at peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He held no deep sense of social hierarchy, and Pan Jinlian had stayed by his side through his weakest years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that he was about to rise, he would not abandon her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for her lowly birth?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie simply said: money can’t buy this kind of happiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still, after the provincial exam ends, will I unlock some new knowledge?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie thought, his heart stirring with anticipation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Male-female affection was one of humanity’s greatest desires—he was no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in these days of growing physical strength, had he not held back repeatedly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Jinlian would have been utterly outmatched long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, should I send Yitian to Mount Emei?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie pondered this matter tied to his future happiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Pan Jinlian could learn a martial art like the Emei Nine Yang Art,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>perhaps she wouldn’t keep losing so badly, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Zhang, what are you saying?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for your kindness in taking me in, I might still be without a place to stay!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xiucai bowed gratefully to Zhang Jie. He had been delayed on the road for several days,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and by the time he reached Jinan, every inn and guesthouse was full.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He searched desperately but found nowhere to lodge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie helped him up, glancing at his blue robe—though free of patches,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it had faded to gray from repeated washing—and understood at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xiucai failed to find lodging partly because he arrived late,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but mostly because he had no money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as hotels and guesthouses skyrocketed in price during civil service exams in the 21st century,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jinan’s inns had gone mad with price hikes during this period.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even modest inns charged silver taels per night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remember, in the Da Song dynasty, an ordinary farming household spent only a few dozen taels a year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Zhang Jie’s teacher Li Xiucheng, a scholar who ran a private school in his hometown of Yuncheng County,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xiucai had little savings—barely enough to cover travel expenses for the exam,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>let alone food, drink, or lodging at these exorbitant inns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Zhang Jie not taken pity on Chen Xiucai’s kind face and offered help,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xiucai would have been forced to sleep in a temple outside the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh! I wonder if I’ll pass this exam?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at Zhang Jie’s youthful, even somewhat naive face, Chen Xiucai sighed inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to Zhang Jie, who was taking the provincial exam for the first time,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he was a seasoned veteran who had failed many times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed the scholar exam at twenty-five; this was his seventh attempt at the provincial exam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From youth to middle age, from black hair to white, he still hadn’t achieved his wish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, the carriage is ready.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon after, Wu Song arrived to report that the transport had been prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie immediately set out for the examination grounds with Pan Jinlian and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he also brought along the penniless Chen Xiucai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie immediately led Pan Jinlian and the others toward the provincial examination grounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I wonder how hard the exam questions will be this time?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I hope they don’t test the Mencius—I haven’t memorized it fully yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Confucius, protect me—let me pass this time!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord of Literature, bless me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as they arrived outside the examination compound, a cacophony of voices flooded Zhang Jie’s ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The square outside the compound was packed with scholars come to take the exam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were wealthy young masters in silk robes, attended by servants carrying exam baskets;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>others were poor scholars, alone and dressed in tattered clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were elderly men with white beards, past fifty; others were child prodigies still youthful in face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the compound, the whole scene was a swirling tapestry of human life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The chief examiner arrives!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the official crier shouted, the chief examiner of this provincial exam arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The noisy atmosphere instantly cleared; scholars lowered their voices, even when speaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief examiner was the official responsible for administering the exam, setting questions, grading papers, and selecting candidates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, the fate of every scholar present—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>at least for this provincial exam—rested in the hands of this chief examiner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scholars dared not speak loudly, fearing they’d leave a bad impression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie didn’t care much, but he welcomed the quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gentlemen, follow me to pay respects to Confucius.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief examiner strode to the stone statue of Confucius in the center of the compound square.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Attendants, already prepared, swiftly brought forward ritual vessels—deng, xing, fu, gui—laden with offerings: white cakes,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>black cakes, dates, chestnuts, water caltrops, and lotus seeds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pay respects to Confucius!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief examiner lit the jiangzhen incense himself and bowed deeply before the statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pay respects to Confucius!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The assistant examiners behind him bowed in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pay respects to Confucius!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scholars dared not delay—they bowed reverently one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie bowed too, following the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he bowed, he marveled at Confucius’s terrifying status in ancient dynasties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through generations of emperors and scholars, Confucius had transformed from a thinker of the Spring and Autumn period\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>into a sage: “Had Heaven not sent Zhongni, ten thousand ages would have been as endless night.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He held neither worship nor hatred toward Confucius.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thinkers of the Spring and Autumn period became sages, hailed as \"Had Heaven not given birth to Zhongni, ten thousand ages would be as endless night.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He neither reverently worshipped Confucius nor harbored intense hatred toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Zhang Jie believed Confucius and later Confucianism should be viewed separately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later Confucianism, after being “reformed” by figures like Dong Zhongshu, incorporated feudal ideas such as the “Three Bonds and Five Constants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had become a tool of class domination in feudal society, though whether it was useful or not was another matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confucius’s advocacy in the Spring and Autumn period of “restoring the Zhou rites” was not an attempt to turn back time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rather, he saw the collapse of order, constant warfare among states, rulers all seeking hegemony, and the people suffering unbearable hardship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He personally favored the restoration and longing for order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie thought the later saying “topple the Confucian shop, rescue Confucius” was very correct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confucius was simply a thinker, an educator; we must not overinflate him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he was not a true immortal or sage who knew five thousand years before and five thousand years after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nor must we undervalue him, for he had been dead for thousands of years,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and his ideas were still progressive in the Spring and Autumn era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Confucius’s greatest stain—the line of hereditary Duke Yansheng who preached loyalty with iron bones yet spent generations submitting surrender documents?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One can only say no one can guarantee all their descendants are good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even a great man may have an unvirtuous wife and an unfilial son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, it was not necessarily Confucius’s descendants who submitted surrender documents—it was those who submitted surrender documents who became known as Confucius’s descendants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ceremony honoring Confucius proceeded in orderly fashion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bow again!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bow a third time!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ceremony complete!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May the Sage Confucius protect me! May the Sage Confucius protect me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after the ceremony ended, some scholars still muttered prayers before Confucius’s statue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jie was no longer surprised by this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Jinan, the Confucius Temple was always packed with incense before every provincial examination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Candidates would come with their brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone to have them “blessed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some even felt that blessing the writing tools was not enough,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>so they would roll themselves on the temple steps,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>determined to soak every inch of their bodies in the Sage’s scholarly aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides worshipping the “exam deity,” eating auspicious foods for good fortune was also essential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Shandong, many foods carried auspicious meanings,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>such as the famous specialty “Zhuangyuan Cake,” named for its shape resembling the hat worn by newly crowned top scholars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Candidates, enter!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After honoring Confucius, the provincial examination officially began—the candidates now entered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scholars present spontaneously lined up along the entrance passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, several long lines formed, composed entirely of scholars.\u003C\u002Fp>",1592,"2026-06-20T14:22:35.989Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e3ced52e3e39a00580a8a09a05d7b69ec89d1a08fcd167d7a9c2b9619aabaa58","simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-chapter-42","simultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-chapter-40",601,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsimultaneously-transmigrated-my-cheat-skill-is-m-cover.jpg"]