Chapter 299

At breakfast the next day, Jiang Zhan told Du Ruo and Master Jiang what Master Yan had said the night before.

Of course, Lao Tietou was also present.

Hearing that Jiang Zhan's essay had received the master's affirmation, Du Ruo was both happy and proud.

She knew her own kid wouldn't lose to that piece-of-trash cut-sleeve!

Master Jiang could also not hide his excitement.

It seems Erlang has great hope of becoming another legend who achieves the top rank in all three levels of the Imperial Examination, following his father, Jiang Mo Nian.

And the Jiang Family once again has hope for a revival.

However, being older, Master Jiang quickly calmed down and reminded him, "Although Erlang performed very well in the first round, that man surnamed Duan is no pushover; he must be quite capable. Moreover, he has a powerful background; just as Master Yan said, if the two of you are evenly matched, the one most likely to be appointed as the top scholar will probably still be him."

"Therefore, the second round absolutely cannot afford any mistakes; it is best to surpass him overwhelmingly. Only in this way can you force the chief examiner to appoint you."

As he spoke, he looked at Du Ruo, "Niece-in-law, why don't you teach a bit more of that mathematics."

Du Ruo nodded; she had originally intended to do so anyway.

Previously, what she taught was relatively basic content, but now it seems she must increase the difficulty.

It is said that Prefect Su has done quite a bit of research into mathematics; who knows what kind of tricky and strange questions he might set? What if they are out of the syllabus?

It is better to prepare early, just in case.

Usually, there is a gap of two or three days between the first and second rounds; after all, thousands of exam papers need to be graded, and even with people helping, it is a massive project.

Taking advantage of this time, Du Ruo decided to stuff everything—arithmetic operations with fractions, positive and negative number operations, and calculations of areas and volumes of geometric figures—into those two clever heads all at once.

As for whether they can absorb it, that depends on their comprehension ability.

No sooner said than done, the three of them, just like before, hid in the room and taught against the clock.

Even their meals were delivered upstairs by the waiter.

However, the next morning, before it was even lunchtime, the waiter was outside knocking on the door with a *bang, bang, bang*.

"Lady Du, someone is looking for you!"

The county guesthouse is considered public territory, and to ensure the safety and a good study environment for the students, idlers and miscellaneous people cannot easily enter.

Du Ruo was a bit puzzled.

She has no relatives or friends here; who would come looking for her?

Oh no, there is still one.

Xiong Er.

Could it be that there is a conclusion to the matter of suppressing the bandits last time, and Xiong Er helped her secure credit, so he came specifically to report the good news?

Thinking of this, Du Ruo was in a great mood, so she urged the uncle and nephew to continue doing problems while she ran downstairs with a *thump, thump, thump*.

Although it was not yet noon, there were already quite a few people sitting in the lobby on the first floor.

They were basically family members and servants accompanying the candidates; perhaps afraid of disturbing the students' studies, they ate very gently and occasionally spoke in very low voices.

Du Ruo scanned the area.

Eh, where are they?

With Xiong Er's broad-shouldered and sturdy build, she should have seen him at a glance.

Just as she was feeling puzzled, the fifty-year-old man sitting in the corner saw her, suddenly stood up and rushed over, then *thumped* to his knees in front of her.

He shouted excitedly, "Master!"

This movement not only stunned everyone else, but Du Ruo was so startled she nearly blurted out "Wukong."

She looked closely.

It turned out to be her good disciple, Doctor Ke, old baby Ke.

"Old Ke, why are you here?" Du Ruo hurriedly pulled him up.

Doctor Ke grinned, "I heard from Xiong Er that Master had come to Fengyang Prefecture, so I came over to see you immediately!"

Old... lady?

Du Ruo chuckled, "I see you now; I'm doing quite well, nothing has changed."

Doctor Ke shook his head, his gaze falling on her face, "No, Master has changed; you've become darker, and also prettier."

Ah, this...

Du Ruo touched her own face.

She just remembered that before, at Yugui Shan, she had put on ugly makeup, and her face was covered in large black freckles.

Now there are no freckles, but she had applied tanning cream.

That is why Doctor Ke thinks she has become better looking.

Du Ruo opened her mouth, intending to say something, but decided against it. Anyway, she is only Doctor Ke's master, not his wife; as for what she actually looks like, Doctor Ke probably doesn't care much.

"Alright, let's not talk about this." Du Ruo waved her hand and asked, "Besides seeing me, is there anything else?"

"Of course there is, and it's a top-priority matter..."

Doctor Ke was about to continue, but Du Ruo glanced at the curious and prying eyes in the lobby and raised her hand to stop him, "Let's go outside and talk."

The two walked out of the guesthouse and stopped at a quiet corner.

"Speak, what important matter?" Du Ruo asked.

Speaking of this, Doctor Ke could not hide his excitement, "When I left Yugui Shan before, I entrusted a Ya Men runner brother in Wutou Xian named Wei Ming to bring a letter to Master; did you receive it?"

A letter...

Du Ruo recalled for a moment and nodded, "I received it."

She suddenly realized, "The top-priority matter you mentioned, could it be the Apricot Grove Assembly?"

"Exactly!" Doctor Ke slapped his thigh, his eyes glowing green, "The Apricot Grove Assembly is at the end of this month; once the prefectural exam is over, it will be just in time."

He looked at Du Ruo full of anticipation, "Master, you will participate, right?"

Du Ruo laughed in spite of herself, "That's not necessarily true."

Doctor Ke became anxious immediately, "Why? With Master's medical skills, you will definitely be able to shine brilliantly at the Apricot Grove Assembly, make a name for yourself, and become a great miracle doctor admired by thousands; are you not even a little bit tempted?"

Du Ruo was, of course, tempted.

But she also felt guilty!

In her previous life, she studied biopharmaceuticals and specialized in Western medicine; in this ancient era without laboratories or equipment, what she could actually do was very limited.

As for medical skills, she only knew the basics and couldn't even take a pulse.

All those past glorious achievements of saving people and killing people basically relied on the system; if it weren't for the system's support, she would be nothing!

So, with her being all show and no substance, what face did she have to participate in the Apricot Grove Assembly...

"Yo, the host finally discovered how useless she is? How rare."

In her mind, the system made a sarcastic remark, "For the past half year, the host has been busy making money to raise the kid, busy fighting and abusing scum, busy being lovey-dovey; ask yourself, at any moment have you thought about working hard to improve your own strength?"

This, it seems, should be no...

Du Ruo felt very ashamed in her heart.

But she still weakly argued, "Isn't that because you are here? And your medicine is so good; I just need to earn enough money to buy it and use it, isn't that much more convenient than making it by hand?"

That sounds very reasonable.

However—

"Men with two legs are unreliable, and the host still wants to rely on me, a system without legs?"

The system sneered, "What if one day this system leaves? What will the host do then? It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality; if you don't work hard now, you will only have vain regrets in the future."

Leave?

Du Ruo immediately grasped the key word, "That's not right, aren't we bound together? Before I die, you shouldn't be able to run away."

The system rolled its eyes, "Yes, this system cannot run away, but this system can also crash, and it needs to return to headquarters for regular maintenance. You humans even take leave, don't you allow this system to take a break?"

Du Ruo was speechless in an instant.

What the hell, it turned out to be a short-term strike; it sounded as if it were never coming back.

"Alright, I know. Once the matters here are finished and I have some free time, I will immediately start improving myself, I promise!" Du Ruo vowed.

"Hmph, that's more like it."

Immediately after, the familiar mechanical voice sounded, "Ding-dong—new mission activated! A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; please sign up for this Apricot Grove Assembly and achieve good results, bravely taking the first step toward becoming a great miracle doctor! Upon success, you will receive a reward of 50 points!"

Du Ruo: "..."

Didn't it just mock her for being a good-for-nothing? Now it's encouraging her to participate in the Apricot Grove Assembly; is it split-brained?

"The host doesn't need to worry; before you have mastered the skills, this system will serve you as always, so go ahead boldly."

Is that so...

That's fine, first get a reputation, then slowly build up the strength.

Just as she was about to agree, Doctor Ke's urgent voice came to her ears, "Master? Master? Why aren't you speaking, Master?"

Du Ruo's head ached from his noise.

This is no Wukong, this is clearly Tang Seng; too noisy!

She hurriedly cleared her throat and announced solemnly, "Alright then, you are more familiar with these procedures, so go and sign me up; I'll go join in the fun too."

Doctor Ke was overjoyed.

"Ai, don't worry Master, this disciple will handle all these miscellaneous tasks for you one by one!" He rubbed his hands excitedly, taking full responsibility.

By the way, he didn't forget to paint a big picture for Du Ruo, "Master, you will definitely not regret it; this Apricot Grove Assembly is unprecedentedly grand. Not only have many highly skilled national doctors come, but even the judges are top-tier. Besides the head of the Apricot Grove Assembly, Wen Shiyuan, and several medical saints, the Medicine God Valley's Divine Doctor Jun has also sent disciples to supervise."

Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of something.

"Right, there is also one with a big background, someone sent by the imperial court; you will definitely not guess who he is."

Who cares who he is; she doesn't know him anyway.

Du Ruo asked perfunctorily, "Oh? Who is it?"

Doctor Ke lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "He is the Emperor's thirteenth son, the currently very popular Prince Yu—Zongzheng Yun!"