Chapter 438: The Fight Begins

Seeing Miao Zhen and the other two immediately puffed up their chests and followed along, while Pan Yun carried Pan Xiaohei and trailed behind at a leisurely pace—she was going to broaden her horizons too.

Tomorrow was the Spring Examination, so outside the Examination Courtyard there were many candidates and their families.

They had all come to scout the place in advance and familiarize themselves with the examination grounds.

Of course, the candidates couldn't enter the examination grounds, but they could look from outside the main gate and along the walls. A layout map of the examination halls was posted outside the Examination Courtyard, and quite a few candidates were crowding in front of the bulletin wall to look at it.

Their own assigned seats wouldn't be known until they entered the grounds tomorrow and received their number plates, but they could memorize the layout map so that once they had their number plates, they could find their seats quickly.

Xue Shao had also been dragged here by a few candidates from his院 to scout the place and look at the map. He had only just managed a single glance at the map before the crowd shoved him aside, and he nearly fell.

Xi Jin was furious. He spread his arms to shield Xue Shao while roaring at the people surging left and right around them, "What's all the shoving? These are all Master Provincial Graduate—if someone falls and hurts their hand, can you afford to pay for it?"

The others were also angered and chimed in to denounce the ones pushing and shoving: "Scholars, and you've lost even the most basic manners and propriety."

The ones being scolded were displeased and shouted loudly, "It's clearly you lot who've been hogging the spot too long, just standing there without moving. Are the people behind us not supposed to look? We only have half a day here this once, and we still have to go back this afternoon to memorize our books…."

"Half a day—what can you possibly memorize? Cramming at the last minute will never work!"

"What did you say?" The man who had been about to push forward flared up instantly, spun around, and grabbed the candidate who'd said he'd "never make it," "Who are you saying won't make it? You're the one who won't pass—you won't pass in thirty years either."

The man whose collar had been grabbed also flew into a rage, threw a punch straight at the other's face, "How dare you curse me!"

Punch for punch, the two instantly locked together in a brawl. Xue Shao was standing right beside them; one of their fists swung wide, slammed over with a thud, and he instinctively tilted his head, dodging the strike. He stepped back, accidentally stepped on someone's foot, lost his footing, and his whole body tipped backward.

Xi Jin had been shielding him the whole time. Seeing his young master fall, he instinctively reached out to pull him, but Xue Shao shoved him away—sparing Xi Jin from being dragged down with him.

Xue Shao hit the ground with a thud.

Xi Jin turned pale with fright. There were people everywhere, and because of the fight everyone had fallen into chaos, feet stomping blindly…

He couldn't be bothered about the danger, bent down to help Xue Shao up, but the moment he bent over, someone shoved his back hard, and he nearly fell flat onto Xue Shao.

Xi Jin reacted instantly—he couldn't fall. So he lunged forward a step, straddled Xue Shao's body, bent his knees into a firm horse stance, and shoved viciously away the people trying to push past and trample over Xue Shao.

He glared fiercely at every single person around him, "Scram—"

The people around him were stunned by the outburst and froze for an instant. In that very moment, Xue Shao, who had fallen covering his head and face, quickly rolled sideways, scrambled up into a sitting position, and a hand reached in from the side, grabbed his arm, and hauled him to his feet.

Xue Shao only had time for a single glance at the person who had pulled him up, and was rather surprised that Pan Yun had appeared here dressed in a Daoist robe.

The two candidates beside them were still fighting, locked together and rolling all over the place, knocking into many people. Quite a few candidates, just like Xue Shao, had been knocked to the ground.

He had no time to thank Pan Yun. The moment he was on his feet, he stepped forward and hauled away the candidate who had the upper hand and was pinning the other down…

The candidate on the ground quickly rolled over and got up, throwing a punch that Xue Shao caught in his fist.

He stood between the two, gripping one with each hand, and shouted, "The examination is tomorrow—do you want to be disqualified?"

The two men's heads were still hot, and they tried to swing at each other right over Xue Shao.

Pan Yun stood to the side, glanced over, and said calmly, "Their heads are overheated—they need to cool down a bit." She then stepped forward twice, and with two crisp slaps, gave each of them one across the face.

The two candidates, who had been straining to grab at each other, froze and stopped.

Xue Shao was also stunned.

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, "See? Aren't they calm now?"

Xue Shao, however, wore a conflicted expression, staring in silence at their faces as they gradually swelled and reddened.

The two only froze for a moment before fury surged back up. They glared at Pan Yun: "Who are you, to dare strike a Provincial Graduate…"

*Slap, slap*—

Two more crisp strikes. Xue Shao pulled his hand back, saw the other sides of their faces gradually swelling and reddening as well, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He said to the two men in a mild tone, "Gentlemen, I am also a Provincial Graduate. This was to stop the two of you from continuing to beat each other—it was a measure of last resort."

He gestured for the two to look around, and said in a gentle, even voice, "Because of the two of you, quite a few people have been hurt. We don't know whether anyone's legs, feet, or hands were injured. If you're not satisfied, you can report to the authorities and let the government office decide."

At these words, not only the two fighters but the surrounding Provincial Graduate all changed color. They stopped watching the show and turned to leave.

Because the two had been stopped, the previously chaotic crowd finally quieted down, and they managed to pull the people who had fallen on the ground back to their feet.

! 。Read

They checked each other over: two had been stepped on in the side of the waist, three had been stepped on in the leg or foot, the rest were fine.

The five were helped up. Though their faces were pale, though they glared furiously at the two troublemakers, they didn't want to go to the government office.

At any other time, they certainly wouldn't have let it go, and they wouldn't have feared going to the government office—but not at this time, and certainly not at this place.

At this sensitive time, at this sensitive place, every single person in this area—if they were judged to have been brawling, that would be one thing, but if it was ruled "disruption of the imperial examination," none of them would be allowed to sit for tomorrow's Spring Examination.

Even if they were lucky and weren't convicted, after a round of questioning and being detained overnight at the government office, their condition for the exam would be affected.

Xue Shao, seeing they had finally calmed down, took one of them by the hand in each of his, swept his gaze around, and promptly picked out a few nearby Provincial Graduate to serve as witnesses.

He also found a moment to shoot Pan Yun a look, telling her to leave quickly.

Pan Yun gave a humph and turned to leave.

The other Provincial Graduate quickly gathered around, encircling the two men in the middle and demanding they pay the injured Provincial Graduate for their medical expenses.

Wang Cong, standing on tiptoe to watch, saw Pan Yun walk out with a cold expression. He immediately stuffed the banner cloth into Seeing Miao Zhen's hands, grabbed Tao Yanbai with one hand and Miao He with the other, and charged in carrying his medicine box, shouting, "The physician's here, the physician's here—"

The Provincial Graduate, hearing that a physician had arrived, with brains that had only just cooled, instinctively turned their bodies and cleared a path for the three—without even having time to wonder why a physician had arrived so quickly.

The three brushed past Pan Yun, not even exchanging a glance—one cold-faced, the other excitedly dragging along two bewildered ones.

Wang Cong dragged Tao Yanbai and Miao He as he charged into the crowd, swept his gaze around, and immediately rushed toward the five injured Provincial Graduate. The moment he reached them he cried out in a string of exclamations, "Oh my, oh my, how terrible—this is hurt far too badly. Let me see if it'll affect tomorrow's examination—"

I have some things to attend to tonight, so there may only be this one update tonight. If I can't update tonight, I'll make it up tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)